Anchorage news

• Woodturners Symposium offers opportunity for craftsmen to hone their skills

  26-01-2017 23:41
  
  Woodturning is an old art form used to create works of art and practical items, like bowls and cups. Starting Saturday, the Alaska Woodturning Association will host a symposium to showcase master turners and help people get into the hobby or improve their skills.
  John Lane, one of the organizers, says that turning is not only relaxing, it’s productive.
  “You can go out in your shop and start turning and all of a sudden you think, ‘I’m getting kind of hungry,’ an
  
  Read more

• Palin’s political action committee seeks to terminate

  26-01-2017 23:41
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Sarah Palin’s political action committee is shutting down.
  Sarah PAC filed a “termination report” Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.
  Palin began the committee to support conservative-minded candidates after resigning in 2009 as Alaska’s governor. Palin was the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate.
  The termination report shows Sarah PAC spent about $100,000 between Nov. 29 and Dec. 31, and has no cash left. The committee repor
  
  Read more

• From the bush to Congress, Willie Hensley straddles rural and urban divide in Alaska

  26-01-2017 23:37 via ktoo.org
  
   
  (Left) Now-Lt. Gov Byron Mallot, Willie Hensley and Roy Huhndorf testify before Congress. (Photo courtesy Willie Hensley)
  One afternoon in the mid-1970s, journalist John McPhee and an influential Alaska Native politician Willie Hensley took off from  Anchorage in a de Havilland Otter and flew deep into the Alaska range, looking for a new state capitol.Later, in his book “Coming into the Country,” McPhee introduced the rest of the nation to one of the most prominent, young
  
  Read more

• Walker’s office tweaks hiring restriction policy

  26-01-2017 23:35
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Gov. Bill Walker’s office has tweaked its policy on state agency hiring restrictions, shifting decision-making authority from Walker’s chief of staff to state commissioners.
  John Hozey, a deputy chief of staff to Walker, says quarterly hiring and travel reports will be used as an accountability measure.
  Last January, Walker’s office barred non-essential travel and restricted hiring to help cut costs. Commissioners could seek waivers to the hiring res
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Juneau Planning Commission recommends ‘Field of Fireweed’ rezone

  26-01-2017 23:20 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Fireweed blooms near Juneau International Airport on July 17, 2016. Many locals call this area the “Field of Fireweed.” (Photo courtesy Skip Gray)
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/01/170126-fireweed.mp3Part of an 83-acre wetlands known colloquially as the Field of Fireweed has been recommended for rezoning for industrial use. The move by the Juneau Planning Commission is the first step in a series needed to clear the way for development of the property adjacent to Juneau
  
  Read more

• Los Angeles dance company to perform in Anchorage

  26-01-2017 22:59
  
  Bringing people together through positivity and dance is what the Versa-Style Dance Company is all about. The nationally recognized dance crew will be in Anchorage this weekend.
  Versa-Style is based in Los Angeles, California and was formed in 2005 by Jackie Lopez and Leigh Foaad. The pair founded the group with a passion for dancing and community. According to Foaad, they’ve been performing in festivals and theaters. They have toured nationally and internationally for the past half d
  
  Read more

• Alleged Fort Lauderdale shooter indicted for airport killings

  26-01-2017 22:57 via ktoo.org
  
  Esteban Ruiz Santiago, the 26-year-old man arrested shortly after the shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Jan. 6, has been indicted on 22 counts by a federal grand jury.
  Santiago allegedly killed five people in the baggage claim area of Terminal 2 after retrieving a weapon from a checked bag and loading it in the bathroom.
  Mary Louise Amzibel, Michael John Oehme, Olga M . Woltering, Shirley Wells Timmons and Terry Michael Andres all died, according to the indictment.
  T
  
  Read more

• Newscast – Jan. 26, 2017

  26-01-2017 22:54 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/01/2017-01-26-newscast.mp3In this newscast:
  The Juneau Planning Commission recommends rezoning a piece of the “Field of Fireweed” for industrial use,
  the Senate’s minority Democrats put out their budget plan,
  the City & Borough of Sitka is named a third-party defendant in a lawsuit from a woman who lost her home in a deadly landslide in August 2015, and
  Juneau writer Ernestine Hayes will be honored Thursday night along with other
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Alaska music awards to honor local hip-hop, R&B artists

