Anchorage news

• Chilkat weaver receives national folk art honor

  22-06-2017 23:46 via ktoo.org
  
  
  This undated photo shows Anna Brown Ehlers, right, and her daughter wearing Chilkat blankets she’d woven. (Photo courtesy of Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie/National Endowment for the Arts)
  A 62-year-old Juneau woman has received one of the nation’s top awards recognizing traditional folk art.
  Chilkat weaver Anna Brown Ehlers is one of nine fellows named this week by the National Endowment for the Arts.http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/06/170622CHILKAT-PKG.mp3The NEA’s directo
  
  Read more

• University of Alaska budget cut by $8 million in legislative compromise

  22-06-2017 23:25 via ktoo.org
  
  The University of Alaska faces a softer blow than the nearly $22 million cut proposed by the state Senate. A Legislature conference committee on Wednesday cut the University’s budget $8 million. (Creative Commons photo by J. Stephen Conn/Flickr)
  The state Legislature’s conference committee cut $8 million from the University of Alaska’s budget on Wednesday, a softer blow than the nearly $22 million reduction proposed by the state Senate.
  The six-member committee approved th
  
  Read more

• ‘Real Boy’ a journey through transition and acceptance

  22-06-2017 23:21 via ktoo.org
  
  An award-winning film airing nationally this week over PBS has an Alaska connection.
  “Real Boy” is the story of a trangender youth who is building a career as a musician in the Bay Area of California.
  The film was directed by Shaleece Haas, a former news intern at KCAW in Sitka.
  It is Haas’s first major independent project after receiving a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, but not her first time on national television.
  Her 2010 thesis
  
  Read more

• Washington governor calls third special session as government shutdown looms

  22-06-2017 22:49 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a third special session on Wednesday and said it was time to ”crack the whip” on lawmakers to get a budget deal and avoid a July 1 government shutdown. (Photo by Austin Jenkins/Northwest News Network)
  https://cpa.ds.npr.org/northwestnews/audio/2017/06/062117AJ_ThirdSpeshSess_web.mp3Unless lawmakers can agree on a budget, the state of Washington is just days away from a first-ever government shutdown.
  Gov. Jay Inslee called a third special session W
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Newscast – Thursday, June 22, 2017

  22-06-2017 22:34 via ktoo.org
  
  
  http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/06/newscast2.mp3In this newscast:
  Hilcorp snapped up more than 100,000 acres in Cook Inlet for additional oil and gas development at federal and state lease sales held yesterday.
  Alaska U.S Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she needs time to review a health care bill drafted by fellow Republicans to understand its effects.
  A black bear believed to have mauled a 16-year-old to death over the weekend has been shot and killed.
  
  Read more

• Alaska city tops list of small cities with most millionaires

  22-06-2017 22:04
  
  Juneau has come out on top of the list of small cities with the most millionaires.
  Kiplinger, a business publication, listed Juneau as the small city with the highest concentration of millionaire households, with 1109 out of a total of 12,986, according to a report from KTOO.org.
  Phoenix Marketing International released the rankings after scouring census data from 915 urban areas. The report defined millionaire households as having more than $1 million in investable assets– not counting re
  
  Read more

• Murkowski’s take on Republican health care bill? Stay tuned

  22-06-2017 22:02 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski listens to panelists at a field hearing of the U.S. Senate and Natural Resources Committee in Cordova, Alaska on June 10, 2017. (Photo by Rachel Waldholz/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
  Updated | 11:34 a.m. Friday
  In the U.S. Senate, Republicans released a draft of their health care bill Thursday.
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski wouldn’t say how she’ll vote on it, but the draft has elements she has said she’s against, like shrinking Medicaid expansion and defunding Planned
  
  Read more

• Murkowski reviewing Senate Republican health care bill

  22-06-2017 22:02 via ktoo.org
  
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski listens to panelists at a field hearing of the U.S. Senate and Natural Resources Committee in Cordova, Alaska on June 10, 2017. (Photo by Rachel Waldholz/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
  JUNEAU — Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she needs time to review a health care bill drafted by fellow Republicans to understand its effects.
  Murkowski said in a statement she will work with the state over the next several days to analyze the bill released Thursday.
  Murko
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The women who built the Trans-Alaska Pipeline

  22-06-2017 21:33
  
  It took a small army to build the Trans-Alaska pipeline. Seventy-thousand workers flocked to Valdez and all the way up to the rugged North Slope to bring oil to market and wealth into state coffers. Just 1,000 of those workers were women and some of them faced down sexism and tough working conditions to do their jobs.
  Diane Benson still owns the trucker’s cap she rode thousands of miles in during her long hauls up to Prudhoe Bay. When she misses the smell of gas and the freedom of the road
  
