Anchorage news

• Retailers struggling through their toughest year in a decade

  26-04-2017 23:26
  
  After a subpar holiday season, U.S. brick-and-mortar retailers are off to an even more cheerless year, with 14 having already having declared bankruptcy in 2017.
  Women’s clothing label Bebe is the latest casualty, announcing on Friday it would close all 175 stores and liquidate its inventory. The news followed bankruptcy filings by Payless, H.H. Gregg, BCBG Max Azria, The Limited, Wet Seal, Gander Mountain, MC Sports and Gordman’s.
  Others, including Macy’s, Ralph Lauren, J
  
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• Newscast – Wednesday, April 26, 2017

  26-04-2017 23:03 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/04/042617noonnewscast.mp3In this newscast:
  Tires of 33 vehicles slashed in West Douglas and Juneau on Tuesday night,
  Anchorage Police make link between single suspect and five homicides last year, and
  Alaska Air Group reports first-quarter profit of $99 million.
   
  
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• Workforce Wednesday: The National Center for Construction Education and Research

  26-04-2017 23:01
  
  The Alaska Process Industry Careers Consortium (APICC) has become a sponsor for the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). The NCCER is a nonprofit that helps people build skills and earn credentials across the oil and gas, construction and mining industries.
  Mandy Beaulieu who is with both APICC and NCCER, says it can be used at the high school level and then rolled into a post-secondary education. It can even be used to register for an apprenticeship then utilized in
  
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• Juneau police investigate tires slashed on 30-plus vehicles

  26-04-2017 22:10
  
  (Bing Maps)
  The Juneau Police Department is asking for the public to provide any information they may have on a tire slashing rampage that occurred Tuesday.
  According to police, 33 vehicles had their tires slashed in the 2000 and 3000 block of the Douglas Highway Tuesday night. The agency provided few other details, only that the vehicle damage “likely exceeds $10,000.”
  (Courtesy of the Juneau Police Department)
  Anyone with additional details is urged to call Juneau police at 907-58
  
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• Alyssa London aims to be first Alaskan to win Miss USA crown

  26-04-2017 21:58
  
  In February, Alyssa London became the first Alaska Native woman of Tlingit heritage to win the Miss Alaska USA crown. In May, London says she plans to win the Miss USA competition and bring the crown to Alaska for the first time.
  London has been all around the country preparing for the competition. She said reading to kids at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, visiting Alaska’s senators in Washington, D.C. and attending Alaska’s legislative session in Juneau have b
  
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• Haines Assemblyman’s publication of police accusations triggers union action

  26-04-2017 21:15 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Haines Borough Police Dept. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
  The union representing Haines municipal employees has filed a grievance against the borough on behalf of police officers.
  The grievance stems from Assembly member Tom Morphet’s decision to publicize accusations against the Haines police department at an Assembly meeting earlier this month.
  http://khns.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/25GrievancewINTRO.mp3
  Morphet gathered accounts of police interactions he had heard about from
  
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• Trump order seeks to limit federal role in K-12 education

  26-04-2017 21:03
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to reduce the federal government’s role in K-12 education.
  Trump is giving Education Secretary Betsy DeVos 300 days to identify where Washington has overstepped its legal authority in education issues.
  The secretary will then be able to modify and repeal regulations and guidance issued by her department.
  Trump says previous administrations have wrongly forced states to comply with federal whims and dicta
  
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• APD confirms James Dale Ritchie as killer in 5 Anchorage murders

  26-04-2017 20:38
  
  Sketch from July killing of Treyveonkindell Thompson (L) next to James Ritchie (R). / Anchorage Police Department
  More than five months after the public heard James Dale Ritchie’s name, the Anchorage Police Department confirmed Wednesday that he was responsible for the murders of five people in the summer of 2016.
  In November, Ritchie was killed in a downtown Anchorage shootout with police, following his solo attack against APD officer Arn Salao. It was a chance encounter t
  
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• Bill requiring nonresident caribou hunters to have guides meets opposition

