Alaska News Nightly: October 2, 2012

Individual news stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS.

Download Audio

Homicide Victim Found In Church Parking Lot

The Associated Press

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.

She was in the parking lot of the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship church on Turnagain Ave. in west Anchorage. The woman has not been identified. Parker says she was wearing brown shirt and black pants and had auburn hair.

More Tsunami Debris Heading Toward Alaska

Steve Heimel, APRN – Anchorage

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.

FCC Revisiting Airwave Laws

Peter Granitz, APRN – Washington DC

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.

Court Places Stay On Port MacKenzie Rail Spur Work

Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage

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.

Great Bear Petroleum Determining Feasibility Of Recovering Shale Oil Deposits

Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks

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.

Panels Discuss Studies for Pebble Mine in Anchorage

Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage

The second in a series of science panels about the proposed Pebble Mine, got underway Tuesday at the University of Alaska Anchorage library. Panelists are discussing studies conducted in the Bristol Bay Watershed, near the proposed Pebble Mine site in Southwest Alaska. Supporters say the panels will legitimize the science. Critics say that the panels, paid for by the Pebble Partnership cannot be objective.

Naknek Opens New Fitness Trail

Dave Bendinger, KDLG – Dillingham

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.

Pacific Islanders Find Home In Barrow

Lori Townsend, APRN – Anchorage

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.

Previous articleArctic Shipping: Not If, But How Much?
Next articleAlaska Cultural Connections: Pacific Islanders Find Home In Barrow