Anchorage news

• Report catalogs contaminated land conveyed to Native corporations

  25-08-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The BLM put together an inventory of 920 contaminated sites conveyed to Alaska Native Corporations, color-coded to indicate sites that have already been cleaned up, and those with work still to be done.
  Scattered throughout Alaska are hundreds of pieces of land that have been transferred to Alaska Native Corporations by the federal government.
  Some of it is the land of Alaska dreams: forests, tundra, river banks – largely untouched. Other parcels are less picturesque, but chosen for
  
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• Ex-Bethel officer pleads to misdemeanor in assault case

  25-08-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  ANCHORAGE — It took more than two years to successfully prosecute a former Bethel police officer accused in a brutality case, authorities in Alaska said with the intent do a thorough and methodical investigation.
  Officials discussed the case Thursday, one day after Andrew Reid pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of misconduct and assault in connection with the July 2014 arrest of Wassillie Gregory.
  Reid, who now lives outside the state, was sentenced to four months in custody.
  Soon after
  
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• Retired ‘Prairie Home Companion’ host Garrison Keillor visits Alaska on summer cruise

  25-08-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Retired ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ host Garrison Keillor, right, signs autographs for fans while visiting Kodiak on August 24, 2016. (Photo by Jay Barrett/KMXT-Kodiak)
  The cast and crew of the American Public Media program “A Prairie Home Companion” cruised to Alaska this summer.
  The ship they were on, the Maasdam, visited Kodiak on Wednesday.
  While downtown was filled with hundreds of “Prairie Home” fans, retired host Garrison Keillor apparently doesn’t
  
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• Bullet strikes Juneau school bus with 2 students aboard

  25-08-2016 20:33 via ktoo.org
  
  A bullet struck a Juneau school bus Wednesday with two students aboard, according to a news release from Juneau Police Department.
  The bus was on Riverside Drive. The driver and an aide were also aboard, the release said.
  The bus driver told police a window of the bus shattered and two men in their 20s ran out of a house in the 9200 block of Sharon Street. One of the men was a 21-year-old from Juneau, who police say fired the round from a Glock 9mm handgun through the front door o
  
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• Borough takes no action on invocation after appeal to Satan

  25-08-2016 20:15 via ktoo.org
  
  Protesters in front of the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna. (Photo by Daysha Eaton/KBBI)
  KENAI — The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly has decided to continue allowing religious groups to offer invocations at its meetings after an invocation from a member of the Satanic Temple prompted a call for change.
  The Peninsula Clarion reports Iris Fontana encouraged attendees of an Aug. 9 meeting to “embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat of the tree of knowledge.”
  She closed
  
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• Three new teachers on board as Skagway School grows

  25-08-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Skagway School went through a restructuring this year. An influx in students enabled the school to create single-grade classrooms in the elementary school, increase Spanish and music classes, and start an accelerated learning program. It also opened space for three new teachers.
  Read more stories about Skagway School
  Big changes coming to Skagway School next year
  Skagway School enrollment surpasses 100 in preliminary count
  Student increase could mean large funding boost for Skagway SchoolRebecc
  
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• Study of breast cancer treatment reveals paradox of precision medicine

  25-08-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  By testing tumors, researchers hoped to identify women who could avoid chemotherapy without increasing their risk of a cancer recurrence. (Image by Voisin/Phanie/Science Source)
  A major study about the best way to treat early-stage breast cancer reveals that “precision medicine” doesn’t provide unambiguous answers about how to choose the best therapy.
  “Precision doesn’t mean certainty,” says David Hunter, a professor of cancer prevention at Harvard’
  
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• Low sea ice and warm water to drive autumn weather

  25-08-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The Coast Guard Cutter Healy patrols the Arctic Ocean during a joint civil and federal search and rescue exercise near Oliktok Point, Alaska, July 13, 2015. The Healy is a 420-foot icebreaker homeported in Seattle. (Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Grant DeVuyst/Courtesy U.S. Coast Guard)
  El Nino has transitioned to below normal sea surface temperatures in the mid-latitude Pacific.
  If that persists, then the condition known as La Nina, typically results in a colder than normal winter for Alaska.
  
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• Trust takes first step toward logging Ketchikan’s iconic Deer Mountain

  25-08-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A springtime view of Deer Mountain. (File photo by Leila Kheiry/KRBD )
  The Alaska Mental Health Trust took its first step toward logging Ketchikan’s iconic Deer Mountain, along with a parcel in Petersburg.
  During a Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday morning, the board agreed with staff recommendations to move forward with plans to negotiate timber sales for both parcels by Jan. 15th, unless Congress approves a bill trading that land for selected U.S. Forest Service land.
  Mental Health Tru
  
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• Cruise line CEO details Alaska bear mauling of 2 workers

