Any green thumbs?

Question: I would like to know what causes the leaves to fall off the Oriental Lily. My plant is losing leaves every day and will have no more leaves to drop.

Answer: Generally speaking, the Cooperative Extension Service is a great resource for help caring for plants given your local conditions. In Alaska, they offer an Ask an Expert service covering a variety of subjects, including gardening. See: http://www.uaf.edu/ces/info/askexpert/

However, I didn't find any information on this topic already published on their website. From what I've seen on other sites, Oriental Lilies normally die back once they've bloomed, so losing leaves may be a normal part of the plant cycle. There are many free sites available that provide a wealth of information on caring for Oriental Lilies. I recommend using your favorite internet search engine with the terms: <"oriental lily"> and and . For example, with Google type in:
"oriental lily" plants care

If you want to avoid commercial sites, with loads of advertising, try limiting the search to educational or governmental sites by adding either site:edu or site:gov or to your search.

Library services in Alaska

Question: I'll be moving to Alaska soon and the area I'm moving to doesn't have library services. Is there a way I can access library services through the state library, and if so, how?

Answer: Alaska has a mail services, or regional services, program for residents with no local public libraries. This program is administered through the Juneau Public Libraries. For more information about the program and to apply, see http://www.juneau.org/library/mailserv/.

Finding Congressional activity

Question: How do I find what occurred in the US Congress on September 11, 2001?

Answer: One method is to use Thomas from the Library of Congress. Click on:

1. "Congressional Record", currently on the left hand side of the page, then
2. "Browse Daily Issues", currently to the right of "Search the Congressional Record", then
3. "107" for the daily listing of the 107th Congress. We know that this is the correct Congress because the years 2001-2002 are listed at the top.

You will find September 11, 2001, towards the bottom of the page with links to the floor activity in the House, extensions on remarks made in congress, and a digest summary of the day's activities. There doesn't seem to have been any floor activity in the Senate on that day, but if there were, that would have been listed too.

Question: What was the population of Aniak in 1950? What was the population of Juneau in 1960?

Answer: Alaska's Department of Labor and Workforce Development offers some U.S. Census reports and data for Alaska for 1900 through 1990 at http://labor.alaska.gov/research/census/cenhist.htm. Here is a direct link to the 1960 report, which includes some of the 1950 data as well: http://labor.alaska.gov/research/census/histpdfs/1960ak.pdf. Table 8 lists cities and towns in alphabetical order, and there, you fill find 1950 and 1960 population data for Aniak and Juneau. More recent data is available from the U.S. Census Bureau's web site. Try using the population finder at http://www.census.gov/population/www/.

Finding Old Alaska USGS Reports

Question: Where would I find a copy of Marcus Baker's Geographic Dictionary of Alaska? I think it was published in the early 1900s by the US Geological Survey.

Answer: While this dictionary is available in paper at a number of libraries, including ours, thanks to the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, you can also find this report online at http://www.dggs.alaska.gov/pubs/pubs?reqtype=citation&ID=3362. This is one of many historic USGS reports that have been digitized by the Division. You can search or browse for more of this historic material at http://www.dggs.alaska.gov/index.php?menu_link=publications&link=publications_search.