Anchorage news

• Juneau mayor meets with pro-road boosters ahead of 2017 legislative session

  04-01-2017 23:19 via ktoo.org
  
  
  A sign at the end of Glacier Highway in October 2016. The Juneau Access Improvements Project extension would begin near here. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/KTOO)http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/01/04PROROAD-PKG.mp3A road to Juneau is all but dead in the water this budget year but Juneau’s mayor and like-minded advocates are determined to keep pushing for the half-billion dollar project.
  Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch met with about a dozen road advocates in municipal offices Wednesday m
  
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• Body of man missing outside Fairbanks found in snow berm

  04-01-2017 22:55
  
  A man reported missing outside Fairbanks has been found dead.
  Alaska State Troopers say the body of 23-year-old Ryan Zesiger was found Monday in a snow berm.
  Zesiger was last seen alive Sunday at a home in the Murphy Dome area.
  Troopers on Monday morning took a missing person report on Zesiger.
  Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters says a trooper found Zesiger’s body after a short search.
  (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, r
  
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• Judge gives EPA, mine group time to try to resolve lawsuit

  04-01-2017 22:44
  
  A federal judge has agreed to temporarily halt proceedings in a lawsuit brought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the group behind the proposed Pebble Mine project.
  U.S. District Judge H. Russel Holland on Wednesday agreed with the parties’ request to halt proceedings until March 20, to allow them time to try to resolve the case.
  By March 20, the parties are to file with the court a schedule for resolving the case, if possible.
  The Pebble Limited Partnership has alleged t
  
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• Petersburg Assembly moves forward with self-pay paving

  04-01-2017 22:39 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Petersburg Assembly members voted 6-0 to pass a resolution that would offer paving for some roads if the neighborhoods agreed to pay the cost. (File photo by KFSK)
  Petersburg’s borough assembly Monday moved ahead with a program that could offer paving for some roads in the community if neighborhoods agree to pay the cost of that paving.
  http://kfsk-org.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/03PAVEGOweb.mp3The borough has proposed offering the paving while private company Secon still h
  
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• Scientists: Ash cloud from Alaska volcano has dissipated

  04-01-2017 22:12
  
  Scientists say an ash cloud from a remote Alaska volcano that might have gone more than 6 miles into the atmosphere has dissipated after it was tracked north over the Bering Sea.
  Scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory issued its highest aviation alert for aircraft after the eruption late Tuesday of the Bogoslof volcano in the Aleutian Islands.
  The eruption was short-lived — lasting only a few minutes.
  The volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian chain has erupted several times in recent da
  
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• Workforce Wednesday: Opportunities within the Municipality of Anchorage

  04-01-2017 21:58
  
  The Municipality of Anchorage is hosting a free “job shop” aimed at supporting residents looking for employment. The program started in Mountain View and has expanded to the Z.J. Loussac Public Library. The job shops are parts of Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz’s goal to create employment opportunities and be innovative in Alaska’s uncertain economic times.
  “If you look at the bones of the Alaska economy, we are strong, still a resource development state, there is s
  
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• Winter storm to bring blizzard conditions to parts of northwest Alaska

  04-01-2017 21:25
  
  A winter storm is expected to bring blizzard conditions to some northwest Alaska communities Wednesday and Thursday.
  The strong area of low pressure will move into the Chukchi Sea this evening, before moving across the North Slope on Thursday. Wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph will be possible for areas along the Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea coasts, with sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph.
  Barter Island may see gusts as high as 75 mph.
  The winds will cause areas of blowing snow and reduced visibilit
  
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• Dakota Pipeline protesters, nearby residents brace for 2017

  04-01-2017 21:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Several hundred protesters remain camped on the North Dakota prairie in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline. They have erected shelters from Army tents to teepees to wooden structures to stay warm this winter. (Photo by Amy Sisk/Inside Energy)Even though most of the protesters fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota have left, hundreds still remain here atop what is essentially a sheet of ice.
  One group of campers say there’s a change taking hold at camp, which was once ov
  
