By DEBRA MCKINNEY, Anchorage Daily News
Alaskan rancher tends to bugs, rodents
In a tiny house the color of salmon roe, sit racks of trays and 30-gallon barrels crawling with crickets, mealworms and mice.
A little shop of horrors to the warm- blooded of the species. A gourmet buffet to those whose blood runs cold.
This is Anchorage's Alaskan Reptile and Cricket Ranch, Dianna Smith, proprietor.
Alaska agronomist has a passion for potatoes
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The phone rang rather late the other night."Did you know this is the Year of the Potato?" the guy on the other end wanted to know.
At age 100, she rocks babies in hospital units
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alyce Hanson can barely see. Her ears don't work so great either. And she's a little slow on her feet.So?The year she was born, the first Model T rolled off the assembly line at Ford Motor Co. It only stands to reason that a body part here and there has seen some wear and tear. That doesn't mean it's time to park it.
Vet pushes to have Aleutian battlefield memorial removed
The Battle of Attu ended 65 years ago but survivor Bill Jones has a new enemy on the island.When he returned to the remote and barren Aleutian battlefield with a handful of other veterans in 2000, he was stunned to see a large titanium starburst, rising from a hill.
Last native speaker of Eyak language dies
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Chief Marie Smith Jones, the last full-blooded Eyak and last Native speaker of the Eyak language, died Monday. She was 89.According to her son, Leonard Smith, she was found in her bed. Her family believes she died in her sleep.