  Read more

• Governor adds opioid bill to special session agenda

  22-06-2017 21:24
  
  Less than a week after Governor Bill Walker called legislators into a second special session to pass a budget to avoid the state’s first-ever government shutdown, a second item has been added to the agenda.
  Thursday morning, the governor amended the Second Special Session Proclamation so the House of Representatives could concur on House Bill 149, the governor’s bill to combat the opioid epidemic.
  House Bill 159 was passed by the House in late-May, while the Senate passed it on June
  
  Read more

• 112th Annual Midnight Sun baseball game held in Fairbanks

  22-06-2017 21:12
  
  The second longest running event in baseball history is underway in Fairbanks and is a truly Alaskan experience.
  The 112th annual Midnight Sun game is held the longest day of every year, being beaten in longevity only by the World Series itself.
  KTVA 11 News’ Dave Leval traveled to Growden Park to get a first-hand look at the historic game, between the Goldpanners and the San Diego Waves.
  This game is the Goldpanners’ largest crowd of the season. It’s no wonder national magazin
  
  Read more

• Alaska trail advocates warn Walker of transportation funding lapses

  22-06-2017 21:09 via ktoo.org
  
  Advocacy group Alaska Trails sent a letter to let Gov. Bill Walker know that transportation funds are at risk. Alaska returned $2.6 million to the U.S. Department of Transportation last September.
  The Transportation Alternatives Program provides federal funding for smaller-scale transportation projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
  The federal government authorizes the funds each year for every state that must be obligated to local projects within four years. Projects
  
  Read more

• Uber gives Alaskan free rides for helping pass bill

  22-06-2017 21:06
  
  Ride-sharing company Uber is giving a visually impaired Alaskan free rides for one year after he spent years and thousand of dollars advocating for its operation in Alaska, both at the state and municipal level.
  Sam Moore, an Anchorage resident, flew to Juneau several times during this year’s legislative session to urge lawmaker support for a bill that opened the door for Uber and Lyft in Alaska, House Bill 32. Despite roadblocks along the way, Moore says it was worth making the personal i
  
  Read more

• Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage prepares for next season

  22-06-2017 21:05
  
  It might be the first full day of summer, but the maintenance crew with the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage is already getting ready for next year.
  They groom and maintain over 60 miles of trails at Kincaid and Hillside that over 10,000 people use every winter. This winter they’ll also host the U.S. Nationals, where the country’s top Nordic skiers will compete in Anchorage for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
  The maintenance crew has just a couple months to s
  
  Read more

• Mic Check in the Morning: Ken Peltier

  22-06-2017 21:04
  
  Billed as a part of Alaska’s Premier Country Band, Ken Peltier from the Ken Peltier Band, joined by Jimmy Weber, will be playing alongside Craig Morgan. This will be a part of The Big Country Deck Party, sponsored by RAVN Alaska & Safe and Sound Alaska.
  Peltier formed the Ken Peltier Band in 1996, according to his website. Creating it helped fuel his passion for singing, songwriting and playing guitar. Peltier and his band have played special events ranging from the Alaska State Fair,
  
  Read more

• Aquaculture association commissions study in Tutka Bay

  22-06-2017 20:59 via ktoo.org
  
  Tutka Bay Lagoon Hatchery. (Photo courtesy Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association.)
  The Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association has been trying to move a majority of its net pens in the Tutka Bay Lagoon to the head of Tutka Bay for about four years.
  The hotly debated issue has led to packed community meetings and questions about the impact of raising fish in the area.https://cpa.ds.npr.org/kbbi/audio/2017/06/21Tutka.mp3Due to the controversy, the hatchery association has contracted the Kachemak
  
  Read more

• ‘Funnybug’ holds a serious clue to Ice Age ecology

  22-06-2017 20:03 via ktoo.org
  
  
  One-tenth of an inch long, C. dectes is easy to miss. Although hardy, the “funnybug” could not have survived glaciation. So what’s it doing in Sitka? (Photo by Robert Woolsey/KCAW)
  A lot of science involves happy accidents.
  A retired scientist from Oregon stepped off the ferry in Sitka late last month, and on a hunch decided to look around the woods for an old friend.
  While his discovery sheds light on one of the more obscure corners of entomology, it also is a clue to how
  
  Read more

• Mat-Su Borough Assembly approves funding for Port Mackenzie repairs

  22-06-2017 19:18 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Ship unloads at Port MacKenzie. (Photo Courtesy Matanuska-Susitna Borough)
  The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly approved Tuesday the transfer of over a half-million dollars from existing funds to pay for repairs to the Port Mackenzie barge dock, although some expressed reservations about the port’s continuing costs.
  http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20170621-03.mp3With its vote on Tuesday, the assembly took money from funds dedicated to Port Mackenzie and the MV Susitna to pay for repairs t
  
