Anchorage news

• Fairbanks police Chief Aragon resigns

  31-10-2016 23:45
  
  Last updated at 4:01 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 31
  Fairbanks police Chief Randall Aragon has resigned, according to a release from Mayor Jim Matherly’s office. The investigation into “conflict of interest violations” is ongoing, the release said.
  Deputy Chief Brad Johnson will continue as acting chief.
  Original story
  In one of his first official acts as the new mayor of Fairbanks, Mayor Jim Matherly placed Police Chief Randall Aragon back on paid administrative leave, effective immed
  
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• Did FBI Director James Comey’s email announcement break the law?

  31-10-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  FBI Director James Comey’s letter to Congress reporting a renewed look into emails that could be related to Hilary Clinton’s private server rocked the presidential race on Friday.
  The Clinton campaign and supporters have jumped on Comey for making such a dramatic announcement so close to an election.
  The question being raised now is whether the timing and style of the announcement make it illegal.
  THE CLAIM
  Democrats allege this is more than just an 11th-hour inconvenience. Senate De
  
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• Alaska tourism numbers up but leaders wary of less marketing

  31-10-2016 22:05 via ktoo.org
  
  Preliminary numbers indicate a stellar year for Alaska tourism in 2016, but industry leaders warn a drop in state marketing support could be harmful.
  The Alaska chapter of the Cruise Lines International Association says more than a million cruise ship passengers visited Alaska for the first time since 2009.
  The Peninsula Clarion, citing the McDowell Group research firm, reports border crossings from Canada were up 13 percent and outbound flights between May and August were up 6 percent.
  But visi
  
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• Bethel eye doctors travel to the Dominican Republic to lend a hand

  31-10-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Children’s eye development is something most of us rarely think about when we talk about raising kids, but it’s enough of an issue in the Dominican Republic to prompt volunteers to travel thousands of miles to help out.
  Three Yukon Kuskokwim Eye Center optometrists flew to the Dominican Republic to give much needed eye exams to school children living in poverty.http://cpa.ds.npr.org/kyuk/audio/2016/10/161031_eyes_pkg_0.mp3Cien Fuegos means “One Hundred Fires,” and refers
  
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• State continues efforts to privatize Mat-Su slaughterhouse

  31-10-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The state is continuing its mission to privatize Palmer’s Mt. McKinley Meat and Sausage plant.
  The Department of Natural Resources’ Board of Agriculture and Conservation issued requests for proposals Friday to lease or purchase the plant.
  “The minimum price for purchase is $700,000,” Amanda Swanson, the loan officer for the state’s Agricultural Revolving Loan Fund, which currently supports the plant, said. “We left it pretty much open for proposed lease terms.
  
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• Behind the FBI’s decision to disclose new Clinton email probe

  31-10-2016 20:56
  
  Law enforcement officials said FBI investigators obtained a search warrant and are reviewing thousands of emails found on a laptop used by Hillary Clinton’s longtime aide Huma Abedin and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner.
  FBI director James Comey is facing intense scrutiny for violating protocol and telling Congress about the investigation days before the election. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Comey may have broken the law. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and nearly 1
  
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• Teacher of the Week: Brett Bissell

  31-10-2016 20:40
  
  Brett Bissell had a dream of being a naval officer, but it turns out life had different plans.
  “When I was 17 years old I found out I was color blind,” Bissell said. “I had wanted to go to the Naval Academy since I was 6 or 7 years-old. My dad was in the Naval Academy, so I worked hard to make that happen. It taught me that hard work, it’s a journey.”
  Bissell went onto college and in his final year in engineering school, he found his passion in teaching. “[I]
  
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• Law enforcement: Despite icy roads, police and troopers respond to few traffic incidents

  31-10-2016 20:23
  
  Many drivers woke up Monday morning with a text message from the Anchorage Police Department (APD), which warned them of less-than-ideal conditions.
  “Very slick roads this morning due to freezing and moisture on the roads, use caution,” the message received at about 4:45 a.m. read. And despite those conditions during the morning commute, which followed rain over the weekend, both APD and Alaska State Troopers (AST) say that as of 10:20 a.m. traffic related incidents have be
  
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• No injuries reported after three Kobuk buildings catch fire

