Pablo Arauz Peña, KTOO

In this newscast:

• A wide-ranging anti-discrimination ordinance considered by Ketchikan’s city council has received tentative approval.
• Anchorage residents are reporting long wait times at local testing sites.
• The state Department of Natural Resources is giving Italian oil giant ENI a six-month break on a nearly $2.7 million rent payment for leases on Alaska’s North Slope.
• All residents of Sitka will be offered free coronavirus screening tests to help prevent the spread of the illness.
• A state court judge has heard arguments over whether to block disbursement of federal coronavirus relief aid to small businesses in Alaska.

In this newscast:

• The state’s COVID-19 dashboard showed a large drop in the number of available inpatient beds on Wednesday from 1800 to 1400.
• Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Doctor Ann Zink says Alaskans can slow the spread of COVID-19.
• Local leaders unveiled a new mural July 4 in Petersburg honoring Native civil rights leader Elizabeth Peratrovich.
• American Cruise Lines announced it has canceled its summer season due to COVID-19 spikes across the country.

The Juneau School District heard from families Monday evening in a public forum about the plan for returning students to face-to-face classes.

“None of us will probably ever forget what march was like last spring, and what happened in really, truly the blink of an eye,” said Superintendent Bridget Weiss, talking about challenges the district faced in the spring semester when schools shut down.

While the district touts itself as being one of a few in the country that has a public plan for returning to school, Weiss says it’s still a work in progress.

And with about seven weeks until Juneau schools are scheduled to reopen, there’s a debate among parents about requiring face masks in schools.

“It’s pretty hard to prevent any spread of illness in, in schools, especially in preschools, and I feel like masks are one thing that we can do,” said Breea Mearig, a Juneau parent. “Also, I know because I know kids, and we all know kids, that if you make it optional, that means it’s not happening.”

Screening for COVID-19 was another concern with some parents, who asked if both parents and students will be screened.

Weiss says the district is still consulting with healthcare professionals on those decisions.

“It’s one of those interesting dances that we’re doing with the medical profession that we don’t normally do so, unchartered territory,” she said.

And — on top of health and safety concerns — the district is also navigating how to measure academics with part-time face-to-face learning.

Weiss says the next district meeting for public comment on the reopening plan will likely be in early August.

The recorded meeting will be available on the district’s website this week.

In this newscast:

• A federal judge issued an injunction that prevents Alaska Native corporations from receiving part of a Tribal funding set-aside in the CARES Act.
• The Juneau School District heard from families in a public forum on Monday about the plan for returning students to face-to-face classes this fall.
• Ten of the state’s airports have COVID-19 screening lines so passengers can show test results or talk through options before leaving the airport.
• A vast majority of Alaska State Troopers are white, making the primary statewide law enforcement agency substantially less diverse than Alaska’s population.
• A wildlife official says a bird symbolizing America’s freedom had to be liberated on Independence Day after becoming stuck in a tree.

In this newscast:

• Five Tlingit sacred items could be returned to Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.
• At least three people were injured — one seriously — when fireworks accidentally detonated in a crowd during Sitka’s Independence Day celebration.
• Two employees at Providence Transitional Care Center in Anchorage speak about what it was like to work in the middle of state’s largest coronavirus outbreak.
• The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic meant big changes to Kotzebue’s annual celebration of the Fourth of July.

The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida fireworks sale was a big hit from day one.

Tlingit and Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson said the sale’s soft opening on June 24 brought out a couple of hundred people.

“Yeah, it was crazy. Sales have been doing very well. Very brisk,” he said.

Peterson said it was hard to keep social distancing that first day, but the sale staff are making sure to keep customers safe.

Money from the sale goes to services that the Central Council provides for tribal citizens throughout the year.

But Peterson is also asking customers to be responsible about their fireworks.

“Our staff can talk to you about being respectful and responsible neighbors about lighting them off,” he said.

Juneau fire department chief Rich Etheridge said the department most often gets calls about small grass fires around this time of year. He reminds anyone using fireworks to follow safety precautions.

“Have responsible adults light them, keep them on the ground, don’t relight dud fireworks and you know, don’t point them in the direction of homes or other people,” he said.