Alaska news

• Alaska Airlines flew more planes last year than ever before – but with more ... - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)

  05-01-2016 23:54
  Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)
  Alaska Airlines flew more planes last year than ever before – but with more ...
  Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)
  Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK) jets carried a lot more people in 2015 than the year before, but the company's planes were not quite as full. Numbers released Tuesday show that the passenger count climbed 8.9 percent over the last year as SeaTac-based ...
  Alaska Air Group to Announce Financial ResultsPR Newswire (press release)all
  

• Alaska editorials - The News Tribune

  05-01-2016 23:52
  Alaska editorials
  The News Tribune
  A record 640 charities have signed up to take part in the 2016 Pick.Click.Give. program, which gives Alaskans the option of donating some or all of their Permanent Fund Dividend checks to charitable organizations inside the state. The Pick.Click.and more »
  

• Alaska editorials - News & Observer

  05-01-2016 23:52
  Alaska editorials
  News & Observer
  A record 640 charities have signed up to take part in the 2016 Pick.Click.Give. program, which gives Alaskans the option of donating some or all of their Permanent Fund Dividend checks to charitable organizations inside the state. The Pick.Click.and more »
  

• S&P downgrades Alaska’s credit rating, citing oil prices

  05-01-2016 23:35
  Oil prices began falling in the latter half of 2014. Image: NASDAQ.
  Alaska’s credit rating dropped a notch Tuesday from AAA to AA+. During a press conference, Gov. Bill Walker says that isn’t likely have a short-term impact on the state using bonds to fund capital projects or other state spending in the future.
  “To tie it to a dollar amount, if we borrowed a million dollars today, we’d pay an additional thousand dollars per year on that million dollars as a result of this
  
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• Alumna takes on Alaska's wild side - FIU News

  05-01-2016 23:20
  FIU News
  Alumna takes on Alaska's wild side
  FIU News
  When I tell Meredith Marchioni that I've just learned there may be a brown bear nearby, she immediately takes off. Not away from the bear but toward it. “Down here?” she turns to ask, heading toward a line of cottonwood trees on the banks of the Kenai ...
  

• Travel Tuesday: Enjoying 'Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month' in Alaska - KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather

  05-01-2016 23:03
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  Travel Tuesday: Enjoying 'Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month' in Alaska
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  January is “learn to ski and snowboard month.” What better place to give it a go, than right here in Alaska! The nationwide initiative is sponsored by professional instructors and industry leaders to encourage people of all ages to learn or improve ...
  

• Alaska governor pushes back against S&P ratings downgrades - Reuters

  05-01-2016 22:21
  Alaska governor pushes back against S&P ratings downgrades
  Reuters
  SAN FRANCISCO Alaska Governor Bill Walker said on Tuesday the lowering of the state's credit ratings by Standard and Poor's was "premature" since the legislature has not yet had time to act on his ambitious plan to address the state's large budget deficit.
  Alaska to Sell $2.6 Billion in Pension Obligation BondsBloombergall 25 news articles »
  

• Low oil prices prompt Alaska hiring restrictions - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  05-01-2016 21:54
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Low oil prices prompt Alaska hiring restrictions
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  JUNEAU, Alaska - Gov. Bill Walker announced hiring and travel restrictions Tuesday, the same day an agency lowered Alaska's credit rating because of continued low oil prices. The hiring and travel restrictions for executive branch departments come two ...
  Alaska governor institutes hiring freeze and travel restrictions for most ...Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska Looks to Plug the Fiscal Dam as Oil
  

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• Alaska ferry fares jump by 5 percent this month - KTUU.com

  05-01-2016 21:42
  KTUU.com
  Alaska ferry fares jump by 5 percent this month
  KTUU.com
  The Department of Transportation has announced a 5 percent fare increase for all Alaska Marine Highway System customers. The increase took effect Jan 1, according to a news release. The fare increase is the second one in a matter of months. The first ...
  

