Monthly Archives: August 2006

Just South of Delta, a 2,000 acre farm owned by the Stevens Village Tribal Council supports a growing herd of bison and has provided jobs, education and a chance to reconnect with traditional ways for villagers of all ages. The bison farm will provide healthy, inexpensive meat to supplement the dwindling salmon and moose populations in Stevens Village. Click here to learn more.

Missile Defense Agency spokesman Richard Lehner outlined the system tests scheduled for Thursday morning and expressed his concerns about the impact weather could have in this article

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld held a press conference during his recent visit to Fort Greely and Fairbanks. He had high praise for Fort Greely’s Alaska National Guard and for the 172nd Stryker Brigade in Fairbanks. Read the complete transcript here

There is always something to do in Alaska, no matter what time of the year it is. You can go hiking, floating a river, or even dipnetting and cooking on the rocks. The possiblities are endless in Alaska.

We invite you to browse our family photo album for additional text.

Delta resident Jesse Cummings proudly displays a chum salmon

Brian Palmer grills reds on flat rock at Chitina

Donald Rumsfeld got a first hand look at the US Missile Defense system during his recent visit to Fort Greely when he descended into a silo to view one of ten 54 foot long interceptors currently in place. At a news conference later, Secretary Rumsfeld said “more complete and realistic testing” of the system was needed. An 11th interceptor is scheduled to be installed today, and a target missile test from Kodiak and Vandenberg AFB is scheduled for Thursday.

Read the Associated Press story here

For another view of Secretary Rumsfeld’s visit, read The New York Times article

Even though Deltana Fair has come and gone, we still can look back on the events and activities that took place, and dream of next year. Thank you Carol Watkins for all your wonderful displays of the fair you put together this year. Click on any of the images for an enlargment.

The Play
Miscellaneous photos

Sunday service

The Division of Elections reminds you that the last day to register to vote or update or change your current voter registration for the October 3, 2006 REAA and CRSA Elections is Sunday, September 3, 2006.

You may register at regional election offices, municipal clerks’ offices, Division of Motor Vehicles, and any local library that offers registration.

Information and applications for voter registration is available on the Division of Elections’ web site at: www.elections.state.ak.us.

Regional Elections offices in Juneau, Kenai, Anchorage, Wasilla, Fairbanks, and Nome are open Monday – Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Voters may also fax their voter registration form to the Division of Elections through Sunday, September 3, 2006.

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact your regional election office:

· Director’s office in Juneau at 465-4611.
· Region I in Juneau at (907) 465-3021; in Kenai at (907) 283-3805
· Region II in Anchorage at (907) 522-8683; in Wasilla at (907) 373-8952
· Region III in Fairbanks at (907) 451-2835
· Region IV in Nome at (907) 443-5285
· TTY: 1-888-622-3020

Families are invited to the annual Baby Shower fundraiser in support of the CareNet Pregnancy Center of the Tanana Valley on Saturday, September 30 from 1 to 3 pm. There will be refreshments served following a short program in the Clearwater Baptist Church. If you aren’t familiar with the ministry of the CareNet Pregnancy Center, this is a good time to come and learn more about how the Center offers help for women and their babies. CareNet offers free counseling, pregnancy testing and will soon be offering free ultrasound testing as well. They offer support during pregnancy and beyond and also hold Post Abortion Counseling sessions for men and women. Children are welcome at the Shower but be advised that abortion will be discussed.

We always have a good time at these baby showers and it is fun to see the wonderful gifts that people in the community give. Please come join us and bring a baby gift to share with someone in need! Gift suggestions are Diapers, clothing from newborn to size 4T, new car seats, maternity clothing, diapers, baby toys, anything from pacifiers to nursing bras. Homemade items are special and very welcome. Gently used items are also welcome. Please be generous and give as you would for a loved one. Many of these women have very little and we want them to know they are not alone.

For more information please contact, Tina Congiolosi 895-4739 or Esther Holbrook at 895-1880

A Basic Hunter Education class is being offered on Sept. 9th and Sept. 10th from 8 am till Noon both days at the Delta Sportsmans Association Clubhouse on Nome Trail Road.

Class sign-up is at the ADF&G office in Delta at mile 266.7 Richardson Hwy. or call 895-4484. There is a $10.00 fee for the class workbook and classes are free. You must sign-up in advance and have workbook completed when you attend the class. Class size is limited to 24 students total , and persons already on a list should try to attend.

