Break Up is Always Newsworthy, Along with Other Intriguing Events

10 April 2012
5:24 PM

Sunrise at	6:32 AM	in direction	68°	East-northeast
Sunset at	9:14 PM	in direction	292°	West-northwest

Duration of day: 14 hours, 42 minutes (6 minutes, 49 seconds longer than yesterday)

I was perusing headlines, looking for items of interest .. I did find some interesting tidbits, for me at least; I am not sure readers outside of Alaska would be as curious about those topics.  Alaskan headlines online are never comprised solely of the most sordid details of crime, passion, and loss.  I appreciate that!

Two subjects stand out, well three - okay four, as worth noting:  Ongoing discussion about spring's approach, the derelict sea vessel sunk by the Coast Guard (and then other derelicts in Alaskan history), a grizzly bear loose around Portage, between Anchorage and Seward, and a young reporter's encounter with the Arizona mob - trying to get his first big scoop.

Four articles discussed break up, a headline is all three sites I visit regularly.  The first is my kind of reporting - lots of photos - showing the progress of break up in Anchorage.  As in Fairbanks, no deluge from the deep snow fall has yet occurred.  I quote from  For Anchorage, breaking up isn't hard to do -- so far -  "The reason: sunshine and warming during the day with freezing nights, said John Papineau, a meterologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage" -- Photos.  But not everyone is convinced we've seen the last of it.  I am not laying bets, but there still is a lot of snow out there and all it takes is a few warm days and above freezing nights to release more than can be managed by the drainage systems.  One audio article provides a discussion panel advising residents what to expect if water flow exceed capacity:  Spring Break Up.  One of the more unusual stories of this year's break up was that unusually dangerous ice accumulations were falling along the Seward Highway earlier this week:  DOT Warns of Ice Falling ...  But my favorite is another audio article posted by Emily Schwing, of KUAC here in Fairbanks.  The snow bunting has returned to the north:  Harbingers of spring.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/04/09/2414807/record-snow-warmer-weather-equals.html#storylink=cpy

Grizzly on the Run was fun because of the comments made by readers, and the realization that one very solitary bear will have to make some smart decision soon in order to avoid being shot during bear season. I loved the story earlier this week about a USCG Cutter sinking a Japanese ship that had been set for salvage, but broke moorings during the Tsunami.  But a this article describes a ghost ship that sailed Arctic waters for four decades:  Alaska's ghostly maritime past.

Cocktails with the Mob - who would have thought I would be reading about the hilarious encounter of an ambitious and brash Alaskan newspaperman trying to further his career by tailing rumored mobsters?  Well, Alaskans are always full of surprises and I hope you enjoy the read as much as I did.