The Islamic group Hamas runs the Gaza Strip and controls the police force. A number of young men say police plucked them from the street and shaved their heads recently, apparently because the officers didn't approve of their hairstyles.

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A fan favorite who gained nationwide fame because of his name, Trickle was known for both his many wins and his huge personality. But he may never have gotten over a granddaughter's death, friends say. Trickle was 71.

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Shug McGaughey is the trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Orb, who runs Saturday in the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. Despite his long record of success, no one seems as surprised as the 62-year-old McGaughey to be pursuing one of the sport's top honors.

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The government of President Nicolas Maduro announced this week that it would import 50 million rolls of toilet paper to meet the growing demand. The oil-rich country already suffers from a shortage of medicine, milk and sugar.

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The government of President Nicolas Maduro announced this week that it would import 50 million rolls of toilet paper to meet the growing demand. The oil-rich country already suffers from a shortage of medicine, milk and sugar.

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"I think we overreached in '98 — how's that for a quote you can use?" the former House speaker says of the Clinton impeachment. Now he tells fellow Republicans that they need to be "calm and factual" as they pursue answers from the Obama administration about the IRS and other scandals.

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Also: AARP and The Nation join a growing list of ebook publishers; Hilary Mantel on Jane Austen; Anne Applebaum on Sheryl Sandberg.

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Caleb "Kai" McGillvary became an Internet sensation in February with his colorful account of how he helped save a California utility worker who was being beaten by another man. Now, McGillvary is charged in the murder of a lawyer in New Jersey.

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Efforts to stop the war between the Assad regime and those trying to topple it could be set back again by Russia's actions, U.S. lawmakers say.

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Steven Miller, who was forced to submit his resignation as head of the agency this week, is testifying before Congress. Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike are angry over the agency's targeting of conservative groups.

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Sitka resident and Tlingit weaver Teri Rofkar takes staff from the National Museum of the American Indian up Blue Lake Road last year. The group was in town for field study, learning about the origins of many of the objects they keep track of in Washington, D.C. (KCAW photo by Ed Ronco)

Up a staircase, through a bedroom, and there it is: a room lit by skylights and tall windows. The studio, where Teri Rofkar weaves her work.

Rofkar was named the 2013 Rasmuson Distinguished Artist on Wednesday. The annual award is given by the Rasmuson Foundation to an Alaska artist with a history of accomplishment. It brings with it a $40,000 prize.

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It is in this studio that Rofkar has shelves of books, on subjects ranging from Russians in Alaska to Tlingit ethnobotany. Bins on a low shelf hold wool.

“Mountain goat, merino, alpaca and bison, because I did use the buffalo wool for that robe for the park service, and dog,” she says. “I’m working on a dog robe.”

There’s a spinning wheel in the middle of the room and a weaving frame, on which hangs the beginning of her next project. And over on one of the shelves, right next to an elegant blue vase, is a small frame, holding the picture of a shirtless, chiseled man, smoldering at the camera lens.

“Oh, he’s just purely inspiration,” Rofkar says. “I’ve probably had him for 30 years. And he’s still inspiring. I think that’s the one thing I’ve had to frisk out of gals’ hands. Like, ‘You put that right back!’”

Of course, Rofkar’s real inspirations for her work come from all around her. Maybe it’s a story told by a family member. Or the 1964 Alaska earthquake. She calls herself a basket weaver, but much of her work is traditional Tlingit robes. Baskets, she says, big baskets that hold people.

She’s been weaving for years. Her work is often surprising — incorporating an unusual color, or a new feature, like DNA symbols woven into a recent robe she did about goats. She says finding new ways to appreciate the art is important.

Rofkar: That’s where the rubber meets the road. Are you still doing it? Does it still inspire you? Are you still excited to get in there and do the dirty work? Absolutely.
KCAW: Why?
Rofkar: There’s so many more discoveries. It’s like the ocean we haven’t explored.
KCAW: I remember interviewing you a few years back for a robe you were working on for the national park. And what I remember about that interview is you opened a door the robe was sitting in before it was unveiled and you spoke TO the robe.
Rofkar: Yes.
KCAW: I hear a lot of personification in the way you talk about your art.
Rofkar: It embodies the place, right? Maybe in that case it was a reflection of the history of the park and the place of the park. This robe over here that’s about the mountain goat on Baranof Island has the double-helix and DNA stranding. The science I’ve embedded in it — the double helix — is accurate. They are an entity, just as the materials that I harvest, the tree people and the ferns. The place that we’re at, we live here, but there are others who have been living here for many more thousands of years than us. It’s relationships.

