Anchorage news

• Q&A: Education department transparency questioned after University of Alaska investigation

  01-03-2017 23:48 via ktoo.org
  
  
  U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in National Harbor, Maryland. (Flickr Photo by Gage Skidmore)
  President Donald Trump’s Department of Education is being questioned on its lack of transparency because it hasn’t publicized results of a major investigation into sexual harassment and sexual assault cases on University of Alaska campuses.
  The university released the results, but BuzzFeed News reports the e
  
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• Mental Health Trust seeks to change laws that limit how they spend money

  01-03-2017 23:43 via ktoo.org
  
  The Trust Authority Building in Anchorage houses their main offices. (Photo by Anne Hillman/Alaska Public Media)
  The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority is trying to change the laws that govern how it uses its principal funds.
  Some board members hope the legislation will pass soon enough that the organization does not have to undergo a special legislative audit.
  The Trust was created to fund mental health programming around the state.
  It came under scrutiny last year because the Board of Truste
  
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• Anchorage police looking for ‘person of interest’ in fatal apartment fire

  01-03-2017 23:34
  
  Sierra Starks/KTVA Courtesy Ceara Raelynn StreiselPolice are requesting the public’s help in locating a man they believe may have information about the Spenard apartment fire that killed three people last month.
  Andrew John Eknaty, 28, has been named as a “person of interest” in the fire, which is being investigated as an arson and homicide.
  The Royal Suite Lodge went up in flames during the early morning hours of Feb. 15. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene and
  
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• Lawmakers press ahead with Uber legislation

  01-03-2017 22:47 via ktoo.org
  
  Taxi drivers in Budapest protest Uber in 2016. (Photo by Wikimedia Commons)
  Ride-sharing company Uber left Alaska in 2015, agreeing not to return until a state law was in place that exempted the company from paying workers’ compensation insurance for its drivers.
  Now, three state legislators are leading the effort to lay the groundwork for the company’s return, including a measure moving through the House and one in the Senate.
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/03
  
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• Suspect arrested in two Mendenhall Valley burglaries

  01-03-2017 22:08 via ktoo.org
  
  A 36-year-old Juneau man is in custody after police responded to a report of burglary in Mendenhall Valley on Tuesday, according to a Juneau Police Department news release.
  Jeremiah M. Houston was arrested on two counts of first-degree burglary, second-degree theft and fourth-degree criminal mischief.
  Juneau police responded to an intrusion alarm on Columbia Boulevard. An officer found a back door at a residence had been kicked in, but the homeowner said nothing appeared to be missing.
  Acco
  
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• EPA budget cut could slow permits, slash grants

  01-03-2017 21:53 via ktoo.org
  
  
  (Photo by Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
  http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170228-01.mp3
  President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal is expected in mid-March, and it reportedly includes a 25 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency.
  That’s music to the ears of many Republicans, and many Alaskans, who feel the EPA has overstepped its bounds.
  There’s no word yet on where exactly the budget ax will fall within the agency, but Alaska has a lot at stake.
  The state recei
  
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• Alaska delegation gives good reviews on Trump speech

  01-03-2017 21:03 via ktoo.org
  
  President Donald Trump gave a restrained speech Tuesday night to Congress.
  He said there were several issues Republicans and Democrats could agree on. Such as paid family leave and “to invest in women’s health, and to promote clean air and clear water, and to rebuild our military and our infrastructure.”
  That brief reference was the only discussion of the environment.
  Trump did not talk much about energy, either, although he did say he’s working to advance the Keysto
  
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• Anchorage Assembly talks health care cost transparency, ride-sharing companies, drones

  01-03-2017 20:58
  
  After Tuesday night’s Anchorage Assembly meeting, Anchorage residents should have better access to information about how much health care services will cost.
  The Assembly passed an ordinance that requires health care practitioners and facilities to give patients an estimate of the amount they anticipate will be billed. They heard from several consumers who said it’s very difficult to get information on how much a procedure will cost, and they want more transparency in the m
  
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• No injuries reported in downtown Anchorage structure fire

  01-03-2017 19:48
  
  AFD responded to a fire at the second story of Mad Myrna's Wednesday morning. (Rick Rysso / KTVA)
  No injuries were reported after the Anchorage Fire Department (AFD) responded to a structure fire near 500 East 5th Avenue Wednesday morning.
  Crews received the call at 9:04 a.m. and were on scene by 9:07 a.m., according to AFD assistant fire chief Erich Scheunemann.
  The fire was deemed under control at 9:27 a.m.
  Scheunemann said the fire was located on the second story of Mad Myrna’s. I
  
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• Bill would change state arts council to a corporation

