Downtown Anchorage

Name: Patrick Flynn Occupation: Business Development Website: www.PatrickFlynn.org Registered Political Party: Democrat Last book you read:   The Angel Maker Favorite movie:   Bull Durham Why are you running for the Anchorage Assembly?: Quite simply, I love Anchorage and want to do my part to make it an even better place to live, work and raise a family. What one sentence best describes your philosophy of how city government should be run?

Construction season is in full swing at Anchorage parks and trails, with the city's Parks and Recreation Department planning more than 35 projects this summer. According to Anchorage Park Superintendent Holly Spoth-Torres, $6 million will spent on improvements.  Places like the Cuddy Midtown Park will soon have a brand-new playground for jumping and climbing on. The Veterans Memorial Park, on the Delaney Park Strip in Downtown Anchorage, is also currently undergoing renovations.

Thousands of people spent Saturday afternoon and evening celebrating the longest weekend of the year at the "Downtown Solstice Festival" in Anchorage.  The festival featured dozens of activities including kayaking, bouncy castles and face painting. "We are down here enjoying the sunshine, getting our faces painted," said Terri Harper, and Anchorage resident.  Visitors come from all over to experience the midnight sun in Alaska. "The problem is you never know what time it is," said Alex Papke of Davenport, Iowa who is visiting Alaska with his wife.  "It's been 9 o'clock and we've been hungry and it's like, oh man time for dinner, no time for bed. "  Saturday afternoon the sun was out, and temperatures reached into the mid-60's.

Just like this summer's tourists, the market forces of competition are clearly at play in Downtown Anchorage. Four bicycle rental businesses are now located in the area -- three of them on the same block. "This is a happening corner, there's a lot of activity here," said Carl Woodside of Lifetime Adventures Downtown, which operates a bike-rental shop outside the Copper Whale Inn on 5th Avenue and L Street. Lifetime Adventures also has a bike and kayak-rental business at Eklutna Lake.

Curtis Powell lives in Government Hill, near downtown Anchorage, and this week, the Muni gave him a “right of way” warning for his garden. Powell says he's grown raspberries and other garden items for years near the 800 block of Dogwood Street and has never been warned by the city until Tuesday. Right-of-way officers told Channel 2 news that the stones bordering the garden will cause a safety hazard for crews in the winter and must be removed. “We went down to the city and tried to tell them this has been here for 50 years,” said Curtis Powell, Government Hill resident.

With two weeks to go until Christmas, Downtown Anchorage businesses want residents to think about buying local gifts. In an initiative called "Gift Local," the Anchorage Downtown Partnership is encouraging shoppers to check out Downtown shops for unique presents during the holiday season. The idea is to get Alaskans to visit area businesses during the run-up to Dec. 21, where 30 different merchants are offering incentives and discounts on items. It's a win-win situation that officials say helps both businesses and Christmas shoppers.

Hundreds of people checked out the Festival of Flowers in downtown Anchorage on Saturday. The event ran for several hours in Town Square, which included artists, food vendors, live music, and flowers, of course. The Anchorage Downtown Partnership puts together annual festival as a way to support the flower endowment, which raises funds for all of the flowers downtown that we get to enjoy through the summer. “We want to make sure these flowers have sustainable funding,” said Erin Westfall with the Anchorage Downtown Partnership.

Anchorage police say having bars open an hour longer without serving alcohol, as approved by the Assembly Tuesday night, is an experiment they're willing to try if it makes the city safer. Under the new ordinance, local bars can stay open until 4 a.m. serving food, with alcohol service still stopping at the 3 a.m. last call. The changes came after several violent incidents Downtown, as well as complaints from businesses about a wave of vandalism prompted by people being immediately forced out of bars at last call.

New images have surfaced online that show what the historic 4th Avenue Theatre in Downtown Anchorage may someday look like. A design model by architect firm Hinthorne Mott, based out of Seattle, was posted on their Facebook page. Hinthorne Mott says the interior would be “restored to its original state” and three new stories of office space would be built on top. The theater was bought by Peach Investments in 2009. There were reports Peach Investments had been in talks to bring a Hard Rock Café to the theater.

Former UAA runner Marko Cheseto went through dark times more than a year and half ago and has become an advocate for people suffering from mental illnesses. In late 2011, he went missing during a snowstorm and was feared dead after he spiraled into a depression after losing a friend to suicide. After two days, he reemerged, however he ended up losing both of his feet due to frost bite in what police describe as an attempted suicide. "People who go through depression or mental illness they would sometimes think maybe it's their fault to be that way," said Cheseto . "They don't understand that it's just any other illness.

Construction season is in full swing at Anchorage parks and trails, with the city's Parks and Recreation Department planning more than 35 projects this summer. According to Anchorage Park Superintendent Holly Spoth-Torres, $6 million will spent on improvements.  Places like the Cuddy Midtown Park will soon have a brand-new playground for jumping and climbing on. The Veterans Memorial Park, on the Delaney Park Strip in Downtown Anchorage, is also currently undergoing renovations.

