Anchorage news

• Search suspended for man overboard from skiff in Prince William Sound

  22-07-2017 23:21
  The U.S. Coast Guard spent much of Friday looking for a man who fell overboard from a skiff on the west side of Prince William Sound, but was unable to locate any sign of him.
  Coast Guard Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios said that the man went overboard at about 2 a.m. Friday from a commercial setnet skiff in Main Bay. An initial report was made to Cordova police, who relayed information about the incident to the Coast Guard by roughly 4 a.m.
  “It was reported that (the man was) unable to climb
  
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• Alaska’s acting US attorney nominated to formally take post

  22-07-2017 21:57
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A veteran federal prosecutor was nominated Friday by President Donald Trump to be the next U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska.
  Trump nominated Bryan Schroder for the post. Schroder has been the acting head of the Alaska district since Karen Loeffler and 45 other U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Barack Obama were asked to resign after Trump’s election.
  The White House says Schroder has prosecuted cases ranging from violent crimes to fisheries
  
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• Alaska’s acting US attorney nominated to formally fill post

  22-07-2017 21:57
  Acting U.S. Attorney for Alaska Bryan Schroder at a March 2017 press conference. (KTVA/File)
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A veteran federal prosecutor was nominated Friday by President Donald Trump to be the next U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska.
  Trump nominated Bryan Schroder for the post. Schroder has been the acting head of the Alaska district since Karen Loeffler and 45 other U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Barack Obama were asked to resign after Trump’s election
  
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• Trump says military ‘bigger, better, stronger’ at USS Gerald R. Ford commissioning

  22-07-2017 20:32
  President Trump officially commissioned the U.S. Navy’s newest and largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, in Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday, applauding the military’s strength.
  “When it comes to battle, we don’t want a fair fight. We demand victory and we will have total victory, believe me,” Mr. Trump said of the powerful aircraft carrier.
  “American steel and American hands have constructed a 100,000-ton message to the world,” he added. &ldqu
  
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• Minneapolis police chief resigns in wake of Justine Damond shooting

  22-07-2017 20:29
  Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau resigned Friday amid criticism of her response to a string of high-profile police shootings.
  Harteau’s resignation came at the request of Mayor Betsy Hodges, who has publicly clashed with the police chief. Hodges said in a statement Friday that she had lost confidence in Harteau.
  “As far as we have come, I’ve lost confidence in the chief’s ability to lead us further — and from the many conversations I’ve had with p
  
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• Elim man accused of propositioning local girl, 14, for sex online

  22-07-2017 19:52
  Alaska State Troopers say an Elim man is behind bars, after he allegedly propositioned a local girl online in the Northwest Alaska village for “sexual favors.”
  Herbert Barr Sr., 50, was charged with online enticement of a minor and distribution of child pornography, according to an online dispatch, after Nome troopers were told Monday that he “was asking the young teen for sexual favors.” Troopers spoke with him at his home Friday.
  “An investigation showed that Barr
  
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• Driver charged with murdering 2 women in 2016 Petersburg van crash

  22-07-2017 18:19
  The driver in a van crash that killed two young Petersburg women last summer, bringing the Southeast Alaska town’s Fourth of July celebrations to a jarring halt, has been charged with murder in the wreck.
  William “Chris” Allen, 24, was taken into custody in Fairbanks on a $50,000 arrest warrant shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, Alaska State Troopers said in an online dispatch. He was charged with two counts each of second-degree murder and manslaughter, plus one count of first-degr
  
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• Mat-Su Borough requests ownership of more than 500 acres of state tidelands

  22-07-2017 08:12
  This past winter, when Japanese-based company Resources Energy Inc. pulled out of its plans to build a liquified natural gas plant at the Port MacKenzie, the bad news came as a shock.
  But Mat-Su Borough officials aren’t giving up.
  “We are in many discussions, but we haven’t nailed anything down just yet,” Borough manager John Moosey said.
  Right now though, there are plans to try to get ahead of any potential issues the port could run into if multiple industries want to us
  
