Week in review

Ward tried to protect himself

Former state Sen. Jerry Ward persuaded a key witness in the Ted Stevens trial to invent and then lie about a broad immunity deal because Ward was trying to protect himself from federal prosecution, the Justice Department said in a new court filing. Ward, though not directly identified in a series of documents filed electronically after hours in Washington, D.C., was unmistakably described by Justice officials as the instigator who sought protection through witness Dave Anderson.

Dream season may be kaput

Alaska's latest shot at professional basketball likely died when the Alaska Dream's opponent decided not to show for Monday's season opener at Sullivan Arena. The Dream were scheduled to play the Washington Raptors on Monday and Tuesday in their official American Basketball Association debut. The games were canceled after team owners butted heads Sunday night over the Raptors' travel arrangements. Dream owner Trey Davis bought the Raptors tickets that would have kept them in Anchorage until Thursday, saying earlier return flights were booked. Raptors owner Regina Joseph said her players needed to be back in Seattle by Thursday morning so they wouldn't miss work at their real jobs.

Wednesday

State officials worth more

A new state commission says the Alaska governor ought to get a $25,000 a year raise. Asked to figure out how much Alaska should pay its top officials, the group recommends pay hikes for the lieutenant governor, department heads and legislators too. "We need the best people we can get to do some pretty tough jobs against some often incredibility well-financed, single-minded corporate and individual interests," said Rick Halford, a former legislator and chairman of the new State Officers Compensation Commission.

Feds want protection for otters

A federal agency is proposing habitat protection for Alaska sea otters in the Aleutian Islands, where numbers have dwindled by more than half in 20 years. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal issued Tuesday would designate 5,879 square miles of ocean near the shoreline in Southwest Alaska as critical habitat.

Thursday

2 not guilty in 2006 shootout

A Superior Court jury this afternoon found two men charged in a 2006 shootout at Anchorage Football Stadium not guilty of dozens criminal charges stemming from the episode. Clayton Nai and Norman Fagafaga had faced attempted murder and assault charges in the case. The jury had been deliberating since Tuesday on the case.

Friday

Machete attacker found guilty

A Superior Court jury in Palmer has convicted Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. of murder, attempted murder and animal cruelty charges stemming from a wild, bloody machete attack a year ago that left Rogers' father dead. The jury returned the verdict shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday after deliberating for about half a day. Rogers, 29, was convicted of murdering his father, Christopher Rogers Sr., assaulting his father's fiancee, Elann Moren, and hacking the family dog, Bear. The victims were attacked in the family home.

Spike in suicides stuns officials

Alaska State Troopers and state health officials are reporting a stunning number of suicides so far this month in Western Alaska, most of them teenagers. Since the start of December, six people have killed themselves in communities on or near the Seward Peninsula, including three in the small community of Selawik, population 820. More have attempted to kill themselves in recent weeks, troopers said. "It's alarming. It's disturbing," troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters. "It's a tragedy all the way around, and we just want to see it stop."

State takes over nursing home

State health officials took over an Anchorage nursing home after finding that there was "immediate danger to the health, safety or welfare" of its residents. Two or three residents at the Mary Conrad Center were hospitalized as a result of the state's five-day investigation last week, though state officials said that none of them faced life-threatening problems. Some local residents said the long-term care center's problems date to its sale this year to RainDance Healthcare Corp. Inc., a Seattle company owned by a controversial former nursing-home executive who had stints involving corporate lawsuits and bankruptcy.

Saturday

Sen. Cowdery enters guilty plea State Sen. John Cowdery pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to bribery and extortioN, the latest public official to fall in the broad public corruption investigation in Alaska. Cowdery, 78, acknowledged conspiring with top officials of the former oil-field service company Veco Corp. to attempt to get $25,000 into the campaign of another state senator in 2006. In exchange, the state senator was to have supported Veco's position on pending oil-tax legislation. The bargain was never consummated, but it led to the indictment of Cowdery, a Republican who has represented parts of the Anchorage Hillside and Lake Otis Parkway area for 14 years in the Alaska House and Senate.