Anchorage news

• Murkowski, Sullivan diverge in statements on Comey firing

  10-05-2017 23:21 via ktoo.org
  
  FBI Director James Comey discusses the impact of technology on the work of law enforcement at a Brookings Institution event on Oct. 16, 2014.(Creative Commons photo courtesy Brookings Institution)
  Alaska’s U.S. senators have responded somewhat differently to President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey.
  In a written statement, Sen. Lisa Murkowski emphasized the timing.
  The firing came “in the middle of an investigation into Russia’s interference in our elec
  
  Read more

• Anchorage students bike to school

  10-05-2017 23:15
  
  Gina Romero/ KTVADave Goldman/ KTVA Dave Goldman/ KTVA
  On a beautiful Wednesday morning, students from across Anchorage road their bicycles to school. More than 50 schools and facilities participated to promote healthy habits.
  Were you there? Share your photos with us on Facebook, or by emailing [email protected].
  The post Anchorage students bike to school appeared first on KTVA 11.
  
  Read more

• Haines tank farm contamination testing moves to Tanani Point Beach

  10-05-2017 23:13 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Tanani Point Beach is across the road from the old Haines Fuel Terminal. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
  Testing connected to the former Army tank farm in Haines found what investigators say is a “surprising” amount of underground contamination at Tanani Point Beach.
  People have known for decades about traces of contamination in the water that seeps from the ground to the surface of the beach.
  Recent testing appears to solve the mystery of where exactly those pollutants come from.http://
  
  Read more

• Ask a Climatologist: Alaska wins the daylight prize

  10-05-2017 23:09 via ktoo.org
  
  U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, Healy, sits just offshore of Barrow, shortly before setting sail in 2013. (Photo courtesy of NOAA’s National Ocean Service)
  Alaska is once again the land of the midnight sun. If you live in Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow) or anywhere north of the Arctic circle, the sun won’t set again until August 2.
  Brian Brettschneider with our segment, Ask a Climatologist, says the sun rose on May 10 in Utqiaġvik at 2:54 am.
  Interview Transcript:
  Brian:
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Alaska Senate plans vote likely to defeat income tax bill

  10-05-2017 23:04
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The Alaska Senate plans to vote on a proposed state income tax Friday, with the measure expected to be defeated.
  The bill was waived Wednesday from two committees, one of which had yet to hear it.
  Senate President Pete Kelly told The Associated Press Tuesday that the Senate will not approve an income tax.
  In a release that reporters were directed to Wednesday, Kelly says the Senate has delivered a fiscal solution that does not require taxing working Alaskans and stand
  
  Read more

• It’s time for round-the-clock daylight on the North Slope

  10-05-2017 21:48
  
  Summer has arrived in Utqiagvik (formerly known as Barrow)  — at least, when it comes to the amount of daylight. The sun rose early Wednesday morning, and will stay above the horizon through early-August. The next sunset on Utqiagvik’s calendar won’t happen until 1:56 a.m. on August 2. That’s more than two-and-a-half months of constant daylight. Utqiagvik will begin losing daylight again the next day (August 3), until the sun sets for the winter in lat
  
  Read more

• After Comey firing, calls for independent probe come in lots of flavors

  10-05-2017 20:58 via ktoo.org
  
  President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey has reignited calls for some form of independent investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. Comey confirmed in March that the FBI was looking into the matter (as are congressional committees).
  But these calls come in various flavors.
  Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wants a “special prosecutor.” He warns via Twitter, “If we don’t get a special p
  
  Read more

• Putin responds to firing of FBI director

  10-05-2017 18:36
  
  Russian President Vladimir Putin said the firing of former FBI Director James Comey will have “no effect” on U.S.-Russia relations, reacting for the first time to President Trump’s dramatic ouster of the man leading the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign.
  Putin spoke with CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer shortly before taking to the ice at a hockey game in Sochi. Palmer asked the Russian leader how Comey’s firing would impact already frosty relations
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• More students make college commitments

