Anchorage news

• Trump chief of staff pick to signal direction of presidency

  11-11-2016 23:45
  
  Donald Trump is considering a conservative bomb-thrower and the face of the GOP establishment, among others, for White House chief of staff – a major post that could set the direction for his presidency.
  The Republican president-elect is days away from naming his chief of staff, according to people with direct knowledge of his thinking.
  No position is considered more important than chief of staff, a behind-the-scenes power player who typically controls access to the president, guides the e
  
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• Juneau to hire half-time public information officer

  11-11-2016 23:32 via ktoo.org
  
  
  A woman leaves Juneau City Hall on May 10, 2016. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/KTOO)http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/11/10JNUPIO-npr1c.mp3The City & Borough of Juneau is creating a new half-time position for a public information officer.
  It’s part of a long-term goal of the Juneau Assembly to create and implement a communications plan to keep the public informed.
  In a memo, City Manager Rorie Watt said communicating with the public and media will always be an “other
  
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• ‘Supermoon’ in November will be closest in decades

  11-11-2016 23:09
  
  Earthlings are about to be treated the biggest and brightest full moon of the year — and this so-called supermoon will be extra special. It will be the closest the moon has come to us in almost 69 years. And the full moon won’t come this close again until 2034.
  “Supermoon” is the popular term for when a full moon coincides with what scientists call the moon’s perigee — the point in its orbit when the moon makes its closest approach to Earth.
  This time around,
  
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• Influential Singer-Songwriter Leonard Cohen Dies At 82

  11-11-2016 22:58 via ktoo.org
  
  Influential singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has died at the age of 82, according to a publicist for his U.S. record label.
  Cohen died Monday, but news of his death came out late Thursday. His Facebook page had this announcement:
  “It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away.We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries.
  “A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. The family req
  
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• President-Elect Trump Names Pence To Lead Transition Team

  11-11-2016 22:57 via ktoo.org
  
  President-elect Trump is shaking up the leadership of his transition team, naming Vice President-elect Mike Pence as chairman. Pence will take over the role from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was named as a vice chairman of the team’s executive committee.
  Pence, Indiana’s governor and a former congressman, brings some Washington expertise and has long-standing relationships with congressional leaders such as House Speaker Paul Ryan.
  Christie led the Trump transition effort duri
  
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• University of Alaska takes sports off the budget chopping block

  11-11-2016 22:55 via ktoo.org
  
  (Photo by Sparky Anderson)
  The University of Alaska has decided not to cut six sports teams.
  University President Jim Johnsen rescinded an earlier cost saving recommendation that men’s and women’s ski teams at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and ski and indoor track programs at the University of Alaska Anchorage be eliminated.
  Cutting the teams would have saved a projected $1.1 million, but would have dropped both Fairbanks and Anchorage campuses below the NCAA 10-
  
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• JPD officer uses Taser on man with machete

  11-11-2016 22:39 via ktoo.org
  
  The Juneau Police Department reports one of its officers used a Taser on a 23-year-old man wielding a machete on Thursday night.
  According to a police news release, several incidents led to the use of force.
  The man’s stepfather had reported a fight between his wife and the 23-year-old man, and locking the stepson, who was carrying a machete, out of a home in the area of Radcliffe Road and Berners Avenue.
  Then, police received multiple reports from other callers in the
  
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• Cannabis cocktails? Constellation is mulling it

  11-11-2016 22:36
  
  The company behind Corona beer, Robert Mondavi wine and Casa Noble Tequila is considering moving into the market for legal marijuana by selling alcoholic beverages infused with cannabis.
  “Why wouldn’t big business, so to speak, be acutely interested in a category of that magnitude?” Constellation Brands (STZ) CEO Rob Sands told Bloomberg News, as he described the company’s thinking about entering a burgeoning legal market that’s forecast to reach $50 billion in sale
  
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• Mic Check in the Morning: The Norris Bowers Band

  11-11-2016 22:02
  
  The Norris Bowers Band describes themselves as “High-octane old-time music with a bluegrasser’s sense for drama and harmony.” Originally from Fairbanks, the group is the combination of the Norris and Bowers families, two well-known families in the Alaska bluegrass scene.
  The band is on a whirlwind November tour, stretching from Fairbanks to Homer, and joined us early in the morning to play a few songs. Catch them Friday evening at the Taproot and Saturday night at Kharacte
  
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• Daybreak Adopt-a-Pet for Nov 11., 2016

