The Anchorage Daily News has reported that Royal Caribbean cruise ship “Serenade of the Seas” has a crew member infected with H1N1 (Swine Flu). The crew member became sick on May 2nd. According to the 2009 cruise ship docking calendar the Serenade arrived in Juneau on May 8th after leaving Ketchikan on the 7th. She continued on to Skagway on the 9th, Petersburg on the 10th, and then moves on to Sitka (12th), Prince Rupert (13th), and Vancouver on the 16th.

For more information about the geography of H1N1, try this flu-tracker map.

Driving from town to valley in lovely Juneau these days provides a memorable (and disgusting) olfactory sensation. The landfill has grown so much since the incinerator broke down and wasn’t replaced that not only is the mound visible from Egan highway, but the smell lingers throughout the neighborhood surrounding the dump. If you happen to live in the vicinity, I feel for you.

The status of the landfill is no secret. People have been rightly complaining about it for a long time. And the landfill’s operator, Waste Management, has even employed the use of some fancy technology to try and keep the odors down. Sometimes it works, but usually it doesn’t.

Many suggestions have risen to deal with the odor, and the one that seems to be catching the most momentum is an initiative where partner villages in Southeast would ship their trash to a central location for longterm storage.

Finally, after 33 days of straight wind and rain we get some long-deserved sunshine. Too bad I have to work through it… hopefully it holds until the weekend!