Anchorage news

• Kotzebue man to serve 36 years in prison for 2014 sexual assault

  22-10-2016 23:38
  
  An Alaska Superior Court judge ruled a Kotzebue man will serve 36 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in downtown Anchorage in 2014.
  Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth’s office announced the sentence on Friday in a statement. Judge Michael Wolverton sentenced 30-year-old John Douglas to 60 years in prison with 30 suspended, to be followed by a probationary period of 10 years. He tacked on an additional six years in prison, to be served consecutively, for violating probation
  
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• Alcohol tax revenue higher than expected in Bethel

  22-10-2016 22:25
  
  BNC Liquor StoreCredit Dean Swope / KYUK
  This story originated from KYUK Public Media and was republished with permission.
  BETHEL — The city of Bethel has had some trouble collecting taxes in recent months, but one tax they’re not having trouble collecting is the 12 percent sales tax from alcohol. Since the city sold its first legal alcohol in April, Bethel has collected over a quarter of a million dollars from Bethel’s two alcohol vendors. A third vendor recently op
  
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• Alaska High School Football: Large School Championship

  22-10-2016 21:51
  
  East 13 — West 7
  East Anchorage High School is finally all the way back. The Thunderbirds ended the drought with the best drink of water—a state championship. And they did it against their crosstown rival, West Anchorage High School.
  In front of an enthusiastic crowd, Joshua Malnoske ran for one score while sealing the game with an interception in the final minute as West, in search of a second straight title, drove for a potential game-wi
  
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• Listen: Tlingit translation of ‘Moment in AFN History’ Part 3

  22-10-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Listen to Paul Marks’ Tlingit translation of part three of three in this series.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/10/AFN-50-Years-Module-3-Tlingit.mp3
   
  AFN got its start in 1966. It focused on land claims for many years.
  Today, it also works in areas such subsistence, health, education, jobs and governance.
  Natives have for-profit corporations, like Sealaska. Tribes and non-profit organizations provide services to Natives. During the annual AFN Convention delegat
  
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• Anti-incumbent mood could threaten Republican-led House majority

  22-10-2016 08:26 via ktoo.org
  
  The Alaska House of Representatives entrance in the Capitol in Juneau, Feb. 6, 2015. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  When voters head to the polls on Nov. 8, they’ll decide who’s going to represent them in the state House and Senate. That will trigger the backroom talks that determine who will form the majority caucuses – and the legislature’s future direction.
  After the election, one thing is for certain. The legislature that voters send to Juneau in January will be very
  
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• Wielechowski, Kastner fight for votes in East Anchorage

  22-10-2016 07:33 via ktoo.org
  
  Jay Beverlin, left, and Kevin Kastner talk at Beverlin’s home in East Anchorage, Oct. 13, 2016. Kastner is running for an East Anchorage Senate seat. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/KTOO)
  For a decade, Democrat Bill Wielechowski has represented an East Anchorage Senate district where Republicans outnumber Democrats. He attributes part of his success to one of the oldest political activities: knocking on neighbors’ doors, one at a time.
  This year, Republican Kevin Kastner is trying to bea
  
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• Alaska Native veterans give input for national Native American memorial

  22-10-2016 07:25
  George Bennett Sr. isn’t ashamed to be Alaska Native or a U.S. veteran. Nearly 50 years after he left Vietnam, he’s proud to be both; it’s who he is. It hasn’t always been that way though — he said it took him about 30 years to find a bit of personal peace.
  Wearing a Vietnam War veteran baseball cap, Bennett unofficially lead a workshop at the Alaska Federation of Native (AFN) convention at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. He and about a dozen other Alaska Native ve
  
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• State, municipal plows stay busy after first snowfall of the season

  22-10-2016 07:07
  
  The first measurable snowfall Friday created a mess on many Southcentral roads. By the evening, most major streets were cleared of snow. However, many side streets had not yet seen a plow.
  Both the Alaska Department of Transportation and the street maintenance division of the Anchorage municipality plow the busiest thoroughfares first. For DOT, prioritizing is especially important after budget cuts.
  “What we had before was pretty lean to begin with. So we’re still working as hard as
  
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• AFN: A battleground for Alaska’s political candidates

  22-10-2016 06:55
  
  This year’s Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) convention is the place to be for anyone running for public office. It’s an opportunity to get their name out among thousands of Alaska Native people from across the state, and ask for their vote — a powerful vote.
  Next month’s election is front and center at the annual event in Fairbanks and on many lapels. “Get out the Native Vote,” a nonprofit encouraging Alaska Natives to cast a ballot, set-up a table in
  
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• Local homeless shelters were full before snow fell, now overflowing

  22-10-2016 05:59
  
  While some welcomed the first measurable snowfall Friday, for others winter weather is putting pressure on an already strained housing situation in Anchorage.
  Staff at local homeless shelters say their facilities have been overflowing for weeks. Lisa Caldeira, program manager at the Brother Francis Shelter, said there was no room even before the snow fell.
  “We have been at capacity pretty much for the last several months on and off, but we have been at capacity consistently for the last fe
  
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• Anchorage students enjoy a day off with fresh powder

  22-10-2016 05:09
  
  What’s better than the first significant snowfall? When it happens on a day that students in the Anchorage School District already have off.
  Friday was an in-service day, so instead of racing to class, best friends Oceana Gamel Howes, Ava Evans, and Emily Robinson spent the morning speeding down the popular sledding hill at Service High School.
  Oceana Gamel Howes, Ava Evans, and Emily Robinson enjoy the first Anchorage snow fall at the Service High School sledding hill
  They say the fresh c
  