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• Rex Tillerson cuts ties with Exxon Mobil in advance of confirmation hearings

  04-01-2017 20:37 via ktoo.org
  
  Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. secretary of state, is severing his ties with Exxon Mobil. The former chairman and CEO is in line to receive a $180 million retirement package.
  Tillerson, who has spent his entire career at Exxon, would have reached mandatory retirement age in March. The company announced that it will pay him in cash for the more than 2 million shares he would have received over the next 10 years and that the money will be transferred to an ind
  
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• Telling Tales – 1-3-17

  04-01-2017 20:21 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Program for January 3, 2017http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/01/TT010317.mp3
  
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• Telling Tales – 12-27-16

  04-01-2017 19:57 via ktoo.org
  
  
  “A Task for Christmas: A Christmas Mystery Short Story” by E.B. Davis
  “The Legend of La Befana” by Anonymous
  “The History of Krampus’s Gal-Pal, Frau Perchta: the Belly-Slitter” by Sally
  –Be good and say what you want or you can end up getting underwear or worse for Xmas.
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/01/TT122716.mp3http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/01/TT122716-2.mp3
  
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• Young, Murkowski swear in, move up amid Congressional pomp

  04-01-2017 19:38 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Lisa Murkowski is sworn in to her third Senate term by Vice President Joe Biden. Her husband Verne Martell, holds the Bible during the re-enactment of the ceremony. (Photo courtesy of Office of Lisa Murkowski)
  The 115th Congress began with a lot of pomp and circumstance.
  http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170103-02.mp3The oaths: Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, was sworn in for his 23rd term. He now ascends to second in House seniority. (As he was before, he’s also the chamber’s most sen
  
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• Cleanup underway after small oil spill at Tesoro

  04-01-2017 18:29
  
  State environmental officials are investigating the cause of a recent oil spill near the Tesoro Refinery in the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
  According to a report from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the refinery’s operator discovered the spill near a wastewater tank during a nightly inspection on Dec. 18. The report says Tesoro estimates the spill was made up of about 165 gallons of a crude oil and water mixture.
  The Peninsula Clarion reports that the company shut do
  
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• Fairbanks police file charges against third person in December shooting

  04-01-2017 18:24
  
  Last updated at 5:13 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 4
  Fairbanks police have filed charges against a third person connected to a shooting that left a man wounded Dec. 13.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that 20-year-old Chaianne Kakaruk had been arrested Saturday for first-degree robbery for her part in a shooting that wounded 28-year-old Lawrence Perdue.
  Fairbanks Police Department spokeswoman Yumi McCulloch confirmed police had filed charges against Kakaruk, but said the ch
  
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• Fairbanks police arrest third person in December shooting

  04-01-2017 18:24
  
  Fairbanks police have arrested a third person connected to a shooting that left a man wounded Dec. 13.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports 20-year-old Chaianne Kakaruk is charged with robbery in shooting that wounded 28-year-old Lawrence Perdue.
  Twenty-one-year-old Niikia Brown and 19-year-old Curtis Frarey are jailed on the same charge. Brown is also charged with felony assault.
  Prosecutors say the case involves drugs.
  Kakaruk told police Perdue stole $400 in anti-anxiety medication fro
  
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• Anchorage native Overbaugh getting another shot with NFL

  04-01-2017 08:43
  
  It’s among the toughest NFL positions to get a job—long snapper. Teams usually carry only one on their active roster and it’s even more difficult to unseat the incumbent. Jeff Overbaugh is attempting to do it and make his dream of playing in the NFL come true. 
  The Service High School and San Diego State University graduate was signed Monday by the Denver Broncos.   
  “Always felt that I&n
  
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• Dense fog advisory grounds planes scheduled to take supplies, passengers to Alaska villages

  04-01-2017 08:30
  
  Heavy fog in Anchorage over the last few days has grounded flights scheduled to take people, food and supplies to villages in rural Alaska. While pilots are hoping to resume flying Wednesday, the forecast doesn’t look promising.
  Ben Wilkinson, a pilot and manager at Spernak Airways, said he has about 1,600 pounds of cargo and 10 passengers waiting to go to the villages of Tyonek and Beluga.
  “We’ve just been socked in with the fog. Today was pretty bad, there were no breaks. Yes
  
