Anchorage Cabela's grand opening announced: The first Cabela's in Alaska will open on April 10 in Anchorage, with a weekend-long celebration of giveaways, special guests and family events, according to a statement from the nationwide outdoor retail chain. Cabela's executives will cut the ribbon at 10:45 a.m., with doors opening 15 minutes later. The 100,000-square-foot store will boast museum-quality wildlife displays, a mountain replica, aquarium, indoor archery range, gun library, bargain cave, deli and fudge shop, the statement said. The store will employ about 250 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees. Eligible merchandise can be ordered online at cabelas.com between Feb. 7 and March 19 and shipped for free to the store, for pickup starting April 10. Just select "in-store pick-up" at online checkout. The deal will continue after the store opens, the statement said.
Employee dies at far-flung DOT camp: According to the Alaska State Troopers, an employee died Friday morning at the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities' Chandalar camp, located at milepost 239 on the Dalton Highway. William Evans, 64, reportedly fell from a piece of equipment and sustained life-threatening injuries. According to DOT spokesperson Hannah Blankenship, Evans, a 10-year employee of the agency, was working on a grader at the time of the accident. Others at the camp, along with a trooper attempted CPR. "Alyeska Pump Station 5 sent a helicopter with a paramedic on board to the DOT Camp to transport Evans to the Coldfoot airstrip where a Guardian flight was staged," troopers reported in a dispatch. "Evans succumbed to his injuries and pronounced deceased by medics from Pump Station 5 at approximately (10:30 a.m.)." Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters said that no foul play is currently suspected. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will conduct an investigation into the incident.
Parnell to Ketchikan: Watch yourself: "I refuse to live in fear of my government." With a lawsuit pending that questions the local contribution school districts must pay to schools, Gov. Sean Parnell told the Ketchikan Daily News Thursday that the lawsuit would "shade or color the reaction to Ketchikan requests" and that "it's an inevitable consequence that if Ketchikan is the driving force behind a lawsuit that could result in more financial exposure to the state, legislators and I view requests from Ketchikan through that lens." The Ketchikan Gateway Borough is suing the state, seeking to remove the required local contributions boroughs are required to give to school districts, saying unincorporated parts of the state are being punished for incorporating. Unincorporated boroughs -- which include population centers like Bethel and Nome -- do not have to pay a local contribution to schools. Fairbanks Rep. Tammie Wilson has introduced a bill that would repeal the local contribution from boroughs, though critics have claimed it could cost the state an additional $200 million. Parnell told the paper "with that uncertainty out there of the lawsuit, it's a pretty tough sell to legislators to go ask for hydro projects and to go ask for -- it may seem unconnected because it's a school district thing and it's a local property tax thing, but it all comes from the same pocket: the state's pocket. It just really made it easy for legislators to say no to Ketchikan's projects." Ketchikan's top funding priority from the state is a $12.3 million dam project. UPDATE (Feb. 7, 5:47 p.m.): Gov. Parnell has now said that he never intended threaten Ketchikan's state appropriations requests because of its active lawsuit against the state. Regardless of what he meant or didn't mean, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough is committed to its law suit. "We go forward," said plaintiff and borough assembly member Agnes Moran.
Anchorage man charged in Mountain Village death: Alaska State Troopers said Friday that they have arrested and charged 23-year-old Anthony J. Beans of Anchorage with manslaughter in connection of the death of 56-year-old Mountain Village resident Clifford Schanrock. Schanrock was found dead Wednesday in the Western Alaska village of about 775 people. His body has been sent to the Alaska medical examiner's office in Anchorage for an autopsy.
High winds prevent medevac of critically injured Wasilla man: According to Alaska State Troopers, Scott R. Laney, 26, of Wasilla, was hit by a car early Friday morning at mile 8.4 of Knik-Goose Bay Road. Officers said just before 5:30 a.m., 35-year-old Zachary R. Kuleck was driving toward Wasilla when he swerved to avoid a car on the side of the roadway. Troopers said Kuleck hit Laney, who was standing in the middle of the roadway, wearing dark-colored clothing and waving his arms. Laney remains in critical condition with life-threatening injuries at Anchorage's Providence Alaska Medical Center. Troopers said Laney was driven there by ambulance because high winds prevented air transport.
