Alaska Man Monday - Dating, Wolves and Alaska Man Politics

We’ve had some big news in the Great Land this week – and we’ve had some shocking and unusual news, as well. But we also had at least one dumb, well, maybe not a crook as such, but a real nitwit. So, without further ado:

There’s dumb – and then there’s calling 911 to ask for a date dumb. Yes, really.

On 08/20/2024 at approximately 0400 hours, Alaska State Troopers responded to mile 99 Parks Hwy in Talkeetna after receiving a report where a male called 911 to ask for a job and attempt to ask the dispatcher on a date. Investigation revealed the phone number belonged to Christian Cordero, age 22 of Talkeetna. Cordero had a warrant for his arrest of the original charge of DVPO Violation. Troopers responded, located, and arrested Codero.

Hard up much? I mean, there are online dating sites and such, right? It’s hard to imagine being so sad and lonely as to hit on the 911 operator.

Alaska Man score: 1.5 of 5 moose nuggets. I mean, it’s funny, but seriously, what the hell?

Now for something more lupine: Wolves sometimes bite people, it seems – and that can be scary.

A wolf attacked two motorists at mile 37 of the Dalton Highway on Aug. 19, as the two people were stopped in a construction zone and had stepped out of their vehicle while waiting for the pilot car. They were bit on their lower extremities before the wolf fled to the nearby woods after being shot at by another motorist. The wolf was not believed to have been struck.
Both people had puncture wounds and returned to Fairbanks for medical care. The Alaska Wildlife Troopers were unable to locate the wolf and notified Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
There was no indication that the people were feeding the wolf and the Troopers made no statement about whether the wolf exhibited signs of rabies.

Here’s the scary part:

The gray wolf has the strongest bite pressure of any canid, reaching up to 1200 lbs/square inch (PSI), according to Seacrest Wolf Preserve’s website: “Muscles that control a wolf’s jaw are enough to bite through bones.”

Yeah, you don’t want one of those biting you. My wife and I hear wolves howling now and then, usually in winter, usually in the borough land out behind the house. And one late-winter evening, driving back from town in the dark, we saw a big, four-legged figure waiting to cross the highway. “Look,” my wife said, “…somebody’s dog got out, and oh holy crap, that’s not a dog!” It was a big, black dog (male) wolf, and you can’t really mistake one of those for a dog. He was rangy, long-legged, with huge paws, that big, heavy wolf head, and a ruff of black fur on his neck. Magnificent beast. But I wouldn’t want one to bite me.

Alaska Man score: 4.5 of 5 moose nuggets. The demerit is for whoever may have been feeding this wolf, as that may be one of the reasons it approached these folks. That’s just a stupid move. When a big apex predator starts associating people with food, it rarely ends well.

Finally, I generally don’t include local politics in this weekly roundup, but this fall, control of the House of Representatives is in play—and Alaska’s Nick Begich III is just sewing up more endorsements from national Republican power players.

The Republican House Majority members were out in force on Friday endorsing Nick Begich for Congress, now that Nancy Dahlstrom has dropped from the general election ballot.
Already, Begich has the endorsement of the House Freedom Caucus, especially Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and a handful of others, but now he also is seeing the House Republican leadership team come alongside him as they try to put together a stronger team for the U.S. House of Representatives. Donalds led the effort to get Begich endorsed by leadership and was the first in the House to endorse Begich.

There's a reasonably fancy list of endorsements. We can hope it helps Nick pull out a win. I don’t think Alaska is well-represented by Mary Peltola – although, we shouldn’t rest on our laurels following last week’s withdrawal of Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom from the race. Mrs. Peltola has a strong following in Anchorage, Juneau, and the native communities. It’s still a fight – but now it’s a closer match. And if former President Trump does win a second term, he's going to need an allied House and Senate to get much of his agenda enacted, and that means fighting for every seat. Up here in the Last Frontier, we'll be doing our best to help.

Alaska Man score: 5 moose nuggets. Well done, Nick, and best of luck in November.

Now, speaking of wolves: (Note, when I recorded this video, only partial information was available on the wolf incident; it was on the Dalton Highway, not Fairbanks, and two people, not one, were involved in the incident. See the story above for more information.)