Monthly Archives: November 2006

November 11th, at 11:00AM Veterans Memorial Service at the Moose Lodge. Please come in and join us in your own way to say thanks to those who gave their all for our country, our flag, our freedom and for you. Guest speaker will be LTC George W. Bond.

Delta residents may notice smoke coming from the Jarvis Creek area south of the Alaska Highway over the next few days. Alaska Fire Service, in conjunction with U.S. Army forestry, is conducting prescribed burns of slash piles in the North Jarvis area around 33 Mile Loop. The burns are part of the Army’s multi-year efforts to reduce hazardous fuels in the area and establish firebreaks.

Any DGSD middle and high school student or parent interested is invited to play indoor soccer at Fort Greely School at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 19th. For more information or if you need assistance getting on to Fort Greely, please contact Mr. Schaffer @ 869-3105.

This is a wonderful opportunity for you to help someone in our town, to share what it means to you to be an American. The Volunteer Tutor Program is designed to help the elderly in our refugee community learn the information they need to pass the US Citizenship exam by matching up community volunteers with them for in-home tutoring sessions.

The sessions themselves are about 2 hours long, once a week, for approximately 12 weeks. As a tutor, you will receive all the materials you need, a prep class to get you started, and initial introductions/help with your student. Of course, everything is supplied to you by the Delta RAIS office (Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services). You will have plenty of good help.

You DO NOT need to be bi-lingual. An interpretter will be assigned to you and your student.

You do not need to have a college degree: the workbook is about 5th grade level, large print (easier for them to read).

Scheduling is flexible; we will match you up with a student who wants to be taught during the time you are available to teach.

AND! if you are over 55, your volunteer service may be rewarded through the MAAST program.

I am a tutor myself, as well as the Coordinator for this VTP program. I have to tell you that I love every minute of this. If I had the time, I would teach all the students myself…really!

If you would like more information on how you can become a tutor, please call me, Fran Hallgren, VTP Coordinator, at 895-5532 ASAP. Our students are waiting for you.

Auction Items:

• Burl bowl by Roy Baldwin
• Gulkana River Run from Blue Moose Charters
• 2 on the 26 Glacier Tour from Phillips Cruises
• Custom build fishing rod by Ernie Blecic
• A surprise basket from the Carefree Gourmet/Joyce McCombs
• Queen size quilt by Tundra Quilter/Rose Edgren
• A jersey and stick from Alaska’s NHL player Scottie Gomez
• Jewelry boxes by Karou Warren and from Delta’s own semi-pro hockey player Eli Grossmann
• And much, much more along with some great door prizes!!!

Funds raised will be used for Tournament Fees, USA Hockey and Figure Skating Registration, Operation of the Liewer-Olmstead Arena and other fun activities at the Arena.

(Anchorage) – Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman and Division of Elections Director Whitney Brewster remind Alaska voters that Tuesday, November 7 is General Election Day.

Voters will be deciding among candidates for:

U.S. Congress, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 10 Senate seats, 40 House seats; and Judges up for retention

And the following ballot measures:
Ballot Measure #1 – 05LEGS – 90-Day Session Limit for Legislature

Ballot Measure #2 – 05GAS2 – Natural Gas Resources Tax and Production Credit

Everyone is invited to view Election results as they come in at the following Election Central locations (doors open at 7 p.m. at all locations):

Anchorage: Egan Center
Fairbanks: Westmark Hotel
Juneau: Centennial Hall

Please be aware that the election results will not be posted to the Division of Elections’ web site until after 9 p.m. on Election Day. This year, the Division is using two types of voting machines as required by the federal Help America Vote Act. Uploading the optical scan units and the touch screen units requires more time, and thus will mean that results will be available after 9 p.m. Additionally, the Division wants to capture as many of the results as possible prior to posting. One of the limitations of the election management system is that if the optical scan machine results from a precinct are uploaded and not the touch screen unit, the report will show that precinct as having
reported although results for both units have not yet been uploaded. To avoid confusion, the Division wants to make sure as many precincts have uploaded both units as possible prior to posting results.

For voter convenience, polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. November 7.

Identification is required at the polling place in order to receive a ballot. Acceptable forms of ID include a voter ID card, driver’s license, state ID card, passport, military ID card, birth certificate or hunting or fishing license. If a voter does not have identification, they will be asked to vote a Questioned ballot.

