Anchorage

Gas prices in Anchorage are climbing again. According to GasBuddy.com, a website that tracks gasoline prices, average retail gas prices in Anchorage have risen 10.0 cents per gallon in the past week. According to the website, gas prices arounds this time last year were 37.4 cents lower than prices now. Further, gas prices are 9.5 cents per gallon higher than they were last month. The national average has increased 5.0 cents per gallon in the past month, according to GasBuddy.com, and is 15.4 cents lower than prices one year ago.   Contact Jessica Ridgway  

Alaska travalers will have a new Seattle airline option as JetBlue announced Friday that it's adding a route during its summer season. Jetblue said it will begin daily service between Ted Stevens Anchorage International and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on May 16, 2013. JetBlue's seasonal schedule between ANC and SEA: SEA to ANC: ANC to SEA: Depart - Arrive Depart - Arrive 8:00 p.m. - 10:40 p.m. 1:00 a.m. - 5:25 a.m. - Flights operate daily effective May 16, 2013- - All times local - In May 2011, the airline company entered the Anchorage market with its seasonal flights to Long Beach, California.

The first commercial opener on the Copper River resulted in a good catch for fishermen brave enough to face strong winds, rain and fifteen foot swells. Processors took in more than seventy five thousand sockeye salmon or about half of last year's catch on the first day of the season, according to Fish and Game. Shortly after arriving at processors in Cordova, the salmon were boxed and sent out for a global market eager to serve up the wild Alaska fish. On Friday, Copper River seafoods delivered fresh salmon to several stores including Costco, Sam's Club and Fred Meyer as well as several restaurants in town.

Anchorage police have identified a man who was killed last week in a vehicle-pedestrian collision on Tudor Road, saying an investigation into his death continues. According to APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker, 52-year-old Alfred Lee of Anchorage was killed at 6:22 p.m. on Dec. 10, when he was struck by a vehicle while crossing Tudor Road at its intersection with Wright Street, a day after a separate vehicle-pedestrian collision at the same intersection. Tudor was temporarily closed to traffic in both directions as police and medics responded to the scene.

An Era Alaska flight from Anchorage to Homer plummeted about 5,000 feet after its pilot briefly lost control of the aircraft Wednesday, according to the airline and the National Transportation Safety Board. NTSB spokesperson Clint Johnson says the de Havilland Canada DHC-8 or “Dash-8,” a popular commuter-airline twin-engine turboprop, was at an altitude of 12,000 feet when the aircraft abruptly dove to about 7,000 feet where the pilot was able to regain control. The crew declared an emergency and landed at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

Sheila Balistreri is the producer and anchor of the "Morning Edition. " She has been with Channel 2 News since 1994. Sheila is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles(UCLA). She is also a military veteran, having spent three years in the Women's Army Corps during the Vietnam War, in which she was a singer and a dancer with the 3rd Army Soldier Show out of Fort McPherson, Georgia. Sheila has been married for 29 years to Jerry Balistreri, who is an educator. They have two grown children, Nick and Beth.

Verizon Wireless confirms it's building a new cell phone network in Alaska, which will be anchored at a large nerve center currently under construction in midtown Anchorage. “We're working on a number of fronts, building the network, creating the distribution channels and preparing, you know, to eventually start hiring,” said Scott Charlston, a Verizon spokesman. Crews leveled the midtown lot this past summer, and have been laying the groundwork for what will soon be a switching center.

Here's where the body of the story will go.   

by The Associated Press Saturday, March 27, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A small earthquake rumbled the Prince William Sound area and was felt in Anchorage Saturday. The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says the 2.8-magnitude quake was centered about 17 miles northeast of Girdwood, and hit at 12:40 p.m. Saturday. There were no reports of damage.

Photographer Clark Mishler says Anchorage is an urban island in a sea of wilderness, making it a city like no other. Mishler's new book takes a look at Anchorage and even comes with a mission for Outsiders. Mishler has taken hundreds of pictures from Earthquake Park and said photographers are always working toward that "optimum moment. " His moment came in the magic of twilight and graces the cover of his new book, "Anchorage: Life at the Edge of the Frontier. " "All of us who live here -- with few exceptions -- will say, 'Yes; this is a great place to live, if not the greatest place to live in all of America, and possibly the world,'" Mishler said.     What makes the state so great?

