Ruby

by Channel 2 News staff Monday, March 15, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Emil Churchin , the only Anchorage musher in the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race , scratched Monday afternoon in Ruby . He made his decision based on his team's ability to continue. He was in last place by a long way at the time of his scratch. Fourteen teams that started on March 7 have scratched. The new Red Lantern is Canadian rookie Hank Debruin .

by Christine Kim and The Associated Press Wednesday, May 12, 2010 FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The National Weather Service says an ice jam on the Yukon River between Galena and Ruby is causing the water to rise to levels not seen in four decades. The jam is just upstream of Galena and has raised water levels in the Ruby area. The wife of Mayor Jay DeLima says she's not too concerned about the residents in Ruby, but is worried what will happen when the ice breaks into Galena downriver.

by Andrew Hinkelman Thursday, March 11, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race reaches the halfway point Thursday. Four-time champion Jeff King arrived in Cripple Thursday afternoon to rejoin the lead pack. He moved on at 5:21 p.m., after just about five hours of rest, to re-take the lead. King, who completed his mandatory 24-hour layover in Takotna , arrived at the Iditarod's halfway point at 12:10 p.m. Thursday.

On Sunday, four mushers ended their shot at completing the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, including rookie Pat Moon who helped saved a child's life in Ruby. Iditarod officials said a child was sledding and crashed into a parked snow machine on Sunday afternoon in Ruby, according to family members of the child. The boy was brought home and a Village Public Safety Officer was called, but was reported to be unavailable. The child's mother went to the Iditarod checkpoint to ask for help and Pat Moon immediately said he was trained, according to Iditarod officials, and returned to the child's home.

by Andrew Hinkelman Friday, March 12, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- It's game on in the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race . Four-time champion Jeff King , who won an eight-course meal and $3,500 for being the first to reach the Yukon River earlier Friday, led the way into Galena Friday evening at 5:10 p.m. after taking his mandatory 8-hour layover in Ruby. King left Ruby at 11:08 a.m. and Lance Mackey followed 72 minutes later after completing his 8-hour layover as well.

by The Associated Press Friday, May 14, 2010 FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The Yukon River village of Galena is preparing for the worst as it waits for a 25-mile-long ice jam to break loose. City manager Tom Corrigan says a secondary ambulance, backup generators and a fire truck have all been moved so the entire community will have emergency support if a flood cuts the 700-person village in half. Volunteers also arranged 50 cots with blankets and toilet kits in the school and community center in case residents must be evacuated.

by Jason Lamb Friday, March 12, 2010 RUBY, Alaska -- There are challenges weighing on the mushing teams of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race , both physical and mental. It's a quiet day in Ruby. Mushers here are letting their dogs take a much-needed rest after giving them something to eat. "It's a mixture of commercial dog food, canola oil, fish oil and some horsemeat," said musher Sebastian Schnuelle . And if that mixture sounds like a real winner, wait until you hear what the mushers themselves eat. "That's my health foods diet: Skittles, 5-Hour Energies, beef jerky," Schnuelle said.

Preparations for the world’s longest snowmachine race begin with a thorough tune-up. After all, over the course of 2,000 miles, something will probably go wrong.   "You have to go through the machine head-to-toe so nothing has been forgotten and every nut and bolt has been marked," says two-time champion Marc McKenna. The Iron Dog race begins in Big Lake, winding up through several sections of the Iditarod trail to Nome, and then traveling a river-heavy portion of trail on the way to Fairbanks.

(8:35 p.m.) Last one for now... Team 17 - West/George is on layover in Kaltag, officially, finally. And Trail teams 51/52/54 have all passed through Kaltag. (8:29 p.m.) Alright, it's time for me to head out. Most of the teams are on layovers and they'll start hitting the trail in the wee hours of the morning... or late hours of the night. I might stop back by before I hit the hay and see what the news is. Still on the trail: 27 - Fuller/Jackson and 30 - Jackson/Harrington left Puntilla Lake together 20 - Swenson/Peterson - out of Rohn 29 - Muir Jones - Out of Nikolai.

(10:23 p.m.) Team 31 Potter-Harrison has returned to Galena with mechanical problems. And that's my last update for tonight. Still no update on whether Teams 30 and 27 will continue on. Other than that, it looks like everyone else is either laying over, in Nome or on a non-suspicious pace to their next destination. -------------------- (10:01 p.m.) Teams 2 Zwink/Sottosanti and 40 Marks/Marks are in Nome --------------------- (9:48 p.m.) Team 5 McAllen/Cherrier and Team 17 West/George are in and out of White Mountain.