Persons on the list that haven’t paid their $10 and picked up their packet need to do so.

The City of Delta Junction will hold a regular election on Tuesday, October 3, 2006. The following offices are available for election:

Council Seat A, three-year term ending in October 2009
Council Seat B, one-year term ending in October 2007
Council Seat E, three-year term ending in October 2009
Council Seat F, two-year term ending in October 2008

To read the entire notice please visit the city’s website.

We invite you to browse through our family photo albums to see additional text and photo enlargements.

Steve and Kenna DuBois visiting England

Fred John Jr. graduates from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Tok Center

Linnea John graduates from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Tok Center

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announces a recall of more than 340,000 Bendable Dog and Cat Toys from Oriental Trading company that were used for prizes at library summer reading programs nationwide from January 2006 to August 2006. THIS INCLUDES THE DELTA COMMUNITY LIBRARY SUMMER READING PROGRAM. The paint on the bendable toys contains excessive levels of lead, which is banned under federal law. Lead is toxic and if ingested by young children can cause adverse health effects.

Parents and children should stop using the toys immediately and return them to the Delta Library for disposable. A replacement will be offered for each toy returned.

The recalled toy is made of bendable plastic and is in the shape of a brown dog with black ears, paws and feet, a Dalmatian dog with pink paws, a white dog with orange spots, a brown dog with pink paws, a white cat with orange stripes, a brown cat with pink paws, a black cat with pink ears and a white cat with brown spots. The toys are about 3.75 inches tall. Consumers may have also purchased these toys outside of summer reading programs during the same time period.

The library is in the process of contacting each child registered for the summer reading program and would appreciate the community’s help in getting the word out. The Delta Library is open Monday through Friday 10 – 6, Saturday 10 – 5 and Sunday Noon – 5. Please call me @ 895-4102 with any questions or concerns. Thank you, and our apologies for the inconvenience, Joyce McCombs, Library Director

Items containing pressurized refrigerant require State certified removal of refrigerant prior to ultimate disposal. The City will accept refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and other items designed to utilize pressurized refrigerant at the landfill under the following conditions:

To read the entire policy please view the City’s website.

This fall TVC will be offering a number of classes in the Delta Junction/Fort Greely area. These classes will help you gain the skills needed to succeed in Alaska’s 21st century workplace, or be applied to a college degree.

Classes will be held either at the Delta Career Advancement Center or on base at the Fort Greely School. Both areas are open to all residents and students are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity. Upon successful registration, access will be granted for the students taking classes on Fort Greely.

The classes being offered are as follows:

• Small Business Planning
• Introduction to Business
• Presentation Skills: A Practical Approach
• Alternative Approaches to Math: Elementary Algebra
• Beginning AutoCad
• Microcomputer Word Processing
• Microcomputer Presentation Software
• Microcomputer Spreadsheets
• Computer Business Applications
• Introduction to Academic Writing
• Individual, Society, and Culture
• Preparatory College English
• Functions of Calculus
• Introduction to Justice

The Partners for Progress in Delta have determined that they will be able to continue the tuition “vouchers” that have aided in the cost of classes in recent years. Students will be offered $50 off per academic credit. A typical three credit class cost would then be $231, rather than $381. The registration period is now open, and will continue until the start of each class. If you are unable to register prior to the opening session of your desired class, please be sure to attend, as registration can take place at that time. We will have a UAF Tanana Valley Campus College Night in Delta on August 24th, from 3 to 7 PM, and a special registration day on Wednesday, September 6th, 11 AM to 7 PM. For more information on “in town” or “on base” classes or to register contact Cheryl Helkenn at 895-4605, or stop by the Delta Career Advancement Center, 1696 North Clearwater Avenue, behind Delta High School.

Mt. McKinley Meat & Sausage Company could close by the end of the year if a buyer or private operator is not found who is willing to run the plant according to guidelines imposed by the State of Alaska. If the facility does close, the next closest federally certified plant is our own Delta Meat and Sausage. Here’s the whole story

Is it cooler weather or better chemistry that make potatoes resistant to the late blight fungus that ruined most of the state’s potato crop last year? Even the Top Tater Specialist can’t say, but Mat Valley farmers are grateful that seed potatoes from Delta have helped get this year’s harvest nearly in the bag. Read more about it here

Poland, the Czech Republic and Great Britain may join Fort Greely and Vandenberg Air Force Base as interceptor missile sites in defense of weapons that could be launched from Iran and the Middle East. Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III said Tuesday that by the end of 2011, plans call for 10 interceptors installed in Europe and as many as 43 interceptors installed at the Alaska and California sites. Click here for the complete story.

