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Local News
Air Force general to visit Eielson Air Force Base
FAIRBANKS — The top Air Force general will be in Fairbanks next week to discuss the transfer of Eielson Air Force Base’s F-16 fighter plane squadron, but don’t get out your old “Save Eielson” T-shi...
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EPA investigating coal dust in Fairbanks
FAIRBANKS — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the source of unidentified “black dust” near the Aurora Energy power plant in downtown Fairbanks, following a complaint last ye...
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Romney’s Alaska committee includes three Fairbanksans
FAIRBANKS — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has announced his Alaska Steering Committee, which includes three people from Fairbanks. “Alaska voters have felt the effects of President...
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Longtime Fairbanks mountaineer Doug Buchanan dies at 64
FAIRBANKS — Longtime Fairbanks mountaineer Doug Buchanan, the rabble-rousing critic of all things federal, most notably the National Park Service, died Tuesday in Montana after complications from c...
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UAF community and technical college dean placed on leave
FAIRBANKS — The dean at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Community and Technical College was placed on administrative leave early this week, but UAF officials aren’t offering any details about th...
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State Senate approves education funding increase
FAIRBANKS — The Alaska Senate on Friday passed a modest increase to per-student education funding, despite recognition that it’s opposed by Gov. Sean Parnell. The vote came less than one-third of ...
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Kabuki gets her temperature taken by veterinarian Hayden Nevill (left) and volunteer Ronnie Rosenberg during a disaster drill by the Fairbanks North Star Borough shelter and the Red Cross Friday, Feb. 10, 2012. About one hundred evacuees were issued stuffed animal pets at the emergency animal shelter inside the Big Dipper Ice Arena. JR Ancheta/News-Miner intern
Practice makes perfect: Red Cross, animal control run through disaster scenario
FAIRBANKS — The disaster scenario goes like this: Extreme cold temperature and heavy snow have caused power lines to drop. Aurora Energy, which provides steam heat to much of downtown Fairbanks, h...
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News-Miner editor testifies in Joe Miller lawsuit
FAIRBANKS — News-Miner Managing Editor Rod Boyce testified Thursday that an interview with a former borough mayor and an anonymous letter heightened the newspaper’s interest in the work history of ...
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Judge rules searches were legal in Fairbanks ‘241’ militia case
FAIRBANKS — A federal judge sided with prosecutors in the case against three Fairbanks-area militia members Wednesday, ruling that two searches that uncovered many of the weapons central to the cas...
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Sports
Ice Dogs come on strong from win over Rage
FAIRBANKS—It took a while for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs to get started Friday night, but once they got going, they rolled to a 6-0 North American Hockey League victory at the Dawson Creek Rage in Brit...
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Edic, Hanson nab individual titles; Wolfpack out front
FAIRBANKS—Lathrop’s Megan Edic and Kyle Hanson won the individual titles, but the West Valley Wolfpack roared into the lead in the team standings on the first day of the Region VI Cross-Country Ski...
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Fort Yukon, Tok girls to play for Anderson hoops crown
FAIRBANKS—The Fort Yukon and Tok girls basketball teams are playing this afternoon for the championship at the Anderson Sportsmanship Tournament after turning out semifinal wins Friday. Fort Yukon ...
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Dillingham boys, girls reach title contests in Delta tourney
FAIRBANKS—The Dillingham and Glennallen boys and the Dillingham and Delta Junction girls teams will play in today’s respective championship games after semifinal wins Friday at the Dean Cummings Sr...
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West Valley forward Caitlyn Brice takes a shot during second quarter action of the prep high school girls varsity basketball game between the Wolfpack and the North Pole Patriots Friday night, February 10, 2012 in the West Valley High School gymnasium. Eric Engman/News-Miner
Monroe boys beat No. 1 Wasilla on the road; other basketball results
FAIRBANKS—The Monroe Catholic Rams boys basketball team defeated the No. 1 team in the state Friday, beating the Wasilla Warriors, 52-50, on a last-second shot. “It was unbelievable,” Monroe head ...
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Alaska left wing Colton Beck, left, handles the puck against Lake Superior State forward Kyle Jean, right, during first period action of the college hockey match-up Friday night, February 10, 2012 at the Carlson Center. Eric Engman/News-Miner
Lake State sends Alaska packing for playoffs
FAIRBANKS—Kyle Jean and Nick McParland are two reasons the Alaska Nanooks will open a Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoff series on the road for the first time in Dallas Ferguson’s tenure...
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Lathrop falls in state hockey semifinals
FAIRBANKS—The Lathrop Malemutes couldn’t crack the Dimond defense in the semifinals of the Alaska state high school hockey tournament Friday evening in Wasilla. Dimond got off to a fast start and ...
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Rams, Hawks to clash for state hockey title
FAIRBANKS—The top-seeded Monroe Catholic Rams and second-seeded Hutchison Hawks will vie for the First National Greatland Cup at the state high school hockey championships today in Wasilla. The tw...
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Adams claims victory for Nanooks' swim team
FAIRBANKS—Freshman Margot Adams of Anchorage swam her way into the Alaska Nanooks record book Friday evening in La Miranda, Calif. Adams became the first Nanook to win an individual title at the P...
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News-Miner Editorial
Those slippery streets
Editorial: 50 Years Ago Editor’s note: Complaining about street maintenance has been a popular pastime for Fairbanks residents through the decades. The following editorial, reprinted from the Ma...
