Alaska news

• Extreme avalanche danger at Hatcher Pass

  25-11-2015 23:28
  
  A backcountry avalanche warning is in effect through Wednesday in the Hatcher Pass area. The National Weather Service issued the warning this morning at the request of the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center.
  Jed Workman, who manages the online avalanche warning site, says a unique set of conditions has caused the recent spate of snow slides at Hatcher Pass…
  Skiers alerted each other to high-risk avalanche conditions in Hatcher Pass in mid-November over a social media group. Photo: Alaska Backc
  
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• Nome 4th-grader wins 2016 Iditarod button contest

  25-11-2015 21:16
  
  While the last great race is still months away, the Iditarod button design contest already has a champion: Ayla Knodel, a fourth-grader at Nome Elementary School.
  Ayla Knodel won the 2016 Iditarod button design contest. Her artwork will appear on the commemorative buttons sold along the trail this March. Photo: Laura Kraegel, KNOM.
  Knodel took first place in the annual contest that has Alaska students create artwork for the commemorative button sold along the trail each March. Having submit
  
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• Nome officially recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ Day

  25-11-2015 20:27
  
  Nome’s November City Council meeting agenda. (Photo: Emily Russell/KNOM)
  Amidst the season’s second blizzard that left schools and businesses closed, Nome’s city council hunkered down for their monthly meeting on Monday. And it’s a good thing they didn’t give into the weather and cancel, because on the agenda was a resolution to formerly change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
  School Board President Barb Amarok was quick to take the podium during the f
  
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• Alaska gets $2.9M grant from ‘Investing in Innovation’ fund

  25-11-2015 20:25
  
  The Association of Alaska School Boards has been selected to receive a $2.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s “Investing in Innovation” fund.
  The grant, announced earlier this month, will go to six Alaskan school districts to support “culturally responsive social and emotional learning” programs.
  In the Bering Straits School District, that means providing professional development to staff about how to help students deal with traumas.
  “Many
  
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• Millrock calls Alaska Peninsula copper-gold exploration ‘disappointing’

  25-11-2015 20:21
  
  (Credit Millrock)
  Millrock Resources announced the outcome of their copper and gold exploration at the Dry Creek site north of Chignik Bay last week.
  Millrock President and CEO Greg Beischer said the deposit contained a concentration of copper of about .2 percent.
  “To be honest, these results were a little disappointing to us, we were hoping for a higher concentration of copper, something around .5 or .7 percent copper would’ve been encouraging,” he said. “So at this poin
  
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• Alaska beach sculptures represent emotional vulnerabilities

  25-11-2015 20:19
  Dozens of sculptures made of straw, cement, plaster and burlap are spread across an Anchorage beach in a public art installation that is focusing on mental health.
  The display has been erected at Point Woronzof and will officially open Dec. 5.
  Lead project artist Sarah Davies says the 85 sculptures represent people dealing with emotional vulnerabilities, including trauma and mental illness.
  Participants say the 100Stone project is about the personal wellness-management stories of Alaskans. Parti
  
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• Feds say TAPS owners can’t raise rates to pay for over-budget upgrades

  25-11-2015 20:18
  A federal commission says the oil companies that own the trans-Alaska pipeline can’t raise rates to cover cost overruns for an upgrade that went horribly over-budget.
  Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. (Photo by Alaska Department of Natural Resources)
  The plan to upgrade four pump stations was projected to cost $242 million and to be finished in 2005.
  Instead, it cost nearly three times that much and still isn’t fully complete.
  The ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is a v
  
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• UAA, Western Kentucky to face off for Shootout title

  25-11-2015 20:16
  There were no lead changes and no tie scores at either game last night. Western Kentucky had no trouble with George Mason in the opener.
  The Lady Toppers pulled ahead to a 50-26 half time lead and cruised the rest of the way in an 84-58 win over the Patriots.
  Then host Alaska Anchorage opened up a 40-point lead after three quarters en route to their 11th straight win – 94-61.
  The winners play the championship game at 5 PM this afternoon.
  
