Anchorage news

• Obamacare’s demise could be quicker than Republicans intend

  12-12-2016 23:30 via ktoo.org
  
  Republicans in Congress say they’ll vote to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act early next year — even though they don’t yet have a plan to replace it.
  But they also insist that they don’t want to harm any of the millions of people who got their health insurance under the law.
  The lawmakers’ strategy? Vote to repeal, and fulfill their top campaign pledge. But delay the changes, and keep running Obamacare for as long as two years while they figure out how to fill
  
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• Two people injured in single-vehicle accident in Ketchikan

  12-12-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Two people suffered minor injuries Saturday in a single-vehicle accident in Ketchikan.
  An 18-year-old man was driving a Chevy Blazer on South Tongass Highway about 7:30 p.m., when the vehicle hit some ice on the road, skidding into a creek on the other side of the road, according to the online Alaska State Troopers dispatch report.
  The driver and one passenger suffered minor injuries.
  They were taken to PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center, where they were treated a
  
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• Haines state trooper post to go vacant due to looming budget cuts

  12-12-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The Haines State Trooper car parked outside of the courthouse. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
  Another ripple effect from state budget cuts hits Haines this month, as the Chilkat Valley is losing its only non-wildlife state trooper.
  The head of Alaska State Troopers said the position will go unfilled until his department knows whether its budget will be reduced again.
  Haines trooper post might close for good if it is.
  The Haines “blue-shirt” trooper is the main law enforcement offic
  
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• Teen’s murder sparks new debate about reinstating death penalty in Alaska

  12-12-2016 22:52
  
  The death penalty has not existed in Alaska since before statehood in 1959, but with the family of a murdered Palmer teen calling for capital punishment in their son’s case, the issue is coming up in conversation again.
  There have been efforts over the years to reinstate the death penalty in the state, but none have made it very far. In 1997, a bill that would put the decision on the ballot for voters to decide passed the Alaska Senate, but died in the House Finance Committee, never making
  
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• Supreme Court rejects challenges to NFL concussion settlement

  12-12-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The U.S. Supreme Court says it will not consider a challenge to the terms of a concussion-related settlement between the National Football League and more than 20,000 retired players.
  The deal settled a class-action filed by former players who accused the NFL of covering up what it knew about the link between playing professional football and the degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
  The settlement was given final approval by a judge in 2015. But the deal
  
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• Funding remains cut-off for removing Alaska feral cattle

  12-12-2016 22:00
  
  Federal wildlife managers say funding continues to be shut off for their longstanding efforts to remove more than 2,000 feral cattle from Alaska’s Chirikof Island.
  Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge manager Steve Delehanty says earlier budget language cutting off the funding remains in place at least through early April.
  The language initially was introduced with the last fiscal year’s federal budget. It prohibited spending money on efforts regarding the cattle on Chirikof, as
  
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• Four more people arrested in Palmer murder case

  12-12-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Hundreds of people turned out Friday night in frigid temperatures to honor and pray for David Grunwald, the Palmer teenager who was kidnapped and killed in November.
  Four more individuals linked to Grunwald’s death were arrested Friday about the time mourners began showing up at the vigil at the Alaska State Fairgrounds, Palmer.
  Renee Royal of Wasilla waved a sign “Justice For David.” Royal, a mother of two, said social media could have lured Grunwald into a dang
  
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• Searchers find body of overdue Ketchikan hunter

  12-12-2016 21:47
  
  A Ketchikan man overdue from a hunting trip was found dead in waters off Bold Island.
  Alaska State Troopers say 30-year-old John Wallace was found Sunday morning.
  The Coast Guard on Saturday night received a report that Wallace was overdue from a trip near the island.
  The agency searched and found Wallace’s skiff overturned near Bold Island. The search was suspended at 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
  The search by the Coast Guard and the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad resumed at 8 a.m. Sunday.
  Trooper
  
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• Teacher of the Week: Randy Marsh

  12-12-2016 21:24
  
  He’s a math teacher by trade and aviator at heart.“It’s my hobby,” said Randy Marsh. “So you don’t say no to teaching your hobby.”
  Marsh is a math and aviation teacher at Clark Middle School. He uses model airplanes to go over math lessons and has students work on flight simulators during in-class exercises.
  “I’d rather be doing things that they think are fun than just do worksheets all the time,” Marsh said. “There’s a plac
  
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• Police arrest theft, burglary suspects near ski chalet

  12-12-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  ANCHORAGE — Two men suspected of thefts and an assault were arrested near Hilltop Ski Area.
  Austin Carroll, 29, and Dante Padilla, 28, are in custody.
  Police Sunday morning took a call of a burglary at a home near the ski area.
  More reports came in of vandalized cars and shots fired.
  Police tried stopping a vehicle heading out of the area and someone inside fired multiple shots at officers.
  The vehicle crashed near Hilltop Ski Area. Two men fled on foot.
  Police called the sk
  
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• Petersburg library program teaches children through play

  12-12-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The Petersburg Public Library is a gathering place for many elementary aged students after school.
  Now, they have a free organized activity to keep them busy every other week.http://kfsk-org.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/02curiosity.mp3Young children fill the community room at the library. It’s loud and they are excited. They’re crawling all over the floor constructing mazes with plastic straws, wooden Popsicle sticks and tape.
  “We’re taping bending straws
  
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• Multiple people taken to hospital following gas leak in downtown Anchorage

  12-12-2016 20:50
  
  Nick Swann / KTVA Nick Swann / KTVA
  Updated at 12:15 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 12
  An incident that was originally reported as a natural gas leak in downtown Anchorage is now being investigated by the Anchorage Fire Department as carbon monoxide that wasn’t correctly venting.Lindsay Hobson with Enstar said the company was called to the scene, but it turned out not to be an Enstar-related issue. She said it appears an appliance in the building was not working properly.
  Capt. Josh Walker with AFD
  
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• Multiple people hospitalized after possible carbon monoxide leak in Anchorage

  12-12-2016 20:50
  
  Nick Swann / KTVA Nick Swann / KTVA
  Updated at 12:15 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 12
  An incident that was originally reported as a natural gas leak in downtown Anchorage is now being investigated by the Anchorage Fire Department as carbon monoxide that wasn’t correctly venting.
  Lindsay Hobson with Enstar said the company was called to the scene, but it turned out not to be an Enstar-related issue. She said it appears an appliance in the building was not working properly.
  Capt. Josh Walker with AF
  
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• Man injured in shooting in downtown Anchorage

  12-12-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  ANCHORAGE — Anchorage police are investigating an early morning downtown shooting that left a man seriously injured.
  Police just after 3 a.m. Sunday were called to the 440 block of west Third Avenue. The block is across the street from the parking lot that in summers hosts the Saturday and Sunday outdoor markets.
  Police found a man suffering gunshot wounds.
  The injured man was taken to a hospital. He underwent emergency surgery and was listed as stable.
  Police are seeking information from
  
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• Ketchikan High School cleared after Title IX investigation

  12-12-2016 19:04
  
  A review of the Ketchikan High School’s activities program has found no federal Title IX violations, but the school will still likely change how it operates district activities.
  The Ketchikan Daily News reports that the district undertook the review after parents complained that girls’ sports were receiving fewer opportunities than boys’ activities.
  Discrimination based on gender is banned by Title IX, a section of federal law that applies to all educational institutions t
  
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• How Russia went from uniting to dividing U.S. politics

  12-12-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  The Soviet Union, which collapsed 25 years ago on Christmas Day, united the American political establishment for decades, generating a unanimous view that Moscow represented the primary threat to the U.S.
  Today’s Russia is having the opposite effect, dividing many Republicans and Democrats and illustrating the larger breakdown of a national consensus on major foreign policy questions.
  Throughout the Cold War, the U.S. approach toward the Soviet Union, and international relations in general
  
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• Historic Bergmann Hotel gets new manager, goals

  12-12-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  JUNEAU — The new manager of the historic Bergmann Hotel in Juneau is working to clean up the tenement building.
  The Juneau Empire reports that when Charles Cotten Jr. took over managing the 46-room building four months ago, he says it was almost at capacity, with many of the people living there as squatters. He says now the building has 20 residents who are all paying rent.
  The Bergmann Hotel, owned by James Barrett, opened in 1913. The building is listed on the National Register of H
  
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• Historic Bergmann Hotel in Juneau gets new manager, goals

  12-12-2016 18:39
  
  The new manager of the historic Bergmann Hotel in Juneau is working to clean up the tenement building.
  The Juneau Empire reports that when Charles Cotten Jr. took over managing the 46-room building four months ago, he says it was almost at capacity, with many of the people living there as squatters. He says now the building has 20 residents who are all paying rent.
  The Bergmann Hotel, owned by James Barrett, opened in 1913. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  
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• Juneau man medevaced to Anchorage after Saturday night shooting

  12-12-2016 08:16 via ktoo.org
  
  (Photo by Heather Bryant/KTOO)
  A 32-year-old Juneau man was shot near Lemon Creek on Saturday night.
  In a news release, the Juneau Police Department said it received several reports of multiple shots fired in the 5200 block of Glacier Highway at about 9:50 p.m.
  Police said a preliminary investigation indicates that the victim and shooter are friends who “got into an altercation.”
  Police said the 21-year-old shot the victim three times.
  Both men were taken to Bartlett Regional Hospita
  
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• Anchorage boxer competes at US nationals

  12-12-2016 06:07
  
  While Alaska may not be known for it’s boxing pedigree, that is starting to change. Former Olympian David Carey opened the Alaska Boxing Academy, a gym in southwest Anchorage that caters to athletes of all ages.
  Nino Delgado, 21, is one of Carey’s top students, having competed at USA Boxing Junior Nationals and won a Ringside World Championship.21 year old Nino Delgado prepping for 2016 USA Boxing National Championships in Kansas City next week #AlaskaBoxingAcademy #slomo #KTVA pic.t
  
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• Native corporation to pay elder dividends

  12-12-2016 05:35 via ktoo.org
  
  Original elder shareholders in the Calista Regional Native Corporation will each get $325.
  KYUK-AM reports the Elder Benefit Dividend will be sent Dec. 23.
  A news release says this is will be the ninth elder dividend paid to original shareholders, or people who will be least 65 years old on Nov. 8.
  The corporation will pay more than $700,000 to 2,200 original shareholders.
  More than $5 million has been paid out of the program since shareholders approved it in 2007.
  The corporation has about 13,0
  
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• Lawsuit possible after ex-tutor’s sexual abuse conviction

  12-12-2016 05:35 via ktoo.org
  
  An Alaska school district is facing a lawsuit from a former student after an ex-tutor was convicted of forcing him into sex.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District had 15 days to respond to a Nov. 30 letter from the former student’s attorney before a civil lawsuit is filed.
  The Board of Education will evaluate options Monday.
  Mike Stepovich says his client’s rape could have been avoided, but the district inadequately responded to a 200
  
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• Frozen spruce make for extra dangerous woodcutting

  12-12-2016 05:31 via ktoo.org
  
  Bucking a 44–inch–diameter Sitka spruce on the Tongass National Forest in 1991. (Courtesy U.S. Forest Service)
  This first real cold snap in several years around Kodiak has got a local tree expert raising an alarm over tree cutting and log splitting. Dennis Symmons, a tree surgeon when he’s not tending to borough business as an assemblyman, says when the local Sitka Spruce tree freezes, it can become dangerous to handle.
  “When it turns to plastic and peanut brittle from th
  
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• UAS Chancellor disusses issues and opportunities in Ketchikan

  12-12-2016 05:30 via ktoo.org
  
  UAS Ketchikan Campus Director Priscuilla Schulte and UAS Chancellor Richard Caulfield. (Photo courtesy KRBD News)
  University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Richard Caulfield was in Ketchikan this week, visiting with staff, faculty and students. Caulfield and UAS Ketchikan Campus Director Priscilla Schulte spoke about financial issues facing the university system, and opportunities for the Ketchikan campus.
  Caulfield has been chancellor since May of 2015. He was in the First City on a regular vis
  
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• UAS Chancellor discusses issues and opportunities in Ketchikan

