Anchorage news

• Spenard Jazz Fest welcomes visiting artist, Lenny Pickett

  02-06-2017 23:35
  
  The 10th annual Spenard Jazz Fest is underway, but anyone involved with the event will tell you there’s more to it than just jazz music.
  “I don’t personally think we should compartmentalize music,” said Yngvil Vatn Guttu, the director of Spenard Jazz Fest. “I like to collaborate with people across genres. The Spenard Jazz Fest does have sci-fi, rock we have Super Saturated Sugar Strings and we have world music. We have different ethnicities and we have, of course, a
  
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• Snow leopard, musk ox, bear cub among new additions at Alaska Zoo

  02-06-2017 22:50
  
  The Alaska Zoo is gearing up for a wild summer, which includes the arrival of three new animals.
  Malala the snow leopard, a new baby musk ox and a baby black bear cub are now living in their respective habitats on zoo grounds.
  You can find the bear cub, which was discovered orphaned near Valdez, next to the river otters.
  The baby musk ox was born into the zoo family on May 13, from resident female musk ox Maya. She is already stretching her legs alongside mom with youthful curiosity, accord
  
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• Juneau airport proposes fee for Uber, Lyft rides

  02-06-2017 22:43 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/06/170602_Airport_rideshare1.mp3Juneau International Airport is preparing for the arrival of app-based ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft.
  Rick Warren, drives for multiple companies, including Sidecar and Lyft. (Photo by Alan Toth/KQED)
  The state legislature passed legislation to allow rideshare companies to enter the Alaska market. The governor’s expected to sign it.
  This week the airport’s board approved a draft fee schedule that w
  
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• Gov. Walker plans to step in amid budget stalemate

  02-06-2017 22:43
  
  11:15 a.m.
  Alaska Gov. Bill Walker says legislative negotiations on a budget fix are at a stalemate and he plans to step in.
  In a statement Friday, Walker says his administration has begun work on what he calls a compromise package that he plans to share with lawmakers next week.
  Walker spokesman Jonathon Taylor said he did not know what the final package might look like.
  Walker says there’s no reason that lawmakers cannot finish their work within the current special session, which is sche
  
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• Newscast – Friday, June 2, 2017

  02-06-2017 22:41 via ktoo.org
  
  
  In this newscast:
  Juneau’s airport preps for Uber and Lyft;
  Gov. Walker says he’s working on a compromise deal on budget impasse as
  State workers warned of possible layoffs, government shutdown.
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/06/170602_middaynewscast.mp3
  
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• Putin calls the recent U.S. anti-ballistic missile exercises a threat to Russia

  02-06-2017 21:19 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the United Nations’ General Assembly, Sept. 28, 2015. (Creative Commons photo by Cia Pak/UN Photo)
  A successful test of U.S. anti-ballistic missile capabilities this week prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to call the missile defense system’s components in South Korea and Alaska a threat to his nation.
  http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170601-05.mp3The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system currently features four mi
  
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• Mic Check in the Morning: SISTERS

  02-06-2017 21:13
  
  The feel good band, SISTERS, is back in Alaska for a hometown tour. Former Homer resident and lead singer, Andrew Vait, is back with Emily Westman to perform for an Anchorage audience.
  The lifelong musicians met in college while attending University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Years later, the two crossed paths in Seattle and started the band SISTERS. According to their website, their EP was released in 2014 followed by their album, ‘Drink Champagne’.
  SISTERS perform
  
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• Employees protest ‘unsafe’ working conditions at Anchorage Hilton

  02-06-2017 21:02
  
  A years-long labor dispute between workers and a popular Downtown Anchorage hotel continues.
  Thursday, dozens of Anchorage residents gathered outside the Hilton Hotel at the corner of 4th Avenue and E Street to protest, what they call, unsafe conditions for employees and guests.
  The hotel is owned by Columbia Sussex, a company based in Kentucky. After they took over, they did not renew a union contract with employees, who say conditions have only deteriorated since then.
  “The Hilton for ye
  
