Cuddy Family Midtown Park - Almost Ready

To get to the Peter's Sushi fire site the other day, I ran through the new Cuddy Family Midtown Park (CFMP). I say 'new' because although it's been there a few years, with a path and an amphitheater, now the speed skating rink is in, there's a couple of small lakes (ponds?), and it looks like lawn has been seeded. There's also an asphalt path that wanders around the edges of the park.
The northwest end - which you can get to from the Loussac Library parking lot was full of poppies this week.

There's a small amphitheater near the west entrance. It's been there a while and is already starting to look uncared for. There's a lot of potential for outdoor concerts and even some theater. But this is no Greek amphitheater.

Here's the west entrance at the end of 40th. Never heard of 40th? This is just south of 36th and C. Or just north of Tudor and C. The previous post puts this into a larger context.

This map shows you where the pictures were take from and the direction I was shooting. Google Earth is a little behind the times as you can see from the pictures. But you can also see the scrubby trees that were cleared to make this park. If I understand the function of bogs right, we've traded a natural water filter for lawns that will probably be fertilized and maybe pesticided. Or maybe the parks people have gone organic.

Here's a veiw looking toward Loussac Library not far from the east entrance off of Denali. This is off that new out of the way road into the Loussac parking lot. You can see the road barely in the upper right of the picture.


And here's a view of the tiny lakes, looking west from near the east entrance.



Finally, a panorama from the south side of the park near the back of Lowe's (on Tudor). This is three different pictures spliced together, so the right side is basically looking north and the left side more to the west.

This isn't one of those typical Anchorage parks where they chopped down a bunch of trees to add some playground equipment or sport fields. As I recall, uncertainly, this had some stunted bog spruce. There's still some of that green on the Google Earth map It looks like its going to be rolling lumps of lawn. Maybe they'll even put some trees back in. It's in a residential-free island surrounded by Tudor, C St., Denali, and 36th. So it's not a neighborhood park.

The speed skating rink will probably attract a certain crowd. There really aren't too many places to sit and watch the skaters - a few small benches. Sitting on the grass knolls might be good, but they'll be under snow and ice when there are skaters.

And there isn't a lot of parking. Well, there's Loussac's parking lot, but it's pretty full most of the winter. There's room for some cars down on the park end if there aren't too many people using the park.

Well, it's just in the beginning stages, so let's see what other amenities come in - picnic benches, covered table areas, seating near the rink, etc. And some trees maybe. It does look more like a Lower 48 Park than any other one I can think of. The water is artificial lakes, the lawn areas were sculpted, and the natural vegetation was nearly completely cleared out (except for the edges of the Loussac parking lot) and replaced by...well we'll have to see.

B Street & 40th Street Anchorage

We spent a year in Washington DC long ago. We explored much of the area and our maps were worn out at the end. I came back thinking that I could take a map of Anchorage and mark off every road I'd been on and that we were small enough that I could
eventually mark off every road.

Well, I didn't. But in the 31 years I've lived here, green open space has been replaced by view blocking buildings of various sizes. Or by new roads like Elmore Road. And quickly we forget what things looked like before and we adjust to the new use of that space.

Both thoughts - checking out all the roads and documenting the changes - came together Wednesday when I ran over to B St between 40th and Tudor to look at the remains of Peter's Sushi. This is a street that is hidden off the beaten path. So let me show you some pictures. First, with the help of Google Earth.

First an overview of the area I'm talking about. The red box is enlarged below. But this is between 36th and Tudor (Loussac and Lowe's) and C Street and Denali. It includes the new Cuddy Family Midtown Park which is pretty messed up in the Google Earth photo and now has a finished speed skating rink and lawns that have just been started. Pictures in the next post. The red star is at the intersection of 40th and B Streets.


Again, part of the documentation here comes from the Google Earth picture below which has dirt where the RE/MAX building is now. You can also see how tiny - just a path really - 40th is between B and C Streets. Pictures of now are below.

This is the red square from the first map with pictures of the buildings that are in the maps. Another way to do this is to go to Google Street map.

4oth and B Streets looking NORTH. On the left is the new RE/MAX building.

