Anchorage news

• Hoffbeck: Call for full fiscal plan stands amid new forecast

  14-04-2017 23:12
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska Revenue Commissioner Randall Hoffbeck says a forecast calling for higher-than-expected revenue this year and next will help the state’s fiscal situation.
  But he says it doesn’t eliminate the need for a comprehensive plan to address Alaska’s multibillion-dollar deficit.
  His department projects for this year and next increases of about $200 million in unrestricted general fund revenue compared to last fall’s forecast.
  Tax division director
  
  Read more

• Newscast- April 14, 2017

  14-04-2017 22:47 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/04/KXLL-news-41417.mp3In this newscast:
  A natural gas leak in Cook Inlet has finally been repaired,
  Alaska Airlines is expanding and updating infrastructure in the state, and
  city officials have voted to keep commercial marijuana out of Soldotna.
  
  Read more

• Hilcorp completes repairs on Cook Inlet gas line leak

  14-04-2017 22:21 via ktoo.org
  
  Location of a natural gas line repaired by Hilcorp in Cook Inlet. (Image courtesy Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation/NASA)
  A natural gas leak in Cook Inlet has finally been repaired, more than three months after it began.
  The oil and gas company Hilcorp says a dive team managed to install a clamp on its pipeline late Thursday night, after a week of work and 12 dives.
  The leak, in a line near Nikiski , was discovered in early February, though federal regulators say it probably began
  
  Read more

• Anchorage takes on a tropical feel as swimmers hit the pool

  14-04-2017 21:45
  
  While everyone is heading outside, they’re going in — at least for Friday afternoon. The Northern Lights Swim Club is reeling in a 127 swimmers to compete in the Aqua Dog 50 Free Tournament.
  It’s a unique race because the racers will be grouped according to time, not age. Contestants will swim two 50-yard heats determining their placement.
  “It’s going to be awesome to see little kids and 70-year-olds swimming in the same heat,” said Jodi McLaughlin, the event&
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Fairbanks International Airport evacuated after bomb threat Wednesday night

  14-04-2017 21:37 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The FBI and Fairbanks International Airport police are investigating two bomb threats called-in to the airport Wednesday night.
  The terminal was evacuated for a little more than an hour, but no bomb was found and no one was injured.
  Two Alaska Airlines flights were delayed.http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170413-01.mp3
  Airport spokeswoman Sammie Loud said the terminal was evacuated just after 9 p.m. Wednesday after a dispatcher with the airport communications center got the first of two pho
  
  Read more

• Verdict reached in Aaron Hernandez’s double-murder trial

  14-04-2017 21:25
  
  BOSTON (AP) – The Latest on the Aaron Hernandez double murder trial (all times local):
  3:25 p.m.
  Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been found guilty of unlawful possession of a gun.
  He was acquitted Friday of all other charges in a Boston double slaying prosecutors say was fueled by his anger over a spilled drink at a nightclub.
  Hernandez wept quietly in court after the jury announcement acquitting him of murder, armed assault with intent to murder and other charges
  
  Read more

• Ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez acquitted

  14-04-2017 21:25
  
  BOSTON (AP) – The Latest on the Aaron Hernandez double murder trial (all times local):
  3:10 p.m.
  Ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez has been acquitted in a Boston double slaying that prosecutors said was fueled by his anger over a spilled drink at a nightclub.
  The former tight end for the New England Patriots was acquitted of all but one charge Friday over the 2012 killings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.
  Prosecutors said Hernandez opened fire on the men’s car because he felt disresp
  
  Read more

• How many wolves should be on Prince of Wales Island?

  14-04-2017 21:21 via ktoo.org
  
  
  A wolf on Prince of Wales Island, as captured by a trail camera. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Department of Fish & Game)
  The Alexander Archipelago Wolf didn’t go on the endangered species list in 2016, after it was petitioned by six conservation groups. But the feds and the state are looking at ways to stabilize the wolf population on Prince of Wales Island.
  In a joint-effort, new recommendations were released this month. But this holistic approach still leaves open a lot of ques
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Pleasant weather in store for holiday weekend in Southcentral, Southeast

  14-04-2017 21:10
  
  The pleasant weather continues in southcentral Alaska for the Easter weekend. Temperatures will stay warm into the low 50s on Friday and Saturday — within a few degrees of record highs. The record high for April 14 is 54 degrees, set last year in 2016.The sunshine will continue as well, with a few more clouds entering the picture by Sunday. Conditions will be dry across the region for the holiday, with partly cloudy to partly sunny conditions. Easter Sunday sunrise will happen around 6:30
  
