Anchorage news

• Utqiagvik teen charged with brutally killing his father

  12-02-2017 23:29
  
  An Utqiagvik teenager is in custody for the death of his father, hours after the teen had been arrested for burglary.
  North Slope Borough police Sgt. James Michels and another officer responded to a Stevenson Street home around 10:30 p.m. on Thursday following a report of an attempted suicide, Michels wrote in his affidavit. When they arrived, Horace Simmonds let police into the home, where they found his father, Bart Ahsogeak, lying bloody and unresponsive on the floor. Michels noted that
  
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• Stassel remains upbeat despite injury that ended his snowboard season

  12-02-2017 22:31
  
  Ryan Stassel is relaxing at his South Anchorage home.
  “Feeling pretty good. Yeah, I don’t know, wish I could be out riding right now,” the 24-year-old professional snowboarder said.
  Unfortunately, he will have to wait until next winter, as his season is finished. Stassel broke a bone in his foot while he competed in a world cup event in Austria back in January.
  “It was my last run, already landed my first,” he explained. “I was going for the win and
  
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• Can estates include digital property? Lawmakers weigh in

  12-02-2017 21:24
  
  In estate planning, people take stock of their possessions: houses, money, heirlooms. But what about their email accounts, social media pages and family pictures on their smartphones?
  Bills are pending in more than a dozen states, including Alaska, aimed at modernizing that area of law, using legislation proposed by the national Uniform Law Commission.
  Ben Orzeske is chief counsel with the commission, a nonpartisan organization that works on uniformity of state laws.
  He says work on the digital
  
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• Studded tire tax increase proposed, sponsor says funds will go toward roads

  12-02-2017 04:13
  
  Buying new studded tires is a winter ritual many Alaskans perform every few years. If Senate Bill 50 becomes law, that process could become significantly more expensive.
  Sen. Cathy Giessel introduced the bill Monday. It would raise the tax on each studded tire from the current $5 to $75. The senator described the increase as a “public safety user fee.”
  “There are states in northern climates that do ban studded tires, but this is not a ban,” she explained. “It is a u
  
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• Immigration agents carry out raids in several US cities

  12-02-2017 03:43
  
  Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have conducted sweeps in several cities this past week. Officials say they’re rounding up illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.
  From New York City to Los Angeles, activists are speaking out against immigration raids across the country. Photos from an operation in Atlanta show agents arresting alleged immigration fugitives and criminals.
  In Texas, video on social media showing a man being detained by an ICE agent in front of a fa
  
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• Skeleton of orca that died in the Nushagak River printed in 3-D

  12-02-2017 03:14 via ktoo.org
  
  3-D printer at the UAF Bristol Bay campus. (Photo courtesy KDLG)
  A machine the size of a mini-fridge sits on the counter of a college science lab. Three half-constructed plastic models of fetal orca bones are visible through the glass front. The 3-D printer’s extruder moves across the models, adding plastic layer by layer. It whirs, hums, and beeps like a “Star Wars” droid.
  In September of 2011, three killer whales puzzled biologists by traveling about 70 miles up the Nushagak
  
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• Ketchikan Indian Community checking Ketchikan beaches and shellfish for toxins

  12-02-2017 02:56 via ktoo.org
  
  Esther Kennedy of the Resource Protection Department collects water samples every week from Starrigavan. Along with six other tribes in Southeast, the group is working to create an early warning system to protect shellfish diggers from PSP. (Photo by Emily Kwong/KCAW)
  Last summer, Ketchikan Indian Community began a phytoplankton and shellfish monitoring program in Ketchikan as part of the Southeast Alaska Tribal Toxins Program. KIC tests samples, and informs the public if dangerous levels of the
  
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• US Coast Guard: Locator beacon found in debris field during search for missing fishing vessel

  12-02-2017 02:42
  
  Pieces of a missing fishing vessel have been recovered as the search for the boat continues near St. George, according to U.S. Coast Guard officials.
  The Destination’s electronic position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) alert was picked up early Saturday morning, according to a statement from Petty Officer 3rd Class Lauren Steenson. The signal originated approximately two miles northwest of St. George, which is located west of Alaska’s mainland in the Bering Sea.#USCG Air S
  
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• Search continues near St. George for missing fishing vessel with 6-man crew

