Anchorage news

• House OKs revamp of VA appeals in bid to cut claims backlog

  23-05-2017 23:22
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) – The House has approved legislation to cut the time it takes for the Department of Veterans Affairs to handle appeals from veterans unhappy with their disability payouts. It’s an effort to reduce a claims backlog without adding billions in government costs.
  Currently, veterans could wait five years or more to resolve appeals.
  The bill would allow veterans to file “express” appeals if they waive their right to a hearing or the ability to submit new evidenc
  
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• Appeals panel sides with agency on Alaska timber project

  23-05-2017 23:18
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A divided federal appeals court panel has ruled that the U.S. Forest Service “chose jobs over wolves” in approving a logging project in southeast Alaska but was within its authority to do so.
  The decision is in response to lawsuits by conservation groups that challenged the Big Thorne project on Prince of Wales Island and cited concerns about the impact on the Alexander Archipelago wolf. It upholds a lower court ruling.
  The majority opinion from the 9th U.
  
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• Haines leaders grapple with police, economic development budget questions

  23-05-2017 23:01 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Haines, Alaska. (Bruce Barrett/Flickr Creative Commons)
  Should the Haines Borough have a five-officer police force? $95,000 in government funding? How should the borough go about giving money to nonprofits? These are some of the questions the assembly has to decide on next week, in the fiscal year 18 borough budget.http://khns.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/23BudgetwINTRO.mp3Interim Manager Brad Ryan’s proposed spending plan includes an about $117,000 boost to the police department, w
  
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• Newscast – Tuesday, May 23, 2017

  23-05-2017 22:48 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/05/2017-05-23-newscast.mp3In this newscast:
  The Juneau Assembly creates a homelessness task force, and
  the Alaska House of Representatives passes a bill aimed curbing prescription opioid abuse.
  
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• This social media site ranked worst for mental health

  23-05-2017 22:25
  
  Instagram is the most detrimental social media platform to young people’s mental health, according to new research out of the U.K.
  Researchers from the Royal Society for Public Health in conjunction with the Young Health Movement published the report entitled #StatusOfMind, which looks at the positive and negative effects of social media on young people’s health and well-being.
  Snapchat ranked the second worst for mental health of the sites reviewed in the report, followed by Fa
  
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• Alutiiq Museum to exhibit Old Harbor artist’s treasured piece

  23-05-2017 22:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository supports Alaska Native artists locally and statewide, and it just announced the acquisition of a couple of beaded art pieces, including a headdress from an artist in Old Harbor.
  http://kmxt.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Alutiiq-Art-Desroches-May-22.mp3Nacaq, a beaded headdress by Alutiiq artist Kayla Christiansen. (Photo courtesy the UA Museum of the North and the Sitka National Historic Park)
  “It’s kind of like my escape from what ot
  
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• Alaska judge expected to rule on recall effort

  23-05-2017 21:44
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A state court judge in Anchorage is expected to decide Tuesday whether to allow a recall election to proceed against three Homer City Council members who sponsored a resolution on inclusivity after President Donald Trump’s election.
  Superior Court Judge Erin Marston told attorneys following arguments in the case Monday that he planned to issue a ruling by the end of the day Tuesday.
  Homer City Council members Donna Aderhold, David Lewis and Catriona Reynolds hav
  
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• Progressives make voices heard at Sullivan town hall

  23-05-2017 21:37 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Red cards, signaling disagreement, often predominated at Sen. Dan Sullivan’s town hall May 20 in Anchorage. (Photo by Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
  U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan held a town hall meeting Saturday in Anchorage, one of only a few he’s held on the road system since the election of President Donald Trump.
  Hundreds packed into the Bartlett High School auditorium were frequently vocal.http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170522-01.mp3
  This was not the kind of crowd Sullivan was us
  
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• Alaska House calls for more stringent measures on vessels in Bering Sea

  23-05-2017 21:27 via ktoo.org
  
  Canadian Coast Guard ship Louis S. St-Laurent makes an approach to the Coast Guard cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean Sept. 2009. As Arctic marine traffic increases, several northwest Alaska communities have joined forces to establish a new waterway safety committee. (Photo by Patrick Kelley/U.S. Coast Guard)
  Vessel traffic in the Bering Sea is the focus of a new resolution that passed through the Alaska House of Representatives with a vote of 33-6 on May 16.
  One of the sponsors of House Joint Res
  
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• Widespread rain, wind in the forecast for southcentral Alaska

