Pablo Arauz Peña, KTOO

In this newscast:

• Genomic sequencing has confirmed the first positive case of COVID-19 in Juneau that was caused by a more contagious variant of the virus.
• The City and Borough of Juneau has agreed to pay $64,000 in fines to state environmental regulators for repeatedly discharging dirty water from its two main sewage treatment plants.
• Alaska’s congressional delegation is trying to salvage this year’s cruise-ship season by proceeding on two fronts: Getting the CDC to loosen up, and solving the Canada problem.

In this newscast:

• State health officials are asking Alaska vaccine providers to follow federal recommendations to pause use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines while researchers figure out the clotting risk.
• Southeast Alaska leaders and residents last week testified for restoration of state funding cuts and in some cases additional state money to make up for a loss of federal funding.
• Some activists in Juneau filed paperwork on Monday that could lead to local ballot questions in the fall asking voters to limit cruise ships’ access to the capital city.

In this newscast:

• It’s budget season again and Juneau city leaders are projecting another year of spending more than it brings in.
• Employers in Alaska face a dilemma as a big chunk of the population is wary of getting vaccinated.
• The state’s COVID-19 vaccination effort continued in the tiny Southeast community of Hyder.

Juneau is getting a handful of responses from organizations to hold small, pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics.  

City officials are transitioning from mass clinics to smaller ones. They announced earlier this week that they would partner with local organizations interested in holding the mobile clinics.

Robert Barr with the Emergency Operations Center says the city is holding its first small pop-clinic on Friday.

“It’s tricky to do small ones, because we, you know, don’t want to waste any vaccine. And there are six doses in every vial, so you want to, you know, do it in increments of six if you can,” Barr said.

Barr says the city is in the planning phases for a few other small clinics with organizations that include a church, other local commercial businesses and The University of Alaska Southeast.

Barr says Juneau is still leading the country in vaccination rates. But while about half of people in Juneau have received at least one dose, he says the pace is “more of a trickle than a flood.”

Meanwhile, the city has seen a spike in case numbers this week. Barr says that’s because of travel.

“We think we’re starting to see a little bit of impact from spring break. And I think, it’s just, it’s hard, right? Because we all want COVID to be over,” Barr said. “Unfortunately, it’s not. We’re just not there yet.”

More than 15,000 people have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Juneau. More than 11,000 people have been fully vaccinated.

In this newscast:

• Juneau is getting a handful of responses from organizations to hold small, pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, says work will begin soon on a new office building and pier in Ketchikan.
• The process of earning a doctorate takes a lot of time and work — and for one Inupiaq woman hearing the words doctor next to her name was pretty emotional.

In this newscast:

• In a win for Alaska tribes, the Biden administration has cancelled the sale of a National Archives building in Seattle.
• Over a year after a Washington state-based conservation group filed suit in federal court to halt commercial fishing for king salmon in Alaska, the State of Alaska has decided to intervene in the case.
• A new daily airline connection between Juneau and Petersburg started up Monday.
• A bill advancing in the Legislature would rename a state council on Alaska Native languages and expand its membership.