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Photo by Nadja Roessek WHILE THE GETTING’S GOOD—One of the last barges of the year makes its way into Nome’s port Oct. 6. The days are numbered before ice prevents ships from reaching Nome. C VOLUME CIX NO. 41 OCTOBER 14, 2010 Three NSEDC board seats still undecided By Laurie McNicholas tion results with the Shaktoolik City Unofficial results of four elections Council Oct. 19. held Oct. 5 for open seats on the In Unalakleet, incumbent Frank Norton Sound Economic Develop- Katchatag won 92 votes (38.8 per- ment Corp. board of directors indi- cent of 237 votes cast), apparently cate that races in Shaktoolik and falling short of the 40 percent major- Unalakleet are undecided. ity required under NSEDC’s election The Shaktoolik vote count re- rules. William “Middy” Johnson fin- sulted in a tie between the incumbent ished second with 76 votes, Art Harvey Sookiayak and his only chal- Ivanoff drew 43 votes, and Charles lenger, Eugene Asicksik, a former Degnan had 23 votes. president and chief executive officer NSEDC President and Board of NSEDC. City Clerk Rita Auliye Chairman Dan Harrelson provided confirmed the 54-54 tie vote, but The Nome Nugget with the Un- said it includes 15 questioned ballots alakleet vote count, but he had not cast by non-registered voters. As a responded to the Nugget’s ques- result, a Shaktoolik voter is contest- tion whether a runoff election will ing the election. be scheduled between Katchatag Photo by Tyler Rhodes Auliye said Local Government and Johnson prior to press time for TOUGH SPORT—Nome’s Tyler Eide works to get the upper hand on Kotzebue’s Gabe Schaeffer Oct. 8 Specialist Leroy Seppilu of the this edition. during the first round of the Nome Wrestling Invitational at Nome-Beltz High School. More on page 9. Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs will review elec- continued on page 20 Native contracting program again in the crosshairs By Diana Haecker business development program cre- are socially disadvantaged busi- dice or cultural bias within the Amer- Another requirement under Mc- Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire ated to help small disadvantaged nesses and that the burden would fall ican society because of their identi- Caskill’s proposal would be that McCaskill last week said she plans to businesses compete in the U.S. econ- on the Native corporations to prove ties as members of those groups,” introduce in Congress a sweeping omy and access the federal procure- that there is “racial or ethnic preju- according to the document. continued on page 20 overhaul of the Small Business Ad- ment market. Qualifying companies ministration’s 8(a) program that can secure lucrative government con- would strip Alaska Native corpora- tracts without going through a bid- tions of contracting privileges. ding process. Alaska Native A paper named “Legislation elim- corporations were exempt from caps inating improper preferences for that apply to other 8(a) qualifying Alaska Native Corporations” out- corporations, like a $3.5 million cap lines Sen. McCaskill’s intentions to on services and $5.5 million for man- do away with capless contracts, to ufactured goods. change the way Alaska Native cor- Bering Straits Native Corp. would porations are automatically classified take a big hit if McCaskill were to suc- as economically disadvantaged, and ceed with the legislation as drafted, to require that the corporations be said BSNC Chief Executive Officer managed by individuals who are so- Gail Schubert. “BSNC’s 8(a) govern- cially and economically disadvan- ment contracts account for about 94 taged, among other things. percent of our revenue,” she said. The federal Small Business Ad- Since getting involved in 8(a) ministration’s 8(a) program is a contracting through BSNC’s de- fense, aerospace, construction work and security services, the bottom line increased for BSNC by more On the Web: than $50 million. Schubert said that www.nomenugget.net this in part has allowed BSNC to jump up 10 spots in the Top 49ers, a E-mail: ranking of Alaskan-owned and -op- [email protected] erated businesses based on gross revenues. The regional Native cor- poration climbed from 31st to 21st place of the most successful Alaskan businesses this year. If McCaskill has it her way, this Photo by Nadja Roessek could change for the worse. TOUGH GUY—Cody Evans, 7, shows no sign of fear as public health nurse Bobbi Jo Conner administers McCaskill proposed to eliminate a flu shot at the flu clinic held at the Old St. Joe’s