Anchorage news

• UAA volleyball team advances to Elite 8

  04-12-2016 21:54
  
  For the first time in program history, the University of Alaska Anchorage volleyball team has been crowned NCAA Division II West Region Champions.
  The Seawolves defeated GNAC foe Western Washington University in four sets  — 19-25, 27-25, 25-21 and 25-23 — in front of a record crowd of 2,710 people at the Alaska Airlines Center, advancing to the NCAA Elite 8 in South Dakota.THAT FEELING WHEN YOU’RE REGION CHAMPS! @UAAVolleyball pic.twitter.com/jl7xbn860J
  — AK Air Cen
  
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• Missing: Police seek whereabouts of ‘vulnerable’ Anchorage woman

  04-12-2016 21:05
  
  Mary Mortenson. Courtesy Anchorage Police Department
  ANCHORAGE — The Anchorage Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating a woman police described as a vulnerable adult.
  Mary Mortenson, 27, was last seen Saturday evening as she left a home on the 2300 block of East 52nd Avenue, police explained.
  “Mary has some mental health conditions and there is concern for her well being,” police wrote.
  Mortenson is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs approximately 170 poun
  
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• Vigil held in Palmer to remember David Grunwald

  04-12-2016 20:40
  
  Soon after Alaska State Troopers announced they had likely found the remains of David Grunwald near Knik River Road, a vigil to remember the Palmer teen was organized on Facebook.
  Saturday evening, nearly 200 people gathered at the Palmer Train Depot to share stories of Grunwald. Many of them were his classmates from Mat-Su Career and Technical High School.
  “David was the person who you could always go to if you needed a good joke or needed to be cheered up,” said his friend, Erika N
  
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• ‘I woke up to gunshots’ — Juneau’s first police shooting in almost 10 years

  04-12-2016 09:58 via ktoo.org
  
  A 38-year-old Juneau man was injured in an officer-involved shooting and medevaced to Seattle. Juneau police originally responded to a vehicle crash early Saturday morning. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)
  Yellow crime scene tape, flashing lights and the Juneau Police Department’s Mobile Incident Command Center are simply out of place on quiet, rain-soaked Ocean View Drive.
  The isolated neighborhood on the outskirts of Juneau woke to gunfire early Saturday morning when Juneau police shot a
  
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• Snagging Savings: Energy audit designed to cut costs for fishermen

  04-12-2016 07:27 via ktoo.org
  
  The seiner Infinite Grace pursing up during the third opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery, on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. (Photo by Rachel Waldholz/KCAW)
  Commercial fishermen are largely at the whim of the seafood market. Prices can vary wildly, while operation costs stays the same — That is, until now. An energy audit aims to help Sitka’s fishermen increase their profit margins.
  It’s a sunny morning in Sitka. Usually Steve Fish — yes, that is his real name
  
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• Bethel homeless shelter opens early amid severe weather

  04-12-2016 07:08 via ktoo.org
  
  Bethel’s homeless shelter has opened a week early after a severe wind chill dropped the temperature to 40 below.
  KYUK-AM reports that Bethel Winter House opened its doors on Monday, almost a week ahead of schedule.
  The shelter serves meals and hot coffee to about a dozen people each night and also provides Bethel’s homeless population with coats and warm blankets.
  According to a study done by AVCP Housing, there are around 600 homeless people in the region and many of them live in Be
  
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• Alaska town’s new Inupiat name challenged in court

  04-12-2016 07:08 via ktoo.org
  
  On paper, the new Inupiat Eskimo name of the nation’s northernmost town is now official. But not so fast. The reality is not so simple.
  The town was known as Barrow until Thursday, when the new name, Utqiagvik (oot-GHAR’-vik), became effective, less than two months after voters approved the change with a six-vote majority of voters.
  But the name is being challenged. A local Alaska Native corporation filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday that claims city officials rushed the process with in
  
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• Despite Evacuation Orders, Pipeline Protesters Hunker Down For Winter

  04-12-2016 07:05 via ktoo.org
  
  Though emergency evacuation orders have been issued by both the state of North Dakota and the Army Corps of Engineers, the three camps along the Cannonball River, now covered in snow, show no sign of packing up.
  Celia Talbot Tobin
  Protesters have been camped for months at the construction site of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. Now, winter has arrived, dumping almost 2 feet of snow on the encampment in the last week of November. The winter storm hit just before news that President-el
  
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• Jill Stein Campaign Drops Statewide Recount Effort In Pennsylvania

  04-12-2016 07:04 via ktoo.org
  
  Jill Stein, at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in August.
  Win McNamee/Getty Images
  Updated at 8:48 ET with Lawrence Otter’s comments
  Jill Stein has ended her statewide ballot recount effort in Pennsylvania. Lawrence M. Otter, a lawyer for the former Green Party presidential candidate, withdrew the lawsuit filed with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania early Saturday evening.
  “Petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means,” the filing s
  
