03 June 2014

Perusing the Morning News

Alert level raised at Alaska volcano as eruption escalates

The Alaska Volcano Observatory on Monday said that an eruption at Pavlof Volcano had prompted a heightened alert level as the volcano spat out an ash cloud that reached 22,000 feet and stretched for about 50 miles to the east of the peak.

The activity prompted volcanologists to raise the alert level at the volcano to "warning" and the aviation color code to "red," indicating "eruption is underway or suspected with significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere," according to the AVO.

Pavlof Volcano sits on the Alaska Peninsula, 36 miles northeast of the community of Cold Bay, which boasts one of the state's longest runways.

Musher Mitch Seavey settles with Oregon knife maker over 2011 Iditarod accident 

Iditarod musher Mitch Seavey and an Oregon knife company say they have settled a court fight over knife safety, avoiding a jury trial that was due to begin Monday. Details of the settlement were not announced.


Only minor injuries in plane mishap near Galena

Four people walked away with only a few bumps and bruises among them after a Fairbanks veterinarian piloting a Cessna 182 made an emergency landing in swampy ground near Galena on Sunday, authorities said.

Pilot Terry Wighs, 63, of Fairbanks said he was flying three other men to Fairbanks and was en route to Galena for fuel when "the engine started sputtering and quit," Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said in an email. "The plane made a hard landing, then flipped over in water and was partially submerged."

Wighs and his three passengers got out of the plane, made a fire to dry out and waited for rescue, troopers said.

EPA asks Alaska to cut carbon emissions 26 percent

Alaska state officials will study a federal plan to lower carbon pollutant emissions before weighing in on its effects, according to a Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner spokesman.

The Obama administration on Monday unveiled an initiative aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels.
Emissions cuts vary by state. In Alaska, the plan calls for a cut of carbon pollutants by nearly 26 percent over the next 15 years.

The draft rule is more than 600 pages long, and it's accompanied by nearly 400 pages of regulatory analysis, according to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Human remains discovered by Kenai fire crew 

A crew working on the massive Funny River wildfire on the Kenai Peninsula found unidentified human remains Sunday near the community of Sterling, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

There were no identifying items discovered with the remains, which appeared to be several years old, according to a dispatch from troopers, who flew to the scene in a fire crew helicopter.

Corrections department says inmate died of natural causes 

Amanda Kernak, a 24-year-old Kokhanok woman who was found dead in her cell at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in April, died of "natural causes secondary to complications of severe liver disease," the Alaska Department of Corrections said Monday.

... Kernak's family members in the Southwest Alaska village of Kokhanok have said the 24-year-old, who was in jail on a drunk driving charge, was suffering from severe alcohol withdrawal and was taking medication for a heart problem related to drinking.

4 comments:

Old NFO said...

Not a good day anywhere up there, other than the people walking away from the plane crash...

Rev. Paul said...

Some days I can't scrape up a single interesting headline, but once in awhile, we have days like this.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine being 24 and having alcohol-related liver disease!

gfa

Rev. Paul said...

Guffaw, it's unfortunate, but the Alaska Natives seem to have the same predilection to alcoholism as other Native Americans.