2012 in News, Part 1

A look back at last year's top stories

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By Bill McAllister
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Story Created: Jan 1, 2013 at 12:42 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Jan 1, 2013 at 12:45 PM AKDT

(Part 1, for Part 2, click here)

ANCHORAGE - Moving forward into the new year, we decided to to take a look back at some of the key stories of 2012.

We had unusual weather, key elections and one of the most horrible crime stories in Alaska history.

The year began with record-breaking snowfall, from Prince William Sound to Anchorage.

If the weather was chilling, so was the February 1 abduction of 18-year-old barista Samantha Koenig from the Common Grounds coffee stand on Tudor Road.

“Every minute counts when you are dealing with a kidnapping like this so it is very important that we find this young lady,” said police Lieutenant Dave Parker.
On March 13, Anchorage carpenter Israel Keyes was arrested in Lufkin, Texas, with Samantha’s ATM card.

Koenig’s body was recovered from Matanuska Lake on April 2.

While that grisly drama was unfolding, the city was in the midst of an election campaign.

Mayor Dan Sullivan won another term, defeating Assemblyman Paul Honeman, on a night when some precincts ran short of ballots.

And voters rejected a ballot measure to include gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered residents among the protected groups in the civil rights ordinance.

Also in April, former police officer Anthony Rollins was sentenced effectively to life in prison for sexual assaults he committed while on duty.

APD Chief Mark Mew said, “The Anthony Rollins case is a case that just won't go away. I fear the damage done will never go away."

The Legislature adjourned a special session without passing the oil tax reform bill sponsored by Governor Sean Parnell, with the governor and the Republican-led House placing blame upon the Senate's bipartisan majority.

School Superintendent Carol Comeau retired and was replaced by Jim Browder.

After a snowy winter, residents were disappointed to experience a cool and overcast beginning to the summer.

In June, an Anchorage police officer shot and killed Shane Tasi as he walked towards officers brandishing a broken broomstick, an action later declared justified by the Department of Law.

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