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• Haines Assembly finalizes manager hire, Schnabel will start June 5

  02-06-2017 20:48 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Debra Schnabel interviews with the Haines Borough Assembly in April 2017. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
  Haines has a new borough manager.
  At a meeting Thursday, the Haines Borough Assembly voted unanimously to approve Debra Schnabel’s employment contract.
  But, it wasn’t without some challenges.
  http://khns.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/01ManagerwINTRO.mp3In April, the Assembly voted to hire Schnabel over interim manager Brad Ryan.
  Now, they have approved her contract and she’s s
  
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• Trump asks Supreme Court to reinstate travel ban on 6 majority-Muslim nations

  02-06-2017 20:25 via ktoo.org
  
  Updated at 7:30 a.m. ET
  President Donald Trump’s administration filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday night seeking to reverse rulings by lower courts in Hawaii and Maryland that blocked a temporary ban on travel to the United States from six majority-Muslim countries.
  The Trump administration says the Constitution gives the president “broad authority to prevent aliens abroad from entering this country when he deems it in the nation’s interest.”
  Federal
  
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• Goldbelt shareholder raises ethics issue, agitates for new board members

  02-06-2017 20:07 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Goldbelt Inc. is holding its annual shareholder meeting and an election for three members of its governing board on Saturday in Juneau.
  One disqualified candidate and shareholder with the Alaska Native corporation has been vocally agitating for a change in leadership.
  He claims the company of 3,600 shareholders has performed poorly and that incumbents up for re-election violated conflict of interest bylaws.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/06/02GOLDBELT.mp3Goldbelt’s latest annua
  
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• Juneau researcher helps discover new species of flying squirrel

  02-06-2017 18:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Humboldt’s flying squirrel in Mendocino County, Calif. (Photo courtesy of Nick Kerhoulas, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Alaska Fairbanks)
  Researchers say they’ve found a new species of flying squirrel, and a Juneau biologist’s data from almost two decades ago played a key role in the discovery.
  Allison Bidlack first studied the Prince of Wales Island flying squirrel population while working on her master’s degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
  Flying squirr
  
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• Alaska events change focus as sky lantern ban begins

  02-06-2017 17:18
  
  (Jirka Matousek / Flickr Creative Commons)
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Releasing Chinese lanterns will no longer be an option for Alaska residents to celebrate their cause of choosing.
  The Juneau Empire reports a statewide ban on the sky lanterns went into effect May 19.
  Organizers of events such as “Shedding Light,” which was centered on releasing the lanterns to support foster and adoption children, are now brainstorming other ways to keep their tradition moving forward.
  The
  
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• Red Carpet Concert: Goldwing

  02-06-2017 16:01 via ktoo.org
  
  For our next Red Carpet Concert from the 2017 Alaska Folk Festival, we present Goldwing. Performing their song “Buffalo Coat,” Juneau songwriter Dan Kirkwood is flanked by Ben Higdon on pedal steel and Dan DeSloover on bass. They usually play with drummer Clae Good, though the band became a trio to fit into the tiny hotel room.This video was made in collaboration with Justin Smith of Rusty Recordings in Gustavus. Watch other Red Carpet Concerts from the 43rd
  
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• Researchers scout Dillingham area for Aleutian tern nesting sites

  02-06-2017 16:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Fish and Game wildlife biologist Kelly Nesvacil sets a bow net, aiming to trap an Aleutian tern in Dillingham to try a new strategy for a more accurate count of terns. (Photo by Avery Lill/KDLG)
  With the help of some modern trapping and tracking technology and some shoe-leather sleuthing, researchers are aiming to find out how many Aleutian terns there really are in Alaska and where they are making their summer homes.
  The hope is that with better data better decisions can be made about how to ma
  
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• Mount Juneau ‘billboard’ was used for bouncing microwave signals