  26-01-2017 22:48
  
  The 4th Annual Alaska Hip-Hop and R&B Awards are this weekend and will spotlight local rappers, DJs, singers and more. It will feature appearances and performances by Sean Sullivan, Duckman, Tayy Tarantino and more.
  Reggie Ward, an event organizer, said over the past three years that many artists have started to take their music career in Alaska seriously. He added it’s become more competitive, even with more up-and-coming artists.
  Tickets can be purchased from the Alask
  
  Read more

• Florida airport shooting suspect indicted on 22 counts

  26-01-2017 22:22
  
  MIAMI (AP) – The Latest on Florida airport shooting suspect Esteban Santiago (all times local):
  3:35 p.m.
  Two months before an Alaska man allegedly shot five people to death at a Florida airport, he let police officers hold his gun for safekeeping while he was committed for a mental evaluation.
  Esteban Santiago was worried his 9mm Walther handgun would be stolen from his vehicle parked outside the Anchorage FBI office. That’s according to a police report on the Nov. 7 incident obtain
  
  Read more

• Alaska Natives to protect land for California carbon program

  26-01-2017 22:09
  
  An undeveloped Alaska coal field, California’s offsets for carbon pollution and thousands of acres of forest land are the unlikely players in a complex agreement that’s expected to generate millions for an Alaska Native group.
  The agreement aims for both environmental protections and profits for the Chugach Alaska Corp., a regional Alaska Native corporation representing 2,500 shareholders.
  The corporation will preserve 115,000 acres of its forested land that will be used to calculate
  
  Read more

• Juneau’s downtown cruise terminal preparing for bigger boats

  26-01-2017 21:18 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/01/26CRUISEDOCK-WEB.mp3A $54 million project to add a pair of floating cruise ship berths to Juneau’s downtown waterfront is within months of completion.
  The project will expand the port’s capacity to accommodate larger vessels. That’s because cruise ships in Alaska are getting bigger.
  Juneau’s Ports and Docks has been working to expand its terminal to keep up with industry requirements.
  The city’s Deputy Port Engine
  
  Read more

• State agency could offer public comment period for fracking projects

  26-01-2017 21:08 via ktoo.org
  
  A rig drilling in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. A number of Kenai Peninsula residents advocated for more opportunity to weigh in when companies apply for hydraulic fracturing permits in Alaska. (Image courtesy BLM-Alaska)
  The state agency that oversees oil and gas drilling is proposing a ten-day comment period for applications to use hydraulic fracturing on an oil or gas well.
  The proposal falls in between what environmental groups and the industry say is sufficient opportunity f
  
  Read more

• State agency could offer longer public comment period on fracking projects

  26-01-2017 21:08 via ktoo.org
  
  A rig drilling in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. A number of Kenai Peninsula residents advocated for more opportunity to weigh in when companies apply for hydraulic fracturing permits in Alaska. (Image courtesy BLM-Alaska)
  The state agency that oversees oil and gas drilling is proposing a ten-day comment period for applications to use hydraulic fracturing on an oil or gas well.
  The proposal falls in between what environmental groups and the industry say is sufficient opportunity f
  
  Read more

• ‘It’s a big one’: Iowa pipeline leaks nearly 140,000 gallons of diesel

  26-01-2017 20:48 via ktoo.org
  
  An underground pipeline that runs through multiple Midwestern states has leaked an estimated 138,000 gallons of diesel fuel, according to the company that owns it, Magellan Midstream Partners.
  Clay Masters of Iowa Public Radio reported diesel leaking from a 12-inch underground pipe was initially spotted in farm field in north-central Worth County, Iowa, on Wednesday morning. Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Iowa Department of Natural Resources joined representatives of
  
  Read more

• Mexico’s president cancels planned D.C. trip to meet with Trump

  26-01-2017 19:57 via ktoo.org
  
  President Trump said on Twitter this morning that “if Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting” with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
  Hours later, Peña Nieto did just that. His spokesman tells NPR’s Carrie Kahn in Mexico City that the president has canceled Tuesday’s visit to Washington D.C., without elaborating.
  Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that moves ahead with his plan t
  
  Read more

• Ernestine Saankalaxt’ Hayes to be named 17th Alaska State Writer Laureate

  26-01-2017 19:55 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The 17th Alaska State Writer Laureate will be officially announced tonight at the Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities in Juneau.
  In addition to the evening’s awards presentation and live arts performances, Juneau-based Ernestine Saankalaxt’ Hayes will be officially honored as the Alaska State Writer Laureate.Hayes belongs to the Kaagwaantaan, or wolf clan, on the Eagle side of the Tlingit nation.
  She may be best known because of her award-winning book &ldquo
  