• Alaska governor institutes hiring freeze and travel restrictions for most ... - Alaska Dispatch News

  05-01-2016 21:23
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska governor institutes hiring freeze and travel restrictions for most ...
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Gov. Bill Walker's administration on Tuesday put in place a hiring freeze and travel restrictions for state workers, citing Alaska's ongoing budget crisis. Hiring for empty state jobs is barred effective immediately, with exceptions for positions that ...
  Low oil prices prompt Alaska hiring restrictionsFairbanks Daily News-Miner
  Alaska Looks to Plug the Fiscal Dam as Oil Price
  

• Alaska loses AAA rating from S&P as oil price drop harms budget - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  05-01-2016 21:12
  Wall Street Journal (blog)
  Alaska loses AAA rating from S&P as oil price drop harms budget
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  Alaska had its credit rating cut to AA+ from AAA by Standard & Poor's as persistently low oil prices leave the state with a growing gap in its budget. The downgrades of Alaska's general obligations, appropriation debt and bonds from its energy ...
  Another Victim of Tumbling Oil: S&P Cuts Alaska's AAA RatingWall Street Journal (blog)
  Alaska governor pushes back agains
  

• Alaska Fred Meyer could start carrying anti-overdose drug - KFQD

  05-01-2016 20:45
  KFQD
  Alaska Fred Meyer could start carrying anti-overdose drug
  KFQD
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A pilot project underway in Washington state has increased access to a drug that can counteract the effects of an overdose of opiates and the program could expand to Alaska. KTOO-FM reports (http://bit.ly/1UrMcbV) Fred Meyer ...
  Alaska Fred Meyers pharmacies may begin carrying anti-overdose drugKTUU.com
  Alaska Fred Meyers could start carrying overdose medicationAlaska Public Radio Networkall 27
  

• Alaska Airlines Wants to Send 12000 Trail Blazers Fans on a Fun Trip This Spring - Trailblazers.com

  05-01-2016 20:40
  Trailblazers.com
  Alaska Airlines Wants to Send 12000 Trail Blazers Fans on a Fun Trip This Spring
  Trailblazers.com
  For years, Alaska Airlines has encouraged Trail Blazers fans to take photos in their favorite team's gear in exotic and historic locations all over the world as part of its popular “Wear in the World” promotion. Alaska Airlines is now prepared to make ...
  

• 5 passengers released following Alaska plane crash - seattlepi.com

  05-01-2016 20:33
  Grand Forks Herald
  5 passengers released following Alaska plane crash
  seattlepi.com
  FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Five of the eight people injured in a small plane crash in Interior Alaska over the weekend have been released from the hospital. Wright Air spokeswoman Kathleen Fagre tells Fairbanks radio station KFAR (http://is.gd/r0YzAB ...
  Minnesotan recounts Alaska plane crash in which all survived, including a dogGrand Forks Heraldall 31 news articles »
  

• Alaska to Sell $2.6 Billion in Pension Obligation Bonds - Bloomberg

  05-01-2016 20:13
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska to Sell $2.6 Billion in Pension Obligation Bonds
  Bloomberg
  Alaska wants to increase the size of its potential 2016 pension obligation bond to $2.6 billion, a billion dollar jump from earlier proposals. In November, Governor Bill Walker announced plans to explore the possibility of a $1.6 billion pension ...
  S&P drops Alaska's credit rating and warns of further downgradesAlaska Dispatch News
  S&P lowers Alaska state credit rating due to low oil prices, spending
  

• Agency rejects endangered listing for Southeast Alaska wolf - Alaska Dispatch News

  05-01-2016 19:28
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Agency rejects endangered listing for Southeast Alaska wolf
  Alaska Dispatch News
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that Alexander Archipelago wolves don't warrant additional protections. The wolves are genetically distinct from other wolves in the Tongass National Forest. Their main prey is Sitka black-tailed deer.
  Endangered Species Protection Denied to Alaska's Alexander Archipelago WolfCenter for Biological Diversity (press release)all 7 news articles&
  

• First ever digital geologic map of Alaska published - Phys.Org

  05-01-2016 19:00
  Phys.Org
  First ever digital geologic map of Alaska published
  Phys.Org
  This map detail, of the Anchorage area, shows the city spread out on a plain of loose glacial deposits shown in yellow, and the bedrock making up the hillsides of Anchorage shown in green and brown. The rocks shown in green, called the …more.
  First ever digital geologic map of Alaska published United States Geological ...EurekAlert (press release)
  First digital geological map of Alaska exposes buried minerals and energ
  

• After argument over cigarette, nephew sets uncle’s house aflame

  05-01-2016 18:41
  
  The village of Akiachak. (Photo via Calista Corporation)
  A 19-year-old Akiachak man allegedly set his uncle’s house on fire on New Year’s Day while his uncle was sleeping. He’s been charged with two counts of arson and one count of criminal mischief.
  Alaska State Troopers say John Nick, Jr. got into an argument with his uncle, 57-year-old George Manutoli over a cigarette. About 30 minutes later, troopers say, Nick returned with a gas can and set the entryway of Manuto
  