  31-10-2016 20:05 via ktoo.org
  
  No injuries are reported Sunday after three buildings caught fire in the community of Kobuk.
  Alaska State Troopers were initially notified at 12:51 a.m. Sunday morning, Oct. 30, that a grocery store in Kobuk was engulfed in flames.
  Further reports state the fire spread to the store’s storage building and a house located next to the store.
  Troopers said all three buildings are considered a “total loss.”
  Alaska Fire Marshals are joining Troopers in Kobuk to investigate the c
  
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• Suspect arrested for stealing Forestry Division truck, trailer

  31-10-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A spokesman for the Alaska Division of Forestry says the agency is assessing what it’s missing after a man broke into two fenced state parking lots Sunday in Fairbanks and drove off with a state truck and trailer.
  The man stole a Division of Parks truck and trailer but that items may also be missing from the Forestry Division, division spokesman Tim Mowry said.
  Troopers arrested Sean Coursey, 34, in the incident.
  Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said Coursey was tak
  
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• More children are being poisoned by prescription opioids

  31-10-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Young children and teenagers are increasingly likely to be poisoned by opioid painkillers that are often prescribed for other family members, a study finds.
  The number of children hospitalized for opioid poisoning almost doubled from 1997 to 2012, from about 1.40 per 100,000 kids to 3.71 per 100,000.
  “Opioids are ubiquitous now,” says Julie Gaither, a postdoctoral fellow at Yale School of Public Health and the study’s lead author. “Enough opioids are prescribed every year
  
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• 2016 has been a mixed bag for LGBT politics

  31-10-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  At just about every Hillary Clinton campaign event this year, and much of last, you could find lots of rainbows and posters with the letters “LGBT” on them in the crowd. The average Hillary Clinton event has a healthy amount of gay, lesbian and transgender Clinton supporters in attendance.
  This past Thursday at a rally co-headlined by Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama, Charlotte resident Matt Hirschy wore a rainbow-print “H” sticker and a wedding ring. Before the rall
  
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• Troopers pursue, stop suspect with stolen truck, bulldozer

  31-10-2016 18:20
  
  Alaska State Troopers have arrested a 34-year-old Fairbanks man suspected of stealing a Division of Forestry truck pulling a trailer that carried a bulldozer.
  Sean Coursey is being held on suspicion of vehicle theft, assault on a police officer, felony eluding and other charges after an arrest on the Alaska Highway.
  The truck and trailer were reported stolen Sunday morning near North Pole.
  At about 5:30 p.m., the truck and trailer were spotted on the Richardson Highway north of Delta Junction bu
  
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• Mushers frustrated over allowing cell phones on Iditarod trail

  31-10-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Wade Marrs pulls in to Galena in the 2016 Iditarod. (Photo by Zach Hughes/KSKA)
  Mushers are expressing frustration over controversial rule changes the Iditarod made during a board meeting Friday.
  The race’s Trail Committee is upholding rule 35, which for the first-time ever will allow the use of two-way communication devices, including cellphones and satellite phones along the trail.
  The organization thinks the measure will make for a safer race, a news release said.
  “This rule chang
  
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• Aniak man charged in robbery, assault

  31-10-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A suspect is in custody after a robbery and alleged assault in the community of Aniak.
  Alaska State Troopers in Aniak received a report of a possible robbery at the A.C. store at 10:10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29.
  Glen Morgan, 33, of Aniak allegedly entered the store and demanded cigarettes, producing a large kitchen knife during the interaction.
  Morgan left after an employee handed over the product.
  After an initial investigation, troopers contacted Morgan at his Aniak residence, where he
  
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• 300 million children are breathing ‘extremely toxic’ air, UNICEF says

  31-10-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Some 300 million children around the world are breathing highly toxic air, according to a new report from UNICEF.
  The report, which uses satellite imagery to determine the impacted areas, says these children live in places “where outdoor air pollution exceeds international guidelines by at least six times.” Altogether, it states, some 2 billion children are breathing air that has been deemed a “long term hazard,” exceeding minimum standards set by the World Health Organiz
  
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• Sealaska Corp. announces $10.5 million in dividends

