🌱 Emma Broyles Wins Miss America + Masks Not Required For ASD

Morning, people of Anchorage! Miranda Fraraccio here with today's edition of the Anchorage Daily.

First, today's weather:

A bit of morning snow; cloudy. High: 24 Low: 13.

Here are the top 3 stories today in Anchorage:

1. Emma Broyles, an Anchorage resident and Arizona State University pre-med student, has won the title of Miss America. Broyles is the first Alaska woman to win the competition and was crowned Miss America 2022, as the 2021 competition was canceled due to COVID-19. The 100th Miss America Pageant was held at Mohegan Sun Arena at a casino in Uncasville, Connecticut on Thursday evening. (Must Read Alaska)
2. A 35-year-old Anchorage man was charged with second-degree murder four years after a shooting that resulted in the death of 26-year-old Joshua Statham. The charges come after an Anchorage police detective was asked by the district attorney's office this year to look into the case. Joseph Thomas Jones Sr. was indicted Tuesday on two counts of second-degree murder, manslaughter, misconduct involving weapons, and third-degree assault. (Yahoo News)
3. The Anchorage School District will no longer require students and staff to wear face masks in school buildings when they return from winter break on Jan. 3. The district is calling its optional masking policy "parent-informed masking," meaning it’s up to families to decide whether to mask their students or not. Superintendent Deena Bishop said the district had this policy in place during summer school, and it resulted in about 40 percent of elementary and middle school students and staff choosing to wear masks, while about one in three high school students wore them. (Alaska Public Media News)

Today in Anchorage:

• LEGO Club At Mountain View Branch Library (2:00 PM)
• Teen Craft And Mindfulness Time At Anchorage Public Library (3:30 PM)

From my notebook:

• The Anchorage Police Department wants to say thank you to the 9th Army Band for spreading the sound of holiday spirit to officers. (Facebook)
• The Alaskan Animal Rescue Friends AARF is hosting a bake sale on Saturday, Dec. 18 at the Dena'ina center. They are accepting individually-wrapped goodies to sell. Donations can be dropped off at the AARF office day-of from 9 AM to 4 PM. (Facebook)
• New research shows how climate stressors, including changes in sea ice, coastal erosion, weather patterns, and snow cover, are altering access to coastal subsistence resources for northwestern Alaska Iñupiat communities in and around Western Arctic National Parklands. (Facebook)

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You're officially in the loop for today. I'll see you back in your inbox Monda morning with your next 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.