Anchorage news

• Fentanyl and other addictive opioids stolen from Haines clinic

  21-03-2017 22:55 via ktoo.org
  
  Highly-addictive opioids including fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone were stolen from the Haines SEARHC Clinic during a break-in late last week.
  The Haines Police Department has warned first responders about the increased potential for drug-related emergencies because of the incident.
  The break-in happened late Thursday night or early Friday morning last week.
  On Tuesday, the police department released a list of substances that were taken. They include narcotics and benzodiazepines.
  The police ne
  
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• Bill signed allowing for opioid overdose drug distribution

  21-03-2017 22:47
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Gov. Bill Walker has signed into law legislation allowing state health officials to extend a program for broader distribution of a drug used to prevent opioid overdose.
  Last month, in declaring rampant opioid abuse a public health disaster, Walker proposed spending about $4.1 million in federal grants through August 2021 for distribution of naloxone. The drug can be used to prevent overdose.
  He initially requested that his declaration be extended to February 2018. But
  
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• Newscast – March 21, 2017

  21-03-2017 22:38 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/03/KXLL-news.mp3In this newscast:
  Alaska Health and Social Services Commissioner Valerie Davidson and Alaska Congressman Don Young expressed concerns about the replacement bill for the Affordable Care Act.
  The Sitka Sound Sac Roe herring fishery opened Mar. 19.
  The lawsuit brought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the group pursuing a gold-and-copper mine in southwest Alaska was put on hold.
  
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• What does recidivism mean anyway?

  21-03-2017 22:28 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Ideally, when someone gets out of prison, they don’t go back.
  In reality, nearly two out of every three offenders in Alaska go back inside within three years.
  Some call this the revolving door. The technical term is recidivism.
  Elasonga Milligrock and Dani Cashen visit outside KTOO. Cashen says felons can be stigmatized by the community. (Photo by Scott Burton/KTOO)
  I’ve been through Alaska’s revolving door myself, and hope to bridge the gap between convicts, ex-
  
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• KTVA Weather Lab: Baxter Elementary School

  21-03-2017 22:09
  
  In this week’s KTVA Weather Lab, I visited Baxter Elementary School in Anchorage, where the third-graders are working together to learn more about meteorology.
  I also answer the weather question of the week and explain where the clouds and northern lights are in the atmosphere.
  Every Tuesday, Melissa Frey will take the KTVA Weather Lab to a classroom in our community. If you have a weather question for Melissa or would like her to visit your classroom, she can be reache
  
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• KTVA Weather Lab: Baxter Elementary

  21-03-2017 22:09
  
  In this week’s KTVA Weather Lab, I visited Baxter Elementary School in Anchorage, where the third-graders are working together to learn more about meteorology.
  I also answer the weather question of the week and explain where the clouds and northern lights are in the atmosphere.
  Every Tuesday, Melissa Frey will take the KTVA Weather Lab to a classroom in our community. If you have a weather question for Melissa or would like her to visit your classroom, she can be reache
  
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• Man suspected of driving drunk captured by citizens, arrested

  21-03-2017 21:56
  
  Two citizens chased down a man who is now accused of driving under the influence of alcohol.
  According to the Anchorage Police Department, law enforcement was dispatched to a vehicle crash at Dowling Road and Lake Otis Parkway at 4:13 p.m. APD was told a drunk driver was involved in the incident and tried to leave the scene.
  When officers arrived, they said they discovered that Steven Holliday, 60, was traveling in a 1991 Chevy truck east on Dowling Road, police wrote in a Nixle. The agency said
  
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• Republicans will lose in 2018 if they don’t support GOP health care bill, Trump says

  21-03-2017 21:29 via ktoo.org
  
  President Donald Trump made the trip up Pennsylvania Avenue to close the deal with members of his own party on a bill that, on the face of it, does what Republicans have been promising to do for years: Repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
  And he came with a tough love message for members of his own party.
  “Looks like you’d be ripe for a primary if you don’t keep your promise,” the president told the group of lawmakers in a closed-door meeti
  
