Two Bucks For A Turkey Huck
David Brabaw is clutching a frozen, 8-pound turkey in a pair of as-seen-on-TV Ove Gloves. He’s got a bowler’s stance as he eyes the pins at the end of the lane over the bird’s rump. There’s a hush as bird strikes the pins, then an eruption of cheers as the pins settle, including an ecstatic, guttural “YEAH!” from Brabaw — he got a strike. Brabaw’s not at a rowdy bowling alley, but on the eighth floor of Juneau’s State Office Building. He was one of a handful of state workers turkey bowling on Wednesday during the lunch hour. That unmistakable sound of bowling pins getting knocked around echoed up several stories of the building.
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ASD Surveys Community on Budget Cuts
Going into 2014, the Anchorage School District faces more budget cuts. The gap is big: $21 million, caused four years of flat funding from the governor combined with general cost of living increases. The School Board recently held three community meetings to gauge what the residents value as the district approaches the next round of cuts.
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Cancer Treatment In Juneau Finds Missing Component
Starting next month cancer patients in Juneau and Southeast Alaska won’t have far to travel for radiation treatment. The new Southeast Radiation Oncology Center opens December 12th in the Capital City. It’s the first radiation cancer treatment center in the region.
Juneau Has Cruise Industry Feeling Thirsty
Juneau’s water utility is not meeting peak demand during the summer cruise ship season. That caused the city to drastically reduce the amount of water it could sell to the cruise industry this year.
Troopers Arrest Idaho Fugitive in Willow
On Sunday, Talkeetna Wildlife Troopers arrested a man wanted in Idaho after conducting a traffic stop in Willow. The driver, Dustin Simpson, is wanted for probation violation.
6-Year-Old Kwethluk Boy In Serious Condition After Shooting Self In Abdomen
A 6-year-old boy in Kwethluk was shot in the stomach while playing with a loaded pistol. Troopers received a report Monday from the boy’s father, 36-year-old Evon Savage. He says his son Marcus was playing with the .22 pistol when it fired and hit him in the abdomen.
Prototype Home Could Serve as Model for Future Housing
Two new prototype homes in Atmautluak don’t look like experiments. They’re rectangular with a slanted red roof. But how they were built: very quickly and with limited equipment, could serve as a model for other homes in remote communities.
Sealaska CEO Lobbies Obama on Subsistance, 8(a) Contracts
Chris McNeil Jr. is president and chief executive officer for Sealaska, the regional Native corporation for Southeast. He and 11 tribal leaders from around the country met with the president to talk about creating jobs and sustainable economic development.
Quick Craft: DIY Heart Shirt
Shirts with big hearts are big right now, but despite the fad I actually think they are pretty cool.
I’ve had a few old cashmere sweaters awaiting crafting and this was the perfect short-attention-span craft: cut out a heart, sew it on a shirt.
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Stebbins Resident Weather Western Alaska Storms
While the communities of Kotlik and Unalakleet have received attention from state-wide media and government following a large storm a week and a half ago, residents in Stebbins feel they have been ignored. During the storm, rushing water surged through homes and roads in Stebbins. Drying racks, smoke-houses, boats, steam houses, and several homes were damaged or destroyed. Flood waters poured in so rapidly that many residents were stranded in their homes until they could be rescued by a bulldozer.
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Tlingit Code Talkers Receive Recognition
Navajo code talkers were recognized more than a decade ago for their service in World War II. They used their Native language as a code that the enemy was never able to crack, but until recently, no one knew that Tlingits from Southeast Alaska also served as code talkers.
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ConocoPhillips Adding New Drill Rig To Kuparak Oil Field
ConocoPhillips announced Wednesday that they are adding another new drill rig to the Kuparak oil field on the North Slope. This is the second rig they’ve added this year since the new oil tax bill was signed into law. The drill rig they installed in May is producing 1,600 barrels of oil per day.
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Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Revises Hydro Fracking Regs
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has revised their proposed hydraulic fracking regulations again. Some of the new rules aimed to give the public more information about the chemicals used in the controversial oil and gas extraction method. However in the latest version, companies are allowed to withhold some information from the public in order to protect their trade secrets.
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Alaska’s Insurance Director Resigns
The state's insurance director is resigning. Bret Kolb is leaving to become development director at Victory Ministries of Alaska, a bible camp and conference center based in Palmer. He has been on the job at the Division of Insurance for 18 months, during a time of incredible upheaval in the health insurance industry, with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
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Tennis Decision Postponed, Assembly Questions Funding
The Anchorage Assembly heard final testimony Tuesday on what has become a controversial proposal to build a rec center in the city with indoor tennis courts. The Assembly never asked for money for the project and accusations flew about how the tennis appropriation came about.
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Snow, Freezing Rain Headed To Anchorage
Anchorage residents will get relief from the clear and cold weather that has set in over the last few days, but the transition could be messy.
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Feds Finailze Otter Use Guidelines
The federal government has finalized new guidelines on the use of sea otters by Alaska Natives. The change is aimed at better-defining a requirement that hides must be “significantly altered” in order to be considered authentic native handicrafts or clothing that can be sold to non-natives.
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State Gets More Time For Fairbanks Air Quality Improvement Plan
The state of Alaska has more time to develop a plan to improve Fairbanks air quality. An Environmental Protection Agency deadline that passed last year is now December 31, 2014. The new timeline also comes with more stringent requirements related to addressing Fairbanks wintertime fine particulate pollution.
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Anchorage Police Say Beating Victim Was Left For Days
Anchorage police say an 18-year-old man found badly beaten in an abandoned downtown house two months ago likely had been attacked two to three days before he was found.
Healy Man Apparently Victim Of Mistaken Identity
A 28-year-old man is accused of beating a Healy man with a baseball bat in an apparent case of mistaken identity. Joshua R. Sanford of Healy is charged with felony assault.