Alaska news

• Meet Vern Halter, Mat-Su Borough’s new mayor

  30-10-2015 22:00
  Vern Halter, Mat-Su Borough mayor
  Most people recognize Vern Halter as an Iditarod musher with plenty of top 10 finishes in the Last Great Race and a first place victory in the Yukon Quest.
  He’s also a lawyer born, raised and educated in South Dakota. He’s been an Alaskan since 1977. He labored for a decade as a public defender and for 30 years has maintained a small business with his wife and veterinarian Susan Whiton, Dream a Dream Iditarod Kennel in the Valley. He’s served s
  
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• Fish and Game estimates 46.5 million reds to return in 2016

  30-10-2015 21:18
  (KDLG photo)
  The Alaska Department of Fish and Game estimates that next summer’s sockeye run will number 46.5 million. That would leave room to harvest nearly 30 million, and would be the third above-average bay harvest in a row.
  Fish and Game estimates that between 36 and 56 million sockeye will return to Bristol Bay next summer, another big year even if the total comes in at the low end.
  Bristol Bay Area Research Biologist Chuck Brazil said the forecast can be broken down to an estimate
  
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• Teachers gather in Sitka for Alaska Math and Science conference - Alaska Public Radio Network

  30-10-2015 21:17
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Teachers gather in Sitka for Alaska Math and Science conference
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Teachers examine artificial moon and mars soil at the Alaska Math and Science Conference, held at Sitka High School. (Brielle Schaeffer/KCAW photo). Hundreds of teachers from across the state convened in Sitka last weekend for the Alaska Math and ...and more »
  

• Teachers gather in Sitka for Alaska Math and Science conference

  30-10-2015 21:15
  
  Teachers examine artificial moon and mars soil at the Alaska Math and Science Conference, held at Sitka High School. (Brielle Schaeffer/KCAW photo)
  Hundreds of teachers from across the state convened in Sitka last weekend for the Alaska Math and Science conference.
  This was the first time the biennial professional development summit was held in Southeast.
  Several sessions addressed how teachers can keep curriculum culturally relevant and fun while still helping students meet new educational stan
  
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• Alaska’s dinosaurs and paleontology’s future in the north

  30-10-2015 21:00
  A hundred million years ago, dinosaurs roamed what’s now Arctic tundra. Scientists have recently discovered new fossil sites, and even new species of dinosaurs unique to the north. What did Alaska look like when the dinosaurs roamed? What more is waiting to be uncovered?
  HOST: Annie Feidt
  GUESTS:
  Pat Druckenmiller, earth sciences curator, University of Alaska Museum of the North
  Bob Blodgett, paleontologist
  Participate:
  Post your comment before, during or after the live
  
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• Museum of the Aleutians reopens; Director reprimanded

  30-10-2015 20:48
  
  Museum of the Aleutians. (Photo Chrissy Roes/KUCB)
  After a two-and-a-half week closure, Unalaska’s Museum of the Aleutians reopened to the public today.
  On Wednesday, the museum’s board of directors voted to reinstate executive director Zoya Johnson from paid administrative leave. Johnson also sits on the Unalaska City Council.
  The board put Johnson on leave and closed the museum after a 19th-century Russian Orthodox bible and two other items from the museum’s collection w
  
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• NOAA releases 2014 fisheries report

  30-10-2015 20:45
  In a report released Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says in 2014 commercial fishermen landed about 9.5 billion pounds of seafood in the United States, including 5.7 billion pounds here in Alaska.NOAA’s 2014 annual fisheries report is about 150 pages of fish numbers and data for the entire country. Scattered throughout are a couple of interesting facts.
  For one? Imports and exports of seafood increased this year.
  America imported almost $36 billion worth of fi
  
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• Diabetes prevention

  30-10-2015 20:00
  Photo by Mbbradford via Wikimedia Commons
  Diabetes Awareness Month each November is designed to focus attention on preventing and controlling diabetes. Since nearly 30 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes, this effort seems warranted. This program will focus on improving understanding of the causes and prevention of diabetes, particularly Type 2 diabetes.HOST: Dr. Thad Woodard
  GUESTS:
  Nelly Ayala, RN, MSN, manager, Alaska Diabetes Prevention and Cont
  
