Seward Highway

Twenty-seven miles of road separate Anchorage and Girdwood, one of the most scenic stretches of highway in a state filled with spectacular roadside attractions. For many Anchorage residents, the Turnagain Arm is often seen from the window of a vehicle, stuck behind a gargantuan tour bus or weekend traffic to the Kenai Peninsula. But if you like to eat, hike, fish and look at mountains that come straight up out of the sea, the Turnagain Arm is a destination in its own right. Along this curvy stretch of road with inlet-and-mountain views, there are atmospheric watering holes, with menus that range from fine dining to down home pit barbeque, along with natural delights.

A wave of vandalism has prompted overnight parking-lot gate closures at Potter Marsh's popular Seward Highway boardwalk in the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Joe Meehan, Fish and Game's lands and refuges program coordinator, says graffiti and gang symbols have been spray-painted in the area, and toilet-paper dispensers, air fresheners and hand sanitizers have been torn out of bathrooms and either smashed in the parking lot or dropped into latrines.

The State of Alaska unveiled a broad-based $165 million plan Thursday to better protect drivers in safety corridors on the Seward Highway and three other heavily traveled Alaska roads, featuring a mix of improvements to roads, technology and law enforcement. Gov. Sean Parnell announced the Intelligent Transportation System initiative at the Alaska State Troopers post in Girdwood -- a focal point for troopers' responses to fatal crashes on the Seward, which claimed six lives in 2012.

Anchorage Police said 57-year-old Steven Powers, of Anchorage, died Tuesday evening when his motorcycle slammed into a guardrail on the Seward Highway. Lt Dave Parker said it happened around 9:20 p.m. at mile 112, near McHugh Creek.    Police said Powers was thrown from a blue 2004 Yamaha sport-bike onto Alaska Railroad property and was wearing a blue helmet and blue riding gear. A train was stopped as police conducted its investigation. Witnesses told police that Powers was riding northbound and crossed into the southbound lane around a corner.

Preliminary numbers from the Anchorage Police Department show that deaths on Anchorage roads in 2010 went down more than 60 percent, compared to a 10-year average. APD says it saw a downward trend starting in 2003, when its traffic unit was reinstated. The department’s service area spans from the Knik River Bridge in the north to McHugh Creek on the Seward Highway in the south. Officials say the 10-year average is 21 fatalities per year, and there were eight in 2010. According to police the decrease is due to cumulative efforts, including a push to focus on DUI enforcement, training, and grant-funded hours which put extra officers on the street.

Drivers could sum up Tuesday's driving conditions in just one word, "bumpy. " "Roads are terrible, icy all the way from Eagle River to Anchorage," Bill Culbertson said, after he drove in from Wasilla. The slush from the storm turned into ice, creating icy bumps all over major roadways. "They were a little treacherous," Anchorage resident Monique Mucciarelli said.   The Municipality of Anchorage street maintenance crews started working on their major roadways immediately, according to operations general foreman Paul Vanlandingham.

Alaska State Troopers have named the drivers involved in a head-on collision near Seward Wednesday afternoon that left them seriously injured and medevaced to Anchorage by the Alaska Air National Guard. AST spokesperson Megan Peters says the crash happened at about 12:10 p.m. Wednesday at Mile 4 of the Seward Highway, when a vehicle crossed the center line and hit another one, entrapping the two victims -- drivers Edward Jacobson of Seward and Dave Hamaker of Anchorage, both 61 years old. Traffic on the Seward was slowed for several hours as troopers conducted an investigation of the crash, but Peters says at least one lane remained open throughout the afternoon.

The Anchorage Police Department says nobody has died in Anchorage this year in drunk-driving crashes. APD says the number of fatalities from operating under the influence, or OUI, is decreasing, and its "0 for 12" campaign is aiming for zero local deaths in OUI-related crashes in 2012. APD reports that in 2007 there were 1,964 arrests for OUI and 11 deaths in OUI-related crashes. In 2011 there were 2,079 arrests with three deaths. Police say that in a large number of cases -- 45 percent of the time -- other drivers call dispatchers to report drunk drivers.

Alaska's unemployment rate stands at 7.7 percent for last month -- nearly 25,000 Alaskans out of work.  But an Anchorage man has come up with a unique way to try and find a job in a tough economy: standing on the side of the intersection at Benson Boulevard and the Seward Highway with a giant sandwich board asking for work. Michael Higgins, the welder standing at the corner of the intersection, has 30 years of experience.  He was recently laid off. It's not the first time he's done something like this.

A bear mauling victim is at home recovering after being attacked by a brown bear early Sunday morning. Ben Radakovich says he was walking on Penguin Creek Trail, off Bird Creek Trail, when the attack happened. Bird Creek Trail is about near Mile 101 of the Seward Highway. He says he had been yelling and making noise while he hiked, but the sounds must have been drowned out by a nearby creek. When Radakovich turned a corner he saw a bear on the trail, but it wasn't until she charged him that he saw her cub. He says she swatted and bit him on the neck, back and head.