newsminer.com

The Literacy Council of Alaska plans to celebrate its 35th anniversary Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The details are still being worked out, but there will be several events and refreshments throughout the day.

In a recent note, Mike Kolasa, executive director of the agency, shared a current success story, quoting a letter from a mom whose first-grader took part in a summer tutoring program.

At the end of the last school year, the child was upset that she couldn’t keep up with her classmates in reading. After a summer of tutoring, however, her daughter has a different attitude and is looking for books to read on her own.

“Guess what mom? I can read,” she told her mother after school one day.

The parent told Kolasa, “I do not think that her progress and commitment to improving her reading skills would have been possible if not for the assistance she received from the Literary Council.”

Among the council’s many programs is a computer recycling effort. LCA accepts laptop and desktop computers with a Pentium 3 or newer processor. No Apples please.

On its current wish list, the council needs book shelves, a couch, paper cutter, portable projector and a two-shelf utility cart.

Call 456-6212 for more information.

•••

OLD FRED MEYER: The Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Foundation has leased about 20,000 square feet of the old Fred Meyer store on College Road. The remodeling and renovation work is in progress.

The plan is to move physical therapy and home medical equipment programs into the building by December.

•••

GODDESS FESTIVAL: Chena Hot Springs is to be the site of the first “Alaskan Goddess Festival” this weekend. “Spiritual beings” are invited to “celebrate your inner goddess.”

The keynote speaker is Susun Weed, an author who has studied herbal medicine since 1965 and coordinates the “Wise Woman Center” in Woodstock, N.Y.

There are a variety of presentations at the festival on yoga, herbs, oils, learning oracles, spirit healing, aura colors, Kundalini dancing, touch drawing and other topics.

The conference opens Friday evening with a benefit concert by Melissa Mitchell, an Alaska singer, to support breast cancer awareness and the Fairbanks Rescue Mission.

Girlfriend Getaways Magazine is planning a story on the event.

•••

MILD MONTH: September was “a bit milder than normal,” the National Weather Service said, especially early in the month.

For October, the average high temperature is usually about 45 at the start of the month, dropping to 21 by Halloween. The average low is about 6 degrees by the end of October.

The daily dose of sunshine drops from 11 hours to less than 8 hours during this month.

•••

SENATE RACE: Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, the Democratic candidate in the Senate race against Sen. Ted Stevens, plans a town hall meeting Tuesday from 6:30-8 p.m. at Joy Elementary School.

Earlier in the day, Begich is going to be among the congressional candidates appearing at the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce debate at the Carlson Center. The doors open at 11 a.m.

The cost is $15 with lunch or $5 without lunch.

Stevens won’t be there because he is on trial in Washington, D.C. However, he is expected to participate in the form of taped responses to questions. All of the candidates received the questions last week.

In the race for U.S. House, Democratic House nominee Ethan Berkowitz and Republican Rep. Don Young are expected to attend.

•••

WORLD VIEW: Nearly 100 geographers plan to travel to Fairbanks this week for the annual conference of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers at the Westmark Hotel.

The geographers will present papers on climate change, technology and natural resource management, among other things.

The keynote speakers include University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton, UAF history Professor Terrence Cole, Arctic Research Commission Chairman Mead Treadwell and John Walsh, director of UAF’s Center for Global Climate Change and Arctic Systems Research.

•••

CAMPAIGN NEWS: Perhaps the strangest bit of political news related to Gov. Sarah Palin over the past couple of weeks was the religious edict, or fatwa, issued against the president of Pakistan in his home country for his praise of the Alaska governor.

Asif Ali Zardari was attacked for saying Palin was “even more gorgeous in life” and that he would not object to giving her a hug, according to news reports.

A radical cleric, Maulana Abdul Ghafar, complained of the president’s “indecent gestures, filthy remarks and repeated praise of a non-Muslim woman wearing a short skirt.”

Ghafar’s fatwa was just a reprimand, and he did not call for anyone to harm Zardari.

If you have a column suggestion or comment, contact me at cole@newsminer.com or 459-7530.