Favorite Link Friday Round-up Week of June 10, 2016

Alaska farmer loses permit to use human waste as fertilizer

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) A Moose Creek farmer has lost a permit to fertilize his land with human waste after Fairbanks North Star Borough officials found his operation had become larger than what he had initially proposed.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the borough's Planning Commission voted Tuesday to revoke Robert Riddle's permit, which he received in 2007. His attorney, Bill Satterberg, says he will appeal the decision.

The permit allowed Riddle, who also owns a septic tank pumping company, to use sewage to fertilize his land. But planning officials claim collection and storage of septic sludge has become the primary activity at the farm - not agriculture. [Full Source]

In Whittier, loss of seafood processor a big blow

It’s a sunny day in early June in Whittier, and the tiny port town on Prince William Sound is quiet. The Great Pacific Seafoods processing plant where about a hundred seasonal workers would normally be cleaning fish is silent and empty. The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and closed several plants late last month, blaming a drop in roe prices and rising costs. Whittier is feeling the loss keenly.

Great Pacific’s bankruptcy announcement took a lot of people here by surprise. Whittier had been the heart of the Seattle-based company’s operations since the late ’80s, and in this town of about 200, where nearly everyone lives together in the 14-story Begich Towers condo building, the bodies and business that Great Pacific brought in were critical to the local economy.

“It’s a rough hardship,” Johnson said. “I mean, if I had known at Christmas, or earlier in the winter I could have went out and scored a really nice contract. But they kinda had us dangling on a string at the very last hope.” [Full Source]

Well ladies and gentlemen this is going to continue around the State as the National and State Economy tanks. This is why focusing on alternative revenue sources like Marijuana is so important. It's not about morals, it's about survival.

Sitka Sound Science Center awarded $40,000 to design heat pump

The ocean supports a variety of marine life at the Sitka Sound Science Center, and soon it will support human life. This week, the center received funding to design a saltwater heat-pump.

The $40,000 grant came from Wells Fargo, through a program called “Environmental Solutions for Communities.” Lisa Busch, executive director of the science center, says the pump will be used to educate the public on the benefits of harnessing seawater energy.

Wells Fargo gives $100,000 per year in environmental grants in Alaska. The company originally proposed giving $15,000 to the Science Center, which would fund about one-quarter of the project’s design. o Judith Crotty, a community development manager at Wells Fargo, revisited the proposal and bumped the grant to $40,000.

The new pump isn’t just for demonstration. The energy it harnesses from seawater will be used to heat the building that houses the science center. Busch says they’ve been planning the project for a few years, and were inspired by Alaska Sea Life Center’s heat pump. [Full Source]

Bristol Palin marries Medal of Honor recipient who is father of her daughter

Bristol Palin, a daughter of 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has married former U.S. Marine Dakota Meyer, a winner of the Medal of Honor, more than a year after their initial wedding plans were called off.

"Life is full of ups and downs but in the end, you'll end up where you're supposed to be," Palin and Meyer told entertainment news outlet ET. "We are so happy to share with loved ones the wonderful news that we got married!"

Palin said she met Meyer in 2014 when he came to Alaska to film the reality television show "Amazing America" with her mother, who was the 2008 vice presidential running mate of Republican U.S. Senator John McCain.

Meyer is the father of Bristol Palin's second child, a daughter born late last year, according to People magazine. She has a 7-year-old son from a previous relationship. [Full Source]

Oh. Oh. Any bets on how long this will last?

Most bestiality is legal, declares Canada's Supreme Court

Sex acts with animals are legal in Canada, so long as there is no penetration involved, according to a surprise ruling issued by the Supreme Court.

The determination stemmed from a case involving a British Columbia man convicted of 13 counts sexually assaulting his stepdaughters - including one count of bestiality. But the man, identified only as "DLW", was acquitted of the bestiality count with the new ruling.

DLW's attorneys argued that bestiality linked to "buggery" - or sodomy - with animals beginning with an 1892 criminal code. Bestiality was first used in a 1955 code, but still was not defined to encompass every sex act with animals.

DLW is serving a 16 year prison sentence. He brought the bestitality conviction to the court on appeal.

Justice Rosalie Abella was the lone dissenter, and had suggested that the court deny the appeal.

“Acts with animals that have a sexual purpose are inherently exploitative whether or not penetration occurs,” she wrote. [Full Source]

Welp, for those that argued about the 'slippery slope of ethics and morality' here is your proof.