Anchorage news

• Optimism, eagerness among Alaska’s newest legislators

  16-01-2017 23:52
  
  Among Alaska’s newest legislators, there is optimism and an eagerness to get to work on addressing the state’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit.
  Rep.-elect George Rauscher of Sutton says he’s “pretty jazzed” about the legislative session opening Tuesday.
  Rauscher, who last year upset incumbent Rep. Jim Colver, a fellow Republican, says he anticipates legislators getting something accomplished and doing that will mean working together.
  Rep.-elect Gary Knopp of Kena
  
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• Can caffeine perk up heart health, too?

  16-01-2017 23:48
  
  The caffeine in your morning cup of joe may do more than jolt you awake — it may also help dampen the type of inflammation that’s linked to heart disease risk factors, a new study suggests.
  Researchers found that an inflammatory mechanism was dialed up in certain older adults, but not others. When it was highly activated, people often had high blood pressure and stiff arteries.
  But in lab experiments, there was evidence that caffeine blocked this inflammatory process.
  No one, however
  
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• Teacher of the Week: Dee McKee

  16-01-2017 22:54
  
  The day after Dee McKee learned her big brother Mike Kelly died in a plane crash, she went to school as usual.
  “I just felt that this was a place that I would be buoyed up, and that’s exactly what happened,” said McKee.
  KTVA 11’s Teacher of the Week was flooded with cards and condolences from students and staff at Palmer Jr. Middle School. She used the opportunity to teach her students a valuable life lesson.
  “I told these kids, ‘You are going to watch me
  
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• Coldest temperatures in several years forecast for Southcentral Alaska

  16-01-2017 21:27
  
  The forecast is calling for bitter cold temperatures across a majority of Alaska this week, including Anchorage.
  Monday will bring continued snow from Southcentral Alaska north to the central Interior. The snow will taper off from south to north Monday night into Tuesday.Once the skies begin to clear, temperatures are forecast to plummet. Many areas will experience the lowest temperatures of the season, while other areas will see the coldest temperatures in several years.
  The North Slo
  
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• Bendable and foldable phones are coming. Are you ready?

  16-01-2017 20:49
  
  She pushed down hard on the rectangular phone and, like a slap bracelet, it cinched around her wrist. The audience gasped; the internet went wild.
  This articulated wraparound phone — known as the CPlus — was a concept device Lenovo used to wow the crowd as part of a larger launch last June that included the modular Moto Z and Phab 2 Pro (the first phone using Google’s Tango software for augmented reality). The CPlus may have only been a prototype,
  
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• Alaska reaches criminal justice agreement with tribe

  16-01-2017 18:16
  
  The state has given a tribal government in western Alaska authority to hand down sentences for low-level offenders in its jurisdiction.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Saturday that the agreement between the state and the Anvik Village Tribe has been described as a model for other tribes to take more active roles in their communities’ criminal justice matters.
  Under last week’s agreement, law enforcement is required to offer both tribal and nontribal members the option o
  
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• Suspect turns himself in after fatal hit-and-run

  16-01-2017 08:08 via ktoo.org
  
  A man is facing prosecution in a fatal hit-and-run collision after turning himself into police.
  The name of the woman who died early Saturday in Anchorage has been withheld pending notification of her next of kin.
  Authorities responded to a report of a collision and found the woman’s body.
  Investigators determined a gray Chevrolet Sonic struck her.
  The cause is under investigation.
  A 30-year-old man turned himself in Saturday afternoon and has been charged with failing to render aid.
  Polic
  
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• After 146 Years, Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey Circus To Shut Down

  16-01-2017 07:45 via ktoo.org
  
  Asian elephants perform for the final time in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus last May, in Providence, R.I. After its controversial use of the animals for its shows, the company retired the elephants to its 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida.
  Bill Sikes/AP
  After its nearly century and a half run, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus plans to shut down “The Greatest Show On Earth.”
  The historic American spectacle will deliver its final show
  
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• Website Goes Down At Office Of Government Ethics Amid Political Storm

  16-01-2017 07:43 via ktoo.org
  
  Walter Shaub Jr. is the director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, which has tweeted about President-elect Donald Trump’s potential conflicts of interest — and ethics.
  U.S. Office of Government Ethics
  The website at the Office of Government Ethics went down Friday afternoon, apparently overwhelmed with traffic, as the agency and its director found themselves at the heart of a growing political fight.
  OGE website administrator Michael Hanson told NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben
  
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• Iraqi Troops Edge Deeper Into Mosul — With Caution

  16-01-2017 07:43 via ktoo.org
  
  Iraqi Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi with a locally made mortar. It’s almost indistinguishable from Iraqi army mortars apart from the black and white ISIS logo painted on it.
  Jane Arraf/for NPR
  Iraqi forces are nearing what is expected to be the toughest part of the fight for the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. As troops push toward the river dividing the city, they face new tactics from Islamic State fighters adapting to an urban environment and the limitations of U.S. air and artillery support.
  