  26-04-2017 20:36 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Rep. Dean Westlake, D-Kotzebue, speaks in support of House Bill 78, during a House Floor Session on Feb 3, 2017. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  House Bill 211 sponsored by Kiana Democrat Dean Westlake met opposition in a House session early Monday afternoon.
  http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170425-05.mp3The act would require, through statute, that nonresident hunters have a hunting guide present to hunt caribou from the Western Arctic, Central Arctic, Porcupine and Teshekpuk herds.
  Westlake said
  
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• Point Hope walrus hunters put on probation for violating Marine Mammal Protection Act

  26-04-2017 20:15
  
  Late last week, four point hope men were sentenced for the illegal taking of walruses that occurred near Cape Lisburne in 2015.
  According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office on Thursday, Adam Sage, Jacob Lane, Guy Tuzroyluk, and Michael Tuzroyluk, Jr., pled guilty to violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act in two separate incidents. In September of 2015, the hunters shot several walruses, only salvaged the ivory, and caused stampedes which killed and injured more walruses.
  La
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 4-27-17

  26-04-2017 19:19 via ktoo.org
  
  Thursday on a Juneau Afternoon, Joan Pardes hosts
  Chancellor Caulfield will be here to highlight upcoming UASCommencement and Honorees
  Alaska State Improv Festival
  Discovery SE Annual Banquet
  350 Climate Change organizationElaine Schroeder
  We’ll talk with Sarah Camper about “100 Days, 100 Voices”
  Arts Up with Meghan Garrison
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, live at 3 on KTOO, repeated at 4 on KRNN, and available on demand via ktoo.org
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 7-26-17

  26-04-2017 18:56 via ktoo.org
  
  Wednesday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon,Crystal Bourland will be here to highlight Saturday’s Comedy for a Cause;
  We’ll talk about the upcoming performance by the Juneau Cabaret,,celebrating the music of Cole Porter;
  Sara Pruitt will be here to learn about Wednesday’s United Way Cruise;
  And Jeremy Johnson will be here with details about CERT Training;
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, Wednesday on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on KTOO-News, repeated at 4 on
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 4-26-17

  26-04-2017 18:56 via ktoo.org
  
  Wednesday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon,Crystal Bourland will be here to highlight Saturday’s Comedy for a Cause;
  We’ll talk about the upcoming performance by the Juneau Cabaret,,celebrating the music of Cole Porter;
  Sara Pruitt will be here to learn about Wednesday’s United Way Cruise;
  And Jeremy Johnson will be here with details about CERT Training;
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, Wednesday on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on KTOO-News, repeated at 4 on
  
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• Spacecraft flies between Saturn and rings in historic 1st

  26-04-2017 17:19
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has ventured into the never-before-explored region between Saturn and its rings.
  But flight controllers won’t know how everything went until Thursday when they are back in touch with the craft.
  Cassini was out of radio contact with Earth early Wednesday as it became the first spacecraft to enter the gap between Saturn and its rings. That’s because its big dish antenna was maneuvered face forward to protect science inst
  
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• Southeast Alaska hatchery to reopen with new owner

  26-04-2017 16:58
  
  PETERSBURG, Alaska (AP) – A hatchery in a small southeast Alaska community that closed down under a mountain of debt in 2014 has been purchased by a nonprofit organization that plans to produce chum and Chinook salmon at the site.
  KFSK-FM reported he state foreclosed on the Gunnuk Creek hatchery’s $22 million debt and put it up for sale. The Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association bought the facility in Kake for an undisclosed price this month.
  Fred Parady, with the state
  
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• Pope warns powerful to act humbly or risk ruin in TED talk

  26-04-2017 16:49
  
  VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis has warned the powerful to act humbly or risk ruin, in a TED talk urging the world to show more solidarity with the poor and weak.
  Francis delivered a videotaped talk to a TED conference in Vancouver on “The Future You,” the first by a pope. The Vatican released the video Wednesday.
  In it, Francis outlined his vision of the interconnectedness of humanity, saying that with age his has grown increasingly convinced that “none of us is an isla
  
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• In public testimony, most support state income tax bill

  26-04-2017 10:56 via ktoo.org
  
  Juneau resident Julie Nielsen testifies in favor of House Bill 115 at a Senate committee hearing in Juneau on Tuesday. Most of the more than 100 Alaskans who testified supported the bill. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/KTOO and Alaska Public Media)
  The prospect of having a state income tax in Alaska for the first time in 37 years drew passionate responses both in favor and opposed during public testimony on Tuesday.
  Most of the more than 100 people who offered testimony to the Senate Labor and Comm
  