Hall Oct. 7. the automatic designation that ANCs 2 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2010OPINION THE NOME NUGGET Letters Dear Editor, call who told us that they were gone, tremely challenging for me. Some us children, two did not make it. themselves. What went on in my October has always been a fa- I can still picture the funeral, the bur- people told me, “If you would have They followed that same path my Dad’s mind? I don’t know. After all vorite time of the year for me. But it ial, and the raw pain of it all. been there it wouldn’t have hap- parents took. We all got sent to vari- these years I honestly cannot answer also has been the most difficult. I like I am not a psychiatrist nor do I pened.” So I blamed myself. All my ous foster homes. I carried that false that question. But I have come to the the smell of fall leaves, walking on know all the answers to why it hap- anger went inside of me. I became an guilt with me for 17 years. conclusion that it is the most selfish sandbars on the beach, the cold in the pened. What was going through my introvert. If you sat in a room with Yes, it is false guilt. No one would act someone can do to his or her fam- air, and eating fresh clam chowder. parents’ minds? Did they even real- me I wouldn’t talk to you unless you want to let his or her loved ones or ily and friends. That is the truth. But the beginning of fall has also ize that they had left nine children spoke to me first. I had guilt like you anyone for that matter, commit sui- brought back one of the most diffi- when they died? Did they know that wouldn’t imagine. Out of the nine of cide. It was a choice that they made continued on page 16 cult memories of my life. You see, on we cried and cried when they left us? October 7, 1973 both of my parents Did they know that we wondered died in what was called a homicide- and wondered why they did it? All suicide. My father shot my mother the ‘whys’ and the ‘what ifs’ of their and then himself. I was 16 years old. untimely deaths cannot and will A Look at the Past My parents left nine of us children never be answered. All nine of us in- when they died. I can still recall the stantly became orphans. day as if it were yesterday. I can re- The years that followed were ex- Letters to the editor must be signed and include an address and phone number. Thank yous and political endorsements are considered ads. Editorial Dumbing the Voters A little bit of learning is a dangerous thing and a lot of learning is even more dangerous. It seems like the behind the scenes political manipulators fear education. Educated voters might ask embarrass- ing questions. Maybe they would even laugh at the lies in the cam- paign ads. Why would a candidate for US Senate want to eliminate the De- partment of Education? Maybe he didnʼt like his first grade teacher. Some of us are old enough to remember when the Cambodian dicta- tor killed all the teachers and educated people. He even killed people who wore glasses. Tyrants love to keep women uneducated. Ignorant citizens are easy to control. Why do candidate Joe Miller and his Tea Party backers want to eliminate the Department of Education? Public education is vital to the well-being of our nation. Now, more than ever we need to support our schools and encourage educational excel- lence. We need citizens who can solve problems, reason rational so- lutions, be inventive and creative. We need to be more than a nation of game players, texters and app junkies. We need to be critical of campaign ads and be able to tell truth from lies. We need to be able Photo Courtesy by the Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum to put on out hip boots and shovel through the manure. MANY HAVE FOLLOWED IN HIS WAKE – Roald Amundsen arrived in Nome Aug. 31, 1906 on his ship Gjoa Many political campaign managers fear the light. They probably after three years in the Arctic. He determined the Magnetic North Pole and was the first to successfully navi- arenʼt vampires, although the Republican Senatorial candidate from gate the Northwest Passage. Delaware claims to have been a witch— and we think Sarah is a loose cannon. An enlightened and educated public strikes fear into the hearts of the political manipulators. Imagine what it would be like if we had no federal support for education. Now that would be scary. Nome Norton Sound Tide Predictions (High & Low Waters) — October 14 - 20, 2010 —N.L.M.— Day Date Time Height Time Height Time Height Time Height Th 10/14 04:06 a.m. LDT 0.8L 10:03 a.m. LDT 1.3H 05:09 p.m.