In this newscast: The federal government may soon return a traditional subsistence site connected to Douglas Island to its original tribal owners; The next season of the PBS KIDS show “Molly of Denali” will be the last for the foreseeable future. The team behind the award-winning children’s TV show will stop working on new content. Molly of Denali is widely celebrated in Alaska because it features an Alaska Native lead character and showcases Alaska Native culture; The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is considering whether to reduce the amount of money local governments can give to school districts. A new bill in front of state lawmakers would allow local governments to continue to fund school districts as they have been; State prosecutors say two Anchorage police officers were legally justified in the fatal shooting of a man in February who police say had barricaded himself in a Midtown hotel and threatened a woman and her four children.
Newscasts
Newscast – Thursday, May 8, 2025
In this newscast: The Alaska Senate approved its version of the state budget on Wednesday. It includes a $1,000 Permanent Fund dividend. And, for now, a slight surplus. But senators say they expect that surplus to evaporate. And they’re warning of tough times in the years ahead; Reporters on the Alaska Desk recently asked people all over the state some open-ended questions about how they’re feeling after President Donald Trump’s first 100 days. From the Aleutians to Southeast and the Interior, there are never-Trumpers and MAGA diehards – and some Alaskans having changes of heart. Here’s what some of them had to say; Anchorage officials are preparing to roll out funding dedicated to improving the city’s child care sector. The move comes two years after Anchorage residents voted to dedicate the roughly 5 to 6 million dollars the city receives annually in marijuana taxes to funding child care initiatives.
Newscast – Wednesday, May 7, 2025
In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly is considering a resolution in support of keeping the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area federally owned; The executive director of the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council will resign following the board’s decision to cut diversity, equity and inclusion language from its website; An ordinance mandating that the Juneau Police Department release body-worn camera footage no more than 30 days after a city police officer shoots someone will be open for public testimony later this month; Libraries in Alaska may no longer be able to request books from out of state, or mail books and other media to Alaskans who don’t live near a library; A program that monitors toxic poisoning in subsistence marine harvests in the Aleutians has halted, pending a federal review
Newscast – Tuesday, May 6, 2025
In this newscast: Lieutenant governor and former U.S. House candidate Nancy Dahlstrom is running for governor; The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska announced today that it is rejoining the Alaska Federation of Natives; The Juneau Assembly chose a preliminary redevelopment plan for the downtown Telephone Hill neighborhood that, if approved, would evict residents by October; A Juneau-based author’s graphic memoir won the Pulitzer Prize yesterday for autobiography and memoir; The Trump administration has started canceling federal grants that fund arts and culture programs across the country, including here in Juneau; Yesterday was Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and in Juneau, at MMIP events like last night’s, one name comes up consistently: Tracy Day
Newscast – Monday, May 5, 2025
In this newscast: Alaska’s oldest ferry is too expensive to fix; Tlingit and Haida announced that its annual food distributions of herring eggs have been canceled because the federal funding they planned to use for it was canceled; A lawsuit over Juneau’s Mendenhall River levee will now focus on how the cost of the flood protection project will be divided; A controversial mining exploration project near Haines has been in limbo since its biggest investor backed out late last year, and now the project’s parent company wants to step back, too
Newscast – Friday, May 2, 2025
In this newscast: A proposal that would create and fund tribally run public schools in Alaska inched closer to reality on Thursday; Hundreds in Juneau joined thousands nationwide yesterday as protests surged for International Workers Day, also known as May Day; Child advocacy centers in Alaska were funded with federal money for the past decade, but now the state has to foot the bill, and lawmakers are still deciding; The City and Borough of Juneau will hold its annual How to Run for Local Office workshop Saturday at City Hall, as there are six local seats up for grabs in October’s municipal election; A new Alaska law requires all businesses that sell alcohol to post a warning that drinking alcohol can cause breast and colon cancers