  23-05-2017 20:55
  
  After some sunshine to start the week, widespread rain is in the forecast for southcentral Alaska through midweek. A strong front will begin approaching the western Kenai Peninsula and Cook Inlet area late-Tuesday, spreading rain throughout the entire region by early-Wednesday.The rain will be heavy at times, bringing as much as one inch of rainfall. The heaviest rain will fall over the northern and eastern Matanuska and Susitna Valleys, east Anchorage, Hillside, and the Kenai Peninsula. Other a
  
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• State House passes bill banning wolf harvest in northeast Denali Park

  23-05-2017 20:30 via ktoo.org
  
  A Denali wolf. (NPS Photo/Tim Rains)
  The Alaska House has passed a bill last week banning wolf harvest on a section of state land bordering Denali National Park.
  House Bill 105 prohibits wolf hunting and trapping on the park’s northeastern edge, where a few Denali wolves are harvested each year.
  The Alaska Board of Game has refused to reinstate a no-wolf kill area, since scrapping a previous buffer zone in 2010.
  Bill sponsor Rep. Andy Josephson of Anchorage told lawmakers before
  
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• GOP pleased over Trump budget blueprint

  23-05-2017 17:02
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on President Donald Trump’s budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 (all times local):
  10:35 a.m.
  Top GOP leaders in Congress are praising President Donald Trump’s budget plan for promising a balanced federal ledger over time.
  The budget relies on faster economic growth and steep cuts to programs for the poor in a bid to balance the government’s books over the next decade.
  House Speaker Paul Ryan says he is pleased the budget projects a ba
  
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• Cougars make Bartlett feel at home with all-inclusive trip

  23-05-2017 07:58
  
  They may compete on the field, but in the end, they’re one team. It showed more than ever on senior night.
  At a recent game while honoring their own, the Service High School girls soccer team also graciously extended a warm welcome to their opponent, Bartlett.
  But this was nothing new and is four years in the making. Rewind those four years back to where it began– a conversation which sparked this unlikely arrangement.
  “One day, we were playing over at Bartlett,” said Ser
  
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• ‘Just get help’: Family of woman killed in boyfriend’s apparent suicide attempt speaks out

  23-05-2017 07:52
  
  It’s been 33 days since 22-year-old Brittany-Mae Haag’s family learned they’ll never see her again.
  “[Police said] that it was a shot from Victor Sibson, that he shot my daughter,” said Sheila Lopez, Haag’s mother.
  Lopez spent the majority of the month since her daughter died thinking Haag’s boyfriend of six years, 21-year-old Victor Sibson, killed her before attempting to take his own life.
  “I was hurt because Victor has been part o
  
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• House passes bill intended to curb opioid overdose deaths

  23-05-2017 07:52 via ktoo.org
  
  Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, D-Anchorage, speaks in support of House Bill 159, which is intended to reduce opioid overdose deaths. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/KTOO and Alaska Public Media)
  The House passed a bill Monday intended to reduce the number of deaths from overdoses of prescription opioids.
  House Bill 159 would cut the number of days’ supply of opioid pills in a single prescription. The vote in favor was 25-8.
  Anchorage Democratic Rep. Ivy Spohnholz said the bill builds on recommendati
  
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• APD investigating Government Hill shooting

  23-05-2017 07:30
  
  Anchorage Police say they’re investigating shooting in the Government Hill area.
  Late-Monday evening, officers were called to the parking lot of a Subway at Hollywood and Vine where they were seen taking photographs of a yellow vehicle. KTVA’s reporter on scene says blood could be seen in the parking lot near the vehicle. After it was towed away, firemen hosed down the blood in the parking lot.
  One person, a male who has not yet been identified, was taken from the scene to the hospi
  
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• Juneau Assembly forms task force on homelessness

  23-05-2017 07:15 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Facing criticism to its handling of the community’s growing homelessness population, the Juneau Assembly has formed a task force on homelessness.
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/05/170523HOMELESS.mp3Juneau has the third largest homeless population in the state – after Anchorage and Fairbanks.
  After fielding complaints from merchants, the Assembly banned sleeping overnight on private property in the downtown core. But many campers have since moved into downtown parks.
  &ldq
  
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• Hiland Mountain plant sale starts Tuesday

  23-05-2017 06:21
  
  The plant sale at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center is an event that some people wait all year for. Not just the people who come to buy beautiful hanging baskets but the inmates who grow them, as well.
  The sale has been going on for at least 20 years, according to Superintendent Gloria Johnson.
  Most of the work takes place months ahead of time in the greenhouse. Inmates start the plants from seed, tend them for many months and do everything it takes until they are ready for sale to the public.
  