Mao Tosi to file for Anchorage Assembly: Former NFL defensive end Mao Tosi said he will be filing to run for the Anchorage Assembly, Seat I. Tosi -- who manages the Northway Mall in East Anchorage, and started AK Pride, a multicultural youth empowerment group -- decided against a possible mayoral run next year, opting to file against East Anchorage Assemblyman Adam Trombley. Former Alaska State Representative Pete Petersen has also filed for the seat, making the race likely to be the most hotly contested of the six Assembly seats up for grabs in the April 1 municipal election. Tosi said he would file for the seat at 2 p.m. Friday, just before the 5 p.m. deadline.
Skijoring: Once (and future?) Olympic sport: As part of its coverage leading up the start of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, The Atlantic has a story introducing Lower 48 readers to skijoring. Skijoring, as many Alaskans will know, is a sport in which a dog or team of dogs in a sled harness tows a skier. What's less common knowledge is that skijoring was a demonstration sport in the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland -- where competitors were towed by horses, not dogs. After those 1928 games, the sport dropped from view for a wide swath of the public, at least until recently. It's been enjoying a resurgence in parts of the Lower 48 and there's renewed movement toward making it an Olympic sport. There's also been a surge in what The Atlantic calls "extreme skijoring," including a revival of the practice of using horses (often with obstacles and jumps) and what The Atlantic terms "snowmobile-powered skijoring—which involves a skier, a snowmobile, and not infrequently, alcohol." (And here we thought that was just called Arctic Man.) But one effort even puts even Arctic Man-style "skijoring" to shame: "Skijoring world champion Franco Moroski once sped through the snow while tethered to the rear of a twin-turbocharged 567-horsepower luxury Bentley Continental GT, and lived to tell the tale. It's unlikely that this type of skijoring will ever become an Olympic event. Unless, of course, Bentley agrees to sponsor it."
Statoil slows Arctic exploration: According to a report from Reuters, Norwegian petroleum giant Statoil is slowing down the pace of its Arctic oil and gas exploration. The move is part of a push to rein in spending, but the company also cited the decision by Royal Dutch Shell to forgo exploration in Arctic waters off Alaska this summer after a court decision puts the regulatory environment in limbo. Though Shell purchased the lion's share of the leases over which the court case had been brought, Statoil also hold some leases in the Chukchi sea.
Reality show seeks fresh batch of wilderness warriors: Producers for Nat Geo's "Ultimate Survival Alaska" announced they've opened up casting calls for the reality show's next season, beginning Thursday. The show follows four teams while they travel a total of 2,000 miles, in a series of 10 legs, through Alaska wilderness. Unlike other reality competitions on television, the winners of the show don't get a cash prize, only bragging rights. The show is currently in its first season on Nat Geo -- a season that has seen two teams eliminated due to injury and prompted questions of just how real the "reality show" is. If you want to take your shot at semi-stardom, "Ultimate Survival Alaska" is accepting applications until May 1.
Murkowski the (lonely) moderate: Along with Maine's Susan Collins, Alaska's senior senator, Lisa Murkowski, was ranked as the most moderate Republican in the U.S. Senate, according to a recent look at voting records compiled by D.C.-based political news site Roll Call. The Roll Call analysis showed that Murkowski's votes on issues on which the Obama Administration had taken a position, lined up with the administration 72.3 percent of the time. Collins' votes were in line with the administration 75.9 percent of the time; the two women were the only two GOP senators to top 70 percent. "That's in line with the argument that Murkowski's voting record might prove beneficial to the 2014 re-election case of her Democratic counterpart Mark Begich," Roll Call wrote. Yet these findings are tempered by reports that the current Congress -- as a whole, and along with the most recent congresses -- is the most polarized in history. In other words, moderates like Murkowski, whose votes cross party lines, were once normal and only recently have become outliers, as party blocs homogenize.
Winter surfing in the Bering Sea: What do you do if you're a bush airplane mechanic at the mercy of the Aleutians' weather? If you're Phillip Bassignani, you pack along your surfboard and wetsuit and hope for the best. The Whittier-based mechanic recently did a rotation in towns ranging up and down the Alaska Peninsula from King Salmon to Nelson Lagoon. At the latter, he managed to catch a few winter waves in the Bering Sea, as he recounts in a piece for the Turnagain Times. But as is often the case, the real adventure was the journey -- from flying past volcanoes, to picking up reports of wolves and orcas in the area, to sheltering in an abandoned setnet cabin, while waiting for a storm to die down enough to surf.