Anchorage news

• Man charged in broken bottle stabbing

  14-06-2017 23:39
  
  Police say on June 3 they responded to a call from a passerby who said they say two males in a physical fight in a parking lot at 5701 Lake Otis Parkway. When officers arrived they found 25-year-old Byron Anungazuk-Ongtowasruk sitting next to a male lying in a pool of blood.
  Byron was taken into custody without incident. The victim was taken to a local hospital with multiple stab wounds to the torso and is expected to survive, police said.
  According to investigators, the men got into a verbal al
  
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• 3 wounded in bear attack in Eagle River

  14-06-2017 23:32
  
  Anchorage Police say three people were injured after being attacked by a grizzly bear while hiking on Wednesday.
  Just after noon, emergency personnel was called to the Eagle River campground on reports of several people injured in a bear attack.
  APD says four juveniles were hiking when they came across a grizzly bear with two cubs.
  A dozen officers responded, and it took about 30 minutes for crews to locate all of the hikers.
  The three injured hikers were taken to the hospital with non-life-thre
  
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• Propeller problems postpone ferry Columbia’s return

  14-06-2017 22:25 via ktoo.org
  
  The state ferry Columbia was schedule to go back online June 28, but propeller repairs may delay its return to service. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
  The largest vessel in the Alaska Marine Highway fleet will be late to return to service this summer.
  The 418-foot ferry Columbia was due to return to service June 28 with service from Bellingham, Washington, to communities in Southeast Alaska.
  The vessel has been in a Portland, Oregon, shipyard undergoing repairs to a propelle
  
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• Feds’ cannabis enforcement policy ‘confusing,’ Murkowski says

  14-06-2017 21:49 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Marijuana plants grow at Rainforest Farms’ facility in Juneau in this 2016 photo. (Photo courtesy Rainforest Farms)
  Whether the Trump administration will enforce the federal ban on marijuana in Alaska remains ambiguous.
  U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski asked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about cannabis policy at a hearing Tuesday. Rosenstein at times took a hard line.http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170613-05.mp3“We follow the law and the science. And from a legal and scie
  
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• Homer recall vote unsettled as 850 votes unaccounted for

  14-06-2017 21:16
  
  Homer City Council – Tom Stroozas, David Lewis, Mayor Bryan Zak, Heath Smith, Shelly Erickson, Donna Aderhold and Catriona Reynolds.
  Three Homer City Council members in a recall election have retained their seats– for now– as hundreds of votes have yet to be counted.
  Catriona Reynolds, David Lewis and Donna Aderhold sponsored a resolution that promoted inclusivity after President Donald Trump was elected. The resolution stated its opposition to actions targeting specific m
  
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• Newscast – Wednesday June 14, 2017

  14-06-2017 20:45 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/06/noon071417newscast.mp3In this newscast:
  Searchers find bodies of missing Unalakleet fisherman,
  a man who is at large robs the Liquor Barrel with pepper spray,
  alleged airport shooter due in court on earlier Anchorage case, and
  the Coast Guard offers public tours of its new cutter.
  
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• No hearing for Senate health bill, and Murkowski says no sighting either

  14-06-2017 20:01 via ktoo.org
  
  
  U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski isn’t not happy with the fast-track process the Senate Majority leader is using to bring a health care bill to the floor without any hearings, she said.http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170613-01.mp3Murkowski, a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, would have a chance to work on the bill if it were going through the normal committee process.
  But it isn’t.
  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has invoked what’s called
  
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• Absentee ballots will decide Homer recall election

  14-06-2017 19:23 via ktoo.org
  
  Voters line up at the polls to cast their decision in the recall election of three Homer City Council members. The unofficial results are too close to call until the vote can be certified Friday. (Photo by Aaron Bolton/KBBI)
  The unofficial results are out for the recall election of three Homer City Council members, but it’s too close to call until the vote is certified Friday afternoon.
  The roughly 1,070 voters who showed up at the polls Tuesday voted in favor of keeping council members Do
  
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• After deadly high-rise inferno, London searches for survivors — and answers

