ANCHORAGE — Musher John Baker blazed from Anchorage to Nome in record time in the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and will be back to defend his crown in March.

Iditarod officials said Thursday that Baker is one of 69 mushers, including six former champions, who plan to compete in the 2012 race.

Seven of the top 10 finishers and 23 of the top 30 from a year ago will return.

“What that tells us is that the 2012 race promises to be ultra-competitive again — pretty hard to crack that top 30 for a newcomer,” said race director Stan Hooley.

A shooting, a flood, a chemical spill. It doesn’t matter what the scenario, the emergency manager of the University of Alaska Anchorage Police Department says, it requires planning among varying agencies.

The truck bay was filled, not with trucks, but with anxious boys and girls waiting to get a turn on Santa Claus’ lap.

Santa was the man of the hour during the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration in Soldotna on Thursday, which is organized by the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce with help from local businesses and community members.

Finn Williams, 3, waited for Santa to climb down from the fire truck so he could shake his hand.

“I liked meeting Santa,” Finn said. “He was nice.”

KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — Biologists for the International Pacific Halibut Commission say the sustainable halibut catch may be only half of its current level.

The Kodiak Daily Mirror (http://bit.ly/fPBLA5 ) says commission biologists presented their preliminary data Wednesday to the IPHC board at a meeting in Seattle. The board will make a final decision on 2012 catch limits at a meeting in Anchorage from Jan. 24-27.