Stranger Among Bears
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Stranger Among Bears
Charles Edward Vandergaw (June 2, 1938 – March 30, 2025) was an American schoolteacher from Anchorage, Alaska. He was known for having spent over 30 years of his life living amongst bears in the state of Alaska. Vandergaw was the subject of a 2009 Animal Planet documentary titled ''Stranger Among Bears''. Biography Charles Edward Vandergaw was born on June 2, 1938 in Lakeview, Oregon. Vandergaw moved to Anchorage, Alaska in 1964 and soon found work as a schoolteacher. For much of his career, he worked as a science teacher and wrestling coach at Dimond High School. By 1988, after retiring from this profession, he began pursuing a passion for outdoors-related activities. This included what was originally intended as a hunting lodge, but instead became a facility for viewing bears, located at the foot of a mountain in the Yentna River valley. He was the subject of a 2009 television documentary series titled ''Stranger Among Bears'' aired on Animal Planet. Although against the ...
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Lakeview, Oregon
Lakeview is a city in Lake County, Oregon, United States. The population was 2,418 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lake County. The city bills itself as the "Tallest Town in Oregon" because of its elevation, above sea level. Lakeview is situated in the Goose Lake Valley at the foot of the Warner Mountains and at the edge of Oregon's High Desert (Oregon), high desert country. Its economy is based on agriculture, Sawmill, lumber production, and government activities. In addition, tourism is an increasingly important part of the city's economy. Oregon's Outback Scenic Byway passes through Lakeview. History Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans occupied the area around Lakeview as early as 14,000 years ago, as evidenced by Artifact (archaeology), artifacts found in the Paisley Caves north of Lakeview.
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Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 398,328 in 2020, accounting for more than half the state's population. At of land area, the city is the List of cities in the United States by area, fourth-largest by area in the U.S. Anchorage is in Southcentral Alaska, at the terminus of the Cook Inlet, on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north and the Turnagain Arm to the south. First settled as a tent city near the mouth of Ship Creek, Alaska, Ship Creek in 1915 when construction on the Alaska Railroad began, Anchorage was incorporated as a city in November 1920. In September 1975, the City of A ...
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Bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout most of the Northern Hemisphere and partially in the Southern Hemisphere. Bears are found on the continents of North America, South America, and Eurasia. Common characteristics of modern bears include large bodies with stocky legs, long snouts, small rounded ears, shaggy hair, plantigrade paws with five nonretractile claws, and short tails. While the polar bear is mostly carnivorous, and the giant panda is mostly herbivorous, the remaining six species are omnivorous with varying diets. With the exception of courtship display, courting individuals and mothers with their young, bears are typically solitary animals. They may be diurnality, diurnal or nocturnal and have an excellent sense of smell. Despite their heavy build and awk ...
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Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel focusing on the animal kingdom owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the channel is primarily devoted to series and documentaries about wild animals and tame animals with domestic pets. The channel was originally a joint venture with BBC Worldwide, and primarily focused on nature documentaries surrounding wildlife, targeting a family audience. In 2008, Animal Planet rebranded with a more mature programming direction, with a greater emphasis on aggressive and predatory portrayals of animals, as well as an increase in reality series following personalities involved in animal-related occupations and investigations. Animal Planet rebranded again in October 2018, pivoting away from its more aggressive branding. , Animal Planet is available to approximately 70,000,000 pay television households in the Un ...
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Dimond High School
A. J. Dimond High School (DHS) is a public four-year high school in Anchorage, Alaska, and is a part of the Anchorage School District. It has been accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Dimond serves students in the Sand Lake, Kincaid, and Bayshore areas of suburban Anchorage, and had an enrollment of 1,709 as of November 25, 2016. History Early years Named for the territorial-era Congressional delegate and judge Anthony J. Dimond, the school opened in 1967 and was the third high school in Anchorage. Constructed in and serving the Sand Lake section of Anchorage, the original structure was built with the plans for an open campus Southern Californian-style school, though obvious complications arose due to the differences in climate. Following its construction, causeways (referred to as "breezeways") between each of the building segments were created to allow for winter access to the different sections of the school. The original Dimond High Schoo ...
