Anchorage news

• Trump wants a federal hiring freeze, but it may not save money

  21-11-2016 23:43 via ktoo.org
  
  President-elect Donald Trump rode to electoral victory in part on discontent with Washington. He promised to “drain the swamp” — referring to the nation’s capital. And No. 2 on his “Contract With The American Voter,” listing activities for his first 100 days, is a hiring freeze on all civilian federal jobs that aren’t involved in public safety or public health.
  A freeze is not unprecedented. Other administrations — Democrat and Republican — h
  
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• Several Wrangell boats broken into over weekend

  21-11-2016 23:30 via ktoo.org
  
  Several boats in Wrangell were broken into over the weekend.
  Wrangell Police Department was notified of the break-ins early Saturday morning.
  Five boats were entered in Heritage Harbor, but only three are thought to have had items taken.
  Boat owners are still evaluating the value of the stolen items.
  One owner, Stephen Prysunka, said he had one suit case of dive equipment taken.
  “They had taken that and then unplugged the heater I had in my boat and left it behind and had taken my dis
  
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• Group sues over lack of info in Alaska Railroad LNG project

  21-11-2016 22:41
  
  An environmental group is suing the Federal Railroad Administration for failing to disclose the approval process for the Alaska Railroad’s application for rail shipments of highly volatile liquefied natural gas.
  Alaska Railroad would make the nation’s first rail shipments of LNG.
  The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. on Monday.
  The Miyoko Sakashita, a senior attorney for the organization, says in a news release that the federa
  
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• Tsunami warning lifted for northeast coast of Japan after quake

  21-11-2016 22:35
  
  Last updated at 4:51 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 21
  An earthquake with preliminary magnitude of 7.3 has struck off the coast of Fukushima prefecture in Japan. A tsunami warning for waves of up to three meters (10 feet) was issued but later changed to one meter (three feet).
  The tsunami warning was completely lifted for the northeastern coast, near Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures.
  The Japan Meteorological Agency says the quake struck around 6 a.m at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).
  Fukushima pr
  
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• Tsunami warning issued after quake off Fukushima in Japan

  21-11-2016 22:35
  
  An earthquake with preliminary magnitude of 7.3 has struck off the coast of Fukushima prefecture in Japan. A tsunami warning for waves of up to three meters (10 feet) has been issued.
  The Japan Meteorological Agency says the quake struck around 6 a.m at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).
  Fukushima prefecture is north of Tokyo and home to the nuclear power plant that was destroyed by a huge tsunami following an offshore earthquake in 2011.
  (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserve
  
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• ConocoPhillips to sell more Cook Inlet assets

  21-11-2016 22:28
  
  ConocoPhillips is looking to sell its Cook Inlet natural gas plant.
  Alaska’s Energy Desk reports that the Houston-based energy company on Thursday announced that it is putting its Kenai LNG plant up for sale.
  ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Amy Burnett says the company wants to focus on operations in the North Slope. She says the plant has not exported gas in 2016 because of market conditions but it is still operational and could start exporting again.
  The Kenai plant, which includes a dock and
  
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• Special Olympics athletes team up with military at bowling tournament

  21-11-2016 22:14
  
  The Special Olympics Alaska State Bowling Tournament took place over the weekend on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The tournament returned to Polar Bowl, located on base, after a 2-year hiatus caused by renovations on the largest bowling complex in Alaska.
  Military volunteers were happy to welcome competitors back to the event, which saw more than 300 athletes from Anchorage, Homer, Juneau, Kodiak, Mat-Su and Tanana Valley.
  Athletes competed for personal bests, while making
  
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• Wheels in motion as Bethel considers shelving bus program

  21-11-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The city of Bethel is taking a look at ending its public transportation program because low ridership and high expenses. However, the bus system serves some of Bethel’s most marginalized communities, who depend on it for basic needs.
  On a cold and snowy Thursday afternoon, riders on one of Bethel’s city buses stare out the windows while sitting in warm seats and listening to country music on the radio.http://cpa.ds.npr.org/kyuk/audio/2016/11/161114_buses_pkg..mp3At rush hour, th
  
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• Slick road leads to single-vehicle wreck in Ketchikan