232 days - it took over 30 years for Anchorage to set a new record for the longest snow season on record. The National Weather Service measured 2/10ths of an inch just after 9 p.m. Friday and 1/10th Saturday morning - breaking the old record of 230 days set in 1981-1982. Anchorage police responded to 22 crashes, 4 with injuries and 37 vehicles in distress between midnight and noon Saturday. Police say roads were wet and not icy midday and “motorists should use caution if the temperatures drop below freezing.

A late-to-arrive spring has caused delays for local farmers who are waiting on a weather warm-up in order to begin transplanting starters into the ground. Another dose of wintry weather on Friday through Saturday has also made conditions not too promising either. River Bean, owner of Arctic Organics in Palmer, has packed greenhouses full of starter produce plants that he has yet to move outside. He has moved some of the overflow greenery into one of his cold frames to make extra room.

The first commercial opener on the Copper River resulted in a good catch for fishermen brave enough to face strong winds, rain and fifteen foot swells. Processors took in more than seventy five thousand sockeye salmon or about half of last year's catch on the first day of the season, according to Fish and Game. Shortly after arriving at processors in Cordova, the salmon were boxed and sent out for a global market eager to serve up the wild Alaska fish. On Friday, Copper River seafoods delivered fresh salmon to several stores including Costco, Sam's Club and Fred Meyer as well as several restaurants in town.

STORY UPDATED AT 3:30 a.m., 5/17/2013: A man reported missing by the Airport Police was found early Friday morning. Officials say Kevin Bessette was found around 1 a.m. Friday at a hotel in the Talkeetna area. Bessette is said to have health issues that affect his mental faculties and may leave him confused. Bessette's family was at the airport to pick him up and drive him to the hotel, but officials said he left the airport in a cab instead. Channel 2's Jessica Ridgway contributed to an update of this story.

A new airline will appear at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, offering non-stop flights this summer between Reykjavik, Iceland and Anchorage. Icelandair will provide flights twice weekly. According to the company, flights one-way take about 7 hours. Icelandair joins several other airlines, like JetBlue, Air Canada, and Virgin America, that will provide seasonal passenger service to and from Anchorage this summer.   Contact Jessica Ridgway  

We're updating this story as news rolls in. Check back for more updates. Contact Neil Torquiano  

Gas prices in Anchorage are climbing again. According to GasBuddy.com, a website that tracks gasoline prices, average retail gas prices in Anchorage have risen 10.0 cents per gallon in the past week. According to the website, gas prices arounds this time last year were 37.4 cents lower than prices now. Further, gas prices are 9.5 cents per gallon higher than they were last month. The national average has increased 5.0 cents per gallon in the past month, according to GasBuddy.com, and is 15.4 cents lower than prices one year ago.   Contact Jessica Ridgway  

Police say a man arrested Monday, after leading officers on a high-speed chase through South Anchorage in a stolen pickup, had several factors working against him. In a statement, APD spokesperson Anita Shell says the Dodge truck -- allegedly driven by 26-year-old Mumaina Folasa -- was seen by Ofc. Lars Tulip at about 1:46 a.m. Monday, near the intersection of West 88th Avenue and Jewel Lake Road. A six-minute chase, which began when Tulip tried to pull the truck over, led police east through residential areas near Dimond Boulevard's intersection with Arlene Street.

It's finally departure time for Kali, the orphaned polar bear cub, who will leave Tuesday, May 14 from the Alaska Zoo to the Buffalo Zoo in New York. Kali (pronounced “Kuh-lee”) will head to his new home, after living in Anchorage for nearly two months. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was involved in finding a new place for the young cub. “Now, as Kali leaves Alaska for his next short-term home, we are confident that the Buffalo Zoo will provide the best of care for Kali as the Service makes a final determination on a permanent home for the cub,” Dan Ashe, FWS Director, said.

Two Anchorage police officers fired their guns after a stolen pickup truck rammed a police car Saturday morning in Muldoon and three suspects were arrested without injuries. Ryan Robert Portlock, 26, was charged with second degree theft, first degree vehicle theft, first degree attempted vehicle theft, unlawful possession, and third degree criminal mischief. Cory Michael Wolf, 26, and Amber Jobell Myers, 29, were each charged with criminal mischief in the fifth degree.   Shortly after 10:00 a.m. Saturday, police dispatch received a report of people doing drugs in a vehicle near 4 th Avenue and State Street.