Anchorage news

• Voters with disabilities fight for more accessible polling places

  24-10-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Ian Watlington, with the National Disability Rights Network, pauses at the doorway of a Washington, D.C., recreation center used as a polling place. He says the door, which has a stationary bar down the middle, would be too narrow for him to enter if he was in his motorized wheelchair. He can barely get through in his manual chair. (Photo by Pam Fessler/NPR)
  More than 35 million eligible voters in the U.S. — about one in six — have a disability. And in the last presidential election,
  
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• Why doctors are saying infants should share parents’ room

  24-10-2016 22:46
  
  Infants should sleep in the same room as their parents — but not in the same bed — to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics advise.
  The recommendations call for babies to share their parents’ bedroom for at least the first 6 months of life and, ideally, for the first year.
  This could reduce the risk of sudden death by as much as 50 percent, the guideline authors say.
  “Room sharing makes a lot of sens
  
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• Mudrooms – 10-11-16

  24-10-2016 22:13 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The theme is Skeletons in the Closet
  Stories by Guy Crockroft, Brian Weed, Phil Merrell, Jim Donaghey, Paula Terrel, Mark Wilcox, and Sam Kito
  Music by Laura Zahasky
  Cookies by the Rookery and coffee by Coppa
  7:00pm at Northern Light United Church, 400 W. 11th Street
  $7 at the door. Profits benefit the Zach Gordon Youth Center
  -the Mudrooms Storyboardhttp://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/10/MR-OCT16.mp3
  
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• Rates rise again for Obamacare health plans, but so do subsidies

  24-10-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The cost of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is expected to rise an average of 22 percent in 2017, according to information released by the Obama administration Monday afternoon.
  Still, federal subsidies will also rise, meaning that few people are likely to have to pay the full cost after the rate increases to get insurance coverage.
  “We think they will ultimately be surprised by the affordability of the premiums, because the tax credits track with the increases in premiums,&
  
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• Kodiak Island Borough swears in new mayor

  24-10-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Assemblyman Dan Rohrer left his assembly seat in order to take over from Jerrol Friend, whose term expired this month and who had served as borough mayor since October 2013.
  Rohrer ran unopposed at the recent municipal elections and won 1,983 votes.
  At the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly regular meeting last Thursday, Borough Manager Michael Powers presented a certificate to Friend for his three years of service.
  “When I asked around the community for words of wisdom to say about Jerrol, th
  
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• Nome City Council set to pass seasonal sales tax increase

  24-10-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Two ordinances regarding Nome city sales tax are in the second reading phase for tonight’s City Council meeting.
  One ordinance would amend the deadline to apply for a sales tax exemption, and the other would increase the seasonal sales tax.
  In front of the Council for the first time is a non-code ordinance to approve the Nome Joint Utility System’s water and sewer tariff rate increase.
  During the last NJUS meeting, the Utility Board passed a resolution to increase water and sewer rat
  
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• Getting dental care can be a challenge for people with disabilities

  24-10-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Lindsay Klecker has her teeth cleaned by Beth Rown, a dental hygenist who cares for patients with special needs. (Photo by Alison Kodjak/NPR)
  At the Marshfield Clinic dental center in Chippewa Falls, Wis., hygienist Karen Aslinger is getting her room ready. It’s all quite routine — covering the chair’s headrest with plastic, opening instruments, wiping down trays.
  But then she starts getting creative.
  “My next patient is pretty tiny and frail, so I like to go to oral surg
  
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• Central Council, state working to expand tribal court jurisdiction

  24-10-2016 20:59 via ktoo.org
  
  Southeast’s largest tribal organization will soon be able to offer an alternative to the court system for some criminal cases.
  A pending agreement with the state of Alaska will allow the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska to resolve certain criminal cases in tribal court.Alaska Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth and Central Council President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson at the 2016 Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Fairbanks. (Photo by Jennifer Canf
  
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• Concerns over tribal, corporate affiliation prompts candidate to withdraw AFN leadership bid

  24-10-2016 20:56 via ktoo.org
  
  Joe Nelson withdrew his candidacy for co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives board at the 2016 convention. Behind him is co-chair Ana Hoffman. (Photo by Jennifer Canfield)
  Southeast’s Joe Nelson withdrew his bid for a leadership position on the Alaska Federation of Natives board citing concerns from some in the delegation that the spot should go to a tribal representative. 
  Nelson took the stage Saturday to explain to the convention his withdrawal, calling it a “very tough
  