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• Anchorage Senate race pits labor leader against staunch industry supporter

  22-10-2016 03:03 via ktoo.org
  
  
  State Sen. Cathy Giessel (R-Anchorage) has served in the legislature since 2011. (Photo by Elizabeth Harball/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
  She’s a nurse. He likes to fly fish. They both brag about their grandchildren.
  And they’re running against each other in what’s been called the nastiest election in Alaska this cycle.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/10/ann-20161022-04.mp3The Anchorage race between Republican Cathy Giessel and Independent Vince Beltrami cou
  
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• Bringing science home in St. Paul: Former student becomes teacher

  22-10-2016 02:22 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Dallas Roberts shares lettuce from St. Paul’s greenhouse with students. (Photo by Zoë Sobel/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
  The Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea are a magnet for scientists who come to study everything from fur seals to migratory birds. When they leave, that research often leaves with them.
  But for the last nine years, the local tribe has found a way to bring it back home. Each fall, a group of scientists return — not to do research, but to share its findings with
  
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• Bringing science home: In St. Paul, a former student becomes the teacher

  22-10-2016 02:22 via ktoo.org
  
  Dallas Roberts shares lettuce from St. Paul’s greenhouse with students. (Photo by Zoë Sobel/KUCB)
  The Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea are a magnet for scientists who come to study everything from fur seals to migratory birds. When they leave, that research often leaves with them.
  But for the last nine years, the local tribe has found a way to bring it back home. Each fall, a group of scientists return — not to do research, but to share its findings with the students of Saint
  
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• First snow keeps Anchorage tire shops busy with winter changeover

  22-10-2016 02:21
  
  The first sign of winter brought in big business for Johnson’s Tire Service when many people awoke to snow on Friday morning and realized they still had summer tires on their vehicles.
  “It’s a little insane,” said Johnson’s manager Michael Hagler. “It’s a whole ‘nother monster to work in a tire shop in changeover season.”
  RELATED
  First snowfall makes for slippery morning commute in Anchorage, Mat-Su
  Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau record first m
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 10-24-16

  22-10-2016 02:20 via ktoo.org
  
  Monday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon, Scott Burton Hosts.
  We’ll learn about the Downtown Business Association’s Main Street and Style-O-Rama meetings;
  We’ll get a preview of tonight’s Women of the World concert at Thunder Mountain High School;
  Mary Lou Spartz will be here with details about Tuesday’s memorial, Remembering the Survivors of the Sinking of the Princess Sophia in 1918;
  That, Writers Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, live at 3 on KTOO-NEWS, repeated at 4
  
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• DJ Spencer Lee’s Holiday Pajama Jam: A party for the whole family

  22-10-2016 01:41
  
  Looking trip the light fantastic with the whole family — in your pajamas? DJ Spencer Lee has you covered with his Holiday Pajama Jam.
  The event is part of his popular series of Baby Loves Disco events and he will be joined by Victamone.
  Holiday Pajama Jam
  Sunday, December 4
  11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Williwaw
  $15 individual
  $12.50/each when you buy a family four pack
  For tickets, visit DJ Spencer Lee’s website.
  The post DJ Spencer Lee’s Holiday Pajama Jam: A party
  
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• Grand jury formally indicts man accused of shooting Fairbanks officer

  22-10-2016 01:16
  
  The man accused of shooting a Fairbanks police officer has been formally indicted by a grand jury.
  Anthony Jenkins-Alexie. Courtesy Fairbanks Police Department
  Fairbanks District Attorney Gregg Olson says the grand jury indicted Anthony G. Jenkins-Alexie Thursday with attempted murder and seven other counts. Seven charges are identical to the counts originally charged in a complaint against Jenkins-Alexie, plus one additional evidence tampering charge.
  Police Sgt. Allen Brandt pulled over to tal
  
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• Alaska unemployment rate inches up to 6.9 percent last month

  22-10-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  JUNEAU — Alaska’s unemployment rate inched up to 6.9 percent in September, hitting its highest level since the summer of 2014.
  The state labor department says last month’s preliminary seasonally adjusted rate was up from 6.8 percent in August and 6.5 percent in September 2015.
  The national unemployment rate stood at 5 percent last month.
  Alaska’s rate has slowly grown throughout the year after starting 2016 with 6.6 percent unemployment.
  The last time Alaska’s unemp
  
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• Skagway assemblyman resigns months after federal tax charges conviction

  22-10-2016 00:53 via ktoo.org
  
  Longtime Skagway Assemblyman Dan Henry resigned his seat this week, less than a month before he goes to prison.
  In February, Henry pleaded guilty to federal tax charges.
  Henry was absent from the last two assembly meetings, leaving the question of whether he planned to resign up in the air.
  That question was finally answered at Thursday’s meeting.
  “We did receive a resignation from Assemblyman Henry,” Mayor Mark Schaefer said.
  Henry wasn’t there, so Schaefer read from his
  
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• Police raid Bethel’s ASHA housing neighborhood

  22-10-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Several people were in custody Thursday after state authorities apparently raided the Alaska State Housing Authority, or ASHA housing neighborhood in Bethel.
  Alaska State Troopers lead several people away in handcuffs Thursday afternoon. At least three were put in the back of police cars, but witnesses said there were more.
  Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Team’s Sgt. Kevin Blanchette carried an AR-15 and spoke about the effort.
  “We’re currently conducti
  
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