Pablo Arauz Peña, KTOO

After a nationwide search, Bartlett Regional Hospital’s board of directors is closer to choosing its next chief executive officer.

Of the 52 people who applied for the job, the board narrowed it down to four candidates. One withdrew her application, so there are three left.

• Christopher Bjornberg, currently the medical center director at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Walla Walla, Washington.
• Rose Lawhorne, currently the chief nursing officer for Bartlett Regional Hospital.
• Shawn Morrow, currently the hospital administrator for LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah and former Bartlett Regional Hospital CEO between 2007 and 2012.

The three finalists will visit the hospital on March 19 for testing that involves real-world scenarios to see how they respond, according to a press release from the city.

Human resources director Dallas Hargrave said a schedule of events for a virtual public meeting or in-person meeting with COVID-19 precautions will be released at a later date. Hargrave said the logistics are complicated and plans may change.

The board will conduct final interviews on March 20.

The hospital’s previous CEO Chuck Bill retired last month. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Benson is currently the interim CEO.

In this newscast:

• Petersburg is among the top hotspots for COVID-19 cases in the country, according to the New York Times.
• The National Transportation Safety Board has opened up an investigation into the disappearance of the helicopter piloted by former tribal health executive Andy Teuber.
• Sealaska Heritage Institute and the luxury retailer Neiman Marcus have settled a lawsuit over a coat the company sold.
• Alaska is preparing for its first elections under a new system green-lit by voters last year.
• Officials at the Alaska Volcano Observatory have raised the alert level after a small explosion was recorded at a remote volcano.

In this newscast:

• The avalanche danger has gone down, from extreme to considerable, in downtown Juneau this week.
• An important part of tackling climate change is understanding how carbon moves through different ecosystems.
• Indigenous people across the country continue to confront the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons epidemic.

It’s going to be easier for independent travelers to visit Juneau after the city assembly voted Monday night to relax travel requirements.

It’s welcome news for the tourism industry, which is looking forward to some business from independent travelers. The busy cruise ship season, which usually brings the bulk of the city’s visitors, is on hold while Canada’s waters are closed to cruise ships.

The new changes don’t mean the city is lifting all the requirements, but they are meant to be encouraging for COVID-conscious travelers.

Starting this week, the city is waiving the $250 testing fee for nonresidents arriving at the city’s airport. Additionally, travelers who have been fully vaccinated for at least two weeks and don’t show symptoms are no longer required to socially distance for five days after they arrive.

For now, non-vaccinated travelers are still required to test before they travel and arrive with proof of a negative result. Or they can get a free COVID-19 test upon arrival and strict social distance while they wait for results.

On May 1, all travelers, vaccinated or not, will no longer be required to test at the airport or follow strict social distance guidelines. But all travelers must still register on the State of Alaska Travel Portal.

City manager Rorie Watt said at the assembly meeting that the city “won’t be shy” about letting the community know if plans need to change.

Juneau is currently at alert level 1, which is the lowest risk level for COVID-19 in the community.

In this newscast:

• For the first time in over a week Petersburg’s active COVID-19 case count dropped Monday.
• An unfolding outbreak in Cordova, the Prince William Sound fishing town of 2,000, is a cautionary tale about what happens when residents don’t follow mitigation guidelines.
• A new musical project led by Nicholas Galanin has signed with legendary SubPop records.
• Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has declined to reappoint Loren Jones of Juneau to the board the regulates the state’s legal marijuana industry.
• Alaska and Canadian officials in British Columbia have announced they have completed and will not continue data collection on three transboundary watersheds.

In this newscast:

• Over the weekend, Juneau city officials warned of the potential for historic avalanches, prompting a voluntary evacuation of one downtown neighborhood.
• A dime-sized fragment of dog bone — more than ten-thousand years old — has given researchers new clues about how domesticated dogs first made their way to the Americas.
• Two close contacts of state Representative Mike Cronk and two other legislative staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 since Cronk tested positive on Wednesday.