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Film performed entirely in Haida, a language with 14 speakers

Suzanne Downing
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Film performed entirely in Haida, a language with 14 speakers

Edge of the Knife is a Northwest Coast Haida historical drama performed entirely in the Haida language, with English subtitles.

Haida is thought to have fewer than 14 living fluent speakers, and filmmakers Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown utilized a dialect coach for this film.

The Haida populated the coast as far north as Prince of Wales Island and at the time of European arrival, there were more than 15,000 speakers of the Haida language. The Haida people are more spread out now, but still have a strong presence in their homeland that spans two nations.

The Canadian film takes its inspiration from the Haida story of Gaagiixiid/Gaagiid wildman, a tale of a man who is racked by the guilt of having caused the death of his nephew.  Watch the trailer for the film here:

 

University warning of data breach over a year later

Suzanne Downing
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University warning of data breach over a year later

SOMEONE HACKED THE EMAIL SYSTEM

The University of Alaska is notifying potentially affected students and others after an investigation into a data privacy incident revealed unauthorized access to some UA email accounts.

The breach took place over a year ago, but it wasn’t until Friday at 11 pm that the university made public the breach through third-party news release services such as PRWire.com.

The press release does not indicate how many people are believed to be impacted. The university has no notification on its own website about the breach.

[Read the entire Friday night press statement]

The university says it is notifying individuals whose records were or may have been in the email accounts at the time of the hack attack and is providing credit resources that can be used to help protect against misuse of information.

The problem dates to February 2018, when the university officials began receiving reports from people having problems accessing their university email accounts.

The university took steps to disable unauthorized access and started an investigation. The school worked with a third-party expert to determine the impact of the breach.

That investigation determined that certain users UAOnline account passwords were changed by an unauthorized third party. UA notified all of those whose accounts were affected and upgraded security protocols for password changes.

The information that may have been present in the affected email accounts varies by individual.

That information may include an individual’s name, government issued identification number, date of birth, digital signature, driver’s license number, usernames and/or passwords, financial account numbers, health and/or health insurance information, passport number, and UA student identification number. For certain individuals, Social Security number may also have been present in the affected email accounts.

UA is notifying potentially affected individuals of this incident, providing them with access to credit monitoring, and providing information and access to resources they may use to better protect against potential misuse of personal information, should they feel it appropriate to do so.

To assist individuals who may have further questions about this incident, UA established a toll-free hotline: 866-783-5580, operational weekdays, 5 am – 6 pm. Additional information may also be found at https://www.alaska.edu/news/it/dataincident.php.  The University will not contact people by phone to request any personal information.

Things you can send through the TSA checkpoint: Moose poop

Suzanne Downing
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1
Things you can send through the TSA checkpoint: Moose poop

TSA has made it official: You may not be able to bring that bottle of water or 16-ounce macchiato through the TSA checkpoints, but moose nuggets are good to go, so to speak. So says the media team for TSA, which had this to say about that on Instagram:

Mondays can really stink. After a weekend of relaxation, the first day back at work can be hard to deal with. Here’s a nugget of wisdom to help get you through the day: “Monday is the day where the slate from the previous week is wiped clean; It is a day of new beginnings.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Our team at Juneau International Airport (JNU) recently dealt with “nuggets” of a different variety when examining a passenger’s carry-on bag. Upon inspection, a large organic mass turned out to be a bag of moose nuggets (or feces, droppings, excrements, etc.) that the passenger was taking home from their Alaskan adventure. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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While TSA has no policies that would prevent you from traveling with a bag of animal poo, we would strongly suggest that you check with your airline on their policies. Several carriers do have rules in place to avoid smelly situations aboard their planes. Besides, having to leave your souvenirs behind would really stink. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#travel #traveling #traveltips#aviationlife #Juneau #Alaska#OnlyInAlaska

 

The Left’s big lie, and a complicit media

Suzanne Downing
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1

THE ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” – Joseph Goebbels

Joe Biden finally launched his 2020 presidential campaign the other day, basing it on a bald-face lie.

The lie, promulgated and spread by the Left and its complicit pals in the media, took flight after a white nationalist in 2017 plowed his car into a Charlottesville, Va., crowd, killing one and injuring several others. Trump’s reaction was labeled as “racist,” with him supposedly saying there were “good white nationalists and bad white nationalists” or “good neo-Nazis and bad neo-Nazis” at the rally.