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• Troopers ID man found dead on Shuyak Island

  25-11-2015 20:14
  Authorities have released the identity of the man found shot to death near a lodge on a remote island northwest of Kodiak.
  Alaska State Troopers say the man was 56-year-old Steven McCaulley of Kodiak.
  The Kodiak Daily Mirror reports his body was found last week outside a bunkhouse at Port William Wilderness Lodge on Shuyak Island. Troopers located the body after being asked to make a welfare check.
  A suspect is being held in Anchorage on unrelated charges. Troopers say no charges have been filed
  
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• Walker appoints Crosby to Anchorage Superior Court

  25-11-2015 20:13
  Gov. Bill Walker has appointed attorney Dani Crosby to fill an upcoming Anchorage Superior Court vacancy.
  Crosby will succeed Judge Michael Spaan, who is retiring. Crosby, who has been in private practice, was one of four finalists for the job put forward by the Alaska Judicial Council.
  According to biographical information included in a release from Walker’s office, Crosby has been a lawyer for nearly 20 years, with a focus on employment issues, complex business disputes and family law. C
  
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• State buys out TransCanada’s interest in gas project

  25-11-2015 20:12
  The state of Alaska has completed its acquisition of TransCanada Corp.’s interest in a major gas project.
  Gov. Bill Walker, in a release, called it an historic day.
  Legislators earlier this month approved funding for the state to buy out the Canadian pipeline company’s interest in the project, giving the state a greater stake.
  The governor’s office says Natural Resources Commissioner Mark Myers finalized the termination of the agreement that established TransCanada’s part
  
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• Alaska woman arrested for refusing to pay consecutive cab fares - UPI.com

  25-11-2015 18:52
  UPI.com
  Alaska woman arrested for refusing to pay consecutive cab fares
  UPI.com
  Alaska State Troopers responded to a call reporting an intoxicated woman, 32-year-old Gina R. Konig, fleeing on foot after refusing to pay a cab fare. Photo By UPI/Billie Jean Shaw. SOLDOTNA, Alaska, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- An Alaska woman was arrested after ...and more »
  

• ‘Simply Awesome’ – Kodiak family opens bakery from their home

  25-11-2015 17:00
  A Kodiak family has just opened a bakery on Mill Bay Road above KVOK – and their display case is a table set up in their living room. There are a lot of small businesses in Kodiak, but few may be as small — or smell as good — as Simply Awesome Bakery.
  Sam, Karin and Ben Stahlhut stand in front of their display table in their home and business, Simply Awesome Bakery. Kayla Desroches/KMXT
  The Stahlhuts’ apartment door is open to let in fresh air from the hall, even though i
  
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• Giving Thanks: A Celebration of Fall, Food and Gratitude

  25-11-2015 16:29
  
  Whether you’re in the kitchen, on the road to a family gathering, or relaxing after the feast, “Giving Thanks” provides the perfect atmosphere for Thanksgiving: the warmth of great music, and truly memorable words. Tune in at 2:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving, online or on your radio.
  Thanksgiving turkey. Yinan Chen. Wikimedia Commons.
  “Giving Thanks” is new for 2015, with two special guests: an artist in the kitchen, and an artist at the piano.
  Christopher Kimball, founder
  
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• Anchorage’s gets bump in property taxes as 2016 budget sails through

  25-11-2015 10:32
  During its Tuesday night meeting, the Anchorage Assembly approved the city’s 2016 budget, which totals just under $481 million dollars.
  As far as budgets go, this one’s route to passage the last few weeks has been relatively uneventful.
  The overall number is down $2,699,103 from what was finalized last year.
  Beneath the decrease, though, is a dispute over whether money has actually been saved. With less revenues coming in, the city is maintaining services and even boosting the b
  
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• Anchorage gets property tax bump as 2016 budget sails through

  25-11-2015 10:32
  
  During its Tuesday night meeting, the Anchorage Assembly approved the city’s 2016 budget, which totals just under $481 million dollars.
  As far as budgets go, this one’s route to passage the last few weeks has been relatively uneventful.
  The overall number is down $2,699,103 from what was finalized last year.
  Beneath the decrease, though, is a dispute over whether money has actually been saved. With less revenues coming in, the city is maintaining services and even boosting the b
  