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Yentna River
The Yentna River (Denaʼina language, Dena'ina: ''Yentnu'') is a river in South Central Alaska, formed by its East Fork and West Fork at , flows South-East to Susitna River, North-West of Anchorage, Alaska, at Cook Inlet Low. History Tanaina language, Tanaina Indian name reported by Spurr (1900, p. 46), United States Geological Survey. "Sometimes called Johnson River after the first white man to ascend it." Watershed It begins in the Mount Dall and Yentna Glacier, Yentna glacier systems and flows southeast to the Susitna River north of Susitna, Alaska, Susitna. The river system (including upstream tributaries) is about long. Tributaries From mouth to source: *Kahiltna River , Elevation: *Bottle Creek (Yentna River) , Elevation: *Skwentna River , Elevation: *East Fork Yentna River , Elevation: *West Fork Yentna River , Elevation: Lake Creek just about 8 miles down river from Bottle Creek. Major fishing area: kings, reds, silvers. Winter sports, hunting. Mo ...
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Documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and Media studies, media analyst Bill Nichols (film critic), Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in terms of "a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception [that remains] a practice without clear boundaries". Research into information gathering, as a behavior, and the sharing of knowledge, as a concept, has noted how documentary movies were preceded by the notable practice of documentary photography. This has involved the use of singular Photograph, photographs to detail the complex attributes of History, historical events and continues to a certain degree to this day, with an example being the War photography, conflict-related photography achieved by popular figures such as Mathew Brady during the Am ...
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Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), other morphological forms of brown bear in North America are sometimes identified as grizzly bears. These include three living populations—the Kodiak bear (''U. a. middendorffi''), the Kamchatka brown bear, Kamchatka bear (''U. a. beringianus''), and the Alaska Peninsula brown bear, peninsular grizzly (''U. a. gyas'')—as well as the extinct California grizzly bear, California grizzly (''U. a. californicus''†) and Mexican grizzly bear, Mexican grizzly (formerly ''U. a. nelsoni''†). On average, grizzly bears near the coast tend to be larger while inland grizzlies tend to be smaller. The Ussuri brown bear (''U. a. lasiotus''), inhabiting the Ussuri Krai, Sakhalin, the Amur Oblast, the Shantar Islands, Iturup Island, and Kun ...
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American Black Bear
The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), or simply black bear, is a species of medium-sized bear which is Endemism, endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. It is an omnivore, with a diet varying greatly depending on season and location. It typically lives in largely forested areas; it will leave forests in search of food and is sometimes attracted to human communities due to the immediate availability of food. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the American black bear as a least-concern species because of its widespread distribution and a large population, estimated to be twice that of all other bear species combined. Along with the brown bear (''Ursus arctos''), it is one of the two modern bear species not considered by the IUCN to be globally threatened with extinction. Taxonomy and evolution The American black bear is not closely related to the brown bear or polar bear, though all ...
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Suspended Sentence
A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that period and fulfills the particular conditions of the probation, the sentence is usually considered fulfilled. If the defendant commits another offence or breaks the terms of probation, the court can order the sentence to be served, in addition to any sentence for the new offence. Australia In Australia, suspended sentences are commonly imposed in order to alleviate the strain on overcrowded prisons. For example, an individual may be sentenced to a six-month jail term, wholly suspended for six months; if they commit any other offence during that year, the original jail term is immediately applied in addition to any other sentence. As of 1 September, 2014, suspended sentences no longer exist in Victoria, and in its place are community corr ...
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Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become more prevalent as the disease progresses. The motor symptoms are collectively called parkinsonism and include tremors, bradykinesia, spasticity, rigidity as well as postural instability (i.e., difficulty maintaining balance). Non-motor symptoms develop later in the disease and include behavior change (individual), behavioral changes or mental disorder, neuropsychiatric problems such as sleep abnormalities, psychosis, anosmia, and mood swings. Most Parkinson's disease cases are idiopathic disease, idiopathic, though contributing factors have been identified. Pathophysiology involves progressive nerve cell death, degeneration of nerve cells in the substantia nigra, a midbrain region that provides dopamine to the basal ganglia, a system invo ...
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1938 Births
Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Safinaz Zulficar, who becomes Farida of Egypt, Queen Farida, in Cairo. * January 27 – The Honeymoon Bridge (Niagara Falls), Honeymoon Bridge at Niagara Falls, New York, collapses as a result of an ice jam. February * February 4 ** Adolf Hitler abolishes the War Ministry and creates the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces), giving him direct control of the German military. In addition, he dismisses political and military leaders considered unsympathetic to his philosophy or policies. General Werner von Fritsch is forced to resign as Commander of Chief of the German Army following accusations of homosexuality, and replaced by General Walther von Brauchitsch. Foreign Minister Baron Konstantin von Neurath is dismi ...
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