Anchorage news

• Environmental group to sue Trump administration over Pacific walrus

  12-10-2017 23:37 via ktoo.org
  A young Pacific Walrus bull in coastal Alaska waters. (Photo by Joel Garlich-Miller/USFWS)
  An environmental group announced on Thursday that it plans to sue the Trump administration for refusing to list the Pacific walrus under the Endangered Species Act.
  The Center for Biological Diversity first petitioned the feds to list the walrus in 2008 — the same year the polar bear was listed as threatened. The Center argues the same forces that threaten polar bears — including climate change
  
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• Newscast – Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017

  12-10-2017 23:05 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ktoo/2017/10/20171012newscast.mp3In this newscast:
  electronics larger than cell phones must be put in bins with nothing on top or beneath for X-ray screening, under new rules;
  the Mexican consulate in Seattle will send officials to Alaska next week to assist with Mexican passports;
  an environmental group has filed notice that it will sue the federal government over its rejection of Pacific walrus as a threatened or endangered species; and
  Doyon Ltd. is conside
  
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• Pebble opponents hammer EPA for changed course at Dillingham meeting

  12-10-2017 22:14 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Anuska Wysoki from Koliganek told EPA its withdrawal of proposed Clean Water Act restrictions “is a threat to me and my people and our very existence as a people of this land.”
  (Photo by KDLG)
  The Environmental Protection Agency is backing away from the use of preemptive Clean Water Act restrictions against large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed. That comes as part of a settlement with the Pebble Limited Partnership, and the company now says it is preparing to file for permi
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 10-13-17

  12-10-2017 21:43 via ktoo.org
  Tuesday on A Juneau Afternoon, Scott Burton will be your host:
   
  Bill Merk will be here to preview this weekend’s 7th Annual Poetry Grand Slam;
   
  We’ll talk with Corinn Canlon about the upcoming Garlic Lover’s Fest;
   
  We’ll learn about Perseverance Theatre’s presentation, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare;
   
  Missouri Smyth will be here to highlight music and culture presentations at Floyd Dryden Middle School.
   
  At 4, tune in to KTOO
  
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• Alaska says flu season is here, vaccinations recommended

  12-10-2017 20:32 via ktoo.org
  Though September saw another small spike in infection rates, the typical peak of the season is just around the corner.
  (Graphic courtesy Alaska Department of Health and Social Services)
  Alaska has seen a spike of reported cases of flu since the beginning of September, reports the State of Alaska Section of Epidemiology.
  Health officials up through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are urging Americans to get a flu shot to prevent contracting and spreading the troublesome virus.
  “A publi
  
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• Democrats in Congress join fight against Pebble Mine

  12-10-2017 20:12 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Pebble is now looking at using a large ferry to haul ore across Iliamna Lake, rather than construct northern or southern route roads from the mine site to a new port in Cook Inlet. (Image courtesy Pebble Limited Partnership)
  Opponents of the proposed Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska are getting a boost from Democrats in Congress.
  http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20171011-02.mp3Forty-two members of the U.S. House and Senate wrote President Donald Trump and asked him Wednesday to overrule Environment
  
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• New bill aims to reverse Obama restrictions on offshore drilling

  12-10-2017 20:01 via ktoo.org
  A U.S. House panel took up a bill Wednesday that would, among other things, block new environmental and safety standards the Obama administration imposed on Arctic offshore drilling.http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20171011-03.mp3The Obama administration argued that environmental concerns and difficult operating conditions required tougher standards in the Arctic than in other parts of the country.
  At the House hearing today, Alaska Rep. Don Young asked a witness from the American Petroleum Instit
  
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• Trump uses executive pen to chip away at Obamacare

  12-10-2017 19:51 via ktoo.org
  President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that is intended to provide more options for people shopping for health insurance. The president invoked his power of the pen after repeated Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, have failed.
  “The competition will be staggering,” Trump said. “Insurance companies will be fighting to get every single person signed up. And you will be, hopefully, negotiating, negotiating, negotiating
  
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• Airport screening change for electronics rolling out in Southeast Alaska

  12-10-2017 03:50 via ktoo.org
  Airport security screening rules for carry-on bags are changing again.
  Soon, any electronics larger than a cell phone must be put in bins with nothing on top or beneath for X-ray screening. That’s already the status quo for laptops.
  The Transportation Security Administration said the change will raise baseline aviation security. It will be implemented at airports in Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Cordova and Yakutat over the next five weeks
  