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• Alaska Fred Meyer could start carrying anti-overdose drug - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  05-01-2016 18:36
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Alaska Fred Meyer could start carrying anti-overdose drug
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  JUNEAU, Alaska — A pilot project to increase access to a drug that counteracts opiate overdoses could expand to Alaska. Fred Meyer pharmacies have started providing customers in Washington with naloxone without requiring a prescription for the drug, ...
  Alaska Fred Meyers could start carrying overdose medicationAlaska Public Radio Networkall 27 news articles »
  

• Alaska Fred Meyer could start carrying anti-overdose drug - SFGate

  05-01-2016 18:32
  KTUU.com
  Alaska Fred Meyer could start carrying anti-overdose drug
  SFGate
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A pilot project to increase access to a drug that counteracts opiate overdoses could expand to Alaska. Fred Meyer pharmacies have started providing customers in Washington with naloxone without requiring a prescription for the ...
  Alaska Fred Meyers pharmacies may begin carrying anti-overdose drugKTUU.comall 20 news articles »
  

• Investigation re-opened in 2014 Bethel alcohol treatment center fire

  05-01-2016 18:18
  The aftermath of the fire. (Photo by Dean Swope / KYUK)
  Officials have re-opened the investigation into the alcohol treatment center in fire in late 2014. The fire destroyed the new PATC alcohol treatment center, which was under construction.
  Bethel Police Department Sgt. Amy Davis is leading the investigation, and is says the case reopened in early June, last year. A few days prior, the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation, who’s in charge of the treatment center, offered a $20,000 rew
  
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• State-owned aerospace corporation seeks to privatize

  05-01-2016 18:16
  (Alaska Aerospace Corporation)
  The president and CEO of the Alaska Aerospace Corp. says the board of the state-owned corporation has recommended it pursue becoming a private company.
  Craig Campbell says the recommendation has been delivered to Gov. Bill Walker. Campbell says state law would have to be changed to allow the shift.
  Campbell says he considers it an expectation that once the corporation becomes profitable the state be repaid for investments it made in the corporation.
  Campbell says t
  
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• Alaska Presses D.C. Court of Appeals to Reject Trust Acquisitions in Alaska - The National Law Review

  05-01-2016 17:04
  Alaska Presses D.C. Court of Appeals to Reject Trust Acquisitions in Alaska
  The National Law Review
  The question of whether Alaska Natives may place land in the same federal trust status as Indian tribes in the lower 48 states was widely thought to have been resolved but is now before the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The ...
  

• Alaska groups give free cannabis to the severely ill and veterans - Alaska Dispatch News

  05-01-2016 16:16
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska groups give free cannabis to the severely ill and veterans
  Alaska Dispatch News
  A marijuana Alaska flag hangs on the wall as a group talks about the Alaska Green Angels, the group that gives out free medical marijuana, in south Anchorage, AK on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015. Bob Hallinen / ADN. Photos: Alaska Green Angels offer free ...
  Alaska Groups Give Free Cannabis to Severely Ill, VeteransMilitary.comall 13 news articles »
  

• Two Indoor Farm Startups Stand Up to Alaska's Short Growing Season - EcoWatch

  05-01-2016 16:15
  EcoWatch
  Two Indoor Farm Startups Stand Up to Alaska's Short Growing Season
  EcoWatch
  Don't miss out. Stay Informed. Get EcoWatch's Top News of the Day. Email. How do you turn Alaska's icy tundras into lush, year-round farms? Two forward-thinking startups just might have found the solution: growing indoors. Alaska Natural Organics and ...
  

• Pilot recounts adventures when spirit, not oil money, helped build Alaska - Alaska Dispatch News

  05-01-2016 05:31
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Pilot recounts adventures when spirit, not oil money, helped build Alaska
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Chuck Sassara stands with a North American Navion in the early 2000s, approximately 2004. "260 horsepower. I owned five of these big old rocking chairs, which were a little slow but sturdy, all in all a nice roomy flying machine," Sassara said. Chuck ...and more »
  

• Alaska Legislature should try these five New Year's resolutions - Alaska Dispatch News

  05-01-2016 05:06
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska Legislature should try these five New Year's resolutions
  Alaska Dispatch News
  OPINION: It's early January, and still time for the Alaska Legislature's GOP majority to change its ways for 2016. Herewith, five steps to enlightenment. Marc Lester / ADN. Social media is full of hopeful projections for the next year with a mixture of ...and more »
  