  21-11-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A Dodge pickup is totaled after it slid into an embankment Saturday morning on North Tongass Highway. No injuries were reported.
  At about 6:30 a.m. A 1999 Dodge pickup driven by an 18-year-old Ketchikan man hit a patch of black ice on a curve near mile marker 17, according to the Alaska State Troopers online dispatch. The truck slid off the road and down the embankment, and came to rest on its side. No other passengers were in the truck.
  The driver was wearing his seat belt a
  
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• 1 dead in Wasilla vehicle rollover

  21-11-2016 21:52
  
  A 28-year-old Wasilla man was killed in a single vehicle rollover Sunday, according to Alaska State Troopers.
  In an online dispatch the agency wrote that at about 10:20 a.m. Cory Johnson was headed north on Lucille Street, in Wasilla, when the Chevrolet Trailblazer he was traveling in went off of the road and rolled into trees.
  Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene. His family has been notified.
  Troopers said their investigation into the incident is ongoing.
  The post 1 dead in Wasilla vehicle
  
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• Teacher of the Week: Erica Arnold

  21-11-2016 21:35
  
  At just 9 years old, Erica Arnold was inspired by her fourth-grade teacher, Ken McCormick, to become a teacher herself.
  “I just remember learning about aerodynamics and those were our spelling words and we dropped eggs from the ceiling of the school and we went out ice skating and learned about energy,” explained Arnold. “I knew right then that that’s exactly what I wanted to do.”
  KTVA 11’s Teacher of the Week has worked in similar ways to keep her fourth-grad
  
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• Light up your night with Zoo Lights

  21-11-2016 20:43
  
  Light up your Black Friday evening at the Alaska Zoo. The nonprofit is kicking off it’s annual Zoo Lights event Nov, 25. New this year is an elephant display that gushes lit up water near the facility’s entrance.
  There will also be lit up, animal-like displays throughout the zoo and, of course, its living residents. According to the development director Jeannette Menchinsky, the animals are often more active at night. She said the tiger has been known to “sn
  
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• Pair of Alaska Aces move up to AHL

  21-11-2016 20:13
  
  The Alaska Aces have shown signs of resurgence after missing the playoffs the past two seasons. Forward Stephen Perfetto and goaltender Michael Garteig have been instrumental in the revitalization. Now, both are being rewarded for their solid play.
  The team announced early Monday morning the call-ups of both to the American Hockey League (AHL). Perfetto is headed to the San Antonio Rampage while Garteig will travel east to join the Utica Comets. Perfetto is the team’s leading scorer with s
  
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• Police, protesters clash near Dakota Access Pipeline route

  21-11-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Police and demonstrators opposed to the Dakota Access Pipeline clashed overnight on a bridge that has been a flashpoint in the ongoing protests.
  “Police say protesters set fires in the area Sunday night and threw rocks at officers,” Prairie Public Broadcasting’s Amy Sisk reported. But an activist said in a live-stream video that projectiles fired from the police side started the fires and that demonstrators, who call themselves water protectors, were trying to extinguish the fl
  
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• Native wartime code talkers are subject of upcoming SHI lecture

  21-11-2016 19:55 via ktoo.org
  
  During World War II, the U.S. armed forces utilized Native languages as a way to transmit indecipherable messages in the Pacific Theater.
  It was a code the Japanese were never able to break, and it’s credited with saving the lives of thousands of troops.
  Ozzie Sheakley hold the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Tlingit Tribe for code talking service during World War II. He speaks to Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich after the ceremony. (Photo by Liz Ruskin/APRN)
  The Sealaska
  
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• Multiple-vehicle crash closes Abbott Road on Monday morning

  21-11-2016 18:02
  
  Updated at 8:35 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 21
  A crash Monday morning involving multiple vehicles caused police to close Abbott Road in both directions.
  According to a police release, the collision happened at the intersection of Abbott Road and Little Brook Street. Anchorage Police Department spokesperson Anita Shell said one person was trapped inside a vehicle. Shell said minor injuries were reported in the crash, though none were life-threatening.At 8:34 a.m. Monday, police announced the road h
  
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• Man heads to prison for kidnapping 2 North Pole girls