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• Film festival kicks off with premier of last movie shot under tax incentive program

  04-12-2016 03:39
  
  The Anchorage International Film Festival kicked off Friday night, with the premier of a movie shot right here in our home state. “Sugar Mountain” was the last film made under the tax incentive program, which the state ended due to budget issues.
  “Sugar Mountain” was shot in Seward, and featured the town and its people. Among them was Kristi Larson, who drove up to Anchorage to attend the premier at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub.
  “I just knew it was going to be a big ni
  
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• Green Party drops bid for statewide Pennsylvania recount

  04-12-2016 03:29
  
  The Green Party is dropping its court case seeking a statewide recount of Pennsylvania’s Nov. 8 presidential election. It had wanted to explore whether voting machines and systems had been hacked and the election result manipulated.
  The decision came Saturday, two days before a court hearing in the case. Lawyers for the Green Party-backed voters who filed the case say they can’t afford the $1 million bond ordered by the court by 5 p.m. Monday. However, Green Party-backed efforts to a
  
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• Scholar says China concerned about Trump policy following Taiwan call

  04-12-2016 03:28
  
  China’s foreign minister says he hopes Beijing’s relations with the U.S. won’t be “interfered with or damaged” after President-elect Donald Trump broke with decades-long diplomatic tradition and spoke directly with Taiwan’s leader.
  Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV reports that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday the call between Taiwan’s president and Trump was “just a small trick by Taiwan.” He said he thought it would not change long
  
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• Bergdahl seeks pardon from Obama to avert desertion trial

  04-12-2016 03:22
  
  A former prisoner of war accused of endangering his U.S. comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan is asking President Barack Obama to pardon him before leaving office.
  White House and Justice Department officials say U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl submitted the clemency request. If granted, it would allow Bergdahl to avert a court-martial trial scheduled for April. He faces charges carrying a maximum penalty of life in prison.
  Bergdahl walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held
  
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• Officials say up to 40 people may have perished in California warehouse fire

  04-12-2016 01:41
  
  31st- pic.twitter.com/8TX6jk0iYq
  — Oakland Firefighters (@OaklandFireLive) December 3, 2016OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say they fear up to 40 people might have died in a fire at an Oakland, California warehouse, which was hosting an electronic dance party.
  Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said Saturday that nine people were confirmed dead, and that he expects that number to rise. Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloche-Reed said some people escaped and that b
  
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• Oakland warehouse fire death toll rises to 33

  04-12-2016 01:41
  
  Last updated at 3:45 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4
  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Officials in Oakland say the 33 people confirmed dead in a fire at a warehouse range in age from teenagers to 30-plus years old.
  Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly says authorities have identified some 17 year olds among the victims. He says some of the victims are from Asia and Europe. Officials say they have identified victims through fingerprints.
  Authorities are trying to contact family members of the d
  
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• Oakland warehouse fire death toll rises to 30

  04-12-2016 01:41
  
  Last updated at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4
  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Officials in Oakland, California, say the death toll has risen to 24 from a fire that ripped through a converted warehouse. The death toll rose Sunday from 9 to 30.
  Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly announced the new figure mid-Sunday. He says officials anticipate that the number will rise. Officials have searched only 20 percent of the charred remains of a building where a fire erupted dur
  
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• Crews recover more bodies from burned building in California

  04-12-2016 01:41
  
  Last updated at 10:57 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4
  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Officials in Oakland, California, say the death toll has risen to 24 from a fire that ripped through a converted warehouse. The death toll rose Sunday from 9 to 24.
  Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly announced the new figure early Sunday. He says officials anticipate that the number will rise. Officials have searched only 20 percent of the charred remains of a building where a fire erupted during
  
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• Bethel fire investigation reveals 2 bodies, police say

  04-12-2016 00:42
  
  Two Bethel residents were found dead inside a home after a fire early Saturday morning.
  Bethel police and fire personnel responded to the fire in the area of Trailer Court just after 1 a.m. and quickly extinguished it, according to a statement from Bethel Police Department dispatch supervisor Natalie Hayes.
  She said as officials investigated the fire, they found two bodies, later identified as 41-year-old Charity Alexie and 37-year-old Hans Alexie.
  “A preliminary investigation was conduct
  
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• Sitka airport closed after storm forced rocks, debris onto runway

  04-12-2016 00:13
  
  The Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport runwayCourtesy Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities/Facebook The Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport runwayCourtesy Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities/Facebook The Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport runwayCourtesy Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities/Facebook The Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport runwayCourtesy Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities/Facebook
  The Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport w
  
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