Anchorage news

• Google teaches machines to become more fluent translators

  15-11-2016 23:49
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Google is promising that its widely used translation service is now even more fluent, thanks to an advance that’s enabling its computers to interpret complete sentences.
  That may sound simple, but it took years of engineering to pull off. Until now, Google’s technology analyzed phrases in pieces and then cobbled together a sometimes stilted translation.
  Now that Google’s machines can interpret entire sentences, the translations of extended passages of
  
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• Newscast – Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016

  15-11-2016 23:47 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/11/20161115-newscast.mp3In this newscast:
  Protesters in Juneau show solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline,
  Anchorage police link the gun used in this weekend’s police shooting to five other killings in the city this year, and
  the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority reconsiders land sales in Ketchikan and Petersburg that would have led to controversial logging.
  
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• Missing kayaker found dead near Anchor Point

  15-11-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A Homer man was found dead early Monday morning near Anchor Point after not returning from a kayaking trip on Sunday.
  The son of Kenneth Jones, 72, called police Sunday evening to report his father missing, Homer Police Chief Mark Robl said.
  Jones, who had set out from Beluga Slough in his kayak for a routine paddle, had not shown up at his destination of nearby Mariner Park.
  “Immediately upon hearing this news, the Homer Police Department launched a search of the beach areas, we notified
  
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• UPDATE: Fatal crash on outbound Glenn causes delays in East Anchorage

  15-11-2016 22:56
  
  John Thain / KTVA
  Updated at 2:02 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15
  The outbound lanes of the Glenn Highway were closed between Boniface Parkway and Muldoon Road as emergency crews respond to a fatal crash, according to a release sent by Anchorage police.
  The alert was sent out shortly after 12:30 p.m. No further details of the incident are known at this time.As of 1:45 p.m., traffic was being redirected off the highway at Turpin Street. The crash was east of Turpin, before the Muldoon exit. T
  
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• Fatal crash on outbound Glenn causes delays in East Anchorage

  15-11-2016 22:56
  
  John Thain / KTVA Traffic backed up on the outbound Glenn just before Turpin. Jason Sear / KTVA Jason Sear / KTVA
  Updated at 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15
  All lanes of the Glenn Highway were closed for hours Tuesday afternoon following fatal crash involving 4 vehicles just before the Muldoon Road exit, according to the Anchorage Police Department.
  “Initial indications are that a Subaru, solely occupied by an adult male, was traveling inbound on the Glenn Highway when it crossed the center
  
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• Gun used to shoot officer tied to 5 killings in Anchorage, police say

  15-11-2016 22:43 via ktoo.org
  
  Anchorage police said the gun used to “ambush” and shoot one of its officers early Saturday has now been linked to five area homicides — committed from early July through late August.
  Anchorage Police Department identified James Dale Ritchie, 40, who was shot and killed by police after shooting Officer Arn Salao multiple times in what Police Chief Christopher Tolley called “an ambush,” at a Tuesday news conference at its West Anchorage train
  
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• No foul play suspected in three Bethel deaths

  15-11-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Over the weekend, three people were found dead in their homes in Bethel.
  Police believe that two of those deaths were from natural causes.
  The third person, identified as of Josephine Fisher, 34, is still under investigation.
  An autopsy will be conducted, but police say that there was no sign of foul play.
  A police report listed the other two deaths: Gerald Korthuis, 48, found Friday and Norman Wassille, 65, found Saturday.
  Next of kin have been notified.
  Police ask anyone wi
  
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• For Trump’s secretary of state, buzz centers around Giuliani, Bolton

  15-11-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The State Department has opened up a transition office, but that ground-floor corner office in Foggy Bottom is quiet for now as diplomats await news of their new boss. Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of State could tell a lot about the direction he will take U.S. foreign policy.
  At the moment, all eyes are on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a longtime friend of Trump and strong backer throughout the campaign. He’s an unlikely candidate with little foreign policy experience, th
  
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• Gun used in APD officer ambush linked to five Anchorage homicides

