The Associated Press

One of the soldiers accused in the hazing-related death of a Fort Wainwright Army private has been demoted and forced to forfeit part of his pay. Sgt. Travis Carden was punished at Fort Bragg in a summary court-martial. He was demoted to specialist and must forfeit two-thirds of his pay for one month.

A NOAA law enforcement officer says about 20 beluga whales were stranded in Turnagain Arm. Officer Noah Meisenheimer says he spotted the whales on the mudflats of Turnagain Arm at about 8 p.m. Tuesday. He says they were clustered up in a small pool at low tide.

An Anchorage man has pleaded guilty to illegally disposing of more than 204,000 pounds of hazardous waste. William Duran Vizzerra Jr. entered his plea Friday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. Sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 14.

Alaska State Troopers on Monday identified the officer involved in a fatal shooting last week. In a web posting, troopers said Sgt. Paul Anthony "Tony" Wegrzyn shot and killed Justin Lloyd Abrahamson on Friday after Abrahamson advanced on troopers with a raised bat.

A former fisheries aide to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, convicted of falsifying his own fishing records, is scheduled for release from prison by Saturday. According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Arne Fuglvog has been serving time at a minimum security camp in Virginia.

Scientists tracking marine mammals in the Chukchi Sea report a record number of gray whales calves in July. The federal Alaska Fisheries Science Center says, 57 cow and calf pairs were recorded. The Eastern North Pacific population of gray whales is estimated between 18,000 and 21,000.

One person has been killed in a trooper-involved shooting on the Glenn Highway north of Anchorage. Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen says a man was killed Friday morning in an exchange of gunfire with a trooper. Ipsen says the man was shot after leading law enforcement on a chase that began in Wasilla.

Nearly two years after the death of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, a Senate panel has recommended that a Navy warship be named in his honor. Stevens' legacy has already been memorialized through having a mountain named after him in his home state of Alaska, as well as the now-annual Ted Stevens Day. But several senators on Thursday said it would be particularly fitting for a warship to be named for Stevens, given his strong support for the military and service men and women during his 40 years in the Senate.

A military jury has found an Army sergeant not guilty of negligent homicide in the death of an Army private based at Fort Wainwright who killed himself in Afghanistan.

A 50-year-old Eagle River man is listed in critical condition Wednesday, three days after he was mauled by a bear. His injuries are more serious than first believed.

Fairbanks police say the death of a 12-year-old boy by gunshot was an apparent accident. Malik Boykins on Wednesday was visiting a home near Fort Wainwright when he was hit in the head by a bullet from a .40-caliber handgun fired by another 12-year-old boy, who lives at the home.

Anchorage law enforcement officers say they've shut down the Seward Highway near Mile 70 as they search for an armed man suspected of kidnapping.

Gov. Sean Parnell is seeking a federal disaster declaration for the Chinook salmon fisheries on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. In a letter to Acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank Saturday, Parnell noted the troubling low salmon runs.

An Alaska-based soldier from Arizona has been killed in an attack in Afghanistan. U.S. Army Alaska officials identified the soldier as 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Carl Eric Hammar of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Officials say in a release that he died Saturday from injuries he received when his dismounted patrol was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire in the Khost Province.

The family of missing Mount Marathon runner Michael LeMaitre of Anchorage is calling off its search after more than a week of continuously looking for him on the mountain. The Seward Fire department also has suspended its search over the weekend because of depleting resources and poor weather conditions.

After being criticized for rushing a bill into the special session this year that some considered ill-conceived, the Parnell administration is now seeking a consultant to advise it on oil taxes.

Necropsy results show the baby beluga whale rescued in Alaska last month had multiple infections, including in his heart and lungs. Alaska SeaLife Center veterinarian Dr. Carrie Goertz says in an email to The Associated Press that early tests also confirmed suspicions that the whale's immune system wasn't fully developed.

Military officials say a team is continuing to remove debris on an Alaska glacier from an Air Force plane that crashed in 1952, killing all 52 people on board.

The small-plane crash in Homer that left former state Rep. Cheryll Heinze with fatal injuries also hurt the other four people on board, but all four have been treated at a hospital and released.