December 2024

Miserable winter weather in much of Alaska  has been the primary theme for the New Year as the ALO news looks back at 2024.  The conditions reached their low point a few days ago when  winds topped 100 mph in Anchorage during a storm that brought heavy rain on streets and sidewalks already covered in ice.  Most days this winter have ranged between 20 and 35 degrees, and topped out recently at 47 degrees breaking records in the process.  One trend present in Alaska and around the world recently is record breaking minimum temperatures. In other words, the temps are not dropping much overnight compared to historical records.  All of this should be of great concern to folks concerned about their well-being, and the well-being of young members of their families.  

Warm weather has caused the Kuskokwim 300 to postpone its race for two weeks.  This is not the first time the race has been postponed but usually it has been done after the racers have assembled in Bethel and then for a day or two.  This time, because of very difficult conditions, it would be impossible to mark the trail in advance of the race and therefore a delay was  announced.  Most of the participants were notified in advance and supported the decision. That included racers, volunteer help, and sponsors. Warming conditions throughout Alaska have been affecting winter activities in a significant way most years, and of course it will get worse. This clip from Mike Williams Jr. shows the training conditions many  Western Alaska racers deal with.

Folks from other areas have always wondered how local racers train and now with internet magic they can share it.  For years Old Friendly Dog Farm trained with a 150 pound sled pulling a giant snow machine track that resembled a small barge being towed along the trail, and that seemed to work.  It's not just the southern part of the state that is warming.   Here is an article describing the situation in the northern areas.

Winter still exists in the far north, and neighbor and soon to be Andy’s sister in law Sarah Aarons took these photos on a recent trip to the Arctic Coast that prove it.

That’s a polar bear in the distance, by the way.  Sarah is a climate scientist, not to be confused with a Fox news pundit. She studies the climate while the pundits blather about it. By the way,  climate scientists like Sarah have declared 2024 the hottest year on record and likely the hottest year in many thousands of years based on archaeological data.

ALO Update

ALO settled a major case out of Kodiak involving medical malpractice.  A Kodiak man  was treated at a local clinic for an unexplained illness which was affecting him, and the medical provider ordered a blood test.  Unfortunately no one noticed the results of that test which showed an alarmingly high reading that would indicate an infection. That result was flagged with a big red mark on the report. The infection should have been promptly treated by antibiotics but instead was untreated. Eventually the patient developed a blood clot and suffered a stroke, leaving a large hole in his brain.  The brain injury dramatically affected  his cognitive function and prevented him from returning to his job as an engineer.  A medical expert testified that prompt treatment would likely have stopped the infection and prevented the stroke.

Another Month, Another Political Circus

Immigration is a major topic as the US heads into another Trump era. Maybe a look at the Texas situation will shed some light on the problem.  Texas is “solving” the problem by building segments of fence leaving large gaps where the local landowners don’t want a wall. Of course people who want in simply walk around the end of the wall, because they are smarter than the people who built the wall. Texas should stick to banning books and putting folks in jail for trying to leave the state for an abortion, something they are much better at.  There is another immigration issue brewing.  Elon Musk wants the flow of foreign workers for his companies to continue, because its cheap labor for him.  None other than Steve Bannon doesn’t seem to like that idea. The Musk-Trump connection is an unusual mix, and is unlikely to last long.

Speaking of Trump, here are donation figures for his inauguration and the LA fire.

Government by huge donations is where we’re at, and if you don’t have the cash to keep up,  too bad.  On that subject, this video will be forever funny.

If you don’t laugh at that, you lack a sense of humor.  And a sense of humor should be near the top of the list for human attributes . It's hard to imagine struggling through life without finding humor in day to day life.  Here is a British person talking about  humor and other human traits. This is the prevailing attitude in much of the world, and it is  a problem.

 Mandatory Moose & Other Characters

Here is the Mandatory Moose for the month. She came to visit the front yard and entertained Sue and Jack.

K300 board member Eric Kuball took this last spring and it’s a dandy video of Aniak at break up time. 

Eric is most famous for answering most every math puzzle he sees on social media, and it appears to be the correct answer. At least no one ever challenges him. He is a retired math teacher and K300 board member.

This sports card  from 1938 recently sold online for a bunch of money and there is a possible backstory. Hall of Fame baseball player Ted Williams is pictured, obviously hunting ducks in a marsh in 1938.   That was the year Williams played for the Minneapolis Millers and first came to the Angstman farm to hunt ducks after the baseball season.  He was a young player from California and  had yet to make the majors. Uncle Ralph took him hunting often that fall as he stayed in Princeton,  Minnesota for a couple months and met his future wife. Ralph took lots  photos back in the day, including many of Ted Williams, so it's not hard to speculate that this might be one of those photos  taken at Ted’s favorite hunting spot on Long Pond.

A visitor to the Lodge last fall put together a You Tube video that he posted on his site. The guy is famous  in fishing circles and has about 250,000 subscribers.   This video has been viewed 292,000 times at last count and is worth a watch.  There are folks that wonder why a geriatric elder is still involved with such a remote operation, but anyone watching this video should be able to answer that question with ease.  What a place…

Finally the California fires. Conservative pundits are blaming governmental agencies for the massive damage there. What a foolish thought.  The idea that fire fighters have a chance to control flames being  goosed by 100 mph winds in an ultra-dry environment is preposterous.

America has been warned that global warming will bring extended dry spells and higher winds. That is happening all over the world, and it is getting worse every year.  It isn’t just California at risk.  A wild fire ripped through North Dakota recently, a place where giant fires are rarely seen. Fewer and  fewer people now deny global warming, but unfortunately many that do are in positions of power.  Nothing will happen on that issue for the next four years, and who knows what damage that will cause.  When you have a significant percentage of Americans who believe the earth is 5,000 years old in the face of well-established evidence that the actual age is 4-5 billion years, then its not hard to imagine that other scientific facts will be ignored as well. It's especially odd that the main folks  complaining about the California fire response are the same people who want less funding for government. Remember these basic rules when  it comes to government.

The last sentence is missing one part. It should also say "And then they raise your rates or cancel your policy."