  25-08-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  JUNEAU — The owner of a cruise ship line says a bear that mauled two company wilderness guides during a hiking excursion in southeast Alaska went on the attack so quickly it was over in a matter of seconds.
  UnCruise Adventures CEO Dan Blanchard tells the Juneau Empire the attack occurred after the hikers from the cruise vessel Wilderness Explorer rounded what he called a “semi-blind corner” and found themselves between the bear and her cub.
  The Coast Guard rescued the inju
  
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• German students explore Alaska through summer Rotary exchange

  25-08-2016 17:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Sisters Svea and Vilja Zahnke, and Jillian went on a glacier tour near Petersburg. (Photo courtesy of Bridget Wittstock)
  One Petersburg high school student spent part of her summer in Germany this year.
  She then brought a few German students back to Alaska. The girls explored each others cultures and took a chance on traveling through a Rotary short term exchange program.
  Vilja and Svea Zahnke knew they wanted to come to Alaska for years.
  “On TV they saw a documentary about Alask
  
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• Alaska roadkill thieves target dead moose meant for needy

  25-08-2016 17:00 via ktoo.org
  ANCHORAGE — Thieves coming across dead moose on Alaska roads are stealing the carcasses, making away with hundreds of pounds of meat that normally goes to a charity program run by state troopers.
  Two moose killed recently by cars or trucks were set to be picked up by the trooper-sponsored program that alerts the Alaska Moose Federation so carcasses can be picked up quickly and butchered with the meat going to the needy.
  But federation director Don Dyer says federation drivers found no moos
  
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• Trawling the ocean floor, scientists discover new snailfish

  25-08-2016 05:14 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Snailfish can be hard to distinguish. The combed snailfish (top) is found in the Aleutian Islands and the comet snailfish (bottom) lives in the Bering Sea. (Courtesy Jay Orr/NOAA)
  While trawling the floor of the Bering Sea and the Aleutian region, scientists have discovered several new species of fish — snailfish. Some were only named last year. Researchers were not looking for them, the trawl was a part of a yearly stock assessment by the federal government that helps set quotas for
  
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• Report: Gas line project not competitive without major changes

  25-08-2016 04:11 via ktoo.org
  
  Lawmakers listened to testimony from Wood Mackenzie’s David Barrowman at a joint hearing of the House and Senate Resources Committees on Aug. 24, 2016. From left: Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River; Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage; and Rep. David Talerico, R-Healy. Photo: Rachel Waldholz, Alaska’s Energy Desk
  Alaska’s natural gas pipeline project, as currently envisioned, is not competitive and likely cannot succeed in the current market. That’s the conclusion of a n
  
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• Longtime business manager ousted from three village corporations

  25-08-2016 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A sign posted on the door of the Aleknagik building in downtown Dillingham, where the ANL office is located. (Photo by KDLG)
  The business manager for three different corporations has been fired and an independent investigation is underway amid accusations the employee had embezzled money.
  Aleknagik Natives Ltd. board president Molly Chythlook confirmed Tuesday that Fred Nishimura had been fired.
   Leadership for Ekwok Natives Ltd. said Nishiumura’s contract as business manager had
  
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• Municipal sales tax could dive due to Walker’s PFD veto

  25-08-2016 02:21 via ktoo.org
  
  Juneau finance director Bob Bartholomew projected the city would lose $1 million in sales tax revenue from residents having lower Permanent Fund dividends. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
  Local governments in Alaska that charge a sales tax could have millions of dollars less in revenue this year.
  That’s because their residents will have less money to spend than the last few years because of lower Permanent Fund dividends this fall.
  Some municipalities, like the City and Borough of J
  
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• Weather balloons help solve climate puzzle in Alaska

  25-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  William Wells releases a weather balloon on Alaska’s St. Paul Island. (John Ryan photo)
  Around the world, twice a day, every day, more than 700 weather balloons launch into the air. Fourteen of those balloons are released across Alaska, tracking things like temperature, humidity and wind speed.
  They provide a wealth of information for people like Brian Brettschneider, a climatologist in Anchorage. Alaska’s Energy Desk is checking in with him regularly as part of a new segment, Ask A
  
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• Washington to exterminate nearly 20% of state’s wolf population

  25-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  In the wake of finding 12 dead cows killed by wolves, Washington Fish and Wildlife offiicals plan to kill an entire wolf pack inthe northeast corner of the state (File photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
  Tje Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to kill an entire wolf pack in the northeast corner of the state. The decision comes after at least 12 cattle were killed in the area.
  Fish and Wildlife officials have confirmed seven of the 12 dead cows were killed by wolves. It’s
  
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• Kodiak schools superintendent named best in the state

  25-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The superintendents of Alaska’s many school districts agree: Kodiak’s superintendent is the best in the state.
  Kodiak Island Borough Schools Superintendent Stewart McDonald was honored as the state’s Superintendent of the Year Monday night at the school board meeting by Lisa Parady, the executive director of the Alaska Superintendents Association.
  Stewart McDonald
  “A consistent and positive voice for the needs of education in Alaska,” Parady said. “A
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 8-25-16