• If Alaska's leaders put 'fish first,' we'll prosper for generations - Alaska Dispatch News

  05-01-2016 04:26
  Alaska Dispatch News
  If Alaska's leaders put 'fish first,' we'll prosper for generations
  Alaska Dispatch News
  OPINION: Fish First policy maintains Alaska's principle of sustained yield that provides long-term economic strength. Pictured: Red salmon spawn in the Gulkana River. Ned Rozell. One year ago, Alaskans from across the state convened during the ...
  Huge Win for Commercial Seafood as Alaska Supreme Court Rejects Sport Fish ...SeafoodNews (subscription)
  Alaska Supreme Court tosses ini
  

• Alaska Aerospace launches new Alabama office, mulls privatization - Alaska Dispatch News

  05-01-2016 04:16
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska Aerospace launches new Alabama office, mulls privatization
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska Aerospace Corp. is expanding its business operations to Huntsville, Alabama. Alaska Aerospace Corp. photo. A state-owned Alaska aerospace company has chosen Alabama for the location of its first permanent out-of-state office, with the goal of ...
  Alaska Aerospace expands presence with first office in HuntsvilleAL.comall 32 news articles »
  

• Alaska sees most of acres burned in record year for US wildfires - KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather

  05-01-2016 03:57
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  Alaska sees most of acres burned in record year for US wildfires
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  New numbers released by the National Interagency Fire Center show a record year for wildfires in the U.S. More than 10 million acres burned nationally, and more than half of that land was in Alaska. More than 68,000 wildfires were reported in 2015, ...
  

• Belle Mickleson awarded for traditional music program

  05-01-2016 03:50
  
  
  The founder of an Alaska youth music program has received a major award. Belle Mickleson has been recognized for traditional music camps that help connect elders and youth in interior villages and beyond.
  Download Audio
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Monday, Jan. 4, 2016

  05-01-2016 03:47
  
  
  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
   
  Pilot in Alaska crash took plane without permission
  Associated Press
  An organization that owns a small plane that crashed into two downtown Anchorage office buildings says the pilot didn’t seek authorization to use the search-and-rescue ai
  
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• APU skate skier takes 1st at nationals

  05-01-2016 03:44
  
  
  Alaska’s Reese Hanneman raced to first place in the skate technique sprint at the U.S. National Cross Country Ski Championships on Monday in Houghton, Michigan.
  Download Audio
  To a round of applause the event announcer bellowed: “…..Ladies and gentlemen, your overall champion from APU Nordic Ski Center…. Let’s give it up for Reese Hanneman!”
  The Alaska Pacific University team racer from Fairbanks edged Dakota Blackhorse Von Jess of Oregon in a 6-man ska
  
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• Alaska's higher high school graduation rates are just smoke if standards are low - Alaska Dispatch News

  05-01-2016 03:26
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska's higher high school graduation rates are just smoke if standards are low
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Are rising high school graduation rates a bad thing? A recent New York Times article, titled “As graduation rates rise, so do fears of falling standards,” which ran in Alaska Dispatch News on Dec. 27, suggests that the rise is due to weakening school ...and more »
  

• Ahead of president's gun plans, skepticism from Alaska congressional delegation - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  05-01-2016 03:17
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  Ahead of president's gun plans, skepticism from Alaska congressional delegation
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  Mike Howse, left, helps David Foley as he shops for a handgun at the Spring Guns and Ammo store Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, in Spring, Texas. President Barack Obama defended his plans to tighten the nation's gun-control restrictions on his own, insisting ...and more »
  

• Photos: Stranded seabirds crowd Alaska rescue center - Alaska Dispatch News

  05-01-2016 02:43
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Photos: Stranded seabirds crowd Alaska rescue center
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Veterinarian Leslie Kroloff releases a common murre as volunteers Erin Turner released another group of common murre at Point Woronzof in Anchorage on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016. The Bird TLC has received 382 common murres since October and released ...
  Alaska struggles to help hundreds of stranded seabirdsFairbanks Daily News-Minerall 16 news articles »
  

• Pilot in Alaska crash took plane without permission

  05-01-2016 02:39
  
  
  An organization that owns a small plane that crashed into two downtown Anchorage office buildings says the pilot didn’t seek authorization to use the search-and-rescue aircraft and took it without permission.
  Download Audio
  A piece of the wreckage of a plane crash in downtown Anchorage. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes, KSKA – Anchorage)
  Civil Air Patrol national spokeswoman Julie DeBardelaben said today that Pilot Doug Demarest did not make a request to fly, as required by the organizatio
  