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• Inside the Gates: PTSD service dog guards the Guardian Angels

  22-07-2017 08:06
  Every job has its stresses, but for the Pararescuemen of the Alaska Air National Guard 212th Rescue Squadron, their job is life and death. They have a special tool they use to cope with the worst days: a PTSD service dog.
  The dog, a chocolate lab, is named TOML. The acronym stands for “That Others May Live”. It’s the creed of the rescue community.
  TOML joined the 212th a year and a half ago as part of the human bond program.
  “It’s a pilot program. Nowhere else in ou
  
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• Rule change over feathers allows Alaskan Native artists to sprout wings

  22-07-2017 05:52
  Perry Eaton works on his latest art work. “The Spirit of the Halibut” is the latest mask made by the Kodiak native in his Mountain View studio.
  Eaton is Alutiiq. The feathers are one of the key parts to this project.
  “The majority of them are turkey feathers,” Eaton said, as he explained the feathers he uses come from the Lower 48.
  Artwork Eaton sells can not contain feathers from birds in Alaska. It’s been the law since the Migratory Bird Treaty Act went into effec
  
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• Alaska’s credit rating is now third worst in the nation. What does that mean?

  22-07-2017 05:45
  Alaska Lawmakers have yet to pass a long-term budget plan. Without one, Alaska went from having the highest credit rating in the nation to the third worst — in just 18 months.
  Moody’s was the most recent company to downgrade Alaska’s mark, from AAA in March of 2015 to Aa-3 last week, according to a press release from Gov. Bill Walker. And, the state is still on the downhill with a negative watch from the company.
  “I know we’re better than that. I know that&rsqu
  
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• Veteran prosecutor nominated to be the US attorney in Alaska

  22-07-2017 04:56 via ktoo.org
  Acting Alaska U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder speaks at a press conference in Anchorage on March 23, 2017. (Photo by Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
  A veteran federal prosecutor was nominated Friday by President Donald Trump to be the next U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska.Trump nominated Bryan Schroder for the post. Schroder has been the acting head of the Alaska district since Karen Loeffler and 45 other U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Barack Obama were asked to resign after
  
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• Alaska lawmakers to reconvene on capital budget next week

  22-07-2017 04:50 via ktoo.org
  Alaska lawmakers say they plan to call themselves into a special session next week to approve the capital budget for infrastructure budget.The budget wasn’t addressed at the end of the last legislative session, and Gov. Bill Walker said he wouldn’t bring lawmakers back to Juneau until they came to an agreement.
  A joint statement from the House and Senate on Friday indicated that an agreement had been reached, but details won’t be released until next week.
  Senate Majority spokes
  
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• Video: Behind the scenes of Wild Alaska Live

  22-07-2017 03:29 via ktoo.org
  The BBC and PBS are teaming up on a special series of live, prime-time nature programs showcasing Alaska’s wildlife to tens of millions of people around the world. The first Wild Alaska Live show premieres Sunday.
  About 30 cameras from the Tongass National Forest to Katmai National Park will pipe live shots to a temporary production village set up near Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier.
  “We have a lot of equipment and we have cables running all over the place with these remote camera
  
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• Behind the scenes of Wild Alaska Live

  22-07-2017 03:29 via ktoo.org
  The BBC and PBS are teaming up on a special series of live, prime-time nature programs showcasing Alaska’s wildlife to tens of millions people around the world. The first Wild Alaska Live show premieres Sunday.
  About 30 cameras from the Tongass National Forest to Katmai National Park will pipe live shots to a temporary production village set up near Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier.
  “We have a lot of equipment and we have cables running all over the place with these remote cameras.
  