That oft-repeated lie – Biden even spread it in his announcement to run – has been a cornerstone of the Left’s unending drive to smear Trump.

What Trump did say in a news conference three days after Charlottesville was that there were “very fine people” on “both sides” of the issue of whether it is appropriate to display Confederate monuments in pubic locations.

[Read the rest of this opinion at Anchorage Daily Planet]

MRAK Almanac: Of halibut and Whole Foods, blessing of the fleet

Suzanne Downing
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MRAK Almanac: Of halibut and Whole Foods, blessing of the fleet

Photo: The halibut schooner “Sitka” in front of the Juneau Cold Storage in May of 1959. Alaska State Library item ASL-MS10-4-06-007-542

The commercial halibut fleet is on the grounds enjoying good spring conditions. The International Pacific Halibut Commission set the Northern Pacific and Bering Sea catch for 2019 at a whopping 29.4 million pounds. Alaska’s share will be just under 20 million pounds this year — three million pounds higher than last year.

Read about how Whole Foods (owned by Amazon) is the price-setting leader for halibut in the Northwest in this story at the Seattle Times.

 * * * * 

April 29, 1958: The very last Territorial Primary Election was held, a “lost” election because it was actually annulled by the first state primary in August that year.

April 30, 1913: The Alaska Pioneers’ Home bill was approved by Gov. Walter Eli Clark. Clark had been appointed governor of the District of Alaska by President William Howard Taft on May 18, 1909, as Taft considered him to be an expert of sorts on Alaska. Clark had prospected for gold near Nome during the gold rush of 1899-1900, and had traveled in Alaska in 1903 and 1906. He was the first occupant of the current Governor’s House on Calhoun Ave. in Juneau. The Sitka Pioneer Home was opened in September 1913 on a $10,000 budget.

May, 1899: Rumors of a new gold find near Nome led thousands of stampeders to abandon Dawson City, Yukon and head west-northwest, where people were said to be picking gold up off the beach. It’s the 120th anniversary of that wild summer. By the end of 1899, more than 3,000 prospectors were working the Nome beaches, and by the next year Nome had 20,000 men digging in the golden sands.

* * * *

April 26: Number of climbers on Mount Denali: 8. Number of completed climbs: 2. Number of summits: 0. Registered climbers for the season: 866.

April 27: That was a 4.0 earthquake on Saturday at 4:58 pm Saturday, 11 miles NW of JBER. Or, as they say in our part of the country, an aftershock.

April 27: Anchorage saw the warmest day so far this year on Saturday, hitting 56 degrees at the airport.

May 1: Alaska Space Grant Lecture. Leroy Chao, NASA astronaut, speaks on the topic of “View from the on-high: Adventures of a professional astronaut.” Experience spaceflight from the on-high of the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. See breathtaking, awe-inspiring and provocative photos of the Earth from space and hear first-hand accounts from Leroy Chiao about his four space missions. Get the behind-the-scenes tour from the commander of Expedition X, and his view on where we are heading. Stunning photographs and personal stories make this an unforgettable experience. 201 Reichardt Building, 1930 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK, 6:30 pm.

May 2: National Day of Prayer. In Soldotna, prayer warriors will meet at noon at the WKFL Park, next to the borough building.

May 3: Eaglexit, the group wanting to move Eagle River into its own municipality, meets at the Eagle River Lions Club, 18344 Eagle River Road. Educational meeting. 7 pm.

May 3 – 18: Juneau Jazz and Classics, a 16‑day festival in Alaska’s Capital City. Events include cruises, concerts, free events and workshops. Various venues, from bars to churches to auditoriums. Mostly free.

May 4: UAF Commencement. Also, UAS Ketchikan Campus commencement with 16 graduates.

May 4: Juneau Maritime festival. Blessing of the fleet. Details.

May 5: Cinco de Mayo, with enough guacamole to celebrate Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla in the Franco-Mexican War. According to the Pew Research Center, 7 percent of Alaskans are of hispanic origins, or 49,000 in all. Some 51 percent of those are of Mexican origin, and thers trace their roots back to other predominantly Hispanic nations. It’s all fairly inexact, but still, pass the picante.