  01-03-2017 19:03 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Lawmakers take their first look Friday at a bill changing the Alaska State Council on the Arts from an agency to a public corporation.
  The council distributes funds to artists and art organizations around the state.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/02/28ArtsCorpPkg.mp3Executive Director Andrea Noble-Pelant said it would allow for more partnerships and funding opportunities.
  “Our choice is we can stay the same and watch our organization dwindle, or be less effective,”&n
  
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• Ben Carson clears initial Senate test vote

  01-03-2017 17:45
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate has given its initial approval to President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson. Carson’s actual confirmation vote is likely Thursday.
  Carson, a celebrated African-American neurosurgeon and candidate in last year’s GOP presidential primary, cleared a preliminary Senate hurdle on a bipartisan 62-37 vote.
  Carson won bipartisan support last month in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban A
  
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• Jeff King aims for fifth Iditarod title

  01-03-2017 17:22
  
  What’s a musher without their team?
  “I’ve got a team of Navy Seals,” Jeff King said of his dogs.
  Like any good relationship, King and his team have a relationship that works both ways.  “It’s no fun to me if I don’t like them and they don’t like me, and I don’t like them,” King explained.
  Training his dogs takes them into and around King’s backyard — Denali National Park and Preserve.
  Mushing dogs has always b
  
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• Juneau’s $170 million natural gas project on hold

  01-03-2017 17:01
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Juneau’s privately owned electric utility is holding off on plans to bring natural gas to Alaska’s capital city due to lower oil prices.
  Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Tuesday that Alaska Electric Light & Power’s owner, Washington-state-based Avista, had expressed interest in shipping liquefied natural gas from British Columbia to Juneau as a way to save customers money.
  That was a few years ago when natural gas cost half as much as oil, but
  
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• Fishery board changes management of sockeye in Kenai River

  01-03-2017 16:44
  
  KENAI, Alaska (AP) – The Board of Fisheries has changed its target for how many late-run sockeye salmon need to make it out of the Kenai River.
  The Peninsula Clarion reported Monday (that the board spent its first day deliberating an Alaska Department of Fish and Game proposal seeking to a review of escapement and inriver goals on Kenai River for late-run salmon. Ultimately, the board moved to eliminate the optimum escapement goal and to increase the ceiling of two of the inriver goal tier
  
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• Budapest assembly passes motion to withdraw 2024 Olympic bid

  01-03-2017 16:34
  
  BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – Budapest’s assembly has approved a motion to withdraw the city’s bid for the 2024 Olympics.
  Wednesday’s decision leaves Los Angeles and Paris as the only remaining candidates. The International Olympic Committee will choose the host city in September.
  Budapest’s decision to withdraw came after a new political group appeared to have successfully gathered enough signatures to force a city-wide referendum on the bid. Prime Minister Viktor Orban
  
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• Pederson Hill housing gets Planning Commission approval

  01-03-2017 09:43 via ktoo.org
  
  
  City and Borough of Juneau Lands Manager Greg Chaney consults the site plan for an 86-lot residential subdivision near Pederson Hill on Feb. 16, 2017. (Photo by Jacob Resneck/KTOO)
  A unanimous Juneau Planning Commission approved the first phase of the Pederson Hill subdivision, clearing a major hurdle for the city’s housing initiative.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/02/170301pedersonhill-pkg.mp3Commissioners heard testimony Tuesday night from the city’s Lands Manager Greg
  
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• APD seeks whereabouts of missing 12-year-old

  01-03-2017 08:30
  
  Tyleesha InksterCourtesy Anchorage Police Department
  The Anchorage Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing 12-year-old girl.
  Tyleesha Inkster was last seen was wearing a green and black sweater and black jeans, according to a statement from police.
  Police say she is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs roughly 125 pounds. She has brown eyes and black hair, which has red highlights.
  Anyone with information on her Tyleesha’s whereabouts is asked to call APD
  
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• APD seeks whereabouts of 12-year-old missing for more than 36 hours

  01-03-2017 08:30
  
  Tyleesha InksterCourtesy Anchorage Police Department
  Last updated at 9:04 a.m. on Wednesday, March 1
  The Anchorage Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing 12-year-old girl whose family has not seen or heard from her in more than a day.
  APD Sgt. Roger Nelson said Tyleesha Inkster’s family reported her missing around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, approximately 24 hours after her disappearance. Nelson said she was supposed to go to school and didn’t arri
  
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• APD seeks whereabouts of 12-year-old missing for more than 24 hours

  01-03-2017 08:30
  
  Tyleesha InksterCourtesy Anchorage Police Department
  Last updated at 10:54 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28
  The Anchorage Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing 12-year-old girl whose family has not seen or heard from her in more than a day.
  APD Sgt. Roger Nelson said Tyleesha Inkster’s family reported her missing around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, approximately 24 hours after her disappearance. Nelson said she was supposed to go to school and didn’t arrive, wh
  