  15-11-2016 21:40
  
  The Anchorage Police Department (APD) says the gun used in the weekend ambush-style shooting against an officer is connected to five Anchorage homicides from earlier this year, according to APD Chief Chris Tolley.
  In a press conference Tuesday at the APD training headquarters, in the Jewell Lake area, Tolley also identified the officers involved in the weekend shooting as officer Arn Salao and Sgt. Marc Patzke. Salao was shot at least four times in the lower part of his body, but bullets ma
  
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• Gun used in APD officer ambush linked to 5 Anchorage homicides

  15-11-2016 21:40
  
  Updated at 12:49 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15
  The gun used in the weekend ambush-style shooting against a police officer is connected to five Anchorage homicides from earlier this year, according to the Anchorage Police Department (APD).
  In a press conference Tuesday at the APD training headquarters, in the Jewell Lake area, Chief Chris Tolley also identified the shooter, as well as the officers — one of whom suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the incident.“So often, it’s totally
  
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• Paul Ryan re-nominated by Republicans as Speaker

  15-11-2016 21:32 via ktoo.org
  
  House Speaker Paul Ryan has been unanimously re-nominated by his party to continue to serve as speaker in the 115th Congress.
  According to Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong, Ryan was nominated by Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., a founding member of the conservative Freedom Caucus that helped to push out former House Speaker John Boehner.
  Reps. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., who was the first House Republican to endorse President-elect Donald during the primaries, and Martha McSally, R-Ariz., seconded the nomin
  
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• Recipe Box: Harira Soup

  15-11-2016 21:06
  
  Alaska chef Kirsten Dixon says when she and her daughter, Mandy, went to Morocco, they came back inspired to make a plethora of dishes.
  One of them was harira, a savory soup typically eaten to break the Ramadan fast. It’s made using lentils, chickpeas and diced meat, complete with herbs and spices. Dixon says she was served the dish just about every day at breakfast during her trip abroad.
  “The soup has a lot of social and spiritual connotation in Morocco,” she said. &ldqu
  
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• Fairbanks representative looks to improve rural internet

  15-11-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Fairbanks state Representative David Guttenberg has a plan for improving internet service in rural areas of the state.
  A bill Guttenberg is sponsoring would create a state corporation to contract with service providers to build infrastructure that’s too costly for individual companies to invest in.http://media.aprn.org/2016/ann-20161114-07.mp3“Put out a job that we need this many towers in these locations to fill the gap. We need this much fiber optics,” Guttenburg sa
  
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• Biggest Thanksgiving travel rush in 9 years, predicts AAA

  15-11-2016 19:13
  
  The slowly improving economy could boost travel over the Thanksgiving holiday to levels not seen in nine years.
  The auto club AAA forecasts that 48.7 million Americans will travel, the busiest Thanksgiving period on U.S. roads and skies since 2007, the year before the global financial crisis plunged the U.S. economy into a deep recession.
  AAA said Tuesday that it expects 1 million more Americans to venture at least 50 miles from home, a 1.9 percent increase over last year.
  The forecast was assem
  
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• Twitter adds new ways to mute and report abusive posts

  15-11-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Twitter’s inability to curb harassment and trolling has long plagued the social platform — by far its biggest criticism. The company is now trying something it hopes will rein in abusive users.
  Twitter says it’s adding new ways for users to flag or avoid seeing offensive posts in the broadest attempt yet to tackle the problem.
  Users can already “mute” — as in, hide from view — accounts they find offensive. But now, Twitter is expanding the “mute&rd
  
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• A twist on ‘involuntary commitment’: Some heroin users request it

  15-11-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Inpatient treatment programs for heroin and opioid dependence can be so difficult to get into in some parts of the country that drug users who want to quit are voluntarily asking judges to lock them up — just to guarantee they’ll get help.
  In Massachusetts, that’s happening via a 46-year-old law that was designed for family members to commit their loved ones to a locked facility when they are deemed “a danger to themselves or others” because of drug or alcohol abuse
  
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• Wind farm developer asks court to overturn state agency’s approval of GVEA tariff

