Denver Broncos Quarterback Peyton Manning Tracks Down Army Wife in Alaska to Thank Her Combat Vet Husband

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Photo Credit: Conservative PressKristen Patterson was surprised when an Alaska State Trooper called her. She was just as surprised when he asked her if she has written a letter to Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. Then when the trooper told her Peyton Manning had been trying to get in contact with her for three months, Kristen was in absolute shock.

In September, Kristen had sent a letter to Manning explaining that her husband, Army Sgt. Ryan Patterson, was a huge fan. When Ryan was stationed in Afghanistan, he would set his alarm to go off in the middle of the night so he could listen to Manning’s games. After Manning was cut by the Colts and signed by the Broncos, Ryan requested a transfer to Denver so he could watch him play. Instead, Ryan and Kristen ended up in Alaska.

The letter explained that Ryan would be visiting family in the Cincinnati area in December while the Broncos would be in town to play the Bengals. Kristen asked if there was any way she could surprise her husband and possibly set up a meeting.

Kristen had great intentions for her husband; however, there was one major problem with Kristen’s letter; she forgot to include her contact information. . .

Not only had Peyton received and read the letter, he was determined to find Kristen. He asked his public relations team for help and finally tracked the Pattersons to a utility comany in North Pole, Alaska and the team contacted the state trooper’s office. (Read how Peyton Manning tracks down wife of army Sgt. Patterson HERE)

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Not a Day Below Zero in Anchorage this Year

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Photo Credit: Mark Newman Stock Connection Worldwide/Newscom

Photo Credit: Mark Newman Stock Connection Worldwide/Newscom

The coldest it has been on this day in Anchorage, Alaska, since 1954 is 20 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. The coldest it has been on New Year’s Eve in that same time period is even colder: -25. But this year, the lows are expected to be 33 and 27 degrees respectively — meaning that 2014 will be the first year on record that the temperature didn’t drop below zero.

As Alaska Dispatch News notes, the last time the temperature was below zero (again: in Fahrenheit) was Dec. 26, 2013. That was the tail end of a cold snap, of the kind not uncommon in winter — particularly in Alaska. But ever since, temperatures have been above zero according to readings taken at the airport, with low temperatures reaching zero only once, on February 11.

Complete annual records from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration begin on Jan. 1, 1954. Since then, the number of days Anchorage went below zero each year has dropped from an average of 33.2 in the 1960s to 16 in the 2000s. The year with the second-fewest below-zero days was 2002. (Read more on how there wasn’t one day below zero in Anchorage, Alaska HERE)

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Temps plunge U.S. into deep freeze, with snow for Las Vegas

By Mark Guarino. As colder-than-average temperatures locked large swaths of the United States into a deep freeze Tuesday, snow was likely in an unlikely place – Las Vegas. . .

The NWS said Las Vegas temperatures fell below freezing Monday and would continue through Thursday at an average low of 30 degrees. Up to 3 inches of snow was expected by Tuesday night.

“Many tourists who come to Las Vegas may be unprepared for the true winter-like conditions this storm could bring with it,” the NWS said in a statement. “Travel conditions could be difficult, if not impossible, on area roads.”

Las Vegas does not have snowplows but the Nevada Department of Transportation said it has six snowplows at the ready if the snow poses a significant threat to roads. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is expecting about 340,000 visitors for New Year’s Eve celebrations, it said. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Little Alaskan Girl Loses Her Legs in Christmas Day Accident

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AngelicaAs confirmed by local news reports, an eleven-year-old girl named Angelica Haakenson was severely injured in a horrible Kenai, Alaska car accident on Christmas Day. The aunt of the little Alaskan girl relates the tragic story:

My niece, Angelica, was in a car accident on Christmas Day. She was pinned between two cars after their car broke down in Happy Valley. She was severely injured and has multiple broken vertebrae and both of her legs had to be amputated above the knee.

Angelica’s aunt has set up a crowd funding appeal to help with the inevitable medical costs associated with this horrible accident. She states, “Donations of any amount will be greatly appreciated to help with all the costs they will have for her injuries and recovery.”Angelica2

Please donate what you can HERE. May God bless and keep you safe in the coming New Year.

Political Corruption, Alaska-Style: Provision in NDAA Benefits Native Corp Instrumental in Murkowski's Write-In Campaign

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Credit - AP

Credit – AP

By Edwin Mora. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) negotiated the inclusion of a land entitlement provision in the “must-pass” National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for a Sealaska, an Alaska Native Regional Corporation that helped fund her re-election in 2010 as a write-in candidate.

The NDAA, which includes a public lands package that has been lambasted by conservative lawmakers as unrelated to defense operations, passed the House last week. It is expected to be voted on in the Senate this week.

