Thefts from cars in Anchorage up 40 percent: Anchorage Police are encouraging residents to "lock -- remove -- conceal, so thieves don't steal" after a recent uptick in vehicle break-ins. Thefts from vehicles from January through October are up 40 percent from last year, according to a press release issued Thursday. Police note that many thefts appear to target unlocked vehicles -- and many break-ins occur in residents' driveways.
Arctic Ocean petroleum leases criticized: As the period for public comment drew to a close, it seems no one was happy with the Obama administration's approach to the latest round of oil- and-gas leases in the Arctic Ocean, set for 2016. Environmental groups are upset any drilling is being allowed in the Chukchi Sea, reports industry news site Fuel Fix. On the other side, petroleum producers and industry trade groups don't like the new "targeted leasing" approach, which does away with the former practice of selling off wide swaths of outer continental shelf rights. In written comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, four of those trade groups complain, "The move to targeted leasing, a strategy typically employed in low-interest areas, does not reflect the tremendous undiscovered resource potential in the U.S. Arctic." The Alaska Oil and Gas Association, in a separate letter, voiced similar complaints.