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• Shots In The Back, Children Tasered: DOJ Details Excessive Force By Chicago Police

  16-01-2017 07:42 via ktoo.org
  
  The Justice Department building in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015. Susan Walsh/AP
  Fleeing, unarmed people shot in the back. Mentally ill men and women, not suspected of any crime, stunned by a Taser while they lay on the ground. People already detained or incapacitated who were beaten, with police accounts falsely describing the force as necessary.
  A 161-page report from the Justice Department details harrowing accounts of excessive force by the Chicago Police Department and highlig
  
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• New alcohol healing center opens in Bethel, renewing hope for recovery

  16-01-2017 07:42 via ktoo.org
  
  James Charlie Sr., YKHC Honorary Board Member, and Gloria Simeon, YKHC Board Vice Chair, perform the ribbon cutting ceremony at the opening of the Yukon Kuskokwim Ayagnirvik Healing Center on January 11, 2017, surrounded by YKHC board members. (Photo by Dean Swope/KYUK)
  Between the two open blades of a pair of scissors stretches a thick red ribbon across the hallway of the new Yukon-Kuskokwim Ayagnirvik Healing Center. Holding the scissors are Gloria Simeon, YKHC Board vice chair, and James Char
  
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• Ketchikan borough manager calls for 10% overall budget cut, to start

  16-01-2017 07:42 via ktoo.org
  
  The Ketchikan skyline. (Creative Commons photo by Dave Bezaire)
  If the Ketchikan Gateway Borough maintains its current spending levels, it faces a projected $1 million deficit this year, and with no changes will pretty much run out of money by 2022.
  New Borough Manager Ruben Duran told the Borough Assembly Friday that, with that in mind, he has directed borough departments to cut general fund spending by 10 percent, to see how much that affects services.
  He says those cuts will be among a menu o
  
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• Finance committee weakens school district funding request, sends to next step

  16-01-2017 07:42 via ktoo.org
  
  The Juneau School District may get an extra $250,000 for school facilities maintenance from the City and Borough of Juneau.
  It’s a fraction of what the district asked for, but Juneau schools Superintendent Mark Miller said it’s enough to pay for one item on the school district’s wish list.
  “They said, ‘Well you were going to spend about $250,000 of that on facility maintenance’ – repairing water heaters,
  
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• Another round of snow across Alaska: Winter weather advisories in effect

  16-01-2017 07:14
  
  The next storm system to impact Southcentral, southeast and interior Alaska is moving into Prince William Sound Sunday night.
  Here’s how this storm will affect each region:
  Southcentral
  Snow showers started picking up Sunday evening and will continue to fall overnight through early afternoon on Monday. Most of the area is under a winter weather advisory for snowfall.Anchorage, Eagle River and Matanuska Valley
  A winter weather advisory is in effect from midnight Sunday night to 4 p.m. Monda
  
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• Basketball team from Florida travels to Alaska

  16-01-2017 05:18
  
  When the Riverview Rams boys basketball team boarded a plane in Sarasota, Florida, they had no idea what what was waiting for them in Alaska. Most players had never seen snow, and some had never flown on a plane.Riverview Rams of Sarasota, FL basketball team explore AK Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage @airlinesclassic #AAClassic17 #KTVA pic.twitter.com/yoodGiab19
  — KTVA 11 Sports (@KTVASports) January 14, 2017The Alaska Airlines Classic basketball tournament at West Anchorage High S
  
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• Chalkyitsik, Fort Yukon tribes celebrate historic land-use plan

  16-01-2017 04:35
  
  As one tribal leader put it: The land is our culture and our culture is the land.
  That’s why two interior Alaska tribes in Chalkyitsik and Fort Yukon celebrated historic land-use agreements with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that were more than eight years in the making.
  The BLM land-use plan covers about 6.5 million acres in the Fortymile area, the Steese National Conservation Area and the White Mountains National Recreation Area, as well as the Draanjik watershed.
  The BLM used a ne
  
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• ‘Positive and happy’: Friend describes woman found dead in her vehicle

  16-01-2017 02:28
  
  Two communities are mourning the loss of a young woman from Nome, who, after being reported missing, was found dead in an Anchorage parking lot.
  Martina Painter, 25, was found inside her car Thursday afternoon near University Lake, according to police. Police said a family member reported her missing in Anchorage Wednesday night when she didn’t come home after going out with a friend.
  Nome resident Sean Yi, 25, says he knew Painter before she left Nome and described her as “some
  
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• Delta flight makes unexpected landing in Cold Bay, FAA points to engine trouble

  16-01-2017 00:01
  
  ANCHORAGE — A Delta Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Cold Bay Saturday morning after experiencing what an aviation official described as engine trouble.
  Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer confirmed the flight’s detour, but couldn’t elaborate further about what was wrong with the plane.
  Dailey Schaack, the mother of Cold Bay Mayor Candace Nielsen, was one of the locals who helped entertain the roughly 200 passengers and crew members during thei
  
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