KTOO News Department

In this newscast:

• An Anchorage lawyer has been implicated as a “cartel attorney” working for traffickers who allegedly sent hard drugs from Mexico to Alaska,
• It was Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s 68th birthday yesterday,
• The Juneau Assembly considers a seasonal sales tax ballot proposition to capitalize on summer tourism,
• A teacher in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley is bringing current glacial outburst flood science to middle schoolers,
• The cruise line industry is suing Skagway over a new policy that makes a controversial change to how the borough taxes excursions sold by cruise companies

In this newscast:

• Tomorrow is the last day of school at the Juneau School District, and high school seniors are graduating on Sunday,
• A storm is set to hit Southeast Alaska this weekend with strong winds and heavy rain,
• Property taxes could go up for most Juneau residents if the Juneau Assembly moves forward with a plan to increase the rate it uses to calculate them in the next fiscal year,
• The Juneau School District is restructuring one of its specialized education programs. While staff and administrators say the change is desperately needed, some parents are concerned about how it will affect some of the district’s most vulnerable students,
• The Chilkoot Indian Association in Haines is launching a new tourism effort

In this newscast:

• The Juneau Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Monday in support of keeping the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area federally owned,
• The City and Borough of Juneau may step in to fund positions at the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area formerly held by federal workers,
• The Juneau Assembly also unanimously approved a change for how much the city charges large cruise ships to dock at city owned facilities,
• Alaska lawmakers overrode Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a high profile education bill yesterday

In this newscast:

• The Juneau School District Board of Education appointed Steve Whitney to the board on Saturday,
• Senator Lisa Murkowski has introduced a bill that would reauthorize funds for landslide monitoring projects across Southeast Alaska,
• The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development failed a test that allows it to include millions of federal dollars towards its contributions to education funding,
• Tribal leaders from across the country spoke out last week at a U.S. Senate hearing against changes within the Department of Health and Human Services,
• Curious Juneau: What’s the story behind the Fiddlehead Cookbook’s North Douglas chocolate cake?

In this newscast:

• Five candidates have applied to fill an empty seat on the Juneau School District Board of Education after Will Muldoon resigned,
• Alaska regulators have assessed a $49,000 fine against Hilcorp for lapses in Cook Inlet offshore well management, the Alaska Beacon reports,
• Some Southeast Alaska communities had their earliest harmful algal bloom on record this year, and there is currently a paralytic shellfish toxin advisory across region for recreational and subsistence harvest,
• Local and state transportation officials are wrapping up a study that hones in on five locations for a potential second bridge,
• Thousands of new books are landing in the hands of kids across Southeast Alaska this month as the result of a partnership between the region’s largest tribal government and a Native-led nonprofit with roots in the Navajo and Hopi nations

In this newscast:

• A German Shepherd who was on the lam for nearly three months has been captured to returned to her family,
• The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation says 400,000 gallons of process water spilled at a large lead and zinc mine in Northern Alaska yesterday,
• The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is considering whether to reduce the amount of money local governments can give to school district, but a new bill would allow local governments to continue to fund school districts as they have been,
• Juneau’s city-owned ski area expects to run a deficit for the foreseeable future, and their plan to dig out of the deficit relies heavily on revenue from a gondola that has yet to be built,
• Lawmakers rejected two of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s nominees for state boards and commissions in a joint session of the state House and Senate yesterday