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• Afghanistan supports sending more US forces

  21-03-2017 21:23
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) – Afghanistan says it wants the Trump administration to send more forces and help meet “military shortfalls” in the battle against the Taliban and the Islamic State group.
  Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani welcomed the recent call by U.S. Gen. John Nicholson, the top American commander in Afghanistan, for an increase of a few thousand more troops.
  The U.S. administration has not yet said whether it will send more troops in response to Nicholson’s comment
  
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• Star power: Gold Medal tournament gives fans a lot to cheer about

  21-03-2017 21:08 via ktoo.org
  
  Yakutat’s Martin Sensmeier has been posing with fans all week. Not only is he a Gold Medal baller but he is also a Hollywood star on the rise, recently starring in The Magnificent Seven remake. (Photo courtesy Klas Stolpe)
  Yakutat C-Bracket star Martin Sensmeier also shines off the court.
  Young fans have been asking to pose next to the sweet jump-shooting guard all week.
  Sensmeier had a major role as Red Harvest in the 2016 Hollywood remake of the classic “The Magnificent Seven.
  
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• Travel Tuesday: Save some cash at the Alaska Summer Showcase

  21-03-2017 20:58
  
  Alaskans who want to get a jump start on the summer travel season can expect some great deals and prizes at the fourth Alaska Summer Showcase.  Prizes include a trip for two on Alaska Airlines’ new partner Condor Air, a bear viewing trip with the Brooks Lodge in Katmai National Park, the 26 Glacier Cruise in the Prince William Sound and more. Those prizes total more than $20,000, according to the website.
  The event is more than just prizes and deals. There will be food trucks and live
  
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• Dimond basketball aiming for one last title shot

  21-03-2017 18:00
  
  If experience counts, the Dimond lynx should be in good shape. As the state basketball tournament tips off this Thursday in Anchorage, the Lynx enter as the 4A’s second seed. They enter confidently, too.
  “It was a great year for us, we had a great time. Every win, we’d build on that and we just made it to state,” said senior captain Eric Jenkins.
  Head coach Brad Lauwers likes the direction of his team. He should. With nine seniors, it’s a group that’s been the
  
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• Juneau hospital warns of big losses under GOP health care bill

  21-03-2017 09:29 via ktoo.org
  
  Bartlett Regional Hospital could lose $3 to $4 million in federal funding under the House Republican bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
  CEO Chuck Bill briefed the Juneau Assembly on Monday evening.
  “It could be a several million dollar hit to Bartlett,” Bill said in an interview. “Primarily because they would repeal the Medicaid expansion and not replace it with the funds that we had to care for that population in the past.”
  The
  
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• Mail stolen from more than 300 Anchorage mailboxes

  21-03-2017 06:54
  
  The backs of the mailboxes were found removed, and mail was likely takenEric Ruble/KTVA 11 Someone broke open the door to the mail roomEric Ruble/KTVA 11
  People waiting on important letters in one east Anchorage neighborhood were disappointed Monday when they discovered someone had broken into the shed housing their mailboxes and stolen everything inside.
  The Anchorage Police Department is investigating the incident. Dustin Billings said he called APD after he went to get his mail with his
  
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• Alaska Airlines customers can now earn miles on trips to Europe

  21-03-2017 04:57
  
  Alaska Airlines adds Europe's Condor Airlines as newest Mileage Plan partnerCourtesy Alaska Airlines
  Alaska Airlines announced Monday that it has partnered with Condor Airlines, allowing its customers to earn miles on trips to Europe.
  The two airlines already had an interline agreement, which allowed passengers to make connecting flights with less hassle. The agreement has since expanded to include mileage plan earnings. Redemption for award travel will begin at a later date, however,
  
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• Alaska House passes budget, but balks at Senate’s permanent fund bill

  21-03-2017 04:35
  
  The Alaska House passed a $4.2 billion budget Monday, but the move doesn’t mean lawmakers are on track to go home next month. They’ve got to figure out how to pay for it, and the issue has the House and Senate butting heads.
  The House Finance Committee is switching gears this week to take up oil tax legislation and an income tax. Missing from the agenda is a bill the Senate passed last week to restructure the permanent fund as an endowment for state services.
  A dramatic drop in the s
  