  25-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  Thursday on A Juneau Afternoon,
  We’ll talk with Pete Traxler, Executive Dean of Career and Technical Education will be there to highlight UAS Career and technical education enrollment/registration opportunities;
  We’ll talk with Richard Council about upcoming tango lessons;
  We’ll get the details about Saturday’s Whale Watch Cruise to benefit the Juneau Symphony
  And Nancy DeCherney will be here with Arts Up!
  That, Writers Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, Thursday afterno
  
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• Three votes separate candidates in Arctic House race

  25-08-2016 01:30 via ktoo.org
  
  Dean Westlake is challenging Barrow Rep. Bennie Nageak in the Democratic primary; in 2014, Westlake lost the race by 131 votes. (Photo by Rachel Waldholz/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
  Only three votes now separate two northern Alaska House candidates.
  Dean Westlake of Kotzebue has 780 votes, ahead of 777 votes for incumbent Rep. Ben Nageak, who’s from Barrow.
  Alaska’s Division of Elections is still counting votes from House District 40, which stretches from Kotzebue to Kaktovik.
  Electi
  
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• Details emerge in tribal welfare cuts, which will include jobs, college support

  25-08-2016 01:30 via ktoo.org
  
  The Andrew Hope Building in downtown Juneau is owned by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins/KTOO)
  Federal funding cuts are reducing tribal welfare programs in seven Southeast Alaska communities.
  Details have emerged about the four affected programs, offered through the Juneau-based Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.
  Funding comes from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which announced a reduction on short notice.
  Trib
  
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• Wings of Alaska makes push for stronger community ties

  25-08-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  There has been a little turbulence since the October sale of Wings of Alaska to Fjord Flying Service, but the new staff is continuing to work out the kinks.
  Aldwin Harder has only been the manager of the new company for a few months, but he’s got a clear vision of where he wants the business to go.
  “Haines is a market that we’d like to serve better,” Harder said.
  Harder was meeting with businesses and residents recently in Haines.
  In October, Wings was sold by i
  
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• Cruise-ship evacuation exercise begins as luxury liner prepares for Arctic trek

  25-08-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A member of the Stratton’s crew signals to the pilot of a Coast Guard helicopter during a training exercise held earlier this month off Alaska’s northern coast. The agency has stationed two MH-60 helicopters in Kotzebue to help it respond more quickly to emergencies around the remote Arctic expanse. (Photo by Gina Caylor, U.S. Coast Guard)
  The U.S. Northern Command and Coast Guard have launched a major field-training exercise off Alaska’s northwest coast.
  Arctic Chinook is
  
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• Ketchikan saxophonist was well-known in jazz community

  25-08-2016 00:30 via ktoo.org
  
  A musician well-known in the Ketchikan jazz community and who performed at First City Players Jazz and Cabaret Festival for more than a dozen years has died.
  Saxophonist Bob Kindred, 76, died August 15 in Nashville, Tennessee.
  Several Ketchikan residents who knew Kindred shared their memories of him.
  Bob Kindred
  Bob Kindred was best known as a tenor saxophone player, but his first instrument was the clarinet.
  His father did not want him to pursue a career in music, so Kindred studied busin
  
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• Ubiquitous EpiPen becomes latest target in the drug wars

  25-08-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  An aggressive marketing campaign has made the EpiPen the go-to drug for treating anaphylaxis.
  (Photo by Mark Zaleski/Associated Press)
  EpiPens are in your friend’s purse and your kid’s backpack. The school nurse has a few, as does Grandma.
  The medicine inside — epinephrine — has been around forever, and the handy gadget that injects it into your leg is not particularly new either.
  So members of Congress, responding to their angry constituents, want to know why the price o
  
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• Two sentenced for Christmas Eve burglary in Petersburg

  25-08-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  Two of three men involved in a Christmas Eve burglary in Petersburg were sentenced to jail time Tuesday, August 23.
  Taylor Homer, 27,  and Anthony Sainz, 21, both appeared in separate hearings before superior court judge William Carey at the Petersburg Trial Court House on Tuesday.
  The men were accused of breaking into a warehouse at Hungerford Hill, south of downtown Petersburg, and stealing a pickup truck, tires, tools and nine guns on Christmas Eve of 2015.
  In May of this year, a third m
  
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• Newspaper owner, editor joins Haines assembly race

  25-08-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The owner and publisher of the Chilkat Valley News, Tom Morphet, will seek a seat on the Haines Borough Assembly. Haines, Alaska (Photo by Alan Vernon/Flickr Creative Commons)
  Tom Morphet, the owner, publisher, reporter, editor and designer for the Chilkat Valley News, was certified Monday to run for Haines Borough Assembly.
  According to the borough, Morphet filed his paperwork at 4:58 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19.
  Public notices claimed that the filing deadline was Friday at 5 p.m.
  Morphet handed in hi
  
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• CBJ Assembly Meeting – 8-22-16

  25-08-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Regular CBJ Meeting for Monday, August 22, 2016http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/08/CBJ-08-22-16.mp3
  
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