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• Antarctica’s penguins are in trouble, new report shows

  26-04-2017 07:39
  
  In the rapidly warming Antarctic, two species of penguins are in dramatic decline.
  That’s the news out of a new study published by Oceanites, a nonprofit organization that closely monitors penguins and other Antarctic seabirds, in collaboration with researchers from NASA and Stony Brook University in New York.
  Relying on satellite photos and on-the-ground analysis from more than 660 sites across the frozen continent, the study paints a broad picture of the health of several Antarctic pengu
  
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• ‘Fearless’ feline hangs out with rattlesnake

  26-04-2017 07:33
  
  Authorities in Texas are calling this feline “fearless” after it was pictured inches away from a rattlesnake.
  The Laguna Vista Police Department posted an image of the pair late last week on its Facebook page alongside a warning to residents of the South Texas town about rattlesnakes following a spotting.
  “LV Residents, earlier today Laguna Vista Police Officers assisted the Bay Area Birders of LV that were at the walking trail when they suddenly spotted a rattlesnake,” t
  
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• Survivors’ insurance bill likely to pass despite addition of municipal opt-in option

  26-04-2017 06:01
  
  A bill that would provide funding for healthcare premiums for the families of state officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty is just a few steps away from becoming law. Various versions of Senate Bill 48 have been debated by lawmakers in Juneau for years. Last week, the senate unanimously passed the bill. Now, it is up to the house to approve the changes made by the senate before the bill moves on to Governor Bill Walker’s desk.
  Various versions of Senate Bill 48 have been deba
  
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• Senate Leaderships defends education cut, amid threat of layoffs

  26-04-2017 05:52
  
  In Juneau, the Senate Majority is defending itself against accusations that its budget cuts will severely harm education in Alaska. This after the Anchorage and Mat-Su School Districts announced publicly they’re standing in solidarity against the 5 percent cut.
  The districts say more than $90 million in cuts to school districts and the university system will lead to hundreds of lost jobs and larger class sizes.
  Their school boards are urging Alaskans to call their senators and demand full
  
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• Northern Edge to go ahead, along with continued community concern

  26-04-2017 05:26
  
  The Navy got the green light for Northern Edge 17, just days before the training exercise is scheduled to start.
  Northern Edge is scheduled to start May 1. It involves the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines, training in the Gulf of Alaska and areas of the Interior.
  The National Marine Fisheries Service issued two permits the Navy needed to go ahead with the exercise. The Navy also announced its Record of Decision about a recent Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. The Navy has to issue an
  
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• DOC officer smuggled drugs into Goose Creek

  26-04-2017 04:16
  
  A former Department of Corrections officer was sentenced to eight months in a federal prison on Tuesday after admitting he smuggled drugs into the Goose Creek Correctional Center.
  Jason Spindler, 33, accepted a plea deal, agreeing to plead guilty to one count of drug conspiracy and one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
  According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Hattan, Spindler agreed to smuggle drugs into the Goose Creek facility on multiple occasions for
  
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• LifeMed EMT charged with distribution of child porn

  26-04-2017 04:07
  
  An Anchorage man, who works as a LifeMed EMT, is accused of distributing child pornography.
  According to court documents, Anchorage Police were able to download eight video files containing child pornography during an undercover online investigation in November of 2016.
  In a criminal complaint, APD Officer Torres writes he was able to connect the IP address with user Jonathan Shrack, 26.
  While serving a search warrant at Shrack’s residence on December 22, Torres writes he finally made cont
  
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• Senators give cool reception to income tax bill

  26-04-2017 04:06 via ktoo.org
  
  Sen. Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting in March. Meyer said constituents question having a state income tax while still paying Permanent Fund dividends. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  Senators gave the tax a cool reception Tuesday to a bill that would reintroduce a state income tax to Alaska.
  Anchorage Republican Sen. Kevin Meyer said his constituents oppose creating a new bureaucracy to collect an income tax when the Permanent Fund continues to
  