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• Alaska House approves measure limiting opioid prescriptions

  23-05-2017 06:14
  
  On Monday, the Alaska House passed a bill to limit initial opioid prescriptions to a seven-day supply.
  House Bill 159 is part of a push from Governor Bill Walker’s administration to address the state’s growing opioid epidemic, which Walker declared a disaster in February.
  While members of the House spent nearly four hours debating the measure, it was relatively non-controversial in the medical community. In fact, several provider networks– like the Alaska State Hospital and Nur
  
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• Sullivan’s town hall highlights senators’ difference on Planned Parenthood funding

  23-05-2017 06:07
  
  Senator Dan Sullivan’s (R-Alaska) town hall in Anchorage over the weekend highlighted how he and fellow republican Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) differ on funding for Planned Parenthood.
  He discussed a variety of topics from fighting opioid abuse to diversifying our economy, but it was the topic of healthcare that really got the crowd engaged.
  “My question is simple: Are you willing and able to summon the courage and bravery from your Marine days to defy your party’s wishes
  
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• Record rainfall recorded across SE Alaska

  23-05-2017 03:18
  Significant rain fell across most of Southcentral and Southeast Alaska this weekend as a storm system moved in from the Gulf of Alaska.
  For Southcentral, this was the wettest day seen in months. Anchorage picked up 0.25 inches of rain on Sunday alone. This was the most rain recorded in Anchorage since late-September of 2016.
  Until this weekend, Anchorage had been slightly below average for rainfall. As of Monday morning, the rainfall totals kept at Ted Stevens International Airport show 0.59 inc
  
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• Search underway for 2 overdue boaters

  23-05-2017 03:13
  
  Late Monday morning, a search began for two overdue boaters in Togiak.
  The Togiak Village Public Safety Officer contacted Alaska State Police around 11:15 Monday morning to report two overdue boaters.
  Troopers say Simeon Wassillie and Stephanie Poulsen, both 25, left the village on Saturday in an 18-foot, blue, open hull, 35hp boat and were possibly heading towards Cape Peirce, south of the Osviak River, with 23 gallons of fuel on board.
  The VPSO says the weather over the last two days in the ar
  
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• APD seeks runaway teen, 15

  23-05-2017 02:58
  
  Celonia Rainey. (Credit: APD)
  Police are asking for your help in locating a missing teen they say ran away from home.
  Celonia Rainey, 15, was last seen in the 5200 block of Chena Avenue in east Anchorage Sunday afternoon around 1.
  Celoina is described as a light-skinned black female, standing 5-foot-7 and weighing about 165 pounds. She has short black hair and brown eyes. Anchorage Police say she normally wears her hair in a ponytail but has been known to wear long hair extensions.
  APD says ther
  
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• ASD to hand out 220 pink slips on Wednesday

  23-05-2017 02:35
  
  It’s the final countdown for Anchorage students, as there are just two days left until summer break. But, this year, it’s not just graduates who won’t be returning to their old classrooms this fall.
  More than 200 pink slips are all set to go out on Wednesday. This comes after five were already given to five tenured teachers earlier this month.
  With state funding up in the air, the Anchorage School District is preparing to layoff teachers.
  The school board president says no
  
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• Manchester Concert Bombing: What We Know Tuesday

  23-05-2017 02:17 via ktoo.org
  
  Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET
  A bombing at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, has killed 22 people and injured 59 more, police say. Monday night’s concert had drawn thousands of children and young people — many of whom were trying to leave when the blast hit. The bomber died at Manchester Arena, police say.
  Greater Manchester Police have identified Salman Abedi, 22, as the suspected suicide bomber. Earlier on Tuesday, police said they were trying to learn whether
  
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• British police confirm deaths after reported explosion at Manchester Arena concert

  23-05-2017 02:17 via ktoo.org
  
  Police in Manchester, England, confirm a number of fatalities at Manchester Arena following a concert by Ariana Grande.
  The BBC reports witnesses heard an explosion, which was followed by a chaotic scene with audience members running for the exits.
  Reuters reports that emergency services are responding to the reports of “a serious incident.” Greater Manchester Police are advising people to “avoid the area.”
  A spokesman for the pop singer said that she was “OK,&rdquo
  
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• North Korea fires medium-range missile in latest test

