Anchorage news

• High winds prevent airliner from landing in Ketchikan

  03-11-2016 23:55
  
  KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) – High winds prevented an Alaska Airlines jet from making a scheduled landing in Ketchikan on Thursday morning.
  The Ketchikan Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/2fjZH0R) the fight continued on to Seattle. The airline was attempting to return passengers to Ketchikan on a later Thursday flight.
  The flight started earlier Thursday in Juneau. It had one stop in Ketchikan before flying on to Seattle, but wind gusts as high as 66 mph Thursday morning prevented the landing a
  
  Read more

• Story Time w/Aunt Phil: The creation of Alaska’s first legislature

  03-11-2016 23:15
  
  With the general election next Tuesday, this week’s Story Time with Aunt Phil shares a bit about Alaska’s first election after it became a territory in 1912.
  As a possession, the people of the Last Frontier did not have much voice in their governance after Russia turned Alaska over to the Americans in 1867. But when Alaska became a territory in August 1912, the people were finally allowed to establish their own legislature – although the U.S. President still appointed Alaska&rs
  
  Read more

• Protesters, police still clashing over disputed North Dakota pipeline

  03-11-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Stephanie Jasper holds up her fist and yells while protesting in the Cannonball River during a standoff with police at Turtle Island, north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. (Photo by Emily Kask for NPR)
  Police used pepper spray and what they called nonlethal ammunition to remove Dakota Access Pipeline protesters from federal land Wednesday. Demonstrators say they were trying to occupy land just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation where construction of the controversial pipeline i
  
  Read more

• Newscast – Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016

  03-11-2016 21:48 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/11/20161103-newscast.mp3In this newscast:
  An Alaska group focused on advancing biblical principles asks voters to shoot down two state Supreme Court justices retention elections,
  the latest on the U.S. Senate election beef between the state GOP, Libertarian candidate Joe Miller, and incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski, and
  Crime and public safety briefs from around the state.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Petersburg man faces December trial for charges in sexual assault, kidnapping

  03-11-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A Petersburg man facing charges of kidnapping and sexual assault is scheduled to go to trial in December.
  Joshua Hall Blewett, 29, is charged with assault, sexual assault and kidnapping for allegedly threatening another person with a utility knife, tying her up, hitting her and sexually assaulting her in early September at an Excel Street apartment.
  Blewett has pleaded not guilty to the charges and had a hearing Monday, Oct. 31st, before superior court judge William Carey.
  Blewett was arres
  
  Read more

• Woman suffers traumatic leg injury after accidentally shooting herself

  03-11-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A Prince of Wales Island woman who accidentally shot herself Wednesday night suffered serious leg trauma and was expected to be medivaced.
  Alaska State Troopers were notified of the accident at about 10:30 p.m., according to the online troopers dispatch.
  The 29-year-old woman had been removing a gun from the back seat of a vehicle when it accidentally fired and shot her in the leg.
  She was taken by ambulance from the Sandy Beach area of Thorne Bay to the Alicia Roberts clinic in Klawock.
  Tr
  
  Read more

• AST: Second man involved in Hatcher Pass assault, theft arrested

  03-11-2016 19:31
  
  Another man has been arrested by the agency’s Special Crimes Investigation Unit (SCIU) for the assault and kidnapping of two men in the Valley. The incident was reported to Alaska State Troopers on Oct. 27.
  In an online release, troopers say on Wednesday their investigators identified 26-year-old Anchorage resident Corey S. Sylva as part of the crime, where the two alleged victims were left injured on the Palmer side of Hatcher Pass.
  Related
  Mountain View man charged with attempted mu
  
  Read more

• FBI investigating burning of black church painted with ‘Vote Trump’

  03-11-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation into the vandalizing and burning of a black church in Mississippi. “Vote Trump” had been spray-painted on a wall.
  Local authorities are still searching for the person or people responsible for the fire, which they have identified as an arson.
  “When firefighters arrived at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church Tuesday night, they found it in flames, and the ‘Vote Trump’ slogan written in silver spray paint on the outside w
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Sterling teenager dies in pickup crash near Kasilof

  03-11-2016 18:34
  
  A Kenai Peninsula teenager is dead after a crash near Kasilof.
  Alaska State Troopers say 17-year-old Mykah Slater of Sterling died in the crash Wednesday night near Mile 1 Kalifornsky Beach Road.
  Slater was a passenger in a pickup driven by 34-year-old Johnna Angleton of Kasilof.
  Troopers say Angleton was driving south at about 9 p.m. when she lost control, left the road and crashed in a ditch.
  Angleton and another passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
  Slater was pronounced dead at
  