  02-06-2017 16:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The AT&T Alascom microwave reflector is located at an elevation of 3,012 feet on Mount Juneau. (Photo illustration by Matt Miller/KTOO)
  In this edition of Curious Juneau, we answer a question about one of the Capital City’s most imposing landmarks: Mount Juneau.
  Listener Chris Murray writes, “What in the world is that billboard looking structure on top of Mt. Juneau that can be seen from all over downtown and Douglas?”
  A telephoto view of the AT&T Alascom microwave refl
  
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• Alaska marks marijuana milestone

  02-06-2017 07:54
  
  The Department of Revenue says Alaska is about to reach a major milestone: more than $1 million collected in marijuana revenue.
  In April, the state’s tax division reports that 29 growers paid just over $270,000. That’s way up from the month before.
  And the preliminary numbers for May indicate another big jump.
  Under state law, marijuana cultivators pay the state’s tax, which is $50 per ounce for bud and $15 per ounce for all other parts of the plant.The post Alaska marks mariju
  
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• Petition seeks to change anti-discrimination ordinance

  02-06-2017 07:51
  
  The equal right’s fight in Anchorage is heating up this summer; there’s a petition going around right now to change the muni’s anti-discrimination ordinance.
  But, there another of activists urging voters to “decline to sign”.
  The group “Fair Anchorage” is asking people to pledge not to put their signature on what they call an “anti-transgender” petition that’s being circulated by the sponsors of the “Protect Our Privacy” ini
  
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• Curry, Durant power Warriors past Cavs in Game 1, 113-91

  02-06-2017 07:39
  
  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Kevin Durant drove through the lane untouched for dazzling dunks. He dished off even when he could have slammed it home, and did it all on defense.
  Oh, he hit from long range, too.
  What a dominant NBA Finals opener with the Warriors.
  Durant finished with 38 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to lead Golden State past LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-91 on Thursday night in Game 1.
  As this highly anticipated rematch tipped off at
  
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• Here’s what’s going on in Southcentral Alaska this weekend

  02-06-2017 07:26
  
  Paper Flight
  When: Friday, June 2, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
  Location: Mountain View Library
  Price: Free
  Learn about flight science with paper planes
  Family event
  Friday Family Movie
  When: Friday, June 2, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  Location: Chugiak-Eagle River Library
  Price: Free
  Wildflower Garden Club Plant Sale
  When: Saturday, June 3, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
  Location: Anchorage
  7435 Old Harbor RoadPlants are locally grown
  Kids Fishing Day
  When: Saturday, June 3, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
  Locat
  
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• Sitka advances in state baseball

  02-06-2017 07:25
  
  Eric Coonradt struck out eight to lead Sitka to 4-3 win over the Service Cougars in day one of the ASAA Baseball Championship at Mulcahy Stadium.
  Emmitt Anderson’s run-scoring single in the third proved to be the difference. Ronan Klancher drove in two for the Cougars who finished the season at 7-4.
  Sitka will face Wasilla which shut down West Valley.
  On the other side of the bracket, Lathrop and South advanced and will also meet on Friday.
  The post Sitka advances in state baseball appeare
  
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• Reality Check w/ John Tracy: Motorists or cyclists? Who’s King of the Road?

  02-06-2017 07:22
  
  On this week’s Reality Check, John Tracy educates John Tracy on how each of them can best share the road.
  The post Reality Check w/ John Tracy: Motorists or cyclists? Who’s King of the Road? appeared first on KTVA 11.
  
