February 2025

February news at ALO always includes Iditarod stuff. This year no Kuskokwim area teams took part and as a result ALO interest dropped to a very low level. It was nice to see a first time champion, one who has previously raced the Kuskokwim 300, but beyond that the race lacked excitement at ALO. One item of controversy did arise at the end. Some teams were asked to withdraw from the race for being too far behind during the middle part of the race on the lower Yukon River. That created an outpouring of sympathy for the teams removed of course, with little reference to the logistic nightmare of keeping the remote checkpoints operative for extra days to accommodate the slowest teams. The race has a rule that allows for removal of non-competitive teams, and critics of that rule likely have little awareness of the crew needed to keep remote checkpoints operative. That crew includes pilots, veterinarians, race judges, checkers and dog care people. Most of those volunteers have jobs and family elsewhere, and extra days on the trail are a challenge. Speaking as a person who has been a race judge on the Iditarod for two weeks one year, that experience should not to be confused with spring break in Hawaii. While there is some excitement when the lead teams come through, that excitement ebbs as the stragglers slowly trickle in, often tired and discouraged. For fans sitting at home it's easy to say those volunteers should wait for the last racers to pass through. Like in most activities, dog racing is suffering from reduced participation at all levels and that includes volunteers. Fewer teams take part and that means fewer highly motivated folks who show up to help. The future of long distance racing is not assured, and no level of social media criticism of the Iditarod will change that.

ALO Update

ALO had a busy month settling cases. Two cases involved the loss of eyesight by clients.  One of those was a young child who was scratched in the eye by a cat. That resulted in numerous visits to an optometrist for treatment that should never have happened. In Alaska, and optometrist can only provide a certain minimal level of care, and more involved treatment must come from an ophthalmologist, meaning an actual eye MD. The fact that optometrists are frequently called doctor is misleading and in this case was disastrous.  The child’s eye worsened steadily and the young woman treating the child failed to consult with her supervising doctor who was located nearby in the same clinic. Eventually the five year old girl's eyesight was lost. A settlement was reached with the clinic, but the lawsuit against the optometrist is still pending.

The other case involved an accident at a state jail, where an inmate was told to clean a room with a harsh cleaning fluid. The inmate had no eye protection and some of the fluid penetrated his eye. The jail failed to properly respond to this situation and before proper care was provided several days later he lost sight in that eye. The third settlement involved a highly paid medical provider who was improperly terminated at a hospital. 

ALO opened a new case involving sexual abuse of a minor in Fairbanks. This police statement explains the situation. The comments with that article suggest the teacher has minimal support. In addition to being a former teacher, the accused person was a news anchor at a Fairbanks TV station and public address announcer at a popular tourist destination in that city. Stay tuned for updates on that case.

Mandatory Moose & Other Characters

Wildlife gets some attention this month, as always. This bear is responding to major job losses at National Parks.

Dolly took this shot of a Boreal Owl in Bethel.

Here is an aerial shot of a caribou herd near Bethel taken by former Bethel kid Jack Anders now flying for Yute. His parents Bruce and Christie used to live and work as lawyers in Bethel. Christie recently teamed up with ALO to settle a wrongful death claim.

Not many herds of this size have been seen for the past 10-15 years, which hopefully means the herd has overcome the issues that drove down the population around the turn of the century. 

And of course, the Mandatory Moose for the month taken by Bev Hoffman in her Bethel yard.

A Lesson In Currency

The recent opening of a small gambling facility in greater Anchorage brings to mind a memory from a trip to Africa a while ago. The final night of a trip to Zimbabwe was at a famous old hotel in Victoria Falls, on the Zambezi River. A small casino was located near the hotel, and a late night visit was planned there after Sue went to bed. Purchasing chips at the casino was easy with an American credit card. There was no warning sign that said anything about the fact that all winnings were paid in Zimbabwe money, but who plans to win anyway??  It was an unusual night of Blackjack. On a $20 investment, a lucky Alaskan cashed in $400 at the end and was happy enough to wake up Sue with the news. The happiness expired the next day when it was discovered that Zimbabwe money could not be exchanged for American money, or spent anywhere else in the world. A spending spree the next morning at a crafts market depleted the previous night’s haul a bit, and the remainder was left as tips in the room and with a really happy cab driver at the airport. The fare was about $10, and when handed a $100 tip the driver wasn’t going to take any chances that it was a mistake that might be noticed and sped off as soon as the bill hit his hand.

Angstman Women: Proving Men Need Supervision Since the 1800s

Some have read here about the unusual situation in the Angstman family where two brothers married two sisters and the families lived on adjoining farms, with the children growing up as virtual siblings. The last of those neighboring double cousins, Donna Jean, died recently at age 94.

Cousin Donna Jean

Donna was a durable farm woman her whole life and lived through numerous hardships. She is among a few Angstman women who have lived long lives. The only two Angstman aunts in a family of 13 kids both exceeded 100 years of age, and sister Velma just reached 90.

Aunts Esther and Laura

Here is a photo of the entire Angstman clan from about 1908.

Some would say those women had to live a long time to look after the male members of the family who certainly needed supervision. Some Angstman men still do…

Are We Great Yet?

Here are a couple of cartoons that are on point.

America’s political situation is dire. Trump is busy knocking down traditional limits to Presidential power and too many people don’t seem to care. His often stated support for authoritarian leaders doesn’t seem to bother anyone, even as he bows to Putin on the Ukraine situation. Make no mistake, Russia is not a friend to America, yet  the US seems to drift away from allies and favor Russia more every day. It boggles the mind that America would suggest to Canadians that they should become the 51st state, and then place harsh tariffs on Canadian products, driving up their cost in America at the expense of consumers. The net result of the tariff chaos is economic uncertainty which is not good for consumers.  Put it plainly, if companies can’t count on their cost  of production, they will likely error on the side of increased costs and make their prices higher, just to be safe. That is happening now, and consumers are paying for it. Tariffs are quite simply a tax charged to the ultimate consumer of the tariffed product.  It is important to remember that a tariff is a tax imposed by the president without any input from Congress.

There are a number of graphic reminders of where we stand, that need to be considered. Here we go: 

Sometimes Vance is spot on. Please listen.

Here is how others view us.

One of the biggest losers in this whole fiasco is the environment. It's hard to tally how drastically Trump has hammered Mother Nature but there is new stuff every day. This comes at a time when scientists believe they undershot their predictions about global warming. For example ocean temperatures are at an all time high and increasing. Many organisms can’t adapt quickly enough to survive such change, and are disappearing. A wide spread collapse of ocean life is predicted and with it a massive shortfall in the global food supply. When a president has a focus on geographic expansion rather than ecological preservation, there is a problem. Who could possibly think it is a good idea to annex Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal and Gaza?  Doesn’t anyone consider the fallout of such nonsense?  What would Americans think of a Russian plan to take over Canada??  Meanwhile, Musk stated recently that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are sure to be cut soon. Most families have members who rely on those programs and for some folks social security is all that keeps them from despair. How can the richest man in the world, who holds no elected office, cut these crucial programs and leave people destitute just to reduce his taxes? By the way, Musk's company Tesla paid no US tax last year.