Alaska Digest for 8/17/11

Alaska says U.S. government too big for its britches:

FAIRBANKS -- The arrest of a man on the Yukon River last year was the "tipping point" for relations between the state and federal land managers and highlighted the need for improvement, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Monday.

"I think there is a heightened sense that enforcement with federal agencies has just topped out," Murkowski said...

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How many of the Four Rules did he violate?

Witnesses at the scene of a fatal shooting early Sunday near Talkeetna told investigators the victim likely shot himself in the head while playing a game, Alaska State Troopers say.

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15, so far:

The National Transportation Safety Board shows the death toll from plane crashes in Alaska at 15 in 2011.  Last year was the deadliest year in a decade, 19 people died in plane crashes.

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Didn't pass the float test:

Alaska State Troopers say a man had to be rescued after his snowmachine sank in the Knik River.

The Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday that 35-year-old Lester Mitchell was trying to skip his snowmachine across the river Sunday and became stranded on a sandbar. Troopers say he was later flown to an Anchorage hospital.