This promise is becoming a reality as the construction team, consisting of NBBJ, DOWL, KPB Architects, and Neeser Construction, get underway with the project. The new facility has a projected completion date of October 2012.

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Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (Penny Westing) - I attended the Weaving A Circle of Care Conference on April 5 & 6 hosted by Alaska Resource Center for Families. I learned some interesting things about allergies and how they affect the behavior of children as well as receiving additional training on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD). This information will help me work with families and children that have these issues.

SAVE THE DATE - April 30, 2011 - Saturday - 11AM - 5PM - Mat-Su Family Celebration Festival, Curtis D Menard Sports Center, Wasilla, AK - Light of Hope is pleased to bring you a FREE, fun, family event. Please join us for over 30 children's activities, live music, food, resource information, and workshops designed to increase family skills and improve parent strengths. Father Oleksa will be doing two presentations, as well. Cultural crafting, Special Address from Sen. Mark Begich, Fiddle De Dee, Balloons, Games, Prizes and the LOH Awards!

This event is being hosted by Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, Knik Tribal Council, Alaska CASA, Alaska Family Services, Thread, Office of Children's Services, Best Beginnings & Early Childhood Partnership of Mat-Su.

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The Chickaloon News (Patricia Wade) - Sometimes I can't believe how naïve I still can be. Here's a letter I wrote to the editor of the Oregonian:

Only myself to blame - I tried to do my taxes online, heard it was easy. But I'm challenged when it comes to numbers and had a couple of 1099s. So I decided to take my neat little stack of papers somewhere. Liberty Tax on McLoughlin was on my route so I stopped in. My mistake was not asking upfront how much I would be charged.

                After the preparer, Sunny, finished he said I owed him $613! I was flabbergasted. I got him down to $528 after he came up with promotions and discounts.

                I've been kicking myself around the block. I called Liberty's headquarters and was told that shop is locally owned so the answer would ultimately come from their location. They were supposed to call me within 48 hours, but that didn't happen.

                Should I go to the BBB? Any ideas other than having my head examined for not asking how much first?

I received a call from a reporter who works in the Oregonian's finance department. He seemed stunned by that charge too. He suggested I put a stop-payment on that check and ask around to see how much other bookkeepers would charge to do my return. Good idea! I went to the bank and put a stop to that post dated check. Then I visited a reputable accountant who said they would have done it for a fraction of that cost. She explained that some places like Liberty Tax give their employees 40 hours of training and then have them do taxes. I hope to visit another bookkeeper next week and hear from the reporter to see if he has thought of a next step. If you have any bright ideas...feel free.

I helped lil Cuzn Keana move out of her cute studio apartment so she can head home later this week. We will miss her smiling face.

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Environmental (Jessica Winnestaffer) - The Environmental Stewardship Department has been busy the last few weeks. Jim Shaginoff is finishing up a semester of college classes and will soon graduate with a certificate in a Renewable Energy Program at the Mat-Su College. Brian Winnestaffer has been piecing together a huge culvert in the gravel pit with the help of Caleb Harrison, Logan Harrison, and John Corey. Linda Brenner attended a statewide Heritage & Cultural Tourism Conference in Sitka, Alaska. Linda and Gene Agnew attended a Trail Rondy in Palmer for three days last weekend and learned about many topics including sustainable trail building methods, trails projects planned throughout the state, and trail planning and management. I have been working on two grant proposals that are due in the next three weeks.

On Friday, April 22 Dan Stone an archaeologist gave an archaeological site visit to Gene, Ya Ne Dah Ah students, teachers and me. We were taken on a walk into the woods near the Ya Ne Dah Ah School and shown several pre-historic tent sites and a firepit site atop a knoll. Dan explained how he could identify the sites based on the flat, relatively small tent platform on a hillside with a southern exposure. He confirmed the sites as real tent sites by digging into the ground and identifying layers of birch bark, which was used as a ground cover on which campers would sleep. Dan said that there would be one birch bark layer for each year the tent site was used. It was a fun outing and the students did a great job avoiding most of the spiny rose bushes and devil's club stalks, as well as listening as Dan gave explanations. I was very impressed that Raevyn knew the Ahtna word for Cottonwood trees and she could identify the tree correctly!

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Accounting (Michele Morton) -  

Our Amaryllis that Marilyn gifted us when we moved into the accounting building is really

happy this spring! 

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Congrats to Cuzzies Mona and Jerry King ~ Married 2-17-11. 