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• Iditarod demand for king crab keeps Nome fishermen busy

  21-03-2017 04:34
  
  On a brisk and breezy afternoon, the stillness of the Bering Sea ice was broken up by the sounds of commercial crabbers, hard at work removing icy buildup from their crab pot openings.
  “We’re about four miles west of the Cape Nome. We’re currently set about 30 feet,” Greg Mendez explained.
  It’s part-time job for him, one that makes good money.
  “The market at the beginning of the year was $7.25. This time of year it drops to $6 per pound, so if you have a lot o
  
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• Newest Sesame Street Muppet has autism: Meet Julia

  21-03-2017 04:16
  
  There are not many shows on television that deserve to be called true American institutions – but one of them is surely “Sesame Street.” It’s been on the air now for almost 50 years.
  When Sesame Street began in 1969, it was considered an experiment.  The question: Could television be used to educate young children?
  Well, research proved the answer to be yes, and the nonprofit children’s television workshop — now called Sesame Workshop — that created
  
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• School board considers plan to expand private health clinics in Anchorage schools

  21-03-2017 04:05
  
  The Anchorage School Board is considering a proposal to expand private health clinics in public schools. Right now, the only schools in the district that house the clinics are Begich Middle School and Clark Middle School.
  Superintendent Dr. Deena Bishop said she supports the idea of expanding the services to more schools.
  The clinics are a partnership between the Anchorage School District and the nonprofit Christian Health Associates, with the stated goal of providing “quality, coordinated
  
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• House Majority Leader Chris Tuck pushes reforms to improve voter turnout

  21-03-2017 03:54 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Sally Williams uses a sticker that says cucuklillruunga, or “I voted” in Yup’ik to teach the phrase at the Togiak voting site on Aug. 16, 2016. (Photo by Molly Dischner/KDLG)
  In the last Legislature, a Democrat-sponsored bill aimed at increasing voter turnout in Alaska, especially in the Bush. It didn’t get a single hearing in the Republican-led House of Representatives.
  Now, Rep. Chris Tuck, an Anchorage Democrat, is in a powerful position leading the new House majority,
  
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• Citizen scientists monitor North Pole air

  21-03-2017 03:39 via ktoo.org
  
  Smoke and fog hang in the air over Fairbanks on a -30 degree winter night in November 2011. (Creative Commons photo by Steve Betts)
  Fairbanks and North Pole have suffered numerous Clean Air Act violations again this winter due to fine particulates from wood, coal and other burning. Smoke pollution persists despite long term government efforts to assess and remedy the problem, and a local group has taken air quality monitoring into their own hands.
  It’s an off day at the office of North Pol
  
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• Pebble, EPA seek more time to try to resolve lawsuit

  21-03-2017 03:08
  
  Additional time has been requested to try to resolve a lawsuit brought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the group pursuing a gold-and-copper mine in southwest Alaska.
  Attorneys for the Pebble Limited Partnership and EPA on Monday asked that the lawsuit remain on hold until May 4. Monday was the deadline for a status update.
  The joint motion states that the parties have made “substantial progress in recent discussions” and are focused on trying to find a mutually ag
  
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• State health commissioner, Rep. Young concerned about health care bill

  21-03-2017 02:34 via ktoo.org
  
  Health Commissioner Valerie Davidson testifies in February 2016. She said recently that the proposed American Health Care Act would devastate Medicaid in Alaska. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  Alaska’s top health official said the federal health care bill scheduled for a vote on Thursday would devastate the Medicaid program in the state. The bill’s effect on Alaska has prompted U.S. Rep. Don Young to say today he won’t vote for it in its current form.
  Alaska Health and Soc
  
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• Work resumes on South Franklin Street