  Read more

• New parking app launches at UAA

  26-01-2017 18:25
  
  Rolling out just in time for spring semester, there’s a new way to pay for parking at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
  The app is called Passport Parking. Similar to the app available for Anchorage’s EasyPark, it allows users to pay for their spots from the comfort of their cars or wherever they may be on campus.
  Falon Harkins, UAA Parking Services associate director, says the app will make parking on campus more convenient for regular users, like commuting students
  
  Read more

• Preliminary 4.6-magnitude earthquake felt across Southcentral Alaska

  26-01-2017 15:56
  
  A preliminary magnitude-4.6 earthquake rocked Southcentral Alaska at 05:26 a.m Thursday, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Earthquake Center.
  The quake struck 31 miles north of Hayes Volcano and 76 miles west of Talkeetna, the Earthquake Center reports.
  It was felt from Wasilla to Rabbit Creek, according to viewer comments coming into KTVA Thursday morning.
   
   
   
  The post Preliminary 4.6-magnitude earthquake felt across Southcentral Alaska appeared first on
  
  Read more

• Rod Udd remembered for charitable sense of community

  26-01-2017 08:40
  
  Rod Udd was a community man through and through, according to some who knew him. The Alaska Aces’ minority owner died Tuesday. He’d recently suffered a fall, which exasperated other medical issues.
  Udd is being remembered for his generosity. At the Aces-Steelheads game at Sullivan Arena on Wednesday, Terry Parks, an Aces owner and managing member, recalled fond memories of his friend and business partner when it looked like the Aces’ days were numbered.
  “Rod was a sponsor
  
  Read more

• Draft executive order would halt refugee processing, suspend issuing visas

  26-01-2017 08:32
  
  President Trump is about to sign an executive action to suspend immigration to the U.S. from some countries, he revealed in an interview Wednesday.
  It’s not the religion-based Muslim ban he originally proposed, but the action does restrict travel to the U.S. from a list of countries that are predominantly Muslim, Mr. Trump told ABC News anchor David Muir.
  “It’s not the Muslim ban. But it’s countries that have tremendous terror,” the president told Muir. “It&rs
  
  Read more

• Scientists fear Trump administration will wipe climate change data from government websites

  26-01-2017 08:05
  
  Many of the scientists working in Alaska waters are in Anchorage this week to share the results of their research at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium, according to a story published by KYUK Public Media. Usually the gathering is full of the most recent discoveries and the results of large collaborative efforts to understand the implications of our rapidly changing seas. Climate change has taken center stage for some time now, and this year is no exception.
  What’s new this year is that m
  
  Read more

• Los Angeles professionals show off hip-hop moves with Anchorage high school dancers

  26-01-2017 07:05
  
  Dance students at East Anchorage High School got to jam with some professionals this week. Members of East High’s Dance Contempo group took a master class Wednesday with visiting Los Angeles hip-hop artists with the Versa-Style Dance Company.The company is performing in Anchorage this weekend for the public, but the group says they also love working with students to show them where their art can take them.
  “A lot of the students see themselves in us and we want to be good r
  
  Read more

• UAA track and field team adjusts without The Dome

  26-01-2017 06:47
  
  If only they could get back on track. For now, the University of Alaska Anchorage indoor track and field team is making due without The Dome. 
  But the domino effect continues. Following The Dome’s collapse over the weekend, UAA, along with many other groups, lost its place to work out. It forced the Seawolves back to campus and a building which is only a couple of years old. In truth, most collegiate programs would be happy to call Alaska A
  
  Read more

• Division widens between Alaska House, Senate on reducing 2017 PFD checks

  26-01-2017 06:17
  
  Will lawmakers cap the Permanent Fund Dividend this year, as they look for a way to pay for the state’s multi-billion dollar budget gap? It’s one of the biggest questions facing lawmakers this session. They came close to doing it last year.
  Gov. Bill Walker’s plan to reduce dividend checks to $1,000 in the near future died last year in the House Finance Committee, just one vote shy of moving out to the House floor for a vote by all House members.
  Rep. David Guttenberg, D-Fairba
  
