Anchorage news

• Alaska House approves use of Permanent Fund earnings for state budget, with stipulations

  12-04-2017 23:39
  
  The Alaska House passed a bill Wednesday to turn the Permanent Fund into an endowment for state services by mandating an annual draw from fund earnings. Senate Bill 26 passed the Senate last month and sets aside 5.25 percent of the market value of the Permanent Fund next year for state government and Permanent Fund dividends.
  The House changed the measure in committee and passed it on a vote of 22 to 18, along caucus lines.
  Its version differs from one approved by the Senate by increasing Perman
  
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• Chancellor Tom Case retiring from UAA

  12-04-2017 23:15
  
  University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Tom Case signs a proclaimation declaring Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, a Smoke-Free Day from his office on the campus of UAA in Anchorage, Alaska Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013.
  University of Alaska Anchorage chancellor Tom Case is retiring this summer, according to an announcement from university Wednesday.
  “Tom has served the university with integrity, good humor and dedication,” University of Alaska president Jim Johnsen said. “I have long admire
  
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• Senate moves to delay considering Walker appointments

  12-04-2017 23:05
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The Alaska Senate has sought to delay a joint legislative session to consider confirmation of Gov. Bill Walker’s picks for boards, commissions and key state agency posts.
  Senate Majority Leader Peter Micciche (mih-CHIK’-ee) says the delay will allow lawmakers to focus on completing work on key legislation.
  Voters approved a 90-day session limit, a threshold that will be reached Sunday. The constitution allows for sessions of up to 121 days.
  Micciche says f
  
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• Lawyers want evidence preserved in United dragging case

  12-04-2017 22:57
  
  CHICAGO (AP) – The Latest on the removal of a passenger who was dragged off a United Express flight in Chicago (all times local):
  3 p.m.
  Chicago attorneys for a Kentucky doctor dragged off a United Express flight want the airline and the city of Chicago to preserve evidence in the case.
  David Dao’s lawyers on Wednesday made the first moves toward a lawsuit with an emergency filing in Cook County court. They said they want to make sure the city and the airline preserve surveillance vi
  
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• Alaska Girl Scout chapter sues over national dues increase

  12-04-2017 22:47
  
  FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska chapter of the Girl Scouts of the United States is suing the national organization over fees.
  The Fairbanks-based Farthest North Girl Scout Council says annual dues paid to the national organization for each girl and adult rose from $12 to $15 in 2014 and will increase to $25 in 2018.
  Executive director Suellen Nelles (NEL-es) says the 30-member Girl Scout USA Board does not have authority to raise dues. Nelles says fee increases must be approved by the l
  
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• UAA Chancellor Tom Case announces retirement

  12-04-2017 22:43 via ktoo.org
  
  University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Tom Case addresses faculty and staff at a recent UAA 2020 gathering. (Photo by Philip Hall /University of Alaska Anchorage)
  The University of Alaska Anchorage chancellor has announced his retirement.
  Chancellor Tom Case sent a letter to colleagues and students today saying he will leave at the end of June, after 12 years with the University.
  Case previously worked as the Dean of UAA’s College of Business and Public Policy. He has been UAA chancello
  
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• Juneau afternoon – 4-19-17

  12-04-2017 22:14 via ktoo.org
  
  Wednesday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon,We’ll get an update on the Gold Town Theatre with Collette Costa;
  We’ll get a preview of te Southeast Alaska State Fair, with guest, Deb Marshall;
  We’ll get a preview of the Alaska Design Forum;
  And we’ll talk about the end of the ice skating season with Lauren Anderson
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, today on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on KTOO-News, repeated at 4 on KRNN, and available on demand on-line at
  
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• Take the 100 Miles in May challenge, support Alaska Sports Hall of Fame

  12-04-2017 21:48
  
  The 100 Miles in May challenge is a way to encourage healthy lifestyles and competition between Alaskans young and old. It’s also a fundraiser for Alaska Sports Hall of Fame nonprofit.
  Alaskans can register by themselves or a for a team at the Healthy Futures website, and log activities throughout the month of May with a goal of 100 miles. Any physical activity counts, says Olympic Nordic skier Kikkan Randall. Randall added there’s a conversion chart available on the site, so ac
  
