Alaska Run & Walk for Women in Girdwood event Thursday
By Briana Sullivan
Alaska Run & Walk for Women in Girdwood
In Girdwood, we will be celebrating the many years the Alaska Run for Women has united thousands of women from all over the state and beyond in one of the largest all-women runs in the country.
Since 1993, the goal of ending breast cancer has brought waves of women of all ages - with their energy and love together at the starting line, for a common cause. Now, the event offers a virtual option already underway for one week.
“Please join us to celebrate 33 years - In Person or Virtually!",” said Girdwood Organizer Briana Sullivan, Alaska Run & Walk for Women. Since 2024, the Girdwood Fire Department and the Girdwood Clinic teamed up with Briana Sullivan and Four Valleys to organize a unified Team for Girdwood community to join.
“If you've already joined a team, you can still donate to Girdwood's team or show up to participate!. The event has always brought me joy, participating decades ago among a sea of powerful pink support—and into adulthood,” Sullivan added.
“Being a part of the event and knowing so many women impacted by cancer motivates me to join this important annual event. I am happy to help our community stay off the highway or have a local option if they cannot make the main event in Anchorage in a given year."
Girdwood's event will be Thursday, June 5, starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Magic Carpet. Sign up for Girdwood's Team!” she exclaimed.
The Girdwood event is part of a larger vision for Alaska, The Alaska Run for Women mission is "To raise money for and awareness of breast cancer and women's health, and to showcase the talents of Alaska's women athletes."
She said this is accomplished through: an annual women's run and walk event that serves as a vehicle for fundraising, participation, awareness and competition, and grant making to organizations concerned with breast cancer research, education, outreach, prevention and early detection.
You can sign for Girdwood's Breast Intentions at the link:
https://www.akrfwregistration.org/team/4558
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/alaska-run-amp-walk-for-women-in-girdwood-event-thursday
Commentary: Girdwood Giants Majors Baseball have Strong Start to the Season at 5-1!
By Kyle Kelley
Coach, Girdwood Giants
The Girdwood Giants Majors Little League baseball team has kicked off the 2025 season with a bang, boasting an impressive 5-1 record! They won the home opener last Friday with a 17-10 victory over the Angels. The Girdwood Giants play against teams from Anchorage. As the team takes to the diamond at Sladen Mohl Memorial Field, their hard work and dedication are evident, and fans are eager to rally behind their local heroes.
Exciting Enhancements at Sladen Mohl Field
This year, the excitement extends beyond the impressive performance of the players. Thanks to the generous support and fundraising efforts of the Sladen Mohl Memorial Field Fund, combined with the skilled craftsmanship of Schubert Construction, Sladen Mohl Field has undergone significant upgrades. The newly constructed dugouts provide the athletes with a sheltered area to prepare for their games, allowing them to stay focused and regroup between innings. These improvements create a more professional and enjoyable experience for the players, visiting teams, and the community.
Moreover, the newly replaced snack shack is a favorite spot for fans and families. With a variety of delicious snacks and beverages available, it’s the perfect place to grab a bite while enjoying the game. The snack shack not only helps fuel our enthusiastic supporters but also fosters a sense of community as families come together to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere at the field. All proceeds from the snack shack support Girdwood Giants baseball now and in the future.
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Commentary: Windows are the No. 1 human threat to birds – an ecologist shares simple steps to reduce collisions
By Jason Hoeksema
Professor, University of Mississippi
When wood thrushes arrive in northern Mississippi on their spring migration and begin to serenade my neighborhood with their ethereal, harmonized song, it’s one of the great joys of the season. It’s also a minor miracle. These small creatures have just flown more than 1,850 miles (3,000 kilometers), all the way from Central America.
Other birds undertake even longer journeys — the Swainson’s thrush, for example, nests as far north as the boreal forests of Alaska and spends the nonbreeding season in northern South America, traveling up to 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) each way.
These stunning feats of travel are awe-inspiring, making it that much more tragic when they are cut short by a deadly collision with a glass window.
This happens with alarming regularity. Two recent scientific studies estimate that more than 1 billion birds – and as many as 5.19 billion – die from collisions with sheet glass each year in the United States alone, sometimes immediately but often from their injuries.
In fact, window collisions are now considered the top human cause of bird deaths. Due to window collisions and other causes, bird populations across North America have declined more than 29% from their 1970 levels, likely with major consequences for the world’s ecosystems.
These collisions occur on every type of building, from homes to skyscrapers. At the University of Mississippi campus, where I teach and conduct research as an ecologist, my colleagues and I have been testing some creative solutions.
Read the entire Commentary below:
Judge: Alaska limits on intoxicating hemp products do not violate the U.S. Constitution
By James Brooks
A federal magistrate judge has ruled that the state of Alaska did not violate the U.S. Constitution when it acted to limit intoxicating hemp products in 2023.
