Cell-phone tower construction rankles neighborhoods

By Rosemary Shinohara, Anchorage Daily News

New wireless communication towers are popping up in Anchorage, Mat-Su and elsewhere in Alaska as a big new company, Verizon Wireless, moves into the state and other cell phone companies upgrade their networks.

Verizon is set to begin Alaska service sometime in 2013.

The increase in cell towers is leading to conflicts in some areas between residents who don't want tall poles and antennas looming over their yards -- and companies competing to offer ever-more sophisticated cell phone services.

For example, east-side residents joined a battle this week over a proposal to build a 100-foot tower at 2100 E. Northern Lights Boulevard, in the parking lot of a medical building near Northern Lights and Lake Otis Parkway.

The city Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday rejected the tower site after city officials said it didn't fit with the College Village neighborhood just off Northern Lights.

In Turnagain, another controversy has developed over a plan to install a tower at a site off Wisconsin Street between 31st and 32nd avenues.

In the Valley, there's also trouble brewing. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough no longer requires permits to build towers, so residents may not even hear about plans until construction materials start arriving.

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Seward Highway Reopens as Police Seek Armed Kidnapper

By Chris Klint, Channel 2 News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska— The Seward Highway has reopened after a Friday closure near Mile 70, as Anchorage police and Alaska State Troopers look for an armed kidnapper.

APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker says the incident began earlier Friday near 88th Avenue and Lake Otis Parkway, where an 18-year-old man saw a male suspect -- described by troopers as a white man in his forties, about 6 feet tall with a shaved head and a black-and-red tattoo on his left shoulder -- snooping around the back yard of his grandmother's home. The home was taped off as a crime scene by APD Friday afternoon, as police searched for more clues about the suspect.

The man reportedly confronted the suspect, at which point the suspect forced the man into his red 2000 Chevrolet pickup truck and made him drive south along the Seward at gunpoint. Parker says the suspect needed to relieve himself at the Turnagain Pass rest area and took the pickup’s key, but the victim had a spare key and drove off.

According to police, the victim sent a text message to family members, who then alerted APD and AST about the incident. As of Friday afternoon, the victim was headed back to Anchorage, but was stuck in traffic from the Seward's closure.

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DOT Construction Signs Hacked To Read 'Impeach Obama'

By Todd Walker, Channel 2 News

Several electronic road construction signs around Anchorage were hacked late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Signs that normally display closure and detour information, like the one on Minnesota Drive near 100th Avenue, were changed to read “Impeach Obama.” That particular sign wasn’t fixed until sometime between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. Thursday.

It happened because DOT says it doesn't lock the boxes on the signs that hold the message control pad.

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Anchorage, Alaska - One Person Killed in Three-Vehicle Crash

Police say fatal crash happened at Lake Otis Parkway and O'Malley Road intersection.

By Abby Hancock, Channel 2 News

Anchorage police say one person was killed in a vehicle crash in South Anchorage late Sunday night. The crash happened just before midnight at the Lake Otis Parkway and O'Malley Road intersection. The driver of one of the vehicles died at the scene, according to APD.

Police say it is still unclear what led to the crash or which direction each vehicle was travelling.

"We're in the process of speaking with two of the drivers but it sounds as though there was a red light violation that occurred which then resulted in the collision, but we're still trying to sort out which vehicle was travelling which way," said Sgt. Gerard Asselin.

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