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• Alaska Buys Out TransCanada Stake in LNG Project - Wall Street Journal

  25-11-2015 06:43
  Wall Street Journal
  Alaska Buys Out TransCanada Stake in LNG Project
  Wall Street Journal
  Alaska paid $64.6 million to buy TransCanada Corp. TRP -0.03 % 's stake in a proposed project to ship natural gas by pipeline from the state's North Slope to an export terminal on the coast. The move, which was authorized by legislation passed by the ...
  Alaska completes $65 million buyout of TransCanada in LNG projectAlaska Dispatch News
  Alaska buys out TransCanada's interest in gas projectChron.com (blog)
  

• Pebble withdraws more third party subpoenas

  25-11-2015 03:37
  
  
  The Pebble Partnership has dropped many of its subpoenas to individuals and organizations it believes may have communicated with the Environmental Protection Agency regarding protections for the Bristol Bay watershed as part of Pebble’s lawsuit alleging the agency acted improperly.
  Download Audio
  After last week’s decision by federal district court judge H. Russel Holland that quashed some of Pebble’s subpoenas, saying they “pushed the envelope,&r
  
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• Obama honors Alaskan who turned grief to service

  25-11-2015 03:36
  
  
  Bonnie Carroll (Photo: Liz Ruskin)
  President Obama this evening bestowed the Medal of Freedom on Alaskan Bonnie Carroll. She’s a military widow who founded a service organization called TAPS to help family members of those who die in uniform. Many of the 16 others honored with her at the White House today are household names or Hollywood icons: Willie Mays, Yogi Berra, Barbra Streisand, James Taylor and Steven Spielberg. Carroll may not be as well known, but her life was already
  
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• Study: Many Alaska teachers underpaid, but pay isn’t everything

  25-11-2015 03:32
  
  
  Many Alaska school districts don’t offer high enough salaries to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers. That’s according to a new study that looks at a possible statewide teacher salary schedule.
  But researchers found that a statewide pay schedule would be too expensive, and wouldn’t do enough to solve Alaska’s teacher retention problem.
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  A first grade class lines up outside of Dillingham Elementary School, spring 2015. (Photo by Hannah Colton/KDLG)
  A
  
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• Reviving an endangered language in the age of social media

  25-11-2015 03:30
  
  
  In Alaska, the number of fluent Haida speakers has dwindled down into the single digits. It’s been called an endangered language. But in Juneau, one group is trying to change that. Haida Language Learners is using YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram to reach a wider audience.
  Download Audio
  Emily Rose Edenshaw-Chafin shows me her phone. She’s been using a flashcard app to practice Haida. It’s totally customizable. She can create the cards and share them with teachers and
  
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• UAF scientist pioneers anti-collision systems for space

  25-11-2015 03:03
  
  
  In Alaska we understand how forecasting weather is important. But it turns out, in space, it plays a critical role as well. A University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist is helping satellite jockeys avoid collisions.
  A digital rendering of “space junk” by Miguel Soares, 2001, 3D animation. Accessed via Wikimedia Creative Commons.
  Download Audio
  UAF space physicist Mark Conde has helped develop instruments to measure winds and temperature 100 miles above the Earth. Conde says as rarefied
  
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• The Alaska fishing village taking on 'Godzilla' - BBC News

  25-11-2015 02:43
  BBC News
  The Alaska fishing village taking on 'Godzilla'
  BBC News
  Alaska is a vast wilderness of natural beauty. But it also holds more coal than all the other US states put together. As world leaders prepare to gather for a major climate change summit, plans to build an open coal mine that would cover 78 sq km (30 ...and more »
  

• After a health crisis, help navigating the complicated medical system

  25-11-2015 00:46
  
  The road from illness to recovery is often difficult. In the middle of a major health crisis, patients are expected to navigate the complicated health care system. A pilot program called Alaska Innovative Medicine in Anchorage is rounding out its first year trying to improve that journey for patients while also spending less on health care.
  In the early morning hours of April 8th, Brian Saum felt horrible.
  Brian Saum holds paper work he’s collected since his heart attack in April. Pho
  
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