In an order published May 23, Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon granted summary judgment in favor of the state and against the Alaska Industrial Hemp Association, which sued two years ago in an attempt to overturn regulations imposed by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
The court order means intoxicating hemp products, common in many other states, will remain illegal in Alaska unless sold through a licensed marijuana retailer.
“It was rewarding to be part of the process developing the regulations, and I was happy when we successfully defended against the motion for a preliminary injunction in 2023,” said Assistant Attorney General Kevin Higgins, by email. Higgins represented the state in the case.
“I’m not patting myself on the back too hard though,” he said. “The Division of Agriculture was motivated by public safety concerns when it took measured action to regulate an emerging industry. This was an easy case to make, which is probably why the plaintiffs didn’t file an opposition to the motion for summary judgment.”
An attorney representing the plaintiff did not answer a request for comment on Wednesday.
Alaska legalized the sale and use of marijuana for recreational purposes in 2014. The state subsequently created a tightly regulated market in which only licensed businesses may grow, process and sell marijuana.
Read the entires story at the link below:
Commentary: The Alaskans who keep our national parks running are needed
By Fran Ulmer
Like many other Alaskans, I love our national parks. Their beauty, wildlife and opportunities for adventures are a great gift to current and future Alaskans, as well as our many visitors. From Denali to Katmai to Glacier Bay, these special places help drive a thriving tourism economy and support reliable, made-in-Alaska jobs. Unfortunately, Alaska’s national parks and the economic benefits they bring are threatened by drastic staffing and budget cuts to the National Park Service. It was recently reported that the National Park Service Alaska Regional Office in Anchorage has lost an estimated one-third of its staff — more than 60 knowledgeable Alaskans — a result of downsizing the Department of Interior through pressured buyout tactics. And the federal administration has threatened additional cuts through mass firings.
Roughly 2 million people visited Alaska national parks in 2023, and more are expected this year. They spent $1.5 billion dollars and supported 23,000 jobs, according to the National Park Service. In Anchorage alone, 1 in 9 jobs is in tourism, Visit Anchorage has found. Across the country, one tax dollar invested in the Park Service returns $10 to the economy.
But national parks don’t run themselves. People are needed to keep parks running, from park rangers to contracting experts, from educators who design the visitor center exhibits to biologists who make sure that park wildlife survive and thrive.
The Alaska Regional Office provides oversight and expertise to 24 national park sites across Alaska, covering more than 50 million acres of federal land. The scale and landscape of Alaska makes the Alaska Regional Office essential. Most Alaska national park sites only have one or two resource staff and limited capacity. It doesn’t make financial sense for every park to have its own pilot and plane, geologist, or subsistence expert. The Regional Office provides support and expertise that serve all our parks.
At the Alaska Regional Office, cuts and consolidation programs have eliminated crucial positions, including the regional chief ranger overseeing law enforcement. Now there is only one staff member leading archaeology and cultural resource protection for all of Alaska’s national park sites, and just a handful of staff remain to work with Alaska Native tribes, whose culture, food security, and traditional ways of life should be respected by those parks.
Read the entire Commentary here:
Restraining order on Alaska bear cull to be in place until state fixes identified legal flaws
By Yereth Rosen
Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin, in an order issued late Monday, said the department’s decision to shoot bears earlier this month in violation of a previous court ruling justified her decision to keep the temporary restraining order in place beyond the 10 days that is standard in Alaska law.
The department will be prohibited from conducting its planned bear cull in the Mulchatna caribou herd range until it corrects the legal flaws identified in a March 14 ruling issued by a different judge, Rankin said.
She rejected the state’s request to lift the restraining order and its argument that the prohibition was no longer needed.
“Despite the State’s stated intention of discontinuing its bear predator control measures this season, due to its prior position that it would continue bear abatement unless specifically enjoined, this Court thinks it is prudent to specifically state that the TRO will not expire after ten days and extends the TRO until further order of the Court or until the State obtains proper legal authority, consistent with the March 14 Order, and the May 7, 2025 Order,” she said in her order.
It is the latest development in a lawsuit filed in 2023 by the Alaska Wildlife Alliance that challenged the predator control program.
State officials say the program is needed to boost Mulchatna caribou herd numbers, and it must be conducted in spring and early summer, when newborn caribou calves are vulnerable to bear predation. But the Alaska Wildlife Alliance and other critics say the program lacks scientific validity and was put into place without proper public input.
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Annual Parade Honors 14 Graduates
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
Thirteen high school graduates and one UAA grad paraded from the Girdwood Post Office to the fire station Thursday night receiving cheers, honks, bubbles and roses.
