Clarise Larson

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.