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• 49 Voices: Halloween displays with Anchorage’s Eugene Enstice

  30-10-2015 19:52
  
  
  This week we went hunting for one of the best Halloween displays in Anchorage. When we knocked on the door, Eugene Enstice answered. He says he’s been going all out with decorations since he bought the house in 1988.
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• Homer flocks to first indoor farmers’ market

  30-10-2015 19:50
  Homer’s first indoor farmers’ market opened Saturday in a building that had been sitting empty downtown. The event was packed and offered local produce, baked goods, arts and crafts and more.
  Shoppers inside Homer’s first indoor farmers’ market. (Photo by Daysha Eaton/KBBI)
  Scott Wright is the organizer for the new indoor market.
  “I had an idea that this farmer’s market, indoor farmers’ market would be a wonderful event for homer and give our artists and
  
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• First Lady adopted into Tlingit clan

  30-10-2015 19:43
  Gerry Hope holds money to First Lady Donna Walker’s forehead during a Tlingit naming ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion. Paul Marks and Ishmael Hope help announce her name, Koodeishghé, four times. (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)
  First Lady Donna Walker was adopted into the Tlingit Deisheetaan clan Thursday night. She was given a Tlingit name at the end of an indigenous literature reading she hosted at the Governor’s Mansion.
  Writer Ishmael Hope announced the surprise honor. He
  
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• US Senate passes budget deal; Alaska senators split on vote

  30-10-2015 19:41
  The U.S. Senate passed a two-year budget bill early Friday morning, in a vote that split Alaska’s two senators.
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted it for it.
  She says it’s imperfect but avoids a debt default and makes needed reforms to entitlement spending. She also says it helps the military by lifting the threat of sequestration budget cuts.
  The deal increases spending by about $80 billion dollars, half to defense and half to domestic programs.
  Those increases are offset by entitlement refo
  
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• Togiak man crushed when truck falls on him

  30-10-2015 19:41
  A Togiak man died Wednesday when he was crushed by his truck.
  Alaska State Troopers say 53-year-old Joshua Andrews was working on his truck in a driveway when the truck fell and trapped him.
  A woman found the fatally injured man at about 2 p.m.
  The state medical examiner planned an autopsy.
  Togiak is a southwest Alaska village of 876 about 67 miles west of Dillingham.
  
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• Coast Guard icebreaker back after pioneering North Pole trip

  30-10-2015 19:38
  The Coast Guard vessel Healy is considered a medium icebreaker. Photo: USCG.
  A U.S. polar icebreaker has returned to Seattle after cutting its way to the North Pole in support of a mission to study the health of the Arctic Ocean.
  The Coast Guard Cutter Healy pulled into its Seattle homeport Thursday, about two months after it became the first U.S surface vessel to make the trip unaccompanied.
  Crews and scientists left Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on Aug. 9, and spent 65 days at sea. The 420-foot long i
  
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• Cyrano’s Other Desert Cities

  30-10-2015 19:35
  Gigi Lynch in Other Desert Cities
  Jon Robin Baitz’s finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Other Desert Cities is currently playing at Cyrano’s Theatre Company and Director Shelly Wozniak and actor Gigi Lynch drop by Stage Talk this week to clue us in to how it’s been going. Other Desert Cities continues through November 15th.
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  HOST:
  Steve Hunt
  GUESTS: 
  Shelly Wozniak: Director, Cyrano’s Other Desert Cities
  Gigi Lynch: “Polly Wyeth”, Cyran
  
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• How to talk about suicide after the fact

  30-10-2015 17:00
  
  
  Many conversations about suicide only focus on prevention and looking for the warning signs. But what if a suicide has already happened? How do we talk about it publicly and privately in healthy, supportive ways? During this week’s show we’ll discuss the media coverage of recent suicides, like the death at AFN, and how to have community conversations about such deaths.Listen Now:
  HOST: Anne Hillman
  GUESTS:Eric Boyer, Training Coordinator, The Alaska Training Cooperative/UAA’s
  
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• AK: Stalking the ultimate Halloween movie

