Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 23m

Some people still play sackbuts today.

Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 1d

There needs to be more coverage of this in the news. I have read so many stories bout this on Facebook, first hand stories of the terror of that storm, and very little coverage n media.
www.facebook.com/100000960660...

Screenshot of a Facebook post. Photo is an elderly woman holding a child on her ap on a couch with flood water around them. Both are wearing jackets inside. Text says: This was after our 1st drift.. staying put for awhile. Our 3rd and final drift was terrifying. House moving fast then we started spinning in circles. While we were spinning in circles my oldest daughter was just staring at me while I held onto my younger two. Kipnuk doesn't look like kipnuk anymore, like more than 3/4 of the homes displaced, power poles fallen. It smells like stove oil outside. Contaminated

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Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 17h

Excellent article by @alaskawx.bsky.social explaining the weather conditions that led to the flooding catastrophe, and how it all fits into the bigger picture: funding weather forecasting, & climate change.

Alan Gerard @wxmanms1.bsky.social · 19h

I strongly urge you to read this interview with @alaskawx.bsky.social who has unique insight and perspective on the catastrophic surge event in western Alaska I wrote about with his help.

theconversation.com/typhoon-leav...

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Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 1d

More musical resistance

Jason❌ @gizmosspace.bsky.social · 3d

The Unipiper showed up. 💙

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Corinne Smith @corinne-smith.bsky.social · 1d

Student journalist Renasia Uisok reports on the storm damage in their community of Kotlik!

For QTV Kotlik "Quyana TV," produced by middle and high schoolers.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOIk...

Typhoondamagekotlik

YouTube video by QTV Kotlik

www.youtube.com

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Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 1d

Paging my early music fam. There's a need for more Handel in Portland.

Dr. Frog @phdfrog.bsky.social · 1d

There's even a song about it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dmy...

Chris Lowrey sings "Their land brought forth frogs" from Handel's "Israel in Egypt"

YouTube video by Lankin

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Taylor Heckart @theckart.bsky.social · 1d

If you’re in Petersburg, Cooper Landing, Seward, Ketchikan, Tok, Unalaska, Soldotna, Skagway, and Bethel, you should get free access to a news database through your library! There are 20+ Alaska news publications in there, including many that are normally paywalled. www.kfsk.org/2025/10/13/g...

Grant funding will give 15 Alaska libraries free access to many paywalled newspapers - KFSK

Fifteen libraries across Alaska will be gaining access to a large online database of national and in-state news sources. The Alaska Library Network received a $10,250 grant from the Atwood Foundation,...

www.kfsk.org

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Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 1d

This is where I donated - it will arrive where it needs to.

Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 1d

If you're able, please consider a donation to the Alaska Community Fund to help people in western Alaska impacted by ex-typhoon Halong even as winter is bearing down. All the money donated goes to the region. Quyana. #Alaska #AlaskaSky

alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...

Screen shot of the ACF Western Alaska Disaster Relief 2025 Fund:

"In response to recent severe storms, including Typhoon Halong, that devastated Alaska's western coast, local community organizations and regional partners have come together to establish the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund, housed at the Alaska Community Foundation.
Two major storm systems struck western Alaska in rapid succession, bringing record flooding, extreme winds, and extensive damage from Kwigillingok to Kotzebue. Homes have been damaged and destroyed, critical infrastructure compromised, and subsistence resources disrupted. The Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund will provide support to affected communities for immediate relief, recovery support, and long-term resilience, including disaster preparedness initiatives. Distribution decisions will be guided by advisors including regional leaders and stakeholders, ensuring resources reach affected communities based on locally identified needs.

The Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund brings together a growing list of local, regional, and statewide partners endorsing the fund, including:

Association of Village Council Presidents
Alaska Federation of Natives
Alaska Native Heritage Center
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
Bethel Community Services Foundation
Calista Corporation
Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation
First Alaskans Institute
Kawerak, Inc.
Native Peoples Action
Maniilaq Association

Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation"

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Stephen West @stephenwest.bsky.social · 1d

How W. E. B. Du Bois responded to government policing of "anti-American" sentiment during the 1910s:

"I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, 'We are seeking to have the Constitution of the United States thoroughly and completely enforced.' ”

Federal agents invaded even the offices of The Crisis and the National Association for the advancement of colored people and asked searching questions: " just what, after all, were our objects and activities?” I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, “We are seeking to have the constitution of the United states thoroughly and completely enforced.” It took some ingenuity, even for Southerners, to make treason out of that.

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Emily Schwing @emilyschwing.bsky.social · 1d

What does Typhoon Halong reveal about housing conditions in Western Alaska? Here's a thread...👇

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

CeeJay Johnson-Yellow Hawk @adriftalchemist.bsky.social · 1d

Just want the rest of the country to know that the Alaska National Guard is being deployed and utilized for ALL THE RIGHT REASONS today!

