Anchorage news

• Juneau’s Indian Point deemed worthy of protection

  17-08-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  JUNEAU — The traditional and cultural significance of Juneau’s Indian Point has landed it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
  The Juneau Empire reports that the roughly 78 acre parcel of land in Auke Bay is one of the original village sites of the Aakw Kwaan. The recent federal listing has given the site protection under the National Historic Preservation Act, an effort that’s been pushed by the Sealaska Heritage Institute since 2004.
  The institute’s
  
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• As wildfires blaze, Southeast glaciers could be feeling the melt

  17-08-2016 22:48 via ktoo.org
  
  Shad O’Neel releases an ice core onto a make-shift “work station,” during scientific research on the Juneau ice field. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins/KTOO)
  Out on the glimmering white expanse of the Juneau ice field, a group of students and scientists work an assembly line of sorts.
  It begins with Shad O’Neel, a glaciologist with the United States Geological Survey, who twists a metal tube into the snow and ice to take a core sample.
  “So you spin it
  
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• Telling Tales – 8-16-16

  17-08-2016 22:14 via ktoo.org
  Telling Tales
  
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• Out-of-control Southern California brushfire forces 80,000 to evacuate

  17-08-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A firestorm engulfs the Mormon Rocks area in the San Bernardino National Forest off State Highway 138 in Phelan, Calif., as the Blue Cut fire rages out of control Tuesday afternoon.
  (Photo by Gina Ferazzi/LA Times via Getty Images)
  In southern California, an out-of-control wildfire that ignited Tuesday in a mountain pass east of Los Angeles has forced mass evacuations and destroyed an untold number of homes and businesses.
  The Blue Cut fire is just the latest inferno to plague the historically d
  
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• Dozens of health aides hired in Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta

  17-08-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  BETHEL — Villages in southwest Alaska now have access to help from more health care workers following the certification of dozens of community health aides.
  56 people from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta received their certification this summer. They have been providing health care to people across the region at clinics run by the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation.
  Rahnia Boyer, who is the corporation’s vice president of village health, says the aides have been trained and hired through a
  
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• Beverage distributor plans $40 million facility in Anchorage

  17-08-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  ANCHORAGE — A major Alaska beverage distributor is planning a $40 million investment in Anchorage.
  Washington-based Odom Corp. announced Tuesday it will build a 240,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center.
  Anchorage television station KTUU reports Odom Corp. executive Bill Odom and Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz announced the project.
  The city will reimburse Odom up to $500,000 for road work associated with the project.
  The facility is planned south of International Airport Road
  
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• Trump shakes up top campaign staff with less than 3 months to Election Day

  17-08-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Campaign chairman Paul Manafort checks the podium before Donald Trump speaks during a June event at Trump SoHo Hotel.
  (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
  Updated at 12:15 p.m. ETRepublican presidential nominee Donald Trump is shaking up his campaign staff, after a series of missteps that led to slumping poll numbers.
  Trump has tapped Stephen Bannon of Breitbart News to serve as chief executive of the campaign. Pollster Kellyanne Conway was promoted to campaign manager. Paul Manafort will stay o
  
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• Petition sent to Walker asking for predator control reform

  17-08-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  A petition signed by 150 Alaskans sent to Gov. Bill Walker, asks for changes to state predator control programs.The letter sent Monday asked the governor to replace lethal predator control methods with non-lethal techniques, to terminate use of radio collars to locate and kill wolves, and to prohibit intensive management programs within 5 miles of federal conservation lands, like national parks.According to petitioner, wildlife advocate and biologist Rick Steiner of Anchorage, signers hail from
  
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• Three incumbents to lose seats in Alaska election aftermath

  17-08-2016 19:19 via ktoo.org
  
  Three incumbents lost their seats according Tuesday election returns, including Democratic incumbent Bob Herron in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region’s House District 39, and two more failed to move from the House to the Senate. (Photo by KTOO)
  With the vast majority of precincts statewide now counted, a clear picture emerged in Tuesday’s election returns — and the short version is, a lot of incumbents will be unseated.
  The state’s Republican makeup saw a re-arrangment: thre
  
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• Accused sex offender makes run for it by Bethel courthouse

