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Skier dies, 2 others injured after falling about 1,000 feet in Alaska avalanche: “They had all the right gear”
An avalanche on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula killed one backcountry skier and injured two others, prompting warnings for people to stay away from steep slopes as warm weather and high winds raise the risk of more snowslides around the state. Authorties said the skiers had all the right gear but “it still proved deadly.”
The avalanche occurred Tuesday afternoon between the communities of Cooper Landing and Moose Pass in the Chugach National Forest, about 90 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska State Troopers wrote in an online report Wednesday.
It occurred as the three men hiked up a mountain about a mile east off the Seward Highway, the main thoroughfare between Anchorage and Seward, so they could ski back down, officials said.
Eight people have now died in avalanches in the country this winter, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. The toll includes deaths last weekend in Colorado and Wyoming. Last month, three people were killed by avalanches in the same week.
The surviving skiers in Alaska said they fell approximately 800 feet to 1,000 feet, said Clay Adam, deputy EMS chief at Cooper Landing.
“They were pretty sure that it started above them and carried them down the mountain,” he said.
One skier was partially trapped in the snow, and the other two were reported to have had head injuries, Adam said.
The two injured skiers “were able to locate the missing skier, dug him out of the avalanche, and began performing life-saving measures, which were ultimately not successful,” troopers wrote in their report.
The victim was identified as Joseph Allen, 28, of Anchorage, troopers said. The two surviving skiers have not been identified.
Allen’s body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage.
Alaska Wildlife Troopers on snowmachines brought the other two skiers down to a staging area. Both patients had serious but non-life-threatening injuries and were taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, Adam said.
Cooper Landing Emergency Services posted images of the rescue operation on Facebook.
“These victims had all the necessary safety gear and it still proved deadly,” the agency wrote.
Avalanches kill about 30 people a year on average in the U.S. Avalanche forecasters are attempting to curb the number of deaths as the surging numbers of skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers visit backcountry areas since the COVID-19 pandemic.
South-central Alaska has been experiencing warm weather, which exacerbates avalanche conditions.
“The avalanche conditions yesterday were horrible,” Adam said. “They’re probably the highest I’ve seen in a while.”
Those conditions include warming temperatures and high winds, gusting anywhere from 40 mph to 80 mph along the ridgetops in the Kenai Mountains, said Wendy Wagner with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center.
There’s no weather station at the site of the avalanche but several are nearby. Forecasters are headed to the site Wednesday.
The snowpack, which is typically thinner in this area, was unstable enough to create an avalanche that resulted in the accident, she said.
The avalanche danger is considerable at all elevations, and backcountry users are urged to stick to low slope angles and stay away from steep slopes. “We don’t want to have any other incidents,” Wagner said.
Adam said the skiers in the fatal accident did everything correctly and were prepared in case of an avalanche.
“They had all the right gear,” he said. “They had all their parachutes and avalanche beacons and everything, but unfortunately the outcome was not as good.”
Earlier this month, search teams in Wyoming were able to rescue an injured woman who was swept 1,500 feet downhill in an avalanche.
“This is not a normal year, so please be extra conservative in your backcountry decision-making,” Wyoming authorities said in a social media post last month after a skier was killed by an avalanche.
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Nevada live election results for the 2024 presidential race
What to know about Nevada
Nevada, with an economy largely based around tourism and hospitality surrounding Las Vegas, is home to a significant working class population. Both Trump and Harris announced no-tax-on-tips policies in Nevada earlier this year, underscoring the dominance of service industry workers in the Silver State.
Although a Republican presidential candidate hasn’t won Nevada since 2004, Democrats’ margin of victory has decreased in recent years. The Silver State’s economy, dependent on the hospitality industry, was among the most impacted by pandemic closures in 2020, leading to a much slower recovery than in other states, and spurring frustration with Democrat-led policies.
In 2022, Republicans flipped the governor’s mansion, and the state was home to the closest Senate race in the country, suggesting that in 2024, it could be seriously in play for Republicans even at the presidential level. But Nevada, a state with high population turnover, has historically posed polling difficulties. And the largest voting bloc — more than 30% of voters — are registered as nonpartisan in 2024.
How Nevada voted in 2016 and 2020
All but two counties backed Trump in the last election — but those two Democrat-voting counties, home to Las Vegas and Reno, make up the bulk of the state’s population. President Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election by more than 33,000 votes, and Hillary Clinton won the state in 2016, besting Trump by just over 27,000 votes.
Major races in Nevada
Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen and Republican Sam Brown are facing off in a key Senate race in Nevada as Democrats fight to hold onto control of the chamber. Brown, a 40-year-old businessman and former Army captain who lost the 2022 Republican Senate primary, is aiming to unseat Rosen in her first reelection bid and deliver the GOP its first Senate seat win in the Silver State since 2012.
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KCAL News Anchor, Emmy-Award winner Chauncy Glover dies at 39
Anchor and Emmy Award-winning journalist Chauncy Glover has died unexpectedly at the age of 39.
Chauncy joined the KCAL News Anchor Team in October 2023 after spending eight years in Houston as the first black male main anchor at KTRK.
For the past year, he has co-anchored the 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts with Pat Harvey and shared the desk with Suzie Suh at KCAL News at 8 and 10 p.m.
While his love for journalism caught him at an early age, Chauncy has always focused on the communities he served in, whether it was through his storytelling or his outreach.
“We, Sherry and Robert Glover, along with Chauncy’s beloved family, are devastated by the unimaginable loss of our beloved Chauncy,” the Glover family wrote in a statement. “He was more than a son and brother—he was a beacon of light in our lives and a true hero to his community.”
It was this passion as a true Southern gentleman that inspired Chauncy to create a mentorship program while working for WDIV in Detroit. After witnessing a teenager die on the streets, he started “The Chauncy Glover Project” as a hands-on, extensive mentoring program that helped transform teenage boys into upstanding gentlemen.
The program focuses on dressing for success, manhood, etiquette, college readiness, tutoring, public speaking, community service and more. The CGP Gents and Young Gents are 7-12th graders who Chauncy and other mentors met with twice a month for empowerment sessions and enrichment outings.
Chauncy relocated the program to Houston after he moved there to anchor at KTRK. CGP has proudly sent more than 350 boys of color to college and has mentored more than 1,000 young men.
“Chauncy’s compassion and dedication to helping others, especially through the Chauncy Glover Project, changed countless lives and inspired so many young men to pursue their dreams,” his family wrote. “His talent, warmth, and vision left an imprint on everyone who knew him, and the world is dimmer without him.”
While the three-time Emmy Award-winning journalist started his professional career with WTVM News in Columbus, Georgia, the news bug bit him at an early age. When he was just 5, Chauncy’s dad built him a mini anchor desk for the newscasts he would perform for his family every Sunday after church in his hometown of Athens, Alabama.
Chauncy worked in Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Texas before joining KCAL in California.
Chauncy also had a passion for theater, having acted in several national and Off-Broadway plays. One of his proudest moments came when he was asked to honor the late civil rights activist Rosa Parks by singing at her funeral in Montgomery, Alabama.
Chauncy traveled across the country as a motivational speaker, hoping to inspire the next generation of journalists.
“While we grieve this profound loss, we are comforted by the outpouring of love and memories shared by those who knew Chauncy as the passionate, gifted soul he was,” the family wrote. “We kindly ask for privacy as we mourn and honor his incredible legacy. He was taken from us far too soon, but his impact will be felt forever.”
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Senate likely to double the number of elected African American women
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