Mayor Of North Pole Stuck In The Snow
The caption under the photo in the Sitka Sentinal last night and picked up by the AP, and printed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and the Anchorage Daily News today, read: "Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, right, does a crossword puzzle as fellow Alaska Airlines traveler Doug Isaacson, mayor of North Pole, looks on at the Sitka airport on Monday. Several lawmakers trying to make it to the capital for a special legislative session were stuck in Sitka on Monday after planes were unable to land because of weather in Juneau." (picture taken by: JAMES POULSON / The Daily (Sitka) Sentinel via The Associated Press)
So what's the story behind the picture? My son, Seth, dropped me off at the airport at 9:30a.m. Sunday morning on his way to work. Alaska Airlines was kind enough to upgrade me to first class and fly me to Anchorage early, where the wait for the 3:30 p.m. flight would be in the more spacious airport in Anchorage. That flight never took off due to mechanical problems. Councilman Doug Wilson (who has been a great aide) was also rescheduled with me to the doomed flight. We watched others take off from Fairbanks several hours later, like Councilman Mike Welch, on the flight I was originally scheduled to fly out on--AND they made it into Juneau that same night. So did my luggage. This is now the third day and I'm writing from Anchorage, after having been here overnight on Sunday, and last night having overnighted in Sitka! We were snowed out of Juneau again this morning and have already tried to fly standby back to Juneau but that flight was also cancelled due to weather conditions in Juneau. I'll try again at 3:30 p.m. today.
In the meantime, on Sunday night I visited with his grace, Russian Orthodox Bishop Nikolai and Lt. Governor Loren Lehman during a celebration of the Bishop's fifth year in Alaska. Bishop Nikolai is planning a February 2007 trip to Fairbanks and I encouraged him to come to North Pole as well. On Monday afternoon, I toured Mt. Edgecombe High School in Sitka, along with Lt. Governor Lehman, Commissioner of Education Roger Sampson, Representative (Homer) Paul Seaton, and Doug Wilson. The school is one of two public boarding schools in Alaska, founded in 1948, and has a rich history. It was very interesting to interact with teachers and students, some of whom will be tomorrow's Alaskan and Native leaders. One of the most fascinating classes was one in genetics, where one of the students is collecting DNA samples of the krill eaten by humpback whales. She gets her samples by collecting whale poop! But to know that we have high schoolers working on such advanced studies is reassuring--we have bright kids that will grow Alaska's ability to compete successfully in the ever increasing globalized economy.
I haven't had anything exciting happen today, other than a lot of passengers request that I stay OFF the airplane (seems when I get on one, or even get a standby ticket printed, the flight either gets cancelled or can not land! Of course, they say that in good humor (right??!). Maybe it will be a way for me to make some money for the City (as in, "give me $500 and I'll stay off the plane!) In the meantime, I finally found a phone charger, am looking at my emails--hopefully will respond to a few of them. But I just have a nagging feeling that we'll end up in Seattle tonight!
Doug Isaacson [Mayor, City of North Pole :: 14 Nov 2006]