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• Workforce Wednesday: Careers in the maritime industry

  12-04-2017 21:46
  
  Careers in Alaska’s maritime industry are high paying, and have a huge impact on the economy. Jobs can be varied from seafood harvesting, offshore oil and gas to arctic research.
  Cari-Ann Carty with Alaska Process Industry Consortium (APICC) called the career “high-dollar, blue-collar” work, as a starting wage is around $60,000 a year. She added it’s a lifestyle, because most people work about six months out of the year, and the benefits are great, as well.
  Terry Federer,
  
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• Man complains tax check saying ‘sexual favors’ not cashed

  12-04-2017 21:41
  
  HAVRE, Mont. (AP) – A Montana resident who wrote “sexual favors” in the memo line on a check to pay his property taxes is complaining that the check hasn’t been cashed.
  Scott Dion of the city of Havre says he sent the check for $745.77 to the local treasurer last November.
  Dion tells the Billings Gazette that tax checks he sent in the past with similar memo line notes have been cashed.
  Dion’s lawyer sent a letter to Hill County Treasurer Sandy Brown, saying that not
  
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• Forest transfer bill won’t impact funding to Tongass, Young says

  12-04-2017 21:35 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Alaska Rep. Don Young. (File photo by Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
  U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, defended his bill that could give up to two million acres of the Tongass National Forest to the state of Alaska.
  Young was in Petersburg, a community that just passed a resolution opposing his legislation, on Monday.
  Young told an audience in Petersburg that the municipality would not lose federal funding because of his bill and said he wouldn’t run for re-election if it did.
  http
  
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• Sculptor of Wall Street’s bull wants ‘Fearless Girl’ moved

  12-04-2017 21:30
  
  NEW YORK (AP) – The sculptor of Wall Street’s “Charging Bull” says New York City is violating his legal rights by forcing his bronze beast to face off against the “Fearless Girl.”
  Artist Arturo Di Modica (dee-MOH’-dih-kuh) said Wednesday that the new neighboring statue changes his bull into something negative.
  He says the bull’s message is supposed to be “freedom in the world, peace, strength, power and love.”
  His lawyers say “Fea
  
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• Wildlife conservationists sue over proposed border wall

  12-04-2017 21:27
  
  (Credit: CBurnett via Creative Commons)
  TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – A conservation group and an Arizona congressman have filed what they say is the first federal lawsuit against the proposed border wall.
  The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Tucson by the Center for Biological Diversity and U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, a southern Arizona Democrat.
  Wildlife conservationists say the wall would be detrimental to rare animals such as jaguars and ocelots that are known to traverse the international line.
  The
  
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• Alaska State Troopers warn of new telephone scam

  12-04-2017 21:18 via ktoo.org
  
  Alaska State Troopers are warning state residents of a telephone scam that has affected people in the Fairbanks area, but could happen elsewhere in the state.
  Troopers report that numerous people have contacted them about phone calls they received, during which the callers identify themselves as troopers representatives, and state that the person called has missed a court appearance, and/or has a warrant.
  The callers then talk victims through purchasing prepaid debit cards and providing the acce
  
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• Trial date set in lawsuit challenging Alaska town’s new name

  12-04-2017 21:07 via ktoo.org
  
  Utqiagvik, the city formally know as Barrow, in 2014. ( Creative Commons photo)
  ANCHORAGE — Critics of the new Inupiat Eskimo name of the nation’s northernmost town are taking their opposition to trial, despite losing a key legal fight last month.
  Alaska Superior Court Judge Paul Roetman on Wednesday set a Jan. 22 trial date in Utqiagvik, the city formerly known as Barrow.
  The new name is being challenged by a local Alaska Native corporation that argues the city broke its own laws by
  
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• Trump administration lifting federal hiring freeze

  12-04-2017 20:56 via ktoo.org
  
  The Trump administration is lifting a federal hiring freeze as of Wednesday morning.
  White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney announced the policy change in a briefing to reporters Tuesday.
  Cautioning “this does not mean agencies will be free to hire willy-nilly,” Mulvaney said the across-the-board hiring freeze the president imposed by executive order three days after taking office in January is being replaced with a “smarter plan, a more strategic plan, a more surgical plan.
  
