Anchorage news

• For the Birds: A fundraiser for the Bird Treatment and Learning Center

  11-05-2017 23:47
  
  Hotel Captain Cook is going to the birds May 13. It will host the Bird Treatment and Learning Center’s annual live and silent auction fundraiser called For the Birds. It will also honor the Bird TLC’s late founder, Dr. James Scott.
  The proceeds from the event will directly benefit the nonprofit, which takes in 600 to 800 birds every year. Mary-Bethe Wright, a long time volunteer says the nonprofit rehabilitates the animals and releases them into the wild, which are then sent to zoos
  
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• Commission discusses how citizen complaints against Haines police should be dealt with

  11-05-2017 23:46 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Haines Borough Police Department. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
  A Haines Assembly member made public several critical accounts of the police department last month.
  The action motivated the union representing the officers to file a grievance against the borough.
  At its most recent meeting, the public safety commission continued the conversation of how complaints against the police should be dealt with.
  http://khns.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/11ComplaintswINTRO.mp3“There’s very r
  
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• Elite Leave: Frequent flyer benefits for new parents

  11-05-2017 23:45
  
  Alaska Airlines has changed the policy on its frequent flyer program in regards to family leave. Previously, if new parents wanted to keep their elite status on their mileage plan, they were unable to.
  Under Alaska Airline’s new hold program called Elite Leave, benefits accrued will be held and roll over to the next calendar year. For example, if a family takes leave in 2017 the benefits will roll over to 2018.
  According to an Alaska Airlines press release, the idea for Elite Leave wa
  
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• Alaska Senate approves capital budget

  11-05-2017 23:30
  
  The Alaska Senate approved a capital budget that appropriates $35 million less than Gov. Bill Walker’s proposal and $44 million less than last year’s budget, according to a release from the Senate majority, who referred to it as “lean.”
  “We prioritized funding for maintenance of state assets, while leveraging as many federal dollars as possible,” said Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “With limited resources at
  
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• Oregon man found dead after falling from remote Alaska cannery dock

  11-05-2017 22:58
  
  An Oregon man working at a remote Alaska cannery died Wednesday, after falling off of the cannery dock 15 feet during low tide, according to Alaska State Troopers.
  In a dispatch from the agency, they wrote that they were notified of a body found at the beach, near the Togiak Fisheries Cannery in Twin Hills, at 6:25 p.m. Wednesday. Troopers said James Schneider, 56, was found face down in the mud. His co-workers attempted CPR for 20 to 30 minutes before staff from the Kanakanak Hospital, in
  
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• Newscast – Thursday, May 11, 2017

  11-05-2017 22:55 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/05/2017-05-11-newscast.mp3In this newscast:
  The Alaska Senate is poised to vote and reject a state income tax proposal,
  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Fairbanks for Arctic Council meetings,
  Wasilla Rep. David Eastman becomes the first member of the Alaska House to be censured,
  unable to sell its ferry Taku, the state lowers its minimum asking price, and
  Washington state is taking legal action against the U.S. government after a tunnel collapsed
  
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• Washington state presses feds for cleanup of tunnels, failing infrastructure at Hanford

  11-05-2017 22:45 via ktoo.org
  
  Workers at Hanford began filling a collapsed section of a rail car tunnel near the PUREX Plant on Wednesday morning. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)
  Washington state is taking legal action against the U.S. government after a tunnel full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at the Hanford nuclear site.
  Washington Department of Ecology Director Maia Bellon called the incident “alarming” and said state officials need to hold the feds accountable to cleanup the site.
  The U.S
  
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• Dutch group says it will soon start cleaning up ocean trash

  11-05-2017 22:32
  
  UTRECHT, Netherlands (AP) – A Dutch foundation aiming to rid the world’s oceans of plastic waste says it will start cleaning up the huge area of floating junk known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within the next 12 months, two years earlier than planned.
  The Ocean Cleanup aims to use long-distance floating booms that act like coastlines to gather plastic as it drifts on or near the surface of the water while allowing sea life to pass underneath. The plan originally was to anchor
  
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• Petersburg land grant bill faces scrutiny in the House

