That headline is the gist of what an article on Alaska reported in our recent Sunday paper. And, I quote, ‘The summer tourist magnet is planning months of celebration, featuring some of the state’s biggest bashes.?
President Dwight Eisenhower signed the legislation making Alaska our 49th state, 50 years ago in June.
The promoters in Juneau better hope the power grid is restored by then.
If you read Jottings last week (how could you not?), you read that just a month ago an avalanche took down a mile of those huge, 4-posted power carriers, south of Juneau. A July restoration is hoped for.
With power costing about five times as much now, celebrants better bring candles.
Thank goodness several of my friends know I love local newspapers. Barbara Rockwell remembered me on her trip to visit her sister in Juneau.
One was the April 20, Juneau Empire. News emphasis was on the increase in the cost of electricity. Before the avalanche, Juneau had the lowest rates in Alaska. Now some homeowner rates have gone from $100 to $500 a month.
That’s a lot of hurting when you consider most of the homes built in the boom following 1980 are heated with electricity. It was the most inexpensive heat . . . until now.
And, forget about plug-in electric cars.
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This headline on page 6 caught my eye. I don’t hope to see one like it in this paper.
‘You don’t have to have peed in the Yukon to be a real Alaskan.?
Part of the article is about the Cheechakos who live in places like Angoon and Tenakee Springs. They don’t rely on hydropower.
But the Cheechakos of southeast Alaska have a way of strengthening their mind, body and soul. Some fools in the lower states do this annually. The Tlingit people may do it daily, year around. (Polar bear plunges — Brrr.)
The Juneau Empire has a whole lot of jobs posted in their classified pages. They also carry a whole lot of boats for sale.
The front page of The Skagway News has a picture of a caribou crossing the road by a Caribou Crossing sign.
Skagway is sort of a well-know name. I’ve certainly heard of it. After reading the 8-page tabloid newspaper, I looked up the population.
680!
The News comes out twice a month, but I can’t imagine a town of 680 in the lower 48 supporting a newspaper of any size. But it was in this paper I learned of the potential slowdown of visitors to Skagway when the new passport rules take effect. Skagway is an entry point to Alaska from British Columbia.
Questions have arisen regarding First Nations persons, and the many tribal cards they possess.
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The Ely Echo newspaper had an interesting story in its April 5 issue. People in that Minnesota town, bordering Canada, awoke April 1 to signs on posts reading: ‘Say NO, stop Canada! Keep Ely in Minnesota.?
Seems the Chamber of Commerce hired people from a Twin Cities marketing firm to raise awareness about Ely, and drum up business for the summer tourism season. It worked better than expected, says Chamber Director Linda Fryer. Radio stations in Colorado, among others far away, carried the hoax.
‘Most people quickly caught on — realizing Ontario really had no plans to add Ely into the province — some people fell for the ruse hook, line and sinker.?