Kincaid Park

Two teens were rescued Friday afternoon after becoming stuck on the mudflats between Fire Island and Kincaid Park. Rescuers were sent to the site at around 3:30 p.m. and an Anchorage Fire Department dive team rescued the two victims from the water about an hour later. One victim was rescued from the water about 200 yards from shore, while the other victim was stranded on high land between Fire Island and the Kincaid shore, according to AFD Capt. Blake Lindsoe. "The main thing is that if you're gonna take risks, you should at least see what the risks are and be educated on it and then you could make some good decisions," Lindsoe said.

Cross-country skiing is a popular sport at both the elite and recreational levels in Anchorage. Its season will soon be extended, courtesy of a new snowmaking system at Kincaid Park. The park has hosted everything from town races to national championship events, but it’s ocassionally fallen victim to low-snow winters -- something that shouldn’t be a factor in the future. A construction crew will be working for the next month or so installing the system, and it's expected to be ready for this winter.

After a months-long tug-of-war between Anchorage skiers and snowmachiners over part of Kincaid Park, an unexpected solution was presented to those attending a public meeting on the matter Thursday. The debate is whether to allow snowmachine use in the Jodhpur Motocross Track at Kincaid Park. Despite being unusable by skiers, the matter has been opposed by ski enthusiasts including the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage. Representatives from the association attended a previous public-comment hearing in January and spoke out against the proposal.

Two outdoor enthusiast groups may soon clash head-to-head over one of Anchorage's premier parks for cross-country skiing. The Alaska State Sno-Cross Lions Club says it's seeking access to Kincaid Park's motocross area for snowmachine races -- but the Nordic Skiing Association is opposed to the idea, saying it's concerned about noise from the races. A public hearing will be held at the Spenard Recreation Center, on Jan. 10th at 6 p.m., to discuss the issue. Contact Dan Carpenter

After a whole lot of slipping and sliding, Channel 2's Ashton Goodell says these are the five most popular sledding hills in Anchorage:   1.      OCEANVIEW PARK: Reef Pl. & Oceanview Dr. 2.      KINCAID PARK: West end of Raspberry Rd. (north side of Outdoor Center) 3.      SERVICE HIGH SCHOOL: Abbot Rd. before Birch Road. (east side of the school) 4.      RUSSIAN JACK PARK: Lidia Selkregg Ln. & Debarr Rd. (next to chalet) 5.      ARCTIC VALLEY: Arctic Valley Rd. (turn at the pull off about 2/3 up the mountain.

The Anchorage Parks and Recreation commission will hold a second public hearing to gather public input about access to Kincaid Park. On Thursday night, the commission only got to hear from about half the people who signed up to talk at the Spenard Rec Center. The second hearing will be held on February 14th. A plan being proposed would let snowmachiners use the motocross area of Kincaid Park. The Nordic Skiing Association argued the Kincaid trails cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain and they might be damaged if snowmachiners don't stay in a designated area.

Brent Knight claimed his first Tour of Anchorage 50K ski race title on Sunday, in a men's record time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 41 seconds.  Knight came in third last year in the endurance race that takes skiers through the Anchorage trail system from Service High School to Kincaid Park.  The previous record was co-held by brothers Lars and Erik Flora.  Lars posted a mark of 2:06:12 in 2000, and Erik matched it with a title in 2005. In the women's division, Aubrey Smith took her first Tour of Anchorage 50K win, in a time of 2 hours, 30 minutes, 24 seconds.

The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail is one of those spots Anchorage residents almost take for granted. It's about 11 miles of pure fun that runs from Downtown to Kincaid Park. The sun was out Friday and it was nice and warm -- a perfect day to walk the Coastal Trail. It's great for runners, bicyclists and people looking to take it easy. "Just wanted to get out and go walking today, so this is very nice," said Jim Anderson. Expect to see wilderness which slowly opens into coastal plains and Downtown.

Thousands of amateur radio operators are participating in the American Radio Relay League's annual Field Day. The 24-hour event gives amateur radio operators across the country and in Canada, the chance to practice getting off the grid and communicate with a portable radio system, run by a generator. In Anchorage, there are three different stations set up at Kincaid Park. "When the bad things happen, the reality is there's a pretty good chance some networks are going to go down. We've seen that happen in the past," says Kent Petty, an amateur radio operator who specializes in morse code.

As avid bikers, the Davis family knows that Alaska's backyard can be dangerous. Darcy Davis is reminded of it with marks from a moose encounter Tuesday night at Kincaid Park while she biked on one of the new single track trails. “A couple hundred feet from the trail, I rounded a corner and came upon a moose that was probably 10-12 feet away from me. A cow moose with a baby behind it, running down the trail at me,” she said. “I was very surprised I was attacked, but we have heard of others hurt on the trails, but unfortunately I was under the naive impression our trails were safe.” For her daughter, Petra, hearing about the attack was another reality check.