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May 4 & 11 - BURNING THE FUTURE:  COAL IN AMERICA will be shown at 6:30pm on May 4 and at 4:30pm on May 11 at the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 3201 Turnagain Street. This compelling and timely film burns through the 'clean coal' rhetoric of industry front groups, showing the harsh truth of the coal story. It is a powerful and stirring account of the cultural and ecological impacts of an industry on its last legs - a testimony from the front-lines of resistance to coal. This moving and disturbing story adds the human element to a sanitized political debate. Discussion to follow film. For more information, call Robyn 245-1634 or Martha 382-3264.

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May 25 - 28 - ANCHORAGE - NEIGHBORHOODS, USA 2011 CONFERENCE: GREAT LAND, GREAT NEIGHBORHOODS will be held at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel and Egan Convention Center. The Neighborhoods, USA (NUSA) annual conference is a key event that brings together experienced activists from around the nation to a local community to share their wisdom, experience and successes. NUSA's mission is to increase citizen participation in local and government affairs, encourage neighborhood cohesion and interactions, and promote collaboration between governments and citizens. Anchorage Waterways Council has been asked to present a workshop during the conference under the "Green Community Initiatives". The workshop, presented by Executive Director Cherie Northon and Dr. Thom Eley, is titled "What happens in a watershed, stays in a watershed--not!". It is scheduled for Session 5 on Friday, May 27, from 3 pm to 4:30 pm. The venue is the Egan Center. For more information, check out the NUSA agenda at http://www.nusa2011.org/nusa-home/agenda-2.

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Please join us as we pray for the souls waiting to go home in our local museums and in museums around the world. Saturday, May 28, 2011 - 10AM - Troth Yeddha' Park, UAF Campus, Fairbanks - Across the driveway of the UA Museum of the North - Immediately followed by a 1-2 hour seminar about NAGPRA at UA Museum of the North. Drumming & Potluck Location - TBA - Evening Ceremony - TBA - These remains are a missing part of us that we need to reclaim because to do so will strengthen us against the oppression we live under on a day to day basis." Elder Kauila Clark, Oahu Contact Candyce 726-1399

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April 27 & May 4 - FLOW: THE WORLD WATER CRISIS: will be shown at 6:30pm on April 27^th and 4:30pm on May 4 at the Anchorage Unitarian Fellowship, 3201 Turnagain Street. Irena Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?  Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround. Discussion to follow film. For more information, call Robyn 245-1634 or Martha 382-3264or go to www.flowthefilm.com.

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Spring a good time to take stock of energy use
 By CAROLE HOLLEY

It's spring, the sun is out, and I am taking stock of the Alaska that I love. It's not that I don't love winter too, but there's just something invigorating about the sunlight. I was so excited that I hiked Bird Ridge on Friday night after work and then again on Saturday morning.

Being able to hunt, fish, climb, hike, run, bike and ski while surrounded by sparkling waters and snowcapped mountains are some of the greatest joys of being an Alaskan. But there's more to spring in Alaska than outdoor activities bathed in sunlight with mountain vistas.

There's also the responsibility that comes with being able to enjoy those views while sucking in cool, clean air. There's the obligation to ensure that my children and my friends and neighbors' children have clean air, water and land to breathe, drink and explore, too.

The spring confluence of Earth Day on Friday, the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy on Wednesday (April 20) and the March 24 anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill serve as a reminder of how easy it is to destroy our precious natural resources, the ones we can't live without -- clean water, clean air, and healthy fish and animals upon which we sustain ourselves.

While I understand our addiction to oil -- it was once easy energy and we were ignorant of its ecological (e.g., climate change) and economic (e.g., jobs lost, fisheries destroyed) costs -- it is time to kick that habit to the proverbial curb.

We, as Alaskans and Americans, are bright, resourceful people who love our home. It's time for some spring cleaning of our way of life. We have choices.

We can play into the hands of oil executives, helping them to get richer by calling for dirty drilling in special places such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We can advocate for Shell Oil Co. and the other big international oil companies, pleading their case so they can increase their coffers by mucking up Arctic waters in their lust for short-term energy production.

Or we can choose to clean up our lives by ensuring that we have both jobs and a clean environment by working toward a more sustainable, renewable future for our children and their children. We can make alternative energy work for us with solar, wind, geothermal and small-scale hydropower. We can buy our foods locally or garden and avoid transportation costs while supporting local businesses.

We can bike and walk more, keeping our bodies, pocketbooks and Earth healthier. We can simply be more responsible and kind to ourselves, our community and our state by making smart, healthy choices for everyone and not just a select few.

Maybe there's not more to the story than mountains and sunshine, because after all that's what I'm here to protect for my generation and those that follow.