July 2025

The July news comes to you from the wilderness of western Alaska where dead salmon on the beach prove that summer is already winding down. It was a big year for red salmon, with one of the highest escapement levels since they started counting. Here is a shot by Renee Hahnel from Brooks Falls where lodge guests go to view bears.

It would be hard to fit any more red salmon in that stream.  

Chauekuktuli is full of reds, and that attracts  the fish that feed on salmon eggs.  It also attracts critters with fur. Here is a trail cam shot from near the cabin.

Andy has his hands full with a sold out lodge and the incredible logistics that go along with that.  He did find time to do a little fishing though, captured in this video.

Sue also got in some fishing, but she and her guide had trouble holding the fish for a photo.

Granddaughter Mary didn’t have that problem with her fish.

Remembering Liz

The passing of Kwethluk elder Liz Dillon recently  caused reflection into the role she played in the Angstman family stay in Bethel.  In 1974 while renting a house on the edge of town on 7th Avenue, a bit of research revealed that a lady name Liz Dillon owned a lot at the very end of seventh avenue, which was little more than a path on the tundra in that area. A court clerk from Kwethluk knew how to reach Liz and a call brought her to Bethel a few days later. Liz had been widowed a couple years earlier when her husband Chief Tom Dillon was murdered during an arrest in Bethel. She was a wonderful lady and a delight to deal with on the lot purchase. She sold the lot for $3,000  which was about market value at the time and the next summer this structure was built on the lot, which became first the Angstman home and later Angstman Law Office and the headquarters for Old Friendly Dog Farm.

A couple of other lots adjoining that first lot were purchased from others later and that allowed the Angstman family to have  a law office, home, dog team, garden, and room to grow for the 47 years spent in Bethel.  It is very difficult to say what would have happened to the Angstmans  if that ideal piece of property had not been purchased from Liz. There was very little real estate available in Bethel at that time, and a crowded lot in the middle of town might have created a vastly different outcome. Would there have been a dog team? A Kuskokwim 300? A 47 year law practice?  Liz checked in every few years and more than once commented how she enjoyed the many trees planted on the lot and the dogs tied in the yard. The Angstmans are grateful. Happy trails Liz.

ALO Update

ALO filed a lawsuit in July that was picked up by several media outlets because it involved a former member of Congress from Alaska.  One unusual publication that called ALO for information and did this article was an Irish newspaper called  The Independent.  Many readers questioned how  such a suit could be possible because of the finding that the pilot had overloaded the aircraft. In this case, the pilot's  potential negligence is not a factor because the company that employed him failed to carry worker's compensation insurance, which is required in Alaska.  When a company has worker's comp,  no employee can sue the employer for job related injuries but instead they are compensated by the worker's comp policy. Those that fail to carry such insurance are not protected from suit, and cannot blame the employee for any fault. Most of the articles didn't pick up on that aspect of the lawsuit, and ALO took some heat in the comments. It’s not the first time. One commenter used the term "ambulance chaser.” Considering the age of the "chaser" it would have to be an extremely slow ambulance.

There was also a recent news item that the Bethel police are considering a proposal to have a TV crew follow them around for some kind of a reality tv show.  Having viewed plenty of video from various Bethel police cases over the years, it seems likely that some editing will be required for public disclosure.  Bethel cops have included some bad apples over the years and that includes some recent ones. In fact a criminal assault trial is about to start for one former Bethel policeman who is also the subject of a lawsuit involving ALO.

Angstman Boys Vs. The Schoolmarm

Last month's news spoke of the old country school attended by many members of the Angstman family.  Here is a photo from around 1912 featuring Dad and Uncle Jack in the front row, third and fourth from the left.

At that time, the Angstman house was fairly empty because most of the 13 kids had moved on, and the teacher (known then as the schoolmarm) lodged with the Angstmans. In later years Dad and Jack would talk about the schoolmarm living with them and complained that she was really ornery both at school and at home.  Jack had one additional complaint about her. "She was homely as a mud fence"  Few have seen a mud fence, so that reference was hard for a young farm kid to visualize.  But thanks to modern technology, here is such a fence.

There were actually four Angstman boys in that photo, and it’s easy to understand why the teacher was a bit ornery.  Family lore suggests the 11 Angstman boys were all rascals, and certainly some were still rascals in old age. Thankfully that family trait completely disappeared in the next generation….

Mandatory Moose and Other Characters

Some warm days in Anchorage produced this month's Mandatory Moose enjoying a lawn sprinkler.

Here is a grizzly bear with a salmon buffet all around him.

The Minnesota farm has some well placed trail cams to record what is happening. Here a couple of deer helped themselves to farm foliage.

A new law in Sherburne County prevents feeding deer from a feeder, but that sure doesn't prevent the deer from eating whatever grows.  Historically high numbers of deer frequent the farm, and they favor the alfalfa and clover planted there in several areas.

Politics: The Gift That Keeps on Taking

Current news events are fascinating.  Here are a few worth noting.  The government is getting a free jet from Qatar, which will be made into a Presidential transport aircraft at an estimated cost of just under 1 billion dollars, and completed in a couple years. Then the plane will be awarded to the Trump library for his personal use when he leaves office.  All of this with no congressional approval.  Sure sounds fishy.  Where did they find a billion extra dollars??

Libertarian Senator Rand Paul usually supports Trump but occasionally votes his own mind, as he did when he voted against the recent budget bill that narrowly passed, increasing the projected national debt by trillions, thanks to massive tax breaks for America’s richest people.  As a result, Trump took revenge against him.

Many folks doubt that global warming is real, even when presented with extensive scientific evidence that it is happening.  Some of those same people will be the loudest complainers when real world consequences start to impact their lives. Here is one example. Hazard insurance is required by most lending institutions and if such insurance is not available a housing crisis will happen overnight. Large chunks of America would become deserted in a short time.  The insurance industry is run by mostly conservative management people and if they warn that global warming is a huge danger for their business, people should listen, and worry. 

Immigration continues to be a hot topic in the US.  Here’s what a couple of former Presidents had to say on that subject.

The current push to apprehend immigrants is becoming less popular as citizens see the results, with hard working immigrant families being displaced and torn apart.  The narrative is driven by the false premise that immigrants are criminals and they are taking all of the welfare and jobs (which is it?). The fact is most immigrants hold jobs that others don’t want, and employers in those sectors are hurting for workers. But a massive increase in the ICE budget assures that the immigration war will continue for a while.

But all is not bad news. This headline from The Onion should conclude this edition on a positive note.