  31-10-2016 17:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Sealaska Plaza, headquarters of the Southeast regional Native corporation, in Juneau. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
  The Sealaska regional Native corporation will distribute $10.5 million to shareholders in November.
  That brings the 2016 total payout to $26.4 million.
  Payments go to the corporation’s approximately 22,000 shareholders, who live or have roots in Southeast Alaska.
  An announcement on Sealaska’s website said most shareholders who also belong to an urban Native
  
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• Hey, looks like Americans are finally eating more fish

  31-10-2016 17:00 via ktoo.org
  
  San Diego native Megan Olbur didn’t grow up eating much seafood beyond tuna sandwiches, fish sticks or the occasional salmon dinners her parents made.
  But in 2015, when Olbur became pregnant with a daughter of her own, she heeded the advice of her physician and deliberately began adding more seafood to her diet as a way to boost brain development and to ensure the health of her growing baby.
  It turns out, she wasn’t alone in upping her fish fare.
  According to the annual Fisheries of
  
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• Libertarian VP candidate Bill Weld stumps in Anchorage

  31-10-2016 16:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Bill Weld, former governor of Massachusetts, is the Libertarian Party’s nominee for Vice President with running mate Gary Johnson. He stopped by Alaska Public Media to discuss his platform. (Photo by Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media)
  Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld capped a two-day campaign trip to Alaska on Friday, trying to shore up support for his running mate, Gary Johnson, and to increase the visibility of the Libertarian Party in Alaska.
  “We have two objectiv
  
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• With money from Murkowski, GOP assails U.S. Senate candidate Miller

  31-10-2016 15:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The Alaska Republican Party is attacking U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller in a series of hard-hitting mailers.
  This is the same Joe Miller who was the Republican Party’s own nominee six years ago, when he beat the incumbent Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski.
  Now the party is accepting money from Murkowski’s campaign and using it against Miller.
  Miller calls that money laundering, but the party says it’s perfectly legal.
  Shannon Connelly has received three of the anti-Miller ma
  
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• Corrections Commissioner to visit Haines: “We don’t think he’s coming to give us good news”

  31-10-2016 04:46 via ktoo.org
  
  Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (at podium) and Dean Williams (right), January 28, 2016. Williams was appointed commissioner of the Department of Corrections. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  The Alaska Department of Corrections Commissioner will be in Haines next week.  Dean Williams is traveling to far-flung corners of the state in preparation for more budget cuts. He is visiting all 15 towns that are part of the DOC Community Jails Program.
  The Community Jails Program supports towns from Haines to
  
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• Study indicates Alaskan gulls carry drug-resistant E. coli

  31-10-2016 04:29 via ktoo.org
  
  Glaucous-winged Gull in breeding plumage at Seward, Alaska. (Wikimedia Commons photo by Dick Daniels)
  As antibiotic-resistant superbugs become more common, they’re beginning to show up in places we wouldn’t expect.
  A new study has found antibiotic-resistant E. coli in gulls living on the Kenai Peninsula.
  There aren’t many people in the world who get excited about gull poop.
  But Andy Ramey is one of them. He’s a research geneticist with the USGS Alaska Scien
  
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• How early voting can favor urban residents

  31-10-2016 04:29 via ktoo.org
  
  Voting booth at the Bethel City Hall. (Photo by Adrian Wagner)
  Hillary Clinton is campaigning in the south this week, pushing for voters to come and vote early at the polls. While many urban voters are doing so nationally, people in rural communities may be finding that more difficult.
  In the last election, the Obama campaign encouraged voters to come out and participate in early voting, which they did, so the Democrats are trying it again. In Bethel, in-person absentee voting numbers are up thi
  
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• Two years after Jael Hamblen’s disappearance, her mother seeks answers

  31-10-2016 03:56
  
  During the two years since her daughter disappeared, closure is still out of reach for Colleen Vague.
  “As time goes on, it does not get easier,” she said. “It just changes focus.”
  Her daughter, Jael Hamblen, was last seen at her South Anchorage apartment on Oct. 11, 2014. Twenty years old at the time, she left behind a 7-month-old son, Joel, who is now in Vague’s care.
  “There’s a little boy who deserves to know what happened to his mom,” said Vague
  
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• Early morning fire rips through three Kobuk structures, including home

