Alaska News

AK Beat: Former youth justice officer arrested for sexual abuse of minor

Anchorage police arrest man accused of sexual abuse of a minor: The Anchorage Police Department reported Tuesday that they had arrested a man accused of sexual abuse of a minor.

According to a press release from APD, 32-year-old Daniel Carey was formerly employed as a justice officer at McLaughlin Youth Center, a 135-bed juvenile detention facility located in Anchorage's UMed district. Police said in the release that they had been informed Carey "had met a juvenile who had been a resident at McLaughlin and developed a sexual relationship with the juvenile after the juvenile had left the youth center."

An arrest warrant was issued for Carey on Friday, but police said they had not been able to locate or make contact with Carey as of Tuesday afternoon. An update later Tuesday evening said that Carey had been located and arrested.

Man accused of sexually assaulting minor: Anchorage police say they've arrested a 29-year-old man for allegedly sexually assaulting a female minor at a church in the neighborhood of Mountain View. Police responded to the report on Sunday, and people had already detained the suspect, David Chiklak (pictured), in the church parking lot when they arrived. A female adult and female juvenile were reportedly in the church's ladies restroom when the woman heard a man come in and call the young girl out. Soon after, the adult female heard the girl crying from the men's room and went to investigate. She found Chiklak standing over the girl with his belt unbuckled, spokesperson Jennifer Castro wrote in a press release. Police charged Chiklak with first-degree sexual abuse of a minor following an initial investigation. The suspect apparently wasn't a member of the church but was attending service with people who were. Police suspect the man may have more victims and are asking anyone with information to call Detective Christopher Thomas at 907-786-2628.

'Quiet health care revolution' comes to Alaska: The Alaska Primary Care Association on Tuesday released its request for letters of interest to health care providers interested in shifting aspects of their practice to a patient centered medical home model (PCMH). The association's senior director of health policy, David D'Amato, has described PCMH as a "quiet health care revolution" with the potential to drastically shift how health care is delivered and paid for in Alaska and nationwide. The upcoming grant program, Alaska PCMH Initiative, will award grants and technical assistance to health care providers well suited to transforming their practice, according to a press release.

DOT monitors water butting against avalanches near Valdez: A new video released by the Alaska Department of Transportation captures a flyover of the Keystone Canyon at mile 16 on the Richardson Highway, north of Valdez, on Monday. The video shows water draining from a lake created following a series of avalanches over the weekend that dammed the Lowe River and caused water levels to rise in the canyon. The lake has complicated efforts to clear the roadway, as it is blocking the road from the north, and flooding dangers could potentially put road-clearing crews in danger. On Tuesday morning, crews planned to begin clearing an avalanche at mile 39, north of the canyon. A flash flood watch was in effect through noon Wednesday from Keystone Canyon through mile 5, according to the National Weather Service. "The highest danger area is in the narrow portion of the canyon just downstream from the avalanche dam," the National Weather Service writes. DOT said it was monitoring water levels around the clock, and that water levels were dropping some Tuesday morning. The city of Valdez has also set up a live feed video camera at the southern mouth of the canyon to watch water flow. Light rain was falling in Valdez Tuesday morning, according to a DOT press release.

Spring comes early to the Kenai Peninsula?: Winter is over on the Kenai Peninsula -- at least for now. Chugach National Forest officials announced Tuesday there is so little snow left they are closing the entire forest to snowmachines. The Chugach blankets the eastern side of the Peninsula and contains some of the area's most popular snowmachine areas, like Turnagain Pass. The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, which covers most of the western Peninsula, remains open to snowmachines, but the snow is fading fast. The refuge's Facebook page noted temperatures of 48 degrees in Soldotna on Monday and the pussy willows were out. Unless the weather chills substantially and some snow arrives -- neither of which are in the forecast -- more areas could be closing for winter recreation by the weekend. The forecast for the Kenai calls for rain mixed with snow through the rest of the week, with high temperatures in the unseasonably warm range of 35 to 40 degrees.

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Yukon Quest alters route: There will be a little more Yukon in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race this year. According to a press release from the race's officials, the race will be re-routed from its usual route betwen Eagle and Dawson City over American Summit. Instead mushers and dog teams will head up the Yukon River for that portion of the race. "This decision was made based on reports from trailbreakers that the trail over American Summit is impassable in several locations," race officials said. The move will mean a total reduction in the overall length of the race of about 50 miles.

Near accident with Fairbanks troopers nets multiple charges: According to Alaska State Troopers, a Fairbanks driver was in jail on a host of charges after nearly hitting troopers with a vehicle early Tuesday morning. Troopers reported that officers were helping emergency medical services transport a patient at about 4 a.m. Tuesday when a Plymouth Breeze driven by 27-year-old Marthaan Arabie, of Fairbanks, nearly struck the officers. Arabie was charged with two counts of third-degree assault, felony driving under the influence, felony failure to stop, first-degree vehicle theft, reckless driving, driving while license revoked and two counts of violating conditions of release. Arabie was taken to the Fairbanks Correctional Center.

Alaska DOT creates dedicated webpage for Richardson avalanches: The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has created a dedicated page on its website for information about the series of slides that has closed the Richardson Highway north of Valdez indefinitely. The page includes a short summary of the situation and links to the department's latest updates, plus a map of the affected area and a number of the department's own photos of the disaster.

Fairbanks restaurant goes smoke-free: The Pump House is the latest Fairbanks restaurant to go smoke-free. It was a process that was years in the making, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. The restaurant banned smoking in the dining room five years ago, but still allowed it in the saloon. That's no more starting Feb. 7. The restaurant joins a handful of other popular Fairbanks restaurants to go smoke-free, including The Oasis, Food Factory and Pike's Landing. Smoking has been on the decline in Alaska in recent years. According to the state, 23 percent of Interior Alaskans reported smoking in 2012. There is no indoor smoking ban in the city of Fairbanks or in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.

Holly Brooks -- champion skier, Sriracha connoisseur: Alaska skier Holly Brooks is weeks away from hitting the trails in Sochi and she's bringing her beloved Sriracha hot sauce with her. Brooks, in an adorable Q&A with Sriracha blogger "Sriracha Indy," details the beginnings of her Sriracha love, as well as what brings her back to the spicy, garlic-chili sauce for everything from Thai food to huevos rancheros. In case you were wondering, yes, according to the interview, Sriracha does give Brooks a little bit of a Popeye-dose of super human strength by making her feel more at home while she's on the road.

Canadian Arctic Naval base slowly sinking: A deep-water wharf that was built to resupply Canada's Arctic naval patrols is slowly sinking, according to a report from Toronto's Globe and Mail. The facility at Nanisivik, Nunavat, the Canadian Navy's northernmost, was built in the 1970s as a hub to help allow the nation's northern patrols to be extended further. Drilling beneath the Baffin Island site discovered a deep layer of clay that appears to be compressing. Those drilling results, presented at a civil engineering conference in Alaska, are now linked to the sinking of the facility, though they don't constitute enough information by themselves to determine how fast the sinking is happening, or what might be able to halt it.

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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