September 2025
- Myron
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
The September news comes to you from the farm in Minnesota where news of widespread devastation in Western Alaska is slowly coming in. It appears the storm is the worst ever to hit some of the coastal communities where friends and clients reside. History informs that statement, because anytime before the last 125 years such a storm would have wiped out anyone living there without any hope of rescue or support. Recent studies have shown that villages have existed along the southwest Alaska coast for thousands of years but the intensity of wind storms has increased substantially in recent history making those locations extremely vulnerable.
This account from one family is typical of the stories that are now emerging from this mess. Imagine the terror of waking up in a floating house, near the ocean at night with nothing to do but ride it out. This is a national story that unfortunately is not being reported that way.. Entire communities have been destroyed, with significant question whether they can be rebuilt, yet national news barely has mentioned the disaster.
Hundreds of people lost everything and are now displaced to Bethel which is not equipped to handle that influx. This whole effort is of course hampered by the difficult transportation issue created by villages that are served only by air with some of the airports in those communities not currently functioning. Here are a few articles in local coverage that document the situation well.
Folks in rural Alaska always respond well to such situations and it is clear that most are jumping in to help where they can. If you can donate, here is a safe link. The displaced folks are some of the least wealthy in America, and many live a subsistence lifestyle. That means that at this time most families had stored food gathered over the summer and that is all gone. Also gone is their ability to gather more food because boats, motors and snow machines also were ruined. Few had substantial cash reserves. This will be an interesting test of the Federal emergency response, which has been recently gutted of funding as have many agencies. It appears the state of Alaska is doing its part, but this promises to be a long painful process before life returns to something close to normal for the unfortunate victims.
As a final thought on this subject, look at this photo of a military transport plane with about 300 folks from the impacted villages as they are being transported from Bethel to Anchorage. They are climate refugees, and there will be countless more in the future.
In the city, they were transported to a basketball arena to shelter while their situation is sorted out. Please help where you can.
Mandatory Moose and Other Characters
A guest at the lodge this summer named David Sherman sent a book he wrote that is worth a discussion. David is an uncle of daughter-in-law Liz and lives in Paris where he retired after spending many years working as a veterinarian in Afghanistan. While there he helped establish a paravet program that apparently was very successful in providing vet care for farm animals for the many Afghans who raise a few animals for survival, mainly goats and sheep. His description of the life he lived in Afghanistan differs sharply from the image of that country most Americans share because of the long term wars and political upheaval that dominates news from there. His book is entitled That Sheep May Safely Graze. He also published Goat Medicine which is viewed as the definitive handbook on that subject worldwide.
Speaking of goats, this goat saved the day for one lucky cat.
No rescue was needed for Jack as we passed this cow moose with two calves in the dog park.
All three earned the Mandatory Moose award for this month. Here is a bird dog that might not be quite ready for prime time.
During a visit to Brooks Falls last year a fat bear named Chunk caught the eye of the Angstman family. This year he was named winner to the Fat Bear contest. It looks like he earned it.
ALO Update
ALO settled a car accident case recently involving an Anchorage bar patron who left through the back door of the bar and drove his vehicle in the alley, ran over a lady, stopped momentarily, and then drove off. An alert witness got the plate number and the driver was caught quickly. His insurance company immediately paid policy limits for a badly damaged shoulder which resulted in a $42,000 medical bill.
Someone asked recently if ALO ever has issues with cases that create special problems. The answer of course is yes. One such case involved a pair of village witnesses who came to Bethel for their depositions, and were lodged upstairs in the law office during their stay. That lodging consisted of a sleeping loft that could be reached by climbing a ladder from the main office. The witnesses were placed there to reduce the chance of unfortunate nighttime activity which was reportedly not uncommon for this couple. The first day of the depos went well, and the couple was tucked into the office by 10 that night. Apparently that wasn’t late enough for them, and the next morning they were not awake when it was time to get organized for the day. None of the ALO legal team was willing to go up and awaken the pair, so that duty fell to the unlucky boss. The sleeping area had no door but had a curtain for privacy. A couple of loud words got no response, so it was necessary to advance further. The plan was to shout at short range, and hope for the best. Moving closer to accomplish that, the viewer was subjected to a view from the foot of the bed that included the wife sleeping on her front side, with no covers, and her rather naked posterior prominently elevated. A loud shout woke the pair, and the depos went off without a hitch. The image remains.
And then there was the caller who wanted to know if she could sue her boyfriend’s wife for slander. It seems when she took up residence with her boyfriend, his wife wrote a letter in which she referred to the girlfriend as a harlot. The short answer was “Yes you can sue, but no you won’t win”.
The 58-Second Rule
That brings to mind a story about a Bethel couple who got married in Anchorage many years ago. The wedding was held at a big hotel, and there was a plan to allow some of the younger kids to hang out in one of the guest rooms during the reception to watch movies. Perhaps readers will recall an era when adult movies were available to purchase on the hotel TV after a one minute preview that was designed to “stimulate” the buyer. This group of kids had some interest in watching the adult previews but were greatly concerned about watching for more than one minute for fear of having the movie rental appear on the hotel bill and being busted. To prevent that from happening the youngest member of the group was assigned the duty of watching the clock and shouting out at 58 seconds to stop the preview. This scheme worked until some of the older members of the group spilled the news to a parent who then got the whole story. Apparently the clock watcher complained loudly that he was stuck watching the clock and didn’t get to see any of the on screen action…
The Best and the Worst of the Month
The ALO news has featured the writings of Laurali Ivanoff several times. Her latest article is well worth the read.
Granddaughter Mary gets around. This time it is Iceland for a conference on Arctic issues. She is an Arctic Youth Ambassador and that organization highlighted one of her speeches.
This posting by the CEO of Ford Motor Company is kind of alarming. Remember when made in China meant it is was a cheap version of something made in America?? That is not the case anymore.
There are still some quality items made in America of course. These items are essential, and priced very low as well.
Yes, that is a real ad.
The folks who harp about creeping socialism in America don’t have much to say about the government’s foray into private businesses lately. The most recent was the US taking a stake in Trilogy, a metals company seeking to develop a mine in Northwest Alaska which requires the construction of a massive road project into the wilderness. That deal coincided with the Trump administration reversing the government’s position to allow a permit for the road. All of that sent Trilogy stock soaring of course, and the day before it was announced Trilogy had 300 times its average number of stock trades. At some point in the future, an investigation will reveal the names of the lucky stock buyers who anticipated the price increase, and some of them might go to jail for insider trading.
Additional corruption news features the Speaker of the House refusing to seat a newly elected Democratic member of the House. That person has promised to vote in favor of a measure to require release of the Epstein files which is one vote short at the moment. His explanation for not seating the new member doesn’t pass the smirk test. Here is a song that addresses the issue quite well.
Finally, the best man in Congress speaks out regularly on important issues and is rarely challenged. Here is a recent example.