Anchorage news

• Alaska to get $1.1M grant to process sexual assault evidence

  04-10-2016 23:36
  
  The state of Alaska is getting a $1.1 million federal grant to test backlogged sexual assault evidence in possession of state troopers.
  Gov. Bill Walker’s office announced Tuesday the U.S. Justice Department funds will be used to process more than 1,000 sexual assault kits.
  Officials say that altogether law enforcement agencies across the state are in possession of about 3,000 unprocessed kits. Amanda Price, Walker’s senior crime policy advisor, says the Anchorage Police Department i
  
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• Problem bear poses a threat to public in Sitka

  04-10-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  SITKA — Authorities are warning Sitka residents to be on alert after numerous bear encounters in the city, including one involving a bicyclist who was chased by a bear down a bike path.
  The Sitka Sentinel reports that police have recently received several calls about problem bears, and they think it may just be one animal causing all the fuss. Reports have varied from a bear getting into a garbage container to one breaking into a parked pizza delivery car.
  One caller told police Monday he
  
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• Pope Francis Surprises Survivors In Italian Earthquake Sites

  04-10-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Pope Francis has made good on a promise to go to the central Italian region hardest hit by the devastating earthquake that struck in August. He arrived Tuesday without warning to console survivors and urge them to press forward.
  According to the Associated Press, the pontiff hoped to keep his visit low-key, so it wasn’t announced until after he had already arrived in Amatrice, the town devastated by the magnitude 6.2 earthquake that killed almost 300 people and left an additional 4,000 hom
  
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• Oil and energy company Caelus announces big oil find on North Slope

  04-10-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Oil and energy company Caelus Energy said it’s made a major oil discovery on the North Slope, at Smith Bay.
  The company estimates the oil under its current state leases at 6 billion barrels and said as much as 10 billion may lie under the shallow bay.
  “It’s going to be a massive development,” Caelus CEO Jim Musselman said. “Very important for the state of the Alaska, and it’s going to create, you know, thousands of jobs.”
  Musselman said two wel
  
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• Woman dies after reportedly injuring self cutting moose meat

  04-10-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  ANCHORAGE — Alaska State Troopers are investigating the death of a woman after she reportedly was injured while butchering moose meat.
  Vicky Mable Wontorski, 60, of Tok died of her injuries Saturday after arriving at an Anchorage hospital, where she was flown for treatment, Troopers said.
  Troopers received an initial report of a possible knife injury Friday evening in Tok.
  According to troopers, an autopsy will be conducted by the state medical examiner’s office to determine the mann
  
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• Still Down A Justice, Supreme Court Term Is Off To A Restrained Start

  04-10-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The courtroom of the U.S. Supreme Court seen ahead of the start of the term. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
  The Supreme Court gets down to work on Tuesday, hearing the first arguments of a new term.
  Technically, the court term began on the traditional first Monday in October, but because it fell on the same day as the Jewish New Year, the court’s three Jewish justices were absent and the remaining justices conducted only administrative business.
  It’s been eight months since J
  
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• Anchorage Museum abandons boundaries all together

  04-10-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Artist Edgar Heap of Birds stands before his piece “Dead Indian Stories” on display in the “Without Boundaries” exhibit. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
  A new exhibit at the Anchorage Museum brings some of the world’s top artists together for a provocative commentary on indigenous identity and contemporary art.
  “Without Boundaries: Visual Conversations,” which opened Friday, is an ambitious effort in more ways than one.
  James Luna has bee
  
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• Tuesday: NPR’s VP debate coverage and KTOO’s Juneau election night coverage

  04-10-2016 07:10 via ktoo.org
  
  Democratic Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine in 2008 and Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in 2015. The two governors are their parties’ vice presidential candidates and are set to debate each other Oct. 4, 2016. (Creative Commons photos by joelrivlin and Gage Skidmore)
  KTOO is carrying live NPR coverage of tonight’s vice presidential candidate debate beginning at 5 p.m.
  The debate between Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence at Longwood Univers
  
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• Photos: Femme Fatale performers prove life’s more than a drag

  04-10-2016 06:02 via ktoo.org
  
  Drag kings and drag queens showed off their dancing, lip-syncing and makeup Friday and Saturday during a drag fundraiser. Femme Fatale was raising money for Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association. The top amateur drag queen and drag king Friday earned the right to perform in Saturday’s show at the Rockwell Ballroom. Niza Dia and Marty Weiner won their respective categories Friday.
  
