Anchorage news

• Are patient satisfaction surveys fueling America’s opioid epidemic?

  01-04-2017 23:21
  
  If you’ve spent time as a hospital patient, you may recall receiving a survey about your experience. It turns out your answers can impact how much the hospital is paid and, in some cases, even what your doctor earns.
  The government-mandated “patient satisfaction survey” is meant to reward quality and effective care, but some doctors say it has had an unintended consequence: fueling Americans’ dependence on prescription pain pills.
  We met Dr. Mark Woodard in the ER at Bris
  
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• Inside the Gates: Guard member balances career, family to achieve 17-year goal

  01-04-2017 23:00
  
  An Alaska National Guard member recently accomplished a goal 17 years in the making. Marissa Lindsay went from being an enlisted member to an officer when she graduated from Officer Candidate School.
  It takes physical and mental toughness to make it through the school, which trains its students to lead. Lindsay says she learned both of those things at the gym.
  “When things get really difficult and you want to quit, I mean, I experience that every single day during a cross fit workout,&rdqu
  
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• Chugach Electric signs 16-year natural gas deal with Furie

  01-04-2017 22:03
  
  An Anchorage-based utility company has secured natural gas for the next 16-years through a contract with a new producer.
  The Alaska Journal of Commerce reports that Chugach Electric Association and Furie Operating Alaska signed a gas sale and purchase agreement this month for Furie to provide at least 20 percent of the utility’s natural gas needs through 2033.
  Through the agreement, Furie will supply Chugach with 1.8 billion cubic feet of gas over a 10-year term starting in 2023. Prior to
  
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• Two Rivers trail name honors the late Mike Kelly

  01-04-2017 21:49
  
  When then-Rep. Mike Kelly heard a new and popular firebreak trail in his district was made nearly impassible by state reclamation efforts, he had to see it for himself.
  On a summer day in 2005, the avid outdoorsman set out on a six-hour four-wheeler ride on the trail north of Two Rivers with state officials to see firsthand the changes to the trail that had become popular with mushers in the winter after the fire season.
  “It was as miserable and ugly a four-wheeler trip as you could take,&
  
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• Senator proposes non-discrimination bill for LGBT Alaskans

  01-04-2017 21:13
  
  A new state Senate bill would extend legal protections to LGBT Alaskans. Senate Bill 72 would prohibit “discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression,” meaning people could not be fired from their job or be denied housing because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
  Similar laws currently exist on municipal levels in both Anchorage and Juneau.
  “It is abundantly clear that people should not lose their jobs, be unable to get hous
  
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• Few explosions planned for Kodiak military exercises

  01-04-2017 20:44
  
  Though military officials have been approved to detonate up to 360 bombs during military exercises in the Gulf of Alaska this year, officials say they will not be used.
  The Kodiak Daily Mirror reports that Rear Adm. John Korka told Kodiak community members on Thursday that there will be no bombs during the 2017 Northern Edge exercises, just as there were no bombs dropped in 2015.
  The current Environmental Impact Statement for the exercises approves the detonation of 360 bombs, 66 missiles, 26,37
  
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• Celebrating Turkish culture in Anchorage

  01-04-2017 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Rabia Duddy belly dances at a Turkish cultural event in Anchorage. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)
  The Republic of Turkey is about as far as you can travel from Alaska on the other side of the globe. The country of nearly 80 million people straddles the edges of Europe and Asia, with a Mediterranean climate, and a rich history as the seat of both the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Again, not a lot of parallels with Alaska. But both places have food and dance at
  
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• ‘Thankful to be alive’: Avalanche nearly destroys Juneau home

  01-04-2017 06:37
  
  It was a close call Friday morning for some people in Juneau, after an avalanche came barreling down 2,500 feet towards their homes.
  What used to be an access road in the Highlands neighborhood is now covered in a wall of snow that slid from the side of the mountain just after 6:30 a.m.Snow broke through a gate and surrounded a van parked at the end of the road before stopping about 30 feet from the nearest home.
  Monty Tuhas, who lives inside with his landlord and his two newborn babies, wa
  
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• Doctors say Alaska’s rural communities better prepared to fight flu outbreak

  01-04-2017 05:52
  
  Two Southwest communities were hit hard by the flu this month, says State of Alaska epidemiologist Joe McLaughlin.
  He says the outbreaks in both Kokhanok and Iliamna are reminders that even though the state has seen a decrease in influenza cases, the season is still not over.
  Ed Lester, the principal of Newhalen School in Iliamna says it went from just a few people coming down with the flu earlier this week to 15 people in a matter of days. Two elders were flown from the vill
  
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• EasyPark pilot program would charge for Saturday parking downtown

  01-04-2017 03:59
  
  Anchorage residents have gotten used to free parking downtown on Saturdays, but a new pilot program could change that.
  EasyPark spokeswoman Melinda Gant said the agency is in favor of implementing a pilot program this summer that would require people to pay for meters on Saturdays.
  It’s not a new idea. Last summer, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz decided to put the brakes on a similar proposal after hearing feedback from residents and business owners. At the time he asked EasyPark to
  
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• Meet the candidates: District 1 – Seat B – Downtown Anchorage

  01-04-2017 03:00
  
  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.
  Christopher ConstantBiog
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 4-3-17

  01-04-2017 02:50 via ktoo.org
  
  Monday at 3 on a Juneau Afternoon, Scott Burton will be your host.
  Find out about this Thursday’s Early Learning Fair;
  We’ll talk with visiting musician, Dave Stancliff, from Tok, here for the Alaska Folk Festival;
  We’ll get an update about the Juneau Police Department, with Chief Bryce Johnson;
  And we’ll learn about the Disney Sing-Along JAMM fund-raising dinner;
  
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• Juneau superintendent questions funding plan

  01-04-2017 02:01 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Sen. Shelley Hughes, a Wasilla Republican, held a series of  committee hearings on virtual education and school funding beginning  last year. It culminated in the release of broad education reform bill.
  One of the its 28 provisions  limits funding for schools operating below 80 percent capacity. That’s one of several factors that determines how much money schools receive from the state each year.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/03/31schoolfunding.mp
  
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• Video: Can we harness the power of Cook Inlet?

  01-04-2017 00:23 via ktoo.org
  
  Cook Inlet has some of the most dramatic tidal shifts on the planet. From scientists to startups, many have speculated how this fast-flowing water could be harnessed to produce electricity. Professor Tom Ravens (University of Alaska Anchorage) and Chris Rose (Renewable Energy Project Alaska) discuss the potential and challenges of tapping hydro-kinetic energy.
  
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• High avalanche danger for Juneau

  01-04-2017 00:10 via ktoo.org
  
  An avalanche triggered by a state crew slides down the slopes of Mount Roberts above Thane Road on March 3, 2017. The cloud of snow crossed the channel to Douglas. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
  A warning for high avalanche danger has been posted for the Juneau area.
  One downtown resident on Friday morning shared a video of a slide coming down the Behrends Avenue avalanche path off of Mount Juneau.
  “It came down… I believe it’s Judy Avenue where the gate is the
  
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