  Read more

• They’ve waited a long, long time for this: Veteran cubs fans rejoice

  03-11-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The streets of Chicago erupted in cheers last night. Shouts of jubilation were raised in sports bars across the country.
  And in comfy chairs in living rooms across America, the grandmas and grandpas and great-grandparents of Cubs Nation took to their feet, held their faces in shock, grabbed their telephones, collapsed into gleeful laughter and chugged champagne straight from the bottle.
  All the Cubs fans on Earth have been waiting their whole lives for this. (Even those few fans who were alive f
  
  Read more

• Man charged with attempted murder in Hatcher Pass assaults

  03-11-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  ANCHORAGE — A 34-year-old Anchorage resident has been charged with two counts of attempted murder of two men found injured at Hatcher Pass.
  Matthew Scharber also is charged with kidnapping, felony assault and car theft.
  Scharber was arrested Monday with help from the Anchorage Police Department SWAT team, Alaska State Troopers said.
  A witness found the two men in their early 20s injured and abandoned Oct. 27 at Hatcher Pass near Archangel Trail.
  The men said their car had been stolen.
  Troo
  
  Read more

• Sitka veterinarians try to find missing pet cockatoo

  03-11-2016 17:45
  
  A Sitka couple is asking for the community’s help in locating their Moluccan cockatoo.
  The Sitka Sentinel reports Burgess Bauder and his wife, Victoria Vosburg, who are both veterinarians, are offering an $800 reward to anyone who finds the pale pink bird named Keta.
  Late last month, the Sitka Police Department posted on Facebook to elicit community response to help locate the bird.The cockatoo was last seen Oct. 17, when Bauder’s son stopped by Keta’s shelter to check on the b
  
  Read more

• Up to 240 people feared dead in capsizings off Libyan coast

  03-11-2016 17:00 via ktoo.org
  
  As many as 240 people are missing and feared to have perished in the Mediterranean Sea after two boats carrying migrants to Europe apparently capsized.
  A spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration in Italy, Flavio Giacomo, tweeted that at least 29 people had survived, and were brought to the Italian island of Lampedusa. The exact number of people missing has not been confirmed, he said.
  U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesperson Carlotta Sami told The Associated Press th
  
  Read more

• Mushers await release of documentary criticizing the sport

  03-11-2016 17:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Alaska mushers are waiting for the release of a Canadian-made documentary film that is purportedly damaging to sled-dog racing.
  Parts of the film were made with the help of Iditarod resources, yet early reports of the film’s content indicate it is actually an indictment against the sport.
  http://media.aprn.org/2016/ann-20161102-04.mp3“Sled Dogs” was directed by accomplished film producer and director Fern Levitt.
  Levitt is an instructor at the Toronto Film School, and has a 20-
  
  Read more

• Would making Election Day a holiday increase voter turnout?

  03-11-2016 16:13
  
  Patagonia is joining other companies that are giving workers a day off on Election Day, saying it wants to encourage its employees to have the time to elect candidates up and down the ballot who will protect the environment.
  There’s been a movement called “Take Off Election Day” that has enlisted hundreds of tech companies, mainly smaller ones, to give people Nov. 8 off.
  But the move by a company like Patagonia may give other big brands more to think about. The Ventura, Califor
  
  Read more

• Tanana man sentenced to 203 years in prison in 2014 deaths of troopers

  03-11-2016 16:00 via ktoo.org
  FAIRBANKS — A rural Alaska man who shot and killed two Alaska State Troopers has been sentenced to 203 years in prison.
  Nathanial Kangas, 22, was sentenced Wednesday without the possibility of parole, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. He had been found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Sgt. Scott Johnson and Trooper Gabe Rich in May 2014.
  The officers were shot at Kangas’ home in the village of Tanana as they attempted to arrest Kang
  
  Read more

• UAF professor proposes alternative budget with no cuts to academics, athletics

  03-11-2016 08:00
  
  The University of Alaska’s Board of Regents is preparing to make another round of tough budget decisions next week. They’ve been using Strategic Pathways, UA president Jim Johnsen’s plan of options for balancing a multi-million dollar gap.
  Wednesday evening, a University of Alaska Fairbanks professor presented a new vision for the University of Alaska system.
  Dr. Abel Bult-Ito has taught at UAF for 18 year. He’s a neurobiology and anatomy professor. His plan is an ad
  
  Read more

• Police tackle school zone speeding

  03-11-2016 07:50
  
  Some Anchorage drivers are paying for their bad driving habits with steep fines after they were caught speeding in school zones. The Anchorage Police Department held a school zone speeding crackdown Wednesday all over Anchorage and in Eagle River.
  Police said it was the first time the traffic unit has partnered with school resource officers on an enforcement detail. The department said the traffic unit is always looking for ways to have a large impact on traffic safety.
  The police depa
  
