Alaska

From Barrow to Ketchikan, thousands of Alaskan kids received some fundamental life lessons during Saturday's third annual Lemonade Day Alaska. Lemonade Day Alaska started in 2010 to teach kids to save, spend and share. “Kids learn from start to finish how to start and operate their own business with a lemonade stand,” said Johnna Golden, State Director for Lemonade Day. More than 3,500 kids from across the state set up lemonade stands at store fronts, on street corners and out in front of their homes, learning important life lessons like money management and perseverance.

Friday took a somber tone as dozens gathered at a memorial service, held in honor of Alaska Police Memorial Day, at the state's new crime lab in Anchorage. Sixty-four names of fallen officers were read by Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew and Alaska State Troopers Director Col. Keith Mallard -- each name accompanied by the ringing of a bell in its honor. During the ceremony, two names were added to the Alaska Police Memorial outside the crime lab: Manokotak Village Public Safety Officer Thomas Madole and Alaska State Trooper Tage Toll.

Dozens of children across Alaska will be handed lemons Saturday in an effort to spread entrepreneurial spirit and business ethics, as they celebrate Lemonade Day by opening beverage stands to quench visitors' thirst. The University of Alaska's Center for Economic Development and the University of Alaska Anchorage's College of Business and Public Policy are both backing the event, which is being held for its third consecutive year Saturday. UA officials say the day is meant to teach participants as young as kindergarten through 12th grade skills like financial literacy, attracting investors and creating a business plan.

A food truck serving Alaska cuisine visited downtown Seattle over the weekend to attract potential travelers to Alaska and the Yukon. The Midnight Sun Cuisine food truck traveled to Seattle to provide people in Washington a taste of Alaska and the Yukon. Culinary treats like Alaska salmon, king crab, bison, and Yukon gold potatoes were served May 3 and 4, and representatives from the State of Alaska tourism office and Tourism Yukon were present handing out travel guides and providing travel tips about the 2013 summer tourism season.

This weekend, the Great Alaska Aviation Gathering is soaring into town for its 16th year. Organizers say flying is a way of life and it's the 100th year of aviation in the state. There will be historical aircraft on display, as well as hands-on exhibits for the kids and top of the line technology demonstrations for the kids-at-heart. The Alaska Airmen's Association wants people to realize the free event is open to all and you don't need to be an aviator to appreciate it. The aviation gathering is Saturday, May 4, and Sunday, May 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Fed-Ex hangar.

"We get a lot of people from the lower 48 and they actually think they're going fishing, but they're not," Melody Dosier, an Employment/Seafood Specialist at the midtown Job Center in Anchorage. Job experts say May could be the perfect time for those looking for seasonal jobs to apply. The latest national jobless numbers, released Friday, show a national rate dropping slightly from 7.6 percent to 7.5 percent. Alaska's unemployment numbers are typically released every third week of the month, but the most recent numbers shows the state's jobless rate at 6.6 percent in March.

The USS Anchorage's arrival created a unique opportunity for pilots of the Alaska Air National Guard this week, with five HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter pilots training on takeoffs and landings from the moving warship as it cruised into Anchorage.  Maj. Brian Kile was one of the Pave Hawk pilots who became deck-landing certified during the Tuesday training with the Anchorage. He said it was the first opportunity in 15 years that members of the ANG's 210th Rescue Squadron have had to land on a Navy ship.

Two people have been arrested in Anchorage as part of a 10-person indictment in a sprawling drug conspiracy, which federal officials say distributed heroin and methamphetamines in Alaska and California then laundered money received from the drug sales. According to a Thursday statement from U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler's office, the men arrested in Anchorage -- 24-year-old Kyle Wilson of Chugiak, as well as 23-year-old George “Nino” Little of Stockton, Calif. -- distributed heroin in Alaska from April 2012 to April 2013.

Kali, an orphaned polar bear, came to the Alaska Zoo in March. In less than two months, Kali has flourished in his new environment. He has transitioned from being bottle-fed to eating solid foods and he is gaining almost a pound a day.  The cub continues to be active, playful, and a real crowd-pleaser at the zoo; however, Alaska won't be home to Kali much longer. Patrick Lampi, the Executive Director for the Alaska Zoo, says they are now working on the permit process for Kali's departure.

An AT&T network outage was reportedly fixed within an hour Tuesday afternoon, however GCI and Alaska Communications customers were reporting service disruptions due to the issue. Andy Colley with AT&T Corporate Communications said a “network link went down around 4:52 p.m. Alaska time and was repaired around 5:45 p.m. Alaska time.”  Customers may have experienced block calls during the outage. “All the networks are interconnected,” said GCI spokesperson David Morris.