TWO-LEGGED DOG IS WALKING ON PROSTHESES (9News.com, Denver): Just two days after being fitted with two artificial legs at a Denver clinic, Andre -- the mutt that chewed off two of his feet when he was caught in a leg-hold trap in Mat-Su -- got his first second chance to stand, and it didn't take him long to figure out how to walk. The article includes a 42-shot slide show of Andre during and after fitting. Here's a video of Andre trying to stay upright before he got the prostheses.

THE NIGHT BOB HOPE'S PLANE NEARLY HIT A MOUNTAIN IN ALASKA (Pensacola News Journal): A retired Air Force colonel who piloted entertainer Bob Hope on USO tours during World War II recalls a flight that "almost ended in tragedy" when the troupe's Lockheed Lodestar iced up over Valdez and began losing altitude. After the scare, Hope's sense of humor was intact and the tour - Hope's first - continued on to Anchorage, Fairbanks and the Aleutian Islands. In a 2003 article celebrating Hope's 100th birthday, USA Today revisited three other "brushes with death" Hope had.

"AMERICAN CHOPPER" CREW VISITS GOV. PALIN (People): The governor recently welcomed the crew from Orange County Choppers - whose custom motorcycle business is featured on TLC's "American Chopper" - to Anchorage, where show star Paul Teutul Sr. researched building a bike to honor Alaska's 50th anniversary of statehood. The episode debuts at 8 and 10 p.m. Thursday. See the preview at Alaska Dispatch.

GARRISON KEILLOR: RETRIBUTION, RESTORATION AND TED STEVENS (Salon.com, Tribune Media): "I sat next to Ted Stevens at a Washington dinner years ago and found him unpleasant in a raspy, cartoonish way, but I was happy to see his conviction thrown out. ... I say, have mercy. Let him go fishing in the cold, clear rivers of Alaska and examine his conscience, as we all do in our better hours, and let us all move on to something more promising."

PREDICTED COOL SUMMER DOESN'T CHILL FIRE FEARS IN SOUTHCENTRAL (Redoubt Reporter): The Alaska Interagency Coordination Center just released its Alaska fire danger outlook for 2009. The one area of the state that stands out as having a hazardous fuels warning is Southcentral Alaska, mainly the Matanuska and Susitna valleys, the Anchorage Hillside, and the western portion of the Kenai Peninsula. The continuing effects of the spruce bark beetle epidemic are partly the cause.

PAN-ARCTIC INUIT COUNCIL WANTS MORE SAY IN SOVEREIGNTY (Canwest News Service): In a stinging rebuke of the five polar nations ringing the Arctic Ocean, the organization representing the world's 150,000 Inuit has issued a declaration on Arctic sovereignty, decrying the "neglect" that "outsiders" - led by the governments of Canada, Russia, the United States, Denmark and Norway - have shown toward the region's Native inhabitants at a time of unprecedented global interest in the Far North.

RADIO: KNBA'S SHYANNE ISN'T SHY (First Alaskans): Shyanne Beatty, host and producer of the indigenous music show "Earthsongs," talks about her youth in Eagle. "Radio was everything. It was magical. ... It was a lifeline for rural Alaska, a lifeline to the outside world." With photo ALSO:

> Lights out for local programming on KUDO (The Mudflats)

RITE OF SPRING: ICE JAMS LEAD TO FLOODING IN SALCHA (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner): An ice jam on the Tanana River was causing flooding in Salcha on Tuesday in what has become a rite of spring in the small community 40 miles south of Fairbanks.

GOOGLE MAP: COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE IN ALASKA (Ester Republic): Yes, there are CSA farms in the Matanuska Valley. But did you know about the ones in Skagway, Bethel and Homer - not to mention a bunch near Fairbanks.

ALASKA-RAISED SNOWBOARD SUPERSTAR WANTS TO COME HOME (ESPN): Juneau native Mark Landvik, star of several extreme-snowboarding movies, is looking for opportunities to explore more Alaska terrain.

COMIC: BAKED ALASKA (Popular Science): Gas hydrates could produce more energy than all other fossil fuels combined. Alaska's got a giant stash of this alternative energy source on the North Slope. Check out this 4-panel comic to get the inside scoop.

Return to Alaska Newsreader later in the day for new links.

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT NEWSREADERS:

Don't waste tax money: Anchorage is not a cycling-friendly city (The Alaska Standard)

Photos: Cliffhanger of a plane landing near Talkeetna (AOPA Pilot, SuperCub.org)

Opportunists cash in on Redoubt ash (Homer Tribune)

Video: Breakup blues in Quinhagak (Ah Alaska!)

Dead man's snowmachine found; mystery deepens (Homer Tribune)