Alaska News, Bits & Pieces

Smoke gets in your eyes: The air quality in southcentral Alaska is going downhill. The Chugach Range faded to a milky gray, masked by smoke. Didn't look good, and it's hard to convince your lungs the air is good when it's hot, hazy and still. We could use some rain, or even a stiff wind.

A high-pressure system is making our air stagnant. And it's causing smoke from fires west of Fairbanks to build up here.

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Aww, the poor puppies! An illness in Juneau dogs has been diagnosed as canine influenza. "This appears to be pretty mild," said Gastineau Human Society executive director Chava Lee, "but still we wanted people to know and to take precautions to protect their animals." No dog deaths have been reported.

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Word on the street is that several so-called reporters from PMSNBC are up here again, sniffing around. I'm sure that they think they may stumble over something new regarding Sarah. The degree of PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome) seems to be at levels approaching that of last August when John McCain first named the Governor as his running mate.

You almost feel sorry for them as they run in circles, tripping over each other. Almost.

Naw.

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More smoke, more eyes: One of the wildfires producing all this smoke is located 13 miles northwest of Nenana, and now covers more than 126,000 acres.

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Downdraft blues: An airplane crashed Monday about 25 miles northeast of Palmer, sending two men to the hospital with nonfatal injuries, according to federal aviation officials. I hope the pilot and passenger weren't hurt too badly.

The Bellanca 8GCBC apparently got caught in a downdraft while flying in a valley and the gust slammed it to the ground, causing significant damage to the plane ... It doesn't seem to have done the occupants much good, either.