  11-05-2017 22:21 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Members of Alaska’s House Finance Committee this month had some questions about a bill that would increase the amount of state land granted to the Borough of Petersburg.
  Senate Bill 28 has advanced in the legislature this year despite concerns over the size of the request from the municipality.
  https://kfsk-org.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/11LANDGRNTweb.mp3State law allows a new municipality to take 10 percent of the available state land within its boundaries, and speci
  
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• Anchorage defense attorney accused of smuggling drugs into prison

  11-05-2017 20:03
  
  An Anchorage defense attorney and her client face federal charges for allegedly smuggling drugs into the Anchorage Correctional Complex, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
  Kit Lee Karjala, 54, and Anchorage Correctional Complex inmate Christopher Brandon Miller, 33, are charged with drug conspiracy, possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances, and providing or promoting contraband.
  “According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal co
  
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• 1 charged with manslaughter, DUI for fatal Chena Road rollover

  11-05-2017 19:20
  
   
  Alaska State Troopers say a 40-year-old Fairbanks resident is charged with driving under the influence and manslaughter for a single vehicle rollover that left one person dead.
  According to an online dispatch, troopers were notified of the incident at 9:48 p.m. Wednesday. The driver was identified as Shyla Turenne. Forty-five-year-old Hudson Mitchell, also of Fairbanks, was declared dead at the scene.
  Another passenger was transported to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital for minor-injuries
  
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• CBJ Regular Meeting – 5-15-17

  11-05-2017 19:03 via ktoo.org
  
  The CBJ has a regular meeting scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on May 15th. KTOO-NEWS will be broadcastining All Things Considered during this time. The CBJ Meeting can be heard on line following its conclusion by going to the link below.
   
   
   
  
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• Deflated Dome means long wait for refunds, uncertain future

  11-05-2017 19:00
  
  UAA Athletics Director Keith Hackett showed KTVA what his track students use to train.
  “This straightaway is wide enough for one hurdler to work on their hurdles. You can’t put more than three hurdles here, it’s not enough room,” said Hackett.
  The Raven’s Nest Track atop the Alaska Airlines Center is what the Seawolves have to use, they have no other choice.
  Repairs have not started on The Dome, after heavy snow forced the inflatable roof to deflate back in January.
  
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• Alaska officials lower price for tied-up ferry

  11-05-2017 18:01
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – No buyers have taken on the $1.5 million price tag for state ferry Taku, so officials are lowering its price.
  The Alaska Marine Highway System put the ship up for sale in March, but no one had responded by the Tuesday deadline.
  CoastAlaska News reports (http://bit.ly/2r5hrC5 ) officials are lowering the price to a minimum $700,000 from its previous $1.5 million bid in hopes of making the 54-year-old vessel more attractive to potential buyers.
  Taku, which has been dock
  
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• World War II vet reunited with love letter 72 years later

  11-05-2017 17:56
  
  WESTFIELD, N.J. (AP) – A love letter lost in the walls of a New Jersey home has reached a World War II veteran 72 years after it was written.
  Melissa Fahy and her father were renovating her Westfield home when they found the letter in a gap under the stairs. It was postmarked May 1945 and written by a woman named Virginia to her husband, Rolf Christoffersen, who was a sailor in the Norwegian Navy.
  Fahy tells WNBC-TV in New York she couldn’t believe the love and admiration Virginia ha
  
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• Researchers, Alaskans urge Tillerson to support Paris Agreement, climate change research

  11-05-2017 17:40
  
  As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson landed in Fairbanks for the handover of the United State’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council to Finland, locals gathered in the Golden Heart Plaza with a message.
  “Rex: Ignoring climate change research = a huge gamble on our grandchildrens’ future,” the sign of one of dozens of protesters read.
  The rally was organized by a local group “Defend the Sacred,” which is urging Tillerson to support climate change research and the
  
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• Prison high school helps inmates graduate

  11-05-2017 17:19
  
  The Anchorage School District offers lots of different programs, but there’s one public school most people have never heard of. That’s because it operates in a prison.
  New Path High School is located inside the Anchorage Correctional Complex. Principal Nichelle Mauk says the program is available to male inmates, ages 16 to 22, who are interested in getting a high school diploma. Since the school opened in Anchorage five years ago, Mauk said they’ve graduated 85 inmates. Mauk sa
  