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• Comedian Charlie Murphy, brother of Eddie, dies at 57

  12-04-2017 20:50
  
  NEW YORK (AP) – Charlie Murphy, older brother of Eddie Murphy and a comedy stand-up and performer in his own right, has died.
  Murphy died Wednesday in New York of leukemia, according to his representative, Domenick Nati. Murphy was 57.
  He was perhaps best-known for his appearances on “Chappelle’s Show” on Comedy Central. He collaborated with writing his brother’s starring films “Norbert” and “Vampire in Brooklyn.” He voiced roles in animated
  
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• New stipulations, shorter time period, for Pebble’s state land use permit

  12-04-2017 20:37 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Members of the media walking to an exploratory drill rig at the Pebble Mine Exploratory site. (File photo by Jason Sear/ KDLG)
  After months of delay, the Pebble Limited Partnership was granted Tuesday its land use permit by the state’s Department of Natural Resources.
  But taking into account the concerns raised through a public comment period, DNR is adding more oversight to Pebble’s activities and adding some new stipulations to the permit.https://cpa.ds.npr.org/kdlg/audio/2017/04/p
  
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• Alaska State Troopers to open new post in Togiak this summer

  12-04-2017 20:27
  
  By June, the Southwest Alaska village of Togiak should have a state trooper on the ground full time. Last week, a delegation of top brass from the Department of Public Safety was in Togiak to inspect the facilities that will be used at the new post, according to a report from KDLG Public Radio.
  From left to right: Lt. Richard Roberts, Sgt. Luis Nieves, Maj. Andy Greenstreet, Capt. Barry Wilson; Sam Gosuk – Togiak principal; Bill Comer – Dept. of Public Safety deputy commissioner (KDL
  
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• Germany on Spicer: Nazi parallels lead to ‘nothing good’

  12-04-2017 18:46
  
  BERLIN (AP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman says that comparing Nazi war crimes to present-day situations “leads to nothing good” – a reaction to his U.S. counterpart’s remarks about Syrian President Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons.
  White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s invoking of the Holocaust to illustrate the severity of chemical weapons use drew rebukes from Jewish groups and critics.
  Spicer apologized on Tuesday for m
  
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• Aspen Skiing buying California’s Mammoth Resorts ski areas

  12-04-2017 17:47
  
  ASPEN, Colo. (AP) – Aspen Skiing Co.’s ski resort acquisition spree is expanding with a deal to buy Mammoth Mountain and three other southern California ski areas.
  Mammoth Resorts said Wednesday that it will be purchased by the new joint venture of Aspen Skiing and Denver-based KSL Capital Partners.
  Mammoth CEO Rusty Gregory called it “the next logical chapter” for his company.
  Mammoth Resorts also owns Snow Summit, Bear Mountain and June Mountain.
  Terms of the deal were
  
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• Alaska lawmakers back program to protect marine resources

  12-04-2017 17:24
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska lawmakers are trying to save a program that seeks to protect and strengthen the nation’s coastal communities after President Donald Trump eliminated funding for the program in his budget proposal.
  Alaska’s Energy Desk reports Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski introduced a resolution Tuesday supporting the Sea Grant program. It acknowledges the program plays a vital role in many communities across the country.
  The Senate resolution comes after Alaska Rep. D
  
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• Amazon aims to help parents monitor – and talk to – kids

  12-04-2017 17:16
  
  NEW YORK (AP) – Amazon is introducing new tools to help parents see what their kids are doing on the company’s Fire tablets, and maybe even to spark discussions about the books kids read and the videos they watch.
  Parents will be able to view each child’s activities through Amazon’s website. They’ll get details on books read and videos watched – and how long a child spends on each.
  The service will also suggest some questions and activities, with open-ended qu
  
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• About 400 Washington ICE detainees launch hunger strike