Rofkar received her award from the Rasmuson Foundation at an event in Anchorage. She says the money will help her take some time to focus on art for the sake of art, rather than worrying about weaving things that will earn money.

“Rasmuson has such a leap of faith to support all these artists, and they’re calling it a vision,” Rofkar said. “But for us, it’s our journey. They’re making our journey possible.”

What Rofkar does is rare, but she’s working to share her artform. She’s demonstrated and taught all over the country. When she started, she says she felt like her artform was on the verge of going away.

“It seemed like such a fragile art form,” Rofkar said. “There’s very few baskets. I think Tlingit basketry was declared lost in the (19)50s. I felt like I was single handedly holding it up. The robes: there are so few of them. There’s getting to be more. But here I was feeling like the carrier of the culture. And I realize now, whoops, this basketry, this weaving, it’s been going on for thousands and thousands of years. I’m the one that’s fragile. The art will continue on.”

On the way out the door, Rofkar sits me down in front of her computer, and plays a video produced for the Rasmuson Foundation. On the screen, she’s sitting at the spinning wheel in her studio.

And as she finishes introducing herself, heavy metal music begins to play and her name zooms onto the screen in big letters. It’s a startling contrast, but as it turns out, the perfect choice by the filmmaker.

KCAW: This is not music somebody would normally associate with…
Rofkar: Spinning and weaving. I love heavy metal.
KCAW: Do you?
Rofkar: I do.
KCAW: Like who?
Rofkar: Oh, Primus…

Another surprise, from Teri Rofkar.

ANCHORAGE — The National Marine Fisheries Service announced Thursday it will consider listing a population of harbor seals that live in a freshwater Alaska lake as a threatened or endangered species, a decision that could affect the massive Pebble Mine development project.

The agency said it has accepted a petition filed in November by the Center for Biological Diversity, kicking off a status review of the seals that live in Iliamna Lake 200 miles southwest of Anchorage.

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In February 2007, Rick Bounds was diagnosed with a serious liver disease and given eight months to live.

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Demand increased recently, leading to widespread shortages. An economics textbook would say ammo sellers should have raised prices rather than have empty shelves. But that hasn't happened.

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His administration has prosecuted six people for giving reporters information about secret national security operations — twice as many cases as all previous presidents combined. Amid criticism from First Amendment advocates, the White House insists it values both press freedoms and national security.

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City Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel are in an all-out blitz for votes ahead of Tuesday's election to replace the term-limited Antonio Villaraigosa. But observers say the race hasn't garnered much interest — even though Greuel could become the first female mayor.

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City Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel are in an all-out blitz for votes ahead of Tuesday's election to replace the term-limited Antonio Villaraigosa. But observers say the race hasn't garnered much interest — even though Greuel could become the first female mayor.

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When tightly controlled societies open up, long-suppressed sectarian tensions can flare. That's been happening in Myanmar. And the twist is that Buddhist monks, widely viewed as pacifists, are part of this rising Buddhist nationalism.

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KODIAK — The Alaska Marine Highway System is considering raising its rates for traveling aboard the state’s ferries in order to deal with a pared down operating budget approved by lawmakers this spring.

Officials informed the state’s public advisory board this week that the ferry system will end its discount program, according to a story in Thursday’s Kodiak Daily Mirror (http://is.gd/Egq0ZM ).

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ANCHORAGE — A remote Alaska volcano continues to erupt, spewing lava and ash clouds.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Thursday a continuous cloud of ash, steam and gas from Pavlof Volcano has been seen 20,000 feet above sea level. The cloud was moving to the southeast Thursday.

John Power, the U.S. Geological Survey scientist in charge at the observatory, estimates the lava fountain rose several hundred feet into the air.

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