  21-11-2016 17:43
  
  A Wasilla man who kidnapped two girls last year has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports Michael Bowen Jr. was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor. The terms of a plea deal had called for a 10-year prison sentence for Bowen, but a judge rejected the deal as too lenient.
  Bowen had admitted to kidnapping the girls, ages 6 and 9, in August 2015 as they were riding their bicycles in North Pole. He drove with the girls i
  
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• Tensions flare as police, protestors face off at Dakota Access pipeline

  21-11-2016 07:50
  
  CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) – Tension flared anew on the Dakota Access pipeline as protesters tried to push past a long-blocked bridge on a state highway, only to be turned back by a line of law enforcement using water cannon and what appeared to be tear gas.
  Sunday’s skirmishes began around 6 p.m. after protesters removed a burned-out truck on what’s known as the Backwater Bridge, not far from the encampment where they’ve been for weeks as they demonstrate against the pipelin
  
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• Dakota Access pipeline protesters congregate again at bridge after overnight clashes with police

  21-11-2016 07:50
  
  CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) – The Latest on the protest against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. (all times local):
  11:15 a.m.
  Dakota Access oil pipeline protesters are congregating again at a shut-down bridge on a state highway near their camp in southern North Dakota where they clashed with law officers overnight.
  Dallas Goldtooth with the Indigenous Environmental Network says protesters want to remove burned-out vehicles on the bridge so officers “can see us face to face, who we are, as
  
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• Ninja sword taken from card shop returned by buyer

  21-11-2016 07:11 via ktoo.org
  
  A katana sword that was missing from an Anchorage card shop has been returned.
  KTVA-TV reports surveillance video shows a person dressed as a ninja leaving BOSCO’S Comic, Cards & Games with what looked to be the Japanese-style sword.
  Employee Eric Helmick said in an email that a man bought the sword from the thief and brought it back to the shop Thursday after hearing on the news that it was stolen.
  Helmick said the man waited at the shop for Anchorage police officers to arrive and tol
  
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• UFA homes in on salmon habitat issues

  21-11-2016 07:06 via ktoo.org
  
  Pink salmon, plus an occasional silver and red, congregate in a pool above the weir before spawning. John Joyce says the males will put on displays and fight with other males as part of the competition for mating females which have already started a nest. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)
  United Fishermen of Alaska is beginning to get an idea of what its new Salmon Habitat Information Program – or SHIP – will look like. The program is aimed at engaging commercial fisherman around the state
  
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• Man charged with assault, robbery after stabbing Fred Meyer employee in the neck

  21-11-2016 04:29
  
  Updated at 10:10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 21
  A Fred Meyer loss prevention employee suffered serious wounds after an altercation with a potential shoplifter, who stabbed the employee in the neck Sunday evening.
  The incident occurred at the Northern Lights Boulevard location around 5 p.m.
  In a Monday release from the Anchorage Police Department, the victim and witnesses said the man — identified by APD as 31-year-old Steven Treadway — was observed putting merchandise into a backpack and tr
  
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• Fred Meyer employee stabbed in the neck, ‘person of interest’ detained

  21-11-2016 04:29
  
  A Fred Meyer loss prevention employee suffered serious wounds after an altercation with a potential shoplifter, who stabbed the employee in the neck Sunday evening.
  The incident occurred at the Northern Lights Boulevard location around 5 p.m. The employee confronted the suspect, who he believed was attempting to steal something, according to Anchorage police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro.
  Witnesses told police the suspect then stabbed the employee, but other employees were able to detain him,
  
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• St. Louis police officer wounded in shooting, suspect later killed in shootout

  21-11-2016 04:28
  
  LIVE on #Periscope: Chief & Mayor brief media on injured officer https://t.co/2wZiziY2UW
  — St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) November 21, 2016Last updated at 12:10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 21
  ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis police sergeant is hospitalized in critical condition but expected to survive after being shot in what the police chief calls an “ambush.” The suspect was later found and killed in a separate shootout with other police officers.
  The initial shooting took pla
  
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• St. Louis police officer shot, taken to hospital

  21-11-2016 04:28
  
  LIVE on #Periscope: Chief & Mayor brief media on injured officer https://t.co/2wZiziY2UW
  — St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) November 21, 2016Last updated at 7:03 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20
  ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis police sergeant is hospitalized in critical condition but expected to survive after being shot in what the police chief calls an “ambush.”
  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the shooting took place around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, a half-block south of the St. Louis Poli
  