Brent Knight claimed his first Tour of Anchorage 50K ski race title on Sunday, in a men's record time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 41 seconds.  Knight came in third last year in the endurance race that takes skiers through the Anchorage trail system from Service High School to Kincaid Park.  The previous record was co-held by brothers Lars and Erik Flora.  Lars posted a mark of 2:06:12 in 2000, and Erik matched it with a title in 2005. In the women's division, Aubrey Smith took her first Tour of Anchorage 50K win, in a time of 2 hours, 30 minutes, 24 seconds.

After a months-long tug-of-war between Anchorage skiers and snowmachiners over part of Kincaid Park, an unexpected solution was presented to those attending a public meeting on the matter Thursday. The debate is whether to allow snowmachine use in the Jodhpur Motocross Track at Kincaid Park. Despite being unusable by skiers, the matter has been opposed by ski enthusiasts including the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage. Representatives from the association attended a previous public-comment hearing in January and spoke out against the proposal.

The defense in the Robert Luch murder trial told jurors their client was, “psychologically weak,” and that he, “snapped,” before he shot and killed his wife Jocelyn.  Luch is on trial, accused of shooting his wife Jocelyn on Sept. 28 th 2010. She was struck three times, hit in the arm, shoulder and torso. The couple had been married more than 20 years and had four children together. Robert suspected his wife was having an affair, the defense says that suspicion was confirmed when Robert intercepted a phone call between Jocelyn and another man. “Robert is furious,” Andrew Lambert, Luch's defense attorney said, “he's yelling at his wife, he's screaming at her, 'why are you having a relationship with somebody else you're married to me?

The Anchorage Parks and Recreation commission will hold a second public hearing to gather public input about access to Kincaid Park. On Thursday night, the commission only got to hear from about half the people who signed up to talk at the Spenard Rec Center. The second hearing will be held on February 14th. A plan being proposed would let snowmachiners use the motocross area of Kincaid Park. The Nordic Skiing Association argued the Kincaid trails cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain and they might be damaged if snowmachiners don't stay in a designated area.

Hundreds of outdoors enthusiasts crowded into the Spenard Recreation Center Thursday night to hear of a proposed snowmachine usage plan in a portion of the Kincaid Park. The outdoors lovers clashed on their views of the proposed idea. Amongst the Klim gear and puffer jackets, wool socks and flat-billed hats, thoughts of a winter plan for the Jodhpur Motocross Park inside Kincaid differed. The Alaska State Sno-X Lions Club presented a slideshow to help the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Commission visualize how the motocross park could be turned into a successful snocross park in from November until April each year.

Two outdoor enthusiast groups may soon clash head-to-head over one of Anchorage's premier parks for cross-country skiing. The Alaska State Sno-Cross Lions Club says it's seeking access to Kincaid Park's motocross area for snowmachine races -- but the Nordic Skiing Association is opposed to the idea, saying it's concerned about noise from the races. A public hearing will be held at the Spenard Recreation Center, on Jan. 10th at 6 p.m., to discuss the issue. Contact Dan Carpenter

As the calendar turns to December, many Alaskans are wondering where all the snow is. It's been more than 2 weeks since the last snowfall and that means winter sports enthusiasts are putting some of their activities on hold. “We know for sure this type of winter comes up every once and a while,” said Dick Mize of the Nordic Ski Association.  “So it's not really all that unusual, but it's somewhat disappointing.” Mize had 17 lancers and 8 snow cannons working at Kincaid Park Saturday, but the Nordic trails won't be ready until late next week.

A house fire near Kincaid Park caused no injuries after its sole occupant escaped, but drew a major response by the Anchorage Fire Department to a South Anchorage neighborhood Monday. Dispatchers say 13 units were sent to the fire, on the 6300 block of Wooded Circle, at about noon Monday. According to firefighters, the fire was caused by a charcoal-briquet barbecue grill that had been used for a barbecue Sunday night but was left on the back deck overnight. AFD spokesperson Al Tamagni Jr. says the grill overturned during the night, spilling briquets that ignited the fire, which climbed the back wall of the house and compromised 30 to 40 percent of the home's attic space.

Thousands of amateur radio operators are participating in the American Radio Relay League's annual Field Day. The 24-hour event gives amateur radio operators across the country and in Canada, the chance to practice getting off the grid and communicate with a portable radio system, run by a generator. In Anchorage, there are three different stations set up at Kincaid Park. "When the bad things happen, the reality is there's a pretty good chance some networks are going to go down. We've seen that happen in the past," says Kent Petty, an amateur radio operator who specializes in morse code.

As avid bikers, the Davis family knows that Alaska's backyard can be dangerous. Darcy Davis is reminded of it with marks from a moose encounter Tuesday night at Kincaid Park while she biked on one of the new single track trails. “A couple hundred feet from the trail, I rounded a corner and came upon a moose that was probably 10-12 feet away from me. A cow moose with a baby behind it, running down the trail at me,” she said. “I was very surprised I was attacked, but we have heard of others hurt on the trails, but unfortunately I was under the naive impression our trails were safe.” For her daughter, Petra, hearing about the attack was another reality check.