  Read more

• Suspect in fatal Pilot Station shooting arrested

  14-04-2017 21:09 via ktoo.org
  
  Updated | 11:49 a.m.
  In Pilot Station, a party went bad. One man is dead and another has been arrested and charged with shooting him.
  State Troopers received a report Thursday morning that Dennis Alick, age 27, was killed. Brian Fancyboy, age 23, has been arrested on charge of murder.
  Trooper Information Officer Megan Peters says that the shots were fired from a shotgun on the front steps of a home where a party had been occurring inside. Other people were around at the time of the shooting
  
  Read more

• One man dead in Pilot Station shooting

  14-04-2017 21:09 via ktoo.org
  
  A fatal shooting in Pilot Station, Alaska, was reported to State Troopers Thursday morning. Dennis Alick, 27, was killed and a suspect has been identified.
  The shots were fired from a shotgun on the front steps of a private residence, Trooper Information Officer Megan Peters said.
  A party had been occurring inside and other people were around at the time of the shooting.
  Peters reported that alcohol was involved and that Alick and the suspect knew each other.
  Troopers were in Pilot Sta
  
  Read more

• Concern for seniors as pioneer homes caught in budget battle

  14-04-2017 21:05 via ktoo.org
  
  
  “The Prospector” statue stands in front of the Sitka Pioneer Home entrance, which was under repair Sept. 20, 2016. The homes reduced admissions as budgets were cut. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
  Residents and staff at the Palmer and Juneau Pioneer Homes, the state-run senior-care facilities, have been put on notice that a budget battle in the Alaska legislature is threatening to displace them.
  http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170412-01.mp3The budget is far from complete,
  
  Read more

• Senate proposes ‘devastating’ $22 million in cuts to UA system in 2018

  14-04-2017 20:54
  
  Tough times are looking even more grim for the University of Alaska as the UA Board of Regents and university president Jim Johnsen begin to plan for the worst.
  They had a special meeting Thursday, some joining remotely from Fairbanks, after the Alaska Senate unveiled its budget, which includes slashing the UA operating budget by $22 million in fiscal year 2018.
  The UA System has seen $53 million in cuts since 2014. Johnsen says he has a 10-year plan to gradually reduce spending, while hopefully
  
  Read more

• A family-friendly Easter party with DJ Spencer Lee

  14-04-2017 20:30
  
  DJ Spencer Lee will be hosting another Baby Loves Disco party on April 15.
  The Baby Loves Disco Easter Bunny Hop will be at Williwaw in downtown Anchorage. Families can expect Easter eggs, the Easter bunny, tons of prizes and swag bags. Lee says it’s a fun and healthy activity, and it’s a little different from other family events.
  The Easter Bunny Hop starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 15 at Williwaw in Anchorage. Tickets are $15 per person, or $12.50 with a family four-pack and ca
  
  Read more

• EPA moves to undo tougher pollution limits on coal plants

  14-04-2017 20:24
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration wants to trash Obama-era rules to limit water pollution from coal-fired power plants.
  The Environmental Protection Agency administrator announced the change this week. Administrator Scott Pruitt sent a letter to a coalition of energy companies that lobbied against the 2015 water pollution rule.
  The rule would have required utilities by next year to cut the amounts of toxic heavy metals like arsenic, lead and mercury in the wastewater piped from th
  
  Read more

• Thane Campground reopens as Juneau’s downtown sleeping ban takes effect

  14-04-2017 19:46 via ktoo.org
  
  
  CBJ Park Ranger Dale Gosnell hauls donated camping supplies at the city-run Thane Campground on April 13, 2017. (Photo by Jacob Resneck/KTOO)
  Juneau’s controversial ordinance prohibiting sleeping on private property downtown goes into effect April 15. The anti-camping initiative coincides with the reopening of the seasonal Thane Campground.
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/04/170414_Thane_Homeless.mp3Spring has sprung at the Thane Campground and rangers from the City and Borough
  
  Read more

• Hilcorp: Natural gas leak in Cook Inlet stopped

  14-04-2017 18:49
  
  ANCHORAGE — Hilcorp Alaska says divers have successfully clamped the area of a a leaking natural gas pipeline in Cook Inlet, more than two months after it was discovered.
  With improved weather and ice conditions in the area, the company said divers began work April 8.
  “A total of 12 dives were completed on the fuel gas line in order to locate the leak, then properly position, stabilize and prepare the pipeline for repair,” Hilcorp explained.
  The leak was discovered on the
  
  Read more

• Widow of Italian right-to-die protagonist turns herself in

  14-04-2017 18:25
  
  ROME (AP) – The widow of an Italian man who became a protagonist in Italy’s euthanasia debate has turned herself into police after bringing another terminally ill man to Switzerland to die.
  Mina Welby told reporters outside a Tuscan police station Friday that Davide Trentini had administered a fatal IV drip himself Thursday in Switzerland after doctors there determined he was a suitable candidate for assisted suicide.
  Trentini, 53, had suffered for nearly two decades from amyotrophic
  
