Spring has come to the Great Land. Our sandhill cranes are back, a robin was singing in one of our big birch trees the other day, and some of the local critters are getting spring fever – more on that in this week’s video offering—first, some Alaska news.
Let’s start with a dumb crook. Here in the Great Land, bootlegging runs are still a thing, only they’re done by airplane, into some of the dry villages. And, as Fairbanks pilot Kenneth Jouppi found out the hard way, getting caught can cost you that airplane.
Forced forfeiture of a plane used to transport a six-pack of beer to a dry village does not violate the excessive fines clause in the U.S. Constitution, according to the Alaska Supreme Court.
Pending further appeals, Friday’s decision means Fairbanks pilot Kenneth Jouppi must give up his Cessna 206 as punishment for ignoring beer loaded onto a…