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• New Year’s resolution: Some tips on living with less plastic

  04-01-2017 06:17
  
  It’s the time of year when many people are thinking about New Year’s resolutions. One to consider: Living with less plastic.Locally, grocery store managers said they are seeing more Alaskans bringing their own reusable bags instead of using plastic. That’s one of the main recommendations of a British Website, lessplastic.co.uk
  The website offers tips for those who strive to use less plastic, including:
  Bring your own bags to the store – To make this easier, you
  
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• Anchorage man convicted of sexually assaulting his wife

  04-01-2017 05:58
  
  A jury handed down multiple guilty verdicts in the case against 29-year-old Julio Lopezleon, who was accused of violently sexually assaulting his wife over the course of four days in 2013. He was convicted on two counts of first-degree sexual assault, second-degree assault, four counts of fourth-degree assault and two counts of tampering with a witness.
  Anchorage District Attorney Clint Campion announced the jury’s decision in a statement on Tuesday. He said Lopezleon’s convicti
  
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• Operating without a license: Legality of animal boarding facility unclear

  04-01-2017 05:27
  
  An animal boarding facility that lost its license back in October is still operating and Anchorage Animal Control Advisory Board member Kari Campbell says Anchorage Animal Care and Control (AACC) is breaking the law in the way it’s handling the case.
  AACC denied Coshok’s Canine Castle multi-animal license after an investigation revealed numerous violations of dogs stacked in crates, many without water and living in unsanitary conditions. Coshok’s had 15 days to appeal that
  
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• British Columbia will clean up mine upstream of Juneau

  04-01-2017 05:23 via ktoo.org
  
  
  A Tulsequah Chief Mine settling pond overflows at the site about 40 miles northeast of Juneau Sept. 26, 2016. (Photo courtesy of British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines)
  Canadian officials say they’ll stop polluted mine water from entering a salmon-rich river that flows into Southeast Alaska near Juneau. The work could include plugging up tunnels from British Columbia’s decades-old Tulsequah Chief Mine.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/01/03Tulsequah.mp3The Tulsequah
  
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• British Columbia will clean up mine near Juneau

  04-01-2017 05:23 via ktoo.org
  
  
  A Tulsequah Chief Mine settling pond overflows at the site about 40 miles northeast of Juneau Sept. 26, 2016. (Photo courtesy of British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines)
  Canadian officials say they’ll stop polluted mine water from entering a salmon-rich river that flows into Southeast Alaska near Juneau. The work could include plugging up tunnels from British Columbia’s decades-old Tulsequah Chief Mine.
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/01/03Tulsequah.mp3The Tulsequah
  
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• Cultural healing and resiliency current treatment for overcoming the fallout of colonization

  04-01-2017 05:07
  
  The rate of death by suicide and homicide in the Kusilvak Census Area, located along the lower Yukon River, more than doubled since 1980, a rate increase higher than anywhere else in the nation, KYUK Public Media reports. That’s according to a study from the University of Washington that mapped how people in the U.S. died during those years.
  Their finding for the area is disturbing. To better understand it, KYUK talked with one of the study’s designers and with people in the reg
  
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• Former lawmakers, political activists launch group to block PFD restructure

  04-01-2017 05:02
  
  They call themselves the Permanent Fund Defenders. The 12-member grassroots group is made up of former lawmakers and political activists whose New Year’s resolution is to convince lawmakers not to vote for Gov. Bill Walker’s proposal to restructure the Permanent Fund Dividend program this session.
  Walker introduced a bill at that end last month as a long-term solution to the state’s multi-billion dollar budget gap.
  But former Republican lawmaker Rick Halford and political activ
  
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• Flypaper! closing after two decades of business