  12-04-2017 17:03
  
  TACOMA, Wash. (AP) – Washington immigration activists say about 400 detainees held at an ICE detention center are participating in a hunger strike.
  The Seattle Times reports a Washington anti-detention group NWDC Resist rallied in front of the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma Monday to address living conditions inside the center such as the quality of food, health care and high commissary prices. Activists say some detainees have already gone two days without food.
  Maru Mora Villalpand
  
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• School board lifts controversial ban on middle school sports travel

  12-04-2017 10:31 via ktoo.org
  
  The Juneau School Board on Tuesday decided to reverse a 2013 decision forbidding middle school athletes to travel to sporting events outside Juneau.
  Dan DeBartolo is one of the six board members who voted to lift the ban. He didn’t like that sports travel was singled out.
  Emil Mackey, left, Sean O’Brien, middle, and Dan DeBartolo, right, all voted in favor of lifting the ban on middle school sports travel at the school board meeting in the Thunder Mountain High School library on Tues
  
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• Rex Tillerson gives Russia stark choice in Syria conflict

  12-04-2017 08:02
  
  Hours ahead of his first scheduled trip to Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said it was clear that “the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end,” CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan reports.
  “But the question of how that ends and the transition itself could be very important in our view to the durability, the stability inside of a unified Syria. That’s why we are not presupposing how that occurs,” Tillerson said.
  Tillerson called out Russia fo
  
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• Langdon, Houston to enter AABC Hall of Fame

  12-04-2017 07:47
  
  The last time Trajan Langdon stepped on the court was in 2011, when he led his Russian League team, CSKA Moscow, to a ninth-straight championship.
  Winning is something the Anchorage native knows well, as he also directed his East Anchorage High School Thunderbirds to three straight state titles.
  Now the “Alaskan Assassin” is about to be honored in his hometown, as the second player inducted into the Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches (AABC) Hall of Fame.
  “I think it&rsquo
  
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• Mat-Su group aims to end plastic bag use

  12-04-2017 07:31
  
  The hillside next to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Central Landfill in Palmer has become a haven for bags: pieces of plastic buried under bushes or wrapped high around spruce tree limbs.
  “They escape when they’re dumped from the trash can into the garbage truck because they’re so aerodynamic they catch every little bit of wind,” Carol Montgomery explained. “That’s why up in the trees you see little shreds of plastic everywhere and there’s no way to clean
  
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• Anchorage Assembly honors family who cleaned Delaney Park train

  12-04-2017 07:21
  
  A man who, with the help of his daughters, cleaned graffiti from a historic Anchorage landmark was formally thanked by the Assembly Tuesday night.
  The Assembly approved a resolution recognizing the work by Frank Perez and his two daughters. The resolution said the Perez family “took it upon themselves, selflessly and without any assistance” to clean the Delany Park Locomotive 556, which a crew found defaced with spray paint on March 21.
  The Delaney Park 556 Train. (Nick Swann / KTVA)
  
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• KTVA Weather Lab: Ursa Major Elementary School

  12-04-2017 06:36
  
  In this week’s KTVA Weather Lab, I visited Ursa Major Elementary School on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where the third graders are part of military families that come from all over the U.S. and the world. I stopped by to talk to them about weather that can be found nearly everywhere: clouds and precipitation.
  I also answered the question of the week about Alaska volcanos.
  Every Tuesday, Melissa Frey will take the KTVA Weather Lab to a classroom in our community. If you
  
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• ‘They die waiting’: After budget cuts distress seniors, Alaska politicians reject shuttering pioneer homes

  12-04-2017 06:21
  
  Dozens of Alaska seniors are caught in the crosshairs of politics in Juneau after Gov. Bill Walker announced he’s preparing to shut down pioneer homes in Palmer and Juneau if the Alaska Senate has its way with budget cuts this year.
  Seniors in both locations are living with the stress of uncertainty. Residents at the Juneau Pioneer Home said Tuesday they wonder why lawmakers couldn’t find budget cuts elsewhere. There was no shortage of seniors who wanted to weigh in. Many said the fa
  
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• Re-entry without relapse: New DOC program aims to help prisoners with opioid addiction history