  Read more

• US sends dozens of troops to Somalia, 1st time in decades

  14-04-2017 18:16
  
  MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – The U.S. military is sending dozens of regular troops to Somalia in the largest such deployment to the Horn of Africa country in roughly two decades.
  The United States pulled out of Somalia after 1993, when two helicopters were shot down in the capital, Mogadishu, and bodies of Americans were dragged through the streets.
  The U.S. Africa Command on Friday said this deployment is for logistics training of Somalia’s army, which is battling the extremist group a
  
  Read more

• Alaska city officials to pass a new trash disposal ordinance

  14-04-2017 18:09
  
  SITKA, Alaska (AP) – Alaska officials are in favor of an ordinance they hope will keep city neighborhoods and bears safer.
  The Daily Sitka Sentinel reports city of Sitka’s Assembly voted unanimously on the first reading of a new ordinance that will make it easier for police to issue fines to residents for improper trash disposal Tuesday.
  Police Chief Jeff Ankerfelt says under the new rule, the act will be considered a minor offense and will only require a court appearance after the t
  
  Read more

• Alaska city officials shut out marijuana businesses

  14-04-2017 18:03
  
  SOLDOTNA, Alaska (AP) – Alaska city officials have voted to keep commercial marijuana out of Soldotna.
  The Peninsula Clarion reports Soldotna City Council voted 4-2 Wednesday to ban marijuana establishments from operating within city limits.
  The council had previously placed a two-year suspension on cannabis businesses, which temporarily prohibited them until Jan. 1, 2018. Mayor Pete Sprague says with this vote, city administrators will start to draft legislation to ban them, present it to
  
  Read more

• Troopers arrest suspect in village shooting death

  14-04-2017 17:58
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A 23-year-old southwest Alaska village man has been arrested in the shooting death of a fellow resident.
  Alaska State Troopers say Brian Fancyboy was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and weapons misconduct Thursday in the death of 27-year-old Dennis Alick.
  Both men are from Pilot Station, a Yukon River community 425 miles west of Anchorage.
  A village public safety officer told troopers shortly after midnight Thursday that a man had been shot to death an
  
  Read more

• DOT artillery defends Thane Road from avalanche threats

  14-04-2017 14:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Melissa Griffiths of Douglas walks her dog, Beau, on Sandy Beach, where she has a great view of the Thane avalanche chute across Gastineau Channel.
  “I know that the state blasts a howitzer, and I was wondering, who does that and are there specialized skills that you need?” Griffiths asked.
  Curious Juneau stars you and your questions. Every episode we help you find an answer. Catch up on past episodes, or ask your own question on the Curious Juneau page.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.
  
  Read more

• Nominee chosen to lead Human Rights Commission perplexed by questioning from Republicans

  14-04-2017 07:05
  
  A man who Governor Walker appointed to the state’s Human Rights Commission said he is being treated differently than other appointees because of his gender identity.
  Drew Phoenix is a transgender man who recently moved from Anchorage to Fairbanks. He’s an ordained Methodist minister and the former executive director of Identity, which advocates for LGBT rights. Phoenix also worked for the American Civil Liberties Union in Alaska.
  Phoenix said he was excited and honored to be appointe
  
  Read more

• Senate apologizes to seniors after threat of pioneer home closures

  14-04-2017 06:28
  
  Senate Majority Leader Peter Micciche is apologizing to Alaska seniors, after Gov. Bill Walker said a cut made in the Senate’s budget would force the closure of Pioneer Homes in Palmer and Juneau.
  Micciche, who chaired the subcommittee in charge of the Dept. of Health and Social Services’ budget, said that was not the Senate’s intention when it made a flat, across-the-board cut to the Division of Alaska Pioneer Homes.
  At a press conference Thursday, Micciche said a legislative
  
  Read more

• JBER display confronts sexual assault in the military

  14-04-2017 06:18
  
  April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. On Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) group is using a powerful image to highlight the scope of the problem.
  The group set up 3,828 teal flags. Each one represents a reported sexual assault in the Army and the Air Force during fiscal year 2015.
  Volunteer victim advocate SSgt Nicole Sierra said while the flag display is upsetting, it also helps people understand the scope of the problem.
  “Having
  
