Legal business got done in November at ALO. A serious dog bite case settled, involving a large dog that attacked a TSA agent at the Bethel airport. As required, the dog was taken from its kennel so that the box could be examined. When it was removed from the kennel, the owner placed a muzzle on the dog. When the dog was about to be placed back in the kennel the muzzle was removed and the dog lept to the neck of the TSA agent, ripping a deep hole. The dog also bit a second person before it was restrained. The insurance company involved took a long time to understand that such facts can result in big verdicts almost anywhere.
Not all dogs attack. One in particular prefers to retrieve, and he isn't real fussy what he picks up. Tanner, who has been featured here with a large red salmon in his mouth, also likes shoes. When Valerie and Doug Bue visited the Elk Farm, one of Val's boots came up missing after she left them on the porch. A long search finally revealed the boot half buried in the leaves far behind the house. Val then went in the house to find one of her inside shoes missing as well. That resulted in a shorter successful search. Tanner also walked off with an expensive set of ear protectors, hiding them under a brush pile in the yard. He was tricked into retrieving that prize after he was shown another set of earphones, and was asked to look for them.
Val was in Minnesota to bow hunt for deer, and she told quite a story about her first deer. Val of course is from Sand Point, and bow hunting for deer is a pursuit she took up after marrying Doug, a long time bow hunter from Minnesota. She practiced her sport, and the first time she went hunting she harvested this giant and created quite a stir in Doug's home town of Marshall.
It seems this deer had been seen and pursued by many locals for years. Many came to see the harvested deer. One old guy came by and cried when he saw the deer hanging in the back yard. Doug pointed out that there are few mature bucks in the area, because of wide open farm fields and heavy hunting pressure. In other words, Val's first deer was basically a fluke, a stroke of luck that would never happen again.
Except that it did. After leaving the Elk Farm, Val went back to bow hunting near Marshall and harvested this. Meanwhile, three bucks were harvested at the Elk Farm, nothing quite like the ones pictured.
People who read this page often email stuff to be used. Someone sent in this photo
which was thought to be some kind of fake until a bit of checking turned up this story about the picture. The mandatory moose photo is also unique.
Here is a shot of an Elk Farm coyote, who appears to be eating well.
The final animal photo of the month is this shot of an 18 dog team being trained near Bethel recently.
Low snow conditions have resulted in rough training, and the second sled is to allow better control on the icy trails with such a large team of dogs.
Congratulations are in order for two new bar members. Zach Fansler, the Kuskokwim 300 race manager, was admitted to the Alaska bar and former ALO paralegal Amy Ponsness was admitted to the California bar. For Zach, its his fourth bar membership, Amy's first. She did it the hard way, taking online courses from Bethel to get started. The California bar has an unusually low pass rate, and passing from an online school is quite the accomplishment.
Much is made these days of people on welfare who do not contribute to the US economy, the so-called takers. A far greater problem is the growing number of employed people who are unable to make ends meet because of low wages. This story details the situation where consumers get low prices because welfare helps pay the wages, and the owners reap the benefits. Disgusting.
Finally, it is obvious that a growing percentage of older men have hearing problems. It is predicted that the percentage will explode once the long term damage from loud music devices is tallied. This picture reveals the nature of the problem.
