Alaska Air National Guard conducts two rescues Saturday: Rescue personnel with the Alaska Air National Guard conducted a medevac for a 2-week-old infant with symptoms of pneumonia from the Southwest Alaska community of New Stuyahok early Saturday, then later the same day rescued three hikers who were unprepared to spend the night on the Crow Pass Trail between Eagle River and Girdwood. According to a release from the Air Guard, rescuers left for New Stuyahok shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday to assist in the medevac of the infant, who was reportedly coughing, vomiting and having trouble breathing. An HC-130 aircraft and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter were dispatched to the community, returning to Anchorage around 9:30 a.m. and delivering the infant to Alaska Native Medical Center. Then, around 7:30 p.m., 43-year-old Kathern Janes contacted Soldotna Public Safety Dispatch and reported that her husband, 39-year-old Nicholas Janes, and their two sons, ages 11 and 15, were overdue in Girdwood after leaving Eagle River earlier that day to hike the Crow Pass Trail, according to Alaska State Troopers. The three hikers were reportedly unprepared to spend the night outdoors. An HH-60 was launched to search for the overdue hikers, and spotted a campfire around midnight. The helicopter landed and rescue personnel contacted the hikers, who reportedly wore tennis shoes and jeans, with no hats or gloves. The three were taken back to Anchorage and delivered to Providence Alaska Medical Center for evaluation, troopers said.
Jeff King wins Kobuk 440: Call it a consolation prize. After Jeff King's 2014 Iditarod run fell apart in the final hours due to roaring wind and biting cold, King was able to come out in front of another race, the Kobuk 440, which got underway Thursday from Kotzebue. King returned to Kotzebue at 12:12 a.m. Sunday, more than an hour ahead of second-place finisher Tony Browning. King nabs $12,000 with the win. "427 miles, 20hours and 2 min rest, 59 hours and 42 minutes total elapsed time. Wow, was that fun," King wrote on his Facebook page after finishing the race Sunday.
Tell us something we don't know: Anchorage residents are paying more for their fruits and veggies, than any other metro area in the nation, according to Gallup, which added that the Last Frontier has held that rank since 2008. The website also says that it is harder for those Southcentral folks to obtain them. Prescott, Ariz. also landed close to the bottom, while Olympia, Wash. landed at the top of the list, with its residents paying less than any other metro area.
Lawmakers create Dr. Walter Soboleff Day: The Alaska State Legislature has created a day to celebrate Dr. Walter Soboleff -- a Tlingit elder, minister, storyteller, scholar and businessman. On Nov. 14 of every year Alaska will celebrate his lifelong efforts to preserve his Alaska Native heritage. Soboleff died in 2011 at the age of 102. The House passed the bill last month, and was on Saturday the senate unanimously voted in favor of the legislation. It now moves to Gov. Sean Parnell for his signature.
Proved oil reserves reach highest point in decades: Proved reserves of crude oil in the U.S. are the highest they've been in 36 years, according to a report from Bloomberg. Proved reserves, which climbed 15 percent in 2012, grew as a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing made recovering tight oil feasible, and as crude prices that averaged more than $90 a barrel made drilling more economical.