About 100 well-wishers lined the route, including family members, former teachers, and yellow-clad Lion's Club members.
Graduates paused before emcee Salita Rios who told memories over a bullhorn of each gowned teenager before they moved to the Lion's table for more gifts. Then, the group took a moment for photos and to toss their square hats aloft.
Later, outside Jack Sprat Restaurant, Jared Moore said he enjoyed being a part of the local tradition. Standing next to him, Asher Cubit smiled in agreement.
Read the story and more pictures at the below link:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/annual-parade-honors-14-graduates
Alaska senators vote to end daylight saving time in America’s farthest-north state
By James Brooks
Alaska would be on the same time zone as Seattle for four months of the year, if a bill passed Monday by the Alaska Senate becomes law.
The Senate voted 18-2 to pass Senate Bill 26, which would eliminate daylight saving time in Alaska and ask the federal government to put Alaska on Pacific Standard Time.
(Photo by James Brooks, Alaska Beacon. Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River, speaks in favor of a bill that would eliminate daylight saving time, on Monday, May 12, 2025, in Juneau. Story reprinted courtesy Alaska Beacon under Creative Commons)
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Alaska to resume bear-killing program, despite court order finding it to be void
By Yereth Rosen
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said Friday it will resume its predator control this weekend in Western Alaska, despite a court ruling two days earlier that determined the program remains in violation of the state constitution.
The program, which is using aircraft to kill bears in the area used by the ailing Mulchatna Caribou Herd, will resume on Saturday, the department said in a statement.
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Alaska House urges local and state agencies to prepare for a bad wildfire season
By James Brooks (Story and Photo)
Alaska’s wildfire season is shaping up to be especially dangerous this year, and the Alaska House of Representatives is asking local, state and federal officials to prepare ahead of time.
On April 25, the House voted 37-0 to approve a resolution calling for readiness.
House Joint Resolution 15, by Rep. Ky Holland, I-Anchorage, is slated for a hearing on Friday in the Senate Resources Committee.
“House Joint Resolution 15 came about from an early awareness this winter about the very dry conditions that we were witnessing in Southcentral Alaska,” said Holland, speaking to the House.
“A really key part of this resolution is a recognition of how important it is that we do the outreach and we encourage the preparation by residents to be able to be more aware of what they can do to protect their own homes through the Firewise program,” he said.
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7th Annual Prince William Sound Stewardship Foundation Natural History Symposium
By Charla Hughes
PWSSF News Release
The Prince William Sound Stewardship Foundation invites you to their seventh annual Prince William Sound Natural History Symposium Monday and Tuesday, May 12-13, at the Public Safety Building in Whittier and online via Zoom. The Prince William Sound Science Center in Cordova and the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward will host watch parties.
What started as a training opportunity for outdoor educators and guides has grown into a highly anticipated free community event. Monday sessions (1-5pm) are designed with the guiding community in mind, featuring topics like Alaskan plants, land management, and geology. Coffee with the Scientists at Lazy Otter and a Social at Oceanfront Cafe to follow. Tuesday sessions (9am-5pm) bring together the latest news and research from around the Sound with topics ranging from sea cucumbers and bats to the Whittier Tourism Best Management Practices (TBMP) program. All sessions are free and open to the public.
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Local Skiing Sensation Sees Her Line and Gets It
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
Girdwood ski racer Katie Rowekamp was finishing a day of slalom training with her team in Kitzbuhel, Austria when, instead of riding a gondola down the mountain, she and a friend decided to ski back.
A side trail led to a CAT track, which led to a snow path, then a long traverse, shallower and shallower, to patches of concrete and a field and nothing.
"We look across the field to the other side of the canyon and see the gondola we were supposed to take down," she said during an interview in a Girdwood coffeehouse last week.
Rowekamp and her teammate took off their skis and began walking, worried. They were always told to stay on the tracks because ski resorts in Europe don't flag off out-of-bounds perimeters. The mountains are yours.
"All of sudden we found this little tiny cabin out in the middle of nowhere and we were crossing our fingers hoping somebody lived there and not some crazy Euro serial killer. And I walk around and there is this big golden retriever basking in the sunlight on their deck, and this cute old Austrian lady and her husband were there and were, like, AH!"
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/local-skiing-sensation-sees-her-line-and-gets-it
Locals Gather for Second Weekend in Conjunction With Nationwide Protest
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
Girdwood residents joined with protestors in Anchorage and across 50 states in a local rally under a warm sun Saturday. It's the second demonstration, on the corner of Alyeska Highway and Hightower Road this month.
The protest was in keeping with a "50-50-1" movement—50 States, 50 Protests, One Day—against policies of the Trump Administration.