  11-11-2016 22:00
  
  From Anchorage Animal Care and Control:
  Rose:Rose is a senior kitty who out on the streets. She is so glad to have been brought in from the cold, just before winter truly sets in. Now she’s seeking a home where she’ll be pampered, loved, and always warm. Rose is an outgoing girl who is pleased to meet everyone. She’ll greet you with a little meow and then begin purring and head bumping.
  Herschel:Herschel will roll over for pets. Herschel is a gregarious senior cat who luxuriate
  
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• Senate GOP leader says he asked Trump to back Keystone XL pipeline

  11-11-2016 20:54
  
  The top Republican in the Senate says he asked President-elect Donald Trump to move swiftly in approving construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told reporters on Friday that he made the request during his Capitol Hill meeting with Trump a day earlier.
  President Barack Obama had vetoed legislation that would have moved ahead with construction of the pipeline projected to carry 800,000 barrels a day of crude from Canada and North Dakota to Nebr
  
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• 3 Anchorage men indicted in Hatcher Pass kidnapping

  11-11-2016 19:17
  
  Scharber appears in court on Nov. 3, 2016. Corey Sylva appears in court / KTVA
  Three men have been indicted for the kidnapping and assault of two men who were shot and left for dead in Hatcher Pass in late October.
  Prosecutors allege 34-year-old Matthew Scharber, 26-year-old Corey Sylva and 23-year-old Michael Elder assaulted the victims at a home in the Mountain View neighborhood on the evening of Oct. 27.
  The victims were then tied up, forced into their own Subaru and driv
  
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• Why seabirds love to gobble plastic floating in the ocean

  11-11-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Imagine you’re passing a fast-food restaurant and you smell hamburger on the grill. You’re hungry, so you pull in and eat one … and the foam box it comes in.
  That’s apparently what’s happening with some oceanic birds. And now scientists think they know why.
  The fact that sea animals and birds eat floating plastic has long puzzled biologists. Their best guess was that it looks like food. But the new evidence suggests that for a lot of birds, plastic actually smells
  
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• Juneau man suspected of damaging vehicles with a machete

  11-11-2016 17:56
  
  A 23-year-old Juneau man suspected of damaging vehicles with a machete was taken into protective custody Thursday night.
  Juneau police shortly before 7:30 p.m. took a call from a man who said his wife had fought with his stepson and that the stepson had left the house with a machete.
  A subsequent caller reported the man damaged two vehicles in a business parking lot.
  Police confronted the man. Officers say he tossed the machete toward officers, who subdued him with a stun gun.
  The man was transp
  
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• Judge: Amazon to reimburse customers for in-app buys by kids

  11-11-2016 07:10
  
  SEATTLE (AP) – A federal judge has laid out rules for how Amazon must reimburse customers whose kids made in-app purchases without permission.
  The Federal Trade Commission sued the Seattle company in 2014, saying it was too easy for children to spend their parents’ money while playing games on mobile devices. The agency settled similar cases against Apple and Google.
  All three companies now require a password for in-app purchases or an opt-in to enable purchases without a password.
  S
  
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• Businesses honor veterans, active duty military with free food and services

  11-11-2016 06:32
  
  To honor their service to our country, a number of businesses are giving back to veterans and active duty military personnel on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11.
  A valid military ID is required by most businesses to participate in these offers, but some will accept other proof of service, like a pay stub or a photo of the service member in their uniform. Double check with each business for specific requirements.
  Food:
  Red Robin – A free tavern double burger with bottomless steak fries is avai
  
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• House Republicans ponder role after falling out of power

  11-11-2016 06:23
  
  Republicans in the Alaska House of Representatives are trying to figure out what to do after a Democrat-led coalition announced it’s taking over in Juneau. The 18 member Republican minority met at the downtown Sheraton Hotel in Anchorage, behind closed doors, to discuss its strategy moving forward.
  House speaker Mike Chenault (R of Nikiski) declined to comment on the meeting, but a spokesperson for the House majority said the group of Republicans will likely announce their new minorit
  
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• Anchorage anti-Trump protest draws a crowd

  11-11-2016 05:31
  
  There have been anti-Trump protests popping up across the U.S. since it was announced that Donald Trump would be the nation’s next president. Anchorage was no exception.
  On Thursday evening, about 50 protestors stood at the corner of Northern Lights Boulevard and the New Seward Highway, waving anti-Trump signs.
  Protest organizer Jess Bunag said she was inspired to organize the event after watching the protests in California and Oregon. She contacted people she knows as activists and asked
  
