Free Republic

Planet Fitness has refused to walk back its decision to ban a member who exposed a 'trans woman' shaving in the female locker room. The statement, which was shared by the Libs of TikTok Twitter account, said although some members may feel uncomfortable sharing facilities, 'This discomfort is not a reason to deny access to the transgender member.' The comments come after Patricia Silva detailed at incident at her Alaska gym where she saw a transgender woman shaving in her locker room. Silva had just finished working out at Planet Fitness' Fairbanks location, when she saw the person, whom she...

Iditarod five-time champion Dallas Seavey had to kill a moose in self-defense 14 miles out of the Skwentna checkpoint. It was 1:43 a.m. when race officials were notified on March 4th. In 2015, Dallas stated he carried a Taurus stainless .357 magnum on the Iditarod trail. In 2015, Seavey said he had to use the revolver to defend one of his dogs two years earlier. The dog still lost a leg in the attack. This year, in 2024, Dallas had to shoot a moose that was attacking his dogs in the first hundred miles of the race. It is unknown...

The first reported fatality of the Alaskapox virus was recently revealed by Alaska public health officials after an elderly man in Alaska succumbed to it in January. According to a bulletin released by the state’s public health officials, the elderly man lived in the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska before being hospitalized in November and dying from the virus toward the end of January. While health officials could not make a final determination regarding how the elderly man contracted the Alaskapox virus, health officials suggested that he could have contracted the virus from a stray cat that he was taking care...

Texas dominates U.S. oil production, contributing 42.6% of the total output, mainly due to the Permian Basin.New Mexico has seen dramatic 190% increase in oil production over the past five years, becoming the second-leading oil producer in the U.S.California faces a 30.7% reduction in oil production over the past five years, largely due to political and geological challenges.U.S. oil production has increased by 21% over the past five years. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), earlier this month U.S. oil producers set a new annual production record.This increase is being driven by a surge of production in...

Ex-New York Gov. George Pataki ripped President Biden as a “disgrace” Thursday over his decision to commemorate 9/11 in Alaska — instead of any of the actual sites targeted in the worst terrorist attack on US soil. Rather than participating in any observances at 9/11 memorial sites in New York City, Virginia or Pennsylvania, the 80-year-old president will join service members and their families at a military base in Anchorage, the White House confirmed this week. “The fact that he is not doing anything to commemorate that horrible day is a disgrace,” Pataki, 77, said in an interview with WABC...

One of the most quoted and controversial figures used in the debate about how effective bear spray is “98%”. The figure is sprayed about (pun intended) promiscuously and irresponsibly. From thetrek.com, quoting Tom Smith: Ninety-eight percent of people who used bear spray escaped injury (with 2% being knocked over but not killed) as opposed to only about 50% of people using guns. The number traces back to a paper authored by Tom Smith and Stephen Herrero, published in 2008. The paper is “Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska“. It is the seminal paper that launched bear spray as a...

Arey Island is a seven-mile-long barrier island in the Southern Beaufort Sea off the coast of the north slope of Alaska. It is a flat, barren island that is mostly privately owned. During August of 2014 two United States Fish and Wildlife personnel were on duty on the west end of Arey Island, recorded as off the mouth of the Hula Hula and Okpilak Rivers, 8.5 miles WSW of Kaktovik. 70 deg 05’23.67″ N, 144 deg. 00’43.12″W. One of them defended themselves against a polar bear on August 16, at about 9 a.m. The incident was recorded as number 549...

Salmon on My Mind, by Francis E. Caldwell, 197 p. Lighthouse Press, 2004 They spotted a flock of goldeneye ducks and made a plan to get within range of the birds. The plan involved rounding a long spit of land in their skiff, then crossing the spit to come up on the ducks. Paul was running the outboard motor. As the skiff grounded on the beach, Frank jumped out to tie up the boat to an alder at the edge of the brush.From page 124 of Salmon on My Mind:I carried a Remington pump shotgun. Paul had a rusty, beat-up...

USA – A few years ago, a well-done target featuring an attacking grizzly bear came on the market. It appeared to be an official target of the Alaskan State Parks. Alaska State Parks Bear TargetI liked the look of the target as an image to use with bear attack stories where original images of the scene were unavailable. Many bear targets show cartoonish bears, bears that are not approaching the shooter, or bears that are not focused on the people being trained to shoot at them. This target showed the right mix of realism, focus, and artistic depiction. The image...

In 2020, Mike Becwar was, without provocation, attacked by a cinnamon black bear in Alaska. He fought back with a folding knife and survived. This is his story. On May 29, 2020, Mike was going stir-crazy. This was during the COVID restrictions. He had been pushed to extend two weeks longer than the usual period in the remote camp at Pump Station Number 5.He had to get out of the camp to relieve stress. He chose to take a run along the road to the camp airport, around the runway, and back into camp, about a 3 1/2 mile run....

