Alaska Digest

The story of the crash which took the lives of former Sen. Ted Stevens and four others has dominated the local headlines. Here is what else is going on.

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Overlooked in the news surrounding the plane crash, there's news regarding the secessionist movements in several states. Go here for the article.

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Earlier this week, five plane crash victims were stranded at 8,500 ft on the Knik Glacier. On Tuesday, an Air Guard chopper landed to attempt a rescue, but due to the altitude & poor weather, slid and rolled over. That left 12 stranded.

At 9 pm Tuesday, the Daily News reported that three had been rescued, but nine more await transport. "The mishap temporarily left a dozen people and two aircraft now stranded near the top of Knik Glacier, south of Mount Marcus Baker, in what started in an attempt to rescue five marooned souls."

Please click the link to read the rest, and say a prayer for those stranded, and those who will try to rescue them.

While you're praying, please remember the investigators who are in Dillingham, having recovered those killed in the plane crash, and investigating the cause. The region is still experiencing bad weather, and the site is difficult to reach.

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Political observers are noticing that there's not much "fire" in the primary races, heading toward the vote on August 24. Per an editorial in Tuesday's ADN.com website, "Alaskans for the most part just didn't have much passion for the 2010 governor's race.

"Interest -- and passions -- ran higher in 2008, when there was a serious challenge to Sen. Ted Stevens and when current Gov. Sean Parnell challenged Rep. Don Young in the primary. And that was before Sarah Palin joined Sen. John McCain on the GOP's national ticket. In 2006, Palin inspired a devoted following, ran over her primary foes and the GOP establishment and then beat former Gov. Tony Knowles that November.

"Fatigue in 2010? Maybe. But there's also a sense of uncertainty. Each camp has its true believers, but to many Alaskans the future looks cloudy, and none of the proposals to cut through the clouds look like a sure thing. We don't know if the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, backed by Gov. Parnell, is going to give us a gas pipeline. We don't know if Bill Walker's all-Alaska line is a lock, that markets and producers will respond as he believes they will. And we don't know if Ralph Samuels is right that we may have missed our chance at a major gas pipeline and should turn to deep spending cuts and a smaller, in-state gas line.

"On the Democratic side, [Ethan]Berkowitz has offered an ambitious overhaul of the way we take our share of oil and gas wealth, but it's not clear to most of us how that would improve our lives and fortunes. French stresses hard-headed negotiations over gas-line terms to benefit Alaskans. Sure, but we don't exactly know what that means until we have something to negotiate."

The piece concludes with the hope that voters will provide the fire. There are a couple of reasonably controversial measures for the people to decide ... so time will tell.

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The temperatures here haven't dropped - not really - but there's more of a 'bite' to the air when the wind blows. It's still rainy, and the leaves are just beginning to turn brown, here and there. For those of us still hoping to have a summer season, it's not the best news, but that's Alaska. It's like mama always says: