Anchorage news

• In Southeast Alaska, the holiday spirit is diesel-powered

  23-12-2016 23:26 via ktoo.org
  
  Nancy Bean’s home in Kake. Her holiday lights display is powered by diesel. (Photo courtesy of Nancy Bean.)
  Diesel is running about $2.71 per gallon in Southeast Alaska, but in places that depend on diesel for electricity, there are still households that won’t let the cost dampen the holiday spirit.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/12/23LIGHTS_011.mp3For Nancy Bean, a Kake resident, it started off small — with a couple of light-up reindeer. But every year, she’s
  
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• Fairbanks police close old homicide case

  23-12-2016 23:17
  
  FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) – Fairbanks police say they have closed an old homicide case involving the death of a 60-year-old man at a local homeless camp after it was recently re-examined.
  Police say current investigators took a look at the June 2004 death of Edward Sikvayugak.
  Police say a suspect had been identified early in the original investigation, and had been forensically linked to the victim through DNA. But detectives at the time were unable to build a case.
  According to police, curr
  
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• Juneau man seeks to ban homeless from business entryways

  23-12-2016 23:00 via ktoo.org
  
  JUNEAU — Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch is pushing to get an ordinance approved that would allow authorities to remove homeless people camping in the entryways of downtown businesses without permission.
  The Juneau Empire reports that the ordinance will go before the Juneau Assembly on Jan. 9 and get a public hearing two weeks later. Koelsch had the measure drafted earlier this month after establishing an “ad hoc committee on homelessness” comprised of several business owners, ci
  
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• Ernestine Hayes named Alaska State Writer Laureate

  23-12-2016 22:57 via ktoo.org
  
  Writer Ernestine Hayes reads from “The Tao of Raven” during a panel discussion in Juneau on Sept. 24, 2015. (Photo by Mary Catherine Martin/Capital City Weekly)
  Juneau author Ernestine Hayes is the new Alaska State Writer Laureate for the next two years.
  The Alaska Humanities Forum and Alaska State Council on the Arts made the announcement in a joint statement Thursday.
  Hayes is an assistant professor of English at the University of Alaska Southeast, and is perhaps best known fo
  
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• Newscast – Friday, Dec. 23, 2016

  23-12-2016 22:44 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2016/12/2016-12-23-newscast.mp3In this newscast:
  Juneau author Ernestine Hayes is named Alaska State Writer Laureate,
  Mayor Ken Koelsch pushes an ordinance to ban homeless people from sleeping in downtown business entryways,
  the ACLU works on improving prison conditions in Wasilla, and
  the National Weather Service issues a special weather statement predicting heavy snowfall this weekend.
  
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• White Christmas in the forecast for much of Southeast

  23-12-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A city snow plow tries to keep up with the heavy snowfall in this photo from a few winters ago. (File photo by KRBD)
  Area residents who love a white Christmas will be happy to hear they’ll probably get one – but not until the afternoon.
  Wes Adkins from the National Weather Service in Juneau said forecasters there are watching a system that should be bringing warm, moist air on top of a cold break, which generally leads to snow.
  “We’re looking for the front to ar
  
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• Daybreak Adopt-a-Pet for Dec. 23, 2016

  23-12-2016 22:00
  
  From Anchorage Animal Care and Control:
  Chunk and River:
  Chunk is a 3 to 4 foot long boa and River is a 3 to 4 foot long python.So what do you need to know about caring for a snake? Snakes are generally solitary creatures so having only one snake per enclosure is best. They also like a quiet environment and do best when you stick to a regular feeding and cleaning routine. Snakes like to have hiding spots in their enclosures and rocks to wrap themselves around. They also prefer to be handled mini
  
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• Copper Center woman dies after being struck on Glenn Highway

  23-12-2016 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  A Copper Center woman was killed on the Glenn Highway.
  Alaska State Troopers report that Susan Voyles, 54, was reportedly hit by a vehicle after 2 a.m. Friday morning.
  The vehicle’s driver, Andrey Ionashku, 24, told troopers that he saw another vehicle stopped on the opposite side of the highway with headlight on near mile 178, when Voyles walked into his path of travel.
  Ionashku said he could not stop in time and hit the woman.
  Voyles died as result of the collision.
  Troopers sa
  
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• Light earthquake in Alaska felt in Homer, Funny River

  23-12-2016 21:16
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Seismologists in Alaska say a light earthquake that struck Friday was felt in Homer and Funny River.
  The Alaska Earthquake Center says the 4.1 magnitude quake occurred at 5:23 a.m. in the Cook Inlet region.
  It was centered about 48 miles west of Homer.
  There are no immediate reports of damage from the quake.
  (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
  The post Light earthquak
  
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• Troopers report a rash of burglaries in Emmonak

  23-12-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  One after another, Alaska State Troopers received reports Sunday of a rash of burglaries in Emmonak.
  The door to the Emmonak Clinic was damaged and a window at the Ryan Air office was broken, as was the the door to its warehouse.
  The door to the airport’s Department of Transportation building was also broken into, and its garage door damaged.
  Troopers are investigating the incidents and ask anyone with information to contact them at 907-949-1300.
  
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• State troopers say cuts may force them out of urban areas

  23-12-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  This week Gov. Bill Walker released his version of next year’s budget, and the community of Whittier contracted with its big city neighbor to the North on a deal to provide law enforcement for an Anchorage suburb.
  The seemingly unrelated events may shape things to come.
  http://media.aprn.org/2016/ann-20161222-03.mp3Alaska State Troopers. (Photo by Monica Gokey/Alaska Public Media)
  On Dec. 21, the city of Anchorage finalized a three-year contract with the small city of Whittier to prov
  
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• Putin shrugs off Trump’s tweet on expanding U.S. nuclear capability

  23-12-2016 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Russian President Vladimir Putin downplayed Donald Trump’s tweet Thursday calling for the United States to expand its nuclear capabilities.
  “There’s nothing out of the ordinary here,” Putin said, since the U.S. president-elect had advocated a stronger military throughout his election campaign.The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes
  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump
  
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• Troopers: Woman dies after being struck on Glenn Highway

  23-12-2016 20:52
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A 54-year-old Copper Center woman has died after she was struck by a vehicle as she stood in the roadway on the Glenn Highway.
  Alaska State Troopers say Susan Voyles had notified troopers just before she was struck early Friday morning that she lost a box from her vehicle and was going to look for it.
  Troopers say that shortly after 2 a.m. Friday, a 24-year-old driver identifying himself as Andrey Ionashku called troopers to report his vehicle had struck a woman st
  
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• Mic Check in the Morning: Jamie Whiteman

  23-12-2016 20:38
  
  Alaskan singer-songwriter Jamie Whiteman played on Daybreak’s Mic Check in the Morning on Dec. 23 with her twist on americana-folk. Her accompaniment was Harrison Jennings on mandolin and fiddle. If Whiteman looks familiar, it’s because she plays in another band, the Tanana Rafters from Anchorage.
  The Tanana Rafters is a “bluesy folk-rock” band, according to their website. They formed in November 2013, and since then have been playing all over the state at bars, cafes and
  
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• Man arrested in shooting death in Anchorage

  23-12-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  ANCHORAGE — Anchorage police have arrested a man in the shooting death of another man earlier this month in Alaska’s largest city.
  Police arrested Richard E. Helme, 19,  on a warrant for manslaughter and other charges, according to a news release.
  Helme is being held in connection with the Dec. 13 shooting of Travonne Tyki Ward, 24.
  Police say their investigation found that Helme, Ward and two others were inside a car when Helme shot a gun and the bullet hit Ward in the head.
  He
  
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• Eruption dramatically changes face of Bogoslof Island

  23-12-2016 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Recent eruptions have changed Bogoslof Island.
  (Photo by Bill Burton and Dave Schneider/ Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey) SCHNEIDER, AVO/USGS
  After two eruptions in as many days, scientists are closely watching a volcano in the eastern Aleutians.
  There’s no equipment on Bogoslof volcano, but Alaska Volcano Observatory is keeping tabs with satellite imagery and nearby seismic monitors.
  Bogoslof volcano is tiny — like city park tiny.
  The uninhabited island is les
  
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• Undercover operation leads to multiple meth-related arrests in Unalaska

  23-12-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Unalaska Division of Police Service is cracking down on methamphetamine.
  For three months, officers have worked to identity local distribution networks using confidential informants and undercover officers, a news release said.
  Officers obtained methamphetamine from eight individuals during the operation.
  Five people were arrested in a two-day sweep. Another individual was in police custody on unrelated charges. The department expects to make two additional arrests.
  Charges against the eight def
  
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• Haines community members fundraise for personal, legal expenses of fired manager

  23-12-2016 19:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Borough Manager Bill Seward, left, is pursuing legal advice after the Haines Borough Assembly terminated his contract. Mayor Jan Hill sits to his left. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
  Last week, Haines Borough Assembly fired borough manager Bill Seward in a 4-2 vote.
  Now, some members of the community are fighting back against his termination.
  http://khns.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/22GoFundMeINTRO.mp3“I feel that I was wrongly terminated,” Seward said. “In regards to a lawsuit,
  
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• Winter weather conditions expected this weekend for parts of Southcentral Alaska

  23-12-2016 18:48
  
  Last Updated at 10:05 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 23
  Those traveling through Portage Valley and Turnagain Pass Saturday afternoon and evening or Sunday should be prepared for heavy snow, strong winds and poor visibility.
  An earlier Blizzard Watch was updated to a Winter Weather Advisory Friday morning for those areas from Saturday afternoon until 9 a.m. Sunday. The storm is anticipated to bring 6 to 12 inches of snow, winds from the east at 30 to 50 mph and visibilities of less than
  
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• Blizzard conditions expected this weekend for parts of Southcentral Alaska

  23-12-2016 18:48
  
  Those traveling through Portage Valley and Turnagain Pass Saturday afternoon and evening or Sunday should be prepared for blizzard conditions.
  A Blizzard Watch is in effect for those areas from Saturday afternoon until 6 a.m. Sunday. The storm is anticipated to bring 6 to 12 inches of snow, winds from the east at 30 to 50 mph and visibilities of less than one quarter mile.
  The Cook Inlet, Anchorage Bowl and Valley will likely only see clouds, flurries, and a chance for light snow showe
  
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• Two businesses applying for YK Delta’s first marijuana store licenses

  23-12-2016 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Marijuana. (Creative Commons photo by Katheirne Hitt)
  Two businesses in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta are applying for the region’s first marijuana store licenses: The Green Tree , 260 C Osage Ave., Bethel; and Kuskokwim Enterprises, 3 Slough View Drive, Aniak.
  https://cpa.ds.npr.org/kyuk/audio/2016/12/161222_marijuana_public_notce_web_0.mp3Both businesses are in the first week of a three-week required public notice period.
  The notice informs the public of the businesses’ intent to
  
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• Juneau mayor seeks to ban homeless from camping in business entryways

  23-12-2016 17:39
  
  Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch is pushing to get an ordinance approved that would allow authorities to remove homeless people camping in the entryways of downtown businesses without permission.
  The Juneau Empire reports that the ordinance will go before the Juneau Assembly on Jan. 9 and get a public hearing two weeks later. Koelsch had the measure drafted earlier this month after establishing an “ad hoc committee on homelessness” comprised of several business owners, city officials and a p
  
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• Suspect in Berlin Christmas market attack shot dead in Italy

  23-12-2016 16:51
  
  Last Updated Dec 23, 2016 9:21 AM EST
  The Tunisian man sought as the primary suspect in connection with the truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market this week was killed early Friday morning by Italian police near Milan, Italy.
  Anis Amri, whose bid for asylum in Germany was rejected in July, became the subject of a massive manhunt on Thursday morning after authorities discovered his personal documents in the cab of the truck used in the Berlin attack, and his fingerprints on the door.
  Italian
  
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• Sen. Dan Sullivan introduces legislation to increase penalty for killing police officers, judges

  23-12-2016 16:43
  
  This year has been a particularly violent year for law enforcement nationwide. According to the Officer Down Memorial page, the number of officers shot and killed in the line of duty has jumped 72 percent.
  It’s a crime Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan says should carry an enhanced sentence, including the death penalty. But some in the criminal justice system worry a bill Sullivan is sponsoring could have negative consequences for Alaska.
  Before Congress adjourned Friday, Sullivan introduced the Pr
  
