Anchorage news

• Senate delays vote on contentious health care bill

  27-06-2017 23:38
  
  Senate Republican leaders on Tuesday delayed a vote on health care legislation until after the July 4 recess, CBS News has confirmed.
  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell informed GOP senators of the delay during their weekly luncheon Tuesday, as the GOP seemingly lacks sufficient support to pass the bill in its current form.
  “We’re still working toward getting at least 50 people in a comfortable place,” McConnell told reporters. He also referred to the bill as “an ongo
  
  Read more

• Keeping your auto-inflating life vests operational

  27-06-2017 21:44
  
  The Alaska Office of Boating Safety received calls about auto-inflating life vests after a deadly canoeing accident on Finger Lake.
  Authorities say the inflating life vests that two men were wearing didn’t inflate after their canoe tipped over.
  Police say 30-year-old Gary Curtis made it ashore alive, but 67-year-old Edgar Curtis did not. His body was later recovered from the lake.
  People called the boating safety office wanting to know more about how the vests work. KTVA 11 wanted to know,
  
  Read more

• Uber, Lyft in talks with Juneau officials over city sales tax

  27-06-2017 21:41 via ktoo.org
  
  Uber and Lyft ride-hailing recently came online in Juneau. (Photo illustration by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
  Efforts are ongoing to collect sales tax from ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft that are now operating in Juneau.
  Alaska state law narrowly defines how local governments can regulate transportation network companies, or TNCs.
  Cities are legally able to collect sales tax, city attorney Amy Mead said.
  “What we’re hoping for is that the TNCs will work with us to figure out s
  
  Read more

• Alaska officials baffled by ‘lightning strike’ of bear attacks

  27-06-2017 21:12
  
  In the last week, four people have been attacked, including two deadly encounters on back-to-back days last weekend. There have only been six fatal bear attacks in Alaska in the last 130 years.
  Erin Johnson.
  Last week, one trail was shut down, and many hikers are steering clear just as summer tourist season arrives.
  A big race scheduled for July has already been canceled.
  They are one of the biggest draws in the nation’s biggest state but now, bear country is getting unsettling attention.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Senate GOP leaders push off health care vote after July 4

  27-06-2017 20:50 via ktoo.org
  
  Updated 2:30 p.m. ET
  Facing a perilous path for their health care bill, Senate Republican leaders have decided to push off a vote on their health care bill until after Congress returns from next week’s July Fourth recess, GOP aides confirm to NPR’s Susan Davis. The delay comes on a day in which President Trump was working to twist some arms, and when several GOP senators were saying they were against bringing the bill to the floor this week.
  Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the a
  
  Read more

• National HIV Testing Day in Anchorage: Where you can get a free screening

  27-06-2017 20:49
  
  HIV testing Tuesday, June 27, as part of National HIV Testing day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 1.2 million people are living with human immunodeficiency virus, but one out of eight patients isn’t aware they have it.
  HIV testing is just part of the work that happens at the Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association, or Four As. Director of Development, Petra Davis, says they’re working to reduce the stigma surrounding HIV.
  “These are individuals in our comm
  
  Read more

• Shots ring out in parking lot, damaging apartments, cars

  27-06-2017 20:29
  
  Shots were fired in the parking lot of an apartment building overnight, leaving multiple units and vehicles damaged.
  Anchorage Police were called to the 7800 block of Creekside Center Drive around 4:20 Tuesday morning on reports of shots fired.
  Officers found multiple apartments and vehicles that had sustained bullet holes, along with shell casings and bullet fragments around the building and surrounding area.
  Police say their initial investigation indicates people inside two vehicles were drivi
  
  Read more

• Trump’s Interior secretary takes first baby step on King Cove road

  27-06-2017 19:44 via ktoo.org
  
  Then-U.S. Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana speaking at the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Maryland, on March 3, 2016. (Creative Commons photo by Gage Skidmore)
  There was a bit of a victory Monday for supporters of a proposed road in Southwest Alaska that would connect the village of King Cove to an airport at Cold Bay via the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
  U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed in March, announ
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Anchorage Police accepting donations for back-to-school clothing drive

  27-06-2017 19:43
  
  The nonprofit, Anchorage Cops for Community, is asking for clothing donations for its annual back-to-school clothing drive called The Clothesline Project.
  From now until Friday, June 30 you can drop-off new or gently used clothing for students k-12 at the Anchorage Police Department located 4501 Elmore Road. The idea is to prepare kids for the school year that don’t have opportunities to shop. Now in its third year, the annual drive has helped hundreds of families in Anchorage.
  “We w
  
  Read more

• CBO sees peril in U.S. Senate health care bill for uncrowded regions

  27-06-2017 19:32 via ktoo.org
  
  
  United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. (Creative Commons photo by David Maiolo)
  The Congressional Budget Office has what amounts to a warning for “sparsely populated areas” in its analysis of the Senate’s draft health care reform bill.
  The CBO said while most insurance markets would remain stable under the Senate bill, the legislation would drive out insurers that serve a “small fraction” of the population, or these areas will see premiums rise very high
  
  Read more

• “Take Our Land, Take Our Life” | MIDNIGHT OIL: Episode 02

  27-06-2017 19:27 via ktoo.org
  
  When Alaska became a state, the federal government agreed to hand over more than 100 million acres. There was just one problem. Alaska Native people already claimed that land. Then Alaska struck oil, and the question of who owned what land in the 49th state went all the way to the White House.
  