  12-02-2017 02:42
  
  Last updated at 11:55 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 12
  Pieces of a missing fishing vessel have been recovered as the search for the boat with a six-man crew onboard continues near St. George, according to U.S. Coast Guard officials.
  The Destination’s electronic position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) alert was picked up early Saturday morning, according to a statement from Petty Officer 3rd Class Lauren Steenson. The signal originated approximately two miles northwest of St. George, whic
  
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• Commentary: It’s ‘safety first’ for Iditarod restart change

  12-02-2017 02:22
  
  The Iditarod restart is moving again. It’s not what anyone wanted, but KTVA 11’s Dave Goldman tells says it’s a matter of safety first.
  The post Commentary: It’s ‘safety first’ for Iditarod restart change appeared first on KTVA 11.
  
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• Sargento recalls cheese due to possible contamination

  12-02-2017 02:11
  
  Sargento products affected by the recallCourtesy info.sargento.com
  Wisconsin-based cheesemaker Sargento Foods Inc. is recalling a specialty cheese because of possible bacterial contamination.
  Deutsch Kase Haus, LLC of Middlebury, Indiana, notified Sargento that it supplied the company with a Longhorn Colby cheese that may be contaminated with Listeria monocyctogenes. No illnesses have been reported.
  The recalled products are 6.84-ounce packages of Sargento Ultra Thin Sliced Longhorn Colby with
  
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• USGS overhauling inaccurate, outdated Alaska maps

  12-02-2017 01:35 via ktoo.org
  
  Sen. Natasha von Imhof, Kevin Gallagher, Ed Fogels hold new topographic maps of Alaska created through the Alaska Mapping Initiative. (Photo by Caroline Halter/KTOO)http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/02/10MAPS.wavUnlike other states, Alaska is using topographic maps that were created over 50 years ago. These maps, some of which were hand-drawn, are rife with inaccuracies. Rivers flow upstream, mountains are out of place and some features are missing altogether.
  These mistakes affect eve
  
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• Search suspended for owner of personal locator beacon activated near Thompson Pass

  12-02-2017 00:58
  
  Last updated at 5:55 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11
  Alaska State Troopers, the Valdez Fire Department and other groups spent much of Saturday trying to locate the point of origin for a personal locator beacon that was activated earlier that morning. On Saturday evening, the search was suspended due to lack of evidence that someone was in distress in the area.
  According to an online trooper dispatch, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) notified troopers of the beacon alert around 8:2
  
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• Personal locator beacon activated near Thompson Pass prompts multi-agency search effort

  12-02-2017 00:58
  
  Alaska State Troopers, the Valdez Fire Department and other groups are trying to locate the point of origin for a personal locator beacon that was activated early Saturday morning.
  Thompson Pass around 2:30 p.m., as seen from an Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities camera.
  City of Valdez spokeswoman Allie Ferko said troopers contacted the Valdez Fire Department around 8:45 a.m. seeking assistance in the search after the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center received the signal f
  
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• A Trump voter and Facebook insulter talk it out — in person

  12-02-2017 00:35 via ktoo.org
  
  Jamie Ruppert (R) was featured in an NPR story about Obama voters who supported Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election. Amy Whitenight (L) labeled Ruppert an “idiot” in a comment on NPR’s Facebook page. They recently met in person to talk about their political differences.
  Jeff Brady/NPR
  It’s not often you get a chance to come face-to-face with that person who made a nasty comment about you on Facebook. But one interviewee from our Kitchen Table Series go
  
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• Protests against Planned Parenthood rouse dueling rallies nationwide

  12-02-2017 00:33 via ktoo.org
  
  Planned Parenthood supporters and an opponent of the organization try to block each other’s signs during a protest and counterprotest Saturday in St. Louis. Jim Salter/AP
  Anti-abortion rights protesters gathered outside Planned Parenthood clinics across the country Saturday, in a series of rallies calling on politicians to end federal funding for the century-old organization. The activists planned to picket outside roughly 200 Planned Parenthood clinics — but at many of those locatio
  
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• Immigration raids are reported around the country

  12-02-2017 00:33 via ktoo.org
  
  An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent detains an immigrant in 2015 in Los Angeles. A new round of detentions this week has triggered complaints from immigrant advocates. John Moore/Getty Images
  Federal immigration authorities launched a new wave of raids and other actions in several states over the past five days aimed at sweeping up people who are in this country illegally.
  It’s not known how many people were rounded up across the country, but immigration advocates say they’v
  
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