Anchorage news

• Melting ice In Greenland could expose serious pollutants from buried army base

  05-08-2016 23:09 via ktoo.org
  
  A view of the main trench to the permanent camp at Camp Century, Greenland, in the 1950s. The U.S. Army base was abandoned in 1967, after Greenland’s ice sheet began shifting and the Army realized that the tunnels wouldn’t last.
  (Pictorial Parade, Archive Photos, Getty Images)
  Buried below the ice sheet that covers most of Greenland, there’s an abandoned U.S. Army base. Camp Century had trucks, tunnels, even a nuclear reactor. Advertised as a research station, it was also a tes
  
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• Gardentalk – How to start your own seed bank

  05-08-2016 22:20 via ktoo.org
  
  
  A few of these sugar pumpkin seeds saved from last fall will likely become next fall’s pie or stout homebrew. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)
  What’s more fun than watching vegetables and flowers grow that you’ve planted yourself? Probably watching them grow from seeds that you’ve also collected yourself.
  Master Gardener Ed Buyarski gave his annual primer on seed collecting during this week’s edition of Gardentalk which aired on KTOO’s Morning Edition.
  Buyarski pri
  
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• 3 of 5 incumbents not seeking reelection to Juneau Assembly, school board

  05-08-2016 21:13 via ktoo.org
  
  Beth Weldon files her paperwork to run for Juneau Assembly at Deputy City Clerk Beth McEwen’s desk, Aug. 5, 2016. (Photo courtesy Beth Weldon for Assembly)
  Three of the five incumbents up for re-election in Juneau’s Oct. 4 municipal elections aren’t seeking another term.
  Mary Becker, Kate Troll and Jamie Bursell are the incumbents on the Juneau Assembly whose terms are ending.
  Kate Troll
  Mary Becker
  Jamie Bursell
  Becker and Troll have both indicated they plan to run again. Burs
  
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• YCC: Introducing Alaskan kids to the Aleutians and careers with FWS

  05-08-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  What happens when five teenagers pile onto a research vessel and go island hopping through the Aleutians in the name of conservation? Science. Education. And maybe a peek into their futures.
  It’s all part of an only-in Alaska version of the federal Youth Conservation Corps or YCC. The goal is to introduce high school students to a stretch of protected land they’ve grown up near, but may not even know exists — all in the hopes that someday these young Alaskans will be
  
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• Students explore the Aleutians and careers with FWS

  05-08-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  What happens when five teenagers pile onto a research vessel and go island hopping through the Aleutians in the name of conservation? Science. Education. And maybe a peek into their futures.
  It’s all part of an only-in Alaska version of the federal Youth Conservation Corps or YCC. The goal is to introduce high school students to a stretch of protected land they’ve grown up near, but may not even know exists — all in the hopes that someday these young Alaskans will be
  
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• Haines harbor expansion project nears bid phase

  05-08-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Boats docked at Haines small boat harbor. (Emily Files, KHNS)
  After years in the making, the plan to expand Haines’ small boat harbor is coming to fruition.
  The Haines Borough Port and Harbor Advisory Committee reviewed and approved the Portage Cove Harbor expansion draft bid documents at a meeting this week.
  The $20-million first phase of the harbor project will go out to bid later this month.
  The committee had a few questions about the harbor expansion draft bid documents drawn up by PND
  
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• Truck stolen in Ketchikan recovered on North Tongass Highway

  05-08-2016 17:00 via ktoo.org
  A truck that was stolen Wednesday morning from Water Street in Ketchikan was recovered a few hours later on North Tongass Highway.
  The white Ford F-150 was found at around Mile 18.5 North Tongass Highway at about 3:30 p.m., according to the online Alaska State Troopers dispatch.
  The vehicle was returned to the owner and the case is under investigation.
  Anyone with any information regarding this case or any other criminal activity in the Ketchikan area is asked to contact Alaska State Troopers at
  
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• Donald Trump might be in real trouble this time

