FAIRBANKS (AP) — A confrontation between a man dressed as a super hero and a panhandling Alaska couple has resulted in misdemeanor assault charges against the couple.

Phillip Ross Williams, 50, and Rita Carol Stidger, 45, were accused of threatening the costumed man because he was panhandling in "their" spot.

Fairbanks police were called to the intersection of the Johansen Expressway and Hunter Street, a popular site for panhandlers, on Tuesday after witnesses said they saw two people confronting the costumed panhandler wearing a mask and blue tights with red briefs on the outside.

A man shot and wounded by Alaska State Troopers during an armed confrontation back in June has been hit with multiple counts of assault, troopers said Thursday.

Shane McDonald, 24, was arrested Wednesday morning on charges of second-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree assault stemming from the June 23 confrontation in Tanacross, troopers said.

A 67-year-old man who strapped 2.3 pounds of methamphetamine to his legs in an attempt to smuggle it into Alaska has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. attorney.

William George Pariseau was convicted at trial in May of attempted possession with the intent to distribute.

Prosecutors say Pariseau was flying from Tucson, Ariz., to Anchorage in October 2008 when authorities noticed he was walking strangely, with unnatural bulges in his pant legs, during a layover in Seattle. A search found the meth strapped to his legs with elastic bandages.

The U.S. attorney says an Anchorage crack dealer has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison. Here's a press release prosecutors sent out:

Anchorage, Alaska – United States Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced that on August 4, 2010,
Ishmael Schmidt, a resident of Anchorage, Alaska, was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage to 100
months imprisonment for his conviction of distribution of crack cocaine, attempted distribution of crack
cocaine, and possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, as well as possession of firearm during
a drug-trafficking offense.

An Anchorage man who was recruited through Craigslist to print and distribute counterfeit checks as part of an international scam has been indicted on federal charges of fraudulently passing fake checks, according to the U.S. attorney.

Bradley J. Blodgett, 33, was the sole defendant indicted last month on the charges, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say that Blodgett answered an advertisement on Craigslist earlier this year from a purported company seeking help with customer service.

Vice police conducting an prostitution sting last week arrested seven johns who tried to buy sex from undercover officers.

Police say the officers posed as prostitutes in Spenard last Thursday and allowed would-be customers to approach them.

Five of the seven men arrested were driving vehicles, which were impounded under a city law that calls for vehicles involved in prostitution to be seized as an item that was used in furtherance of the crime.

Vehicles are seized for 30 days on a first offense and the suspects must pay towing, storage and impound fees, police said.

Alaska State Troopers have broken up a marijuana-growing operation in Moose Pass that had 100 growing plants and many more seedlings ready to go.

Troopers say they got a report of the growing operation at a home near Mile 36 of the Seward Highway about 1:40 p.m. on Sunday.

Investigators determined that the residents of the rented home, 31-year-old Nicholas Gelinas, and Sioux Blackledge, 28, were operating a growing operation out of it and an outbuilding, troopers said.

A 12-year-old boy has been arrested on a felony assault charge after he shot and injured a young girl in Wainwright last week, according to North Slope Borough police.

Police say the 9-year-old girl, who was not named, was shot at 120 Summer Road in the community of 550 on the Chukchi Sea coast about 12:10 a.m. Thursday.

Officials arriving on scene found the child hit once in the upper right chest with a .22-caliber round, police said. Police, citing an ongoing investigation, declined to specify what exactly happened and why.

A Soldotna man fatally shot in the head last month was killed during an argument over a gun and a $500 debt, according court documents filed in Kenai this weekend.

Soldotna resident Lyle D. Ludvick, 44, is accused of leveling a shotgun loaded with buckshot at 23-year-old Brendan McGee, who was killed July 16.

According to an affidavit filed in court by troopers investigator Mark Pearson, McGee and another man, Thomas Mason, had been at a one-room cabin in the 47000 block of Andrews Avenue.

Alaska State Troopers have arrested a 44-year-old man on a murder charge in the July 16 slaying in Soldotna.

Troopers say Lyle D. Ludvick has been charged with second-degree murder and evidence tampering in connection with the death of Brendan McGee, who was shot about 1:50 p.m. in the area of Kalifornsky Beach Road and Andrews Avenue.