  15-11-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The Delta Wind Farm can produce up to 2 megawatt with its two 900-kilowatt and one 100-kilowatt wind generators. (Photo by Alaska Environmental Power)
  Delta Wind Farm President and CEO Mike Craft is taking the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to court.
  Craft is asking a judge to overturn the commission’s approval of a Golden Valley Electric Association tariff filed last summer, claiming the tariff violates new state regulations intended to help renewable-energy projects
  
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• People Mover wants community feedback on options for transit system overhaul

  15-11-2016 17:55
  
  Big changes are ahead for public transportation in Anchorage. Municipal transit officials plan to overhaul the People Mover bus system and they want the public to weigh in.
  People Mover previously surveyed riders to find out what improvements they want to see most are shorter wait times and increased service during weekday evenings and weekends. They’re now looking at two plans to accomplish those objectives, both would mean cutting some routes and bus stops — though one is more dras
  
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• Sitka Tribe looks to manage Sitka National Historical Park

  15-11-2016 16:54
  
  SITKA, Alaska (AP) – The Sitka Tribe of Alaska is looking to take over management of some programs at Sitka National Historical Park.
  The Daily Sitka Sentinel reports that the tribe has been managing some of the park’s programs for years, but now is looking to compact the funding for the park to operate more initiatives.
  Under federal law, tribal governments are eligible to receive funding for the operation of certain programs at federal forests, refuges and parks, but only ones that
  
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• Alaska Airlines says DC-bound flight used fuel partially made from trees

  15-11-2016 10:03
  
  Alaska Airlines announced its first flight using a new wood-based biofuel mix on Monday.
  The plane took off from Seattle Monday morning for Washington D.C. and used a 20-percent blend of jet fuel made from timber leftovers, which the airlines called a new sustainable alternative to traditional petroleum jet fuel.
  The Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance, led by Washington State University (WSU), created the fuel under a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, using tree remna
  
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• Missing teen’s truck found abandoned and burned, mother says

  15-11-2016 09:26
  
  David GrunwaldCourtesy Edie Grunwald David Grunwald's vehicle, found abandoned and burnedCourtesy Edie Grunwald David Grunwald's vehicle, found abandoned and burnedCourtesy Edie Grunwald
  A 16-year-old boy went missing late Sunday evening, and his mother and friends have turned to Facebook for help locating him.
  In a phone interview Monday night, Edie Grunwald said the last time she spoke to her son, David, was around 7 p.m. Sunday. He called to ask permission to stay out a little late
  
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• Scammer calls businesses, claims to be Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce

  15-11-2016 07:04
  
  The Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce (GWCC) says local businesses should beware of phone calls from someone fraudulently claiming to be with the agency.
  “Someone was calling into local businesses claiming to be the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce, informing the companies that it was urgent and needed that they update their business information with them,” the GWCC said in an email.
  The agency stated it has not called any organizations asking for updates, an
  
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• Mother of 10-year-old killed by SUV recalls last moments with her daughter

  15-11-2016 04:43
  
  On Monday morning, passersby may have noticed a small ballon on a light pole at the intersection of 88th Avenue and Jewel Lake Road. It was tied there by a young girl in tears at the loss of her one of her best friends.
  The night before, family members said 10-year-old Kaliyah Douglas and her older sister were walking to the Holiday gas station across the street when Kaliyah was hit by an SUV. She died later that night in the hospital.
  Her mother, Jessica Smith, said family was by
  
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• APD to begin foot patrols in downtown Anchorage

  15-11-2016 04:29
  
  The Anchorage Police Departments (APD) plans to begin foot patrols in the downtown area at the end of November.
  APD Capt. Ken McCoy said the patrols aren’t connected to the weekend shooting of an Anchorage officer. He said staffing levels are slowly rising in the department, and the move is seen as a step toward a more proactive approach to crime.
  “They’ll meet the citizens who work in that downtown district, they’ll meet the public who frequent the area, so it’s an
  
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• Police officer shot multiple times continues to recover

