Police respond to multiple Anchorage shootings: A driver's face was grazed by a ricocheting bullet Friday night during an attempt to intervene in a domestic violence incident in Mountain View, according to Anchorage police. In a press release, police said a passing motorist was grazed by the bullet after Mykel Olson, 32, fired shots toward the driver. Olson, who appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the incident, was arrested and transported to the Anchorage Correctional Complex. Bail is set $50,000. Hours later, police also responded to reports of gunshots downtown Saturday morning. Police found a Yellow Cab vehicle window shot at 338 W. Fourth Ave. at approximately 2:45 a.m. Police also found multiple vehicles in the area struck, though no injuries were reported or arrests were made. The investigation is ongoing.
Bears smarter than you thought: Researchers at the Washington State University Bear Research Education and Conservation Center guffawed when they read a peer-reviewed study that documented "first tool use" by an Alaska brown bear, according to the Associated Press. Unimpressed by the report of a bear using a rock to scratch its face, WSU researchers applied "standardized research protocol" to document what they say they already knew to be true: Bears frequently use inanimate objects to help them accomplish tasks. At WSU, the task was fetching a tasty doughnut hung out of reach, but in the wild, bears may use tools for more destructive purposes -- say, breaking into the food cache at your campsite.
Drunk driver crashes into Anchorage residence: Occupants of an Anchorage residence found themselves temporarily trapped Saturday morning after a drunk driver crashed into their living room. According to Anchorage police, Evan Cody Schubert, 19, lost control of his 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee at about 2:30 a.m. and slammed into a residence on the 1400 block of Atkinson Drive in East Anchorage. While there were no injuries reported in the crash, two of the seven occupants of the home were trapped in a bedroom due to the obstructive placement of the vehicle. Schubert fled from the scene but was located a short while later and taken in to custody. Police said his blood alcohol was almost two times the legal limit. He was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, criminal mischief in the third degree, leaving the scene of an accident and seven counts of reckless endangerment. Schubert was taken to the Anchorage jail, where bail was set at $11,000.
Sarah Palin takes the ALS ice bucket challenge: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the latest politician to take on the ALS ice bucket challenge. Palin, who was nominated by Wasilla Arctic Cat employees, at first seemed to be passing the buck to daughter Piper. However, watch through the entire two-minute video to see where the water-dousing ends up (Hint: It's doesn't involve her strange moose-antler ice bucket and Diet Dr. Pepper) and who she challenges to go next.
Former teen mom gets high school redemption, a half-century late: Anchorage resident Sandra Kleven has accomplished a lot. She's an author and clinical social worker with two master's degrees, editor of the literary journal Cirque. But she was lacking one thing: a diploma from Bothell High School in Seattle, Wash., where she was two credits away from graduation when school administrators expelled her. The reason? Seventeen-year-old Kleven (then Sandra Lantz) was six months pregnant. The Seattle Times reports that friends of Kleven, bothered by the injustice, fought for her to receive her official diploma -- which she did, this month, 51 years after she would have graduated from Bothell. Kleven's friends staged a graduation ceremony, complete with cap and gown, in Seattle Aug. 16. "It was tremendous to see this groundswell of support," Kleven told the Times.