🌱 Bob Gross CARES Act Fraud + Community Fridge Project Underway

Hey, 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:

Rain and drizzle in the a.m. High: 42 Low: 34.

Here are the top stories today in Anchorage:

1. An Anchorage businessman has agreed to pay back nearly $400,000 in pandemic relief money after prosecutors say he lied to get it. In May, federal prosecutors accused Bob Gross, 65, of lying on applications for CARES Act funding about things like how many people he employed and how much revenue his businesses generated. Gross, co-owner of Inlet Tower Hotel and Suites, a prominent 15-story building that was one of the first high-rises built in Anchorage, received a total of more than $1 million in fraudulently obtained funds. (Alaska Public Media News)
2. Alaska's first 'Community Fridge' project is underway in Anchorage's Mountain View neighborhood. Ziona Brownlow, a 24-year-old lifelong Alaskan, came up with the idea after she began "seeing folks who didn't really have a way to navigate the food distribution systems, that were still learning how they were going provide access to food in the pandemic." Nearly 40 percent of households in Mountain View earn less than $25,000 – 19 percent of which fall below the poverty line. (Anchorage Press)
3. Anchorage Mayor Bronson spoke alongside prominent national vaccine skeptics and proponents of unproven COVID-19 treatments at an Anchorage church over the weekend. The event, called the Alaska Early Treatment Medical Summit, featured hours of talks on Saturday and was organized by an anonymous group called the Alaska COVID Alliance. This was Bronson’s most pronounced public embrace of vaccine skepticism and unproven treatments, having spoken at the conference for about 10 minutes. (KTOO)

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Today in Anchorage:

• Live from Muldoon, it's Virtual Storytime! - Anchorage Library Online (10:30 AM)

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Alrighty, you're all caught up for today. I'll see you soon! If you're loving these newsletters, consider bringing some of your friends and neighbors into the fold. You can send them this link to subscribe.

— Miranda Fraraccio

About me: Miranda Fraraccio is a born and raised Rhode Islander. She works as a freelance copywriter for content creation agency Lightning Media Partners and as an assistant producer for a live-lit storytelling show in Chicago. She holds a degree in Writing & Rhetoric and Communication Studies from The University of Rhode Island. In her free time, you can find her traveling, hiking, or photographing her neighborhood as a street photographer.