  14-06-2017 18:52 via ktoo.org
  
  PM @theresa_may “deeply saddened” by loss of life in #GrenfellTower fire & being “constantly updated” on situation https://t.co/XlnmwPYYjP pic.twitter.com/HSSiwHMSMo
  — BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 14, 2017Updated at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday.Fire and rescue crews are fighting a blaze and searching for people who may have been trapped in a 24-story apartment building in London that was engulfed in fire overnight. At least six people have died from the fir
  
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• Suspect dies after shooting at GOP baseball practice in Virginia

  14-06-2017 18:41 via ktoo.org
  
  Updated at 12:27 p.m. ET
  A gunman opened fire during an early morning baseball practice for Republican members of Congress on Wednesday, reportedly firing dozens of shots at a field in Alexandria, Va. At least five people were wounded, including Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana.
  The shooting suspect has been identified as James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., two federal law enforcement sources confirm to NPR’s Carrie Johnson. In an address from the White House, President Trump
  
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• Ask a Climatologist: Alaska’s hottest temp ever matches Hawaii’s

  14-06-2017 18:27 via ktoo.org
  
  Graphic courtesy of Brian Brettschneider
  Fairbanks hit 90 degrees last week for the first time in four years. The heat was very localized to the Tanana and Yukon river valleys.
  We asked Brian Brettschneider, with our Ask a Climatologist segment, which areas of Alaska usually see the hottest temperatures in the summer.
  He says the warmest temperatures are almost always found in the Interior.
  Interview Transcript:
  Brian: Somewhere from about Tanana and then eastward to the Canadian border around E
  
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• Fairbanks inmate dies in custody

  14-06-2017 17:45
  
  The Alaska Department of Corrections said Wednesday that an inmate has died while in their custody.
  Inmate Arlo Olson, 40, was pronounced dead Tuesday night at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital after being found unresponsive in his cell by a correctional officer at Fairbanks Correctional Center.
  The DOC says Olson’s death appears to be suicide.
  Olson was incarcerated on charges related to kidnapping, assault and burglary. He’s been in DOC custody since last Wednesday.
  The post Fairbanks in
  
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• Suspect in congressional baseball practice shooting ID’d

  14-06-2017 17:35
  
  Law enforcement officials have identified the suspect in the early Wednesday shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise as James T. Hodgkinson.
  Hodgkinson, 66, owns a home inspection business in Belleville, Illinois. Law enforcement officials say he opened fire at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday. Hodgkinson allegedly shot Scalise and four others, including two Capitol Police officers, before being shot himself and taken into custody.
  Officials say Hodgkinson was carr
  
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• Bob Walp, late cofounder of GCI, honored at event

  14-06-2017 17:13
  
  An Alaska telecommunications pioneer was remembered Tuesday.
  Bob Walp died this year at the age of 89.
  Walp cofounded GCI with Ron Duncan in 1979. At the time, there was only one long distance phone company in Alaska.
  Duncan, the company’s current CEO, told the gathering that Walp was a believer in competition. This ultimately revolutionized telecommunications in the state, especially in rural Alaska.
  ”As long as the telecom is in all those villages, as long as we keep driving the li
  
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• Murkowski seeks clarification on federal marijuana regulation

  14-06-2017 17:11
  
  Where are we heading with marijuana? That’s the question Senator Lisa Murkowski asked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Tuesday.
  Alaska is one of eight states where recreational marijuana is legal, but cannabis is still illegal under federal law.
  Senator Murkowski says people in the 49th state are worried about the inconsistency. According to her office, protocol suggests deference to state law. However, the DOJ has avoided giving marijuana businesses access to banking and other servi
  
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• Katmai bans tripods for bear viewers

  14-06-2017 17:10
  
  If you’re headed to Brooks Falls for bear viewing this summer, check to see if you can use a tripod.
  Katmai National Park announced it’s banning the use of all tripods and “rail-mounted” fixtures from June 15 to August 15.
  Park staff say the demand for viewing space led to the decision.
  During the peak of the salmon run, dozens of bears can be seen from the platform, and park staff says they made the decision because of the increased number of visitors and demand for view
  