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• Concerns over tribal, corporate affiliation prompt candidate to withdraw AFN leadership bid

  24-10-2016 20:56 via ktoo.org
  
  Joe Nelson withdrew his candidacy for co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives board at the 2016 convention. Behind him is co-chair Ana Hoffman. (Photo by Jennifer Canfield)
  Southeast’s Joe Nelson withdrew his bid for a leadership position on the Alaska Federation of Natives board citing concerns from some in the delegation that the spot should go to a tribal representative. 
  Nelson took the stage Saturday to explain to the convention his withdrawal, calling it a “very tough
  
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• Appeals panel finds protections for ice seals reasonable

  24-10-2016 20:45
  
  An appeals court panel has found that a federal agency acted reasonably in proposing to list certain populations of bearded seals as threatened by the loss of sea ice.
  The decision by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower court ruling that found the decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service was improper.
  At issue was whether the agency, when it determines a species that isn’t endangered will lose habitat due to climate change over the coming
  
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• Army vet wins battle to play college basketball

  24-10-2016 20:07
  
  Isaiah Brock has one less thing to worry about at Oakland University.
  “I was very excited for them overturning their decision, I was very excited,” Brock said in a phone interview while at the campus near Detroit.The freshman forward came to the school to pursue a dream, but almost became a nightmare after the NCAA originally declared Brock ineligible.
  He spent the previous five years in the Army, and did more than carry a weapon — Brock retrieved the bodies of U.S. troops kill
  
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• Three bears shot and killed in Sitka neighborhood

  24-10-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Wildlife troopers shot and killed a brown bear sow and her two cubs in a Sitka neighborhood Thursday, Oct. 20.
  While it’s not the first report of an aggressive bear near downtown, the three were the first animals destroyed this year for public safety.
  Alaska Wildlife Trooper Kyle Ferguson responded to the bear sighting on Granite Creek Road about 5:30 Thursday evening.
  Ferguson said, like most of the recent bear sightings in town, the sow was searching for food.
  “The bear grabbe
  
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• Presidential campaigns blast AT&T-Time Warner merger

  24-10-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  AT&T’s proposed $85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner is already raising eyebrows among an important constituency: politicians. Reaction to the deal, which was announced Saturday night, has been swift, and skeptical, from both sides of the aisle.
  At a rally in Gettysburg, Pa., earlier Saturday, after news of the deal had started to trickle out, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said it was “a deal we will not approve in my administration because it’s too much concentr
  
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• Presbyterian Church apologizes for role in forced assimilation of America’s indigenous population

  24-10-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The Presbyterian Church’s Curt Karns read an apology before hundreds gathered for the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Fairbanks, Alaska. (Photo by Emily Schwing/Northwest News Network)
  The Presbyterian Church officially apologized to indigenous people across the country during a gathering of Alaska Native people this weekend at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Fairbanks.
  For decades the church took part in the forced removal of children from their homes and familie
  
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• Cub Scouts receive outpouring of donations from Alaskans following theft

  24-10-2016 17:42
  
  Cub Scout Pack 369 was devastated when its trailer was stolen in early October. Inside was roughly $3,500 worth of camping supplies and popcorn that was hours away from being delivered to customers. The theft crushed the boys’ hopes for their camping trip next summer.
  However, since the trailer was stolen, Alaskans have come together to help the pack. Countless businesses and individuals helped make the pack’s trip a reality once again. The pack received a new trailer, fishing and ca
  
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• Juneau talks Trump, Clinton and the 2016 presidential election

  24-10-2016 09:14 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Trump and Clinton campaign signs posted in Juneau. (Photos by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)
  Multiple polls indicate the presidential race in Alaska is much closer than the state’s conservative voting record would suggest. Juneau residents with different political beliefs shared their thoughts on this season’s very unusual race.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/10/19Voters2.mp3Let’s start in downtown Juneau at a wine tasting for the local League of Women Voters. The group bil
  
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• Shelter offers night-drop kennels to keep strays warm

  24-10-2016 06:17 via ktoo.org
  
  Night-drop kennels give stray animals a warm place to spend the night in Anchorage.
  KTVA-TV reports people who find animals after hours but cannot take them home can leave them in heated kennels behind Anchorage Animal Care and Control.
  Animal Care and Control spokeswoman Laura Atwood said shelter staffers feel for animals left outside despite the availability of kennels.
  The kennels have water access and the doors lock behind the animals.
  Shelter workers check the kennels every morning.
  People
  