  12-12-2016 05:30 via ktoo.org
  
  UAS Ketchikan Campus Director Priscuilla Schulte and UAS Chancellor Richard Caulfield. (Photo courtesy KRBD News)
  University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Richard Caulfield was in Ketchikan this week, visiting with staff, faculty and students. Caulfield and UAS Ketchikan Campus Director Priscilla Schulte spoke about financial issues facing the university system, and opportunities for the Ketchikan campus.
  Caulfield has been chancellor since May of 2015. He was in the First City on a regular vis
  
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• David Grunwald’s parents call his murder ‘unconscionable’, make case for death penalty in Alaska

  12-12-2016 05:01
  
  Ben and Edie Grunwald are still in shock as they near their first Christmas without their son.
  “He was the one who decorated the tree, so it won’t be going up today,” Edie Grunwald said of her son David, who was found murdered near Palmer on Dec. 2.
  They described their son an energetic young man who would come “bounding down the stairs” each morning. He had a passion for flying and wanted to join the military.
  “He loved going places and seeing things, and he
  
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• 1 person injured by South Anchorage house fire, official says

  12-12-2016 04:47
  
  More than a dozen Anchorage Fire Department units battled a blaze that burned a three-story home in South Anchorage Sunday evening and injured a civilian.
  The first 911 call reporting the fire came in at 5:43 p.m., AFD Assistant Fire Chief Erich Scheunemann said in a statement. The Amber Bay Loop home was fully involved with fire on one half of the house when crews arrived roughly six minutes later, he said.
  “No occupants were inside the house upon arrival,” he wrote.
  In a phone inte
  
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• Signed Out Of Prison But Not Signed Up For Health Insurance

  12-12-2016 04:27 via ktoo.org
  
  Kara Salim, 26, got out of the Marion County, Indiana, jail in 2015 with a history of domestic-violence charges, bipolar disorder and alcoholism — and without Medicaid coverage. As a result, she couldn’t afford the fees for court-ordered therapy.
  Philip Scott Andrews for KHN
  Before he went to prison, Ernest killed his 2-year-old daughter in the grip of a psychotic delusion. When the Indiana Department of Correction released him in 2015, he was terrified something awful might happen a
  
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• In Reversal, Gambian President Rejects Loss And Calls For New Election

  12-12-2016 04:27 via ktoo.org
  
  Gambian president Yahya Jammeh (center) has his finger inked before casting his marble in a polling station in a presidential poll, in Banjul on Dec. 1, 2016. Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
  After publicly conceding electoral defeat last week, President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia has reversed course and is calling for a new election.
  Jammeh has ruled the tiny West African country since seizing power in a coup in 1994, and his public concession to President-elect Adama Barrow on Dec. 2 led to hopes of
  
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• Weather hampers search for missing plane at Lake Clark

  12-12-2016 03:33
  
  The National Park Service pulled all boats looking for the missing plane near Port Alsworth in Lake Clark on Saturday.
  NPS spokeswoman Megan Richotte said the plane — which was carrying three members of a missionary family and their pilot — is likely at the bottom of the lake.
  On Friday, searchers found three wheels and a co-pilot seat about 11 miles north of Port Alsworth, near Currant Creek.
  Winter weather and fog on Saturday hampered recovery efforts, and a helicopter was for
  
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• Anchorage police search for 14-year-old girl missing overnight

  12-12-2016 01:22
  
  Destiney Redwine. Courtesy Anchorage Police Department
  The Anchorage Police Department is searching for a missing 14-year-old and is hopeful the community can help locate her.
  Destiney Redwine was last seen leaving the Northway Mall Saturday night around 8 p.m., police said in a Nixle alert.
  “Her family has not been able to contact her since and there is concern for her wellbeing,” police stated.
  Destiney was last seen wearing a pink pull-over sweater and black leggings. She is 5 fee
  
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• Anchorage police find 14-year-old girl missing overnight

  12-12-2016 01:22
  
  Destiney Redwine. Courtesy Anchorage Police Department
  Last updated at 4:54 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 11
  Anchorage police say Destiney Redwine has returned home and is safe.
  Original story
  The Anchorage Police Department is searching for a missing 14-year-old and is hopeful the community can help locate her.
  Destiney Redwine was last seen leaving the Northway Mall Saturday night around 8 p.m., police said in a Nixle alert.
  “Her family has not been able to contact her since and there is concern
  
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