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• Assembly tables vote on prostitution prosecution immunity

  14-06-2017 16:47
  
  A lengthy discussion at Tuesday night’s Anchorage Assembly meeting ended with a vote to postpone action on an ordinance that would provide prosecution immunity to people engaging in prostitution who report serious crimes to law enforcement.
  The measure would mirror recent changes to state law through SB 91, Alaska’s crime reform law, which now provides immunity to prostitutes seeking to report a violent or heinous crime.
  “I’ve worked off and on for 10 years in Alaska&rsqu
  
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• Whales come within feet of kayaker

  14-06-2017 16:27
  
  Chuck Freedman and his dog Paris love to kayak on the waters of Southcentral Alaska.
  On Monday, they were enjoying Resurrection Bay, out of Seward. Chuck captured the paddling adventure on camera as Paris acknowledged each whale spout in the distance.
  As time went on, the whales got closer and closer.
  “All of a sudden I start seeing the birds fly over and I saw the bubbling and it’s like oh no, here it comes,” said Chuck Freedman.
  Before they knew it, they were in the midd
  
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• Top House GOP leader shot at congressional baseball practice

  14-06-2017 16:17
  
  A victim is transported at the scene of a shooting in Alexandria, Va. on June 14, 2017. (Credit: CBS)
  WASHINGTON — A top House Republican, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, was shot by a rifle-wielding gunman Wednesday at a congressional baseball practice just outside of Washington. At least four other people were also shot, CBS News has learned.
  An initial police report lists the gunman’s weapon as an M-4 assault rifle, CBS News has learned.
  Capitol Police said officers who were part of S
  
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• Coast Guard to offer public tours of new cutter Thursday and Friday

  14-06-2017 15:59 via ktoo.org
  
  The Coast Guard Cutter Bailey Barco pulls into its homeport of Ketchikan on May 12, 2017. The vessel and its crew completed a journey of 7,130 miles to reach Alaska from Key West, Florida. (Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard)
  The Coast Guard is offering public tours in Juneau of its new cutter Bailey Barco on Thursday and Friday.
  The 154-foot fast-response cutter is the second of six Sentinel-class cutters that will homeport in Alaska, and the 17th District’s second fast-response cutter. It&r
  
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• Are Hoonah schools the canary in the coal mine for cuts in rural Alaska?

  14-06-2017 07:02 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Hoonah City Schools kids show off frogs they colored in January 2017. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/06/11Hoonah.mp3In the state Capitol building, legislators are in a stalemate arguing over two spending bills, while almost 40 miles to the west PJ Ford Slack is hammering out a final report to the local school board.
  Hoonah City Schools Superintendent PJ Ford Slack finishes a school board report on Friday, June 9, 2017. Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)
  
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• Former lawmakers work to block PFD cut

  14-06-2017 05:42 via ktoo.org
  
  Former Sen. Clem Tillion, an Alaska state legislator from 1963 to 1980 and Senate President in 1979 and 1980, shared a moment last year with eighth grade students from Juneau’s Dzantik’i Heeni middle school. Tillion opposes changes to the Permanent Fund. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  While the Legislature considers making changes to how Alaska Permanent Fund earnings are spent, former lawmakers Clem Tillion and Rick Halford are working to block a reduction to Permanent Fund dividend
  
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• Mountain View reacts to proposed rates for bear-resistant garbage cans

  14-06-2017 05:39
  
  Solid Waste Services says a pilot program they launched two years ago in Government Hill, in response to a family of bears rummaging through garbage cans in the neighborhood, is working.
  They deployed bear-resistant garbage cans – bins with a lock on it to keep the bears out.
  “We wanted to be proactive and get ahead of that and have a positive interaction with communities,” Birgitta Kyttle, customer services manager with Solid Waste Services said.
  Kyttle said right now, there a
  
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• Recreational boating deaths spiked in 2016 in Alaska, Coast Guard reports

  14-06-2017 05:36 via ktoo.org
  
  Members of the Coast Guard and residents of Seward wear life jackets for the “Ready, Set, Wear It!” Life Jacket World Record Day event at the Seward Harbor on May 20, 2017. The event marked the first day of National Safe Boating Week during the Seward Harbor Opening festivities. (Public domain photo by Petty Officer First Class Bill Colclough/U.S. Coast Guard).
  Nineteen people died in Alaska while recreationally boating in 2016, according to a Coast Guard report released last month.
  
