L O C A L LY O W N E D

12411516-5-17-13

Join us this Saturday, May 18, for May Demo Days at your local

Husqvarna Power Equipment store! Save all day with special pricing and hands-on

testing of Husqvarna outdoor power equipment.

On College Road next to the Farmers Market

452-4002 www.thewoodway.com Weekdays 9 – 6 • Saturday 9 –5

BUY 1 GET 1 1 ⁄ 2 OFF ON CHAINS FOR

YOUR CHAINSAW.

The voice of Interior Alaska since 1903Seventy-five cents Friday, May 17, 2013newsminer.com

RECYCLED

Recycled material is used in the making of our

newsprint

252-C

Vol. CIX, No. 136

36 pages

Classified .......................................... C1Comics ............................................. D5Dear Abby .........................Latitude 65/2Faith ................................................ B4Interior/Alaska ................................... B1Obituaries ......................................... B2Opinion ..............................................A4Our Town ..........................................A3Sports .............................................. D1Stock Markets ................................... C4Weather .............................................A7World ................................................ D6

Inside

Sourdough Jack sez:

“If I would have known Mayvember would

be stickin’ around, I wouldn’ta started my planting this week.”

Hutchison High School graduation photos and list

Page B1

Hats off

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHERAssociated Press

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama picked a senior White House budget official to become the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service on

Thursday, the same day another top official announced plans to leave the agency amid the con-troversy over agents targeting tea party groups.

Obama named longtime civil servant Daniel Werfel as the act-ing IRS commissioner. Werfel, 42,

serves as controller of the Office of Management and Budget, making him a key player in implementing recent automatic spending cuts known as the sequester.

“Throughout his career work-ing in both Democratic and Republican administrations, Dan-

ny has proven an effective leader who serves with professionalism, integrity and skill,” Obama said in a statement. “The American people deserve to have the utmost confidence and trust in their

Obama picks budget official to run troubled IRS

By JEFF RICHARDSONjrichardson@newsminer.com

Food stamps will have double their value at the Downtown Market and various school farm stands this summer, thanks to several state grants that will boost purchasing power at those venues.

A customer using food stamps

— formally known as QUEST benefits — will be able to receive twice the amount of produce for the same price at the venues. Matching funds are capped at $20 per person, per day at each market.

“They can only buy fresh pro-duce with it, and it’s all from local farmers,” said Kara Nash, events and marketing director

for the Downtown Association of Fairbanks.

The Downtown Association and Calypso Farm & Ecology Center, which runs the school garden program, applied jointly for the grant. The funds are being offered by the Alaska Divi-sion of Agriculture, Alaska Divi-sion of Public Assistance, Alaska Division of Public Health and

University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.

The first phase of the grant is a combined $6,300, which will be followed by an undetermined second phase of funding for the Downtown Association. The pro-gram will remain until funds run out.

By TIM MOWRYtmowry@newsminer.com

It’s not often that the National Weather Service issues a flood advi-sory and winter weather advisory on the same day.

Only in Fairbanks and only this spring, if you can call it that.

The National Weather Service in Fairbanks on Thursday issued a flood advisory for ice jam flooding on the Tanana River at Salcha and a winter weather advisory for snow in the Tanana Valley.

The flooding is already occurring, while the snow is expected to start falling sometime today and continue into Saturday.

“The next thing you know, we’ll have a wildfire advisory,” quipped meteorologist Scott Berg at the weather service in Fairbanks.

As water rises behind ice jams, flooding along the Tanana River in Salcha is a normal occurrence. Snow and cold this late in the season are not.

Food stamp value to double at marketsWacky weather continues

Associated Press photos

Chief Master Sgt. Paul Barendregt climbs up the prow of the West Buttress on Mount McKinley conducting winter rescue and glacier training in Denali National Park and Preserve. Barendregt and four other Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 212th Rescue Squadron became the first group to reach the 20,320-foot peak of Mount McKinley this year.

The Associated Press

DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE — The first group to summit Mount McKinley this year included five members of the Alaska Air National Guard.

The guard said in a release the five reached the peak of the 20,320-foot mountain on May 9.

The five members of the 212th Res-cue Squadron conducted the climb of the tallest mountain in North Amer-ica to enhance their winter survival skills.

The men began the climb on April 26th, going up about 2,000 feet to 3,000 feet a day.

The group included Maj. Matt Komatsu, Chief Master Sgt. Paul Bar-endregt, Tech. Sgt. Kyle Minshew, Staff Sgt. William “Bill” Cenna and Staff Sgt. Brett Wilson.

This is the 100th anniversary of the first successful summit of Mount McKinley, known locally by its Atha-bascan name, Denali.

Reaching the top

Climbing season at Denali

Guardsmen are 1st this year to summit Mount McKinley

Guardsmen, back row, left to right, Chief Master Sgt. Paul Barendregt, Tech. Sgt. Kyle Minshew and Staff Sgt. William “Bill” Cenna and, bottom row, left to right, Maj. Matt Komatsu and Staff Sgt. Brett Wilson pose for a photo at the peak of Mount McKinley.

Weekend forecast calls for snow

Please see WEATHER, Page A7

Please see MARKETS, Page A7

Please see IRS, Page A7

State track meetThe action starts today at LathropSports, Page D1

A Gonzo PromFundraiser channels Hunter S. Thompson

Latitude 65