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• Melting snow uncovers Anchorage’s major pet waste problem

  26-04-2017 03:37
  
  The signs of spring are evident at Taku Lake in Anchorage: birds chirping in the trees, a thin layer of ice melting on the lake and dog waste everywhere.
  “Right on the edge of the water. That’s where kids are going to be swimming,” David Jensen said.
  He volunteers his time picking up after other people’s dogs. Jensen said his mission is to make Anchorage trails cleaner for all users and he wishes others would do the same.
  “I do feel civic responsibility. [I’m
  
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• Officer in passenger-dragging incident tells his side of the story

  26-04-2017 03:18
  
  CHICAGO – The physician who was dragged off a United Airlines (UAL) flight in Chicago this month was verbally and physically abusive, and flailing his arms before he lost his balance and struck his mouth on an armrest, according to the aviation officer who pulled the man out of his seat.
  The Chicago Department of Aviation on Monday released the officer’s report of the incident in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press. The report reveals for the firs
  
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• Two dead squid in two weeks: Coincidence?

  26-04-2017 03:16 via ktoo.org
  
  Larry Schmidt poses next to Unalaska’s second squid visitor in as many weeks. (Courtesy Larry Schmidt)
  The novelty of seeing a jumbo squid in Unalaska is not wearing off: a second one washed ashore Monday night.
  David Tonon of the U.S. Coast Guard was excited to check it out — he’s never seen anything like it.
  This squid has a couple feet on six-footer David Tonon. (Courtesy David Tonon)
  “I’ve seen little squid, squid we use for bait, squid at aquariums, and when I
  
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• Fundraising efforts underway to rebuild charred Juneau playground

  26-04-2017 03:12 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Firefighters wet down playground equipment Monday at the Twin Lakes park. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)
  Many in the Juneau community responded to the destruction of the Twin Lakes playground by opening their wallets and donating online. Now the City and Borough of Juneau is directing donations to the Juneau Community Foundation.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/04/170425_fundraising.mp3The Twin Lakes playground, also known as castle park and Project Playground, was a grassroots comm
  
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• Former Goose Creek prison corrections officer sentenced in drug conspiracy

  26-04-2017 02:48 via ktoo.org
  
  A former Department of Corrections officer convicted of smuggling drugs into Goose Creek Correctional Center was sentenced Tuesday to eight months in federal prison.
  Adam Jason Spindler, 33, pleaded guilty in August 2016 to one count each of drug conspiracy and possession of controlled substances with the intent to distribute.
  Goose Creek Correctional Center. (Photo by Ellen Lockyer/KSKA)
  Spindler was arrested in May 2016, after heroin and marijuana were discovered in a bag he was attempting to
  
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• U.S., North Korea face off in high-stakes game of chicken

  26-04-2017 02:45
  
  BEIJING — North Korea conducted a large-scale, live-fire military drill on Tuesday morning in yet another show of force. It was part of celebrations marking the 85th anniversary of the founding of the country’s military.
  While the North fired weapons near the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. and South Korea conducted drills off the west coast. Meanwhile, the USS Carl Vinson naval strike group is making its way to the divided peninsula.
  CBS News correspondent Adriana Diaz
  
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• Fire marshal: Youths confess to Twin Lakes playground fire

  26-04-2017 02:33 via ktoo.org
  
  Firefighters spray down a fire on Monday, April 24, 2017, at the playground near Twin Lakes. (Photo by Kelli Burkinshaw/KTOO)
  The two teenagers arrested for setting the Twin Lakes playground on fire Monday have confessed, and Juneau’s fire marshal has completed his investigation.
  Capital City Fire/Rescue Fire Marshal Dan Jager said the two teenagers admitted they started the fire with no clear motive.
  “They admitted as to how they did that,” Jager said. “Because they are
  
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• ACLU files lawsuit against city of Homer over proposed recalls

  26-04-2017 02:04 via ktoo.org
  
  Homer City Hall (Photo courtesy of City of Homer)
  American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska filed a suit Monday against the City of Homer.
  The suit targets the proposed recall of three Homer City Council members.
  The recall stems from a pair of resolutions either introduced or supported by the council members:
  One resolution supported the Standing Rock Tribe in their effort to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.
  The other was a resolution to promote inclusivity, on the heels of President Donald
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 7-27-17