  Read more

• Project Homeless Connect brings one-stop shop of service

  26-01-2017 06:05
  
  Anchorage’s homeless community had a one-stop shop for help Wednesday. The annual Project Homeless Connect (PHC) took place at the William A. Egan Civic and Convention Center.
  More than 60 service providers were on hand, offering everything from housing, counseling and legal services to haircuts, eye and foot care.
  Organizers say the goal is to bring hope to homeless people and give them the tools to get off the streets, especially those struggling with mental health or substance abuse iss
  
  Read more

• ‘Major changes’ coming for K-12 education, Palmer senator says

  26-01-2017 04:24
  
  Alaska’s school districts should be prepared for deeper cuts and maybe even fewer schools.
  The Senate Education Committee began reviewing the state’s public school funding formula Wednesday morning. According to a presentation by the state Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), formula funding has increased $550 per student over the past six years.
  Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, chair of the Education Committee, said she’s not considering major changes to the for
  
  Read more

• Executive order could impact Alaska refugee community

  26-01-2017 04:21
  
  An executive order President Donald Trump is expected to sign could impact Alaska’s refugee community. The order would temporarily ban refugees from coming to our country for four months, with special focus on people coming from predominantly Muslim countries like Iraq, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.
  Catholic Social Services is the only resettlement program in Alaska, helping around 130 refugees each year. Some come from African countries, including Sudan and Somalia. Others come from parts of E
  
  Read more

• Trump’s EPA grant freeze could impact state program bringing running water to villages

  26-01-2017 04:15
  
  President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants, which could impact thousands of people living in rural Alaska.
  The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) gets $60 million of state and federal money for its Village Safe Water program. About half of that money comes from the EPA.
  The program aims to end the honey bucket system in the Bush by installing plumbing for running water and sewer systems.
  “There’s a direct link between hu
  
  Read more

• Alaska estimates $1.5M cost to comply with federal ID law

  26-01-2017 03:24
  
  A state agency estimates it will cost at least $1.5 million for the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles to become compliant with national proof-of-identity standards.
  A state law passed in 2008 barred state agencies from spending money to help implement the federal Real ID law. The state has gotten extensions to comply. The latest was granted last fall, when Gov. Bill Walker said he planned to propose repealing the state prohibition and setting up a system that would allow Alaskans to choose betwe
  
  Read more

• Murkowski says Trump pipeline initiatives ‘a good start’

  26-01-2017 03:05 via ktoo.org
  
  President Donald Trump signs legislation expediting two controversial energy projects. (Photo by The White House)
  President Donald Trump’s memos aimed at advancing two controversial pipelines drew praise from U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
  Trump signed memos on Jan. 24:
  One expedites review of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has been the subject of a prolonged protest. Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, has been mostly silent about that controversy, despit
  
  Read more

• Bill would allow judges to order gun owners to forfeit weapons if found to be threat

  26-01-2017 02:49 via ktoo.org
  
  Rep. Geran Tarr addresses the Alaska House of Representatives on April 7, 2014. Tarr has introduced a measure that would allow judges to issue protective orders against Alaskans who are deemed a threat to themselves or others, and would make them temporarily surrender their firearms. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  Alaskans can have firearms even when family or law enforcement officers believe they are a threat to themselves or others.
  But a new bill would allow judges to issue protective or
  
  Read more

• APD: Tuesday fire now investigated as arson, homicide

  26-01-2017 02:35
  
  A fire on West 23rd Avenue is being investigated as an arson and homicide, the Anchorage Police Department announced Wednesday.
  Police and fire crews responded to the fire at a fourplex at 1:39 a.m. Tuesday, and after getting the fire under control, found a woman’s body, a statement from police explained.
  “Investigators have determined this fire was intentionally set and the woman is a homicide victim,” police wrote in the statement. “For investigative purposes, her exact
  
  Read more

• Witnesses, video help piece together shooting death of 17-year-old

  26-01-2017 02:25
  
  Last updated at 5:27 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25
  A teenager once considered a person of interest in a recent homicide now faces charges of first- and second-degree murder in the case, as well as first-degree robbery.
  Sean Simeonoff cried during much of his arraignment
  Sean Simeonoff, 18, was arraigned in court on Wednesday for the death of 17-year-old Jesus Oropeza. Oropeza was found unresponsive near the corner of Vine Street and Birch Street, in Government Hill, just after midnight Saturday, ac
  
