🌱 Deputy Clerk Resigns + Anchorage Students' Math On Decline

Good morning, Anchorage! Like many of you, the Patch team is taking some time off to enjoy the holidays, so there will not be a newsletter in your inbox tomorrow. We appreciate your understanding of this slight pause in our schedule, and I will be back on Monday with the next edition of the Anchorage Daily! Now, here's everything happening around town today.

First, today's weather:

Mostly sunny and very cold. High: 14 Low: 10.

Here are the top stories in Anchorage today:

1. Erika McConnell has resigned from her position as deputy clerk for elections with the city of Anchorage. On Wednesday, McConnell told Alaska’s News Source that she submitted her resignation last Friday, Dec. 17. (KTUU)
2. The most recent PEAKS standards show only 37 percent of all Anchorage students are proficient at math and 37 percent of ninth graders are proficient at math. It appears as if some foundational math is lacking. (Must Read Alaska)
3. This year’s Alaska Botanical Garden Holiday Lights show saw sold-out crowds leading up to Christmas. The half-mile loop trail was illuminated by glowing ice luminarias, colorful trees, and hanging lights. Farther into the wooded garden, tunnels of red, green, and white lights lit the way as groups stopped for family photos and children giggled and ran under them. (Anchorage Daily News)

Today's Anchorage Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at Verizon. They're building the fastest 5G network in the country. To learn how 5G is going to change life for you and your community — and to get access to this amazing technology — click here. And thank you Verizon for sponsoring this community resource in Anchorage!

Today in Anchorage:

• Counter Cartographies: Living The Land At Anchorage Museum (10:00 AM)

From my notebook:

• The Alaska Department of Public Safety has many exciting civilian job opportunities including serving the state as a Public Information Officer. The role of a PIO within DPS and the Alaska State Troopers is diverse to meet the demands for information and resources in an age of social media and the internet. (Facebook)
• What Christmas holiday is complete without an emergency situation or two? The Alaskan Animal Rescue Friends getting in 18 puppies that will all most likely need to be bottle-fed. One litter of six are just days old and their mother was shot. (Facebook)
• Happy holidays, Seawolves! The University of Alaska Anchorage is wishing you a joyous holiday season and a bright new year. Campuses will be closed from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2 for winter break. (Instagram)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Friday. See you around for another update!

— 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.