Looking Back in Fairbanks — July 5
Published Saturday, July 5, 2008
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Stumble It!10 YEARS AGO
July 5, 1998 — A man described by authorities as mentally unstable fired on Alaska State Troopers on Saturday evening, pinning at least two officers behind their vehicles on the Elliott Highway and keeping others at bay. As of 12:15 a.m. this morning, five hours after the incident began, authorities had two negotiators talking to the man, who was in the woods to the east of the highway, about two miles north of Fox.
No one had been injured, but two ambulances were standing by.
Authorities blocked traffic at the weigh station at the junction of the Steese and Elliott highways and at Mile 5.5 of the Elliott Highway. Homeowners and people staying at campgrounds nearby were told to stay put.
25 YEARS AGO
July 5, 1983 — Campgrounds are filling up in the mornings, there may be waits for shuttle buses and some backcountry areas are closed temporarily because of bears, but it’s business as usual at Denali National Park as the staff is ready to handle the peak time of the season.
Fourth of July weekend traditionally rings in the busiest time of the year at the state’s most popular park. That appears to be true this year.
Park officials aren’t certain where attendance stands, but after last year’s crunch — more than 300,000 visitors, up 25 percent — the staff figures that this summer’s attendance is on par with that, says Doug Cuillard, chief naturalist. Mount McKinley is usually more visible after about 9 or 10 p.m. and until about 9 or 10 a.m.
50 YEARS AGO
July 5, 1958 — Two forest fires broke out near Healy yesterday and were raging out of control today. Explosive fire conditions are reported in the area. One fire eight miles east of Healy had consumed a reported 400 acres as of 8 a.m. today. A Lignite woman last night reported flames 100 feet high just east of buildings of the Nenana Operating Co. coal mine. A second fire has burned about 25 acres 15 miles east of Healy.
75 YEARS AGO
July 5, 1933 — Over Smithers, B.C., at 10:34 this morning, Pacific Standard Time, passed the plane that will search for James Mattern, aviator, who was on a projected round-the-world flight and has been missing since he took off early last month from Khabarovsk, Siberia, for Nome.
The search plane, piloted by William Alexander and containing three other members of the expedition, took off from Edmonton, Alberta, at 4 o’clock this morning for Nome, expecting to reach the Seward Peninsula camp in 10 hours.
Community Discussion
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DNM -
Who picks the articles chosen for this series and based on what guidelines?
Thanks
We had someone else doing it, but I appear to have picked it up for at least the days that I'm working. That may change, as it seems to be in flux at the moment.
In any event, my strategy is to spin up the microfilm machine for the dates in question and to pick the biggest non-AP story for the date. It was surprising to me how much of the older papers consisted of Associated Press copy, but I guess that makes sense, given that the newspaper was the primary information source about world events for so many people.
Once I've picked the stories and printed them out, I type out the first few paragraphs. Occasionally, I have to convert the grammar into something a bit more understandable, but basically what you see in the section is what the story said at the time it was published the first time.
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