  Read more

• Coming into the Country

  26-01-2017 02:18 via ktoo.org
  
  Coming into the Country Celebrating the 40th anniversary of John McPhee’s book
  that shared Alaska with the worldFeature Stories
  Forty years later, the lure of “Coming into the Country”
  Jennifer Pemberton
  Leading John McPhee down the Salmon River
  Annie Feidt VideosProfilesWriter John McPhee was at ease in a canoe, Brad Snow was at ease with himMy name is River Wind: David Cornberg has the last word in “Coming into the Country”40 years later, John McPhee’s book
  
  Read more

• Ask a Climatologist: Snowflake sweet spot

  26-01-2017 02:05 via ktoo.org
  
  Snow piles up Jan. 23 at Alaska Public Media in Anchorage. (Photo by Annie Feidt/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
  The ingredients for picture perfect snowflakes came together in Southcentral Alaska this past weekend. Climatologist Brian Brettschneider says the snowflakes that fell in were especially large and piled up quickly.
  “There’s a couple ways you can get big snowflakes,” said Brettschneider. “You can have really wet snow where the flakes clump together, and when th
  
  Read more

• Juneau Afternoon -1-26-17

  26-01-2017 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Thursday on A Juneau Afternoon, Joan Pardes hosts.
  We’ll talk with Jessy Post about UAS Alumni activities;
  We’ll get an update on Hospice & Home Care of Juneau; with Joni Pico & Erin Walker-Tolles;
  Carll Broderson will be here with details about the upcoming WorldQuest.
  Author Kathleen Dean Moore will be here to highlight her new book;
  And Nancy DeCherney will be here with art news during Arts Up.
  That, Writers Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, Thursday on A Juneau Afternoo
  
  Read more

• Kenai Peninsula permafrost thawing rapidly, researchers say

  26-01-2017 01:56 via ktoo.org
  
  Retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife researcher Ed Berg probes for permafrost on the Kenai Peninsula. (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey)
  Permafrost is thawing at a brisk rate across Alaska, and the Kenai Peninsula is no exception.
  A recent study estimates permafrost coverage on the peninsula has decreased by 60 percent since 1950.
  Permafrost is usually associated with Northern and Interior Alaska, but it also occurs in isolated pockets in wetlands on the Kenai Peninsula.
  Benjamin Jones is a research ge
  
  Read more

• St. Paul’s fur seal pups at lowest level in 100 years

  26-01-2017 01:22 via ktoo.org
  
  Northern fur seals at St. Paul Island’s Reef rookery. (Photo John Ryan/KUCB)
  Northern fur seal pup production on St. Paul Island has hit its lowest level since 1915.
  Every other year members of Seattle’s Marine Mammal Laboratory travel to the Pribilof Islands to estimate how many pups are born. Scientist Rod Towell has been a part of the counts since 1992. He says the difference at the rookeries on St. Paul is striking.
  “I’m not going to say it was full coverage, but it l
  
  Read more

• APD identifies 19-year-old killed in Tuesday morning shooting

  26-01-2017 00:43
  
  Nick Swann / KTVA
  A 19-year-old has been identified by the Anchorage Police Department as one of two men shot Tuesday morning off of Muldoon Road.
  Two men were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds after police responded to the parking lot of a Brown Jug liquor store on Muldoon Road. Tiwan Marquis Johnson Jr. was pronounced dead a short time later, APD stated Wednesday. The other man’s injuries were not life-threatening.
  In a Wednesday release, police said there were several
  
  Read more

• Alaska Senate Democrats pitch budget plan

  26-01-2017 00:39
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A plan from minority Senate Democrats for addressing Alaska’s deficit calls for reworking state oil tax policy and implementing broad-based taxes before moving to the potential use of earnings from Alaska’s oil-wealth fund.
  The plan would start with what they call targeted cuts, to things like tax credits and mega-projects.
  From there, they propose tackling oil taxes before taking up a broad-based tax, like an income tax. Use of Alaska Permanent Fund earni
  
  Read more

• Catching the premier of Kiuguyat: The Northern Lights

  26-01-2017 00:36
  
  Mixing stunning time-lapse photography with Inupiaq Alaska Native traditions, “Kiuguyat: The Northern Lights” is a documentary coming soon to the University of Alaska Anchorage’s planetarium. Not only that, but the film adds in the science behind the aurora borealis.
  According to Travis Rector, a professor of physics and astronomy, it took three years to gather the footage. The photographers used a camera designed to capture the entire sky all at once. The interview portion of
  
  Read more

Follow @AnchorageNewsUS on Twitter!