KTOO News Department

In this newscast:

• Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a closely-watched education bill yesterday that would have boosted basic per-student funding by $1,000,
• Southeast Alaska’s largest tribal government approved a rule change that greatly reduces the number of representatives from communities outside the region,
• High school students in Juneau wrote four plays earlier this year centered on deeply personal topics, and a performance of them this week included a forum with teachers, mental health professionals, and policy-makers,
• International students in Alaska on education visas are among those nationwide facing removal as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown continues

In this newscast:

• Alaska organizations that provide weather and environmental information to mariners and subsistence hunters are bracing for reduced funding.
• The University of Alaska Southeast is retaining services and federal funding for now as the Trump administration continues to threated and investigate universities.
• Juneau’s city-run emergency warming center closed for the season this morning and some clients say they have nowhere else to go.
• Arctic research has not been spared as President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk seek to slash what they see as unnecessary government spending.

In this newscast:

• The Alaska Legislature passed a bill Friday that would boost per-student education funding by $1,000. Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he plans to veto it,
• Juneau residents who haven’t filed have some extra time,
• A new Juneau advocacy group called the the Affordable Juneau Coalition filed three ballot petitions with the city last week, to lower the property tax rate, to remove sales tax on food and utilities, and to make in-person voting the default again,
• The Norwegian Bliss and its more than 4,0000 passengers arrived in Juneau yesterday to kick of the 2025 cruise ship season,
• Tensions over a levee that’s taking shape in backyards along Juneau’s Mendenhall River have come to a head as one homeowner filed a suit against the city, seeking to exempt his property or be paid for it,
• A Ketchikan woman now officially holds the Guinness World Record for “largest female mouth gape”

In this newscast:

• Cruise ship tourism will pay for a number of upgrades to infrastructure in Juneau this year.
• Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration released a long-delayed study on state worker salaries last week.
• Federal investigators released a final report on their investigation into the crash of a commercial cargo plane near Fairbanks last year that killed two people.
• An Anchorage judge declared a mistrial Friday in the case against a young man involved in a 2019 Unalaska car crash that killed two teenage girls.
• The Kenai Peninsula’s largest energy cooperative wants to try an save a Nikiski solar farm that stalled earlier this year.

In this newscast:

• People packed a park in Homer on Saturday to protest recent actions by the Trump administration.
• The JoAnn fabric store chain is closing their stores, including on with a large footprint in Fairbanks.
• Two Anchorage teens are trying to encourage more young people to get involved with philanthropy-giving their time and money to benefit society as a whole.
• The 50th Annual Alaska Folk Fest celebrated its fourth night by welcoming guest artists Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell for a 45-minute set.

In this newscast:

• Two Alaska State Troopers facing assault charges over alleged conduct during their arrest of the wrong man in Kenai last year won’t go to trial until next February,
• Fairbanks Senior Center officials worry that federal funding cuts will limit the organization’s ability to provide Meals on Wheels to elderly people who need the nutrition-assistance program,
• The first of three new Coast Guard fast response cutters to be homeported in Kodiak is officially ready for duty.