Anchorage news

• Anchorage police respond to report of gunfire between 2 vehicles in Northeast Anchorage

  28-03-2017 22:11
  
  Anchorage police officers were called to Northeast Anchorage Monday evening shortly before 7 p.m. after witnesses in the area reported hearing gunshots.
  One witness told the Anchorage Police Department that multiple shots had been fired between two vehicles near the intersection of 11th Avenue and Turpin Street, according to a release from APD spokesperson Renee Oistad.
  The witness told police the vehicles involved in the shooting were a white truck and a black SUV. Both of the vehicles lef
  
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• GCI Great Alaska Shootout: Same tournament, different marketing strategy

  28-03-2017 21:56
  
  This November, the GCI Great Alaska Shootout has a big anniversary — it turns 40.
  The tournament’s look has changed over the years. Now, University of Alaska Anchorage’s athletic director, Keith Hackett, is marketing it that way too.
  For decades the tournament featured some of the biggest programs in college basketball. But the days of the most recognizable names, such as Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina, coming to Anchorage are likely over. There are too many holiday tou
  
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• Trump signs order rolling back Obama-era environmental efforts

  28-03-2017 21:42
  
  President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will roll back many of former President Barack Obama’s efforts to curb global warming. The order is aimed at helping spur American energy jobs.
  The president signed the order at the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency.
  Trump says this is “the start of a new era” in energy production.
  The order will mandate a review of the Clean Power Plan, which restricts greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plant
  
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• Top athletes compete in Haines for Freeride World Tour

  28-03-2017 20:52 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The top three snowboard men Ryland Bell, Sammy Luebke and Davey Baird. (Photo courtesy Freeride World Tour)
  Big mountain skiers and snowboarders from around the world braved deep snow and steep slopes in the Haines mountains for the Freeride World Tour. Friday’s event took place after a week of waiting for unsafe snow conditions to settle.http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170327-11.mp3
  Announcers Ed Leigh and Martin Winkler talked through the action on the Freeride website’s livestrea
  
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• Young gives Trump a hand at bill signing

  28-03-2017 20:41 via ktoo.org
  
  Rep. Young says he kept his hand on the president’s chair to make a point. (APM illustration from C-SPAN video)
  Alaska Congressman Don Young was at the White House Monday to see the president sign a bill that repeals an Obama administration rule known as “BLM Planning 2.0.”
   Last year, then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the rule was intended to give the public a greater voice when the BLM draws up regional management plans. Rep. Young said it would have le
  
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• Trump Takes Aim At A Centerpiece Of Obama’s Environmental Legacy

  28-03-2017 20:27 via ktoo.org
  
  President Trump will sign sweeping executive orders Tuesday that take aim at a number of his predecessor’s climate policies.
  The wide-ranging orders and accompanying memorandums will seek to undo the centerpiece of former President Obama’s environmental legacy and national efforts to address climate change.
  It could also jeopardize America’s current role in international efforts to confront climate change.
  A senior White House official says the goal is to make the U.S. energy-i
  
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• Anchorage businesses grapple with sudden electricity bill increase

  28-03-2017 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Bakers at work at Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop in downtown Anchorage. A recent jump in electricity bills has the owner wondering if she’ll need to raise prices. (Photo by Elizabeth Harball/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/03/27MLPRATE.mp3At Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop near downtown Anchorage, customers probably don’t make the connection between utility bills and the price of a chocolate chip cookie. But bakery owner Janis Fleischman explaine
  
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• Power outage leaves Juneau skiers dangling on chair lift

  28-03-2017 19:29
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A weekend power outage at Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area left 200 skiers temporarily dangling.
  The Juneau Empire reports three chairlifts that use power from Alaska Electric Light & Power shut down Sunday morning during an outage.
  Alaska Electric Light &Power spokeswoman Debbie Driscoll says a squirrel made contact with energized and grounded equipment.
  The resulting surge electrocuted the squirrel and affected power on Douglas Island and parts of downtown
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 3-27-17

  28-03-2017 18:41 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Monday at 3 on a Juneau Afternoon,
  Learn how to lobby effectively with Judith Mitchell and Chris Niemi, from the League of Women Voters;We’ll learn about the Cape Decision Lighthouse Society;
  And Rebecca Gaguine will be here with details about Advocacy Training from AWARE.
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/03/Juneau-PM-3-27-171.mp3
  
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• Petition circling to stop Mat-Su school district from outsourcing custodial, cafeteria positions

  28-03-2017 07:00
  
  Faced with a $10 million budget deficit, cuts sometimes have to be made beyond the classroom, says Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) assistant superintendent Luke Fulp.
  As a “viable option to help reduce ongoing expenses and financial obligations,” the district is looking to outsource its custodian and nutrition service workers. In February, the MSBSD voted 4 to 3 to move forward with a request for proposal (RFP), calling for companies interested in pro
  
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• Be ready: Expert warns to be prepared before a tsunami strikes

  28-03-2017 06:08
  
  It’s Tsunami Preparedness Week, a reminder to be ready in case a natural disaster like the 1964 earthquake and tsunamis happens again.
  Paul Whitmore, the director of the National Tsunami Warning Center, says the week’s events include a test of the tsunami warning system. He said in 1964, most of the victims had no warning of the deadly tsunamis, which came within minutes of the 9.2-magnitude quake and killed far more people.
  “We learned a lot from that. Today we have a war
  
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• Senate calls for 5% education cut, balks at putting it in budget bill for public critique

  28-03-2017 05:45
  
  Public testimony on the Alaska Senate’s version of the state budget is closed, but Alaskans still haven’t seen cuts made to one of the biggest pieces — education.For weeks, the Republican majority has called for a 5-percent cut to the state’s four largest departments: Health and Social Services, Transportation, the University of Alaska, and Education. Reductions were made in the budget accordingly in three of the four areas. But details on education have yet to be se
  