"We need to use what voice we have," said Susan Carse, a 32-year-resident and retired attorney, who held a sign reading, "No Kings. Save Democracy."
She said she had concerns about a weakened role of the jucidiciary branch of government under the Trump Administration.
"We have three branchs and he's taken over the judicial. He seems to do what he wants," Carse said. She also said Trump seems to be getting away insider trading, an accusation levelled at the Administration following a sudden reversal in stocks and bonds prices.
"He's not honest. He doesn't follow the laws and, the big thing, he blatant ignored a unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. You just don't do that. It scares the shit out me.
"I think we've crossed over the line," Carse said. "What can we do? We can do this (protesting)."
Andrew Gates, 14, stood with his dog, Cozy, and held a sign, "Hands Off Canada," he'd just made beneath a small canopy.
"There's been an erosion of checks and balances and, if we do nothing, that'll be our undoing," Gates said as cars drove by on Alyeska Highway and honked.
Girdwood demonstrators were joined by a cutout of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders recent swing through western states, on a "Fighting Oligarchy Tour", brought crowds in the tens of thousands.
Read the entire story at the link below:
Federal employment and budget turmoil affects monitoring of Alaska’s Barry Arm landslide
By Yereth Rosen
The Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers and funding restrictions has affected the monitoring of a landslide-prone slope that could create a dangerous tsunami in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.
The Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, in a recent update, alerted the public about the problems affecting the multiagency team monitoring Barry Arm. The site is a fjord where an unstable rocky slope could collapse into the water, potentially creating a tsunami affecting the community of Whittier and a variety of Prince William Sound mariners and visitors.
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Girdwood Residents join Nationwide ‘Hands-Off’ Protest
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
More than two dozen rain-gear clad Girdwoodians poked signs into a stormy afternoon sky Saturday in a local demonstation against policies of Donald Trump's administration.
Residents turned out after being notified via a local Facebook post only the night before.
Organizer Emma Kramer said protesters received many waves and honks from passing cars along with one middle finger and a person who shoved a red MAGA hat from a crack in the window.
Photo: A protester in downtown Anchorage displays her sentiments on the actions of the Trump Administration. (Photo by Soren Wuerth)
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/girdwood-residents-join-nationwide-hands-off-protest
Girdwood Food Pantry delivers in Uncertain Times
By Allison Sayer
TNews Staffwriter
The Girdwood Food Pantry’s volunteers provide meals for area residents facing food insecurity, working to find every corner where someone might be doing without. Food distribution days occur three days per month: the first Sunday and second and fourth Wednesday.
Read the entire store at the below link:
ttps://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/girdwood-food-pantry-delivers-in-uncertain-times
Avalanche Mitigation enters the Future
By Allison Sayer
Copper River Record
Most of us are familiar with the role of artillery in avalanche risk mitigation. Artillery is fired into avalanche start zones when the runout area is closed to the public, preventing future avalanches that could cause harm. According to Statewide Avalanche and Artillery Program Manager Timothy Glassett, these methods are set to change dramatically over the next two years.
(The story reprinted from the Copper River Record with permission)
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/avalanche-mitigation-enters-the-future
GBOS Candidates offer to serve Community
By Brooks Chandler
TNews Contributor
Brett Wilbanks and Kellie Okenek are both offering to serve Girdwood as members of the Girdwood Board of Supervisors. TNews chatted with both in separate interviews recently. Their comments below have been edited for length and clarity.
How did you come to live in Girdwood?
BW- Out of college I ended up with the State of Alaska as an engineer working hydroelectric projects. I found myself wanting more out of skiing and I got interested in ski patrol. I started with National Ski patrol as a volunteer and I ended up doing 27 years here at Alyeska as an early volunteer and then as a part time pro patroller.
KO- I always knew I wanted to live in Alaska and live in a ski town. So I took a job in Prudhoe in 2005 and moved to Girdwood.
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/gbos-candidates-offer-to-serve-community
Mount Spurr: Preparation Can Ease the Pain
By Allison Sayer
TNews Staffwriter
On March 12, The Alaska Volcano Observatory announced “an eruption [of Mount Spurr] is likely, but not certain, to occur within the next few weeks or months. The most likely outcome of the current unrest is an explosive eruption (or eruptions) like those that occurred in 1953 and 1992. Those eruptions each lasted a few hours and produced ash clouds that were carried downwind for hundreds of miles and minor ashfall (up to about ¼ inch) on southcentral Alaska communities.”
Many simple, low cost preparedness tips are available from the Municipality of Anchorage Emergency Operations Center and ready.alaska.gov. The common advice from these and other sources is to have a mask handy, stock up on relevant air filters, and put some forethought into what would happen if you must shelter in place somewhere.
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/mount-spurr-preparation-can-ease-the-pain