This is 40th and B Streets looking SOUTH. Note that whoever built this street didn't consider pedestrians or cyclists because there is no sidewalk.



This is a view from 40th and B Streets looking EAST. There is nothing here but a tiny parking lot and a park entrance. People working in the offices along B Street or people coming to the park from the south have no sidewalk along B St to this park entrance.

This is two pictures loosely meshed together to give you the sense of looking WEST from 40th and B (the red star in the two maps above.) According to the top map, this was just a path not long ago. Looking this way actually jarred, briefly, very briefly, a memory of walking in Singapore at the end of April - looking toward a busy street (C Street) with tall buildings, particularly the glassy Arctic Slope Building.

We ride down streets with lots of buildings that we never go in and we have no idea what goes on in those buildings. So I went into two of the buildings on B Street (the others seemed like there was basically one tenant; 3 buildings were DOWL engineers, another TTT Environmental) and took pictures of the list of tenants.



Above is the Northwest Building and below is the list of tenants in this buiding.






The Park View really has a park view, in the back. I'll put up pictures of the park in the next post. The directory, which looked very good in person, proved to be a bitch to photograph, what with the reflections of the light from behind. As I look at it now, I should have used my flash. Since I normally dislike how a flash changes the mood of the scene, I forget all about it in situations like this. In any case you can enlarge the pictures and squint if you want to read it.




Note that B St. is something of an oddity because A St here for a block or so is in between C St and B St. The dilemma is that north of here is where A street splits off to the right from C St. There is no A St to the south. There are a few tiny pieces of B St to the south (map on right) and a few blocks to the north (map on left)

40th Street is another that appears here and there. A new section of 40th is scheduled to become a reality from Lake Otis eastward through what is now mostly woods and a big hill near the McLaughlin Youth Center. It's the dotted yellow line between A and B in the map.


From the Community Council Survey Capital Projects Needs Ranking Survey : (This is a screen capture of the original so the missing words were like that. You can click on the image to enlarge it.)



Notice the language used here:
traffic calming, increase connectivity, relieve pressure. All sounds really good, until you see another chunk of wild green in the city chewed up and spit out as pavement.

Here's just a bit of this future 40th, looking east from Laurel (another road recently punched through) at the hill south of McLaughlin Youth Center.


And then near the end of working on this I found wikimapia that has Google maps with some of the buildings identified as you pass the mouse over them. I could have gone in and added the names of the buildings I've got here, but this is taking me long enough. In any case, the link above goes to their map that coincides with part of mine.

And you can also go to Google Maps Street view to see this from a somewhat different view of the B Street. I would link it, but I couldn't. You can go to Google Maps and search for 40th and B Street Anchorage and then click on Street View on the top.

Halcro's Charges Against Palin over Monegan Firing

Andrew Halcro is a smart guy in a left brain sort of way, he writes well, and he knows a lot of people. But over the last year or two I've grown to wonder about his judgment or maybe his motivation. He seems to totally dismiss factors related to human feelings as irrelevant and seems not to care a whit about what people think about him. That can be ok if you just like making noise or have unchecked power (hear Jane Meyer on Dick Cheney) . But if you want to change people's minds, you need to show some respect for the the people with whom you disagree.

So, where I used to read his columns with care and give what he said serious weight, I'm much more skeptical nowadays. For instance, the gas pipeline decisions have unknowns that no one can answer with certainty. We can make predictions about what might happen, but there are so many variables, so many future decisions by different people all of which will be influenced by what the others do, that no one can predict with certainty what the outcomes will be. But Halcro has taken a strong stance against the Governor and against AGIA with a tone of omniscience and almost contempt for people who disagree, that I wonder whether he is just completely enamored by his own brilliance or whether he might have some ties with the oil producers. Or he has God's on his speed dial.

Since we know that he's been on a crusade against the governor for all sorts of reasons, when he lights into her over anything we have to get out the salt shaker. You might want to shake some white grains into your palm before reading on.

Today Halcro is offering his explanation of the firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. You can look at Halcro's blog post for yourself.

Basically, Halcro is saying that Monegan was fired because:

• He has not fired the trooper who divorced Gov. Palin's sister
• He has fought hard NOT to reduce the troopers' budget opposing the Governor's office
  

Halcro's alleging that the Palin family has been filing frivolous complaints against the ex-inlaw trooper trying to get him fired.