Ruby's Café 101 W. Benson Blvd. Suite 101 (inside Key Bank building) $4-$12 per plate Lunch 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, dinner 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday 907-339-9805 http://rubysalaska.com/ Longtime Lunchbox readers will notice that I've been trying to find hidden gems in the Anchorage dining scene, especially those tucked away out of sight like the Taco-Loco deli. This week I had a similar location in mind, which I visited late in the lunch hour on an overcast Thursday.

On Sunday, four mushers ended their shot at completing the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, including rookie Pat Moon who helped saved a child's life in Ruby. Iditarod officials said a child was sledding and crashed into a parked snow machine on Sunday afternoon in Ruby, according to family members of the child. The boy was brought home and a Village Public Safety Officer was called, but was reported to be unavailable. The child's mother went to the Iditarod checkpoint to ask for help and Pat Moon immediately said he was trained, according to Iditarod officials, and returned to the child's home.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race pushed through the halfway point with the top five teams making into Ruby on Friday morning. Mitch Seavey was the first to arrive at 6:00 a.m., but Aliy Zirkle checked in hours later at 8:55 a.m. and then hit the trails at 9:04 a.m. making her the early race leader on Friday morning. Dallas Seavey and John Baker remain in the top five checking into to Ruby before 9:00 a.m. Nome's Aaron Burmeister cracked the top five list by making it into Ruby at 9:05 a.m. Friday, and it's worth noting he still has his full roster of sixteen dogs where as the rest of the leaderboard has dropped one or two dogs.

Iron Dog snowmachine race leaders Marc McKenna and Dusty VanMeter held on to the lead they took en route to Nome Tuesday, becoming the first racers into Tanana Friday as the 2,000-mile race approaches a Saturday finish in Fairbanks. According to race officials, Team 17 drivers McKenna and VanMeter pulled into Tanana at 2:13 p.m., followed by Team 6 drivers Tyler Huntington and Tre West at 3:01 p.m. and Team 2's Ryan Sottosanti and Andrew Zwink at 3:08 p.m. Many teams are wrapping up mandatory 10-hour layovers after arriving in Ruby Friday morning, promising a competitive field during the night.

(4:36 p.m.) The GPS tracker shows that Team 33 has made it to Unalakleet. They even have a little bit to rest before they head out. Even with their work time added in Koyuk, they're still in 11th place. They'll be less-rested than everyone else, but at least they won't be way behind everyone. Someone pointed out that the teams have 17 hours to travel (starting at 5) and 900-some miles to go, which means they'd have to average 55 MPH. I think they used the Norhtbound Unalakleet trail mileage to get that.

(10:23 p.m.) Team 31 Potter-Harrison has returned to Galena with mechanical problems. And that's my last update for tonight. Still no update on whether Teams 30 and 27 will continue on. Other than that, it looks like everyone else is either laying over, in Nome or on a non-suspicious pace to their next destination. -------------------- (10:01 p.m.) Teams 2 Zwink/Sottosanti and 40 Marks/Marks are in Nome --------------------- (9:48 p.m.) Team 5 McAllen/Cherrier and Team 17 West/George are in and out of White Mountain.

(8:35 p.m.) Last one for now... Team 17 - West/George is on layover in Kaltag, officially, finally. And Trail teams 51/52/54 have all passed through Kaltag. (8:29 p.m.) Alright, it's time for me to head out. Most of the teams are on layovers and they'll start hitting the trail in the wee hours of the morning... or late hours of the night. I might stop back by before I hit the hay and see what the news is. Still on the trail: 27 - Fuller/Jackson and 30 - Jackson/Harrington left Puntilla Lake together 20 - Swenson/Peterson - out of Rohn 29 - Muir Jones - Out of Nikolai.

Preparations for the world’s longest snowmachine race begin with a thorough tune-up. After all, over the course of 2,000 miles, something will probably go wrong.   "You have to go through the machine head-to-toe so nothing has been forgotten and every nut and bolt has been marked," says two-time champion Marc McKenna. The Iron Dog race begins in Big Lake, winding up through several sections of the Iditarod trail to Nome, and then traveling a river-heavy portion of trail on the way to Fairbanks.

by The Associated Press Friday, May 14, 2010 FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The Yukon River village of Galena is preparing for the worst as it waits for a 25-mile-long ice jam to break loose. City manager Tom Corrigan says a secondary ambulance, backup generators and a fire truck have all been moved so the entire community will have emergency support if a flood cuts the 700-person village in half. Volunteers also arranged 50 cots with blankets and toilet kits in the school and community center in case residents must be evacuated.

by Christine Kim and The Associated Press Wednesday, May 12, 2010 FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The National Weather Service says an ice jam on the Yukon River between Galena and Ruby is causing the water to rise to levels not seen in four decades. The jam is just upstream of Galena and has raised water levels in the Ruby area. The wife of Mayor Jay DeLima says she's not too concerned about the residents in Ruby, but is worried what will happen when the ice breaks into Galena downriver.