Pablo Arauz Peña, KTOO

In this newscast:

• Juneau police say they arrested three men after their response to a call of a knife-wielding man devolving into a “chaotic scene” with some bystanders crowding around, filming and yelling at officers.
• Census officials are sounding the alarm about a low rate of response in Alaska, despite having started the once-a-decade tally of everyone living in the United States in an Alaska village.
• With the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Willie Hensley speaks about his memoir, land claims and some of the legacies he’s helped shape.
• Three residents and one staff member of the Anchorage Pioneer Home have tested positive for the coronavirus.
• An attorney has said the city of Anchorage will take legal action against a local business for violating an order prohibiting indoor dining at restaurants and breweries during the coronavirus pandemic.

The University of Alaska Board of Regents voted yesterday to go in a different direction. The campus merger plan is dead, at least for now. 

During an extended special meeting that reviewed the board’s resolution in June to study the impact of a merger, Interim President Pat Pitney proposed a modification revising the language for resizing the UA system — and that new language does not include merging University of Alaska Southeast with University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“As has been discussed, it has caused a lot of conflict,” said Pitney. “I think distrust of the process that we employed.”

A lot has changed for the UA system since June. Former president Jim Johnsen resigned amid blowback from his job interview in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, faculty and staff have been prioritizing community health during the pandemic. 

The looming threat of a proposed merger — especially this year — had an added impact in Southeast and came as a surprise to the community.

In June, The city and borough of Juneau voted to publicly oppose the merger, as did the Ketchikan assembly. Opponents worried that a merged campus would not adequately serve Southeast students and communities.

But Juneau-based regent Dale Anderson has been a vocal proponent of merging at least the universities in Juneau and Fairbanks. He said he’s frustrated with the lack of collaboration.

“If we can get to a point whether UA Southeast, Fairbanks and Anchorage all work together, that’s what we’re after. We won’t have a university if we don’t go down that track,” said Anderson.

The majority of the board approved Anderson’s proposal to add analysis of “structural options” to Pitney’s motion. That added language does leave an opening for a future merger. 

The regents also heard from UAS education professor Heather Batchelder. She spoke for the Faculty Alliance, which represents all three universities. Batchelder pushed back on Anderson’s claim that there isn’t enough collaboration.

“Taking a university mergers [subsidization], that type of structural change off the table, would definitely help alleviate stress for our students, our faculty and our communities,” said Batchelder. “We could devote time to, say, writing preparation grants.”

Batchelder says the idea of merging to one University of Alaska should be off the table at least until 2021.

Regardless, Pitney said there will be other downsizing proposals. The UA system still faces a $40 million deficit.

In this newscast:

• In a forum yesterday, Juneau School District officials didn’t have much new concrete information for families preparing for the socially distanced start of the school year.
• At a time when virtual platforms are largely becoming the norm, many Alaska Natives are entering a new era of content creation.
• The University of Alaska Board of Regents voted yesterday to stop exploring a merger between campuses.

In this newscast:

• The 2020 annual convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives in October will go virtual out of safety concerns over coronavirus.
• This fall, students headed to the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka will be able to enroll in a new Associate of Arts degree program.
• Alaska ranks among the top quarter of states with STD cases as its syphilis outbreak began two years ago and cases continue to rise.
• Alaska is now first in the country in the number of coronavirus tests per resident.
• The first and only cruise ship to sail in Southeast Alaska during the pandemic reported a positive case of COVID-19 on board Tuesday.

In this newscast:

• There’s going to be an Alaska cruise season after all but it’s a far cry from the 1.4 million passengers that were expected before the pandemic hit.
• Federal funding for coronavirus aid is helping some Southeast Alaska communities combat existing issues that the pandemic has only made worse.
• The Juneau Assembly has approved a ballot question seeking $15 million in new debt to pay for city infrastructure projects.

In this newscast:

• The University of Alaska Southeast has posted its pandemic plan for the upcoming semester.
• The traveling breast cancer screening unit that serves Southeast Alaska won’t be visiting small communities this year due to COVID-19.
• State representative Gary Knopp, who died in a plane crash Friday, become a pivotal legislator during his two terms.
• A new emergency order in Anchorage will stop indoor service at restaurants and breweries, restrict gathering sizes and require to work from home if possible to limit the spread of the virus.
• A marijuana business in Juneau could start allowing onsite cannabis consumption if given permit approval later this month, making it the first business in the city to do so.