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• APD: Missing 12-year-old girl found safe

  01-03-2017 08:30
  
  Tyleesha InksterCourtesy Anchorage Police Department
  Last updated at 11:41 a.m. on Wednesday, March 1
  Tyleesha Inkster has been located and is safe, APD wrote in a late-morning press release.
  Updated at 11:10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 1
  The Anchorage Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing 12-year-old girl whose family has not seen or heard from her in more than a day.
  APD Sgt. Roger Nelson said Tyleesha Inkster’s family reported her missing aroun
  
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• Colorectal cancer rates rising in Gen X and millennials, study finds

  01-03-2017 06:17
  
  Colorectal cancer rates have been declining overall in the United States since the mid-1980s, but certain age groups are seeing a concerning rise in cases, according to new research.
  The study, led by scientists from the American Cancer Society, highlights a “curious” increase colorectal cancer rates in millennials and Generation Xers, including people in their early 50s.
  Compared to people born around 1950, those born in 1990 have double the risk of colon cancer and quadruple the ri
  
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• Alaska House considers pushing state bond burden onto local taxpayers

  01-03-2017 06:11
  
  A proposal out of Juneau could hit close to Alaskans’ pockets.
  The Alaska House Finance Committee on Tuesday approved an amendment to let the state walk-back its promise to help local communities pay for school bonds by reducing funding in the budget by $48.7 million, or 42 percent. The measure shifts the burden onto local taxpayers instead.
  “There can be ancillary impacts, I mean municipalities can make decisions,” said Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, co-chair of the finance c
  
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• Man who attacked Iditarod mushers in 2016 race to be held in jail during Fairbanks restart

  01-03-2017 04:14
  
  The man who attacked two mushers during the 2016 Iditarod sled dog race will spend this year’s race restart in jail, according to an Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) spokesman.
  Arnold Demoski, 27, was charged with reckless endangerment and two counts each of third-degree assault and reckless driving after he attacked mushers Jeff King and Aliy Zirkle with a snowmachine on the trail between Galena and Nulato, his hometown, on March 12, 2016.
  Jeff King’s dog, Nash. Courtesy
  
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• DOT: Trucks on now-closed Dalton Highway struck by avalanche

  01-03-2017 04:03
  
  An avalanche struck a group of trucks traversing the Dalton Highway Credit: John W. Slater/AK DOT Facebook
  The Dalton Highway was closed Monday due to “extreme” avalanche conditions between mile 241 and mile 247, near Atigun Pass, according to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT).
  The closure was announced on the DOT’s Facebook page Tuesday, posted with a video of a group of trucks that were slammed by an avalanche.“Crews decided to cl
  
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• Credit card scam targets elderly Alaskans

  01-03-2017 03:29
  
  Older Alaskans have been the target in a recent scam aimed at stealing credit card information, according to officials.
  The Better Business Bureau (BBB) Serving the Northwest and the Alaska Office of Elder Fraud issued a warning about the scam, saying “it appears this scam is directly targeting the elderly.”
  Based on recent reports to the agencies, the scammers have called consumers and claimed to be from a utility or cable company. They tell t
  
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• Committee weighs cutting school debt payments

  01-03-2017 03:20 via ktoo.org
  
  Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, co-chairman of the House Finance Committee, listens to Rep. Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks, on Monday. Seaton proposed a $48.7 million cut to school construct debt reimbursements. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  Alaskans would pay more in property taxes if the state government cuts the amount it pays to offset the debt to build schools.
  A House committee included a $48.7 million cut in state aid during a step in writing the state budget Tuesday.
  The state government histor
  
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• Homer rejects inclusivity measure

  01-03-2017 03:14
  
  A resolution aimed at promoting inclusivity in a small Alaska fishing community has been rejected after it proved too divisive.
  The Homer City Council voted 5-1 Monday to reject the measure, which was aimed at affirming Homer’s commitment to inclusion amid concerns about the treatment of immigrants, religious groups, the LGBTQ community and others.
  Council member Donna Aderhold, one of the resolution’s authors, says the wording was unclear and that people took their own message
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 3-1-17

  01-03-2017 02:16 via ktoo.org
  
  Wednesday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon,We’ll learn about ToastMasters and the Spring Contest with guest, Jill Ramiel;
  We’ll get a preview of the Wildlife Wednesday presentation about whales, with guest, Doug Jones;
  We’ll talk with two of AWARE’s Women of Distinction;
  We’ll talk with undercover journalist Suki Kim, the Wednesday night speaker for the Juneau World Affairs Council;
  Artist M K MacNaughton will be here to highlight her First Friday exhibit;
  That, Writer&r
  
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• Fat Tuesday king cakes keep Anchorage bakery busy

