Recently added articles from Anchorage Daily News (Anchorage, AK):

Plunge from balloon fatal for former Iditarod official.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: Beth Bragg Oct. 10--A former Iditarod Trail Committee executive director plunged to her death Monday in New Mexico when she was catapulted from the basket of a hot air balloon. Rosemary Phillips, who helped secure land and funding for the Iditarod's ...

BRIEF: Linehan's net of relationships shown in E-mails.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Oct. 10--Prosecutors introduced dozens of e-mails Tuesday in the murder trial of Mechele Linehan to illustrate the unusual relationships among Linehan, victim Kent Leppink and John Carlin. Former Alaska State Troopers investigator Linda Branchflower took the witness stand ...

Wasilla man found guilty, faces 99-plus years in prison.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: Andrew Wellner Oct. 10--PALMER -- A jury deliberated less than an hour Tuesday before convicting a Wasilla man of rape and assault. Todd Crist, 39, was found guilty on two counts of assault and one of rape and is now facing a prison sentence that could exceed ...

BRIEF: Troopers make heroin busts.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Oct. 10--JUNEAU -- A series of weekend heroin busts in Juneau resulted in at least three arrests, Alaska State Troopers said Tuesday. Southeast Alaska Narcotics Enforcement Team officers on Saturday arrested a Juneau man they say tried to accept nine grams of heroin through the ...

Hatcher Pass gets a cleanup.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: Zaz Hollander Oct. 10--WASILLA -- Michelle Spain and her daughter, Bobbi, clean up other people's trash on the Willow side of Hatcher Pass in an anti-litter campaign that began 15 years ago, when Bobbi was just 5. They do it for free, driving six-wheelers with ...

BRIEF: Amber Alert test scheduled Friday.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Oct. 10--A test of the Alaska Amber Alert system is scheduled at 8:10 a.m. Friday, Alaska State Troopers say. The full test of the system might appear to be real, but it is only a test and will be labeled as such, trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said. The program is ...

EDITORIAL: Alcohol tax.(Editorial)

Oct 10, 2007 ... Oct. 10--It's not the liquor merchant, distributor or distiller who abuses alcohol. It's the individual who decides to drink beyond reason -- or who drinks beyond the ability to decide -- who abuses alcohol. So why tax the seller of a legal substance that, when used in ...

Turbine fire 5th in two months.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: Wesley Loy Oct. 10--BP has notified state officials of another fire, the fifth in North Slope oil fields in two months. Like two of the previous fires, the latest fire involved a powerful turbine engine inside a huge oil processing plant in the Prudhoe Bay oil ...

Chugach moose hunt might end next week.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: George Bryson Oct. 10--A special moose hunt in Chugach State Park designed to reduce over-browsing and moose starvation may end next week, according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game area biologist Rick Sinnott. The hunt was scheduled to last two months -- ...

Viotto, Dahl lead Eagle River spikers.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Oct. 10--Eagle River's Nicole Viotto and Shayla Dahl powered the Wolves over East in Tuesday's CIC match. Viotto registered a team-high 14 kills and 23 digs, while Dahl chipped in 13 kills to help Eagle River win 25-19, 27-25, 17-25, 25-18. Katherine Pili notched 19 ...

Kintz leads women in Tuesday's whittled running field.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Oct. 10--Brook Kintz was the top women's finisher in the Lightning League to win this week's edition of the Tuesday Night Race Series at Chuck Albrecht Fields. Frank Cahill was the men's winner in race No. 6 of the nine-race series. Tuesday's race featured 683 ...

States asked to investigate Hawaiin Vacations purchase.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: Elizabeth Bluemink Oct. 10--A consumer watchdog group asked Alaska's attorney general Tuesday to investigate Alaska Airlines' recent purchase of the only business offering direct flights between Alaska and Hawaii. The Seattle-based airline's partial buyout of ...

Kott seeks acquittal; or chance in a new trial.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: Lisa Demer Oct. 10--Former House Speaker Pete Kott wants a federal judge to throw out the jury decision last month to convict him of three corruption charges or, at the least, to grant him a new trial. In a 12-page memorandum filed last week, Kott's lawyer ...

Valley is city killers' body dump.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: Andrew Wellner Oct. 10--Dallas Massie, recently retired after many years as a detective with the Alaska State Troopers, confessed surprise the day his former cohorts discovered the body of Mindy Schloss in woods not far from his home on Knik-Goose Bay Road. ...

Blanchard and Adams cut, Burnett kept in last Houston vote tally.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: Rindi White Oct. 10--WASILLA -- The final ballot count shows Houston voters turned down two incumbents' bids for re-election to the City Council and returned Councilwoman Rosemary Burnett to office for another three years. The vote tally remains unofficial ...

Kohring trial to stay in Alaska; judge denies venue change.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: Lisa Demer Oct. 10--Former state Rep. Vic Kohring was back in federal court Tuesday for a quick hearing on a new indictment handed up last week. His trial is set to begin in less than two weeks, and it won't be moved to the Seattle area the way his lawyer ...

Magadan's calling.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: S.J. Komarnitsky Oct. 10--WASILLA -- During his childhood in Talkeetna, Michael Shields' mother often admonished him to eat his oatmeal or she would send him to Siberia. He obeyed his mother but it made no difference. The former Palmer pastor has ...

Aces paint the town pink.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Byline: Doyle Woody Oct. 10--Surveying Sullivan Arena's "pink" ice, which appears nearly red for exhibition hockey games with a charity twist this week, some Alaska Aces got in touch with their inner artist Tuesday morning. "Somebody spilled their Kool-Aid on the ...

BRIEF: Beaver crashes at Bible camp.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Oct. 10--KING SALMON -- A Branch River Air DHC2 Beaver crashed on landing over the weekend at a Bible camp about 50 miles southeast of King Salmon, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board said today. There were three people on board and ...

BRIEF: Police target handicap parking.

Oct 10, 2007 ... Oct. 10--Police are on increased alert this month for vehicles illegally parked in handicapped spaces, Anchorage police said. Normally, police respond to complaints and make sweeps to find violators. Throughout October, which is National Disability Awareness Month, officers from ...