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• Free car checks can keep seniors safer in a crash

  14-06-2017 05:32
  
  Seniors are the fastest growing population in Alaska and plenty of them are still driving. Alaska Injury Prevention Specialist Beth Schuerman said seniors are considered some of the safest drivers, but, if they get in a crash, they are much more likely to be seriously injured.
  “Their bodies have become more frail,” said Schuerman. ” In the event of a crash often times the severity (of their injuries) to their fragile bodies is even greater.”
  Schuerman said an important wa
  
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• AGDC urges lawmakers not to cut funding, as AKLNG peaks Trump’s interest

  14-06-2017 05:23
  
  The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) is lobbying legislators to keep funding for the state’s natural gas project, Alaska LNG. As lawmakers struggle to reach agreement on a budget this week, $50 million for the project has become a controversial component.
  In a last ditch effort to persuade lawmakers, members of AGDC’s Board of Directors flew to Juneau Tuesday. They urged the legislature not to pull funding for AKLNG — as it peaks federal interest.
  “This is th
  
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• New, sustainable trail cuts down on erosion at Kincaid bluffs

  14-06-2017 05:13
  
  Teenagers in the Youth Employment in Parks (YEP) program are working to prevent erosion at the Kincaid Park bluffs near the motocross tracks.
  Thousands of people flocked to that area last summer when a dead humpback whale washed up on the mudflats. With no clear route from the Jodhpur Motocross track down the hill, many made make-shift trails to get there.
  “People’s feet basically act like bulldozers and push all that sand down,” explained Alaska Department of Fish and Game Ref
  
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• Alaska governor urged to put the brakes on Uber, Lyft

  14-06-2017 05:12 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Uber and Lyft ridesharing is unavailable in Juneau. (Photo illustration by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
  The City and Borough of Juneau is urging Gov. Bill Walker to veto legislation permitting Uber and Lyft in the state.  The issue is local control.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/06/170613UBER-LYFT.mp3Alaska’s Legislature passed a bill last month allowing self-described rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft to operate in Alaska. These companies connect independent drivers to paying
  
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• Development deal could bring big changes to Anchorage

  14-06-2017 05:00
  
  A huge development deal is in the works that could mean big changes for two popular Anchorage corridors.
  The Anchorage Municipality’s Department of Economic and Community Development wants to flatten the city’s aging Health and Human Services building on l Street and replace it with senior housing.
  Chris Schutte, director of Economic and Community Development also wants to build a brand new DHHS facility on East Tudor Road and Elmore Road — complete with a grocery store, hotel,
  
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• Witness describes ‘carnage’ after hit-and-run

  14-06-2017 04:40
  
  The man accused of a Saturday hit and run shed a tear in court Tuesday while listening to the description of the victim’s death.
  39-year-old Clyde Reynolds is charged with failure to render aid to an injured person — which is a felony. Police say he hit Jacob Askoak at 4th and Boniface around 11:20 Saturday night. He was arraigned in court Tuesday.
  “Me and my 16-year-old daughter went over to Jake. He was bleeding all over the street,” testified a witness who saw what ha
  
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• Trump calls House version of health care bill “mean”

  14-06-2017 03:11
  
  President Trump told Republican senators that the House health care bill is “mean” and that the Senate version should be “more generous,” CBS News’ John Nolen confirmed, citing a congressional source.
  The remarks, first reported by the Associated Press, were a surprising critique of a Republican-written House measure whose passage Mr. Trump fought for and embraced. They also seem to undercut efforts by Senate conservatives to impose restrictions in their chamber&rsq
  
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• Do you know how to spot a bedbug?

