Pablo Arauz Peña, KTOO

In this newscast:

• Firefighters remain focused on protecting Chena Hot Springs Resort and area cabins from the Munson Creek wildfire.
• Along with Independence Day, the Fourth of July also marks Elizabeth Peratrovich’s birthday.
• Reborn airline Ravn Alaska has hired several people to study a new trans-Pacific service that its chief executive says could launch as soon as next summer.

In this newcast:

• Twenty-one-year-old Kaylie Harris died by suicide at Anchorage’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson earlier this year, after she reported being sexually assaulted on base.
• Governor Mike Dunleavy yesterday asked for a new slate of nominees for a vacant seat on the Alaska Supreme Court, to replace Chief Justice Joe Bolger who is retiring.
• A bear swatted and injured a visitor at Katmai National Park on Wednesday afternoon.

In this newscast:

• The Fourth of July is this Sunday and many Americans are eager to celebrate after more than a year of social distancing.
• Legislators voted earlier this week to avoid a partial government shutdown, but they couldn’t agree on how to fund college scholarships to support more than 5,400 Alaskan students.
• A deadly fungus could threaten several amphibian species in the Tongass National Forest.
• Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy today vetoed around 12% of the ferry operating budget.

Legislators voted earlier this week to avoid a partial government shutdown, but they couldn’t agree on how to fund college scholarships to support more than  5,400 Alaska students. So those funds are not currently in the state budget. 

But the University of Alaska announced Thursday that it will honor the scholarships for current and incoming students. 

In a statement, Interim President Pat Pitney said she was confident the legislature would resolve the funding of these scholarships during the special session in August.

The Alaska Performance Scholarship and the Alaska Education Grant programs provide students across the state with vital funds for their studies. Most of them are students at the University of Alaska. 

The University of Alaska Southeast had about 150 students who received scholarships last year. The university sent out a message to the students letting them know that it’s carefully monitoring the situation, says Lori Klein, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Student Affairs.

“While waiting, of course, is very difficult and challenging. We want students to stick with their plans for the fall, and to come to us and to stay in state and to plan on having those funds,” Klein said.

She also says the program funds directly impact the state’s future.

“These funds impact our future state leaders,” she said. “They impact their future state residents, our business owners, our professionals. You know, many of our students will stay in state after they get their degrees and they will contribute back to their home communities.”

The legislature reconvenes for a special session in August. Klein says she hopes by then legislators can bring certainty to students for the upcoming school year.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include information from a statement by University of Alaska Interim President Pat Pitney. The headline has been updated to include that the university system will honor the scholarships.

In this newscast:

• Major flooding on the Taku River near Juneau is underway after a glacial dam release dumped even more water into an already swollen river.
• Employees of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium must be vaccinated for COVID by today.
• Police in the Southeast community of Wrangell were recently equipped with body cameras that log an officer’s interactions with the public.
• A new mayor takes the reins of Alaska’s largest city on Thursday.

In this newscast:

• The Juneau School District is looking for input from the community as it heads into the new year.
• Talon Lobaugh saved a paraglider who got stuck between two trees 60 feet above the ground on Sunday.
• More people are injured by moose than bears in Alaska each year.
• The Alaska House of Representatives voted Monday to allow the budget bill to go into effect on July 1.