I've done grievance work in one of my lives and I know that no matter how compelling someone's story is, there is almost always another take on things. Even if Halcro put a call into the Governor's office, I suspect she probably didn't call back. But I'm sure we'll hear more about this.

Governor Palin has enjoyed a level of public image and popularity that we all know is partially earned and partially wishful thinking. As she has to decide more and more issues where interests and values are in conflict her shine is going to dim. The backbone that it took to stand up against the corruption she saw on the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and stand up to the oil producers, could, on a bad day turn into a counterproductive stubbornness. Standing firm until you get what you want, tied in with family loyalty, could turn into the kind of vendetta Halcro portrays. And Palin's silence on the firing and her not telling the Commissioner the news herself only add fuel make Halcro's fire. Maybe we'll soon find out why Lyda Green disliked the Governor so much.

Or maybe this is part of the oil producers' campaign to discredit the Governor so that they can gain back their control over what happens with Alaska's oil. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile for some other thoughts on the issue, here is a thread from a law enforcement officer forum.

Thanks to AW for pointing out Halcro's post.

Fifty Years Ago John F. Kennedy Urged Alaskans to Elect Democrats

Going through the oral history section of the UAF Archives I found this speech by Senator John F. Kennedy given Nov. 11, 1958. The rest of the United States had voted on Nov. 4, 1958 and elected an overwhelmingly Democratic Senate and House. Alaskans would be voting on November 25. Kennedy, in Juneau, is urging his audience to elect Democrats. He is introduced by Ernest Gruening. Kennedy begins 4 minutes into the tape.

[Source: While this is basically audio, it is stored in video format. This page gives all the information. This is a direct link to the audio.It is housed in the Alaska State Library - Historical Collections, PO Box 110571, Juneau AK 99811-0571; mailto:asl.historical@alaska.gov]



The Division of Elections website tells us that Alaskans followed their advice. (Well if you look closely, the numbers and the words don't match. I'm guessing they

The General Election, November 25, 1958

Immediately following certification of the August primary election, campaigning by successful candidates began for the state’s first general election. Although general elections, nationwide, are held the first Tuesday in November, the 1958 general election in Alaska was scheduled for November 25.

The most hotly contested race in the election was between two former territorial governors, Gruening and Stepovich, both running for the U.S. Senate. In the uncontested primary election race, Stepovich had "beaten" Gruening by approximately 6,000 votes. In the general election, Gruening beat Stepovich by slightly more than 3,000 votes.

Republican secretary of state candidate Karl Dewey withdrew his nomination before the general election, and the party replaced him with Brad Phillips of Anchorage.

The day of the election the Anchorage Times wrote in its lead story, "The fruits of 42 years of effort will be the result of today’s election - the official proclamation that Alaska is a State of the Union." More than 50,000 Alaskan voters went to the polls to cast ballots on November 25.

Official Returns of the November 25, 1958 General Election

STATE OF ALASKA
PREPARED BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE

Thus, Bob Bartlett, Ernest Gruening and Ralph Rivers went to Washington to represent Alaska as voting members in Congress. Bartlett was to draw the two-year "A" term, and Gruening, the four-year "B" term. They stood for re-election again in 1960 and 1962, respectively, when each was elected to the six-year senatorial term prescribed by the U.S. Constitution.

After the November 25th election was certified, Bill Egan and Hugh Wade, working with members of the newly-elected first state legislature, immediately began the challenging task of organizing the 49th state’s new government.

Also, following certification, President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 3, 1959, consistent with the Admission Act, proclaimed Alaska a State of the Union.

UAF Archives - Kennecott then and now

Kenrick linked to a University of Alaska Fairbanks Archives 1953 photo in a comment the other day on my post about the Kennecott Mill in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The picture he linked to was very similar to the one I'd posted.

Given the blogger discussions some of have had about the use of photos we didn't take on our blogs, I looked to see how to get permission to use an Archive photo. They have a long list of fees.

