Hometown, Alaska: The Great Death

Tue, Aug 31, 2010

The epidemics that swept through Alaska Native villages in the early 20th century are among the most tragic and least known events in Alaska history. Entire communities perished, and the impacts are still felt. In his new book, The Great Death, author John Smelcer explores these terrible events in fiction, using an extraordinary story from his own family history. In the second half of the show, Dr. Tom Nighswander explains the science of the epidemics. Listen to Hometown, Alaska Wednesday at 2:00 pm, repeating at 7:00 pm.

Lit Site Alaska: Epidemics and Pandemic Flu of 1918-1919
Book recommended by Dr. Nighswander: Chills and Fever: Health and Disease in the Early History of Alaska By Robert Fortuine

Download Audio (MP3)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Hometown, Alaska: The Alaska State Fair

Wed, Aug 25, 2010

The Guinness World Record breaking 125.9 pound cabbage from the cabbage weigh-off at the Alaska State Fair in 2009.

Giant cabbages. Homemade quilts and hand fed piggies and bunnies. These are only some of the elements of the annual Alaska State Fair in Palmer. Tune in with host Ellen Lockyer and her guests for a look at the highlight’s of this years’ State Fair in Palmer. Find out what’s new this year and look back at some of the annual activities that make the fair a well loved part of Alaska life Wednesday afternoon at 2:00 pm repeating that evening at 10:00 pmon KSKA’s Hometown, Alaska.

Download Audio (MP3)
READ MORE →

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Hometown, Alaska: Ballot Measure 2

Wed, Aug 18, 2010

On the next Hometown, Alaska, we will be discussing the contentious ballot measure two, a bill that would make it mandatory for minors seeking an abortion to have notification or consent of a parent or guardian or through a judicial bypass. Proponents say they want the basic right to oversee their daughters’ medical decisions, and opponents state this bill would put government and the courts in the middle of Alaska’s families. Join host Teeka Ballas and her guests from as they take a closer look at this bill and your phone calls. Listen and participate in the live call-in Thursday at 2:00 pm.

Download Audio (MP3)
READ MORE →

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Hometown, Alaska: Ballot Measure 1

Wed, Aug 11, 2010

Do you know enough to vote?

Proponents call it the Anti-Corruption Act. Opponents call it an attack on free speech and capable of shutting down local government.

The State of Alaska voter pamphlet describes it this way:

“An initiative prohibiting the use of public funds to lobby or campaign; and prohibiting holders of government contracts and family members from making political contributions.”

So what does that mean? Two guests – Ken Jacobus from the Yes on One camp, and Josh Applebee from the No on One camp – will join host Kathleen McCoy to sort it out on KSKA’s Hometown, Alaska. Bring your questions. It’s time to get the facts on Ballot Measure One before you head into the voting booth on Aug. 24.

LINKS:

RELATED SHOWS AND STORIES:

A Closer Look: Ballot Measure 1
APRN: Initiative Limiting Access to Political Process Withdrawn (10 June 2010)
APRN: Lieutenant Governor Candidates Debate Hot Topics (9 June 2010)
Addressing Alaskans: Both Sides of Ballot Measure 1 (13 May 2010)
APRN: Ballot Measure One Supporter Says its Not a Gag Law (6 May 2010)
APRN: Juneau, Anchorage Rally Against Ballot Measure One (3 May 2010)

Download Audio (MP3)
READ MORE →

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Hometown, Alaska: Youth Spending Their Vacations Serving the Community

Wed, Aug 4, 2010

College and high school students look forward to the summer break to get a respite from the study grind. But these days, many young Alaskans are working during the summer months – some to earn cash to go back to school – and some are spending their summer helping others. Join host Ellen Lockyer and meet some energetic youth who are combining valuable vacation time with creative ways to serve the community on Hometown, Alaska this afternoon at 2:00 pm.

Photo by Kristin Spack: Emily Miner is a seasonal park ranger with the National Park Service in Anchorage as well as a University of Oregon student.

Download Audio (MP3)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Hometown, Alaska: The Alaskan Alternative Circus

Wed, Jul 28, 2010

Jumping tigers, sprinting elephants, enormous tents, peanuts, zebras and clowns. Well, those might not be the things you’ll see when you go to a Green Light Circus show, or attend the Church of the Flaming Funk. Join host Teeka Ballas and her guests on the next Hometown, Alaska for a discussion on the underground circus in Alaska – what to see, what to expect and how to be in the know.

