Anchorage news

• Oakland University player goes from front lines of combat to starting line up of basketball team

  26-11-2016 23:09
  
  Isaiah Brock truly enjoys his time on the basketball court with his Oakland University teammates.
  “It kind of reminds me of the military, very similar to the military,” the freshman forward said. “It’s a brotherhood almost, that’s what I enjoy most about basketball.”
  Brock knows about life in the military — he left it earlier this year. Brock spent the previous five years in the U.S. Army, tasked with retrieving the bodies of U.S. troops killed in Afghan
  
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• US House to vote on bill aimed at speeding approval of drugs

  26-11-2016 21:51
  
  The House plans to vote next week on a $6.3 billion bill aimed at speeding federal approval of drugs and medical devices and boosting biomedical research.
  The legislation seeks to streamline how federal regulators assess the safety of new treatments and let them reach markets more quickly. It provides new money for the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration, including funding for the White House’s cancer moonshot and precision medicine initiatives.
  The bill also see
  
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• Cuba’s president announces death of Fidel Castro, 90

  26-11-2016 21:49
  
  The nightly news started as usual on Cuban state television Friday when suddenly something changed.
  President Raul Castro appeared, seated before a desk in military uniform and delivered somber news: His brother Fidel Castro had died, nearly 58 years after leading a rebel army to a victory that led to one of the globe’s most durable socialist states.
  The president said his brother’s remains would be cremated on Saturday and news about tributes would follow, including a cross-cou
  
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• In step toward proactive policing, APD foot patrols begin downtown

  26-11-2016 20:54
  
  The Anchorage Police Department is trying a different approach to policing downtown. Starting this week, a pair of officers on each of APD’s three shifts will walk around the downtown area. The two officers will talk to business owners, shoppers and tourists about their concerns and changes they would like to see.
  Officers Jacquie Valencia and Aaron Pettus volunteered to be a part of the patrol. Pettus said he usually doesn’t have the chance to meet people in a proactive context.
  &ld
  
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• New 300-mile sled dog race set for December

  26-11-2016 20:33
  
  A new 300-mile sled dog race slated for December can help qualify mushers for the Iditarod and Yukon Quest.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports about 20 teams are expected to compete starting Dec. 17, depending on snowfall in the next three weeks.
  At least six teams have signed up for the Tolovana 300.
  Mushers will start near Fox and regroup at three checkpoints before the 85-mile push to the finish line.
  Both the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race and Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race list t
  
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• Gift-wrap booth supports local teen center

  26-11-2016 05:12
  
  If you’re feeling overwhelmed wrapping all your holiday gifts, a group of gift-wrappers is here to help.
  Volunteers with the Parachutes Teen Club and Resource Center are raising money at their charity gift-wrap booth in the Mall at Sears. The group has held the booth for the past several years and for a donation, they’ll wrap your presents for you.
  The center is a drop-in facility for at-risk teens. All the proceeds from the booth go to keeping the center up and r
  
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• Anchorage shops prepare for Small Business Saturday

  26-11-2016 04:42
  
  Already over Black Friday? Get ready for Small Business Saturday.
  Black Friday may be known for its door-buster deals and Cyber Monday for online price cuts, but sandwiched in between is Small Business Saturday, a shopping holiday with the emphasis on community. Brick-and-mortar shops all over Anchorage have spent weeks prepping their shelves for the day dedicated to supporting local.
  RELATED
  Small Business Saturday to include scavenger hunt in downtown Anchorage
  For 100 years, The Kobuk ha
  
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• Juneau turkey thief rips off 85-year-old man

  26-11-2016 04:05 via ktoo.org
  
  Update | 6:28 p.m.
  Sgt. Jeremy Weske said the victim reported the theft to document it, but that there was nothing else to report.
  Original story | 6:05 p.m.
  In a daily bulletin, the Juneau Police Department reported the theft of two turkeys from outside a home in the 800 block of F Street downtown.
  The theft was reported before noon on Wednesday. The victim is identified as an 85-year-old man.
  Police could not be reached for additional comment.
  