  05-08-2016 16:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Donald Trump has seen controversy before, but his latest round of offenses has reopened a rift in the GOP, and his poll numbers have slipped badly, marking a potential turning point in the campaign. (Evan Vucci, Associated Press)
  Let’s take a step back from the news of the past few days and ask a fundamental question: Why does everything suddenly seem different?
  Donald Trump, the unsinkable candidate who seemed immune to political consequences while winning Republican presidential primarie
  
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• Bringing UA under single accreditation not viable option, study finds

  05-08-2016 16:00 via ktoo.org
  
  University of Alaska president Jim Johnsen is looking into cost savings options to bring all three main campuses under one accreditation. (Jeremy Hsieh, KTOO)
  Each of the three main University of Alaska campuses are accredited separately. A study released this week asks would it be more cost effective to bring all the campuses together under one accreditation. The answer: probably not.
  The report suggests condensing the three accreditations into one would be a monumental process with few benefit
  
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• Cook Inlet Tribal Council sells detox facility to Southcentral Foundation

  05-08-2016 13:00 via ktoo.org
  Cook Inlet Tribal Council runs one of only two detox centers in the state of Alaska.
  At the Alaska Wellness Summit in Palmer Thursday, CITC CEO Gloria O’Neil announced that the Ernie Turner Center in Anchorage will be sold to Southcentral Foundation.
  O’Neil said the move is part of a plan to expand CITC’s addiction treatment services to the Matanuska-Susitna area.
  “And SEF will take up providing detox, being a medical provider, and CITC will focus on expanding treatment b
  
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• Suspect in fatal Anchorage shooting turns himself in

  05-08-2016 12:00 via ktoo.org
  ANCHORAGE — A teenager sought on an Anchorage manslaughter warrant is in custody.
  Anchorage police say Deandrew Webster II turned himself in.
  Police on Thursday announced Webster was sought in the fatal shooting last weekend of Xeryus Tate, 17.
  Police just after 2 a.m. Sunday responded to a shooting near east Fourth Avenue and Newell Street. They found Tate dead of a gunshot on the ground near his car.
  A witness reported seeing the car come to a stop, and Tate, the driver, get out and coll
  
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• Lower 48 wildfires prompts Alaska firefighters to help

  05-08-2016 07:00 via ktoo.org
  More Alaska firefighters have gone to the Lower 48, as wildfires in western states there intensify.
  State and federal firefighting agencies in Alaska report that five, 20-person crews were flown south Wednesday. They’re joining over 15 hundred people battling the Pioneer Fire in Idaho.
  The agencies report that 2 dozen Alaska smoke jumpers and four crews, were earlier deployed to the lower 48. Alaska firefighting aircraft have also been going south, including helicopters, water and retardan
  
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• Video: Former Sitka administrator records brown bear on video

  05-08-2016 05:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Former Sitka administrator-turned-naturalist Hugh Bevan recorded this short video of a magnificent brown bear on one of the eight trailcams he’s installed in the Sitka area. This animal was on the move near Redoubt Bay. In honor of this summer’s Pokemon craze, Bevan named the bear “Crunchie.”
  
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• Missing Valdez motorcyclist found dead along highway

  05-08-2016 05:00 via ktoo.org
  ANCHORAGE — A Valdez man reported missing last week has been found dead along the Richardson Highway.
  Alaska State Troopers say the body of Christian Cumbie, 39, was found about 300 feet from a ditch near Mile 51 where his motorcycle left the roadway.
  Family members reported Cumbie missing July 27. He was last seen the day before leaving The Hub convenience store in Glennallen.
  Volunteer searchers found him early Sunday night.
  Troopers said Cumbie was driving south and was unable to negoti
  
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• Libertarian candidates pitch themselves as antidote to partisanship

  05-08-2016 05:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson needs to get to 15 percent in polls to make it onto the debate stage this fall. (John Raoux, Associated Press)
  Libertarian Party candidates Gary Johnson and Bill Weld pitched themselves as the antidote to Washington partisanship in a CNN town hall, hoping to appeal to voters frustrated with both the Republican and the Democratic presidential nominees.
  Both are former Republican governors — Johnson from New Mexico and Weld from Massachuse
  