At the top of the chart it says:

Publication and exhibit fees are charged for commercial and revenue-generating uses of photographic and other still images reproduced from our collections, except that these fees will be waived for Alaska non-profit organizations with tax-exempt identification numbers. This is in addition to any charges for reproduction services. Payment for services and use fees must be made in advance.

Well, I don't have ads on my blog, so I'm not commercial or revenue-generating (though blogs with ads probably would be) but I'm not a tex-exempt non-profit organizations The answer was yes - but give credit and a link and the contextual information.

Here's the info:

Collection Name Robert and Wilma Knox. Papers, 1949-2001. UAA-HMC-0461
Identifier UAA-hmc-0461-series15-1-8
Title Abandoned mine buildings in Kennicott, 1953.
Description View of the abandoned Kennecott Copper Corporation operation at Kennicott, Alaska. The concentration mill is visible on the skyline. From caption: "And here is the mine building---looking almost like a castle the way it sits on the crest of a hill and looms against the sky. There are many, many thousands of dollars worth of equipment still in the building but of course, its in such an isolated spot that no one would think of carrying any of it away. Its hard to say how many millions of dallar [dollars] worth of copper ore passed through this building when it was in operation." From sign on building at right: "Kennecott." In 1953, Cordova Airlines started a regular series of aerial tours from Anchorage to the old mining town of Kennicott and the nearby ghost town of McCarthy. This photo is from the first tour. Original photograph size: 5" x 6 1/2".
Creator Knox, Robert G.









My picture. July 5, 2008. The roof on part of the mill is missing and some of the buildings are gone and some trees have grown in.


The Archives have lots of great stuff that helps us get a context for what is happening today. Here's the last of their FAQ list:

Q) Who do I contact about making a donation of funds or materials to your organization?

Please contact: email@vilda.alaska.edu or phone (907) 474-5003 so we can direct you to the most appropriate person based on your interest or potential contribution.

AFD Investigates Peter's Sushi Fire

A friend who works on B Street told me lots of fire folks were checking out Peter's Sushi. So I adjusted my running loop to go by the burnt out restaurant. Here are some pics. As usual, double click on a picture to enlarge it.









This got me interested in the whole area of B St. near 40th and the adjacent Cuddy Family Park. I'll do more on that soon.

Lots Happening at UAA - Ron Carlson Sunday, Second City Monday

Author Ron Carlson read his short story "Blazo" on Sunday night at the Theater and Arts Building at UAA. The story was disturbing - a father flies to Kotzebue from the East to see the where his son died in a mysterious fire. The father has issues as do the people he meets in Kotzebue. But having a noted author read you his short story for free and being able to talk to him about it afterward is one of those great treats we get in Anchorage. And there will be speakers all week. This ADN article has the list. All free.

For a taste, here's the beginning of one of Carlson's stories I found on line

The N

The head nurse blocked my way and asked what exactly didn’t I understand about the word no, and I told her: the N. It is exactly what I do not understand about what she said. I’ve never understood it very well, and now it has tried to kill us, and I know that I will never ever understand that. It stands there at the beginning of a word, like what?—some guard or a wall. I mean, I think about it now, the N, the shape: up, down, up. Who can get over it? Listen: I never will. I have seen it up close, and I do not understand.

The rest is at NarrativeMagazine.



Monday night it was Chicago's Second City in Wendy Williamson Auditorium. They said no flash photography and no videotaping. This is a key Saturday Night Life farm club and the skits were well polished - even the improvised ones.

Wednesday's writer/speakers will be:

• ZACK ROGOW has published five collections of poetry, three anthologies, four volumes of translation, a children's book and two plays. He teaches at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and has a sixth book of poems due out soon, "The Number Before Infinity."

• VALERIE MINER has written 13 novels and collections of short fiction and nonfiction, including memoir and essays. Her latest novel is "After Eden." She is a professor and artist in residence at Stanford University in California.

These two descriptions and all the rest of the program descriptions are at the ADN link.

Green Party Convention and Other Third Party Presidential Candidates We Missed

While the Alaska blogosphere has been talking about Alaska bloggers going to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, I haven't seen any mention of the Green Party National Convention that took place this past weekend in Chicago. Here was their schedule.

