Snowzilla in Alaska

For days I've been reading about this giant snowman---up in the only state bigger than Texas, known as Alaska---that's been dubbed "Snowzilla". Supposedly appearing overnight, with no one taking credit for rolling the balls to make the man.

Snowzilla has appeared the last 3 years in the Anchorage front yard of a junk dealer named Billy Powers. Billy claims to know nothing about Snowzilla. However he seems quite smitten with this year's mystery Snowman, asking a reporter if he'd "seen him." And telling the reporter that "he's handsome." He being the Snowman, not the reporter. Maybe the reporter is also handsome, I don't know, that wasn't part of the story.

Each year, when Snowzilla appears, he's bigger, and apparently, more handsome, than the year before. This year he has grown to being 25 feet tall.

Due to all the Alaskans wanting a personal look at Snowzilla, it creates a serious traffic jam.

This year the city said Snowzilla was a public nuisance and a safety hazard, due to being so big he could become an avalanche. A cease and desist order was issued and tacked to Power's door.

City officials said Snowzilla increased traffic to the point of being dangerous and that Snowzilla, itself, was unsafe. Due that avalanche danger, I suppose.

Anchorage's Mayor, Mark Begich, issued a statement saying the city stands behind its moves to take down Snowzilla, saying, "This property owner has repeatedly ignored city attempts to find ways to accommodate his desire to build a giant snowman without affecting the quiet, residential quality of the neighborhood. This is a neighborhood of small homes on small lots connected by small streets. It can't support the volume of traffic and revelers that are interested in Snowzilla."

The mayor's office claims that for 13 years Powers has been running an illegal junk and salvage operation from his home in violation of land use codes. And that he owes Anchorage more than $100,000 in fines and other charges.

Powers claims it is the city that is the problem, not him. That he's jumped through every goofy hoop they've sent him, that he's never been confrontational, that some of the city's charges are unfounded and just plain outrageous.

The city says it will take no further action against Powers. Til after Christmas.

Meanwhile, here at my location in Fort Worth, no snow, not freezing and no chance of a White Christmas tomorrow.