  10-05-2017 18:31
  
  Tuesday represented another day to look ahead for many high school seniors. At Service, Grace Christian and South High Schools seniors made their commitments by signing national letters of intent.
  Service saw 12 make plans.
  Cyaron Williams will play football at the University of Minnesota-Morris. “It’s been a long
  “It’s been a long process.” he said. “Checking emails and talking to coaches. It’s been a long stressful process, but it’s nice to get i
  
  Read more

• Marines show off F-35 during Northern Edge

  10-05-2017 18:23
  
  The F-35 won’t land in Alaska for three years, but local military leaders are getting a preview of what to expect thanks to training exercise Northern Edge. It’s the first time the fifth generation fighter jet has flown in the Alaska exercise. A squadron of Marines are piloting the planes.
  “The mountains up there are beautiful. It’s some of the best flying I’ve done,” said Major Adam Wellington, VMFA 121 Aviation Safety Officer. “These exercises are
  
  Read more

• School board recognizes retiring Juneau educators

  10-05-2017 12:51 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The Juneau School Board took a moment on Tuesday night to honor teachers and staff members who are retiring and moving on to new endeavors.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/05/09Retirees.mp3The board called each retiree to the front of the Thunder Mountain High School library to get a pat on the back, or a tight hug, a lifetime pass to all future Juneau School District events and a cutting board made by Thunder Mountain High School students.
  Lori Hoover, principal of Auke Bay Elementar
  
  Read more

• Tlingit and Haida Central Council joins chorus of Rep. Eastman’s critics

  10-05-2017 06:58 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/05/09EASTMANnpr1.mp3The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska on Tuesday formally added itself to the chorus of critics of Alaska lawmaker David Eastman.Leaders within the organization, which represents more than 30,000 Tlingit and Haida people, had piles of unflattering adjectives to characterize Eastman’s comments, including “appalling,” “demeaning,” “egregious,” “inexcusable
  
  Read more

• Week of the Arctic showcases UAF energy research

  10-05-2017 05:02
  
  Hundreds of delegates from around the world are in Fairbanks for the Arctic Interchange.
  For researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), the global spotlight is a chance to showcase their work on sustainable energy.
  UAF research professor George Roe said right now the diesel generator is the backbone of villages around Alaska. He and his colleagues at the Alaska Center for Power and Energy (ACEP) want to change that.
  “We’ve got wind, we’ve got solar,” Roe exp
  
  Read more

• Fairbanks prepares to host Arctic Council, State Secretary Rex Tillerson

  10-05-2017 04:53
  
  More than a thousand people are headed to Fairbanks this week for the Arctic Council ministerial meeting and other Arctic events, as the U.S. hands over chairmanship to Finland.
  Heads of states from eight Arctic nations will attend the event, including U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.According to national reports, Tillerson and Lavrov will meet in Washington D.C. Wednesday, on the topic of Syria, before both men will make their way to Fairbanks to
  
  Read more

• Anchorage Assembly considers change to regs dealing with hazardous materials

  10-05-2017 04:42
  
  Anchorage Economic Development Director Chris Schutte says an ordinance that deals with hazardous materials at the Port of Anchorage needs changes, but Government Hill residents say that could put them at risk.
  Anchorage Assembly members are being asked to change Title 21, the new Anchorage land use and zoning laws that were at least seven years in the making.
  Schutte said city planners were surprised to discover the new laws require a 1,000 foot buffer between new hazardous material storage are
  
  Read more

• Tlingit Haida Central Council call for Eastman’s censure

  10-05-2017 04:16
  
  A Tlingit and Haida group joined other Alaska lawmakers in the call to censure Wasilla Rep. David Eastman for comments about abortion.
  In a statement Tuesday, the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s Executive Council made the call to action.
  “Facts matter. As a lawmaker and a public servant, it is inexcusable for Representative Eastman to have made these comments,” said president Richard Peterson.
  The council’s vice president added, “
  
  Read more

• Alaska Senate leader eyes session extension if work remains

  10-05-2017 03:27
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska Senate President Pete Kelly says it will be challenging for the Legislature to complete its work within the 121-day regular session limit.
  Items lawmakers must come to agreement on include the budget, changes to oil tax credit policy and a plan for addressing Alaska’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit.
  They also have yet to consider Gov. Bill Walker’s appointments to boards and key administration posts.
  The session is scheduled to end next Wednesda
  