  12-04-2017 06:08
  
  Alaska’s fight against opioid addiction has a new battleground behind the walls of its prisons. The Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) has begun a pilot program to administer Vivitrol to inmates with a history of opioid addiction.
  The injection blocks opioid cravings and prevents a person from getting high for 28 to 30 days. Qualifying inmates at the Hiland Mountain, Anchorage and Fairbanks Correctional Centers can participate in the program.
  Roughly 60 people have signed up to receive
  
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• Unalaska receives surprise visitor from the deep

  12-04-2017 03:35 via ktoo.org
  
  An Unalaskan sees if he is as long as the beached squid. (Zoë Sobel/KUCB)
  Carlin Enlow has lived in Unalaska her entire life, all 22 years. This is the first time she’s seen a squid washed up on the beach.
  “The only time I’ve seen something this big is down in the Seward Sea Life Center,” Enlow said. “They have a giant squid that I think they caught up here or washed up here.”
  Enlow found out about the squid on Facebook and made her way down to the beach
  
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• Alaska Senate reshuffles after Dunleavy leaves majority

  12-04-2017 03:26
  
  A Wasilla Republican who left the Alaska Senate majority over concerns that not enough was being done to curb state spending has lost a committee chairmanship and his seat on the Senate’s budget-writing committee.
  A special committee, composed largely of Senate majority leadership, recommended Tuesday that Sen. Mike Dunleavy be replaced on the Senate Finance Committee by Sen. Shelley Hughes, a Palmer Republican.#akleg @AKShelleyHughes to replace @SenDunleavy on Finance committee, @SenKevin
  
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• Hughes to replace Dunleavy on Senate Finance Committee

  12-04-2017 03:06 via ktoo.org
  
  Majority Leader Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, and Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, (left to right) talk during an at-ease on the Senate Floor, on April 6. Hughes is set to replace Dunleavy on the Senate Finance Committee. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  When Sen. Mike Dunleavy left the Senate majority last week, he knew it meant he would lose some of his official positions of power.
  The Wasilla Republican found out what the fallout is likely to be Tuesday.
  The Senate Co
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 4-12-17

  12-04-2017 02:55 via ktoo.org
  
  Wednesday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon,We’ll get an update on the Gold Town Theatre with Collette Costa;
  We’ll learn about Saturday’s UAS Ester Egg Hunt;
  We’ll get a preview of the Alaska Design Forum;
  And we’ll talk about the end of the ice skating season with Lauren Anderson
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, today on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on KTOO-News, repeated at 4 on KRNN, and available on demand on-line at ktoo.org
  
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• City announces new transit system slated to begin in October

  12-04-2017 02:36
  
  On Tuesday, Municipality of Anchorage officials announced a new bus system that will launch in October. The new system is designed to reduce wait times while expanding service hours for Anchorage bus stops, but also includes fewer routes and stops.
  The plan includes the use of multiple buses on frequently used routes, which Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and Transit Director Abul Hassan said would reduce wait times to as little as 15 minutes for some stops. A comparison of the current system with the new
  
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• Juneau Afternoon–4-11-2017

  12-04-2017 02:17 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Today on A Juneau Afternoon, Scott Burton hosts:
  We’ll learn about Theatre at Latitude 58’s upcoming shows: “The Orphan Train” and Shakespeare’s “Cymbeline”;
  People from AWARE and the Glory Hole will tell us about this Saturday’s “Take Back the Night” candle-light vigil;
  Discovery Southeast will highlight their new store at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center;
  And we’ll learn more about kindergarten registration happening this w
  
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• Police release information on vehicles seen near fatal shooting

  12-04-2017 02:06
  
  A 2013 Ford EscapeCourtesy ExplorationofSpace/Creative Commons The silver Monte Carlo seen near Friday's shootingCourtesy Anchorage Police Department
  Last updated at 4:31 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11
  Anchorage police are looking for a vehicle seen in the area of a Mountain View shooting that injured a man and killed a local teenager.
  Police spokeswoman Renee Oistad issued a statement Tuesday about two vehicles, saying they were seen in the area of Irwin Street and Peterkin Avenue on Friday wh
  
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