Anchorage news

• Kenai Borough Assembly keeps invocation, hears from deeply divided residents

  26-08-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Some children took part in the Aug. 23, 2016, protest with their parents. (Photo by Daysha Eaton/KBBI)
  Invocations, or prayers, will continue to be said at the beginning of Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meetings, despite recent debate about whether they are appropriate.
  The Assembly voted at their regular meeting Tuesday not to introduce an ordinance that would have eliminated the invocation and another that would have changed the invocation to a moment of silence.
  Both the ordinance that wou
  
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• France’s highest court suspends burkini ban in one town

  26-08-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Sama Wareh walks along a California beach in swimwear designed for Muslim women. The photo is from 2007. (Chris Carlson/Associated Press)
  The burkini has had a controversial summer in France.
  A number of towns along the Riveria banned the burkini — a portmanteau of “bikini” and “burka,” and a type of swimwear — in the wake of the deadly Bastille Day attacks in Nice. Officials argued that the body-covering swimwear isn’t in line with France’s secula
  
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• Marine mammal camp nurtures budding scientists

  26-08-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Homer resident Lee Post helps a camper position sea lion flipper bones. (Photo by Shahla Farzan/KBBI)
  The phrase “summer camp” usually brings to mind images of toasted marshmallows, campfires and wobbly canoe trips.
  One thing that you won’t find at a typical summer camp: bones.
  For the kids at this year’s “Marine Mammal Mystery Camp,” bones are a pretty big part of the experience.
  “That’s a really strange shaped bone. It reminds me of a camel,
  
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• Orlando hospitals say they won’t bill victims of Pulse Nightclub shooting

  26-08-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Medical professionals walk by a makeshift memorial set up at the Orlando Health sign in June in Orlando, Fla. (Photo by Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images)
  Two Orlando-area hospitals are waiving the medical bills of victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting, praising the community response and saying they want to contribute.
  More than 50 people were wounded in the June 12 attack on the Florida gay nightclub, and 49 people died.
  Orlando Regional Medical Center has treated 44
  
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• Contaminated shellfish found in Homer harbor

  26-08-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  The State Department of Health and Social Services is warning residents to exercise caution when collecting shellfish in Homer harbor.
  Recent tests have shown elevated saxitoxin levels in blue mussels.
  Catherine Bursch, the harmful species program coordinator at Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, samples blue mussels every two weeks in Homer harbor to monitor for toxins.
  “We did pick up over the regulatory limit of toxins in the shellfish that we sample regularly from the Homer harbor,&rd
  
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• Bethel police chief gives update on low recruiting numbers

  26-08-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  Police Chief Andre Achee presented an update to Bethel City Council on the department’s recruiting efforts since the city gave it the ability to raise its salary budget by more than 25 percent.
  The chief reported that the department is still only at 50 percent capacity, with many of the officers working two weeks on, two weeks off.
  These officers do not get benefits, but have a base pay of $60/hour with $90/hour for overtime.
  Achee was not concerned that this was impacting the department&r
  
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• U.S. women’s soccer team suspends Hope Solo for Sweden comments

  26-08-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo prepares to kick the ball during the Olympic quarterfinals Aug. 12 against Sweden in Brasilia, Brazil. After the Americans lost the match on penalty kicks, Solo described the Swedes as cowards. On Wednesday, U.S. soccer suspended her for those remarks. (Photo by Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images)
  U.S. soccer again has suspended goalkeeper Hope Solo from the women’s national team, but unlike last year, she won’t be back in 30 days. Citing Solo’s accusation o
  
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• Anchorage police use gas to force suspect out of home

  26-08-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  ANCHORAGE — A suspect who refused to leave his Anchorage home was forced out by police deploying irritating gas.
  The man was arrested early Friday and charged with domestic violence assault and resisting arrest after a nearly eight-hour standoff.
  Police early Thursday night took a call that a man and woman were arguing in an apartment complex parking lot.
  The man went into an apartment. Responding officers learned the woman had been assaulted and that the man had access to a gun.
  When offi
  
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• Gov. Walker hits pause on commercial fisheries commission move

  26-08-2016 04:17 via ktoo.org
  
  The seiner Jaime Marie sails past other fishing vessels at City Pier 2 in Kodiak on June 6, 2013. (Creative Commons photo by James Brooks)
  The Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission will keep most of its functions for now, after commission supporters fought to protect it from losing certain functions to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
  Gov. Bill Walker put a hold on an administrative order he issued in February, saying he needed more stakeholder feedback.
  The commission controls the number
  
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• Grounded by fog, would-be travelers watch Huna Tribal House festivities from afar