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• New House majority names slate of chairpersons

  11-11-2016 04:07 via ktoo.org
  
  Rep. Geran Tarr addresses the Alaska House of Representatives in 2014. Tarr and Andy Josephson will replace Benjamin Nageak (seated) and David Talerico as the co-chairs of the House Resources Committee. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  The new House majority will be taking a different approach to legislation next year. That became clear on Thursday, as the majority named the committee chairpersons who will guide the agenda.
  For example, House Resource Committee co-chairs Geran Tarr and Andy Joseph
  
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• Friday’s Veterans Day events

  11-11-2016 03:53 via ktoo.org
  
  Chaplain Kirk Thorsteinson delivers the invocation as Cmdr. Dan McCrummen of VFW Post 5559 listens during Veterans Day observances at Centennial Hall on Nov. 11, 2014. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)
  Friday is Veterans Day. In Juneau, a ceremony will be held from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. honoring veterans of all wars at Centennial Hall.
  Elks Lodge 420 will hold its Veterans Day Dinner from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The spaghetti and meatball dinner is free to all veterans, and members of the American
  
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• Reality Check w/ John Tracy: Campaign 2016 takeaways

  11-11-2016 03:49
  
  What did Americans learn from Tuesday’s election. For what it’s worth, here are some of my top takeaways.
  Donald Trump is the greatest salesman of our time — and that’s a compliment. To succeed at sales you have to believe in the product, and Trump never wavered in his belief that he alone could pull off the greatest upset in modern U.S. political history.
  More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than Trump. She won the popular vote. He cannot claim a mandate from the Ame
  
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• Budget cuts leave some Alaskans chilly this winter

  11-11-2016 03:41 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Diane Buck at her home in Juneau. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
  It could be harder for thousands of Alaskans to stay warm this winter. That’s because a state heating assistance program — created when oil prices were up — has gone away. In the past, the program offered relief for families and individuals who earned too much to qualify for federal heating assistance. Now, some of those households are starting to feel the effects.http://s3-us-west-2.amazo
  
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• About 120 to leave gas line team as state takes charge of project

  11-11-2016 03:19 via ktoo.org
  
  Prudhoe Bay at night. Gov. Bill Walker’s team hopes state leadership will mean North Slope gas can someday make it to market. (Photo by J Weston/Flickr Creative Commons)
  At a meeting of the state Gasline Development Corporation board today, corporation Vice President Frank Richards said staff is winding up the project’s first phase, which includes early design and engineering work — called preliminary front-end engineering and design, or pre-FEED. The project is not immediately
  
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• Support community to host veterans town hall Sunday in Palmer

  11-11-2016 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  This weekend, the first veterans town hall to be held in Alaska is happening in Palmer.http://media.aprn.org/2016/ann-20160119-06.mp3The event is part of a growing national movement to better integrate the lives and experiences of veterans with the civilian world.
  Veterans town halls are non-partisan opportunities for former service members to speak to an audience for ten minutes apiece about “what it felt like to go to war.”
  Non-veterans are invited to listen.
  The forums started las
  
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• Longtime private-sector engineer to head state’s oil and gas division

  11-11-2016 02:59 via ktoo.org
  
  Chantal Walsh poses with a sign wishing the University of Alaska Fairbanks a happy 100th birthday, on Sept. 23, 2016, in Fairbanks. Walsh has just been named as the director of the state’s Department of Natural Resources Oil and Gas division. (Photo courtesy JR Ancheta/University of Alaska Fairbanks)
  A private sector petroleum engineer and consultant will lead the state’s oil and gas division.Chantal Walsh, of Anchorage, will join the Department of Natural Resources at the end of Nov
  
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• Joe Miller concedes to Murkowski in Senate race

  11-11-2016 02:28
  
  Joe Miller has officially conceded in the 2016 Senate race against Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski.
  In a release from Miller, he said he called and congratulated Murkowski on her win.
  Miller, who was running as a Libertarian, had 29.44 percent of with vote, with 99.55 percent of the precincts across Alaska reporting, according o the Division of Elections.
  Murkowski had 44.17 percent of the vote. In a statement issued Tuesday, she thanked Alaskans for voting her into her third term in office.
  