  Read more

• Alaska House committee advances Real ID legislation

  10-05-2017 03:24
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska House committee has advanced legislation aimed at bringing the state into compliance with national proof-of-identity standards, putting it one step closer to a floor vote.
  The bill, from Gov. Bill Walker, would allow Alaskans to choose between driver’s licenses and identification cards that are compliant with the federal Real ID law and those that are not. It advanced from the House Finance Committee Tuesday.
  The state in 2008 passed a law barring stat
  
  Read more

• Weather Lab: Anchorage School District promotes STEM learning

  10-05-2017 03:02
  
  The Anchorage School District is offering new opportunities for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) learning.
  They say STEM education helps students become more informed and thoughtful in all areas of life, but also increases their ability to gain employment later on.
  To promote STEM learning, the district is now supplying teachers with science kits to incorporate hands on learning opportunities into their lessons. They’re also given access to business partners who use science
  
  Read more

• Tunnel caves in at Hanford nuclear site, thousands of workers take cover

  10-05-2017 02:51 via ktoo.org
  
  This picture shows a 20-foot-by-20-foot hole in the roof of a tunnel that is hundreds of feet long. Surveys of the area show no indication of release of contamination as a result of the cave-in. (Photo by U.S. Department of Energy)
  The U.S. Department of Energy issued an emergency alert Tuesday morning at the Hanford site north of Richland, Washington, after a tunnel at a radioactive cleanup site caved in. Workers at a former chemical processing plant were evacuated and thousands more acros
  
  Read more

• Anchorage Petroleum Wives Club welcomes new era with new name

  10-05-2017 02:50 via ktoo.org
  
  Members of the Anchorage Petroleum Wives Club — soon to be the Anchorage Petroleum Women’s Association — pose by the Easter goodie bags they assembled for a youth homeless shelter. (photo courtesy Holly Lee)
  At a luncheon at the Lakefront hotel in Anchorage this April, Petroleum Wives Club president Linnea Ward greeted members from behind a small, cardboard ballot box.
  The Anchorage Petroleum Wives Club has been around longer than Alaska has been a state. It was found
  
  Read more

• Snakewatch ends peacefully: 100-pound python back at home in Meadow Lakes

  10-05-2017 02:39 via ktoo.org
  
  Sam, a 17-foot 100-pound albino Burmese python is back home and happy Monday, May 8, 2017, in his tub after going missing for two weeks. (Photo by Casey Grove/Alaska Public Media)
  The 100-pound python’s disappearance prompted the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to issue a safety advisory warning pet owners and parents to keep an eye on their dogs, cats and kids.
  But the python apparently did no harm on his excursion and, eventually, it slithered back home to its owner, David Hyde.
  “I
  
  Read more

• Ask a Climatologist: Tracking “green up” in Fairbanks

  10-05-2017 02:32 via ktoo.org
  
  (Graphic from Brian Brettschneider)
  Trees and shrubs are starting to turn green in much of Alaska. But Fairbanks is the only community in the state with an historical record tracking the green up date.
  A University of Alaska Fairbanks professor, Jim Anderson, started collecting the data in the 1970s. He also came up with a lovely definition: “Birch and aspen leaves open just enough to produce a faint but distinct green flush through the forest canopy.”
  These days the National Weather
  
  Read more

• Alaska experiencing more earthquakes than normal

  10-05-2017 02:30
  
  Alaska is experiencing more earthquakes than normal this month, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center.
  In the past two weeks, the Alaska Earthquake Center has detected nearly 2,500 quakes in the state. They say that’s about 1,000 more than normal.
  In Southeast, they’ve counted more than 800 aftershocks following the two large earthquakes in southwestern Canada last week.
  Seismologists are also keeping a close eye on a cluster of earthquakes near Adak.
  Residents reported feel
  
  Read more

• Alaska Federation Of Natives keeping close eye on White House

  10-05-2017 02:15 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Alaska Federation of Natives President Julie Kitka is hopeful the state can create a seat at the federal table. (Photo courtesy Alaska Federation of Natives)
  The Alaska Federation of Natives is keeping a close eye on the new administration of President Donald Trump.
  The Native organization’s board is developing ways to negotiate with the current government in Washington, participate in decision making, and advance Alaska Native priorities.https://cpa.ds.npr.org/kyuk/audio/2017/05/170509_af
  