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• Panhandlers increasing? Anchorage count could provide clues

  02-06-2017 07:21
  
  It’s a problem some say is getting worse — the number of panhandlers on Anchorage streets. At some times of day, it can seem like there’s someone with a sign at every corner, but, it’s difficult to know exactly how many panhandlers are regulars in Anchorage because, up till now, there’s never been a count.
  On Thursday, a group with the campaign called, “Anchorage Cares,” hit the streets with a goal of counting panhandlers. Moira Sullivan, with the Anchor
  
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• Alaska Grown Challenge aims to get more people eating local

  02-06-2017 07:15
  
  For nearly 50 years, Ben VanderWeele’s family has been feeding Alaskans.
  “I just like growing stuff,” he said. “I like working outdoors and I like working with plants. It’s my life, it’s what I do.”
  VanderWeele is a tenth-generation farmer, now growing potatoes, carrots and other produce on his 400-acre farm in Palmer.
  He’s seen the difference the Division of Agriculture’s Alaska Grown program has made since it launched 30 years ago.
  &ld
  
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• National Guard delivers life-saving drug to rural Alaska

  02-06-2017 07:13
  
  The Alaska National Guard usually responds to natural disasters, but, Wednesday they responded to a different kind of crisis.
  Guardsmen flew to Galena, a small town on the Yukon River. They distributed Narcan kits, showed residents how to use them and discussed the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.
  “Galena doesn’t have a lot of opioids out here right now, but, there’s always that potential in the future, that risk, and we want to bring out education and bring out prevention an
  
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• 18K state workers mailed layoff warning

  02-06-2017 07:12
  
  Thousands of layoff warnings are on their way to mailboxes around the state, notifying state employees not to come to work if lawmakers don’t pass a budget by July 1.
  There’s still a lot of uncertainty about what a shutdown would mean for the services Alaskans depend on. The state is still trying to draft contingency plans to figure out which programs could continue running. On Thursday, state employees were left wondering what happens to their work — if the state reaches
  
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• Engineers work to figure out how to repair iconic Calif. highway

  02-06-2017 03:29
  
  (Credit: CBS News)
  BIG SUR, Calif. — The dramatic stretch of California coast known as Big Sur is particularly scenic from the air — and right now, almost the only way to get there is by air, reports CBS News’ John Blackstone. The single road into Big Sur’s coast-hugging Highway 1 is blocked to the north by a collapsed bridge and to the south an enormous landslide.
  Building Highway 1 was a remarkable feat of 20th-century engineering. Now, 21st-century engineers are trying
  
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• Hate on display in new string of high-profile crimes

  02-06-2017 03:21
  
  LeBron James is now playing in the NBA finals, but basketball isn’t the only thing on his mind during a week in which hate has been on display in places like Washington, Portland and Los Angeles.
  “Racism will always be a part of the world, a part of America,” James said.
  When LeBron James speaks, the world listens. At an NBA championship press conference, James responded to his L.A. home getting spray-painted with the”N-word.”
  “No matter how much money you ha
  
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• Clinton says she worries Trump may be doing “lasting damage” to nation’s institutions

  02-06-2017 03:12
  
  The former Democratic presidential nominee lashed out at the Republican president as she reflected on the 2016 campaign during an appearance at book industry conference in New York City.
  Clinton said Trump encouraged his supporters to express their anger verbally and physically during the campaign, a reference to multiple incidents of violence at Mr. Trump’s rallies. She likened the president’s strategy to that of leaders in Bosnia and Rwanda who enflamed cultural tensions to win po
  
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• Will exiting Paris accord be good for U.S. jobs?

  02-06-2017 03:06
  
  President Donald Trump’s move to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord will, critics of the global treaty say, spur job growth and lower Americans’ energy costs. Are they right?
  Most experts think not. Indeed, shifting to a clean-energy economy has greater potential to boost employment, economists say. In a sign of how far along the U.S. is in that transformation, more than twice as many people were employed in the solar sector last year than in coal mining, according to t
  
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• As lawmakers mull budget, unprecedented state shutdown looms

  02-06-2017 03:01 via ktoo.org
  
   
  Fixed Income Portfolio Manager Maria Skuratovskaya studies her screens at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., on March 14, 2016, in Juneau.  Employees who manage the fund were among the 18,000 who got layoff notices on Thursday. If lawmakers don’t come to an agreement on the budget within the next 30-days, the government will shut down. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  For the third straight year, state employees are being warned about a looming government shutdown and the potential
  