  Read more

• Senate Republicans reveal long-awaited Affordable Care Act repeal bill

  22-06-2017 18:25 via ktoo.org
  
  Updated at 12:16 p.m. ET
  Senate Republicans unveiled their long-awaited health care overhaul proposal on Thursday. The Senate bill, called the “Better Care Reconciliation Act,” would repeal major parts of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The broad outlines of it look a lot like the House bill, the American Health Care Act, which was passed in May.
  In a lot of ways, the Senate’s bill looks like the House bill: it rolls back the ACA’s Medicaid expansion &md
  
  Read more

• State shutdown would freeze teacher certification, gum up school districts’ summer hiring

  22-06-2017 10:10 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Juneau kids play on the playground in front of Harborview Elementary School on Wednesday. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/06/20Certs.mp3Alaska teachers have to be certified by the state before they can teach. So every year, the state Department of Education evaluates thousands of applications for teacher certification. This summer, about 50 of those applications could come from Juneau School District.
  Ted VanBronkhorst, head of the district’s hum
  
  Read more

• State eyes Alaska Permanent Fund earnings draw without plan

  22-06-2017 05:13 via ktoo.org
  
  The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.’s exterior sign. Fund earnings could be spent for state government without a plan. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
  Lawmakers have proposed drawing money from the Alaska Permanent Fund earnings to pay for state government for the first time. But as the Legislature focuses on preventing a government shutdown, it’s increasingly likely the draw won’t be based on any one plan. And that’s raising concerns with lawmakers, the fund’s leader an
  
  Read more

• Hilcorp only bidder in Cook Inlet lease sales

  22-06-2017 04:37
  
  An oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet on Wednesday had just one winning bidder: Hilcorp Alaska.
  The sale was the last to be held under the federal government’s five-year management plan for offshore oil and gas leases that started in 2012.
  Dr. James, Kendall, regional director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management or BOEM, said several past sales had been canceled because of a lack of interest from the industry. But, that was not the case Wednesday, when more than a million acres in C
  
  Read more

• DMV counting down to deadlines, government shutdown

  22-06-2017 04:00
  
  If lawmakers in Juneau don’t pass a budget, the government will shut down in just nine days. The DMV is warning Alaskans to check their license and registration expiration dates before that happens.
  If the government shuts down, work at every DMV office and partner agency will stop, including processing licenses and registrations. To ensure yours gets processed before the shutdown, DMV director Marla Thompson is asking people to apply by certain deadlines.
  Online renewal or duplicate of dr
  
  Read more

• Man accused of ‘accidentally’ shooting, paralyzing woman indicted

  22-06-2017 03:34
  
  A 22-year-old Anchorage man was indicted Tuesday, accused of shooting a woman as he “danced around” his apartment during a party.
  Just before 2 a.m. on Friday, June 2, officers responded to a shooting call at an apartment complex on Mockingbird Drive. The victim, 20-year-old Deborah Walunga, who lives in the apartment above suspect Joseph Lock, was found with a gunshot wound that entered her lower back and exited through her shoulder, puncturing her heart.
  As a result of the shooting
  
  Read more

• Hilcorp picks up more acreage in Cook Inlet for oil and gas development

  22-06-2017 03:06 via ktoo.org
  
  Hilcorp’s Anna Platform in Upper Cook Inlet. The company is looking to further expand its operations in the Inlet after buying up additional acreage at federal and state lease sales. (Photo courtesy Cook Inletkeeper)
  Hilcorp snapped up more than 100,000 acres in Cook Inlet for additional oil and gas development at federal and state lease sales held Wednesday.
  The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management offered over 1 million acres in the Inlet for lease. The agency’s last three Coo
  
  Read more

• Juneau tops national list of smallest cities with most millionaire households

  22-06-2017 03:03 via ktoo.org
  
  Downtown Juneau on Aug. 4, 2008. (Creative Commons photo by Sam Beebe)
  Do you have a million dollars lying around? Chances are one out of every 13 households in Alaska’s capital city qualifies as a millionaire.
  The business publication Kiplinger is reporting that Juneau tops the list of small cities with the highest concentration of households with the proverbial big bucks. Juneau has 1,109 millionaire households out of a total of 12,986.
  Its list is based on rankings of&nbs
  