  15-11-2016 04:25
  
  An Anchorage police officer continues his recovery at a local hospital while support for him continues to grow. The as yet unnamed officer has undergone two surgeries since a suspect shot him multiple times in downtown Anchorage early Saturday morning.
  Officer Angelina Fraize, with the Anchorage Police Department Employees Association, said a fund to support his recovery on the group’s Facebook page has raised over $9,000 since it was started Sunday night. She said members of the publ
  
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• Obama’s last chance to weigh in on Arctic drilling has industry worried, enviros hopeful

  15-11-2016 03:39 via ktoo.org
  
  Shell’s Noble Discoverer drill rig leaving Unalaska, Oct. 12, 2015. (Photo by John Ryan/KUCB)
  In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s upset victory, President Barack Obama still has two months left in office to close out policy decisions and try to cement any final pieces of his legacy.
  One open question is offshore oil and gas leasing. Environmentalists want Obama to place the Arctic off limits to offshore drilling, in part to combat climate change. The oil industry is lobbying to keep i
  
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• ICC prosecutor: US forces may have tortured in Afghanistan

  15-11-2016 02:56
  
  International Criminal Court prosecutors say that a preliminary probe indicates that members of the United States armed forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan.
  The prosecution office said in a report issued late Monday that U.S. armed forces personnel “appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture” in Afghanistan, mainly in 2003-2004. Specifically, the report alleges the accused “resorted to techniques amounting
  
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• Emmonak fire damages sewer and water systems

  15-11-2016 02:30 via ktoo.org
  
  A fire in Emmonak has damaged the local water treatment plant.
  Emmonak’s Mayor Wilbur Hootch says the vacuum pump system and the electrical components connected to it have burnt out.
  The fire did not cause any fatalities.
  Technicians are working to keep community pipes from freezing.
  To do that, a main storage water tank must be filled.
  A failure to fill that tank could be costly, Hootch said.
  “If we don’t have enough water level in our 100,000 (gallon) plus storage tank,
  
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• Silver Alert: Missing Anchorage man found, police say

  15-11-2016 02:10
  
  Henry Mala. Courtesy Anchorage Police Department
  ANCHORAGE — Last updated at 11:09 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14
  Anchorage police say Henry Mala has been found and returned home. He is safe, they said in a statement.
  Original story
  The search for a missing Anchorage man led to a Silver Alert Monday afternoon.
  Initially, the Anchorage Police Department issued a statement asking the public to keep an eye out for 62-year-old Henry Mala, who was last seen leaving his home on North Flower Street
  
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• Silver Alert: Anchorage man last seen leaving his home in Mountain View

  15-11-2016 02:10
  
  Henry Mala. Courtesy Anchorage Police Department
  ANCHORAGE — The search for a missing Anchorage man led to a Silver Alert Monday afternoon.
  Initially, the Anchorage Police Department issued a statement asking the public to keep an eye out for 62-year-old Henry Mala, who was last seen leaving his home on North Flower Street around 12:30 p.m. The Department of Public Safety later sent out the Silver Alert, expanding the search.
  “Mala has diminished mental capacity and is not dress
  
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• Burglary, criminal mischief and theft reported in Emmonak on Friday

  15-11-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Three separate incidents of burglary, criminal mischief and theft occurred in the community of Emmonak on Nov. 11.
  Alaska State Troopers in Emmonak were notified of a burglary at Ryan Air. A door to the building had been pried open, and someone had entered the facility during Friday evening, Troopers said.
  Troopers also received word from Grant Aviation that their front door had been kicked that same evening, causing minor damage.
  In a third and separate incident, a Honda ATV was reported stolen
  
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• Army wants further study of Dakota access pipeline route

  15-11-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Monday that it needs more information before it can decide whether to allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to be built along its planned route.
  In a joint statement by the U.S. Army and Department of the Interior, the Corps announced it had finished a review of the route, and concluded that more study was needed before it could grant the pipeline company the easement it needs to cross under a section of the Missouri River.
  The pipeline company Energy Transfer Pa
  
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• UAF researchers map Alaska effects of melting permafrost