Voters who do not know where their polling place is located can call the Division’s toll free polling place at 1-888-383-8683 or contact any Division of Elections office.

Below is contact and location information for the various election offices:

Region I Elections Office
9109 Mendenhall Mall Rd. Suite 3
Juneau, Alaska 99811
Phone: (907) 465-3021
Fax: (907) 465-2289

Region II Elections Office
2525 Gambell St, Suite 100
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Phone: (907) 522-8683
Fax: (907) 522-2341

Region III Elections Office
675 Seventh Avenue, Suite H3
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Phone: (907) 451-2835
Fax: (907) 451-2832

Region IV Elections Office
103 E. Front St.
Nome, Alaska 99762
Phone: (907) 443-5285
Fax: (907) 443-2973

Kenai Elections Office
11312 Kenai Spur Highway, Suite 45
Kenai, Alaska 99611
Phone: (907) 283-3805
Fax: (907) 283-3826

Matanuska-Susitna Elections Office
North Fork Professional Building
1700 E. Bogard Road, Building B, Suite 102
Wasilla, Alaska 99654
Phone: (907) 373-8952

For additional information, please visit the Division of Elections website. If you do not have access to the Internet, or if you have questions or need assistance, please contact any Elections office.

Just a reminder that Alaska pioneer and story telling legend Jack Coghill will be at the library tomorrow, Saturday, November 4 @ 1:00. Please join the Delta Library Board and the local Boy Scout Troops for what promises to be a fun and educational event. Informal question and answer will follow, along with coffee & treats. Cameras welcome.

(Anchorage) – Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman today certified an initiative petition for the 2008 Primary Election ballot titled, “An Act relating to establishing the Alaska Gaming Commission.”

The initiative’s prime sponsors are Darwin Biwer, Cindy Menichetti and Barbara J. Alberg.

Sponsors collected at least 31,450 signatures from registered Alaska voters to qualify the initiative for a vote of the people. This is 10 percent of the 314,502 votes cast in the 2004 general election. Under the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2004, signatures are needed from at least seven percent of voters in at least 30 of the 40 Alaska House Districts. Sponsors had one year from the time they received petition booklets to collect the required signatures.

To view the memorandum from the Division of Elections for this initiative click here. To view the certification letter for this initiative click here.

Note: Initiative petitions are not “approved” or “disapproved” by the Lieutenant Governor based on his opinion of them. Rather, they are “certified” or “not certified.” The State constitution and Alaska Statutes specify criteria that must be met for an initiative to be certified.

I have always wanted to start a business. To do so should be a no-brainer. After all, this is America, right? America is famous for being a land of equality and opportunity! I’ve been told that any buck-toothed, freckle-faced kid who puts his mind to it can become President of the United States. In addition, at a very young and impressionable age, I was imbued with a sense of awe for the financial windfall pleading with absolutely anybody at all to pluck it. It was called the “American Dream”.

One of the earliest stories I remember hearing at my mother’s knee was about some guy named Ellis Sylen and his encounter with the friendly giantess, Nukah Lossus. It’s been a long time since I heard the story, and no doubt age and cynicism have blunted the details as well as the fascination it held for me as an itty bitty little munchkin, but it went something like this:

To read the rest of the story we invite you to browse our Chinook pages.

In partnership with the U.S. Army Alaska, the Alaska Fire Service plans to burn piles along Jarvis Creek on 245 acres in the Donnelly Training Area (DTA) outside the town of Delta Junction beginning Monday, November 6.

A continuation of a multi-year project to create a break in the vegetation along the northern edge of the DTA, the purpose of the burn is to remove vegetation to help reduce the risk of wildfires later in the future.

To meet resource and safety concerns, prescribed fires only occur when specific conditions are met including: air, soil and vegetation moisture levels; temperatures; wind direction and speeds; expected fire behavior; and smoke dispersal.

Prescribed fires will only be ignited when conditions are such that the majority of the smoke will drift away from communities near the burn area. However, the public is advised that fires may generate smoke that is visible for miles, and depending on actual weather conditions, may persist in the area for several days. The State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has issued a smoke permit for this project.

The actual date of the prescribed fire will depend on favorable weather conditions. The area will be closed to public access during the burn.

For more information contact Shirley Goforth 907-356-5600.

From an Alaska Fire Service news release

December 12 is the date, and the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team is the reason. The troops will be returning from Iraq starting in December, with exact dates subject to ground conditions. Read the story here.