The Special Emergency Reaction Team learned Ludvick was in a home in Backtracker Trailer Park on Friday morning and surrounded the home.

Ludvick surrendered after a short negotiation.

— Anchorage Daily News/adn.com

A Chignik Lake man who beat a friend to death with an ax during a drunken argument over who was the better fisherman was sentenced this week to serve 35 years in prison, according to the Anchorage district attorney.

Edwin Pedersen, 25, in April pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the August 14, 2009, death of 22-year-old John Kalmakoff.

ANCHORAGE (AP) — A 25-year-old Juneau woman has been sentenced to more than four years in prison a federal drug case.

Federal prosecutors say Pricilla Finau's 51-month sentence follows her conviction of conspiring to traffic cocaine and methamphetamine. She was sentenced Friday.

According to prosecutors, Finau and her boyfriend, Tamafaiga Lancelot Maefau, flew to California several times in 2007 and 2008 to buy drugs and send them in packages to Juneau.

More than 100 people nationwide have reported being scammed by online predators using fake addresses in the Anchorage area, according to police.

Scammers, thought to be operating overseas, have made off with more than $279,000 from more than 70 people who sent money to them for goods posted on Craigslist and eBay, police said. Once the money was sent, the goods were never shipped and the sellers disappeared, according to police.

The addresses used in the Anchorage area — 1128 Gambell St., 125 W. 100th Ave. and 10 W. 34th Ave. — don’t exist, police said.

A 41-year-old Fairbanks man who talked his way into a woman’s home and then flashed her has been charged with burglary and indecent exposure, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Troopers say the 35-year-old homeowner called them about 9 a.m. Monday to report that the unknown man had exposed himself in her house near McGrath Road.

An investigation determined that Gregory Gioconda came to the home claiming to be a plumber in a ploy to seek access, troopers said. When the woman said she hadn’t called a plumber, Gioconda asked to use her bathroom and phone, according to troopers.

Federal drug investigators have broken up a family marijuana growing operation in Fairbanks that featured hundreds of plants as well as weapons that were staged around the home to defend the crops, according to court documents.

Michael Lee Dunshie, 49, and Laurie Dunshie, 50, jointly own both halves of the duplex in the 4500 block of Wood River Drive. One side of the building was the family’s living quarters. The other side housed the family farm, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A manager of a drug-trafficking conspiracy has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. attorney.

Prosecutors say Gilberto “Toro” Gonzalez, 35, was convicted of money laundering and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methampetamine.

Wait ... what?

The Anchorage Police Department just released this fairly wild news release. Your thoughts?

Subject – Police Respond to Woman Chasing Bear

On 7-8-10 at 10:17 hours, Anchorage Police Officers responded to the report of a woman chasing a black bear on the 200 block of Yellow Leaf Circle. Upon arrival, officers found that a woman who resides on Orange Leaf Circle had indeed been chasing a black bear which had jumped the fence in her front yard and snatched up her pet rabbit in its teeth.

Murder charges against an Anchorage man accused of killing his wife have been re-filed, according to court documents.

James Wease, 66, is once again charged with first- and second-degree murder and three counts of evidence tampering in the death of Dana Sena-Wease, 43, who was stabbed to death in November 2007.

A previous indictment against Wease had been dismissed after a judge ruled a homicide investigator improperly testified before the grand jury that he thought Wease killed his wife.

A grand jury indicted him on the charges again Friday, court records indicate.

A Wasilla man who troopers say shot a black Labrador with a .50 caliber handgun this morning in Willow has been cited for animal cruelty.

Troopers say the dog was taken to a Talkeetna veterinarian and is expected to live. Alexander Reutov, 33, also faces a weapons misconduct charge, troopers say, because the shot came too close to a roadway.

Troopers say they took Reutov's gun. The shooting was reported at a campground at about 8:30 a.m., troopers say.

A convicted felon who pistol-whipped another man on the head during a fight at an Anchorage strip club was sentenced this week to 65 months in prison, according to the U.S. attorney.

Anchorage resident Terrance Marcel Davis, 25, was previously convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Davis got into a fight with another man at Fantasies on Fifth in the early morning hours of July 3, 2009 and struck his opponent in the head with a weapon.