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• Juneau judge among 13 applicants to Alaska Court of Appeals

  04-10-2016 03:14 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg closely watches an attorney during opening arguments in a recent civil trial. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)
  A Juneau judge is among the potential candidates seeking to serve on the Alaska Court of Appeals.
  Appeals Court Judge Doug Kossler decided not to seek retention, leaving that position vacant.
  Kossler was a former assistant public defender and former state attorney with the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals before being named to the Court of App
  
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• Alaska gets $500m in base construction; most for Fairbanks

  04-10-2016 03:01 via ktoo.org
  
  Congress last week agreed to spend more than a half-billion dollars on military construction projects in Alaska.
  Most of the projects are in Fairbanks, to prepare Eielson Air Force Base for the arrival of F-35 aircraft. The short-term spending bill Congress passed also has $155 million for a new radar system at Clear Air Force Station, and $47 million for a drone hangar at Fort Wainwright.
  Jim Dodson, president of the Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation, says the projects are a big deal f
  
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• 3 dead in Hageland plane crash en route to Togiak

  04-10-2016 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The Cessna 208 caravan that crashed midway between Quinhagak and Togiak (Photo courtesy of Alaska State Troopers)
  A Cessna 208 caravan was traveling from Quinhagak to Togiak with two Hageland pilots and one passenger on board when it crashed. An emergency locator signal was received just before 1:30. Two state troopers in Dillingham took a helicopter to the scene shortly after. Sgt.
  Luis Nieves supervises the region.
  “When our troopers arrived in the area, they immediately noticed that the
  
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• Troopers suspect moose attacked, killed woman in Alaska

  04-10-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  WASILLA — Authorities in Alaska suspect a 74-year-old woman was killed by a moose.
  Alaska State Troopers say the body of Pattie Cucinello was found Sunday in the driveway of her Wasilla home.
  Troopers’ spokeswoman Megan Peters says in an email that investigators suspect a moose attack because there were moose tracks at the scene.
  The body was released to the state medical examiner, which will confirm the cause of death.
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 10-4-16

  04-10-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Tuesday on A Juneau Afternoon, Ban Brown hosts.
  We’ll get an update on Library activities with Andi Hirsh;
  Tristan Knutson-Lombardo, from SAIL, will be here to highlight their Fall Action;
  Collette Costa and Erin Heist will be here with a preview of this weekend’s FallToberFest.
  Activities Director Jake Jacoby will be here with details about TMHS activities.
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, today on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on KTOO-News, repeated at 4 on
  
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• At Golden Gate Bridge, Texting Offers New Lifeline To Prevent Suicides

  04-10-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Sitting next to the living room sofa, fully charged, is the cell phone that belonged to Kimberlyrenee and Manuel Gamboa’s son, Kyle.
  “We’ve kept it on and I just think his friends, it helps,” Kimberlyrenee says. “Well it helps us to heal and I think it helps his friends to heal.”
  So they can see whenever one of Kyle’s friends sends a text.
  “Yeah, and here’s another one that says, ‘Love you brother, I really don’t know what happene
  
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• Skagway business owner to open new restaurant in Haines

  04-10-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Robert Gibson currently operates the BBQ Shack in Skagway. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
  It’s the time of year when many businesses around Haines are limiting their hours or closing their doors for the winter.
  One local restaurant owner is just getting started.
  Robert Gibson isn’t worried about opening a new restaurant in the off-season.
  “I’m for the locals,” Gibson said. “I’m not worried about the tourists. I’m worried about the locals. I want
  
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• In This Campaign, Clinton, Trump Flash Their Racial Credentials

  04-10-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton spar during the first presidential debate of 2016. (Photo by David Goldman/Associated Press)
  It was the first 2016 presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and NBC’s Lester Holt was moderating. Holt’s topic was how to “heal the divide” between the races, but the conversation had meandered from stop-and-frisk to no-fly lists to the Department of Justice&rsq
  
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