October 24, 2013 Federal Shutdown Had Impact on Region by Diana Haecker Money
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Photo by Diana Haecker LAST BARGE OF THE SEASON— The Alaska Logistics tug and barge Ocean Mariner and Western 7 arrived in Nome last week and offloaded the last barged-in cargo for this season. C VOLUME CXIII NO. 43 October 24, 2013 Federal shutdown had impact on region By Diana Haecker money. On October 16, Congress finally All Democrats in Congress sup- agreed on a Continuing Resolution ported the legislation, but the Repub- that funds the government until Janu- lican camp was torn, separating Tea ary 15, 2014 at fiscal year 2013 lev- Party members from other Republi- els, raised the debt ceiling through cans. February 7, 2014 and pays govern- Eighteen Republicans in the Senate ment workers who were furloughed and 144 in the House voted against during the 16-day partial shutdown. the legislation, while 27 in the Senate Final passage came almost 24 and 87 in the House supported it. hours before the debt limit of $16.7 The Alaska Delegation, including trillion was reached on Thursday Congressman Don Young, voted in night. support of the bipartisan bill. Without passage of the bill the U.S. “I’ve been here for 18 government would have defaulted and would have shutdowns now, and there is plenty of not been able to borrow any more continued on page 4 Fluoride poll put to voters There will be an extra piece of The “yea” or “nay” to the addition paper distributed to registered voters of fluoride in Nome’s City water when they show up to vote in the supply is not a part of the official Photo by Diana Haecker November 5 Municipal Run-off ballot. POETRY IN NOME— Alaska State Writer Laureate for 2010-2012 Peggy Shumaker of Fairbanks assists Election in Nome. The Nome Common Council felt Brandon Smith in writing a poem during her visit of Mr. McRae’s fourth grade class at Nome Elementary According to City Clerk Tom they could not make a decision on School, on Friday, Oct. 18. Shumaker was in Nome to read her work as part of the Poetry North series, or- Moran, voters will be asked to take this matter without an advisory poll. ganized by the Kegoayah Kozga Library in partnership with the Alaska State Library and the Nome Arts part in an unofficial advisory poll. Council. Second season of offshore gold rush nears its end By Diana Haecker A difference from last year’s gold there were six surf crawlers, two Mechanical dredges are barge son, Redburn estimates that out of This summer marked the second rush is that there are bigger opera- jack-up rig platforms with mounted platforms that carry an excavator and the 207 permitted outfits, only 60 to season of offshore gold mining after tions taking to the waters to extract excavators from the Phoenix Marine a washplant. 80 dredges were actually working the 2011 Dept. of Natural Resources the gold hiding underneath the company and two huge mechanical The mechanical dredge Christine regularly. offshore mineral lease, which drew Bering Sea. dredges, the Jay Cashman and the Rose, run by Nome’s Pomrenke fam- an onslaught of miners from outside In addition to a host of small suc- AuGrabber. They mined lease tracts ily, used to be the biggest dog in the Housing shortage of Nome to the Gold Rush city in tion dredges that mined in the East aquired at the DNR offshore lease water until Phoenix Marine of New The City still struggles accommo- hopes of striking it rich. and West Beach Recreational areas, sale in 2011. York, AuGrabber and the Jay Cash- dating the rise in population during man showed up. the summer months. But size doesn’t make up for ex- Perennial problems haven’t gone perience. away, and those include housing and Nome Dept. of Natural Resources a rise in calls for service. Nome’s offshore mining administrator Byron housing crunch has left only a few Redburn said that while most of the options for miners. “newcomers” had experience work- Connex vans outside of city lim- ing with excavators in the marine en- its were turned into living quarters. vironment, none of them had Camper vehicles used for temporary experience digging for gold with ex- housing appeared on vacant lots. cavators in the marine environment. Tents and campers bore signs of Miner Shawn Pomrenke said, makeshift living quarters near the “Yes, there are new guys in town, but East End Park. that doesn’t really affect us that Tents, tarps and driftwood shacks much.” He added chuckling, “Every- dotted West Beach for miles, elicit- body tries to follow me around be- ing the response from U.S. Senator cause I