  Read more

• CDC: Progress reducing uninsured rate threatens to stall

  03-11-2016 06:05
  
  A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that progress reducing the number of Americans without health insurance is threatening to stall this year.
  The uninsured number dipped by only 200,000 people between 2015 and the first six months of this year, according to the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey. The report’s authors are calling that “a nonsignificant difference.”
  The study suggests that President Barack Obama’s legacy health
  
  Read more

• Bonded by sports: Clifford rehabilitates in Colorado with support from fellow athlete

  03-11-2016 06:02
  
  Lorrie Clifford is fighting her way along the road to recovery. And she has help.
  After suffering serious injuries in a devastating car accident in August in Hawaii, the Chugiak High School graduate was transferred to Craig Hospital, a rehabilitation center in Englewood, Colorado.
  Alev Kelter, Clifford’s former basketball teammate at Chugiak, recently visited her in Colorado. Currently, Clifford has very limited movement of her arms and legs, but Kelter said s
  
  Read more

• US Coast Guard honors 6-man crew killed in 1986 helicopter crash

  03-11-2016 05:47
  
  Service members and representatives from the city of Kodiak attend the 30th anniversary remembrance ceremony honoring the crew of Coast Guard 1473U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Kelly Parker Capt. Mark Morin, Air Station Kodiak commanding officer, Cmdr. James Landreau, U.S. Navy Lt. Aaron Wesson, Cmdr. John Whiddon (Ret.) and Lt. Zach Vojtech render salutes during the National Anthem at the 30th anniversary remembrance ceremony honoring the crew of Coast Guard 1473U.S. Coast G
  
  Read more

• Alaska’s U.S. House and Senate candidates Debate for the State at 8 p.m. Thursday

  03-11-2016 05:36 via ktoo.org
  
  The U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 18, 2016. (Public domain photo courtesy Architect of the Capitol)
  On Thursday night, KTOO will carry live television and radio broadcasts of Alaska Public Media’s Debate for the State featuring Alaska’s candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
  The program begins at 8 p.m. with the U.S. House race. Incumbent Republican Don Young is being challenged by Democrat Steve Lindbeck, Libertarian Jim McDermott a
  
  Read more

• Q&A: Polar architect designs for extreme environments and climate change

  03-11-2016 05:22 via ktoo.org
  
  
  A renowned contemporary architect is touring Alaska this week.
  Hugh Broughton spoke at the Alaska Design Forum in Anchorage and will lecture in Juneau before giving the keynote address at the American Institute of Architects’ Polar Futures forum in Fairbanks on Friday.
  He’s considered one of the world’s leading designers of research facilities in Polar regions.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/11/02ICEBUILD.mp3Broughton and his UK-based team of architects just finish
  
  Read more

• Hot Seats: Vince Beltrami and Cathy Giessel for Senate District N

  03-11-2016 05:18
  
  It’s been called the “heavy weight title fight” of the state election races this year. New financial disclosure reports out Nov. 1 show both candidates for Senate District N — Vince Beltrami and Sen. Cathy Giessel — have each raised over $200,000. That’s among the top campaign fund amounts for a state race in Alaska history.
  “Just trying to see if there’s anything I can do to earn your support or if you have any questions of me or concerns.&rd
  
  Read more

• Abortion ruling at center of justices’ retention battle

  03-11-2016 05:10 via ktoo.org
  
  Alaska Supreme Court Justices Joel H. Bolger, Peter J. Maassen , Craig Stowers and Daniel E. Winfree (left to right), listen as then-Chief Justice Dana Fabe delivers the 2014 State of the Judiciary Address. Bolger and Maassen face judicial retention elections. (Photo by Skip Gray/Gavel Alaska)
  Voters will decide whether to keep two Alaska Supreme Court justices on Election Day. Alaska Family Action, which describes itself as focused on advancing biblical principles, opposes retaining the judges.
  
  Read more

• In focus: Anchorage 6th grader sees clearly for the first time thanks to new tech, community support

  03-11-2016 04:15
  
  Imagine the whole world around you is a blur. That was reality for an Anchorage sixth grader who is now seeing clearly.
  Rennick Heatwole, now 12, was born with an underdeveloped optic nerve. It’s a condition glasses and contacts can’t fix. He can’t see anything clearly unless it’s inches from his face, but that doesn’t stop him from playing football and soccer.
  “I really just see the blob coming down and stick my hands out,” Rennick said, explaining how
  
  Read more

• Candidate Kito supports Walker revenue plan

  03-11-2016 03:58 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Rep. Sam Kito III is running for re-election to his downtown Juneau-based House seat. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
  Juneau Democrat Sam Kito III is running for his second full term representing state House District 33. That includes the capital city’s downtown, Douglas, Haines, Skagway, Klukwan, Excursion Inlet and Gustavus.
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/11/02Kito.mp3Kito was appointed to his House seat in 2014 after then-Rep. Beth Kerttula stepped down.
  The 18-ye
  