  04-01-2017 04:41
  
  After nearly 20 years in business, the midtown Anchorage gift shop Flypaper! is closing its doors.
  Owner Kim Barrett said she’s going to retire and live out her dream to sail around the world. Barrett said she chose to close her store now due to dwindling local support.
  “I watched the foot traffic slowly drop off,” she said. “Whether those people are going to big box stores or online shopping or not shopping, I don’t know.”
  Barrett said she always tried to mak
  
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• TAPS kicks off 40th year with a little more oil than expected

  04-01-2017 03:33 via ktoo.org
  
  The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System’s Pump Station 3. 2016 saw the first increase in production since 2002. (Photo courtesy Alyeska Pipeline Service Company)
  For the first time in over a decade, the operator of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System announced a year-over-year increase in the amount of oil moving through the pipeline.
  Last year, according to the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the pipeline moved about 517,500 barrels per day. That’s a 1.8 percent increase from 2015. Alyeska
  
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• Two new Petersburg police officers are sworn in

  04-01-2017 02:33 via ktoo.org
  
  
  David Plagens, left, and Luis Waechter were sworn in as Petersburg police officers Jan. 3. (Photo by Angela Denning/KFSK)
  The Petersburg Police Department has two new officers this week. The two were sworn in at the borough assembly meeting today.http://kfsk-org.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/03officers.mp3At the meeting, David Plagens and Luis Waechter received their badges from Police Chief Kelly Swihart and were welcomed by Mayor Mark Jensen.
  The two men are starting work this we
  
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• Taku winds possible this weekend, weather service says

  04-01-2017 02:01 via ktoo.org
  
  Taku Winds pummel the Douglas harbor breakwater in January 2015. (Photo by Mikko Wilson/KTOO)
  The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement covering Southeast Alaska to start Thursday and go through the weekend.
  In Juneau, the event may bring Taku winds, with very cold air with risk of freezing spray in the inner channels.
  Marine and aviation travel are likely to be impacted.
  In weather jargon, the service calls the event an “outflow.”
  “It’s all this
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 1-4-17

  04-01-2017 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Today at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon,We’ll find out about Women playing Hamlet;
  Elva Bontrager and Mike Truax will be here to highlight this Saturday’s Gold Street Music Jamboree;
  We’ll get a preview of this month’s Wildlife Wednesday presentation on Tree Swallows, with guest birder, Brenda Wright;
  And get an update on Eaglecrest!
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, today on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on KTOO-News, repeated at 4 on KRNN, and available
  
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• Savoonga, Gambell fare differently in weekend storms

  04-01-2017 01:45
  
  The extent of storm damage in Savoonga is still unclear, but agents from FEMA are expected to do an assessment this weekAnna Rose MacArthur / KNOM
  2016 ended with a Bering Sea storm that brought snow, ocean surges and strong winds to many communities in Western Alaska.
  St. Lawrence Island was at risk of coastal flooding from the storm, but according to a city employee in Gambell, both communities on the island did not experience the same amount of damage.
  Curtis Siloop, the mayor of Gambell, sa
  
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• Attorneys seek time for possible Pebble Mine suit resolution

  04-01-2017 01:11
  
  Attorneys want a federal judge to halt temporarily proceedings in a long-running legal dispute between the group behind the proposed Pebble Mine project and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  The motion, made by attorneys for the EPA and Pebble Limited Partnership on Friday, asks that proceedings in the case be halted until March 20, at which time the parties would jointly propose how they wish to move forward.
  The motion states the two sides have been talking since August about ways to r
  
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• Congress gaveled into session

  04-01-2017 01:10
  
  The 115th Congress has been gaveled into session.
  Seven new members of the Senate joined those who won re-election in receiving the oath of office from Vice President Joe Biden.
  Biden is the president of the Senate until Donald Trump becomes president Jan. 20. Then Mike Pence will take over.
  Each senator was joined at the dais by current and former senators. They then took their new desks and chatted with fellow lawmakers.
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski is sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden. Photo: Youtu
  
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• Newscast – Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017

  04-01-2017 01:08 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/01/2017-01-03-newscast.mp3In this newscast:
  Wilderness rescue and recreational snowmachiners make a pair of holiday weekend hiking rescues,
  repairs at the Matanuska-Susitna Borough’s Port Mackenzie are racking millions in expenses, and
  the National Weather Service issues a special weather statement covering Southeast warning of very cold air coming later in the week.
  