According to CBS

(CBS/AP) Green Party delegates have selected former Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia as the party's presidential nominee..
.
McKinney tapped Rosa Clemente, a hip-hop artist, journalist and activist, as her running mate.

McKinney, 53, entered politics by following her father, an Atlanta policeman who later served in the Georgia State House. She won her first seat in 1988, and later ran for and won a House race in 1992, becoming the first African American woman to represent Georgia in Congress. . .

Clamente, 36, born in the Bronx and of Puerto Rican descent, was raised in one of the nation's poorest communities, and became an activist and journalist angered by the Bush administration's response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

"I choose to do this, not for me, but for my generation, my community and my daughter," she said of the nomination. "I don't see the Green Party as an alternative; I see it as an imperative."

I also didn't see any coverage of the Libertarian Convention that was held May 22-26 in Denver, where they also nominated a former congress person, Bob Barr. But I can't imagine that there weren't a couple of Alaska blogs that covered this. I just couldn't find any. Barr's campaign site biography begins this way:

Bob Barr is the 2008 Libertarian nominee for President of the United States. Previously, he represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, serving as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services. He now practices law with the Law Offices of Edwin Marger, and runs a consulting firm, Liberty Strategies LLC, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices in the Washington, D.C. area. Barr works tirelessly to help preserve our fundamental right to privacy and our other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

For more go to the Barr website.

The Libertarian vice president candidate is Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root is the 2008 Libertarian Party Vice Presidential nominee. Founder and Chairman of a successful small business, Wayne is a self-made businessman as well as an author and television producer. Wayne's professional life has focused in the realm of business, though he maintains a deep interest in the political sphere in addition to his commercial pursuits. This dynamic has created a political perspective similar to that of the average American, and the air of a true "citizen-politician."

The rest is at another page on the Barr site. It includes a short video too.

Who else are we missing?

MapsofWorld.com offers these other third party candidates (how many third party candidates can you have? Seems like we need to start thinking about 4th, 5th, 6th party candidates, or just other party candidates): Constitution Party, Prohibition Party, Socialist Party.

The Constitution Party had its convention at the end of April, but their last online news update is from early May:

Constitution Party Chooses Baldwin - 5/18/2008
At its April 24-27 national convention in Kansas City, the Constitution Party nominated Florida pastor/political activist Charles O. Chuck Baldwin as its candidate for president of the United States. Baldwin received 383.8 votes to 125.7 garnered by Marylands Alan Keyes and a few given to minor candidates. During the...
After having been named the party’s nominee, he asked the convention to nominate Tennessee attorney Darrell Castle as his running mate, and his request was honored.

The Prohibition Party's website doesn't say a lot. They are against the sale of alcohol. The blog Third Party Watch says their presidential candidate Gene Amondson told a Florida reporter he would probably vote for McCain. One of the commenters noted,

I guess we can rule out that he was drunk when he said it.

From VoteSocialist2008.org, the nominees of the Socialist Party:

For President and Vice President of the United States: Brian Moore of Florida and Stewart Alexander of California.

Bike Testimonial

Doug, my UK friend who's coming to visit in two weeks forwarded an email from someone he'd met in Australia who'd been a physician's assistant in Fairbanks and gave him some advice about this trip to Alaska. (Surprisingly close to what I'm working on.) She now lives in Georgia. In the closing she wrote:

We have our own gas crisis going on which I'm sure you've heard about. It has inspired me to start riding my bicycle to work. I did it today for the first time, and was surprised to find out it took me only 10 minutes! I guess I should have been doing that long ago!

[Picture is the bike bridge over Northern Lights near Goose Lake]

Good and Bad Landscaping

THE GOOD




By the UAA theater arts building they've had this stone lawn for a long time that allows you to drive over the lawn, but not have a sterile paved driveway. Even though the green isn't thick, it looks good.





THE BAD

Down the street, when they built this duplex, they had a crew put black plant cover cloth all over this small hill and then covered it with rocks. Presumably this was intended to eliminate the need to do any yard work here. At the end of winter, the sidewalk is covered with the rocks.Time flies, so I don't remember if it was two or three years ago that they did this, but if we are lucky, the green will totally cover the sterile rocks before long .