Updates « Grassroots Science

Entries categorized as ‘Updates’

Photos of Lower Yukon River spring flooding

2009 May 25 · Leave a Comment

Craig Spacek’s photostream usually has interesting photos from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

He’s just posted some of today’s river flooding in Emmonak.

2009-05-26 from Alaska PrideMay 2009 Eagle, Alaska Begins Recovery After Ice Jam Flood Takes Out 30 Homes, Contaminates The Well With E.Coli, And Spreads Diesel Pollution View all posts on the 2009 Interior Alaska floods HERE, in inverse chronological order. The most recent post will appear first.

Site Search Tags: Emmonak, erosion, Yukon+River, flooding, preparedness, photos

Categories: Alaska · Updates · environmental change · preparedness
Tagged: Bumsted, Grassroots Science, Unorganized Borough, YKAlaska

Why didn’t they they do this 3 years ago– public’s health

2009 May 2 · Leave a Comment

Alaska Airlines said it was removing pillows and blankets from all of its 114 planes, and would disinfect and sanitize all of its planes during overnight maintenance.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/may/02/flu-wallops-mexican-tourism/

Now we won’t have any pillows for lumbar support to overcome the cramped seating and they’ll probably turn the heat too high to compensate for no blankets.

Bring back the antimacassar!

I always assumed pillows and blankets were disinfected regularly on planes (but nevertheless was queasy that it didn’t occur). Whole Foods doesn’t provide hand gel near the food counters or exits– a precaution to not so much to prevent illness but to remind patrons to practice safe sneezing. On the other hand, the Johnny Appleseed Trail of North Central Massachusetts, Visitor Center http://www.appleseed.org/ wipes down the doorknobs and door handles every hour as routine (they get lots of visitors per hour on the highways).

2009-05-05 I found out yesterday that Northwest/Delta airlines does have antimacassars and free pillows and blankets for lumbar support. Food is still extra.

Site Search Tags: Alaska+Airlines, preparedness, PPE, public+health, business, Whole+Foods, health+centers

Categories: Alaska · H5N1 · Updates · business · preparedness · sanitation
Tagged: analytical anhropology, Bumsted, Grassroots Science, YKAlaska

How to avoid swine flu H1N1, or any other, quick list

2009 April 30 · 2 Comments

Just visited western Massachusetts, Amherst area. None of the stores (including Whole Foods) and doctors’ offices, medical centers, or retirement places that I saw had any hand sanitizer available for visitors. It doesn’t take much to provide a safe reminder about hand washing and sneezing. See also, Mr Purell goes to City Hall

2009-05-18
Another source of information about preparedness (in multiple languages), How the 1918 flu prepares for 21st Century, in a comic book

Categories: H5N1 · PPE Personal Protection · Updates · business · info sources · preparedness · sanitation · schoolchildren
Tagged: analytical anhropology, Bumsted, Grassroots Science, YKAlaska

Ashfall or fallout? in Alaska

2009 April 5 · 1 Comment

By John M. Glionna April 5, 2009 Reporting from Seoul — Defying weeks of international pressure, North Korea launched a multistage rocket today, a move that the U.S. and its allies fear masked a test of its ability to deliver nuclear weapons.

Fortunately, it was just a rocket test, although falling debris is bad enough. See the earlier post, Where is… Bethel from Pyongyang

Categories: Alaska · Updates · preparedness
Tagged: Bumsted, Grassroots Science, Unorganized Borough, YKAlaska

Emmonak and other Alaska Native Villages in the Wade Hampton Census Area

2009 January 15 · 4 Comments

DCED location of Emmonak Alaska

This is just a brief note for those looking for information about the immediate heat and food problems originally reported in the Alaska Newspapers Emmonak man seeks food airlift to combat economic crisis.

[Mr Nicholas Tucker did a great job of detailing the issues in his letter to the newspaper, another example of grassroots science in action.]

The problems are discussed at Alaska Public Radio Extreme cold forcing Emmonak residents to choose fuel over food, at Alaska Real Another village in trouble and Another Alaskan village in trouble – follow-up, and at Alaska Mudflats among other places, Hope Coming to Emmonak and Beyond?.

All have information on how blog readers can help (see the comments at each site). Celtic Diva has the latest links to where the story is discussed, AK Village of Emmonak in dire need–**UPDATE WITH AUDIO** She reminds me of the earlier, 11 December 2008, story by Ted Land posted at KTUU about Martin Moore’s effort to get help from the state. Fuel shortage, cost have village seeking state assistance

Martin Moore has been coming to a borrowed Anchorage office for the past few months, making phone calls, writing letters, and setting up meetings with state officials advocating help with his village’s high fuel costs.