  21-03-2017 02:13 via ktoo.org
  
  The first phase of downtown street improvements will be to South Franklin Street. (Courtesy City and Borough of Juneau)
  After several weeks of delay due to snowy weather, the City and Borough of Juneau’s revamping of South Franklin Street resumed Monday with crews expected to continue work through June, the city said in a news release.
  It’s the first phase of a project to add new sidewalks, lighting and drainage improvements to a stretch of the historic thoroughfare.
  The project
  
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• 4 unanswered questions about the FBI’s Russia investigation

  21-03-2017 02:06 via ktoo.org
  
  FBI Director James Comey discusses the impact of technology on the work of law enforcement at a Brookings Institution event on Oct. 16, 2014.(Creative Commons photo courtesy Brookings Institution)
  FBI Director James Comey lit the fuse Monday on a political time bomb and no one — including him — knows how long it will take to burn or what kind of damage it may cause when it goes off.
  Comey confirmed to members of Congress that his investigators are looking into possible collusion betw
  
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• Republicans praise Gorsuch, Democrats decry Garland treatment on day 1 of hearings

  21-03-2017 01:36 via ktoo.org
  
  At his Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Neil Gorsuch pitched himself as a reasonable jurist who would do his best to uphold the rule of law without any bias.
  “Sitting here, I am acutely aware of my own imperfections,” the federal appeals court judge told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. “But I pledge to each of you and to the American people that, if confirmed, I will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the Constitution and laws of our great nation.
  
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• Early voting for Anchorage municipal election kicks off

  21-03-2017 01:18
  
  The Anchorage municipal election isn’t until April 4, but locals can cast their ballots now.
  The non-partisan Alaska Center held a kick-off rally for early voting Monday afternoon. Members from other groups, like Planned Parenthood and the Anchorage Park Foundation met in Town Square Park to encourage people to get out to vote.
  One of the event’s organizers, Alaska Center civic engagement coordinator Evan Anderson, said it’s important for people to know they have options and do
  
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• New York student explores relationship between hunter, seal through Yup’ik objects

  21-03-2017 01:13
  
  A woman who studies museum collections made a trip to Bethel from New York City this March, seeking to learn more about things she had been looking at in back rooms and exhibition halls on the East Coast, according to a story published by KYUK Public Media. What these things said about the people who made them and their relationship to seals brought her to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
  As she read through the records of 19th century expeditions to the delta and examined the “material culture,
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 3-21-17

  21-03-2017 01:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Tuesday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon,We’ll find out about the Marie Drake Planetarium presentation for Tuesday about Tibet, Kailas, and the night sky;We’ll talk with Stu Robards, from the Coast Guard Auxillary, about boating safety;
  
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• Alaska Weather Forecast – March 20, 2017

  21-03-2017 00:47
  
  Happy Spring! The vernal equinox occurred at 2:28 a.m., marking the start of the season.
  We can expect a mixture of sunshine and clouds today, with afternoon high temperatures in the upper 20s.We’ll continue to see quiet, sunny conditions for the rest of the week with below normal temperatures for the next six to 10 days, although, we should get a little closer to the freezing mark this weekend.No snow is expected for at least the next week.
  Today we gain 5 minutes and 44 seconds of daylig
  
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• James Comey confirms FBI investigation into possible Trump-Russia connections

  21-03-2017 00:46
  
  FBI Director James Comey confirmed Monday that his agency is running an investigation into possible connections or coordination between President Trump’s associates and the Russian government.
  Comey confirmed it in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee alongside National Security Agency (NSA) Director Admiral Mike Rogers. Comey, however, declined to say whether Mr. Trump himself is part of that investigation.
  As far as Mr. Trump’s unsubstantiated allegation that President
  
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• Young not convinced GOP bill is right for health care woes or Alaska

  21-03-2017 00:30
  
  The longest-serving Republican in the U.S. House says he isn’t convinced that a GOP bill pending in Congress takes the right approach to addressing health care problems, particularly for a high-cost, remote state such as Alaska.
  Rep. Don Young told reporters Monday that there can’t be a one-size-fits-all approach to health care.
  Young says that’s what’s being pitched. He says no state would be affected more than Alaska.
  He says he is fighting to ensure Alaska gets equitab
  
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