  Read more

• Senate asks House to narrow focus on Day 87 of session

  14-04-2017 04:37
  
  Lawmakers in Juneau will not make their 90-day deadline on Sunday, April 16. Work on a budget plan will stretch on, and the state will spend tens of thousands of dollars each day it does.
  There was little movement toward that end on Thursday, day 87 of the legislative session. The last big-ticket budget bill left in the House is its income tax proposal, House Bill 115. The House could have taken a vote on the measure, but leadership chose not to. The bill appears to be struggling for support. Fi
  
  Read more

• Alaska Legislature on pace to pass fewest bills ever

  14-04-2017 04:30 via ktoo.org
  
  Senate President Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks, talks to reporters at a Senate Majority press availability on Thursday. Sens. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, Anna MacKinnon, R-Anchorage, and Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, seated left to right, also participated. Kelly said the Senate is willing to stay beyond the scheduled end of the session to work on budget-related and other important bills. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  Alaska’s Legislature is on pace to pass fewer bills than
  
  Read more

• CBJ, UAS make progress on sharing Auke Bay lab property

  14-04-2017 04:14 via ktoo.org
  
  Juneau and the University of Alaska Southeast previously submitted competing applications for the waterfront parcel that contains the Auke Bay Marine Station, shown here in January. The two entities now want to share the 4 acres of land along Auke Bay. (Photo Tripp J Crouse/KTOO)
  The City and Borough of Juneau and the University of Alaska Southeast say they are making progress on a plan to share 4 acres of land along Auke Bay.
  The city primarily wants to use the waterfront to expa
  
  Read more

• Anchorage air traffic controller awarded for helping save fighter jet pilot

  14-04-2017 04:05
  
  An Anchorage air traffic controller is being recognized nationally for her part in helping an F-18 pilot land his plane safely on the ground after one of his engines failed over the Bering Sea.
  In an audio recording from July 25, 2016, you can hear U.S. Navy Pilot Capt. Jesse Simmermon tell controller Jessica Earp that his aircraft was in a full descent.
  “It’s definitely an adrenaline release after the fact. You walk away and then it hits you how serious that was,” Earp said.
  T
  
  Read more

• Gardentalk – Spring clean up

  14-04-2017 03:08 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Freshly harvested tomatoes during the late summer of 2016 provide a little incentive for the 2017 season. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)
  In the first segment of the season that airs every Thursday morning during Morning Edition, Master Gardener Ed Buyarski provides some hints for cleaning up your yard and garden. They include pulling off boughs and covers from planting beds, scratching up the soil, and removing debris.
  He said clear plastic and blankets can be placed over planting beds to
  
  Read more

• Video captures horse battling gator at Florida park

  14-04-2017 02:56
  
  Visitors to a state park in Florida got a dramatic glimpse at the wild kingdom when a wild horse attacked an alligator.
  Krystal Berry was one of several park goers who took video of the attack at Paynes Prairie State Park Wednesday. She tells Tampa’s WTVT-TV that she was part of a group who spotted wild horses grazing alongside a path. She says the alligator came up beside them and stopped. 
  Video she posted to Facebook shows one of the horses kicking the alligator, which then be
  
  Read more

• Reality Check w/ John Tracy: Pioneer Homes are pawns in the battle over budget cuts

  14-04-2017 02:46
  
  State lawmakers shook up Alaska pioneers this week, threatening to toss them out of the Pioneer Homes in Juneau and Palmer.
  The hubbub demonstrates what happens when your public policy becomes a public relations nightmare.
  The Senate last week approved a 10 percent budget cut, nearly $6 million to the State’s Pioneer Homes Division.
  The Department of Health responded by warning residents at the Palmer and Juneau homes to prepare to leave. Then the finger pointing began.
  The agency say
  
  Read more

• AEDC encourages Chugach Electric, ML&P to discuss possible merger

  14-04-2017 01:52
  
  Nobody likes receiving a pricey electric bill. The Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) says some power rates around the city have gotten so high, they’ve actually started to hurt businesses.
  “I know for a number of commercial properties in Anchorage, they have seen their electric bills go up tens of thousands of dollars on a monthly basis,” AEDC President and CEO Bill Popp said.
  AEDC formed a working group of local business leaders to look at how to improve the pr
  
  Read more

• State Senate approves Alaska Mental Health land exchange

  14-04-2017 00:35 via ktoo.org
  
  A springtime view of Deer Mountain. (File photo by Leila Kheiry/KRBD)
  The Alaska Senate unanimously approved a measure Thursday allowing a land exchange between the state and federal governments.
  Senate Bill 88, sponsored by Sitka Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, allows a land trade between Alaska Mental Health Trust and the U.S. Forest Service, in which the trust would receive nearly 20,000 acres for timber harvest in exchange for approximately 18,000 acres near several Southeast communities.
  In a
  
  Read more

Follow @AnchorageNewsUS on Twitter!