  17-08-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  An accused sex offender made a run for it by the Bethel courthouse Tuesday morning.
  Troopers report that Brenton W. White, 21, of Quinhagak slipped out of his restraints at about 8:25 a.m. Tuesday in the parking lot of the Bethel courthouse. A search ensued, and about an hour later, he was spotted running across the highway and trying to hide in an abandoned home.
  A trooper and a probation officer took him into custody but not without minor injuries. White scratched and bruised his captors, and
  
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• No surprises in U.S. House and Senate primaries

  17-08-2016 10:58 via ktoo.org
  
  An origami “I Voted” sticker dispenser among the sample ballots at an absentee and early voting polling place in the State Office Building on Monday. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
  When it came to the federal races, Tuesday’s election held no surprises. As expected, Sen. Lisa Murkowski easily beat three lesser known Republican candidates.
  “I think we have the reality of a very, very strong campaign that worked from the very beginning to make sure nothing was taken for grant
  
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• Alaska state Reps. Gattis, Lynn upset in primary races

  17-08-2016 09:59 via ktoo.org
  
  A placard directs early and absentee voters to a polling place in the State Office Building on Monday. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
  11:50 p.m.Wasilla Republican state Rep. Lynn Gattis has lost her bid for a Senate seat, and Rep. Bob Lynn of Anchorage has lost his re-election bid.
  Gattis lost the GOP primary Tuesday to Wasilla City Council member David Wilson.
  Wilson is poised to take over the Senate seat currently held by Republican Charlie Huggins, who did not seek re-election. There is still t
  
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• Pilot rescued after aborted floatplane takeoff on Prince of Wales Island

  17-08-2016 06:00 via ktoo.org
  A pilot who crashed his floatplane on the shore of a lake on Prince of Wales Island shortly after takeoff was rescued Monday by a U.S. Coast Guard crew.
  Coast Guard 17th District command center watchstanders report that they received an electronic locator transmitter alert Monday evening for a Piper Tri-Pacer float plane.
  ELTs instantly alert responders when there’s a crash, and provide GPS coordinates to assist in finding a downed aircraft.
  According to the Coast Guard, watchstanders cont
  
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• 4 candidates running for 2 Juneau School Board seats

  17-08-2016 04:28 via ktoo.org
  
  There are four candidates for two school board seats this year.
  Juneau School Board members Lisa Worl and Barbara Thurston chose not to seek re-election. The two candidates who receive the most votes Oct. 4 will win three-year terms.
  The Juneau School Board oversees the school district’s $80-plus million annual operating budget and more than 600 employees.
  This year’s candidates are Kevin Allen, David DeBartolo, Jason Hart and Steve Whitney.
  Kevin Allen graduated from Thunder Mountai
  
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• LGBTQ history bus tour highlights changing acceptance in Anchorage

  17-08-2016 04:25 via ktoo.org
  
  An Anchorage history bus tour is highlighting the changing of LGBTQ acceptance, focusing on the high points of gay life in the 1970s and 80s.
  Myrna Lachoy stood at the front of a bus with a bull horn, pointing out the locations of old Anchorage bars. “It was so sleazy. It was so much fun!”
  The passengers giggled at bawdy jokes and memories from 30 and 40 years ago, when bar culture was huge in Anchorage. They were on a tour of historical gay hotspots.
  Reno pointed out that ther
  
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• Haines Chamber of Commerce grapples with role of nonprofts

  17-08-2016 04:25 via ktoo.org
  
  Haines Chamber of Commerce members will vote this week on amended bylaws that would clarify the role of nonprofits. (Bruce Barrett/Flickr Creative Commons)
  Whether nonprofit and for-profit businesses should have an equal voice in the Haines Chamber of Commerce has been debated for a while.
  Members will vote this week on amended bylaws that would clarify the role of nonprofits — allowing them to be members and vote, but not to serve on the board.
  Chamber rules currently are unclear about wh
  
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• Bond set for man facing charges in girlfriend’s death

  17-08-2016 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Albert Macasaet is seen in Ketchikan District Court during his first-felony appearance Tuesday, Aug. 16. (Leila Kheiry, KRBD)
  Bail for a 27-year-old Hydaburg man accused in the strangling death of his girlfriend was set for $100,000 Tuesday, Aug. 16, as well as the terms and conditions of his release.
  About a week after he was apprehended for the death of Judylee Guthry, 27, Albert Peter Macasaet III of Hydaburg was arraigned in Ketchikan District Court.
  Macasaet faces one charge of first-degree
  