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• 8 survive Anaktuvuk plane crash, all with serious injuries

  05-01-2016 02:38
  
  
  The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of a plane crash near Anaktuvuk Pass on Saturday. NTSB Air Safety Investigator Shawn Williams says a Cessna 208 operated by Wright Air Service that departed Fairbanks about Saturday morning was later reported down about 6 miles from the Anaktuvuk Airport.
  Download Audio
  “A little after 1 p.m. NTSB was notified of an aircraft accident. There were eight people on board — seven passengers, plus the pilot. All sustained
  
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• Alaska Fred Meyers could start carrying overdose medication

  05-01-2016 02:37
  
  
  Naloxone HCl preparation, pre-filled Luer-Jet package for intravenous administration. (Creative Commons photo by Intropin)
  A naloxone pilot project at Fred Meyer pharmacies down south could be expanding to Alaska. Eight stores in Washington have quietly rolled out access to a drug that stops opiate overdoses. The chain plans to eventually expand to all its locations. In Alaska, this largely depends on the outcome of Senate Bill 23.
  Download Audio
  Taelyn Coffee started using opiates about seven y
  
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• Wildlife rescuers overwhelmed with starving sea birds

  05-01-2016 02:36
  
  
  Common murre seabirds are challenging rescue workers as they make their way inland, becoming stranded and hungry.
  Download Audio
  The Anchorage Bird Treatment and Learning Center has received 20 common murres in November. All were starving. Photo: Monica Gokey/KSKA.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports Alaska Wildlife Troopers have been overwhelmed while the Anchorage nonprofit Bird Treatment and Learning Center is housing between 300 and 350 of the birds.
  Volunteers have been hand-feeding
  
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• Alaska Chamber of Commerce gears up for annual legislative fly-in

  05-01-2016 02:35
  
  
  Alaska Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Curtis Thayer. (Photo via Alaska Chamber of Commerce)
  Around 100 business owners and industry leaders will head to Juneau during the upcoming legislative session as part of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce’s annual legislative fly-in to speak with lawmakers about issues affecting the state’s business climate.
  Download Audio
  Alaska Chamber President and CEO Curtis Thayer says the participants represent groups from Nome, Anchorage, Ketchikan
  
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• Kenai school board weighs building lease for overcrowded school

  05-01-2016 02:34
  
  
  The community of Vosnesenka wants the Kenai Peninsula School District to pay to lease an additional building for their overcrowded school, but the district says they have a very tight budget this year and they’re not sure if they can do it.
  Download Audio
  A mural brightens the icy courtyard between several portable buildings that make up the Voznesenka School. Photo: Daysha Eaton/KBBI.
  At the bottom of a steep road sitting near the head of Kachemak Bay, about a dozen students play tag rugb
  
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• Unalaska man makes good on 2015 New Year’s resolution

  05-01-2016 02:31
  
  
  Unalaska’s Josh Good made an ambitious new year’s resolution last January – to kayak for at least 30 minutes on 300 days during 2015.
  That meant lugging his kayak into the chilly waters anywhere from Morris Cove to Nateekin Bay, in all seasons and conditions. Part of his time spent on the water included a summertime kayaking trip around Glacier Bay National Park.
  Download Audio
  A GoPro mounted on his kayak snapped this pic of Good on his 300th day of paddling in 2015. Photo: Jo
  
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• StoryCorps: Recovery from addiction led Haines carver to healing art

  05-01-2016 02:30
  
  
  During the holiday season, KHNS is airing StoryCorps segments recorded by the Juneau Public Libraries with Haines and Klukwan residents. The first one features Wayne Price, a Haines Tlingit master carver and. He and his wife Cherri talked about his work, including a healing totem he carved in Whitehorse.
  “My wife and I, she came into my life right after I sobered up,” Wayne Price said. “And we have dedicated our whole life and business to the creation of monuments.”
  Downl
  
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• Group: Pilot in Alaska Crash Took Plane Without Permission - ABC News

  05-01-2016 01:21
  WKBN.com
  Group: Pilot in Alaska Crash Took Plane Without Permission
  ABC News
  A pilot who crashed a small Civil Air Patrol plane into office buildings in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, was using the search-and-rescue aircraft without permission, the organization said Monday. Civil Air Patrol national spokeswoman Julie DeBardelaben ...
  Pilot in Alaska crash took plane without permissionAlaska Public Radio Networkall 113 news articles »
  

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