  Read more

• Assembly votes to put a hold on license for Anchorage’s first marijuana shop

  03-11-2016 03:56
  
  It could be a big holdup for what many thought would be the first retail marijuana store to open in Anchorage.  Now its owner, Bryant Thorp, is wondering if he will be allowed to open at all.
  Thorp owns Arctic Herbery, a nondescript gray building that looks like a remodeled home on Arctic Boulevard near West 72nd Avenue. Thorp was the first person to get a retail license to sell marijuana in Anchorage, but he was also the first person to get a marijuana violation from the state.
  James
  
  Read more

• 203 years: Sentence announced for Tanana man who killed 2 Alaska State Troopers

  03-11-2016 02:30
  
  Crime tape kept the public out of the Kangas home during the initial investigation in Tanana
  ANCHORAGE — Nathanial Kangas will spend the rest of his life in prison, a judge decided at his sentencing hearing Wednesday. Kangas was convicted of shooting and killing two Alaska State Troopers in the village of Tanana in 2014.
  Superior Court Judge Paul Lyle sentenced Kangas to 203 years in prison, without the possibility of parole. Lyle also ordered Kangas to pay a $5,000 fine and $2.6 million i
  
  Read more

• Mountain View man charged with attempted murder and kidnapping of 2 men

  03-11-2016 02:07
  
  A Mountain View man is being held on charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, assault and vehicle theft, according to Alaska State Troopers.
  Matthew Scharber’s two alleged victims were left injured on the Palmer side of Hatcher Pass on Thursday, according to an online dispatch. The men were transported to Valley hospitals for treatment of their injuries, which AST spokeswoman Megan Peters described in the dispatch as not life-threatening.
  Both men, in their 20s, told troopers their S
  
  Read more

• Alaska’s top oil companies adjusting to low prices

  03-11-2016 01:38 via ktoo.org
  
  BP’s building in Anchorage on Oct. 18, 2006. BP’s third-quarter earnings were better than expected. (Creative Commons photo by Travis)
  The big three oil majors that operate in Alaska — BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp. — all released third quarter earnings results in the past week.
  The financial reports are a window into how the companies are weathering the dramatic decline in oil prices. And you don’t need a business degree to know it’s a rough time to
  
  Read more

• 2 Iowa officers shot and killed in ambush-style attacks, suspect in custody

  03-11-2016 01:35
  
  Urbandale Police Officer Justin MartinCourtesy Urbandale Police Department/Facebook Des Moines Police Sgt. Anthony BeminioCourtesy Des Moines Police Department/Facebook
  Police in Des Moines, Iowa, say two officers have been shot and killed in ambush-style attacks about two miles apart. The suspect in the killings of the two officers is in custody.
  The Des Moines Police Department said in a news release that the shootings took place early Wednesday. Officers responded to a report of shots fired
  
  Read more

• Juneau Afternoon – 11-3-16

  03-11-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Thursday on A Juneau Afternoon, Joan Pardes will host.
  We’ll get a preview of this week’s Evening at Egan presentation on Viking Economics by George Lakey;
  We’ll talk with Charla Brown about Family Discovery Day;
  We’ll get the details about Sunday’s Juneau Cabaret;
  And Nancy DeCherney will be here with Arts Up!
  That, Writers Almanac, Bird Note, music and more,
  Thursday afternoon on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on KTOO-NEWS, repeated at 4 on KRNN. And available on d
  
  Read more

• Second annual Anchorage Veterans Day parade honors those who served

  03-11-2016 00:45
  
  This Veterans Day, you can honor our past military members with current armed forces personnel in downtown Anchorage.
  The second annual Anchorage Veterans Day Parade kicks off at 11 a.m. on Nov. 5 at the Delaney Park Strip, between Ninth and 10th Avenues.
  Around 300 to 400 troops, Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) members from Anchorage high schools and various military motorcycle groups are expected to participate.
  Working military dogs and modern military equipment are expecte
  
  Read more

• Small steps for toddlers, giant steps for learning Inupiaq

  03-11-2016 00:19
  
  Words matter a lot on Alaska’s North Slope. That’s why the town of Barrow recently voted narrowly to change its name to Utqiaġvik, the Inupiaq name for the community.
  Some elders say it means “place where you gather roots.”
  While there’s a lot of debate about going back to the community’s original name, the word seems to resonate with those who are passionate about returning to their culture’s roots – its language.
  The Ilisagvik College runs a
  
  Read more

• Alaskan Book Review – “History of the One Fingered Fastball: A Baseball Memoir”

  03-11-2016 00:09 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Commentator Dee Longenbaugh has this review of “History of the One Fingered Fastball: A Baseball Memoir” by Ron Rau and published by Comet Publishing.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/11/book217.mp3
  
  Read more

Follow @AnchorageNewsUS on Twitter!