  15-11-2016 01:39 via ktoo.org
  
  As average temperatures rise, two University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers are mapping permafrost’s impact on Alaska.
  Vladimir Romanovsky and David McGuire are members of a team working to identify worldwide regions susceptible to thermokarst, the natural process that is the result of what happens when ice-rich permafrost begins to melt.
  “The water may run away or stay in place, but because of that, surface of land is subsiding,” Romanovsky said. “This subsidence
  
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• Girl dies hours after being struck by vehicle

  15-11-2016 01:30 via ktoo.org
  
  ANCHORAGE — A 10-year-old girl has died after she was struck by a vehicle in Anchorage.
  The girl died at a local hospital late Sunday night, hours after she was hit by a Chevy Blazer near the intersection of 88th Avenue and Jewel Lake Road, police said.
  Officers responded to the scene shortly before 5:45 p.m. Sunday after getting a call about a young pedestrian being struck by a vehicle.
  The driver of the Blazer remained at the scene and was cooperative with authorities, police said.
  The g
  
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• Anchorage barbershop holds annual Cuts for Coats giveaway

  15-11-2016 01:23
  
  Hair Science owner Shawn Idom picking up coats for the Cuts for Coats giveawayCourtesy Shawn Idom Hair Science owner Shawn Idom picking up coats for the Cuts for Coats giveawayCourtesy Shawn Idom Hair Science owner Shawn Idom picking up coats for the Cuts for Coats giveawayCourtesy Shawn Idom
  Hair Science Barbershop and Barber School says it’s holding its annual Cuts for Coats giveaway at the Mountain View Boys and Girls Club on Monday evening. The event provides free winter coats for kid
  
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• Sitka woman charged in DUI incident that injured another woman

  15-11-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A 23-year-old woman suffered minor injuries early Friday morning after she was reportedly pinned between two cars near Harriet Hunt Lake.
  The lake is approximately 10 miles north-northeast of Ketchikan.
  The woman was standing near a parked vehicle at about 3 a.m. Friday when another vehicle backed into her, pinning her between the two cars, according to the online Alaska State Troopers dispatch.
  The driver of the vehicle was a Sitka woman, also 23.
  Troopers say the driver left the
  
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• Kenai Borough Assembly may appropriate funds to defend invocation policy in court

  15-11-2016 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre has proposed an ordinance that would pay for legal costs related to the Borough Assembly’s new invocation policy.
  The Assembly has “received numerous comments challenging the legality” of the invocation policy, according to a Nov. 9 memorandum from the mayor’s office.
  The proposed ordinance would appropriate $75,000 to cover legal costs if the invocation policy is challenged in court.
  The Assembly passed a resolution on Oct.
  
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• Haines man to serve 2 years in prison for sexual abuse of minor

  15-11-2016 00:30 via ktoo.org
  
  A Haines man was sentenced to serve two years in prison last week after pleading guilty to one charge of sexual abuse of a minor.
  Aihan Goldberg, 24, accepted a plea deal with state prosecutors in August.
  He pleaded guilty to the one count, and the other seven charges were dismissed.
  In 2015, Goldberg was indicted by a Juneau grand jury on eight felony charges a year ago, stemming from interaction between Goldberg and a 13-year-old in July 2015.
  Three charges involved se
  
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• Obama: Democratic Party needs to reflect, ‘show up everywhere’

  15-11-2016 00:21 via ktoo.org
  
  President Barack Obama gave his first press conference after his party suffered a shocking loss at the ballot box just last week, and appeared to needle Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign for not paying enough attention to rural voters that eventually handed President-elect Donald Trump the upset victory.
  “When your team loses, everybody gets deflated, and it’s hard, and it’s challenging,” Obama said. “I think it’s a healthy thing fo
  
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• Trustees to vote again on Deer Mountain plan

  15-11-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority’s board of trustees meets this week, and will vote on a “reconsideration” of an August decision to move forward with logging parts of Deer Mountain in Ketchikan and a parcel in Petersburg that sits above homes.
  Trust officials visited Ketchikan and Petersburg earlier this month to talk about those plans. They said that, if logging does happen, it would be selective logging by helicopter, not clear cutting.
  Logging on those parcels would
  
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