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• Phone scams target Kenai Peninsula seniors

  05-08-2016 04:17 via ktoo.org
  A common phone scam is once again making an appearance on the Kenai Peninsula. But this time, scammers are targeting seniors.
  Michelle Tabler, Alaska Regional Manager for the Better Business Bureau, says she has gotten several reports of the so-called “Publishers Clearinghouse scam” in Homer and Soldotna.
  “It’s a typical lottery scam, but in this situation, they’re telling people that they’ve won Publishers Clearinghouse or they call it PCH. The amount varies
  
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• Anchorage assembly member fined over child labor violations

  05-08-2016 04:14 via ktoo.org
  An Anchorage Assembly member is facing fines for child labor violations at his comic book business. But the penalties are less about any malicious intent than clerical errors and a misunderstanding over the definition of a Dumpster.
  The Labor Department investigated Bosco’s, a business specializing in comics and games, with locations in Spenard and South Anchorage. Bosco’s has been open since 1984, and is owned by South Anchorage assembly member John Weddleton.
  In a release sent
  
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• U.S., Canadian soldiers train in interior Alaska

  05-08-2016 04:00 via ktoo.org
  ANCHORAGE — Soldiers from the U.S. and Canada have spent the last few weeks participating in war games in expansive interior Alaska, with about 800 Iowa National Guard personnel playing the role of the enemy.
  About 5,000 soldiers and support personnel have just concluded the exercise, called Arctic Anvil. It was coordinated by the Hawaii-based Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Capability from the 196th Infantry Brigade.
  It was the largest training exercise held in Alaska in the last 15
  
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• BLM to review new ConocoPhillips project in National Petroleum Reserve

  05-08-2016 03:59 via ktoo.org
  
  
  A Doyon drill rig putting in new wells at the ConocoPhillips CD5 drill site on the North Slope. Photo: Rachel Waldholz/APRN
  The National Petroleum Reserve Alaska — or NPR-A – was first set aside for oil production nearly a century ago. But it wasn’t until last year that the Reserve produced its first barrels: that’s when ConocoPhillips brought its CD5 unit online.
  Now the company is hoping to expand production from the reserve, with a string of new drill sites pushing eve
  
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• Ahead of primary, House ‘Musk Ox’ incumbents counter bipartisan chatter

  05-08-2016 03:35 via ktoo.org
  
  (Illustration by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO with modified Creative Commons images by Ronald Woan and Wellcome Images and background photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  Republican primary challengers in some races for seats in the Alaska House of Representatives fear that Republican control is threatened by members of their own party.
  It’s important for majority-caucus Republicans to maintain party discipline, the challengers said, but some lawmakers said focusing on constituents’ needs can con
  
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• Modern meadery making honey wine hip — with hops

  05-08-2016 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  You may know mead — an ancient alcoholic beverage made from water, honey, and yeast — as a drink that’s popular among Renaissance fair-goers and Game of Thrones fans.
  Meadmaker Andrew Geffken is on a mission to add another group to that list: the average beer drinker. At Charm City Meadworks in Baltimore, Md. — he’s experimenting with modern takes on this age-old drink.
  The current problem, Geffken says, is that mead just isn’t cool enough to woo hip craft be
  
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• Haines police chief puts school resource officer idea on hold

  05-08-2016 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Haines police chief Heath Scott wants to expand the four-officer department, but placing a school resource officer at Haines School District is no longer a priority. (Jillian Rogers, KHNS)
  Haines police chief Heath Scott wants to expand the four-officer department.
  Initially, Scott thought potential expansion could include a school resource officer for the Haines School District. But after more consideration, he’s stepped back from that idea.
  Scott said placing a school resource offic
  
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• Attorneys argue for listing bearded seals as threatened