That time when Ivy Spohnholz lectured on taking ‘responsibility’

Suzanne Downing
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That time when Ivy Spohnholz lectured on taking ‘responsibility’

HER FLOOR SPEECH CONDEMNING DAVID EASTMAN IS ONE FOR THE AGES

In light of House Speaker Bryce Edgmon refusing to allow a “Sense of the House” vote to be taken on the behavior of Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, who accused a 78-year-old retired judge of sexual harassment, Must Read Alaska reviewed the historic lecture Spohnholz gave on the House floor on May 10, 2017, as she moved to censure Rep. David Eastman.

“When one member of this body brings the dignity of this institution into question, it’s incumbent upon all of us to act to defend it,” she started. She was speaking of Eastman’s remarks made to the media regarding abortion in Alaska and how he felt it was misused.

“The representative from the northwestern part of the Mat-Su calls in to question the character of women from rural Alaska, and offended the dignity of all women,” she spoke, as the 39 other members quietly listened. She quoted Eastman as saying that women from rural Alaska were using pregnancies to get government-paid trips to the city for abortion.

“When asked for evidence, he provided none,” she said. “He’s continued to refuse to show remorse for these damaging and hurtful words.”

“As humans we all have failings, none of us are perfect…but a leader takes responsibility and ownership for those mistakes. They acknowledge the impact that they’ve had on somebody else’s life. Their feelings. Their thoughts. They own them and then they make amends. How is it that you make amends? You don’t say, “I’m really sorry that that made you feel bad.” That is not making amends. Making amends needs to go a little bit further. You don’t say “you’re welcome to come to my office and share your concerns and your perspective with me. That is not making amends.

“When you make amends you are internalizing the hurt that you inflicted on someone else. You have to go to the people that you’ve hurt, and you have to try to understand their perspective—and make it right. It means to mend, to put things back together again…that is what adults do. And as elected officials we have an even higher standard to meet. We’re supposed to be exemplars in our community.

“We are leaders. We are not the bare minimum. We are supposed to be rising above and setting an example for our colleagues and our constituents all across the state. …We are elected officials. We are leaders in our state. It is time to act like that and to call out bad behavior for what it is, and it is unacceptable…

“If you can get a majority of people to feel strongly enough about it that they think I deserve censure, then you should call me out on that behavior.”

[Watch Rep. Spohnholz speech in its entirety here.]

On April 17, Spohnholz rose in a joint session of the House and Senate and accused retired Superior Court judge Karl Johnstone of sexual harassment, charges she said she received from “more than two women.” She has since told the media it was “two women” but her floor speech was enough to sink Johnstone’s confirmation to the Board of Fisheries moments later, when the vote was taken.

[Read: Gov. Dunleavy apologizes to Johnstone for “appalling” behavior of lawmaker]

AG Kevin Clarkson has emergency surgery

Suzanne Downing
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AG Kevin Clarkson has emergency surgery

According to the spokeswoman for the Department of Law, Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson is recovering from surgery in Seattle after a heart attack and will be home next week.

“The Attorney General was taken to the hospital after landing in Seattle Friday night. He had emergency surgery and is currently recovering and in good spirits. He appreciates the well wishes and expects to return to Anchorage next week.”

Clarkson was appointed by Gov. Michael Dunleavy in December and confirmed in mid-April by the Alaska Legislature.

[Read: Kevin Clarkson appointed attorney general]

Clarkson wrote on Facebook this morning his account of what happened:

“I’m doing fine. The surgery was almost a non event — very unnoticeable surgery except the wound on my wrist where they went into my arteries. The longest side effect is the sore chest muscles where the paramedics must have really gone to town dancing on my chest to resuscitate me. Thank God they were there. I almost didn’t hit the call button because I didn’t want to make a fuss. But I understood the signs enough to realize I needed to do so. Luckily there was a nurse on the plane to take my blood pressure—her eyes went wide—confirmation I made the right decision—and told the crew to call paramedics to meet us at the gate.

“The paramedics came on the plane and I walked off with them. Sat down and they ran an EKG—they said yeah you’re not going home tonight. They called medics to transport me and then I remember telling them I felt dizzy and I just blacked out. Next thing I remember was waking up on the floor with 5 guys looking down over me and my shirt cut off—I guess the buttons would have been too slow ; )

“Rushed me to the hospital and straight to an angiogram and angioplasty to put two stents in my artery on my heart. My brother is a doctor and lives in Mukeltio near Seattle and the cardiologist called him to come down. They were asking me questions about how old I was and I asked what time is it. They must have thought I was delusional because they just kept asking no sir how old are you? So I finally said well if it’s after midnight then I’m 60 otherwise I’m 59. They all laughed and then they all wished me a happy birthday. What a party.”