  26-08-2016 03:34 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Valerie Hillman shows off her clan’s crest, the T’akdeintaan’s Raven, while holding arms with Hoonah tribal elder Lillian Austin, who’s clan crest is the Shangukeidí’s Thunderbird. The women were on standby to go to Gustavus at Juneau International Airport on Thursday. (Photo by Lakeidra Chavis/KTOO)
  Hundreds of people gathered Thursday at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve to celebrate the opening of a newly completed Huna Tribal House and the Natio
  
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• Prince of Wales Island wolf harvest quota set at 11 animals

  26-08-2016 03:00 via ktoo.org
  The quota for this winter’s annual wolf hunting and trapping season on Prince of Wales Island has been set at 11 animals, up slightly from last year’s quota of nine.
  According to an announcement from the U.S. Forest Service, the most recent population estimate of wolves in Game Management Unit 2 is 108, an increase from last year’s estimate of 89.
  The federal subsistence hunting and trapping season on POW runs from Sept. 1st through Nov. 15th. The state season starts on Dec. 1s
  
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• Clinton: Trump is ‘taking hate groups mainstream’

  26-08-2016 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  In a speech in Reno, Nev., on Thursday, Hillary Clinton drew connections between rival Donald Trump and hate groups. (Photo by
  Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images)
  In a speech Thursday in Reno, Nev., Hillary Clinton argued that Donald Trump is “helping a radical fringe” — the alt-right — take over the Republican Party.
  “From the start, Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia. He’s taking hate groups mainstream and helping a radical fringe take
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 8-26-16

  26-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  Friday on A Juneau Afternoon,
  Amy Paige and Rachel Wintz will be here with information about a fundraiser for Girls on the Run.
  And we’ll talk with Rachael Juzeler about Saturday’s Food Fest at the JACC;
  We’ll learn about this Sunday’s Blue Mass;
  And we’ll talk with Jennifer Brown about upcoming Cub Scout activities.
  That, Writers’ Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, Friday on A Juneau Afternoon, live on KTOO-News at 3, repeated at 4 on KRNN, and available on-
  
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• City investigates vessel found burning in Captains Bay

  26-08-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  A vessel caught fire in Unalaska waters last weekend.
  The incident is still under investigation, but City Manager Dave Martinson said efforts are already underway to address the damaged boat.
  “On Saturday, the vessel Rebecca was found burning at the end of Captains Bay,” he said. “There was a potential hazard, so the Department of Public Safety has worked with Resolve Marine Group and the U.S. Coast Guard. We’re going to execute a $30,000 contract to remove it.”
  Aft
  
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• New virus breaks the rules of infection

  26-08-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  These are insect cells infected with the Guaico Culex virus. The different colors denote cells infected with different pieces of the virus. Only the brown-colored cells are infectious because they contain the complete virus. (Image by Michael Lindquist/Cell Press)
  Human viruses are like a fine chocolate truffle: It takes only one to get the full experience.
  At least, that’s what scientists thought a few days ago. Now a new study published Thursday is making researchers rethink how some vir
  
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• Alaska prison farm helps food bank meet demand

  26-08-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  FAIRBANKS — Vegetable donations from a prison farm in Wasilla are helping the Fairbanks Community Food Bank handle a 25 percent increase in food requests this summer.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the organizations’ CEO, Anne Weaver, says shipments from the Point Mackenzie Correctional Farm have helped provide tens of thousands of pounds of food in recent months. The food bank has been raising money to transport the food more than 300 miles to Fairbanks.
  The farm began donat
  
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• What more kids showing up in schools says about Juneau’s economy

  26-08-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Meilani Schijvens poses for a photo at her desk in the Soboleff Building in downtown Juneau on Wednesday. Schijvens runs the Juneau-based economic firm Rain Coast Data. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
  Juneau’s unexpectedly high student count for the new school year is a big deal for local education officials, but it’s also a good indicator for how the local economy is doing.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/08/25SCHIJVENS.mp3Economics, demographics and spreadsheets make a lot
  
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• Walker fills vacancy on state Marijuana Control Board

  26-08-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  ANCHORAGE — An Anchorage man opening a retail marijuana business has been appointed to the state Marijuana Control Board.
  Gov. Bill Walker announced Wednesday that Nicholas Miller will serve on the board. He replaces Bruce Schulte, whom Walker removed from the board July 29.
  Miller is chairman of the Anchorage Cannabis Business Association. The association is made up of people filing for state and local licensing of pot businesses.
  Miller’s appointment runs through February 2018.
  The
  
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