  30-10-2015 17:00
  
  
  Hallow’s Eve is almost here, and it’s safe to say that most of us have our costumes and candy ready. But what about something to watch? A scary movie can complete a haunted house or be the perfect past time between trick-or-treaters. We tap the expertise of a film junkie in search of the ultimate Halloween flick.
  Download Audio:
  There’s nothing like a great scary movie. They’re unique, exhilarating and often get seared into your memory. I still get freaked
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015

  30-10-2015 02:41
  
  
  Stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn.Download Audio
   
  Legislature likely to approve TransCanada buyout
  Rachel Waldholz, KCAW – Sitka
  Lawmakers now say it’s all but inevitable that the Legislature will approve the governor’s request to buy out TransCanada and take a larger stake in
  
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• Lawmakers: TransCanada buyout likely, but is state ready?

  30-10-2015 02:38
  
  
  Lawmakers now say it’s all but inevitable the legislature will approve the governor’s request to buy out TransCanada and take a larger stake in the Alaska LNG project. A vote is expected early next week.
  This map shows the likely route of the Alaska LNG project, as of August 2015. Map courtesy of Alaska LNG
  TransCanada itself has testified in favor of the buyout.
  But even as they prepare to approve the deal, lawmakers are raising concerns about the state’s ability to take the c
  
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• Spice takes toll on Anchorage’s emergency responders

  30-10-2015 02:35
  
  
  Photo by Robbie Shade (Flickr: 4am fire alarm)
  Widespread use of the drug Spice is testing the limits of Anchorage’s emergency response system. With calls for help and emergency transports staying frustratingly high, the drug is exacting a toll not just on users, but paramedics and firefighters, as well.
  Download Audio
  Around 10pm on a recent Saturday, Battalion Chief Mark Monfore raced from emergency to emergency across the Municipality as his radio crackled with updates on cardiac arrest
  
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• US Marshals arrest 3 suspects in Kavairlook murder

  30-10-2015 02:33
  
  
  Fairbanks Police and other law enforcement agencies have announced the arrests of three people in connection with the shooting death of John Kavairlook in Fairbanks on May 17.
  Download Audio
  Police are not giving details on the suspected roles each of the arrested individuals played in the homicide, which took place outside of the Rock ‘n Rodeo Bar in Fairbanks. But only one of the three men is charged with first degree murder.
  He is Joel Roland Joseph – a 26-year-old former resident
  
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• Mother-daughter duo speak candidly, courageously on abuse

  30-10-2015 02:32
  
  
  Ashley Doctolero and her mother Ada Coyle pose in their traditional regalia. Doctolero sewed her own clothes. (Hillman/KSKA)
  Like 37 percent of women in Alaska, Ada Coyle experienced sexual violence. She remained silent. Years later, the same happened to her daughter. But now, the mother-daughter pair are speaking up and trying to stop the cycle of abuse.
  Download Audio
  Ada Coyle says when growing up in a village near Kodiak, she had no idea what a healthy relationship was. She saw drinking, inf
  
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• Bill to ditch daylight saving time is back

  30-10-2015 02:30
  
  
  Clocks roll back Sunday with the end of daylight saving time, but the bill to eliminate the clock change for good in Alaska is still rolling forward.
  Download Audio
  Rep. Wes Keller addresses the Alaska House of Representatives, March 16, 2014. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  Senate Bill 6 would eliminate daylight saving time and petition the feds to switch Alaska to Pacific time. Rep. Wes Keller, a Wasilla Republican, chairs the interim subcommittee taking up the bill Friday morning.
  “Prima
  
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• Offseason visit to Alaska wildlife center especially rewarding for kids - Alaska Dispatch News

  30-10-2015 01:41
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Offseason visit to Alaska wildlife center especially rewarding for kids
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Gusty wind slammed pellets of rain against the car as we drove along Turnagain Arm, making it difficult to see and even more difficult to motivate the passengers inside. “Not even a beluga would be out on a day like this,” my 11-year-old muttered from ...and more »
  

• Number of Alaska children in foster care rises to record level - KTUU.com

  30-10-2015 00:24
  KTUU.com
  Number of Alaska children in foster care rises to record level
  KTUU.com
  As of this week 2,759 children are in state custody because of abuse or neglect, Alaska Department of Health and Social Service statistics show. That's the highest number of foster children in any particular month since 2005, the most recent year in ...
  

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