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• Suspected Berlin attacker shot, killed in Milan after international manhunt

  23-12-2016 16:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Updated at 8:25 a.m. ET
  A man being sought for the truck attack on a Berlin street market was shot and killed Friday by police in a suburb of the northern Italian city of Milan, according to Italy’s interior minister.
  Anis Amri, a 24-year-old Tunisian asylum seeker, had been at large since the attack Monday night. Twelve people were killed when the tractor-trailer plowed into a busy Christmas market.
  Another man was briefly detained as a suspect, then released after no evidence was found t
  
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• Student’s acceptance to MIT highlights Mat-Su tech programs

  23-12-2016 05:59
  
  Keeping up with technology, scientific discoveries and new inventions can be daunting.
  Teachers in the Mat-Su Borough School District (MSBSD) are making changes in their classroom to make sure students don’t fall behind.
  When you think of a passion for learning, you might conjure up an image similar to 17-year-old Lucas Arthur.
  By his senior year, Lucas had already taken every science class offered at Mat-Su Career and Tech High School.
  “I figured out that I wanted to do physics when
  
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• Taxi permit owners ready to go to court over new ordinance

  23-12-2016 05:07
  
  Members of the Anchorage Taxi Permit Association said they plan to sue to try and overturn a recently passed assembly ordinance.  Association president Ben Lena said the ordinance degrades the value of current permits, including his, which he paid $120,000 for 19 years ago.
  The new ordinance would add 20 new permits every year for the next five years. After that, the cap on permits could be lifted entirely.
  Lena said that number could flood the market and cut down the value of his investmen
  
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• Senate’s least senior member, Dan Sullivan, reflects on moving up to 93rd

  23-12-2016 04:43 via ktoo.org
  
  Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan in his Washington, D.C. office. (Photo by Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
  When new members of Congress take the oath of office on Jan. 3, Sen. Dan Sullivan will give up an unsought distinction: The Alaska Republican will no longer be last in Senate seniority, No. 100 out of 100.
  Seniority is a big deal in the Senate. It can determine where your office is, which committees you sit on and, often, when you get to speak at a hearing. Sullivan said it didn&
  
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• North Pole temperatures climb near melting point this Christmas week

  23-12-2016 04:31
  
  Temperatures around the North Pole will almost certainly pass the melting point, 32 degrees Fahrenheit, in the days leading up to Christmas, as global warming wreaks havoc on some of the world’s coldest and iciest areas, scientists say.
  “High up into the Arctic and close to the North Pole, the temperatures are very, very possibly above freezing,” Paul Mayewski, professor at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, told CBS News Wednesday. He called the current
  
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• Oil industry prepares to fight to keep tax credits alive in 2017

  23-12-2016 02:43 via ktoo.org
  
  Caelus Energy’s Smith Bay rig. Caelus CEO Jim Musselman says tax credits are needed to help develop the find. (Image courtesy Caelus Energy)
  When Governor Bill Walker released his state budget last week, the phrase “oil and gas tax credits” was notably absent from the announcement. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a hot topic this year. Lawmakers in the new House Democratic majority say the current oil and gas tax credit structure is unsustainable, and they’r
  
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• Operation Santa Claus rescheduled for Slavic delivery

  23-12-2016 02:11 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Santa is going to be a little late to a few villages this year.
  Freezing fog in Bethel this week, and the week before, prevented the Army National Guard from flying their UH-60 Black Hawk to Akiak, Tuluksak, and Grayling to deliver toys and food for Alaska’s 60th Operation Santa Claus.
  Since 1956, the tradition has brought together the Alaska National Guard, local businesses, and community groups to collect and deliver gifts to a few villages each year.https://cpa.ds.npr.org/kyuk/audi
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 12-23-16

  23-12-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Selected Shorts Special Holiday ShowGuest host Jane Kaczmarek presents four works about love, friendship, and passages through life. In William Goyen’s “The Texas Principessa,” the narrator is trying to tell us the story of the life and death of her best friend, if only she could keep to the point! The reader is the robust and sassy Doris Roberts.
  The second piece is by the late humorist, essayist, and actor David Rakoff. His final work was the epic novel in verse: Love, Dishon
  
