Pablo Arauz Peña, KTOO

In this newscast:

• City manager Rorie Watt is proposing to eliminate nine full-time, local government positions and temporarily closing Augustus Brown Pool to help with the budget deficit.
• The Trump Administration is still on track to make a final decision this summer on a federal rule that prevents road building in the Tongass National Forest.
• New research from the University of Alaska Fairbanks has led to a breakthrough in lake methane emissions research.

In this newscast:

• Juneau’s two newest confirmed cases of COVID-19 are both staff members at Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
• State fisheries officials are drawing up a plan to distribute $50 million in federal relief to Alaska fishermen affected by COVID-19.
• KUAC’s Dan Bross reports how new federal Title IX rules impact Alaska colleges and universities.
• For the first time in 62 years, Petersburg heads into the 17th of May with no community-wide plans for a Little Norway Festival.
• Critics say a state plan to use federal transportation funds prioritizes highways and bridges over fixing Alaska’s aging ferry fleet.

In this newscast:

• The Alaska Department of Health and Human Services reports two new cases of COVID-19 in Juneau.
• Alaska Airlines and Grant Aviation will begin regular flights between Unalaska and Anchorage this weekend.
• Public records show that officials knew about prior misconduct by an elementary school principal in Bethel .
• Life for residents in Southeast Alaska has been dramatically altered by the Canadian border closure because of the pandemic.

After three weeks without any new reported cases of COVID-19, Juneau has two new cases, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Human Services.

According to the City and Borough of Juneau, both cases resulted from being in close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus, known as secondary transmission.

“The infection’s incubation period is two weeks but you could kind of catch it at the tail end and then develop it another two weeks later,” said Charlee Gribbon, an infectious disease preventionist at Bartlett Regional Hospital. “So, I think we’re not in the clear five weeks past the last infection, depending on what’s going on with asymptomatic spread.”

Gribbon confirmed the new cases are a 54-year-old male and a 53-year-old female.

She reminds Juneauites to continue practicing distancing measures, don’t share space with people who are not in your household and wear a mask.

“When you are inside, in our restaurants, in a church and in any place inside and you’re breathing the same air as other people, you’ve got to keep a face covering on,” she said.

Gribbon says that the more people are maximizing space, the safer they’ll be.

Since the first case in Juneau was confirmed in March, 29 people in the borough have tested positive for COVID-19 and 26 of those cases have recovered.

Juneau’s last positive case of COVID-19 was identified on April 21, but city data traces the onset of symptoms for that individual to April 15.

In this newscast:

• Mayor Richard Beneville of Nome passed away early Monday from a recent bout of pneumonia. He tested negative for COVID-19.
• Alaska Airlines announced today that year-round services in Bristol Bay will start May 18.
• Bars are officially allowed to reopen in Juneau but despite the devastating impact on the economy, many are not rushing to reopen.
• While the pandemic has vaporized tourism in Alaska this year, there might be an upside for people who already live near the state’s world-class tourist destinations.

In this newscast:

• Alaska Native cultural and political leader Byron Mallot died today after suffering a heart attack. He was 77.
• The Alaska Supreme Court says the recall campaign against Gov. Mike Dunleavy has a legally valid basis and can appear on the ballot.
• Six Village Public Safety Officers graduated from the Department of Public Safety training academy in Sitka last week.
• A beaver increase in the Baldwin Peninsula near Kotzebue has scientists and locals trying to figure out how to slow the more serious effects.