  Read more

• Bear suspected in fatal Bird Ridge mauling killed

  22-06-2017 02:35
  
  The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has killed the bear they suspect in the mauling death of a 16-year-old boy who had competed in a race on Bird Ridge Sunday.
  The bear had a recent wound to its lower jaw, which authorities believe identifies it as the bear involved, as the bear responsible for the mauling was shot by a Chugach State Park Ranger in the head. The bear was killed Tuesday evening.
  Fish and Game also shot and killed three other lone black bears in the area, they say, to ensure th
  
  Read more

• Business as usual for marine mammal deterrence

  22-06-2017 02:03 via ktoo.org
  
  Sea lions nap on a buoy in Frederick sound. (Photo by Nora Saks/KFSK)
  In Southeast Alaska, populations of some marine mammals, like humpback whales and Stellar sea lions, are on the rise.
  Some subgroups of these species have recently been removed from the Endangered Species list, leaving many commercial fisherman wondering what this means for them.
  But it’s still business as usual when it comes to dealing with protected marine mammals in Southeast waters.
  National Oceanic and Atmospheric A
  
  Read more

• Juneau Afternoon – 6-22-17

  22-06-2017 02:00 via ktoo.org
  
  Thursday on a Juneau Afternoon, Joan Pardes hosts;Kolene and Lyle James will be on for UAS Corner this week, talking about Community on Campus.We’ll talk with Sheila Kelly, author of Treadwell Gold;And Nancy DeCherney will return 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
  
  Read more

• Bed bugs getting the heat treatment at downtown building

  22-06-2017 01:40 via ktoo.org
  
  Mountain View Apartments on West 12th Street in downtown Juneau. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)
  Over a third of the units in a downtown Juneau apartment building are being treated for bed bugs.
  Managers of the Mountain View Apartments on West 12th Street noticed the pests in some units earlier this month.
  “In 2008, we had a similar kind of outbreak,” said Corry Isabell, the Juneau Family Investment Center manager with the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, which operates the apartment
  
  Read more

• F-16 crashes with ammunition on board while taking off

  22-06-2017 01:38
  
  An F-16 fighter jet crashed while taking off from Ellington Field in Houston. (Credit: KHOU-TV)
  An F-16 fighter jet crashed during takeoff from an airbase in Houston on Wednesday, prompting the evacuation of a one-mile area around the scene of the crash.
  The aircraft from the 138th Fighter Wing at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base was embarking on a training mission for NORAD when it crashed around 10:30 a.m. local time, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports. The F-16 wa
  
  Read more

• Flint airport stabbing investigated as act of terrorism, FBI says

  22-06-2017 01:33
  
  The FBI is investigating a stabbing at the international airport in Flint, Michigan, as an act of terrorism, the FBI said.
  An airport police officer was stabbed in the neck in the public part of the main terminal at Bishop International Airport on Wednesday morning, CBS News has learned. The wound was superficial.
  Michigan State Police Lt. Dave Kaiser confirmed to CBS News the victim has been identified as Jeff Neville, a retired lieutenant with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office. As of W
  
  Read more

• Mystery’s afoot as hotel’s famous cocktail garnish, a toe, stolen

  22-06-2017 01:27
  
  DAWSON CITY, Yukon — The owners of a Canadian hotel known for its unusual cocktail, the aptly-named Sourtoe, say the drink’s trademark garnish — a severed and dehydrated human toe — has been stolen.
  The drink has long drawn tourists to the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, a tiny town along the Yukon River, about 60 miles east of Alaska. Inside the hotel’s saloon, the daring down a shot of whiskey with the mummified toe dropped in, making sure the toe makes contact wit
  
  Read more

• Downtown shooting prompts gas leak

  22-06-2017 01:18
  
  Shots fired in a downtown Anchorage duplex penetrated a gas line in a neighboring residence.
  Around 12:30 Wednesday, officers responded to the 1300 block of P Street after a resident reported bullets had coming into their home through the ceiling from the apartment upstairs.
  Meanwhile, ENSTAR gas employees were called to the home next door after the resident began smelling gas. When the gas employees pulled the stove away from the wall, it was discovered that a bullet had penetrated the gas line
  
  Read more

• UAA cancels warning of subject with knife on campus

  22-06-2017 00:48
  
  Wednesday afternoon, The University of Alaska Anchorage tweeted a warning to students indicating there may be a threat on campus.
  UAA tweeted at 2:32 that campus police were searching for a subject with a knife last seen near the area of Rasmusson Hall.
  UAA Alert: The area has been searched by UPD and the subject has left the area. Thank you.
  — UAA (@uaanchorage) June 21, 2017
  About five minutes later, a second tweet was sent from the school’s account indicating that campus police ha
  
  Read more

Follow @AnchorageNewsUS on Twitter!