The public lands package includes the conveyance of tens of thousands of acres in the Tongass National Forest to the Sealaska Corp. It would allow the corporation to handpick lands outside the boundaries set by the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

In the past, “opponents have accused the Native corporation of choosing some of the best and most valuable lands in the national forest for their own private, moneymaking enterprises,” reported The Associated Press in June 2010.

A Dec. 3 press release acknowledged that Murkowski helped negotiate the Sealaska measure into the NDAA.

Read more from this story HERE.

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NDAA Passes, Authorizes Transfer of Large Tracts of Land to Fed Govt.

Credit: Reuters - Jonathan Ernst

Credit: Reuters – Jonathan Ernst

By Donna Casata

Congress on Friday sent President Barack Obama a massive defense policy bill that endorses his stepped-up military campaign of air strikes and training of Iraqis and moderate Syrian rebels in the war against Islamic State militants.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill that authorizes funds for basic military operations, including construction of new ships, aircraft, and weapons as well as a 1 percent pay raise for the troops. The vote was 89-11.

A coalition of defense hawks and Western state Republicans overcame objections by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and several other GOP senators, who were furious that unrelated provisions to designate 250,000 acres of new, federally protected wilderness were added to the popular legislation dedicated to military operations.

The measure would authorize the training and equipping of moderate Syrian rebels battling the extremists, a mandate that lasts for two years. It also would provide $5 billion to train Iraqis to counter the militants who brutally rule large sections of Iraq and Syria.

“American air power had changed the momentum on the ground somewhat and given moderates in the region an opportunity to regroup, but ISIS cannot be defeated without an opposing force to take the fight to it on the ground,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee. “To do that, our Arab and Muslim partners must be in the lead because the fight with ISIS is primarily a struggle within Islam for the hearts and minds of Muslims.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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Cruz Votes Against NDAA

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today voted against the National Defense Authorization Act citing several concerns, including an extreme land grab provision and ongoing assistance to Syrian rebels.

“The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act includes a number of problematic provisions, including an extension through 2016 of the program to arm Syrian rebels and an extreme land grab that restricts more than a half-million new acres of property from productive use,” said Sen. Cruz. “This is yet another example of Majority Leader Reid’s legacy of obstruction by not allowing any amendments to be called on this bill.

Read more from this story HERE.

Weird Weather Lingers In Alaska's Largest City

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Photo Credit: AP / Mark Thiessen

Photo Credit: AP / Mark Thiessen

A week before Christmas, Alaska’s largest city should look like a postcard wonderland, and the last place you’d expect to see equipment making snow.

“We want Santa to bring snow, soon,” Terry Goodwin said as she hit a ski trail in Anchorage on Thursday near snowmaking machines churning out the white stuff.

A picturesque northern winter-scape is hardly the reality here as a spate of weird weather lingers in Anchorage, which is almost 2 feet behind the snowfall totals typical by this time. With just days to go until solstice Sunday signals the official start of winter, bare ground can be seen in places and temperatures have been averaging in the 30s, prompting a few hardy residents to take to the streets in T-shirts and shorts.

For the most part, it’s even been too warm to make snow for local ski haunts because the machines would churn out slush. However, a slight dip in temperatures allowed the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage to manufacture powder Thursday on trails at the city’s Kincaid Park. That will have to do until nature provides its own supply.

Read more from this story HERE.

Despite Oil Prices Plummeting, S&P Not Downgrading Alaska, Yet

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Photo credit: roger4336

Photo credit: roger4336

Alaska has built up layers of budgetary reserves that allow it to absorb one or two years of large operating deficits — just outside of our outlook time horizon –at its current rating level. But in order for it to avert credit quality deterioration, we believe the state must make material progress in reducing the deficit in its fiscal 2016 budget.

Although the rapid decline in oil prices exacerbates Alaska’s existing fiscal budget deficit, whether it will weaken the state’s credit quality will depend on the state’s budgetary response. For fiscal 2015, the state assumed oil prices would average $105.06 per barrel, giving rise to about 495,900 barrels
per day of production on Alaska’s North Slope. Based on more recent price and production information, the state has revised its estimates to $76 per barrel and 509,500 barrels per day for fiscal 2015.