  31-10-2016 03:34
  
  Three buildings were destroyed by fire early Sunday morning in the village of Kobuk.
  The fire was first reported to officials in Kotzebue just before 1 a.m., according to Silvano Viveiros, the Northwest Arctic Borough fire chief.
  An online trooper dispatch said the fire started at a local grocery store. Viveiros said the fire grew so quickly, no one was notified until it was fully engulfed. It spread to the store’s storage unit and a nearby home before it was finally put out around 6 a.m.,
  
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• Nations Agree To Establish World’s Largest Marine Reserve In Antarctica

  31-10-2016 03:15 via ktoo.org
  
  Boats sit on the beach at Bahia Almirantazgo in Antarctica. An agreement was reached on Friday to create the world’s largest marine protected area in the ocean next to the frozen continent.
  Natacha Pisarenko/AP
  After years of negotiations, nations have reached an agreement to establish the world’s largest marine sanctuary in Antarctica’s Ross Sea.
  Twenty-four countries and the European Union reached the unanimous deal at an international meeting of the Commission for the Conser
  
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• FBI Obtains Warrant To Search Emails That Renewed Look Into Clinton Server

  31-10-2016 03:01 via ktoo.org
  
  FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence at the Hart Senate Building on Feb. 9 in Washington, D.C.
  Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images
  Updated at 7:30 p.m. ETFederal agents now have a search warrant they need to examine the thousands of emails found on a computer belonging to former Congressman Anthony Weiner that could be pertinent to the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s personal email server, sources familiar with the matter tell NPR’s Carr
  
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• 6.6-Magnitude Earthquake Flattens Much Of Historic Basilica In Central Italy

  31-10-2016 03:01 via ktoo.org
  
  An earthquake has virtually destroyed the basilica of San Benedict in Piaza San Benedetto in Norcia, Italy.
  Julian Elliott Photography/Getty Images
  A strong earthquake in Italy’s Umbria region destroyed a centuries-old basilica that was built at the birthplace of Saint Benedict and his twin sister Saint Scholastica early Sunday. No deaths were reported from the quake, which followed a series of smaller temblors.
  Images from the scene show firefighters coming to the aid of nuns as they fled
  
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• University of Alaska coaches open up on budget cuts facing their teams

  31-10-2016 02:58
  
  State budget problems have found athletics. The University of Alaska Men and Women’s skiing and indoor track and field teams could be cut after 2016-17 year.
  The announcement was made this week by UA president Jim Johnsen and University of Alaska Anchorage athletics director Keith Hackett.
  UAA is petitioning the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for a waiver to lower the minimum number of teams from 13 to nine. The final decision will come about these programs in ea
  
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• Air National Guard search for missing pilot

  31-10-2016 02:12 via ktoo.org
  
  The Alaska National Guard is searching in Lake Clark National Park for a pilot and downed plane.
  Military officials said in a statement that it is believed the missing pilot and Pilatus Porter turbo prop aircraft departed Lake Hood in Anchorage Friday evening to deliver fuel to Lake Clark Lodge.
  Controllers received a distress signal at about 6:30 p.m. Coordinates were transmitted about an hour later indicating the aircraft is within Lake Clark National Park.
  A team will continue on Sunday after
  
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• Italy rocked by 6.6 magnitude earthquake

  31-10-2016 00:53
  
  Solidarity with people affected by repeated, powerful earthquakes in Italy. Their resilience an example for all. #terremoto @matteorenzi pic.twitter.com/2sFWlaE0eo
  — Filippo Grandi (@RefugeesChief) October 30, 2016ROME — The head of Italy’s civil protection agency says there are no immediate reports of deaths after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 struck regions already damaged by previous quakes.
  Fabrizio Curcio said some people suffered injuries as nume
  
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• Libertarian VP candidate Bill Weld says he supports Republican Murkowski over Miller

  31-10-2016 00:03
  
  Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld made a campaign stop in Alaska Friday, stumping for his party’s presidential candidate, Gary Johnson. Weld is the first candidate in the White House race to visit Alaska during this election cycle.
  While in Alaska for his first-ever visit, he announced he’s not supporting the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, Joe Miller.
  “Mr. Miller has sort of taken over the Libertarian banner from Cean [Stevens], who had it and she s
  
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