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• Murkowski talks climate change, health care during Juneau visit

  02-06-2017 02:45 via ktoo.org
  
  U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks with reporters following her annual address to the Alaska Legislature on Feb. 22, 2017. Murkowski is skeptical President Donald Trump can negotiate a better climate deal after pulling the U.S. out of the Paris accord, she said during a visit to Juneau on Thursday. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she’s skeptical President Donald Trump will be able to negotiate a better deal after pulling the U.S. out of t
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 6-2-17

  02-06-2017 02:30 via ktoo.org
  
   
  Friday at 3 on a Juneau Afternoon;
  We’ll talk with musician LaTroy Burras;
  We’ll learn about Salmon Beyond Borders;
  Pastor Tari will be here with details about this weekend’s Bike Rodeo.
  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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• Crews battling 350-acre wildfire near Tok

  02-06-2017 02:30
  
  (Credit: Alaska Division of Forestry)
  The Alaska Division of Forestry is fighting a 350-acre wildfire west of Tok.
  The North Robertson Fire, which was reported around 10:20 Thursday morning, is about 30 miles northwest of Tok, about two miles west of the Alaska Highway near milepost 1352, and about two miles north of the Robertson River.
  Aircrafts are making retardant and water drops on the eastern side in an effort from keeping it from approaching the highway.
  About 100 firefighting p
  
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• Lesbian challenges court ruling that she’s not legal parent

  02-06-2017 01:58
  
  JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A lesbian is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to recognize her as a legal parent of a child born during her marriage to a woman.
  Chris Strickland filed an appeal Thursday, arguing a lower court was wrong to rule in her 2016 divorce that only her ex-wife is a legal parent to the child.
  Strickland’s ex-wife, now named Kimberly Day, gave birth to a son who was conceived with an anonymous sperm donor.
  Strickland and Day chose to have the child while they were m
  
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• Juneau could cut funding for public libraries

  02-06-2017 01:35
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The city of Juneau is considering less funding for its public library’s youth and outreach programs in its next fiscal year to balance the city’s budget.
  The Juneau Empire reported Wednesday that there are two proposals that could cut funding by as much as $146,000.
  Juneau Public Library Director Robert Barr says the youth and outreach programs served about 16,000 people in 2016. Youth functions include early literacy programs, family nights and clas
  
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• Murkowski: US has obligation to help address climate change

  02-06-2017 01:11
  
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A prominent Republican moderate in the U.S. Senate says the country has an obligation to help address climate change, whether it is part of the international Paris climate agreement or not.
  U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska made her comments to reporters in Juneau on Thursday, shortly after President Donald Trump announced that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the climate accord.
  In light of Trump’s decision, Murkowski says she hopes the U.S. does not fall back
  
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• Alaska Senate passes opioid addiction prevention bill by wide margin

  02-06-2017 00:59 via ktoo.org
  
  Alaska state Sen. Anna MacKinnon, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, seen here in April, voted for HB 159, a bill that would limit opioid prescriptions from health providers in the state. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  The state Senate overwhelmingly voted Thursday to pass a bill which would limit opioid prescriptions from health providers in the state as well as require training on opioid abuse for medical practitioners.
  House Bill 159 passed with 17-1 vote.
  Eagle River Republican Anna M
  
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• Crude oil begins to flow through controversial Dakota Access Pipeline

  02-06-2017 00:16 via ktoo.org
  
  The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline progresses Story and Polk counties in central Iowa on Sept. 13, 2016. (Creative Commons photo by Carl Wycoff)
  Crude oil is now flowing through the Dakota Access Pipeline, despite months of protests against it by Native American tribes and environmental groups.
  The pipeline spans more than a thousand miles from North Dakota to Illinois, and cost some $3.8 billion to construct. It is expected to transport approximately 520,000 barrels of oil daily.
  “C
  
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