The bear who attacked the Bates family was a sow about 20 years old, estimated at 350 lbs. It was starving, with nothing in the stomach but parasites. The attack occurred as the Bates family, Weatherly Bates, her husband, their 12-year-old son, Rockwell, their 10-year-old daughter Vera, and two family dogs, on leashes, were hiking on the Glacier Moraine Trail in Kachemak Bay State park.Weatherly Bates had a .40 caliber S&W in her backpack. The bear came at them at about 3 p.m., even though they yelled at it and bunched together.Weatherly Bates explains what happened:“It did attack. It was...

Twenty-one-year incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has said she will vote for Democrat House candidate Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) over Republican challenger former Gov. Sarah Palin. “Yeah, I am,” Murkowski responded Friday when asked by the Anchorage Daily News if she would vote for the Democrat. Alaska uses the ranked choice voting system, which ultimately affords Democrat voters the opportunity to vote for Murkowski on the second and third ballots. Murkowski’s decision to vote for a Democrat is likely intended to attract more votes down-ballot to ultimately defeat Trump-endorsed Senate Republican candidate Kelly Tshibaka, who is leading in the polls...

People who wear reusable contact lenses are nearly four times as likely as those wearing daily disposables to develop a rare sight-threatening eye infection. The case control study identifies multiple factors that increase the risk of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), including reusing lenses or wearing them overnight or in the shower. AK is one type of microbial keratitis (corneal infection)—a condition that results in inflammation of the cornea (the eye's clear protective outer layer). Sight loss resulting from microbial keratitis is uncommon but Acanthamoeba, although a rare cause, is one of the most severe and is responsible for about half of...

A 9-year-old boy was seriously injured by a brown bear while hunting north of Anchorage, Alaska State Troopers said Wednesday. Troopers said the bear attacked two people — a 41-year-old male and a 9-year-old boy — near mile 36 of the Glenn Highway, at the end of Matanuska Townsite Road on Tuesday. The man and young boy came across a brown bear sow and her cub while hunting in the Palmer Hay Flats area. The bear mauled the boy, leaving him with serious injuries. The adult who was accompanying the child was armed and shot and killed the brown bear...

The Wolves of Alaska A Fact-based Saga, by Jim Rearden, 335 pages, published 2002, Pictoral Histories Publishing Company, Missoula, Montana. Prices vary from under $20 new, to under $10 used, or about $3 on Kindle. The Wolves of Alaska: A Fact-based SagaThe Wolves of Alaska (Wolves) is a comprehensive, deep dive into wolf habits, management, and the politics of such management in Alaska. It is written in an easy-to-read format, a “faction,” a saga based on fact, with fictionalized names to protect the innocent and give the guilty no action for a lawfare lawsuit.It is a fine antidote to the...

Image of Old Groaner's skull from the front. The bear's left eye arch is intact. Thanks to Hayley Chambers of the Ketchikan Museums for pictures of Old Groaner's skull.In the first three segments of this series, the formation of the myth of Old Groaner was discussed.In segment I, the original article, published in February of 1936, almost certainly written less than two months after Old Groaner was killed, is detailed. Old Groaner was killed in November of 1935. It takes time to put a paper magazine together and to print it, especially in 1936.In segment II, the 1953 re-write and...

The original illustration by F.W Gabler was changed for the 1953 and 1986 re-writes of the article.This is the part III in a series of four segments on the Old Groaner legend.In segment I, the original article, published in the February 1936 issue of Alaska Sportsman is examined.In segment II, the 1953 re-write and some of the major changes in the rewrite are examined.We may never know why the many changes were made to the Old Groaner story when it was re-written by W.H. "Handlogger" Jackson and published in the March issue of the 1953 Alaskan Sportsman as "The Moaning...

Picture of Old Groaner skull, left side, from Tongass Historical Society. The left eye arch is intact. Picture courtesy Hayley Chambers.In the previous article, the story of Old Groaner, as told in 1936, was recounted. The bear was killed as it attacked the dog Slasher and Bruce Johnstone in the middle reaches of the Unuk river, in November of 1935. This correspondent differentiated speculation from claimed fact. The bear's head was brought back to Ketchikan. If the skull had been complete, it would have been a world record. The original article was written by F. W. Gabler.In the image above,...

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is doing so poorly in Alaska that she is welcoming Democrats to help her with her campaign. Lisa Murkowski is a piece of work. The daughter of former Alaska governor and Senator Frank Murkowski, Lisa took over from her father in the early 2000s and has been in her seat ever since. Frank Murkowski was a senator starting in 1981 so there has been a Murkowski US senator from Alaska for 40 years. The conservative movement saw Lisa Murkowski’s true colors during the Trump Administration. Fellow RINO Mitch McConnell has pledged his support for crooked Murkowski...

Palin headed towards first place finish in Alaska House primary. Top 4 finishers advance to August special election.