  05-08-2016 03:00 via ktoo.org
  ANCHORAGE — A federal government attorney says Alaska’s bearded seals deserve to be listed as a threatened species because of climate warming’s effect on their sea ice habitat.
  Robert Stockman of the National Marine Fisheries Service on Thursday in Anchorage urged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court ruling that said bearded seals do not merit the listing.
  Bearded seals are the largest of the Arctic seals. They use sea ice to give birth, molt and dive
  
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• Walker picks Arctic adviser to lead DC office

  05-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  JUNEAU — Gov. Bill Walker has appointed his Arctic policy adviser to lead the state’s Washington, D.C., office.
  Craig Fleener will continue advising Walker on Arctic issues.
  Walker spokeswoman Grace Jang says the move makes sense since Arctic policy is made in Washington. She says Fleener will make $210,000 annually. His current salary is about $128,000.
  Fleener had been Walker’s running mate in 2014 before Walker and Democrat Byron Mallott joined forces for their successful ru
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 8-5-16

  05-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  Friday on A Juneau Afternoon,
  Dianne Anderson, David Riccio and Alice Tersteeg will be here to highlight their First Friday show at the JACC;
  We’ll get a preview of tonight’s dance with the Smokin’ Bills;
  We get the details about Saturday’s vigil for victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki;
  And we’ll meet Whitehorse artist Nathalie Parenteau about her Frist Friday show at Kaill’s.
  That, Writers’ Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, Friday on A Juneau Afternoon,
  
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• Aerial performance group, including former Homer resident, to perform at Salmonfest

  05-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Quixotic is an aerial-performance dance group based in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo courtesy of Quixotic)
  Quixotic, an aerial performance group, will perform at Salmonfest, a three-day music festival that occurs the first weekend of August at the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds, Ninilchik.
  This year, the festival will showcase an artist who grew up in Homer, Mica Thomas who helps produce lighting for an aerial group from Kansas City, Missouri.
  Thomas said, describing Quixotic as creating
  
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• Transgender student temporarily blocked by U.S. Supreme Court from using male bathroom

  05-08-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Gavin Grimm, a transgender student, speaks during an interview at his home in Gloucester, Va., in 2015. (Steve Helber, Associated Press)
  The U.S. Supreme Court is temporarily blocking a transgender male high school student in Virginia from using the boy’s bathroom.
  We’ve reported on the case of Gavin Grimm in the past. If you remember, Grimm scored a big victory when the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that his school in Gloucester County, Va., should have followed the federa
  
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• Oil spill cleanup demo coming to Dillingham

  05-08-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Officials from the Department of Environmental Conservation will explain how to use spill response equipment like oil booms. (Department of Energy Conservation)
  State officials will be in Dillingham next week to demonstrate oil cleanup equipment and techniques.
  A two-hour presentation will be Tuesday at the Bingo Hall, Dillingham, with more hands-on activities at the Harbor afterward.
  Rick Bernhardt, the scientific support unit manager at the Department of Environmental Conservati
  
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• Alcohol suspected in crash involving 17-year-old Ketchikan resident

  05-08-2016 00:30 via ktoo.org
  Three 17-year-old Ketchikan residents were taken to the hospital Wednesday night following a single-vehicle crash on D-1 Loop.  Troopers report that alcohol is suspected to be a factor.
  According to the Alaska State Troopers online dispatch, troopers received a report of the crash at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
  The 17-year-old female driver was northbound on D1 Loop when she drove off the road and struck a tree.
  She and two 17-year-old passengers were transported to
  
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• Formline allows children to express themselves with traditional artform

  05-08-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Ron Fairbanks teaching kids how to paint formline. (Aaron Bolton, KSTK)
  The Alaska Native Sisterhood Association – or ANSA – wrapped up a three-day Native art class for Wrangell children Aug. 3. About 20 kids gathered to learn the traditional artform known as formline, the art of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian tribes of Southeast Alaska.
  “They’re fun to work with,” said Ron Fairbanks, an art teacher in Craig, who taught the class. “I just
  
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