News

Fake money was floating around an Unalaska bar bar last week. According to the Unalaska Department of Public Safety, a counterfeit $100 bill turned up in a bank deposit on Monday. Officers concluded that the bill had been used at the Harbor View Bar and Grill, and that it had been mixed in with employee tips.

Tuesday night, Canadian authorities used an aircraft and a search dog to hunt down an Anchorage man who sought to elude a border check at Beaver Creek on the Alaska Highway. The fugitive is identified as Jason Echeverri, 29. Not much more information is yet available about the incident. The highway into Haines Junction was closed for a while during the search.

A woman was found dead Tuesday morning in an Anchorage church parking lot and police say she is the victim of a homicide. Police Lt. Dave Parker says two neighbors spotted the woman and attempted to come to her aid. They called police at 8:14 a.m.

Hunks of styrofoam, floats, some barrels and a basketball are some of the things that are turning up on Alaska shores from the Japan tsunami of 2011. More will be coming, borne by trans-Pacific ocean currents. Today the statewide public radio call-in show “Talk of Alaska” got an update on tsunami debris.

The Federal Communications Commission is assessing current rules over how much mobile spectrum one company can own. Some smaller mobile companies, like those in Alaska, are hoping it will give them a better chance to capture more, high-quality airwaves.

Pending a November court date, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has placed a stay on work on the Port MacKenzie rail spur in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The court is asking for a full review of the case following a lawsuit brought against the Federal Surface Transportation Board by environmental groups and individual citizens.

Results from exploratory wells in North Slope shale oil deposits are encouraging. Anchorage based Great Bear Petroleum is doing field work aimed at determining if the unconventional crude source is economically recoverable.

Last week, the Bristol Bay community of Naknek celebrated the official opening of a new multi-use trail near the school, known as the “Sockeye Run Fitness Trail and Bike Path.” The trail is 5-years and some $200,000 in the making, and was completed thanks to the work of multiple agencies, countless volunteers, and one dedicated young girl with a vision.

The demographics of Alaska, including rural populations, are changing in some unexpected ways. Between 2000 and 2010, the population of Pacific Islanders in the state doubled to more than 12,000. And they aren’t just in the state’s urban centers. More than 3 percent of Barrow residents identify as Pacific Islanders. As part of our series looking at rural life in Alaska, APRN contributor Anne Hillman spoke with members of Barrow’s Samoan community to find out how the islanders from the far south fit into the small community of the far north.

Last week the village store in Kivalina was shut down while state troopers investigated a theft. The store had $180,000 on hand in its safe to cash forthcoming Permanent Fund Dividend checks in hopes that villagers would spend locally. Somebody broke into the store and took the money out of the safe, which may not have been locked.

Five people have been indicted on charges of embezzling almost a half-million dollars from the Trident Seafoods plant in Kodiak. U.S. Attorney Aunnie Steward says the nearly $500,000 discrepancy was discovered some time after bookkeeper Isa Wolfe was fired two years ago.

Fairbanks borough voters consider a ballot proposition in Tuesday’s municipal election, that if passed will stop the borough government from regulating heating devices. It’s the latest volley in the war over air quality.

The North Pole Economic Development Corporation is planning to host the International Federation of Sleddog Sports 2013 World Championships. Twenty-four events are scheduled to take place over the course of 20 days in February and March. But disagreement over a list of banned substances for sled dogs has put the long distance race in jeopardy.

An outbreak of chickenpox in Soldotna and Homer has state public health officials worried about the high number of local children who are not receiving vaccinations.

The body of 48-year old Debbie Kimoktoak was found last Friday on the beach southwest of Unalakleet. Alaska State Trooper Spokesperson Beth Ipsen says a Bering Air helicopter pilot reported spotting the body southwest of Unalakleet.