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• Linkin Park singer died by hanging, coroner confirms

  22-07-2017 03:26
  LOS ANGELES — The L.A. County coroner confirmed Friday that Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington died by hanging.
  Coroner’s office spokesman Ed Winter said the 41-year-old rocker hanged himself from a bedroom door in his home near Los Angeles. Bennington was found dead Thursday.
  Winter said a half-empty bottle of alcohol was found in the room but no drugs were evident. Bennington struggled with drug and alcohol addiction at various times during his life.
  A suicide note was not found
  
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• Rise in drug-addicted babies prompts judge’s controversial solution

  22-07-2017 03:23
  America’s opioid crisis is expanding to a new class of victims—unborn children.
  Infants are being born with symptoms of withdrawal, also known as Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or NAS. In the last decade, states like Tennessee have seen a ten-fold rise in the number of babies born with NAS.
  One judge in White County, Tennessee is offering a controversial solution to the problem.
  Judge Benningfield says he wants to stop prospective mothers and fathers from passing their drug addiction
  
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• Juneau Assembly mining task force to add members

  22-07-2017 03:21 via ktoo.org
  Greens Creek Mine. (Photo courtesy Hecla Mining Co.)
  A task force appointed by Juneau’s mayor to re-examine the city’s mining ordinance met for the first time Friday. Its first decision is that the committee should be enlarged to include two planning commissioners and two members of the public.
  That’s according to a press release from the City and Borough of Juneau.
  A group of Juneau businessmen approached the Assembly in May arguing that the current mining ordinance duplicates
  
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• ‘Don’t [expletive] shoot’: Wife convicted of murder witnessed by parrot

  22-07-2017 03:19
  (Credit: Duncan Rawlinson via Flickr)
  WHITE CLOUD, Mich. – A jury has convicted a western Michigan woman of first-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband in a crime apparently witnessed by the man’s pet parrot.
  The Newaygo County jury deliberated about eight hours before finding 49-year-old Glenna Duram guilty Wednesday of killing 46-year-old Martin Duram. He was shot five times in May 2015. Glenna Duram suffered a head wound in what prosecutors said was a suicide attempt,
  
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• Decade after fatal accident, ice divers back on USCGC Healy

  22-07-2017 03:02
  As the nation’s only Arctic icebreaker, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy is familiar with Alaska’s icy waters.
  Dive instructor Geri Cabrera is about to be, too.
  “I was fortunate to dive down in Antarctica with the Polar Star. So, coming up here to the North Pole is a check in the box for me. I’m very excited,” Cabrera said
  She’s one of a dozen ice divers aboard the Healy for the first time since 2006 when a diving operation in the Arctic Ocean killed two peop
  
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• Gustavus Community Center gets a boost from the Rasmuson Foundation

  22-07-2017 02:40 via ktoo.org
  Efforts in the small community of Gustavus to build a community center got a big boost from the Rasmuson Foundation.
  Kathy Streveler is the president of a local nonprofit behind the effort. She said it began in 2008 when a parcel near the town’s most prominent intersection hit the market.
  “There was 8 acres of property in the middle of town that went up for sale,” she recalled. “And so seven of us good friends would be driving by that field thinking, ‘What’s g
  
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• 15-pound bag of frozen pork lands on family’s Florida home

  22-07-2017 02:32
  (Credit: WKMG)
  FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Meat falling from the sky is weird, even by Florida standards.
  But that’s what happened at 4 a.m. Saturday when a 15-pound bag of frozen pork landed on the Deerfield Beach home of Travis Adair and his family.
  Adair said Thursday that the package hit his roof with a “big bang.” He thought it was thunder, but his wife Jennie later went outside and found two bundles next to the house. His son Austin found three on the roof.
  “It ha
  
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• Oprah’s visit to Alaska leaves lasting impact on fans

  22-07-2017 02:25 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Media mogul Oprah Winfrey set foot in Sitka on Wednesday. She was ferried there on a Holland America cruise ship, with stops in Juneau and Ketchikan. Hundreds of loyal fans on board were seeking adventure, inspiration, and, if they were lucky, a chance to chat with the queen of daytime television.And after a long day’s hike.. Cheers to ya🍺 #lovinalaska
  A post shared by Oprah (@oprah) on Jul 17, 2017 at 8:11pm PDTRumors that she was coming to Sitka floated around for weeks. News rep
  
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• New Hampshire man captures rare blue lobster, donates to science

