Photo by Nikolai Ivanoff WHY DID THE MOOSE CROSS THE ROAD?— Because they want to cross the Glacier Creek Road and see what was going on at the Rock Creek Mine. C VOLUME CXI NO. 10 MARCH 10, 2011 Iditarod 39 on the trail to Nome By Diana Haecker dubbed the Last Great Race. Seen at The 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog the Avenue to wish mushers good race is underway with 62 mushers luck were Alaska senators Lisa and their dogs heading for Nome. Murkowski and Mark Begich, Gov- The first days of the race saw sunny ernor Sean Parnell, Lt. Governor weather, not a cloud in the sky and Mead Treadwell and Anchorage fast trails leading into the Alaska Mayor Dan Sullivan. Also on hand Range. But it will take a crystal ball to send off the teams was Nome to predict how the rest of the race is Mayor Denise Michaels and Iditarod going to shape up. Weather condi- Trail Committee Director John Han- tions, may they be “hot” or brutally deland. cold, stormy or calm, are dictating Under blue skies, with helicopters trail conditions and that in turn in- buzzing aloft and thousands of fans fluences a great deal how the dogs lining the city streets and trails lead- and their mushers are coping with ing out to Campbell airstrip, the whatever Mother Nature throws at mushers were cheered by fans from them. near and far. The ceremonial start in Anchorage Florence Busch was wearing bib took place on Saturday, March 5 Number One as the honorary with droves of people lining Fourth musher. In honor of her late husband Avenue in downtown Anchorage. Tom Busch, who unexpectedly died Dignitaries from both the mushing last November in Anchorage, Flo- world and the realm of politics paid rence rode the first sled out of the tribute to the 39th running of what is continued on page 8 Photo by Al Grillo IDITAROD — Defending Iditarod champion Lance Mackey runs his team from the starting line of the official start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Willow, on Sunday March 6, 2011 trying for his fifth win. Sixty-two mushers started the 1,100 mile sled dog race to Nome. Lessons from a school of fish NSEDC lends a hand with Elementary Salmon in the Classroom project By Tyler Rhodes in waders, knee-deep in a river or Nikki Scherer are using one salmon When working with salmon, Nor- stream. tank and its aquatic inhabitants to ton Sound Economic Development Since the fall of 2010, however, teach everything from biology to lan- Corp. fisheries biologists Charlie one particular fish project has pulled guage and cultural lessons. A second Lean and Kevin Keith are often clad the duo from the riverbank and im- tank is being used by older students mersed them in a sea of young in the school’s combined fifth- and schoolchildren. Asked by two Nome sixth-grade classes under the direc- On the Web: Elementary School teachers to lend tion of teacher Keith Conger. www.nomenugget.net a hand, Lean and Keith have pro- The salmon in the classroom proj- vided assistance to a year-long proj- ect is supported by the 4H Coopera- E-mail: ect centered around raising tive Extension Service and has [email protected] Coho—also known as silver— received support from the Alaska salmon in the classroom. Department of Fish and Game. The Over the years, a number of teach- first- and second-grade classrooms ers in the Nome district have taken have also received support from on the project to raise salmon using NSEDC. Photo by Matt Slingsby specially chilled fish tanks. This The project starts with salmon EGG-CELENT—Kayli Koonuk holds open a white fish full of eggs with school year, second-grade teacher eggs which students watch hatch and her partner Ada Lawrence during a dissection project in Mr. Slingsby’s Matt Slingsby and first-grade teacher continued on page 4 second-grade class Jan. 28. 2 THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2011 OPINION THE NOME NUGGET A Look at the Past F.H. Nowell Photo and Comments Courtesy of the Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum YAHOOOOO! WE MADE IT BACK! — Albert Fink and Eli Smith returning to Nome from polar bear hunt in the Arctic in 1906. Distance travelled 1,000 miles. Attorney Albert Fink organized the Nome Kennel Club Editorial in 1907 and later represented gangster Al Capone in Chicago. In 1907, Eli Smith mushed his dog team 8,000 miles from Nome to Washington, D.C., thereby winning a $10,000 bet. Those long, snowy Nome winters re- ally wore on these two mushers! Open the Windows Open