Curtis Powell lives in Government Hill, near downtown Anchorage, and this week, the Muni gave him a “right of way” warning for his garden. Powell says he's grown raspberries and other garden items for years near the 800 block of Dogwood Street and has never been warned by the city until Tuesday. Right-of-way officers told Channel 2 news that the stones bordering the garden will cause a safety hazard for crews in the winter and must be removed. “We went down to the city and tried to tell them this has been here for 50 years,” said Curtis Powell, Government Hill resident.

Former UAA runner Marko Cheseto went through dark times more than a year and half ago and has become an advocate for people suffering from mental illnesses. In late 2011, he went missing during a snowstorm and was feared dead after he spiraled into a depression after losing a friend to suicide. After two days, he reemerged, however he ended up losing both of his feet due to frost bite in what police describe as an attempted suicide. "People who go through depression or mental illness they would sometimes think maybe it's their fault to be that way," said Cheseto . "They don't understand that it's just any other illness.

Hundreds of people checked out the Festival of Flowers in downtown Anchorage on Saturday. The event ran for several hours in Town Square, which included artists, food vendors, live music, and flowers, of course. The Anchorage Downtown Partnership puts together annual festival as a way to support the flower endowment, which raises funds for all of the flowers downtown that we get to enjoy through the summer. “We want to make sure these flowers have sustainable funding,” said Erin Westfall with the Anchorage Downtown Partnership.

The Municipality of Anchorage has entered a $60,000 settlement with a man who claimed that local police harassed him, during a gunpoint arrest in the aftermath of a 2010 shooting at a Downtown Anchorage bar. According to a copy of the settlement provided by City Attorney Dennis Wheeler, in addition to writing Matt Newman a check, all APD patrol officers will receive two to four hours of training in verbal communication and de-escalation by...

Family members of the slain elderly couple in Mountain View filled the Superior courtroom in downtown Anchorage to get a glimpse of the man accused of the crime. Jerry Active, 24, attempted to shield his face at his arraignment on Sunday and this afternoon, he waived his right to appear at his pre-indictment hearing. The hearing lasted less than a minute Tuesday afternoon and the judge scheduled Active's next hearing for Wednesday, June 5 at 2:30 p.m. Since 2003, Active has appeared in court for number run-ins with the law, including more than 10-alcohol related charges, trespassing, and assault.

A man sustained minor injuries when he tried to escape Anchorage police Monday by crawling through a fourth-story window of the Extended Stay Deluxe Hotel in Downtown Anchorage. According to APD spokeswoman Dani Myren, the man - later identified as Kevin Fisher, 20 - attempted to flee by dangling a bedsheet out the window and rappelling to the ground. Fisher told police he was trying to distract officers from at least one of three other people who were holed up inside the hotel room, but ended up falling instead.

Hundreds of protesters marched Saturday morning in downtown Anchorage to voice their concerns over genetically modified foods. The “March Against Monsanto” took part in cities across the world and organizers say they want to protect our food supply, support local farmers and spread awareness about the harmful effects of genetically modified foods or organisms. "We want safer food, we want to know what's in our food and we want answers as to why these chemical companies won't tell us what they're doing with the food,” said Anchorage event organizer Kim Houston.

Sex trafficking. It's a crime that goes under reported and now its victims are represented on a tree that symbolizes hope. "I think most people in Alaska don't realize it's a very significant crime in this state," Susan Sullivan, executive director of Victims for Justice, said. "It isn't a new crime, but it certainly has received new attention and new focus.” On Monday, victims of crimes, along with their family and friends, stood together and hung ribbons on a tree in on the park strip in downtown Anchorage.

Day 1 of the Native Youth Olympics (NYO) wrapped up this evening at the Dena'ina Center in downtown Anchorage.  Listed below are the results of Thursday's events. KNEEL JUMP No official results yet, as some teams have yet to compete.  However, in Thursday's competition both the boy's and girl's records were broken.  For the boy's: Dylan Magnusen with a jump of 67".  For the girl's, Apaay Campbell with a jump of 55.25". WRIST CARRY : Girls 1st Erin Sivits   ANC A   272' 3" 2nd Hanna Clemons Mat-Su A  268' 2" 3rd Samantha Ishnook Southwest Region 232' 9" 4th Kaylene Esnardo Unalaska  204' 7" 5th Kristina Wahl Dillingham  195' 3" Boys 1st Jaylen Moses   YSD   536' ½" 2nd  Troy Umugak   Chevak   504' 61/2" 3rd Todd Jones Karluk   496' 3" 4th Wyatt Duncan    Valdez   488' 2 ¼" 5th Daniel Miller   Dillingham  473' 6" ALASKAN HIGH KICK Girls 1st Autumn Ridley   ANC A   80" 2nd Kaley Rolf   Dillingham  73" 3rd Jayde Stoffa ANC B   72" 4th Jessica David LKSD   68" 5th Tania Romanoff Nanwalek  66" Boys 1st  Jeremy Andrew   LKSD   90" 2nd  Everdan Sugabo Unalaska  88" 0m 2rd Archie Andrews   LYSD   88" 0m 4th Daniel Adams Mat-Su A  86" 5th Nick Devens Valdez   84"