They’re aiding with search/rescue and disaster relief to several Alaska Native villages hit with a climate change induced natural disaster

They’re saving lives

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Griffin @alnus-sitchensis.bsky.social · 2d

This is a key reason why the #akleg renewed discussion last year or fully funding maintenance obligations for REAA school districts can't fall by the wayside until we actually address major maintenance; schools are critical emergency hubs

Corinne Smith @corinne-smith.bsky.social · 2d

Notably, local schools are serving as emergency shelter + evacuation centers throughout coastal communities hit by remnants of Typhoon Halong in Western Alaska -

www.kyuk.org/alaska-state...

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Princess Daazhraii Johnson @princessdaazhraii.bsky.social · 1d

On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day - a reminder to @sendansullivan.bsky.social Sen. Murkowski & Rep. Begich - the #climatecrisis is hitting us hard! We need #FEMA, essential air travel services, #PublicMedia, #Science for monitoring weather. This Administration is actively harming Alaskans. Do better!

Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 2d

Wind damage reports coming in from the western Interior, including downed trees and power lines and building roof damage at Koyukuk. Winds so strong at Huslia that boats were pushed out into the Koyukuk River. #akwx #Autumn2025

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 1d

yearly reminder to people insisting that we view Christopher Columbus as "a man of his time" that *the people responsible for the Spanish Inquisition* thought Columbus was out of pocket

Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · 1d

Christopher Columbus was dragged back to Spain in chains by a crusading knight, convicted of tyranny and immeasurable cruelty, pardoned by Isabella but banned from returning to Hispaniola.

Fuck Columbus.

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Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 1d

NYT on the current situation in W Alaska following ex-typhoon Halong. Featuring my friend Amy Hendricks, who is a PhD graduate from our program. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...

Dozens Rescued in Remote Alaskan Villages in Storm That Swept Away Homes

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 2d

Western Alaska was hit hard by the recent storms. Houses floated away in Kipnuk, houses flipped over, people lost everything from the flooding that came with the storms. Please donate if you can. This group has a long history of supporting AK communities.

alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Vivian Faith Prescott @alaskapoet.bsky.social · 2d

“Troopers have received secondhand reports of people who are unaccounted for in Kipnuk and are continuing to work with local officials to verify and confirm how many people are missing,” DPS wrote.”

LIVE BLOG: Dozens of people rescued, some still unaccounted for, DPS says

Former Typhoon Halong made landfall overnight into Sunday. Its strongest impacts were felt in the Kuskokwim delta area.

www.alaskasnewssource.com

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

CeeJay Johnson-Yellow Hawk @adriftalchemist.bsky.social · 3d

UPDATE FROM SHISHMAREF:

“The government delayed funds for our projects for sea wall... We cannot keep protecting with sea wall against Mother Nature… Cannot stop rising sea levels. Wish our fed and state agencies can help all the communities in danger of flooding and erosion”

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Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 3d

Good morning. There is rime all over the landscape. Options for today include Fiber Fest, Hamfest, “no kings” sign making party, practicing my cello, and making edits to a student paper that I really wanted to have done yesterday.

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Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 3d

Good point. It implies that one is just as selfish or corrupt as the other rather than that there’s a conversation to be had about how to better achieve the, presumably shared, virtuous goals.

Olivia Waite @oliviawaite.com · 3d

The problem with “virtue signaling” as a rhetorical framework was always that it pressed you not toward deeper and more sincere acts of virtue, but away from goodness as a goal at all.

Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 4d

Dunno about "for all eternity". I went to Wikipedia to refresh my memory, and apparently he's been inspired to run for Congress again, now in Florida, next year.

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Reposted by Chris W 64.9N

Alan Gerard @wxmanms1.bsky.social · 4d

There's been a lot of talk about missing NWS upper air obs in recent months, but not as much specifically about AK. Thanks to @alaskawx.bsky.social I have a discussion today about the increasingly concerning situation there, and why it impacts all of us. More: tinyurl.com/bdeebmn6

A high-impact weather weekend in store

Major coastal impacts for the East with serious flash flooding risks in the Southwest. Also, a deep dive into the state of the NWS upper air network in Alaska.

tinyurl.com

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Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 5d

If there's any kind of massaged dataset that shows this it's probably some sort of confounding variable that links rates of diagnosis with prevalence of having a kid circumcised

Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 5d

Yereth Rosen writing about concrete policy as it affects people and nature.

Alaska Beacon @alaskabeacon.com · 5d

Government shutdown creates uncertainty for fisheries management in waters off Alaska, reports Yereth Rosen for the @alaskabeacon.com

alaskabeacon.com/2025/10/09/g...

Government shutdown creates uncertainty for fisheries management in waters off Alaska | Alaska Beacon

A prolonged shutdown could limit the ability to get adequate information in time to set the 2026 groundfish harvest levels.

alaskabeacon.com

Chris W 64.9N @borealchrys.bsky.social · 5d

It is, but the reason homicide and terrorism get reported on is not chiefly because you might die from them and even less to make you better informed about potentially risky behaviors or symptoms.

It's more a conversation starter than indicative of any particularly salient, specific point.