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• As Trump administration removes federal roadblocks, Pebble Mine fight shifts to state

  12-10-2017 02:51 via ktoo.org
  In this 2011 photo, an exploration camp sits on top of the Pebble deposit, one of the largest undeveloped copper, gold and molybdenum deposits in the world. (Photo courtesy U.S. EPA)
  The proposed Pebble Mine is gaining momentum again, based on a settlement with the Trump Administration.
  Last week, developers released a new vision for the project in southwest Alaska. Now that the federal government has removed a major roadblock, Alaskans can expect a lot more action at the state level.
  When Pebbl
  
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• Homicide defendant calls for mid-trial review of search warrants

  12-10-2017 02:47 via ktoo.org
  Juneau Police Officer Lee Phelps describes his experience and background to the jury during the Christopher Strawn homicide trial on Oct. 11, 2017. (Photo by Matt Miller)
  Wednesday’s testimony in the Christopher Strawn homicide trial focused largely on the police investigation into Brandon Cook’s death in October 2015.
  Testimony on Wednesday was similar to what was provided by witnesses in the first trial last February. But trial proceedings differed with two unusual diversions creat
  
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• Anchorage officials want reforms on SB 91, not repeal

  12-10-2017 02:21 via ktoo.org
  Anchorage Assembly members debate a resolution on SB91, October 10, 2017 (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
  Amid growing criticism of the state’s new criminal justice laws, officials in Anchorage are asking lawmakers for reforms, not a full repeal.
  During its Tuesday night meeting, the Anchorage Assembly debated dueling measures concerning Senate Bill 91, the omnibus crime overhaul signed into law last summer.
  One of the non-binding resolutions asked lawmakers for specific imp
  
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• Juneau Afternoon – 10-12-17

  12-10-2017 02:00 via ktoo.org
  Thursday at 3 on a Juneau Afternoon,
  Deb Rydman, Career Services person, the UAS point person for Veterans at UAS, will be here.
   
  Alison Holtcamp will be here to highlight this weekend’s Club Baby Seal comedy performance;
   
  We’ll talk with Damon Stuebner about this week’s Reel History screening;
   
  Sara Schaefer will be here to talk about New Member Month;
   
  And Nancy DeCherney will be here with Arts Up.
   
  That, Writer’s Almanac, Bird Note, music
  
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• Igiugig hikes to Big Mountain as a part of their local food challenge

  12-10-2017 01:56 via ktoo.org
  Backpackers from Igiugig hiked the 23 miles to Big Mountain in four days. (Photo courtesy Tatyana Zackar)
  Igiugig is more than half way through their local foods challenge.
  The village decided to try eating only locally produced food for six weeks when the students read about a similar project in Australia.
  They also incorporated a traditional hike into the experiment.
  Big Mountain, 23 miles east of Igiugig, is a customary meeting place between people from Igiugig and Kokhanok.
  Fifteen adults an
  
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• Coast Guard rescues two goat hunters in Juneau

  12-10-2017 01:49 via ktoo.org
  Two men hunting goats suffered mild hypothermia after getting stuck on Blackerby Ridge in Juneau late Tuesday night.  
  According to a Coast Guard news release, the two men, ages 22 and 24, radioed the Coast Guard for help at about 8:30 p.m.  
  The men were not prepared to stay out past sundown and were dehydrated. Their water froze, and they were unable to start a fire.  
  Coast Guard Air Station Si
  
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• Industry, environmental groups speak out as Hilcorp paves the way for drilling in federal Arctic waters

  12-10-2017 01:20 via ktoo.org
  A 3-D rendering of Hilcorp’s proposed Liberty project as represented in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s draft environmental impact statement. (Image courtesy BOEM)
  Regulators are taking input on what could be the nation’s first oil production platform in federal Arctic waters.
  The oil and gas company Hilcorp wants to build a gravel island in shallow waters in the Beaufort Sea, east of Prudhoe Bay. The Liberty project would be similar to several gravel islands built to p
  
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• Trial for fatal Petersburg van crash now set for 2018

  12-10-2017 01:03 via ktoo.org
  Two people died and two were injured in this Fourth of July 2016 car wreck in Petersburg. The vehicle overturned into the ditch near South Harbor off South Nordic Drive. (Photo by Angela Denning/KFSK)
  A man accused of murder in a fatal van wreck on July 4, 2016, in Petersburg won’t go on trial until next summer.
  Chris Allen, 24, faces charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault and unsworn falsification in the van crash that killed two young women and injured a third.
  The four w
  
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