As mentioned in the comments at Mudflats, there are several communities in the Wade Hampton census area also in dire straits. There was a community meeting yesterday that included these other Villages, too. I hope to have more specifics later.

In the meantime, use the site search tags below for background information.

map of Wade Hampton Census Area

Site Search Tags: Emmonak, Wade+Hampton

Categories: Alaska · Updates · environmental change · help wanted · maps
Tagged: Bumsted, Grassroots Science, YKAlaska

Displaced person in Palin’s Alaska

2008 October 19 · 3 Comments

There are a lot of us in 2008. Those with greater resources left last year (2007); nearly 15% of Bethel by mid-summer 2007 according to the Chamber of Commerce. I haven’t heard this year’s figures and don’t know how they gather the data. By October 2007 it was evident the trend for losing middle class students in the high school was continuing, lessening the diversity needed in a thriving school community the size of Bethel. People had used all their savings or retirement (if any) to deal with the increased living expenses, combining families by moving in with relatives, or shutting all rooms except the one next to the oil stove (Thank goodness for Toyo stoves. Heating my small house/room is only 150 gallons a year).

Some members of the Legislature had proposed back then to offer a portion of our state’s surplus royalities back to the folks needing to cover the costs of that oil at retail. That was scuttled in favor of Sen Lyman’s proposal to fund landlords and homeowners to weatherize their buildings. There aren’t enough certified weatherization inspectors; limited refunds for weatherization won’t be released without a before and after inspection. The refunds won’t cover those who weatherized the year before (2007). [ http://aprn.org/2008/10/14/state-energy-rebate-program-undergoes-change/] The scheme is for refunds, requiring up front money for making renovations, after up front money is used for the inspections, if there were inspectors….

Gov. Palin says she gave everyone, man, woman, and infant, $1200 to cover this year’s energy needs. A lot of us could only use the money to leave home.

[The "energy rebate" and the permanent fund dividend (PFD) is enough to go from Bethel to Anchorage, but not enough to live on. If anyone knows of paid temping jobs, or permanent ones, please let me know. No CDL or clinical but I can type and read, 'rite, 'rithmetic ;o) ]

“Saying goodbye, thank you”, http://deltadiscovery.com/letters/letters.html
“Leaving Bethel with legacy of helping”, http://thetundradrums.com/section/letters

I have worked for many years with the people of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta on issues of health, environment, heritage and cultural resources, elders, science teachers, and information technology.

Unfortunately, I must now say goodbye and thank you as I must relocate away from Bethel. This won’t stop my support of grassroots science, elder participation, and thoughtful solutions from the communities of the Delta. Relocation won’t end my friendships, won’t end my learning, and won’t end my substantiated belief in the abilities of people out here to contribute to world knowledge and culture. (It has been a struggle to convince some organizations, governments, and institutions of such value, as many of you know, whether the issue was Village erosion or elder rights or cleaning up dumps or environmental health or protection of natural resources or emergency preparedness.)

I have seen many of my neighbor kids grow into productive adults. Thank you for what you have taught me. I have worked with incredible scientists and thinkers, though many won’t have formal training beyond high school. I have also learned from those who put in immense effort and sacrifice in formal settings so that we may benefit from their pastoral or technical caring. By their works I have known them.

While I am moving to a new home, I am still supporting rural Alaska and Alaska Natives through the website http://ykalaska.wordpress.com Virtual reality isn’t quite the same as “real reality” but please help me stay in touch through the website.

All through my life I have tried to live by the basic tradition of science and education–

Just as people must share seal meat and oil to maintain physical and social well-being, so, too, must they share knowledge–so that their minds will not rot.

I hope I have lived up to this while in Bethel.
M Pamela Bumsted, Grassroots Science
Bethel, AK

————

Site Search Tags: Tundra+Drums, Delta+Discovery, migration, energy, erosion, Sarah Palin, demography, environmental+change, economy, rural+development

Categories: Updates · differing views (Thimk) · help wanted
Tagged: Bumsted, Grassroots Science, YKAlaska

More godwits, less Palinistics

2008 September 10 · 1 Comment

And now, on to non-Palin Alaska news.

The godwits arrive in New Zealand from Alaska, skinny and tired and early. New Zealand’s One News says conservationists are worried why the birds took such a quick exit [sic] from their Alaska homeland.

The bar-tailed godwit arrives in New Zealand after a non-stop 11,000-kilometer flight over the Pacific, landing tired, worn out and starved.

