Newscasts

In this newscast: The final cruise ship of the season, the Norwegian Jewel, leaves Juneau on Thursday evening. It concludes a nearly 200-day cruise ship season for the capital city; The City and Borough of Juneau formally apologized for the 1962 burning of the Douglas Indian Village at a Juneau Assembly meeting on Monday; This week, the Juneau Planning Commission approved a series of land rezones that span from North Douglas to Auke Bay. All of them would increase housing density in those areas, but not everybody is thrilled about it; The Northwest Arctic community of Kotzebue is starting recovery efforts after a coastal storm caused widespread flooding to the town of over 3000 people 

In this newscast: Alaska’s healthcare facilities are are conserving the use of intravenous or IV fluids due to shortages from Hurricane Helene; The Juneau Assembly has approved $2 million in funding to construct a temporary levee along Mendenhall River in order to prepare for future glacial outburst floods; City officials in Juneau say they are still extremely unhappy with a cruise line and a local Alaska Native corporation after they announced plans to develop a new cruise ship port last week; Ketchikan has seen a sharp increase in ambulance callouts in recent years, so the city has introduced a free city-sponsored program that emphasizes preventative care

In this newscast: Two new Juneau Assembly members were sworn in at City Hall last night; Early voting started yesterday in communities across Alaska; Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says she hopes Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola is reelected this November; Cruise passengers cost the City of Ketchikan roughly $8 million last year, according to a new McKinley Research Group report; Tongass Voices: NAMI Juneau’s Aaron Surma on how to combat the winter blues

In this newscast: Juneau School District’s chief financial officer is resigning just a few months after she officially began the role; Water levels on Juneau’s Mendenhall Lake and River are returning to normal following a moderate glacial outburst flood that peaked at 10.7 feet at 11:30 p.m. Sunday night; Rosita Worl, a longstanding Indigenous leader from Juneau was honored at the White House today; A bill that passed quietly into law this summer aims to make it easier to bring experienced teachers into Alaska schools — and keep them there; Cold exposure injuries like frostbite and hypothermia are about 8 times more common for unhoused people in Alaska than those with housing

In this newscast: The City and Borough of Juneau will offer sandbags this weekend for residents affected by August’s record-breaking glacial outburst flood. Every household that flooded is eligible for up to 200 free sandbags provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Juneau-based writer Vera Starbard will be Alaska’s next state writer laureate; Subsistence has always been part of the conversation during the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention, but in recent years, it’s a topic that’s taken center stage as both a unifying and divisive topic. And, it is again the focal point, filling nearly half the agenda on the first day of this year’s gathering; Southcentral Alaska’s mariculture industry is optimistic about a bill passed this summer that streamlines the leasing process for kelp and shellfish farmers. The legislation could affect growers on the Kenai Peninsula – and around the state. 

In this newscast: U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration more than two months after a record-breaking glacial outburst damaged nearly 300 homes in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley; Juneau voters said no to a proposition that would have banned all large cruise ships on Saturdays in this year’s municipal election. But, it’s not the end of the effort to address the impacts of tourism growth. And now, plans for a new cruise ship dock on Douglas are complicating things; Tribal and federal officials say they’re forging a new relationship to address climate change-related threats in Alaska’s rural communities. A  new National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration grant will create 80 new jobs to improve climate change response in remote Alaska Native communities statewide; This week teacher and author Genét Simone will stop in Nome for a book tour promoting her memoir, “Teaching in the Dark.” The book reflects on a transformative year of teaching in Shishmaref in the 1980s. In it, she discusses the challenges and rewards of teaching in the small sub-Arctic village.