Download Audio (MP3)
READ MORE →

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Hometown, Alaska: The Mat-Su Colonists, 75 years later

Wed, Jul 21, 2010

The colonists used the train for eating and social events even after they had arrived and set up their tent city. Here they gather for a dance with local talent providing the music. Photo from MSB Sanbote Collection, courtesy of the Mat-Su Borough Cultural Resources Dept.

Some 200 families from the barren farmlands of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota chose FDR’s 1935 New Deal challenge to re-launch their lives in Alaska as farmers. They became the hope of a nation wracked by the Great Depression in what reporters called a “socialist experiment.”

What was it like to be a colonist? We’ll learn from Gerry Keeling, one of the first babies born to the newly staked farmers. She grew up in Palmer and attended K-12 at the Palmer Territorial School. She has stories of community, hardship and even heartbreak – but maintains an abiding belief in the resilient spirit of the colony pioneers.

Joining the program in the second half is Eileen Probasco, chief planner for the Mat-Su Borough. Eileen moved to the Valley at age 13. She remembers when Palmer was the big town and Wasilla just a wide spot in the road. Eileen’s own family experienced the rapid growth in the Valley. Today, she wrestles professionally with the challenge to meet the needs of Alaska’s fastest growing community.

Join host Kathleen McCoy for a look at Mat-Su’s unique history and how that foundation shapes the valley today on Hometown, Alaska Wednesday at 2:00 pm.

LINKS:

BOOKS:

‘The Frontier in Alaska and the Matanuska Colony,’ by Orlando Miller, a history professor at University of Alaska Fairbanks, copyright 1975
‘Alaskan Group Settlement: The Matanuska Valley Colony,’ U.S. Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, 1950
‘We Shall Be Remembered,’ Evangeline Atwood, 1966
‘The Colorful Matanuska Valley,’ by Don Irwin, available for viewing at the Colony House Museum
‘Matanuska Colony – Sixty Years: The colonists and their legacy,’ by Brigitte Lively, available for viewing at the Colony House Museum
‘Matanuska Colony 75th Anniversary Scrap Book,” compiled by Lynette A. Lehn and Lorraine M. Kirker

Download Audio (MP3)
READ MORE →

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Hometown, Alaska: Alaska’s college baseball playoffs attract big league scouts

Wed, Jul 14, 2010

The times they are a ‘changing fast, but one thing stays the same – the crack of the bat against a leatherbound ball, and the shouts of the fans in the stands. The Alaska Baseball League, attracts the best college baseball players in the West, and big league scouts are not far behind them. Join host Ellen Lockyer and her guests for an inside look at Alaska’s summer college baseball clubs and a preview of the Scout Showcase coming to Anchorage soon this afternoon at 2:00 pm on Hometown, Alaska.

Download Audio (MP3)
READ MORE →

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Hometown, Alaska: Combating Sexual Assault in Alaska

Tue, Jul 6, 2010

For years, Alaskans have battled alarming rates of reported rapes and sexual assaults. Task forces have been formed, reports have been filed and still, the numbers continue to rise. On the next Hometown, Alaska join host Teeka Ballas and her guests as they examine why Alaska is plagued with sexual assaults and, what we are doing to make life safer in our state.

Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis (AWAIC) Phone: 279-9581
Standing Together Against Rape (STAR ) Crisis Line: 1-800-478-8999
Alaska Women’s Network: Domestic Violence
Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (ANDVSA)
Alaska CARES of Providence Hospital Phone 907-561-8301 or 1-877-561-8301
Men Against Rape
International Association of Forensic Nurses
1 in 6: Male sexual abuse

Download Audio (MP3)
READ MORE →

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Hometown, Alaska: The Human Toll of the Gulf Oil Spill

Wed, Jun 30, 2010

Photo courtesy NOAA: Workers replacing oiled pom-pons with clean ones along a beach in Louisiana.

Alaskans are 21 years out from the Exxon Valdez, with the particular wisdom that hindsight offers. What they know – beyond the environmental and legal aspects of the Exxon Valdez – is the devastating and long-term toll that man-made disasters can have on people. On this week’s Hometown, Alaska host Kathleen McCoy will be joined by Alaskan, Ed Thompson and disaster sociologist, Dr. Steve Picou to discuss the unique human impact of these two oil spills. Join in the conversation on Hometown, Alaska Wednesday at 2:00 pm.

Download Audio (MP3)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.