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• John McLaughlin, TV pioneer of raucous political punditry, dies at 89

  17-08-2016 02:17 via ktoo.org
  
  John McLaughlin arrives at the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington D.C. McLaughlin, the conservative host of The McLaughlin Group television show that pioneered hollering-heads discussions of Washington politics died at the age of 89.
  (Kevin Wolf, Associated Press)
  John McLaughlin, the former Jesuit priest who reinvented himself as a political candidate, speechwriter, and then as the acerbic host of the long-running public affairs talk show The McLaughlin Grou
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 8-17-16

  17-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  Wednesday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon, Jamie Waste hosts;
  We’ll talk about this year’s Beat the Odds Race, with guest, Ruth Johnson, from Cancer Connection;
  Robin and America will be here to talk about Sunday’s Family Fun Day at the Diamond Park Fieldhouse;
  We’ll get an update on Big Brothers/Big Sisters with guest Beth Loudon;
  And Alan Davis will be here to highlight this Saturday’s Community Garden Harvest Fair.
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and mo
  
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• Aleutian Life Forum brings scientists and community leaders together

  17-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  Dozens of scientists are descending on Unalaska this week for the Aleutian Life Forum.
  The five-day conference will bring together researchers and community leaders as they promote conservation and coastal resilience across the Aleutian Islands in the face of a changing climate.
  Mayor Shirley Marquardt encouraged community members during a recent city council meeting to sit it on some of the many public lectures and workshops.
  “It’s a really extensive agenda talking about everyt
  
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• At DNR, new leader tackles ‘maze’ of oil and gas development on federal land

  17-08-2016 01:25 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Andy Mack is the state’s newest Department of Natural Commissioner.
  (Photo courtesy State of Alaska)
  From Soldotna to the North Slope to Anchorage, the state’s newest natural resources commissioner has spent his career weighing in on energy issues all over the state. Now, Andy Mack has been tapped by Gov. Bill Walker to help guide the state through the maze of federal regulations required to develop oil and gas resources.
  He’s has worked as both a civil and criminal defens
  
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• Three-way contests for Skagway assembly and school board make races competitive

  17-08-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  Skagway has competitive races for both borough assembly and school board this election. The candidate filing period closed Monday.
  Three candidates are running for two open assembly seats, currently occupied by Tim Cochran and Spencer Morgan. Cochran is running for re-election, Morgan is not. Cochran works for Petro Marine Services and has served two three-year terms on the assembly.
  He is running against Orion Hanson and David Brena. Last year, real estate developer Brena ran for assembly as a
  
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• Rubio backs Trump, but stands by calling him a ‘con man’

  17-08-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Republicans Donald Trump, right and Sen. Marco Rubio R-Fla., during a break in a Republican presidential debate in March. (Wilfredo Lee, Associated Press)
  Former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio said he stands by comments he made during the bruising GOP primary campaign earlier this year, including referring to Donald Trump, now his party’s nominee, as a “con man.”
  “I’ve stood by everything I ever said in my campaign,” Rubio said in an interview w
  
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• Ketchikan boroughwide pot tax indefinitely postponed

  17-08-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  A proposal to establish a boroughwide retail marijuana tax was indefinitely postponed Monday following lengthy discussion and several attempts to amend the ordinance.
  The proposed ordinance called for a 5 percent excise tax on all retail marijuana sales.
  During discussion, Assembly Member Glen Thompson questioned the reason for the cannabis tax.
  “Are we trying to dissuade people from using a product we don’t like, kind of like we did with tobacco?” he said. “We probably s
  
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• Corrosion found on Sitka’s Blue Lake turbines

  17-08-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The three new turbines were built in England by Gilkes, and generate 5.3 megawatts each. With them, Sitka’s generation capacity increased 30 percent. (Emily Kwong, KCAW)
  The Sitka Electric Department has discovered corrosion in the three new blue lake turbines.
  Gilbert Gilkes and Gordon Ltd. manufactured the turbines and installed them in 2014.
  “We disassembled partially the three blue lake turbines prior to the end of the warranty period,”  said utility dir
  
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