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• Church apologizes for Native boarding schools

  24-10-2016 06:17 via ktoo.org
  
  The Presbyterian Church of America has apologized for the experiences of Native Americans at boarding schools that had ties to the church.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports a group of people who attend a Presbyterian church in the state gave the official apology at the end of the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention on Saturday.
  Convention co-chairman Jerry Isaac thanked the church and said he hoped other governments and groups take similar action.
  The apology calls the boarding schools
  
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• Ripinsky weather station provides data on mountain conditions

  24-10-2016 06:04 via ktoo.org
  
  Snow caps Mount Ripinsky in Haines in November. (Photo by John S. Hagen)
  If you’re heading into the mountains around Haines this winter, you’ll now have a better idea of what the conditions are like before going out. A weather station installed on Mt. Ripinsky last month is now transmitting data back to the web for anyone to use.
  A volunteer crew helped carry around 200 pounds of equipment up Mt. Ripinsky on a sunny September day.
  “We’ve been planning this project for abo
  
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• Folk school teaches skills in carpentry, gardening and medicine

  24-10-2016 05:39 via ktoo.org
  
  The Homer Folk School recently opened its doors, offering a variety of hands-on classes in everything from beekeeping to kayak building.
  On Oct. 8, the Folk School hosted a lively open house at the Ageya Wilderness Center to give the community a preview of some of the courses offered.
  At one of the interactive demonstrations, Neil Wagner stands next to a wooden contraption about three feet tall. It looks a little like a medieval torture device, but it’s actually an appl
  
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• 2016 November election: When, where and how to cast your ballot

  24-10-2016 04:54
  
  The 2016 November election is right around the corner. Early voting kicks off on Monday, Oct. 24 — just over two weeks before Election Day on Nov. 8.
  Who am I voting for?
  This is a big election year. Voters will have a number of candidates to choose from for their district’s state legislative representatives, Alaska’s congressional delegates and President of the United States.
  While the presidential and congressional candidates will appear on everyone’s ballots, loca
  
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• Police seek surveillance footage of early morning shooting near Spenard

  24-10-2016 04:36
  
  No one was injured in a Sunday morning shooting near Spenard, but Anchorage police say a parked vehicle was damaged by at least one bullet.
  In a statement about the incident, police said they are hoping residents in the area of Eureka Street and W 32nd Avenue will be able to provide surveillance footage or information about the shooting, which was reported just after 7:30 a.m.
  Police reported they found several shell casings on Eureka Street between W 32nd Avenue and W 31st Avenue. A Honda
  
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• U.S. Soldiers Told To Repay Thousands In Signing Bonuses From Height Of War Effort

  24-10-2016 02:55 via ktoo.org
  
  The Pentagon is seeking millions of dollars from nearly 10,000 current or former soldiers in the California National Guard, saying they didn’t deserve reenlistment bonuses. Here, soldiers from the state’s Guard force are seen in 2010, resting during transport in northeastern Afghanistan. Brennan Linsley/AP
  In most cases, when an employer pays a signing bonus to attract new workers, that payment is understood to be essentially unrecoverable. But the Pentagon has a different understand
  
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• U.S. Parents Are Sweating And Hustling To Pay For Child Care

  24-10-2016 02:55 via ktoo.org
  
  Parents struggle with the costs and choices with child care. Chelsea Beck/NPR
  Life is pretty busy for Mike Buchmann, a high school art teacher and football coach, and his wife Shannon, who works as an assistant controller at a small private college near their home in Mishawaka, Ind.
  Everyone is out the door by 7:45 each morning: Mike shuttles their two older kids to before-school care, while Shannon drops off their 14-month-old at a church-based child care center before they head off to their fu
  
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• Troopers: Kasilof man killed in late-night crash

  24-10-2016 00:15
  
  A Kasilof man died in a single-vehicle wreck late Saturday night, Alaska State Troopers report.
  Someone reported the wreck on Kalifornsky Beach Road to troopers around 11:40 p.m. and did not know where the driver of the vehicle was, according to an online dispatch.
  When troopers arrived less than 20 minutes later, they found the wrecked vehicle empty, the dispatch stated. A few minutes later, one of the investigators found the driver, 26-year-old Billy Duncan, unconscious 50 feet away from the v
  
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