  01-03-2017 02:04
  
  King cakes are considered a Mardi Gras must-have at House of Bread in Anchorage. It’s one of the few bakeries in town where Alaskans can find the Fat Tuesday treat.
  “The purple represents justice, the green sprinkles represent faith and our gold represents power and that is very traditional for Mardi Gras,” manager Carson Baldiviez said, explaining the cake’s signature colors.
  The bakery planned ahead this year, taking as many pre-orders as it could. Bakers bega
  
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• KTVA Weather Lab: Ursa Minor Elementary School

  01-03-2017 01:44
  
  In this week’s KTVA Weather Lab, I visited Ursa Minor Elementary School, which is located on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Third-graders in Mrs. Cross and Mrs. Condry’s classes are learning why our weather here in Alaska is not as warm as other places they’ve been.
  While I was there, they asked me the Weather Lab Question of the Week: How are avalanches made?
  Every Tuesday, Melissa Frey will take the KTVA Weather Lab to a classroom in our community. If you have a weathe
  
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• FCC grants first 100% foreign control of U.S. broadcasters

  01-03-2017 01:30 via ktoo.org
  
  The Juneau Radio Center on Feb. 28, 2017. (Photo by Christy Ciambor)
  The FCC’s Media Bureau has granted a petition by a pair of Australian citizens to control 100 percent of broadcast stations (four radio stations in Alaska and Texas).
  The FCC has granted aggregate foreign investments in broadcast licensees of up to 49.99 percent under foreign ownership rules loosened in 2013 (the Pandora decision), and just last month allowed foreign investors to own up to a 49 percent equity stake i
  
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• Recipe Box: Fennel meatballs with red sauce

  01-03-2017 00:59
  
  Meatballs are usually the complementary part of the dish, their indispensable qualities made famous by the children’s song “On Top of Spaghetti.” But we’re making meatballs the main course in this week’s Recipe Box!
  Dave Thorne, aka Delicious Dave, shares his recipe for fennel meatballs with homemade red sauce.
  “Every week, my kid wants meatballs,” he said. “They love it, so I make it.”
  Not only can parents 
  
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• State demands Hilcorp monitor environmental impact of Cook Inlet gas leak

  01-03-2017 00:51 via ktoo.org
  
  Still from footage taken by a helicopter of a gas leak in Cook Inlet, obtained by the environmental group Cook Inletkeeper. (Image courtesy Cook Inletkeeper)
  The state is asking oil and gas company Hilcorp to dramatically step up environmental monitoring near a natural gas leak in Cook Inlet.The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) says the company needs to be prepared to “evacuate the line,” which could include shutting down wells, by March 13, depending on monitoring resu
  
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• Deep snow along much of the 2017 Iditarod trail

  01-03-2017 00:49
  
  Many of the checkpoints along the 968-mile long Iditarod trail between Fairbanks and Nome have plenty of snow and ice, as would be expected this time of year. The last time the Iditarod started in Fairbanks, the snow depth was just over one foot. This year, we’re seeing almost three times that much.
  As of Tuesday, Fairbanks is sitting under 32 inches of snow. That is down slightly from earlier this week when it reached 34 inches.  It’s been 24 years since Fairbanks has seen
  
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• APD: Woman wounded in East Anchorage shooting, 2 males flee

  01-03-2017 00:46
  
  The Anchorage Police Department is investigating a shooting that wounded a woman Tuesday afternoon.
  In a statement, APD spokeswoman Renee Oistad said someone called police to report a shooting at a Melody Place home just after 12:30 p.m. A few minutes later, someone else called from the home and reported that someone had been shot, according to Oistad.
  When police arrived at the home, they found four people inside, including a woman who’d been shot in the arm, Oistad explained, adding that
  
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• Alaska underwater gas leak continues, 2nd group to sue

  01-03-2017 00:38
  
  The leak in Cook Inlet. Courtesy of Cook Inletkeeper
  A leak in an underwater pipeline continues to spew natural gas into Alaska’s Cook Inlet and a second environmental group has given required 60-day notice that it will sue the pipeline’s owner.
  The gas was first spotted Feb. 7 bubbling from an 8-inch pipeline owned by Hilcorp Alaska, LLC.
  The company’s consultants say tiny amounts of natural gas are dissolving in the water.
  The company says there’s likely minimal effect
  
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• Descendants gather to welcome Chirikof ancestors home

  01-03-2017 00:35 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Father Innocent Dresdow performs service on the remains in the room where they’re being kept, in a lower level of the Alutiiq Museum. (Photo by April Laktonen Counceller/Alutiiq Museum)
  After years of work, ancestral remains from a 19th century settlement on Chirikof Island have returned home.
  In the 1960s, archaeologists removed the bones from Chirikof, which is located southwest of Kodiak Island, and since then the majority of the bones have been stored and studied at Indiana University
  
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