  23-05-2017 01:57
  
  SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Sunday fired a medium-range missile, U.S. and South Korean officials said, in the latest ballistics test for a country speeding up its development of nuclear weapons and missiles.
  One U.S. official said it appeared to be a successful test of the land-based version of North Korea’s sub-launched missile, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports.
  The solid-fuel missile that was launched was the second successful test of a missile
  
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• Anchorage rally urges lawmakers to preserve state education funding

  23-05-2017 01:51 via ktoo.org
  
  More than 100 people gathered in Anchorage’s Cuddy Midtown Park on Saturday, May 20, 2017 to urge lawmakers to preserve education funding. (Photo by Josh Edge/Alaska Public Media)
  More than 100 people, many clad in rain jackets, braved a cool, overcast Saturday morning and gathered in midtown Anchorage’s Cuddy Midtown Park, urging lawmakers to support public education funding.
  The Senate is proposing a $65 million cut to education, while the House wants a slight increase.
  The crowd l
  
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• Officials criticize family for ‘reckless behavior’ after sea lion grabs girl

  23-05-2017 01:39
  
  Officials have criticized the family of a young girl after a viral video showed a sea lion pulling her into the water from a dock in Richmond, British Columbia.
  Robert Kiesman, chair of the Steveston Harbour Authority, told Canada’s CBC News that there are several signs warning tourists not to feed wild sea mammals.
  “You wouldn’t go up to a grizzly bear in the bush and hand him a ham sandwich, so you shouldn’t be handing a thousand-pound wild mammal in the water slices of
  
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• AK officials who promoted inclusivity seek to bar recall effort

  23-05-2017 01:23
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Three leaders of an Alaska fishing community who sponsored a resolution to promote inclusivity after President Donald Trump’s election have asked a judge to block efforts to recall them.
  During a court hearing in Anchorage on Monday, Eric Glatt, an attorney for the three Homer City Council members, told Superior Court Judge Erin Marston there are insufficient grounds for recall.
  Eric Sanders, who is representing the city of Homer, said there is nothing in state
  
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• Preparing for larger ships, Skagway Assembly looks to re-open negotiations with White Pass

  23-05-2017 01:04 via ktoo.org
  
  The Skagway ore dock. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
  The Skagway Assembly wants to re-open negotiations with the company that controls much of its waterfront in an effort to move along stalled port renovations.
  In 2015, voters rejected a tidelands lease with White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, putting port improvements in limbo. The lease is up in 2023.
  But a cruise industry group says changes need to be made in the next few years.
  The Cruise Lines International Association, also known as CLIA, se
  
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• UK police: 19 confirmed dead after terror incident at Ariana Grande concert

  23-05-2017 01:02
  
  Police say 19 people are confirmed dead and around 50 others are injured following reports of an explosion Monday night at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England.
  Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Ian Hopkins held a late press conference and said that they are currently treating the explosion at Manchester Arena as a “terrorist incident” until they have further information.“This is a very concerning time for everyone,” Hopkins said. He also said that
  
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• Man dies in botulism outbreak from nacho-cheese

  23-05-2017 00:55
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California authorities say one man is dead in an apparent botulism outbreak stemming from nacho-cheese dip sold at a gas station.
  Health officials on Monday confirmed one death among what the state says is 10 people sickened by the cheese dip.
  Authorities did not identify the dead man.
  California health officials say the illnesses appear caused by botulism carried in nacho-cheese dip sold at a gas station in the Sacramento suburb of Walnut Grove.
  Authorities said
  
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• 6-year-old’s plea to end violence goes viral

  23-05-2017 00:52
  
  ST. LOUIS (AP) – A 6-year-old St. Louis boy’s plea for an end to violence has been viewed by tens of thousands of people.
  Jeffrey Laney’s mother posted the video on her Facebook page last week. It shows Jeffrey pleading for the safety of himself and his family, saying, “I don’t want nothing to happen to all my family, and I’m really serious because I’m really scared to die and I’m really scared for my family to die.”Nearly 100,000 people had
  
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• Hilcorp will assess Cook Inlet gas line after ‘permanent’ fix

  23-05-2017 00:47 via ktoo.org
  
  Hilcorp’s Anna Platform in Upper Cook Inlet, where workers felt an impact before observing oil sheens on April 1. (Photo courtesy Cook Inletkeeper)
  Hilcorp operation managers were in Kenai to speak Friday at an Alliance luncheon.
  Cook Inlet Offshore Operations Manager Stan Golis updated the pro-oil industry group on recent oil and gas leaks.
  Repairs to a gas pipeline that supplies heat and power to two oil platforms should be complete, Golis said. That leak was initially stopped in April,
  
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