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Letters to the Editor
Abortion tax
Letter to the Editor Feb. 9, 2012 To the editor: An Alaska Senate bill would require an ultrasound before abortion. Here it goes — yet another transparent attempt by a faction of the Republica...
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Bright idea
Letter to the Editor Feb. 9, 2012 To the editor: I would like to ask that those who read this letter to please stop flashing other drivers on the road. There are many new cars on the road that...
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Risky coal
Letter to the Editor Feb. 7, 2012 To the editor: In response to Wednesday’s editorial on the Healy Clean Coal Plant, I wanted to clarify a few points about the health risks associated with coa...
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DNR mission
Letter to the Editor Feb. 7, 2012 To the editor: I recently heard a radio report regarding a change in the mission statement for Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources that left me feeling c...
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Features
Jerry Evans and Glen Anderson clown around Wednesday at McCafferty s coffee house. The two comedians and radio personalities have been friends for 30 years. Julie Stricker/News-Miner
Jerry and Glenner look back on 30 years of friendship and careers based on laughter
FAIRBANKS - As the story goes, Jerry Evans was slam-dancing in an elevator in Skarland Hall one night back in 1981. Fellow University of Alaska Fairbanks student Glen Anderson stumbled onto the par...
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Park service eyes plan to plow part of Denali Park Road in winter
FAIRBANKS - Wintertime visitors to Denali National Park and Preserve may be able to drive 12 miles into the park starting next winter. The National Park Service announced Tuesday it is evaluating ...
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Eric Engman/News-Miner Iris Sutton with her daughter Hazel and one of her sled dogs Twiggy at her Goldstream Valley home.
'Send off': Yukon Quest artist brings a lifetime of experience to her work
FAIRBANKS - Toddler Hazel Sutton trundles around the living room, a small space somewhere between cozy and cramped, wearing one large green flip-flop and chewing lustily on another. A mess of parka...
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“Let Insecurities Lie,” courtesy of Lindsay Saunders
Fighting phobias: Two Rivers sisters put their unusual fears on canvas for First Friday
FAIRBANKS - Two sisters have put their phobias down in paint for their First Friday show, “Rodentia Lagomorpha,” at Keller Architecture and Allied Arts. The dark, somewhat sinister paintings showca...
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Self portrait by John Gimbel
January brought extreme cold to Alaska's Interior ... your thoughts in Six Words
FAIRBANKS - A week ago today, we spontaneously put out a Six Words call about the extreme cold blanketing the Interior. We knew it wouldn’t take long for people — residents, former residents and...
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© 1988 Charles Mason photos During the final days of the 1988 rescue effort these Barrow residents got a chance to actually touch one of the two gray whales. In the background, more holes are being cut in the ice to make a path to the pressure ridge, where the Soviet icebreaker will eventually cut a path through to the holes.
Real life ‘Big Miracle’: World followed Barrow’s 1988 attempt to save stranded gray whales
FAIRBANKS - The media poured into Barrow, Alaska, in the fall of 1988, as people tried to save three whales trapped in sea ice with no way to get to the distant open water. As sympathy spread acros...
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No politicians or topic is off limits when it comes to the Capitol Steps, a comedy troupe founded in 1981 by former congressional staffers. Part of the Fairbanks Concert Associations 2011-12 season, the show starts at 8 p.m. Saturday. Photo courtesy of Fairbanks Concert Association
No politician off limits for the irreverent Capitol Steps
FAIRBANKS - Do you want to hear Obama sing a show tune? Hear Biden rock out to the Eagles? Watch Newt Gingrich tip-toe through a ballet? Thanks to the Capitol Steps, you can. All of the major pri...
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Chris Dauel, bike shop manager at Beaver Sports, demonstrates winter trail riding on his fat bike Wednesday, January 25, 2012. Eric Engman/News-Miner
Fat bikes: Super-sized tires may look strange, but they go in snow
FAIRBANKS — A few years ago, whenever John Shook saw fat tire tracks on the Goldstream Valley trails, he pretty much knew who made them. It either had to be Jeff Oatley or his wife, Heather Best, o...
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"Alaska’s Fountainhead Collection: Vintage Treads and Threads" By Nancy DeWitt Fairbanks Antique Auto Museum • 2011 $19.95
Classic collection: Book provides detail, context to Fairbanks’ automobile museum
FAIRBANKS - Inside the Golden Heart City is a pearl of great price -- many pearls and beyond price. I’m talking, of course, about the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum at the Wedgewood Resort. This...
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A scene from the Fairbanks Light Opera Theatre s production of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, at the Alaska Center for the Arts Theater. Sam Harrel/News-Miner
Relive the ’60s in FLOT’s ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’
FAIRBANKS - Fairbanks Light Opera Theatre is preparing to dazzle its musical crowd. Bright, psychedelic 1960s colors will swarm Pioneer Park’s Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts Theater tonight ...
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Local Columns
Old books can be put to use
Community Perspective FAIRBANKS — It’s been said that a good book is like a good friend. If that’s true, then I have a lot more friends than the number that shows up on my Facebook page. Our ba...
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We should share our opinions with state legislators
Community Perspective A recent survey of Alaskans’ opinions on K-12 education produced some interesting results. For instance, three of every four people who participated say they pay “a lot of...
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Corrections