Tom Hewitt Profile picture
Opinion editor for @adndotcom. 💛 Fairbanks. Policy: Uninterrupted progress. Politics: Anti-graft. Nationality: Arctic Brotherhood. Religion: Tanana.
Oct 12, 2022 7 tweets 2 min read
Never doubt that you have an impact on everyone whose life you touch.

My freshman year of college, I was an astrophysics major at New Mexico Tech. To say I did not distinguish myself among the physics students would be an understatement. (🧵) There was one aspect where I had some value at NM Tech, however: I played the cello. The orchestra was small (only about 3,000 students went to NMT, and most were very focused on their degree program) and made up of basically whoever happened to be available and interested (2/)
Dec 17, 2020 8 tweets 2 min read
The discussion of how likely you are to die in Alaska if your COVID-19 case is bad enough that you go to the hospital reminded me of a conversation I had when I was 18 and driving vans for a local tour company in Fairbanks. It's more interesting than it sounds. Buckle up. (1/) My shift had me working until the last Arctic Circle tours got back — I shuttled folks back to their hotels. Sometimes this was at 1 a.m.; the motor coaches were slow and the Dalton Highway was rougher in those days. So I had a lot of time to think. (2/)
Dec 17, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
Something I just realized I have questions about, looking at Alaska's COVID dashboard: Hospitalizations vs. deaths. If you look at the numbers from today, you can see that for every five people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Alaska, one person has died of it. (1/) That seems really high, right? People sick enough to be hospitalized with COVID-19 here have a 1-in-5 chance of dying? But let's not confuse correlation with causation: Not all deaths have been folks who were hospitalized. (2/)
Aug 6, 2019 10 tweets 5 min read
Hey #akleg twitter, I'm usually able to handle stuff pretty well. A lot comes across this desk, and I've got a strong stomach. But I cried at my desk today, and I want you to know why.

It's because of a guy named Bill Brokaw. 1/10 Bill is an 80-year-old Alaskan. He's a veteran, and so is his 83-year-old wife. She has Alzheimer's. They're both in the Palmer Pioneers and Veterans Home.

He first wrote me in March, after Gov. Dunleavy's administration laid out plans for steep rate hikes. #akleg 2/10