Pepper spray closes Fred Meyer
The Eagle River Fred Meyer store was closed for almost two hours and an Anchorage Haz-Mat team was called out Friday evening after pepper spray irritated customers in the liquor store.
Chugiak fire got the call at 5:42 p.m. Fred Meyer employees were having everyone calmly evacuated after several customers complained with watery eyes and scratchy throats, Chugiak Volunteer Fire and Rescue Capt. Clifton Dalton said.
Two people were treated on scene for mild respiratory problems, Dalton said.
Dalton called the Anchorage hazardous material team as a precaution.
Three Anchorage firefighters went through the grocery store with gas masks and a detection device for nerve agents and irritants. The detector picked small amounts of pepper spray up at a sunglasses stand near the liquor store. Chugiak firefighters set up three fans to blow fresh air into the building. Everyone was let back in at about 7:30 p.m.
Dalton said it was probably an accident ---- perhaps pepper spray that went off in someone's purse.
-- Anchorage Daily News
KENAI
Palin appoints judge for Kenai
Gov. Sarah Palin has appointed Carl Bauman as a Superior Court judge in Kenai. He replaces Harold M. Brown, who has retired.
Bauman is 59. He has lived in Alaska for 34 years, practicing law for 33 years. He is currently a managing member of an Anchorage law firm.
"Carl's vast experience in the family law arena and his passion for helping others make him the right selection for this position," Palin said in a written statement issued Friday.
Judicial vacancies in Alaska are filled by the governor, who reviews a list of applicants nominated by the Judicial Council. Bauman was one of four nominated by the council.
-- Anchorage Daily News
ANCHORAGE
Whale hunt extension proposed
The National Marine Fisheries Service issued a proposal Friday that would allow subsistence hunts of endangered bowhead whales to continue for the next five years.
Earlier this summer, the International Whaling Commission re-approved the catch limit for bowheads that had been in effect for the previous five-year period.
Between 2003 and 2006, subsistence hunters averaged about 50 harpoon strikes on bowhead whales each year, and Alaska Natives consumed 31 whales for subsistence in 2006, according to the Fisheries Service.
According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, there are fewer than 10,000 bowhead whales left in the world.
The proposal will be open to public comment until Oct. 12.
For more information, go to www.fakr.noaa.gov.
-- The Associated Press
ANCHORAGE
Midtown resident found dead
John J. Murphy, a 54-year-old Midtown resident, was found dead on the deck of his Lois Drive home Friday morning, Anchorage police said.
Police found no obvious signs of foul play and aren't treating the case as a homicide, but they are still investigating.
A neighbor of Murphy's, on the 3700 block of Lois Drive, discovered Murphy unconscious and not breathing. Next of kin has been notified.
Murphy reportedly had some health problems, said police spokesman Paul Honeman.
He said the cause of death remains unknown, pending an autopsy report.
-- Anchorage Daily News
STATEWIDE
Get 10 trees for $10 membership
The National Arbor Day Foundation is giving 10 trees to anyone who joins the foundation during August.
The free trees are part of the foundation's Trees for America campaign, a program dedicated to helping the environment by planting trees.
The trees will be shipped between Oct 15 and Dec. 10. The 6- to 12-inch trees are guaranteed to grow or they'll be replaced for free.
To get 10 trees, send $10 membership fee to: Ten Blue Spruces, National Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Ave., Nebraska City, NE 68410.
Membership fee must be postmarked by Aug. 31. For details, see www.arborday.org.
-- Anchorage Daily News
GLENALLEN
BLM crew finds land mine
The Swede Lake Trail System reopened this week, following completion of a military inspection for buried explosives.
A Bureau of Land Management trail crew discovered an unexploded land mine July 19 and officials closed the area in the interest of public safety. A team of experts from Fort Richardson found another land mine and one training replica during its inspection. BLM said the trail system is safe, but urged users to stick to the established trails, and be vigilant.
"There is no guarantee that someone won't find more ordnance in the future," said acting field manager Will Runnoe.
-- Anchorage Daily News