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• Marijuana sells out at Rainforest Farms’ opening day

  26-11-2016 02:54 via ktoo.org
  
  The line at Rainforest Farms for its opening day of legal marijuana sales stretches down Second Street and around the corner in downtown Juneau, Nov. 25, 2016. (Photo courtesy Mary Uyanik)
  Friday was the opening day for marijuana retailer Rainforest Farms, and they had to close early because they sold out.
  Facebook users shared photos showing lines to the store running down Second Street and around the block for the first legal marijuana sales in Juneau. The business planned to open at &ldq
  
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• 4 people found dead at Fairbanks hotel, police investigating as murder/suicide

  26-11-2016 02:46
  
  Last updated at 10:24 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26
  Fairbanks police are investigating an incident at a local hotel that left four people dead as a murder and suicide.
  According to a release from the Fairbanks Police Department (FPD), officers and the Fairbanks Fire Department responded to the Hampton Inn at 433 Harold Bentley Ave. after hotel staff called about a “suspicious circumstance.”
  When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man sitting in the hallway crying. Police sa
  
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• 4 people found dead at Fairbanks hotel, police investigating

  26-11-2016 02:46
  
  Fairbanks police are investigating an incident at a local hotel that left four people dead.
  According to a release from the Fairbanks Police Department (FPD), officers and the Fairbanks Fire Department responded to the Hampton in at 433 Harold Bentley Ave. after hotel staff called about a “suspicious circumstance.”
  When officers arrived to the scene, they found a man sitting in the hallway crying. Police say he directed them to a nearby hotel room where officers found the four p
  
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• REI #OptOutside campaign gets Alaskans into the backcountry on Black Friday

  26-11-2016 02:15
  
  Heather Hintze / KTVA
  The day after Thanksgiving, the Hatcher Pass parking lot was full of people who traded Black Friday bargains for the backcountry.
  “I don’t shop — I ski,” Mary Vavrik laughed.
  She was one of two dozen people who turned out for the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage’s annual Turkey Day Shakeoff.
  “We’ll be out for a five- or six-mile ski,” tour leader Karlene Leeper explained. “We’re going to go above Independenc
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 11-28-16

  26-11-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Monday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon, Scott Burton hosts
  Julie Diana, from the Juneau Dance Theatre will be here with a preview of The Nutcracker.
  We’ll talk with Eileen Hosey, from the Juneau Senior Center, will be here to highlight Tai Chi classes;
  We’ll learn about upcoming shows at the CANVAS, with visiting instructor, Emma Davidson.
  Jeff Rogers and Helena Fagan, from the Juneau Shambhala Center with update us on happenings for Gallery Walk.Tune in at 7 for a live broadcast of the r
  
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• Florence Henderson of ‘The Brady Bunch’ dies at 82

  26-11-2016 01:00
  
  LOS ANGELES — Florence Henderson, the wholesome actress who went from Broadway star to television icon when she became Carol Brady, the ever-cheerful matriarch of “The Brady Bunch,” has died, her manager and her publicist said. She was 82.Henderson died Thursday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, after being hospitalized the day before, said her publicist, David Brokaw. Henderson had suffered heart failure, her manager Kayla Pressman said in a statement.
  Famil
  
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• Jill Stein files for a presidential election recount in Wisconsin

  26-11-2016 00:51
  
  The Green Party’s Jill Stein has officially requested a recount in Wisconsin, where Donald Trump currently holds a lead of 27,257 votes over Hillary Clinton.
  The Wisconsin Elections Commission announced that it received Stein’s petition Friday.
  “The Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States,” Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas said in a statement. The state will be working to complet
  
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• Black Friday shoppers brave cold, early morning snowfall for doorbuster deals

  26-11-2016 00:43
  
  Before the snow fell Friday morning, Alaskans bundled up and braved the cold to be one of the first in line at Cabela’s, one of Anchorage’s Black Friday hotspots.
  Luke Walker was the first shopper through the doors when they opened at 5 a.m. The 19-year-old flew down from the University of Alaska Fairbanks to defend his two-year title at the outdoor retail mainstay.
  “My dad and I kind of made it a tradition after last year,” said Walker. “He comes in from the [
  
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• Winter weather advisory issued for parts of Southcentral Alaska

  26-11-2016 00:25
  
  Last updated at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25
  A group of storms working their way up the Aleutian chain from the Pacific Ocean will bring wintry weather conditions to parts of Southwest and Southcentral Alaska this weekend and into early next week.
  National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters say the “powerful storm system” will bring high winds and blizzard conditions to communities along the Aleutian Peninsula and Southwest Alaska before making its way into the Southcentral regio
  
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