It’s a lawyer thing: Justin Schneider’s legal guy used to defend victims

Suzanne Downing
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4
It’s a lawyer thing: Justin Schneider’s legal guy used to defend victims

(Editor’s note: This is the kind of story that can make an everyday Alaskan hopping mad. But hold onto your rage and just try to appreciate the irony.)

Everyone deserves counsel.

Even folks like Justin Schneider, the now-notorious Alaskan who prompted House Bill 14 and Senate Bill 12.

[Read: Bill closes the ‘Schneider loopholes]

Those bills are closing a loophole in the law. The gist of it is this: No more choking people until they become unconscious and masturbating on them in Alaska.

[Read: A horrific crime, a woman assaulted, and a perp walks free]

Schneider pleaded guilty to choking and masturbating on a woman in August, 2017. Under Alaska law, masturbating on someone is not now considered a sex crime. Schneider’s plea was for one count of assault in the second degree, a class B felony in Alaska, in exchange for the State’s dismissal of the remaining charges, particularly first-degree kidnapping.

With no criminal history, the sentencing range was zero to two years in jail. The time Schneider served under house arrest was used as credit against his sentence, which meant that he spent only a few weeks in jail, and the rest of the time at home with his folks in Homer, Alaska.

Now, the woman assaulted by Schneider is suing him for civil damages. James Davis with the Northern Justice Project is representing Jane Doe, as the victim is known.

Schneider has lawyered up with attorney Jon Katcher.

Katcher in 2016 received glowing accolades from former Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth, who  presented him the Attorney General’s Award for Pro Bono Service for his years of providing volunteer legal representation to, wait for it, victims of domestic violence.

Over 15 years, Katcher worked on nearly two dozen cases through the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and the Alaska Legal Services Corporation, either personally representing the client or mentoring another attorney through the process.

“….volunteers like Jon Katcher are absolutely vital in combating domestic violence in Alaska. I commend him for his service to our state,” Lindemuth wrote.

Katcher is, since late March, representing the other side of the domestic violence equation, as he and Schneider fight the civil lawsuit filed by the Northern Justice Project, which is looking for financial damages against Schneider, and Jane Doe’s legal fees.

Schneider and his lawyer say that it is Jane Doe who should be paying for Schneider’s legal fees in defending himself.

[Read: The Schneider defense here.]

Such are the strange workings of the legal field. Victims may find it frustrating and observers may find it mystifying, but lawyers can, and often do, represent people whose actions the public finds indefensible.

Every person in a courtroom deserves representation, and if a guy can pay for it, he’ll get someone who has won the equivalent of an Eagle Scout badge from the State Department of Law — for representing victims. Katcher has a lot of goodwill built up in the courtroom in Anchorage. He’s about to spend some of that goodwill on one heck-of-a high profile client.

Spawned out story: The #metoo net unravels

Suzanne Downing
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Spawned out story: The #metoo net unravels

By CRAIG MEDRED
CRAIGMEDRED.NEWS

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is now eyeing his next appointment to the Alaska Board of Fisheries with the dust stirred up around one of his last appointments still far from settled in the wake of a sexual harassment claim.

The Alaska Legislature on April 17 voted down the reappointment to the Board of retired Anchorage Superior Court Judge Karl Johnstone after Anchorage Rep. Ivy Spohnholz lobbed a #metoo bombshell into the proceedings.

Spohnholz said on the floor of a joint session of the House and Senate that “more than two” women who worked for the Board told her that Johnstone sexually harassed them. There was, and has been, no confirmation of those claims.

Johnstone was provided no hearing to defend himself against the accusation before his confirmation was blocked. It is widely believed the sexual harassment accusation was unleashed after Johnstone opponents concluded they didn’t have the votes to block the confirmation of a man who’d run into a firestorm of opposition from commercial fishermen accusing him of being biased in favor of sport fishermen.

Here’s what has happened since in the country’s biggest fishing state where major political battles have regularly erupted around fish:

[Read the rest of this column at CraigMedred.news]

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