  22-07-2017 02:10
  PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — A New Hampshire lobsterman has joined an elite club after catching a rare blue lobster.
  The Portsmouth Herald reports Greg Ward initially thought he had snagged an albino lobster when he examined his catch Monday off the coast where New Hampshire borders Maine. The Rye lobsterman quickly realized his hard-shell lobster was a unique blue and cream color.
  Ward says the lobster is unlike anything he’s ever seen.
  A Rye lobsterman caught a hard-shelled blue and cream co
  
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• UK girl left in tears after she’s fined for selling lemonade

  22-07-2017 02:03
  LONDON (AP) – A British man and his young daughter have gained international attention after being fined for selling lemonade outside.
  Andre Spicer said his 5-year-old daughter was left in tears after local council officers fined her 150 pounds ($195) for selling lemonade without a license near their home in London.
  The girl was selling home-made lemonade to fans attending the Lovebox festival when she was fined.
  Spicer wrote an article about the experience for the Daily Telegraph that gat
  
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• U.S. to ban American citizens from visiting North Korea

  22-07-2017 02:00
  American citizens will be banned from traveling to North Korea beginning at the end of August, the State Department announced Friday.
  “Due to mounting concerns over the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention under North Korea’s system of law enforcement, the Secretary has authorized a Geographical Travel Restriction on all U.S. citizen nationals’ use of a passport to travel in, through, or to North Korea,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
  When the b
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 7-24-17

  22-07-2017 02:00 via ktoo.org
  Today on A Juneau Afternoon, Laury Scandling hosts.
   
  Photographer Daniel Fox will be here to talk about his work;
   
  We’ll talk with Charles Ward about A Civil Cup of Coffee;
  That, Writers Almanac, Bird Note, music and more, today on A Juneau Afternoon, live at 3 on KTOO, repeated at 4 on KRNN, and available on-demand via ktoo.org
   
  Tonight at 7 on Focus On Community, a broadcast of author David Ramseur’s talk about Melting the Ice Curtain, recorded last Tuesday night
  
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• China bans Justin Bieber from performing

  22-07-2017 01:56
  Justin Bieber performs at the ‘One Love Manchester’ Benefit Concert in Manchester, United Kingdom, Photo Date: June 4, 2017
  Pop star Justin Bieber is not welcome to perform in China, the capital said. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture said that Bieber’s past “bad behavior” precludes him from singing in China, though it did also say that Bieber has talent.
  In response to a question from a purported fan on its web page, the Bureau of Culture said it was acting i
  
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• Teens watched, laughed as man drowned, police say

  22-07-2017 01:53
  Jamel Dunn.
  COCOA, Fla. — Authorities in Florida say a group of teens watched and laughed as a man drowned in a retention pond last week.
  Jamel Dunn drowned in a retention pond in the city of Cocoa on July 9. Cocoa police say they later discovered a group of teens between the ages of 14 and 16 recorded the 32-year-old’s drowning on video, CBS Orlando affiliate WKMG-TV reports.
  The video was released by the state attorney’s office Thursday and audio was published by Florida Toda
  
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• Major parts of healthcare bill violate Senate rule

  22-07-2017 01:33
  The Senate parliamentarian has determined that certain provisions of the Senate Republicans’ original plan to repeal and replace Obamacare violate the “Byrd Rule,” meaning that they don’t qualify for passage under reconciliation’s 51-vote majority. Instead, they would be subject to a 60-vote point of order during a floor vote.
  The list of violations was released Friday evening by the Senate Budget Committee, which a Republican aide said are guidance on the earlier d
  
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• Wash. man charged with murdering, stealing from Ketchikan doctor

  22-07-2017 00:10
  A Washington man is accused of murdering a Ketchikan doctor at his home earlier this year, after local police say he transferred large sums of cash from the victim’s bank accounts and tried to send three shipping containers of goods from the home Outside.
  Jordan Joplin, 32, was indicted Friday by a Ketchikan grand jury on additional charges of first-degree and second-degree murder in the March death of Dr. Eric Garcia, the Ketchikan district attorney’s office said in a statement. Jop
  
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