The state’s assumptions regarding oil prices and production are integral to its budget condition because oil-related revenues made up 88% of its estimated revenue for the 2014 fiscal year and 79% of fiscal 2015. At enactment, the state’s budgeted general fund expenditures for fiscal 2015 exceeded its unrestricted revenues by $1.4 billion. Weaker oil prices and production resulted in an updated budget gap of $3.5 billion, equal to 57% of general fund expenditures. For most states, an operating deficit of this magnitude would likely result in immediate negative rating consequences. In Alaska’s case, however, extraordinarily large budget reserves effectively buy the state time to deal with its structural misalignment.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Makes Bristol Bay Off Limits to Oil and Gas Development

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Credit - LA Times

Credit – LA Times

In a boon to commercial fishermen, conservationists and Native Alaskans, President Obama on Tuesday withdrew the waters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay from oil and gas development, vowing to protect the world’s biggest sockeye salmon fishery.

Calling the region “one of America’s greatest natural resources and a massive economic engine, not only for Alaska but for America,” Obama said he was taking it “off the bidder’s block” and would “make sure that it is preserved into the future.”

“Bristol Bay has supported Native Americans in the Alaska region for centuries,” Obama said in a video message released Tuesday. “It supports $2 billion in the commercial fishing industry. It supplies America with 40% of its wild-caught seafood. It is a natural wonder, and it’s something that’s just too precious to be putting out to the highest bidder.”

In 2010, Obama declared the verdant, 52,234-square-mile area off Alaska’s southwest coast temporarily off-limits to oil and gas leasing, a protection that was set to expire in 2017. Tuesday’s action safeguards the important habitat area indefinitely.

The area, also known as the North Aleutian Basin Outer Continental Shelf, has never been the site of offshore drilling, although the Interior Department opened it up to exploration and development in 1986 with the controversial Lease Sale 92.

Read more from this story HERE.

Falling World Oil Prices Wreak Havoc With Alaska State Budget

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Getty Images

Getty Images

As Allen Newton, 58, filled his ice-caked Ford Expedition for $3.15 a gallon, he happily tried to remember the last time gasoline was so cheap here in Alaska’s biggest city.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Newton said Sunday afternoon, breath steaming outside a downtown gas station.

At the same time a few blocks away, freshly elected Gov. Bill Walker met with his new bipartisan Cabinet. He was talking about oil prices too.

A crash in Alaska North Slope crude prices that echoes a worldwide drop in the price of oil has raised the possibility of multibillion-dollar deficits in a state where 88 cents of every dollar spent by state government comes from oil production.

Alaska crude hit a four-year low of $60.80 a barrel Thursday, a collapse that threatens jobs, public services and some of the ambitious infrastructure projects needed to harness and navigate the state’s vast natural landscape. State officials are now projecting a $3.5-billion shortfall in funding the state’s original spending plans. (Read more from this story HERE)

Alaska Assistant District Attorney Fatally Shot

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FACEBOOK - New York Daily News

FACEBOOK – New York Daily News

A former Washington state legislator serving as an assistant district attorney in Alaska was shot and killed Monday night, authorities said.

Brian Sullivan, 48, was killed in a home at 5318 Laura Madison St. in Barrow at about 10 p.m., according to Kristine Hilderbrand, an assistant to Borough Mayor Charlotte Brower. Barrow is the northernmost community in the U.S.

An adult male suspect, whose name has not been released, has been taken into custody in the homicide investigation, North Slope Borough officials said. No charges were filed as of noon Tuesday.

Authorities have not released details of the crime or a motive.

Sullivan’s death may be the first time an Alaska state prosecutor has been killed in a homicide, according to KTUU-TV.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Assistant District Attorney Brian Sullivan shot and killed in Barrow

By Jillian Rogers

A respected Barrow lawyer is dead following a shooting that took place in the North Slope community Monday night.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Sullivan, the father of three daughters, was shot and killed shortly before 10 p.m., the North Slope Borough confirmed Tuesday…

Sullivan was 48. Next of kin have been notified and the incident is being investigated as a homicide. Police have a suspect, an adult male, in custody.

Sullivan was a well-respected member of the community and a friend to many.

Further information will await a charging decision by the prosecutor’s office. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Alaska State Troopers were en route to Barrow to investigate at the request of acting North Slope Borough police chief Darryl Holman.

Read more from this story HERE.

Anchorage PD/Morning Man Jimmy O'Brien Arrested On Child Porn Charges

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JamesLaPlanteUSETHISONEJAMES LAPLANTE, also known as JIMMY O’BRIEN, who works as the PD and morning man at iHEARTMEDIA Country KASH-F (COUNTRY 107.5)/ANCHORAGE, was arrested by local police last evening for posessesion and distribution of child pornographY, as well as online enticement of a minor, according to the ALASKA DISPATCH NEWS.

LAPLATE has been program director at the station since SEPTEMBER 2000.

LAPLANTE was arrested after investigators with the ANCHORAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT’s CYBER CRIMES UNIT and TECHNICAL CRIMES UNIT of the ALASKA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION served search warrants on his home and office.

Read more from this story HERE.