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• 4 charged with kidnapping, other crimes, for early-November abduction, unrelated thefts

  11-11-2016 02:22
  
  The Anchorage Police Department said they’ve arrested four people involved in the kidnapping, and subsequent robbery, of a 19-year-old man. The early-November crimes also led the department to an Anchorage home stocked with more than $100,000 in stolen goods from numerous unrelated incidents.
  On Nov. 1, a 19-year-old Eagle River man was invited to have coffee with 18-year-old Dela White in downtown Anchorage. When he went downtown, White, who was with another female, told the 19-year-old s
  
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• Investigators trace craft store fire to youth with lighter

  11-11-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  ANCHORAGE — Fairbanks fire and police officials say a fire that damaged a crafts store in August was intentionally set.
  Fire officials say a lighter brought into a Michael’s Craft Store was used to ignite merchandise at the end of an aisle.
  A youth is suspected of starting the fire and the case is in the hands of the Division of Juvenile Justice.
  The early evening fire broke out early Aug. 29.
  Fire officials say the store sprinkler system contained the fire to the end of the store ai
  
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• Humankind Special – 11-08-16

  11-11-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  This Humankind special, "Healing the Trauma of War" tells the deeply moving stories of veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam. How do they heal the invisible emotional and spiritual wounds sustained in the combat zone?Up to 400,000 returning soldiers are dealing with effects of PTSD and "moral injury" in war.
  
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• Weather likely a factor in death of experienced pilot near Lake Clark

  11-11-2016 01:40
  
  David McRae stands alongside his Pilatus Porter turbo prop airplane.Photo provided by Kent Weight
  Preliminary results from an investigation into the crash that killed a bush pilot near Lake Clark in late October suggest weather and low visibility as probable causes, according to the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB).
  Crews spent nearly a week searching for 55-year-old David McRae and his red, white and blue Fairchild Pilatus Porter PC-6 turboprop.
  According to the NTSB report, McR
  
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• High-level U.S., Canadian military chiefs meet again to confer on Arctic training, operations

  11-11-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  A second Chinook helicopter carrying U.S. and Canadian general/admiral-ranking officers and their staffs kicks up dust Tuesday upon landing at Black Rapids Training Site after a flight from Eielson Air Force Base. (Photo by Tim Ellis/KUAC)
  Ten high-level U.S. and Canadian commissioned and noncommissioned officers toured the Army’s Black Rapids Training Site in Delta Junction on  Tuesday.
  The event was part of an ongoing series of meetings intended to enable commanders of the two milit
  
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• Investigators trace Fairbanks craft store fire to youth with lighter

  11-11-2016 00:59
  
  Fairbanks fire and police officials say a fire that damaged a crafts store in August was intentionally set.
  Fire officials say a lighter brought into a Michael’s Craft Store was used to ignite merchandise at the end of an aisle.
  A youth is suspected of starting the fire and the case is in the hands of the Division of Juvenile Justice.
  The early evening fire broke out early Aug. 29.
  Fire officials say the store sprinkler system contained the fire to the end of the store aisle until fire cre
  
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• Kotzebue man pleads guilty to killing Anchorage assisted living caretaker

  11-11-2016 00:38
  
  A man pleaded guilty to murder in court two years and three days after he killed 57-year-old Glenna Wyllie, a caretaker at an Anchorage assisted living facility.
  In court Thursday, 26-year-old Gilbert Nashookpuk of Kotzebue pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
  Nashookpuk appears in court / KTVA
  Nashookpuk was charged with Wyllie’s murder in November 2015.
  Just after midnight on Nov. 7, 2015, he called 911 to report he had “killed someone.” At the time, police stated Nash
  
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• Dow hits all-time high as investors anticipate transition to Trump

  11-11-2016 00:12 via ktoo.org
  
  The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up more than 1 percent at an all-time high of 18,807.88, as investors bet that the Donald Trump presidency will mean less regulation and more potential stimulus spending.
  Specific policies remain to be seen, but the president-elect pledged during the campaign to dismantle regulations, especially the Dodd-Frank financial law, which is now boosting financial stocks. Pharmaceutical stocks posted more gains today, on the anticipation that the Trump administrat
  
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• Through a student lens: Films focus on place, culture and climate change

  11-11-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Five Mount Edgecumbe High School students took part in a film-making class last year and will showcase their work at a screening in Sitka tonight.
  The films focus on place, culture, and climate change in a handful of villages across the state.http://kcaw-org.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/10StudentFilms.mp3Emmett Williams has been in the film industry for decades. His work has taken him to Africa, South America and to big cities like New York and London. Most recently though, Sitka
  
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