I sit at my keyboard, overcome by an acute attack of bafflement. Although I am above the norm in my ability to remain nonplussed when encountering particularly bizarre or inexplicably illogical behavior by a fellow member of the human race, even I have my limits. Consequently, when I passed my buddy Grant on my way to town, what I beheld severely overloaded my credulity banks.

Grant had always struck me as a regular guy. He has a sweet wife and two cute little kids. He holds down a respectable job and volunteers at civic events. He has good credit. He doesn’t kick his dog or play loud music at night. He even keeps his car vacuumed and waxed. What I saw today, however, has created a massive paradigm shift in my opinion of Grant’s normalcy, if not his very sanity. Unbelievably, Grant was driving his battered blue clunker truck, stacked high with fresh cut firewood!

We invite you to our Chinook pages to read the entire story and others.

The Delta Chamber of Commerce membership meeting will be held August 17, 2006 at noon at the Buffalo Center Diner, downstairs.

Guest speakers will be the new Superintendent at Delta Greely School District, PJ Ford Slack, Ph.D. and, Alaska State Trooper Nasruk Nay.Be sure to come out and meet the new Superintendent and hear Trooper Nay speak about the new youth program for Delta.

Please RSVP to the Chamber office at 895-5068 if you plan to attend this meeting.

Fort Greely, Alaska–The Fort Greely Installation Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) will meet at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, 30 August 2006 at the Community Center in Delta Junction, Alaska.

The goal of the RAB is to give individuals who represent the diverse interests of the community the opportunity to regularly review progress and interact with the decision makers concerning Fort Greely’s environmental restoration program. The aim is to increase public understanding and the quality of the installation environmental restoration program.

The RAB meetings are held quarterly, are announced in advance and are open to the public.

The RAB assisted with the restoration efforts required by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process from 1995 until portions of Fort Greely were withdrawn from surplus in 2001 to support the U.S. missile defense program. The RAB is now assisting with the installation environmental restoration program.

The RAB membership currently includes: the Community Co-chair, Steve Fields; the Fort Greely Installation Co-Chair, Lieutenant Colonel Gregory McClinton, Fort Greely garrison commander; community members Dick Anderson, Stephen Hammond, Pete Hallgren, Tom Miller, Mike Murphy, and Carol Stock; with a representative from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invited to participate in each meeting.

Members of the RAB have committed to a goal of attending all RAB meetings and devoting ample time to review any related Army documents within prescribed time frames.

Public participation on the RAB is strictly voluntary. The Army does not provide financial support to the public members for their services nor are members compensated for work hours lost or time invested.

For more information about the RAB and its activities, call Pete Hallgren at telephone 907-895-4656, see the RAB’s website at www.smdcen.us/rabfga, or call Christine Boerst, Fort Greely director of public works and environmental coordinator, at telephone 907-873-4665.

There are races every Thursday at the North Pole Speedway in North Pole and the community has been invited to come to the races. Its lots of fun!

Save your ticket when you get in and the announcer pulls tickets throughout the race and gives away prizes. Its a great way to spend a summer evening. We have Anchorage coming in September and are looking forward to some great competition then. It’s the National Qualifiers race of the year for us. After the race everyone is welcome to come over to the Pit and talk to the drivers and get more information. We have some great kids racing too, not just adults, our youngest is 11 years old (Sean O’Hare, and he drives a Bandalero #18. And a young lady from Anchorage 16 years old drives a Bandelero too. Please visit North Pole Speedway for updates, pictures, location of our race track etc.

The gate fee is $5.00 and they have a great announcer. They have “Legends, Bandaleros, Karts and when Anchorage comes to race with them they have Baby Grands (Mini Nascars) Its great fun for the whole family.

This picture is of the “Legend Cars” lining up getting ready for the race. Photo Courtesy Karen

The colors fit old glory. Photo Courtesy Fronty Parker