09 February 2017

News of the Day

We got another two or three inches of snow last night, keeping us just above average on snowfall for the winter. It's a nice change of pace, after the last three winters when we got almost no snow at all, but had multiple ice storms. And that's not all:
The last two winters were not kind to Fur Rendezvous events. “The World Championship Sled dog race became just a small sprint around Mulcahy Football Stadium and back, but this year we’ve been told the back trail is really great,” said Rondy Executive Director John McCleary.  
Taking advantage of the snow will be events like Rondy Snowshoe Softball and the ever popular Running of the Reindeer.
 
So let's see: what else is going on around Alaska?
A Sterling pilot was injured in small plane crash near Sterling Wednesday afternoon. 
According to Alaska State Troopers, 27-year-old Charley Tegerdine was the pilot and sole occupant of the Piper PA-18 that crashed on the banks of the Kenai River near Morgan’s Landing just before 3 p.m.  
“Tegerdine reported experiencing mechanical issues with the flight controls immediately prior to the crash,” troopers wrote in a dispatch posted online.
 
There's this:
Three of Alaska's largest universities have put their boss on notice. 
Multiple votes of “no confidence” in the University of Alaska leadership is exposing a rift among faculty and administration. Faculty officials said the tension stems from what they describe as being left without a meaningful voice in budget cut decisions. 
“It was kind of a last resort,” said UAA Faculty Senate President Dave Fitzgerald. “If we're not going to be listened to in any other way, then let's take a vote.”
 
And, in a visible way of making "Trump" changes:
Just three days before this week's environment conference in Alaska, the top Environmental Protection Agency official in Anchorage called the organizer with some news: The agency had been instructed by the White House to slash the number of EPA staffers who could attend. 
... There had been 34 EPA staffers registered; in the end, only half were allowed to go.

9 comments:

griz said...

Rev. Paul.
Glad you supplied a link to the ADN's EPA article.
Your link, allowed me to post in the comments.
Thanks
Griz

Rev. Paul said...

I'm glad it helped, Griz. I try to provide links to any article that's quoted from.

Old NFO said...

Good news? More or less??? Enjoy the snow...

Rev. Paul said...

Other than the ongoing violent crimes in the city of Anchorage, most of the headlines are carried over from days ago. Nothing really new ... fresh snow is the best part of it.

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

Forgive my lack of geocentric university knowledge: Does the University of Alaska have finance issues?

Rev. Paul said...

Oh yes, certainly. As the price of oil has diminished the State's revenue below the minimum necessary to keep their inflated projections afloat, the U of A - and most local governments - are also affected by the lack of State funds.

LindaG said...

If President Trump is able to start any of his Make America Energy Independent plans, maybe the price of oil will go up again.

When did they start running reindeer? I don't remember them doing that in the 70s..

But then there is a lot I forget, haha!

Have fun in the snow!

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

Ah yes, the old "Let's fund something based on something we have no control over." That, on the whole, have never worked well...

Rev. Paul said...

Linda, the reindeer were added in the mid-2000s.

TB, the Legislature here did what all legislatures do: spend money faster than it comes in, and continue spending as if conditions will never change.