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• Bogoslof volcano starts 2017 with another eruption

  04-01-2017 01:04 via ktoo.org
  
  Scientists believe Bogoslof volcano erupted for the first time this year, following a series of explosions that date back to mid-December.
  Monitors on nearby islands detected seismic activity Monday emanating from the Eastern Aleutian volcano.
  But scientists believe the explosion was minor.
  The period of increased seismicity lasted about 10 minutes.
  
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• Study finds disturbing trend in mortality rate in Kusilvak Census Area

  04-01-2017 00:54 via ktoo.org
  
  
  A graph showing the age standardized mortality rate from self-harm and interpersonal violence for both sexes in 2014 from a University of Washington study. The study showed the rate of suicide and homicide in Alaska’s Kusilvak Census Area more than doubled between 1980 and 2014; a 130 percent increase and the highest rate in the nation. (Graphic by Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington)
  The rate of suicide and homicide in the Kusilvak Census Area,
  
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• Magnitude 7.2 quake hits near Fiji; tsunami alert issued

  04-01-2017 00:50
  
  The estimated location of the earthquakeCourtesy U.S. Geological Survey
  A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit near the Fiji Islands, causing a tsunami warning for parts of the Pacific Ocean.
  The U.S. Geological Survey says the earthquake, which took place at 2:52 p.m. local time Wednesday, hit a part of the ocean about 227 kilometers southwest of Nadi. The agency says the quake is 10 kilometers deep.
  Radio New Zealand reports that people have been evacuating Nadi since the earthquake. Nadi, on Fiji&rs
  
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• Coal Country picked Trump. Now, they want him to keep his promises

  04-01-2017 00:30 via ktoo.org
  
  From West Virginia to Wyoming, coal country overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump and his message that he will bring coal jobs back. Now, those same voters are eyeing his incoming administration closely, careful to see if he will keep his promises to revive the coal industry and get miners back to work.
  These hopes have become increasingly desperate as the industry has floundered. U.S. coal production in 2016 is projected to be at its lowest level since 1978, and over the past few years, the cou
  
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• Oregon governor’s chief of staff to resign

  04-01-2017 00:20 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s chief of staff will resign at the end of January.
  (File photo by Office of the Governor/Flickr)
  https://cpa.ds.npr.org/northwestnews/audio/2017/01/010317CL_chiefstaff_web.mp3Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is looking for a new chief of staff heading into the 2017 legislative session.
  The governor’s office announced Tuesday that Kristen Leonard will resign at the end of January.
  Leonard has served in the role for just over a year.
  She came to the governor’s offic
  
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• Longtime pediatrician Ketchikan retires

  04-01-2017 00:20 via ktoo.org
  
  Retiring Dr. David Johnson and his wife, Jenny, are seen at the PeaceHealth Ketchikan holiday party. (Photo by PeaceHealth)
  Ketchikan pediatrician Dr. David Johnson has hung up his stethoscope as of Friday, Dec. 30, officially retiring about 46 years after he first arrived to practice medicine.
  According to a PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center announcement, Johnson came to Ketchikan in 1970 as an officer with the U.S. Public Health Service, and was assigned to the Indian Health Clinic. At the
  
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• Longtime Ketchikan pediatrician retires

  04-01-2017 00:20 via ktoo.org
  
  Retiring Dr. David Johnson and his wife, Jenny, are seen at the PeaceHealth Ketchikan holiday party. (Photo by PeaceHealth)
  Ketchikan pediatrician Dr. David Johnson has hung up his stethoscope as of Friday, Dec. 30, officially retiring about 46 years after he first arrived to practice medicine.
  According to a PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center announcement, Johnson came to Ketchikan in 1970 as an officer with the U.S. Public Health Service, and was assigned to the Indian Health Clinic. At the
  
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