  26-04-2017 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Thursday on a Juneau Afternoon, Joan Pardes hosts
  Chancellor Caulfield will be here to highlight their upcoming UAS Commencement and Honorees
  Alaska State Improv Festival
  Discovery SE Annual Banquet
  Alaska State Improv Festival returns!
  Arts Up with Meghan Garrison
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, live at 3 on KTOO, repeated at 4 on KRNN, and available on demand via ktoo.org
  
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• ‘Superbug’ fungus new menace in US hospitals

  26-04-2017 01:59
  
  NEW YORK (AP) – A ‘superbug’ fungus is emerging as a new menace in U.S. hospitals, mostly in New York and New Jersey.
  First identified in Japan in 2009, the fungus has spread to more than a dozen countries around the globe. The oldest of the 66 cases reported in the United States dates back to 2013, but most were reported in the last year.
  The fungus called Candida auris is a harmful form of yeast. Scientists say it can be hard to identify with standard lab tests. U.S. health o
  
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• Ask a Climatologist: Alaska’s lucky winter

  26-04-2017 01:59 via ktoo.org
  
  Attendance numbers spiked at Eaglecrest Ski Area in Juneau thanks to fresh snowfall as seen here on March 5, 2017. (Photo courtesy of John Erben)
  Winter is more or less over in most of Alaska.  And if you like that kind of thing — winter, that is — it was pretty decent in much of the state. But climatologist Brian Brettschneider, with our Ask a Climatologist segment says don’t get used to it. He says that “normal” winter was a sweet spot of cold in a
  
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• Government shutdown would close Skagway’s national park at the start of cruise ship season

  26-04-2017 01:46 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Park ranger Charlotte Henson leads a group of visitors on a walking tour of Skagway focused on the story of Company L. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
  In less than a week, the first cruise ship of the season will dock in Skagway, bringing thousands of visitors to the busy Northern Lynn Canal port.
  But if lawmakers in Washington haven’t agreed on a spending plan by then, a government shutdown would close one popular visitor attraction – Skagway’s national park.
  http://khns.org/wp-co
  
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• Federal court in San Francisco blocks Trump’s threat against sanctuary cities

  26-04-2017 01:29 via ktoo.org
  
  A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration cannot withhold federal funds from jurisdictions that limit their cooperation with immigration authorities, commonly known as sanctuary cities.
  U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued his temporary ruling as a result of a lawsuit brought against the administration by the city of San Francisco and the county of Santa Clara. The jurisdictions had argued that billions of federal dollars that support vital services were in jeopardy when t
  
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• Officials promoting inclusivity after Trump rise face recall

  26-04-2017 01:18
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Three leaders of an Alaska fishing community who sponsored a resolution to promote inclusivity are fighting efforts to recall them from office.
  The recall effort targeting three Homer City Council members is pegged to two resolutions, one supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota in its fight over a pipeline and another aimed at promoting inclusivity in Homer after President Donald Trump’s election.
  Catriona Reynolds, David Lewis and Donna Aderhol
  
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• Alaskan scientists prepare for worldwide march

  26-04-2017 01:10 via ktoo.org
  
  Veronica Padula gets to work on her “There Is No Planet B” sign. (Zoë Sobel/KUCB)
  Though markers, stencils and stamps clutter the living room floor, this is no art class. Days before the March for Science, seven scientists are spending their evening making signs like “Science Saves Lives,” “Make America Smart Again,” “There Is No Planet B” and more.
  The march is billed as a celebration of science. Veronica Padula is a PhD student in marine bio
  
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• Sullivan attends meet-and-greet in Homer

  26-04-2017 00:00 via ktoo.org
  
  U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan visited Homer for a meet-and-greet last week, one of the few opportunities the general public of Southcentral Alaska had to confront the senator during the two-week Congressional recess that just ended.
  The gathering was scheduled to take place in the Port and Harbor Conference Room on the Homer Spit, but so many people showed up they had to move the meeting outdoors.
  U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, in his Washington, D.C. office. (Photo by Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
  Sul
  
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