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• As closing arguments wrap up, jury to being deliberations in Sockeye trial

  11-05-2017 04:23
  
  Closing arguments wrapped up on Wednesday in the trial of Greg Imig and Amy Dewitt, the Anchorage couple accused of starting the 2015 Sockeye fire.
  So far, in the nearly three week trial, the jury has heard from more than a dozen witnesses and seen hundreds of pieces of evidence.
  As they prepare to begin deliberations, the attorneys on both sides of the trial are hoping that their final words to the jury stuck.
  In the state’s last chance to make its case against Imig and DeWitt, prosecutor
  
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• As closing arguments wrap up, jury to begin deliberations in Sockeye trial

  11-05-2017 04:23
  
  Closing arguments wrapped up on Wednesday in the trial of Greg Imig and Amy Dewitt, the Anchorage couple accused of starting the 2015 Sockeye fire.
  So far, in the nearly three week trial, the jury has heard from more than a dozen witnesses and seen hundreds of pieces of evidence.
  As they prepare to begin deliberations, the attorneys on both sides of the trial are hoping that their final words to the jury stuck.
  In the state’s last chance to make its case against Imig and DeWitt, prosecutor
  
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• At Fairbanks Arctic Council meeting, the big question mark is climate change

  11-05-2017 04:18 via ktoo.org
  
  
  U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Alaska for the meeting of the Arctic Council. (Photo by Rachel Waldholz/Alaska’s Energy Desk)http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/05/10arctic-council-2way.mp3As representatives from eight Arctic nations gather in Fairbanks, one issue is looming over the meeting: climate change.
  The Arctic Council is the main forum for international cooperation in the Arctic, and the meeting has drawn foreign ministers from across the North, including U.S.
  
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• Eastman becomes first Alaska state representative to be censured

  11-05-2017 04:11 via ktoo.org
  
  Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, speaks Wednesday during the floor session before being censured. Eastman had said some Alaska women are glad to become pregnant to receive Medicaid-funded travel to have abortions. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/KTOO/Alaska Public Media)
  Rep. David Eastman became the first member of the Alaska House to be censured  Wednesday. The House voted 25 to 14 to condemn Eastman for saying some women – including those who live in villages — are glad to become p
  
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• Photos: Wreath-laying memorial honors fallen Juneau police officers

  11-05-2017 03:09 via ktoo.org
  
  Juneau police officers in full uniform laid a wreath at Evergreen Cemetery today for a police memorial ceremony that about 20 people attended.
  Lt. Kris Sell was one of the many officers observing the memorial.
  “This is an annual ceremony that we have to show our respects for the loss of Officer Richard Adair and Officer Jimmy Kennedy who were killed in the line of duty on April 17, 1979, very close to where we stand today,” she said.
  Adair and Kennedy were responding to a report of
  
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• House votes to censure Eastman after abortion comment

  11-05-2017 03:07
  
   
  The Alaska House made history Wednesday afternoon when they voted to censure one of their members.
  In a statement last week, Wasilla Rep. David Eastman said residents of rural Alaska get pregnant in order “to get a free trip to the city.” The comment angered people from across the state — including Alaska Native tribes and fellow lawmakers — and by the end of last week, some were calling to censure him.
  On Wednesday, the House spent nearly three hours debating the
  
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• Local search and rescue group spreading the word about program to keep vulnerable adults, children safe

  11-05-2017 02:33
  
  Local search and rescue volunteer coordinator Howdi Rambur says there’s a tracking system meant to find people with conditions like dementia and autism when they wander off, and he wants more people to know it’s available.
  “They don’t know what they’re doing and they need people to help,” he said on Sunday.
  The program is called Project Lifesaver, and it’s run by volunteers who work closely with police departments and Alaska State Troopers. It’s as
  
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• Video: ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ in the State Office Building

  11-05-2017 02:11 via ktoo.org
  
  Pianist William Ransom and cellist Zuill Bailey packed the State Office Building’s atrium today during Juneau Jazz and Classics’ free lunchtime concert.
  Before the musicians played the tune in this video, they asked the kids in the audience to guess what kind of animal is was about.Guesses from the audience included an owl, a pterodactyl, a pit bull, a big bird, a humming bird, and finally, a bumblebee.
  Ransom and Bailey play again tonight with the Vega String Quartet and bassist Jan
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 5-11-17

