🌱 Anchorage Receives D For Fiscal Health + Prostitution Stings

Welcome back, Anchorage! It's Wednesday, so let's get you started with everything you need to know going on today in town.

First, today's weather:

Mostly cloudy and colder. High: 23 Low: 19.

Here are the top three stories in Anchorage today:

1. Record-high temperatures in Anchorage on Friday and Saturday caused the streets to turn into ice rinks. Temperatures were in the 40s for four days in a row — a climatological phenomenon that hasn't happened in Anchorage in about a decade. The rapid warm-up was caused by a Chinook wind that swept in. (Alaska Public Media News)
2. Anchorage has received a "D" grade for its fiscal health. Anchorage needed $658.7 million to get out of the red, or $6,200 from each city taxpayer, according to an analysis by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a nonprofit government finance watchdog group. Anchorage has been ranked as number 43 in the nation, out of the 75 most populous cities. (Truth in Accounting)
3. Alaska State Troopers conducted multiple prostitution patron stings throughout January. The stings, in which troopers posed as women soliciting sex for money during the operation and contacted the men when they arrived at various locations in each community, resulted in charges against 22 men that attempted to solicit sex. Each of the men has been charged with the Class B Misdemeanor of Prostitution. (Alaska Native News)

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Today in Anchorage:

• AKME Chats, At Anchorage Library Online (11:00 AM)
• Preschool Storytime At Loussac, At Anchorage Public Library (11:00 AM)
• YPG Adopt-A-Trail Cleanup, At Anchorage Chamber of Commerce (4:30 PM)

From my notebook:

• The Alaska State Troopers are actively hiring Court Services Officers. Individuals with one or more years of certified police or corrections officer service are being offered advanced step placement with a salary range of $29.79 to $59.44 an hour based on years of experience, education, and assignment location. (Facebook)
• A glacier roughly the size of the state of Rhode Island now is one of the newest tidewater glaciers, due to the warming climate. Malaspina Glacier, the largest piedmont glacier in the world, occupies nearly 5,000 km2 in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in southeast Alaska. (Facebook)
• Register to join the Alaska Zoo this Wednesday, Jan. 26 for “Tracking Southcentral Wolves” by Alaska Department of Fish and Game Research Biologist Dave Saalfeld. This free virtual lecture will be from 7-8 p.m. (Instagram)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Wednesday. I'll see you around!

— Dominique-Noelle Rafael

About me: Dominique is a self taught UX/UI designer based in Princeton, NJ. She recently graduated from the University of Maryland last spring with a bachelor's degree in Information Science. She is excited to begin working on the Patch newsletter project this year!