Alaska Man Monday: Heroes, Campers, and Daylight Savings

At this time of year, we’re losing an hour of daylight every couple of weeks, so the daylight savings “fall back” issue doesn’t make it as big a deal as it may be in some other places. But I still think it’s a dumb idea, but I’ll let you check out this week’s video for more of that.

Meanwhile, there’s been some great news out of the Great Land this week.

First, some Alaskan heroes; Alaska Air National Guard members flew a Pave Hawk helicopter into Denali National Park to rescue two people whose small plane crashed near Ruth Glacier.

Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescued two individuals involved in a plane crash near Ruth Glacier, on Oct. 19.
The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened the mission in response to a request from the National Park Service to rescue two uninjured individuals involved in a plane crash near Ruth Glacier within the Denali National Park. The Denali National Park encompasses an area of over 7,400 square miles.
The 176th Operations Group search and rescue duty officer accepted the mission and dispatched a 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter with 212th Rescue Pararescuemen on board from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The Pave Hawk crew departed to the crash site within one hour of notification.

The Air Guard crew administered first aid and flew the two people out to Anchorage, where they were released to the Anchorage Fire Department.

Alaska is still a frontier state in many ways, not least of which is because of the vast expanses of empty land. Even in the national park, there are plenty of places difficult to get to, and even more difficult to get out of – fortunately, in this case, the Air National Guardsmen had these folks’ backs.

Alaska Man score: Five Denali moose nuggets. Heroes!

Next, the town of Palmer, which is the seat of our own Matanuska-Susitna Borough, has finally passed their ban on camping in public places, thus preventing homeless enclaves from springing up.

Individuals found camping or sleeping on public property in Palmer may face fines under a new measure approved by the City Council during a regular meeting Tuesday.
A separate measure banning sleeping in spaces that block access to public property, such as private driveways and sidewalks, was delayed until a meeting scheduled for late next month.
The council voted 4-1 to approve the public property camping ban, with Council member John Alcantra voting no and Council member Amanda Graham absent. A seventh council seat is vacant.

Democrat-run Anchorage, mind you, has plenty of trouble with homeless encampments springing up; the city moves them along, cleans up one area, and another springs up somewhere else. So while Anchorage plays Homeless Camp Whack-a-Mole, Palmer is being proactive. Good for them. Now, maybe we can get something like this at the borough level to deal with the summertime squatters that pop up now and then.

And, yes, that's another Alaska thing; some of our homeless wander the state in pickups with dilapidated old camper trailers, slide-ins, or in equally dilapidated old RVs, parking somewhere until they are moved on, often leaving piles of trash and even abandoned vehicles behind. I have seen similar things in California, and have it on good authority that it happens elsewhere in the country, too, but the odd thing about the squatters up here is how they seem to disappear in winter.

Alaska Man score: 5 Palmer moose nuggets. About time, too.

Now, listen to me rant about daylight savings time.

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

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