Alaska News

AK Beat: Fairbanks driver killed in moose collision

Fairbanks woman killed in moose collision: Brittney Zabriskie of Fairbanks was killed after her car hit a moose on Sheep Creek Road, six miles northwest of the Fairbanks city center. The 23-year-old Zabriskie died after her Subaru struck a moose early Saturday, sending the car into a nearby ditch, according to Alaska State Troopers. Her body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner's office, in Anchorage, for an autopsy. Zabriskie's next-of-kin have been notified of her death.

Color Run adding an Alaska city: Billed as the "Happiest 5k on the planet," the Color Run is coming back to Anchorage, Alaska, after selling out with more than 15,000 runners in Alaska's largest city in June. But organizers want to add another Alaska city to their schedule. The for-profit company that organizes the events – where runners are frequently showered with colored powder during their 5k run – said it has narrowed down the possible candidates to Kenai and Juneau.

Deadspin.com takes crack at Eskimo ice cream: An article on the website deadspin.com claims eating Akutaq – also known as Eskimo ice cream – is only slightly more fun than getting hit by a car. "The Great American Menu" ranks various states' foodstuffs. At the top of the list: Illinois and its Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Alaska's Akutaq – a combination of whipped fat and berries – is very near the bottom and only beats out food from Nevada, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Ohio. The writer claims that Akutaq is eaten by Alaskans only because they need its nutrients, "to get through their pitch-dark 'days' of drilling for oil, hunting kidnapped prostitutes across the tundra, and starving to death in abandoned buses."

Virtual Denali National Park: If you can't get the kids to Denali National Park, fear not. The park will come to the kids. Welcome to the virtual world of the 21st century. "As it may be difficult, if not impossible, for most teachers and students to come to the park, the National Park Service has created new, free, interactive, distance-learning programs to help classes learn about this special place and enhance existing curriculum," according to a media release. "Denali education rangers will teleport themselves via Skype into elementary school classrooms to present fun, standards-based science lessons on sled dog adaptations and the geology of Mount McKinley." There are additional programs for grades K-12. All teachers need do is register here. What's next? Virtual tours for adults so they too can experience Alaska without leaving the living room sofa?

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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