know where the gold is.” But he also said that there is ca- continued on page 5 maraderie, not cut throat competi- tion, among the dredgers. The crew of the Christine Rose assisted several dredges in the past when help was On the Web: needed. www.nomenugget.net The DNR issued 207 offshore mining permits this year, up 51 more E-mail: permits than last year. [email protected] “This in no way means there were 207 dredges in the water,” said Red- burn. In the winter, eight outfits were permitted to conduct mining under Photo by Diana Haecker the sea ice. Christine Rose, left, After having kept an eye on the BIG FISH IN THE WATER— The mechanical dredge dwarfs smaller suction dredges an- miners throughout the summer sea- chored in the Snake River. This gold mining season saw an increase in larger dredges working in Nome. 2 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013OPINION THE NOME NUGGET Letters Dear Editor, Lee and Sarah Palin as well. 1) You can’t “Sonny Boy” and this was a big tragedy It was not simple for me at 42 years ready love him. Your October 10 editorial has the fla- spend what you do not have. 2) Oba- for me and all my family. old to start life from zero and move to the This is an emotional letter, but I am vor of most of your others. It is a con- macare is law. You, the Democrats and I adopted him in November 2001 and US. My family was separated for many sure all dog lovers understand me and demnation of anyone who disagrees with Republicans that supported it are respon- raised him like a family member. years, but Son always was close to me support me. your basic idea that money grows on sible for it and the fallout from its imple- He was a very intelligent, funny dog and helping. Thank you! trees. “The spoiled little Tea Party Con- mentation. 3) Default on the debt service and sometimes I was thought he was not So! We buried him in honor on private Nikolai Ivanoff gressional brats did not get their will not result from failure to fund this a dog and was sent to me from another land and hope he will be resting in peace. Nome, AK way”...and... “Who needs Iran when we massive government. By Constitutional world to help me solve all my and my We decided to have a new puppy and have our own Tea party domestic terror- requirement, it gets paid. Obama’s jobs family’s problems. over two weeks searched locally, in Gam- Dear Editor ists?” Name-calling is your specialty, stay creation was nothing more than expansion With his presence and I believe help, I bell and surrounded villages and finally Fluoride should not be added to our with it. Common sense is not your forte. I of government now he is angry because got my green card, citizenship, our family found one in Teller from Joe Garnie’s drinking water because it has been proven remember your calling Palin an idiot and the bill has come due and responsible was reunited. I was busy taking care of team. insignificant in the prevention of dental at that point I began to see the light. people in Congress want to put a stop to him and did not much time to think about We named him “Brother” and hope he cavities. This comes from a peer-re- All I want to do here is point out that it. He and his friends did not submit a bad stuff. Many times in the past I was will replace Sonny Boy, at list physically. viewed article in Pub Med. The dental although there have been no responses to budget as was required. Deal with it. You thought about giving up on everything, I think he will be a great dog too and hope school at the University of California at your various outbursts; some of us dis- wanted a train wreck, you got it. but his presence gave me a chance to sur- he has a long life in our family. All fam- San Francisco has taken this position agree with your liberal/progressive plat- Of course Fraudus Maximus and com- vive. ily members from Alaska to Japan al- since 1999. This new information shows form. I’m one. I’m sure in time you’ll see pany could always look at reality, realize many of your comments sound more like they must stop the handouts and negoti- braying. ate ...but I think a train wreck is what Remember Sarah Palin referred to the he wants so he can further his dream of A Look at the Past “death panels” in Obamacare? Sure you total control over a country he hates. do. The problem here is she was correct. Charles B.Trainor They are actually called the “Independent Nome, AK Payment Advisory Board.” While Obama suggests, “Maybe you’re better off not Editor’s Note: having the surgery but taking the pain I never said Sara Palin wasn’t a vi- pills”...it was just his thoughts.