KTOO News Department

In this newscast:

• Alaska’s state ombudsman is resigning in April. Kate Burkhart leaves after eight years on the job and countless investigations that have led to major systemic reforms in the state,
• The Juneau School District approved a budget for the next fiscal year on Thursday,
• People rallied again outside the Alaska State Capitol today, this time to protest the Trump Administration’s plans to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs at the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs,
• After a German Shepherd named Jackie evaded euthanasia in Los Angeles, she’s now evading animal control officers in Juneau,
• Alaska’s fired federal workers are beginning to file unemployment claims, following the Trump administration’s move to reduce the federal workforce

In this newscast:

• The Juneau School District Board of Education is expected to pass a budget at a special meeting tonight. The board made last minute changes at its Tuesday meeting and now needs to rebalance the proposed budget

In this newscast:

• The Alaska House narrowly approved a bill today that would substantially increase state funding for public schools on a long-term basis for the first time in nearly a decade,
• Dozens of Juneau residents protested as Congress considers drastic funding cuts to Medicaid,
• President Trump issued two executive orders on March 1 to expand logging in national forests. That’s after he suspended the Roadless Road, which banned new road construction in national forests. Together, these orders could increase timber harvest in the Tongass National Forest,
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that all recently terminated employees will be rehired, with back pay,
• The likelihood of an Alaska volcano’s eruption not far from the state’s largest city has increased

In this newscast:

• Alaska House lawmakers made a few changes to a high-priority education bill during a marathon floor session on Monday,
• No one was hurt in a fire at the Dzantik’i Heeni campus in Juneau earlier today, but evacuated students huddled outside for hours,
• The state Department of Transportation is resurrecting the controversial idea to build a road between Juneau and the communities of Haines and Skagway,
• Congress is considering huge cuts to Medicaid and Alaska health care experts say that would have an outsized impact in the state,
• One of the teams in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is comprised mostly of shelter adoptees

In this newscast:

• The ACLU of Alaska is suing the Alaska Department of Corrections for its role in the 2023 death of Lewis Jordan Junior on behalf of Jordan’s family,
• The University of Alaska Southeast is taking next steps to remove mentions of DEI from its website,
• Alaska’s National Weather Service offices have not been spared from the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal workforce,
• Members of Juneau’s LGBTQ+ community, and the people who support them, gathered in droves on Sunday to protest the Trump administration’s policies and language surrounding queer and trans people

In this newscast:

• The Juneau School District Board of Education appears to maintain its concerns about state funding as it moves through the budget process for the next fiscal year.
• Juneau residents join protesters nationwide in response to President Trumps scientific research funding cuts and firings at federal science institutions.
• Anglers will be able to fish for king salmon near Petersburg this summer after a recent decision from the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
• There’s a 50-50 change the Alaska Permanent Fund won’t have enough spendable money to pay dividends and the state’s bills at least once over the next decade.