  Read more

• Overriding mayor’s objection, Juneau Assembly endorses Paris climate pact

  27-06-2017 10:21 via ktoo.org
  
  The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this rare, nearly cloud-free view of Alaska on June 17, 2013. (Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz/NASA)
  A slim majority of the Juneau Assembly voted Monday to join other U.S. cities in endorsing the Paris agreement to combat climate change.
  Dick Farnell of 350 Juneau was one of five citizens who spoke up to implore Juneau’s elected officials to back the global movement to reduce carbon emissions as envisio
  
  Read more

• Proposed high-rise complex in downtown Juneau irks community members

  27-06-2017 10:17 via ktoo.org
  
  Eagle Rock Ventures LLC of Seattle has proposed a six-story apartment complex to be built at the city-owned North Franklin Street parking lot. (Rendering courtesy Eagle Rock Ventures LLC)
  The design and density of a high-rise apartment building proposed in downtown Juneau drew a lot of public concern at Monday’s Juneau Assembly meeting.
  The Juneau Assembly voted in November to authorize the sale of the the city’s North Franklin Street parking lot to Seattle-b
  
  Read more

• Immigration law experts react to SCOTUS decision on travel ban

  27-06-2017 06:40
  
  The Supreme Court of the United States will hear full arguments on President Donald Trump’s travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries while letting parts of it go into effect.
  The decision came down Monday. It impacts foreign nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
  In the 9-0 ruling, justices will not allow the ban go into effect in cases where visitors can prove they have a “bonafide relationship with a person or an entity in the United States.” Jus
  
  Read more

• Impasse on oil tax bill stalls special session

  27-06-2017 06:33
  
  Lawmakers are still in special session, but only a handful are in Juneau. The capitol building will likely stay empty for the rest of the week, perhaps longer.
  That’s because Gov. Bill Walker has only put one item on the agenda– and it isn’t the one either side wanted.
  Lawmakers were expecting to take up the state’s capital budget, which pays for construction and maintenance for state projects. But Walker wants them to take up oil taxes first, as part of a long-term
  
  Read more

• With no new signs of missing Juneau woman, troopers call off search

  27-06-2017 05:41 via ktoo.org
  
  A flyer posted on Monday at the Under Thunder trailhead off Jennifer Drive in the Mendenhall Valley states that Teri Heuscher is missing. The 53-year-old Juneau woman’s vehicle was found there Saturday. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)
  Alaska State Troopers called off a weekend-long search for a 53-year-old Juneau woman because they didn’t find evidence Teri Heuscher was in the area they were searching.
  Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said continuing without that proof didn’t
  
  Read more

• Klatt Road roundabout design concerns some drivers

  27-06-2017 03:54
  
  Drivers in South Anchorage are learning to navigate a new roundabout.
  Alaska Department of Transportation crews spent more than one month constructing a new traffic circle at the intersection of West Klatt Road and Johns Road.
  Some people took to social media to voice their complaints about the roundabout’s design, saying the concrete barriers in the middle are too high and they can’t see oncoming traffic.
  DOT spokesperson Shannon McCarthy said that’s the way it’s suppose
  
  Read more

• State gets approval for survey work for Cold Bay roadway

  27-06-2017 03:49
  
  Governor Walker announced Monday the state has received permission to begin survey work that could lead to a road between King Cove and Cold Bay.
  Walker said he got a personal phone call Monday morning from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke letting him know the state could begin survey work to seek a route with the least amount of impact on the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
  The Governor thanked Zinke in a statement, for “recognizing the need and doing his best to advance the process to bui
  
  Read more

• A Juneau Afternoon (Tuesday, June 27, 2017)

  27-06-2017 02:24 via ktoo.org
  
  Today on A Juneau Afternoon, Laury Scandling hosts:
  Playwright Maureen Longworth will be here to talk about her new play, Blue Ticket—Fairies out of Alaska;
  Charlie Harrington will tell us about the Hangar’s 21st birthday festivities;
  And we’ll hear a segment from “Curious Juneau,” a KTOO news feature that answers your questions about Juneau’s people and places
  That, Writers Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, today on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on KTPP, re
  
  Read more

• Alaska to receive almost $30M from feds in PILT funding

  27-06-2017 02:23 via ktoo.org
  
  Cruise ship approaches Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park. (National Park Service)
  The Department of the Interior announced today that 29 local Alaska governments would receive $29.7 million in payment in lieu of taxes funds, or PILT.
  PILT funding provides local governments with funding they can’t get from tax-exempt federal lands within their boundaries. It pays for services such as public safety, schools and roads in communities containing national parks, national forests and
  
  Read more

• As Uber arrives in Alaska, towns without taxis have new transportation option

  27-06-2017 01:57 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Haines resident Alex Stock has signed up to drive for Uber. He’s waiting on a background check and vehicle inspection. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
  In visits to the Lower 48, Alaskans may have caught a ride in an Uber or Lyft car.
  Now, people around the state can use the ride-sharing companies at home.
  This month, Alaska became the latest state to make way for the transportation apps.
  In small towns where taxi service has struggled to survive, the companies could fill a need.http://khn
  
  Read more

• 2 Marines badly burned in ground flash fire on U.S. base

  27-06-2017 01:13
  
  MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. — A ground flash fire on Marine Corps Air Station Miramar injured two Marines performing aircraft maintenance on an F/A-18 Sunday night, base officials say.
  The region has been experiencing extremely high temperatures, notes CBS San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV.
  “Both Marines are currently being treated for severe burns at the UC-San Diego Regional Burn Center. Our thoughts and prayers are with them,” the base said in a statement.
  The leather
  
  Read more

Follow @AnchorageNewsUS on Twitter!