Godwits have been steadily losing large chunks of their feeding grounds in Asia, where the birds stop over on their return trip to Alaska at the end of the summer.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/newsreader/story/520577.html

Previous godwit

It’s not just godwits that are antipodean

Godwits, godwits, godwits

Sarah Palin content

2008 August 30 · 7 Comments

revised 2009-07-03 A good summary of recent events of former Gov. Palin is Palin Resigns: Exit stage right

revised 2008-10-15 A good summary of Gov. Palin in Alaska is

Sarah Palin, A View From Anchorage Listen Now [41 min 28 sec] add to playlist Fresh Air from WHYY, October 15, 2008 · Supporters and detractors alike can’t seem to get enough of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Anchorage Daily News columnist Michael Carey discusses the woman who promises to bring “a little bit of reality from Wasilla Main Street” to Washington, DC.

[additions]
Cama’i visitors.

Local results for ‘Palin’ using the search box. You may also use the site search tag in each post, Sarah+Palin.

WordPress.com doesn’t have the best internal search engine, but I’m usually good about using the tags correctly. If you want to know more about Alaska and Alaska Natives, including Eskimo people, especially Yup’ik people of the Yukon Kuskokwim Nushagak region, try using the categories in the sidebar or the site search tags at the bottom of each post.

The Nushagak River is in the Bristol Bay region (Dillingham is the hub. The link opens in a new window) from which Todd Palin’s family comes.

Our terrific state-wide public radio network is offering a reprise of their hour-long show about Governor Palin. Listen here, AK: Sarah Palin, Revisited

Where is… Palin and bridge to Nowhere Alaska

2008 August 29 · 7 Comments

Now that the Republicans have placed a woman (Gov. Sarah Palin) on the national ticket, 24 years after the Democratic Party, folks seem to wonder again about the Bridge to Nowhere. One of the bridges is in Ketchikan. The other is the Knik bridge which would have connected Anchorage to Senator Lisa Murkowski’s designated new home. [see update to this, below]

But the Ketchikan bridge is the principle one in the spotlight with Sarah Palin’s new role as vice-presidential nominee, the McCain-Palin ticket.

Proposed Gravina Island bridge going nowhere | APRN
Sep 21, 2007 … Governor Palin announced today that the state is abandoning plans to construct the Gravina bridge. One of the two infamous bridges to …

http://aprn.org/2007/09/21/proposed-gravina-island-bridge-going-nowhere/

“Ketchikan
(KETCH-ih-kan)”
http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CIS.cfm?Comm_Boro_Name=Ketchikan

Here is a link to the map and story about the other nowhere bridge (the one to Sen Murkowski and shortcut to Wasilla)
Alaska Congressmen Attempt to Earmark ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ For Personal Profiteering

PS– It’s PAY-lin

[revised 2008-08-31] Gov Palin did NOT reject the pork from Sen. Stevens. She said there wasn’t enough money to finish the bridge so directed the same nowhere money to other road system projects. Good for the road system, which cover less than 1/3 of the state.

Under mounting political pressure over pork projects, Congress stripped the earmark – or stipulation – that the money be used for the airport, but still sent the money to the state for any use it deemed appropriate.

The state took much of that for other projects around the state.

Palin on Friday said the Ketchikan project was $329 million short of full funding.

“It’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island,” Palin said…

The DOT will prepare a list of projects across the state where the $36 million in federal funds that was set aside for Gravina Island could be used. [...]

http://dwb.adn.com/news/alaska/story/9320482p-9235189c.html

[revised again]
I’m not on the road system so miss a lot of the bridge’s history. Here is a summary from Mudflats,
Palin is McCain’s Bridge to Nowhere. Thanks, But No Thanks.

2009-01-31 “New cost estimate for Knik Arm bridge: $680 million (Daily News politics blog): The bridge authority has long used a rough estimate of between $450 million and $600 million for spanning Knik Arm between Anchorage and Point MacKenzie.”
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/newsreader/story/673205.html

2008-09-04 Posts specific to Palin info–
http://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/where-is-palin-and-bridge-to-nowhere-alaska/
http://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/todd-palin-sarah-palins-husband-and-rural-alaska-living/
http://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/where-is-wasilla-gov-sarah-palins-residence/
http://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/sarah-palin-content/

Site Search Tags: Sarah+Palin, Bridge+to+Nowhere, Alaska, where+is, McCain+Palin Lisa+Murkowski, Ted+Stevens, APRN.org

Categories: Updates · maps
Tagged: Bumsted, Grassroots Science, YKAlaska

Where is… Wasilla (Gov. Sarah Palin’s residence)

2008 August 29 · 4 Comments

News media have described Wasilla, formerly mayored by Sarah Palin, with population size all over the place. For the latest population figures and other data, press that Alaska state flag in the sidebar or go here–

http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CIS.cfm?Comm_Boro_Name=Wasilla

Location map of WAH-sill-ah Alaska