  11-05-2017 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Thursday on a Juneau Afternoon, Joan Pardes hosts;We’ll talk with Julie Coucheron and Will Ransom about thir Juneau Jazz & Classics performances;Renee Hughes will be here to highlight International Museum Day;We’ll get details about the Arboretum and this Saturday’s annual Super Plant Sale;And Nancy DeCherney will be here with Arts Up.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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• Alaska Marine Highway drops price for Taku ferry

  11-05-2017 01:54 via ktoo.org
  
  The Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Taku was tied up in 2015. It’s been for sale, but so far no one has submitted a bid. (Creative Commons photo by Ted McGrath)
  No one wants to buy the state ferry Taku.
  So, officials are lowering its price.
  The Alaska Marine Highway System took the 54-year-old ship out of service almost two years ago.
  Officials put it up for sale in March, with a minimum price of $1.5 million.
  But no one responded by the May 9 deadline.
  Spokeswoman Meadow Bailey said th
  
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• The one percent: Murre colonies struggle to reproduce following die-off

  11-05-2017 01:49 via ktoo.org
  
  Common Murre ( Uria aalge), also known as Common Guillemot. Photographed at Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska. (Creative Commons photo courtesy of Dick Daniels)
  The massive murre die-off that left tens of thousands of dead birds on Alaska’s coast in 2015 and 2016 may be over, but the population is still struggling. In the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, surviving murres are failing to reproduce.
  “When we got to most of the breeding colonies last summer we found that very few bir
  
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• Return to sender: Juneau pot business blocked from mailing tax payments

  11-05-2017 01:47 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Rainforest Farms co-owner James Barrett said this parcel containing the pot business’ cash tax payment was rejected by the U.S. Postal Service on April 21, 2017. (Photo courtesy James Barrett)
  Alaska tax officials have set up a system to tax licensed marijuana businesses.
  Due to Alaska’s geography actually getting the revenue to the state isn’t always easy.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/05/170510POTTAXES.mp3Usually sending a payment is straightforward — mail
  
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• Ryan defends Trump for firing Comey

  11-05-2017 01:42
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey’s firing (all times local):
  6:45 p.m.
  House Speaker Paul Ryan is defending President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey.
  Ryan says Trump lost patience with Comey, and says many Republicans, Democrats and senior Justice Department officials had lost confidence in him. The Wisconsin Republican says Trump doesn’t want the FBI “in disarray” and acted wi
  
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• Mudflats and fish camps: A family’s 800-mile adventure in Cook Inlet

  11-05-2017 00:57
  
  The McKittrick family took almost four months paddling and walking along Cook Inlet. Their reasoning for setting out initially was to ask anyone they came across how they think the Cook Inlet would look in the future. Erin McKittrick wrote about the journey in “Mudflats and Fish Camps: 800 Miles Around Alaska’s Cook Inlet.”
  Her husband and adventure partner, Hig, said it’s the sort of question that sparks a conversation with no clear answer. He added that everyone assumes
  
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• Workforce Wednesday: Medical Science Academy at Bartlett High School

  11-05-2017 00:56
  
  For the past eight years, Bartlett High School has been getting the next wave of medical professionals interested in the industry. The program is called the Medical Science Academy, and is open to most students in the Anchorage School District.
  Sean Prince, Bartlett’s principal, says it has on primary teacher who teaches a wide range of the classes. Her name is Yvette Stone, and she started the program almost a decade ago. Stone has been teaching for nearly 20 years, according to Prin
  
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• Amazon to create homeless shelter at Seattle headquarters

  11-05-2017 00:52
  
  SEATTLE (AP) – A Seattle nonprofit that converts unused buildings into temporary shelters for women, children and families who are homeless will have a permanent home at Amazon’s new headquarters building.
  Mary’s Place said in a news release Wednesday that Amazon will donate over 47,000 square feet of space in the downtown building for what will be called Mary’s Place Family Shelter.
  The shelter will have 65 rooms for more than 200 people each night.
  In April 2016, Amazon
  
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