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• City of Galena could receive 1,000-plus acres of land from National Defense Authorization Act

  23-12-2016 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, speaks to the National Congress of American Indians in March 2014. (Photo courtesy Office of Rep. Don Young)
  Once President Barack Obama signs the National Defense Authorization Act into law, the City of Galena will acquire a hefty plot of public land — 1,290 acres where the Campion Air Force Radar Station used to be located will be conveyed to Galena for the purpose of preventing future flood damage to the city.
  Congressman Don Young added the provision for the G
  
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• Reality Check w/ John Tracy: Is Santa from Siberia?

  23-12-2016 01:54
  
  In 1897, 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote the New York Sun a letter, asking simply, “Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?”
  Almost a hundred years after Virginia’s letter, I had the privilege as a journalist to travel around the Arctic Circle as part of a circumpolar outreach. We visited 14 Arctic cities in seven nations in the course of a week. And what I discovered is that each region claimed to be the home of Santa Claus.
  Most Santa-philes trace the origi
  
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• Overdue Manokotak man back safe, state troopers say

  23-12-2016 01:30 via ktoo.org
  
  A ground-based search-and-rescue was spun up Thursday morning looking for a man reported missing from Manokotak, but state troopers reported before noon that Marcus Wyagon, 25, had been found.
  State troopers in Dillingham said they were notified late Wednesday afternoon that Wyagon was considered overdue, and may have started walking to Dillingham up to 48 hours prior.
  Alaska State Troopers Sgt. Luis Nieves said authorities were concerned because no one was certain if he was prepa
  
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• First Ebola vaccine likely to stop the next outbreak

  23-12-2016 01:30 via ktoo.org
  
  When Ebola struck West Africa a few years ago, the world was defenseless. There was no cure. No vaccine. And the result was catastrophic: More than 11,000 people died. Nearly 30,000 were infected.
  Now it looks like such a large outbreak is unlikely to ever happen again. Ever.
  The world now has a potent weapon against Ebola: a vaccine that brings outbreaks to a screeching halt, scientists report Thursday in The Lancet.
  “We were able to estimate the efficacy of the vaccine as being 100 perce
  
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• Bean’s Cafe holds vigil to remember homeless who died this year

  23-12-2016 01:15
  
  Anchorage’s homeless men and women who died this past year were remembered and honored Wednesday during a vigil at Bean’s Cafe.
  People gathered as part of a national memorial day for the homeless. Relatives, loved ones, volunteers and other community members lit candles to honor their passing.
  The names were added to a growing list of those who have died on the fringes of society. The program manager for Bean’s Cafe said the people on the list were dear to her.
  &ldquo
  
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• Story Time w/Aunt Phil: Ham radios in Alaska

  23-12-2016 01:04
  
  Christmas messages today fly across the internet and cell phones, as people wish loved ones a happy holiday season. But before the Internet and cell service became synonymous with instant communication, Alaska’s remote villages relied on a military network of telephone-telegraph radiophone stations to relay messages, weather and news.
  Only a few cables reached a few Alaska cities back in the mid-1900s, so messages from Alaska Communication System stations were transmitted to and from radio
  
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• 2 businesses applying for YK Delta’s first marijuana store licenses

  23-12-2016 00:42
  
  Two businesses in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta are applying for the region’s first marijuana store licenses — the Green Tree LLC in Bethel, located at 260 C Osage Avenue, and Kuskokwim Enterprises, LLC in Aniak, located at 3 Slough View Drive, according to a report by KYUK Public Media.
  Both businesses are in the first week of their three-week required public notice period. The notice informs the public of the businesses’ intent to apply and allows the public to submit comments or
  
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• Kodiak Island superintendent to receive Governor’s Award

  23-12-2016 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  One of the major players in how arts education looks in the Kodiak Island Borough School District just learned that she’ll receive a Governor’s Award for her work.
  The award recognizes individuals and organizations who have been influential to arts and humanities in Alaska, and there are a total of eight recipients, of which school district assistant superintendent Marilyn Davidson is one.
  Davidson says when she heard the news, she cried.
  “I was overwhelmed and I still am. I&rs
  
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