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• At Vintage Holiday Market, a focus on local businesses

  21-11-2016 04:07
  
  From the Glenn Highway, the Alaska State Fairgrounds appeared to be as quiet as it usually is this time of year. However, inside one building near the back of the fairgrounds, more than 50 businesses had gathered for the Alaska Chicks Co. Vintage Holiday Market.
  The event was organized by Charity Folcik, the creator of Wasilla-based company Alaska Chicks Co., which sells clothes and other items. She organizes a similar event each spring, and decided to start another for the holiday shopping seas
  
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• Alaskans vow pushback if Trump targets mountain’s new name

  21-11-2016 03:47
  
  President Obama wants to change the name of Mt. McKinley to Denali after more than 100 years. Great insult to Ohio. I will change back!
  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2015ANCHORAGE — Donald Trump’s many promises on his way to the White House included a tweeted vow to change the new name of North America’s tallest mountain back to Mount McKinley.
  Last year, the Obama administration renamed the Alaska peak Denali in a symbolic gesture to Alaska Natives a
  
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• Obama encourages world leaders to take ‘wait-and-see approach’ with Trump before judging him

  21-11-2016 03:34
  
  Today @POTUS concluded his final meetings at #APEC2016 during his final foreign trip. Here’s what he said: https://t.co/VSZIKcSCCv
  — WH National Security (@NSC44) November 20, 2016President Barack Obama encouraged world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru to give his successor the benefit of the doubt.
  Obama spoke with different world leaders in Lima, including the Australian and Canadian prime ministers. Many world leaders have voiced their concer
  
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• Mental Health Trust leadership change official

  21-11-2016 03:12 via ktoo.org
  
  Jeff Jessee has officially resigned as CEO of the Alaska Mental Health Trust and will take a new position as a program officer. Photo taken on March 17, 2015. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  The change in leadership at the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority was made official on Thursday. Many trust advisory boards and beneficiaries expressed concerns about the Board of Trustees’ unexpected October decision to hire retired Trust Land Office Director Greg Jones as the interim CEO.
  Former lo
  
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• Juneau animal control officials seek mandatory microchips for dangerous pets

  21-11-2016 03:12 via ktoo.org
  
  Sushi is a super cute, black and white kitten that Rachel Trapp holds in one hand. In the other, she holds a gadget over the kitten. The device beeps twice and then a long identification number shows up on its readout.
  “Mmhmm, yep. That’s Sushi,” says Trapp, who works the front desk at Gastineau Humane Society.
  The number comes from a rice grain-sized microchip under Sushi’s skin. The chips aren’t tracking devices, but when scanned, they positively identi
  
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• When The Students On Campus Have Kids Of Their Own

  21-11-2016 02:57 via ktoo.org
  
  Student Cierra Valentine (left) studies with friends and her son Jeremiah on the lawn at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa.
  Ryan Smith/Courtesy of Wilson College
  The young women in this story have labels. Three labels: Single, mother, college student. They’re raising a child and getting an education — three of the 2.6 million unmarried parents attending U.S. colleges and universities.
  Getting a degree is hard enough for anyone, but these students face extra challenges. And when it c
  
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• Dying Teenager In U.K. Wins Right To Be Cryogenically Frozen

  21-11-2016 02:57 via ktoo.org
  
  A judge on the High Court in London granted a dying British teenager’s request to be cryogenically frozen. The ruling was last month, but media coverage was restricted while the girl was still alive. Tim Ireland/AP
  A 14-year-old girl in the U.K. who was dying of cancer won the right to be cryogenically frozen, in a case that’s being described as remarkable — and potentially the first of its kind.
  The girl wanted to have her body preserved in the hopes that scientists someday wo
  
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• FDA: Voluntary Sabra hummus recall underway

  21-11-2016 02:42
  
  Sabra Dipping Co., LLC issued a voluntary recall of some its hummus products because of a potential Listeria contamination.
  The recall follows the discovery of Listeria monocytogenes at a manufacturing facility, the company said in its recall noticed on the Food and Drug Administration website. So far, no products have tested positive for Listeria.
  “Our first concern is always the health and safety of the people who enjoy our products, so out of an abundance of caution we have is
  
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