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T H E V O I C E O F I N T E R I O R A L A S K A

Monday, deceMber 13, 2021

Classified » B5 | Comics » B6 | Dear Abby » B4 | Sports » B1 | Opinion » A4InSIde

SoUrdoUGH JacK:

“It’ll be nice to

eventually say hello to

our neighbors again.”

The weather.

Mainly clear and very cold.

High today ............ -23Low tonight ...........-31Sunrise: 10:48 a.m.Sunset: 2:41 p.m.WeaTHer » a5

GOOD MORNING

• • •

• • •

aurora forecast.

Auroral activity will be moderate. Weather permitting, moderate displays will be visible overhead from Utqiagvik to as far south as Talkeetna and visible low on the horizon as far south as Bethel, Soldotna and southeast Alaska.

This information is provided by aurora forecasters at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more infor-mation about the aurora, visit http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast

SPOTLIGHT • SARAH SCHACHER

By Maisie Thomas

Lifelong Fairbanksan Sarah Schacher was recently award-ed the Western Highway Asso-ciation of State Highway and Transportation’s Dr. L.I. Hew-es Award. This is the first time

in the award’s 70 year history that someone from Fairbanks was selected, and only the third time for an Alaskan, said Schacher, who is a Northern Region preconstruction engi-neer for the Alaska Depart-ment of Transportation.

Schacher, was born and raised in Fairbanks, likes the welcoming nature of the community and enjoys her job because it allows her to contribute to a vital aspect

Lifelong Fairbanksan Sarah Schacher was recently awarded the Dr. L.I. Hewes Award from the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation. PHOTO COURTESY

OF SARAH

SCHACHER

One woman’s lifelong commitment to Fairbanks

SPoTLIGHT » a6

By Jeff Richardson and Rod Boyce

Editor’s Note: This week, scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks are pre-senting their work alongside thousands of colleagues from around the world at the 2021 American Geophysical Union fall meeting. Some of their dis-coveries are featured here. You can also find out more about

UAF at AGU by searching for #UAFxAGU on Twitter, Ins-tagram and Facebook, and by visiting this year’s UAFxAGU playlist on YouTube.

Cold region permafrost bounces back from wildfire

In 2007, a shocking event happened on Alaska’s North Slope. During an abnormally dry summer, a raging wildfire burned for three months and

claimed a vast stretch of tun-dra.

The Anaktuvuk River Fire scorched about 1,000 square kilometers, an unprecedent-ed blaze for the normally wet, cool terrain. It also provided a rare opportunity for study.

Benjamin Jones, a research professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Northern Engineering, has collected data from the

wildfire site since 2009. The ground below is carbon-stor-ing permafrost, which doesn’t emit greenhouse gases like methane as long as it remains frozen.

“We wanted to bring togeth-er various data sets to under-stand the whole picture of what’s going on after a north-

ern tundra fire,” Jones said.For more than a decade,

Jones has measured subsur-face temperatures, taken core samples and analyzed ice com-position to see how permafrost has responded. The frozen ground has proven to be sur-

Wildfires and permafrost; forecasting winter rain; Bogoslof’s magma

ScIence » a5

By Linda F. Hersey

Does the future of the $80 bil-lion Permanent Fund in Alaska depend on the future of the div-idend paid out to Alaskans?

That was just one of many questions asked in a University of Alaska Fairbanks web forum, “The Permanent Fund Divi-dend: Past, Present and Future.”

The forum looked at the evo-lution of the Permanent Fund dividend in Alaska, its impact

Economists look at Alaska’s unique role paying PFDs

By Amanda Bohman

Almost 20 borough commis-sions have at least one vacan-cy.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough mayor’s office is tak-ing applications for the Chena Riverfront Commission, the Sustainability Commission, the Trails Advisory Com-mission, the Animal Control Commission and the Carlson

Volunteers needed to serve on local government commissions

By Kris Capps

L ocal students have a new way to acquire a public library card.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries announced a new partner-ship with Fairbanks North Star Borough public schools, to allow parents to opt-in electronically when they use

PowerSchool.PowerSchool is a web-

based student information system that provides parents, students and teachers a way to communicate online. PowerSchool can be accessed anywhere there is internet.

This new digital card is called START, or Student

Students can get library cards using START

This young library card holder stands in front of the Alaskan Fairy Tale mural in the childrens section at Noel Wien Library.

Young library patrons show off their new library cards.

These are the people who made the new START program happen — Melissa Harter, director of FNSB Libraries, Mayor Bryce Ward, School Supt. Karen Melin, Circulation Librarian Jason Russell and Library Associate Amy Schmidt. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY FNSB LIBRARIES.

READY, SET, START CHECK OUT

PFd » a3

VoLUnTeer » a6

STarT » a6