  Read more

• Juneau Afternoon – 5-10-17

  10-05-2017 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Wednesday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon,
  Juneau Jazz & Classics performers Janet Clippard and members of the Vega Quartet will be here to highlight their performances;
  We’ll talk with Mark Piotroski about the local letter carriers Food Drive;
  Lena Simmons will be here with details of the upcoming Sacred Harp Workshop;
  And we’ll talk about activities at the Zach Gordon Youth Center.That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, Wednesday on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on
  
  Read more

• Police investigating Anchorage murder, no arrests

  10-05-2017 01:48
  
  Anchorage police are investigating the murder of a man found dead Tuesday afternoon.
  Few other details were immediately available, but in a release the Anchorage Police Department wrote that they responded to the 1700 block of S Salem Drive at 2:24 p.m. for reports of an injured man. When they arrived they found a man dead at a home, the department explained.
  “More information will be released once facts have been confirmed in the case,” police said.
  No one has been arrested, th
  
  Read more

• Juneau police propose expansion of patrol car fleet

  10-05-2017 01:36 via ktoo.org
  
  Maggie the dog called shotgun in one of JPD’s marked cruisers on August 17, 2013. (File photo by Heather Bryant/KTOO)
  The Juneau Police Department is asking to increase its fleet of marked patrol cars so more officers can take them home after their shift.
  A request to purchase five new cruisers for about $210,000 will go before the Juneau Assembly on Wednesday.
  There would be benefits for both the department and the community, Juneau Police Lt. David Campbell said.
  “You know, they la
  
  Read more

• APD looking for vehicle involved in hit-and-run

  10-05-2017 01:28
  
  The Anchorage Police Department is looking for information on a hit-and-run that left a 56-year-old man with critical injuries.
  According to APD, Matthew Clark was walking on the road near the intersection of 25th Avenue and Glacier Street when he was hit by an unidentified vehicle on May 3 at 3:43 a.m.
  The driver in the unidentified vehicle left the scene, the agency said.
  Clark was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
  Anyone with information on the incident is being urged to call APD at 90
  
  Read more

• Disney gambles on Avatar theme park, 8 years after hit movie

  10-05-2017 00:59
  
  NEW YORK (AP) – Disney has wagered a reported $500 million that people will line up for a new theme-park attraction based on the 2009 movie “Avatar,” which has largely faded from pop-culture consciousness.
  The new park, based on the movie’s bioluminescent world of Pandora, represents a major gamble, even by Disney standards. Disney is racing to catch up with rival Universal Studios, whose hit Harry Potter park opened in 2010.
  The “Avatar” attraction, formally
  
  Read more

• Gallery: Spring breakup on the Yukon River

  10-05-2017 00:50
  
  Courtesy of Jeremy ZidekCourtesy of Jeremy Zidek Courtesy of Jeremy ZidekCourtesy of Jeremy Zidek Courtesy of Jeremy ZidekCourtesy of Jeremy Zidek Courtesy of Jeremy ZidekCourtesy of Jeremy Zidek Courtesy of Jeremy Zidek
  It’s spring breakup on the Yukon River. According to Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management spokesperson Jeremy Zidek, there’s no risk of major flooding at any of the communities along its banks. He said there is the potential for minimal f
  
  Read more

• Central Council honors Haines resident as ‘Emerging Leader’

  10-05-2017 00:43 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska President Richard Peterson poses for a photo with James Hart at the recent tribal assembly. (Photo courtesy Central Council Tlingit & Haida)
  Last month, a 27-year-old Haines resident was recognized for his leadership by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes.
  James Hart received the Emerging Leader award at the annual tribal assembly. Hart is a Central Council delegate and a tribal council member at the Haines-bas
  
  Read more

• President Trump fires FBI director James Comey

  10-05-2017 00:07 via ktoo.org
  
  The White House has fired FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections and possible ties to the Trump campaign and top aides.
  “Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office. President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer
  
  Read more

Follow @AnchorageNewsUS on Twitter!