the windows and let in the light. Every part of government from the top of the tree all the way down to the grass roots benefits from fresh air and sunshine. We can use our own town as an exam- Letters ple, but the problems extend past the horizon way beyond Front Street in Nome, Alaska. If we focus on Nome, we must encourage our elected officials to conduct the publicʼs business in a manner that ac- Dear Nancy, Thank you to all for great job, es- division’s new road–Lucy’s Way. commodates the people who elected them and their ability to be kept Nome is a very small town and pecially for the city crew who began Nikolai Ivanoff informed. has some narrow streets, alleys this winter to maintain Ivanoff sub- Nome Alaska On the state level we have to deal with the hidden agendas of the (Nome town site was create in billionaire corporations that want to stealth fleece our pockets and 1905), and of course they are very keep us in the dark. Is there a problem with the fox being in charge of hard to maintain by modern equip- the henhouse? How much tax- free oil, gas and minerals are we will- ment, especially in wintertime. Letters to the editor must be signed and ing to give away? What do we do when these resources are gone? This winter we have already on include an address and phone number. Does the American taxpayer feel good knowing they paid more federal the ground a very large amount of Thank yous and political endorsements tax than Exxon-Mobil? Does organized labor intend to sit still while the snow, especially in February and the flying monkeys in governorsʼ chairs try to break the backs of trade and city of Nome Public Works Roads are considered ads. professional unions? We have a Congress that acts like the bully on crew and DOT kept our streets and the beach who runs in and kicks over little kidsʼ sand castles. roads free from snow. We have politicians who fire up a smoke screen by pushing the We have probably the best snow same tired knee-jerk issue buttons while behind the scenes they are removing program in the state, be- destroying laws that protect the little guy and make it easier for the cause even in Anchorage after a wealthy to pump up their bank accounts. Congress tries to put us on snowstorm, the streets are full of a guilt trip for wanting something from government. Yes, we want af- snow and it is very hard to drive. fordable health care. Yes, we want Social Security. Yes, we want reli- Both the City of Nome crew and able mail service. Yes, we want to drink clean water and breath clean DOT are doing a great job, and I air. Yes, we want financial security. If Congress wants to be serious think Nome citizens really appreci- about budget cuts they should stop throwing good money after bad ate this. and take a look at the elephants in the room. They are called Of course all this could be differ- Afghanistan and Iraq. —N.L.M.— ent in a worse scenario, if city top of- Daylight savings time begins March 13! ficials/ leaders/city council did not Move your clocks ahead one hour before Illegitimus non carborundum pay attention and fund the snow re- moval program. you go to bed on Saturday night! Member of: Alaska Newspaper Association, National Newspaper Association Weather Statistics P.O. Box 610 - Nome Alaska, 99762 (907) 443-5235 fax (907) 443-5112 Sunrise 03/09/11 08:41 a.m. High Temp 24° 3/05/11 National Weather e-mail: [email protected] 03/16/11 09:17 a.m. Low Temp -9° 3/04/11 Service Peak Wind 20 mph, N, 3/05/11 Nome, Alaska ads: [email protected] Sunset 03/09/11 07:45 p.m. Precip. to Date 2.40” (907) 443-2321 classified and legal ads: [email protected] 03/16/11 09:05 p.m. Normal 1.81” 1-800-472-0391 subscriptions: [email protected] Seasonal snow fall total (data collected since 7/1/10): 76.6” Current Snow Cover: 43.0” varies with sublimation/melting/blowing of snow. Nancy McGuire editor and publisher [email protected] Diana Haecker staff reporter [email protected] Nadja Roessek advertising manager XXXIX webmaster/photographer Iditarod Don’t miss out on 2011 Winter action! [email protected] Amber Ryan advertising/production [email protected] Peggy Fagerstrom photography For photo copies [email protected] 2011 Nikolai Ivanoff photography Iron Dog Gloria Karmun production SEND photos to [email protected] Nome-Golovin Cannonball And much more! Subscribe today! Advertising rates: Business classified, 50¢ per word; $1.50/line legal; display ads $18 per column inch Published weekly except the last week of the year P.O.