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• Lawmaker introduces tax on opioid prescriptions

  28-03-2017 05:45
  
  Last month, Gov. Bill Walker declared Alaska’s opioid epidemic a disaster. Now, a member of the Alaska House is proposing a tax on prescription drugs to help remedy the issue.
  Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins’ House Bill 196 raises revenue directed toward treatment and rehabilitation programs for opioid abuse. At $.01 per morphine milligram, Kreiss-Tomkins says the goal isn’t to completely shift costs onto consumers.
  “It shouldn’t sort of dramatically change t
  
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• Father and son look back at 1964 earthquake

  28-03-2017 05:21
  
  It’s been 53 years since an earthquake changed the landscape of downtown Anchorage. It was recent enough to remember, but long enough ago to learn some important lessons along the way. In the last five decades, the scientific and engineering community has used what it’s learned from the ’64 quake to make buildings stronger and safer.
  The ground started to shake at 5:36 p.m. on that Good Friday afternoon and didn’t stop shaking for close to five minutes.
  &ld
  
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• Bureau of Land Management announces digital Alaska maps for outdoor excursions

  28-03-2017 04:51
  
  The Bureau of Land Management is making it easier to take maps into the backcountry. The agency launched a series of digital maps that can be downloaded to a smart phone or tablet through the Avenza Maps app.
  The first eight maps range from the Steese Conservation Area to the Unalakleet National Wild River.
  “There’s also information about points of interest in the areas and historical facts and pictures too,” BLM Alaska spokeswoman Linda Gleason explained as she showed off
  
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• UPS, Delta oppose proposal to triple state jet fuel tax

  28-03-2017 03:11 via ktoo.org
  
  If enacted, Alaska’s motor fuel tax would triple but remain less than half of its inflation-adjusted high. (Screen capture of Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report).
  UPS and Delta Air Lines oppose a proposal to triple the state’s jet fuel tax. But the Alaska Trucking Association supports a similar increase on fuel for cars and trucks.
  UPS representative Jeff Wafford said raising the tax will make Alaska less competitive. He says it could encourage companies to shift t
  
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• Meet the candidates: District 3 – Seat E – West Anchorage

  28-03-2017 02:31
  
  KTVA invited every registered candidate running in the upcoming Anchorage municipal election to an on-camera interview at our studios to discuss the following topics:
  Balancing the budget
  Public safety
  Introducing new taxes
  Addressing homelessness in Anchorage
  Plans for the future
  We also asked each candidate to submit a 300-word biography, each of which has been left unaltered. The candidates’ full interviews and responses are listed below, ordered alphabetically.
  David NeesBiography
  Davi
  
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• Mat-Su school board president says superintendent’s resignation was for personal reasons

  28-03-2017 02:23
  
  Last updated at 8:45 p.m. on Monday, March 27
  The school board held an emergency meeting Monday evening to discuss the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) superintendent’s “pending immediate resignation.”
  Superintendent Gene Stone’s resignation was not initially announced by the district, but was outlined in a resolution considered at the emergency meeting. Stone’s resignation comes only a few months after the school board approved an ex
  
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• Mat-Su school board calls emergency meeting following superintendent’s resignation

  28-03-2017 02:23
  
  The school board announced an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) superintendent’s “pending immediate resignation.”
  Superintendent Gene Stone’s resignation was not specifically announced by the district, but was outlined in a resolution to be considered at the emergency meeting.
  Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District Superintendent Gene Stone
  Stone was selected to replace Dr. Deena Bishop in May 2016 after Bishop ac
  
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• Jeff Sessions calls on sanctuary cities to ‘enforce our immigration laws’

  28-03-2017 01:51
  
  Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a surprise appearance at the White House press briefing Monday afternoon to urge sanctuary cities to change their policies, noting that the Department of Justice plans to deny them funding if they do not begin following federal immigration laws.
  “I strongly urge our nation’s states and cities ad counties to consider carefully the harm they are doing to our citizens by refusing to enforce our immigration laws, and to rethink these policies,” S
  
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• Juneau planning commission to consider warehouse pot grow

  28-03-2017 01:16 via ktoo.org
  
  This undated photo shows a marijuana plant growing in an indoor, hydroponic garden in Washington, D.C. (Creative Commons photo by Adam Vartian)
  An application for another marijuana grow facility is scheduled to come before the Juneau Planning Commission on Tuesday evening. If approved, it would add to the growing number of licensed cultivators in the capital city.
  Green Elephant LLC proposes its second marijuana grow operation in a 6,000-square-foot vacant warehouse on Airport Boulevard. The pro
  
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• Another Fairbanks police officer’s name used in recent scam, department warns

  28-03-2017 01:04
  
  Another Fairbanks police officer’s name is being used in a scam, the department announced Monday.
  Lt. Matt Soden is the second Fairbanks officer so far to be used by scammers in the past year, following a scam using Det. Avery Thompson’s name in December.  In both cases, the Fairbanks Police Department stressed that neither man was actually involved in the scams, although both are actual law enforcement officers.In a Facebook post made Monday, the department stated that fou
  
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• Brewery expansion could help Juneau recycling efforts

  28-03-2017 00:30
  
  Alaskan Brewing Company in JuneauCourtesy Google Earth
  Alaskan Brewing Company’s plans to expand its Juneau-based facility could help spur the consolidation of the city’s waste services.
  The Juneau Empire reports that the brewery is looking to purchase four lots owned by the City and Borough of Juneau for additional retail, storage or office space. The transfer would displace the city’s water utility and public drop-off area for household hazardous waste.
  RecycleWorks Manager
  
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