  14-06-2017 03:02
  
  (Which of these common insect pests is a bedbug? In a survey conducted by researchers at the University of Kentucky, just 35 percent of U.S. business travelers and 28 percent of leisure travelers could correctly identify the bedbug. The answers: 1-Ant, 2-Termite, 3-Louse, 4-Bedbug, 5-Tick. Entomological Society of America)
  Most Americans fear bedbugs but the majority can’t identify one out of a lineup of other common insects, new research shows.
  In a survey of U.S. travelers conducted by r
  
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• Woman molested on Delta Air Lines flight files $10 million lawsuit

  14-06-2017 02:53
  
  DETROIT — A Detroit-area woman is suing Delta Air Lines, claiming it could have prevented a man from molesting her on a flight from South Carolina in 2016.
  Christopher Finkley, 41, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was sentenced in March to a week in jail after pleading guilty to simple assault, a misdemeanor. The woman said he put a hand under her shorts while sitting in an open seat.
  At his criminal sentencing, the woman learned that flight attendants witnessed Finkley exposing himself wh
  
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• ‘An appalling and detestable lie’: 5 highlights from Sessions’ Senate testimony

  14-06-2017 02:42 via ktoo.org
  
  Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday, fiercely maintaining he did nothing wrong in meeting twice with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during President Trump’s 2016 campaign and also infuriating Democrats by refusing to detail any conversations he has had with the president.
  The hearing lasted about 2 1/2 hours and included a number of testy exchanges. Here are the highlights:
  1. “An appalling and detestable lie”
  Similar t
  
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• Coast Guard searches for father and son in Western Alaska

  14-06-2017 02:39
  
  A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, Alaska State Troopers and local volunteers are searching for an overdue father and son near St. Michael.
  According to a Coast Guard release, 55-year-old Peter and 35-year-old Justin Nanouk left Unalakleet Saturday morning in their 22-foot aluminum open-top ocean boat, “Baywolf,” for a fishing trip in St. Michael.
  AST requested assistance from Watchstanders at the 17th Coast Guard District Tuesday.
  Crews say they are exte
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 6-14-17

  14-06-2017 02:27 via ktoo.org
  
  Wednesday at 3 on A Juneau Afternoon,
  Sheli Delaney will host.Aaron Elmore will be here to highlight Theatre In The Rough’s new production, Running With Pretty Sharp Things;We’ll get a tango lesson on the air;Gershon Cohen will be here to discuss the upcoming Chilkat Challenge Triatholon
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, Wednesday on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on KTOO-News, repeated at 4 on KRNN, and available on demand on-line at ktoo.org
  
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• Police looking for missing 59-year-old

  14-06-2017 01:34
  
  Anchorage police are asking for the public’s help in locating 59-year-old Zhishan Ning.
  Ning was last seen Tuesday morning at his home in the area of East 80th Avenue and Lake Otis Parkway. There is concern he may harm himself, police say
  He is described as an Asian male around six-feet-tall and 140 pounds. He was last seen wearing a gray and white jacket, dark pants and Merrill hiking boots.
  If anyone has seen Ning, call Police Dispatch at 786-8900 (press “0” to speak with an
  
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• 7 bears killed in defense of life and property shootings

  14-06-2017 01:23
  
  The Department of Fish and game is urging the public to bear-proof their homes after two bears were shot overnight in Eagle River.
  That makes seven killed in defense of life and property shootings, so far this year.
  Fish and Game says a black bear was shot at a home off of Old Eagle River Road and Baranoff Avenue between 11 and midnight on Monday.
  Early Tuesday morning, a brown bear was shot at a home off of Hiland Road. In that instance, Fish and Game say it was attacking chickens in a coop.
  Fi
  
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• Midnight Oil: Alaska, the oil state that almost wasn’t

  14-06-2017 00:35 via ktoo.org
  
  Oil started flowing down the Trans-Alaska Pipeline forty years ago, transforming Alaska into a wealthy oil state. But if it weren’t for a few determined individuals, the giant oil field that started it all might still be hidden under the tundra today. Preview the episode before it’s released on June 20th.
  
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