KTOO News Update
The day’s local and state news in about 10 minutes.
Newscast – Monday, June 9, 2025
In this newscast: Dozens of Juneau residents in the glacial outburst flood zone learned how to prepare for flooding expected later this summer; Sealaska Heritage Institute is hoping people can help them identify the subjects of thousands of photos taken by a late Lingit leader; The Skagway Borough Assembly accepted Mayor Sam Bass' resignation on Thursday; The Alaska Department of Corrections has taken in 40 people who were detained outside of the state by U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement
Read More »Newscast – Friday, June 6, 2025
In this newscast: Juneau is getting a new public-use cabin, this time built by a local trail maintenance nonprofit; The largest timber companies operating in Southeast Alaska want the Tongass National Forest to sell them more old-growth timber, and they’re suing the federal government to get it. The Department of Justice asked the court to throw the case out in May; An appeals court has ruled that the board that regulates subsistence hunting on federal lands within Alaska acted legally when it created an emergency hunt for a Southeast Alaska village during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency; Tongass Voices: Conservator Ellen Carlee on preserving the Alaska State Museum’s collection
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, June 5, 2025
In this newscast: The National Guard will conduct emergency preparation drills throughout Juneau beginning this Sunday; A polar icebreaker is on its way to Juneau, where it will eventually be homeported; The Alaska Board of Education unanimously approved new reading standards for Alaska Native languages Wednesday; An eagle nest paused a wastewater pump station replacement near downtown Petersburg; KTOO's Yvonne Krumrey speaks with a retiring emergency responder who led a mobile response units in Juneau
Read More »Newscast – Wednesday, June 4, 2025
In this newscast: The Coast Guard responded to a ship fire near Adak Tuesday; Petersburg's borough assembly passed its budget for the next fiscal year, but funding for a potential cruise ship dock caused friction among assembly members; Nineteen dogs were brought to the Dillingham Animal Control shelter over the weekend after a police investigation into animal cruelty; Local officials say this year's Bering Sea pollack fishery was off to a good start. The City of Hoonah and Huna Heritage Foundation unveiled a brand new totem pole last week.
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, June 3, 2025
In this newscast: The Alaska State Board of Education is considering a regulation change that would further limit how much money local governments can give to school districts; The Juneau Assembly is mulling over a plan to implement a ranked choice voting system for local elections beginning next year; They also voted to wait on a second extension of Juneau's Mendenhall River levee until after this flood season; Hoonah's police chief submitted his resignation after less than two years in the role. Then, the city fired him for misconduct. He says it was retaliation; May was a record-breaking month for rain in Southeast Alaska; A nine-year old has won the Sitka Salmon Derby, for the second time in three years
Read More »Newscast – Monday, June 2, 2025
In this newscast: Local advocates have failed to gather enough signatures before the initial deadline for three ballot petitions that seek to lower the cost of living in Juneau; The University of Alaska Southeast hired two new administrators. One will lead its School of Education and the other will oversee the campus in Sitka; June is Pride month, and Juneau's LGBTQ+ Pride month calendar is packed this year; Curious Juneau: Where do Juneau's bald eagles go?; The U.S. portion of a historic, 33 mile hiking trail between Skagway and British Columbia has been off limits to backcountry explorers since 2020, but that's about to change
Read More »Newscast – Friday, May 30, 2025
In this newscast: Juneau's Joann arts and crafts store is closed; An unvaccinated Anchorage youth tested positive for measles earlier this month; Immigration officials detailed an Anchorage man originally from Peru last week, according to his wife; Sitka voters have overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have capped the number of cruise visitors beginning next year; Schools in the U.S. are facing a debilitating teacher shortage, and many districts are looking abroad, namely in the Philippines
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, May 29, 2025
In this newscast: Heavy rains and flooding in Southeast Alaska triggered a series of small landslides in Ketchikan yesterday; Cancelled federal funding and grants have stalled the construction of a Juneau affordable housing project for at least a year. The project is aimed specifically at people in recovery from substance misuse and the delay means the dozens of people it could have housed will have to find another option; Many communities along Alaska’s southern coast are dependent on state ferries to get around and to fuel their economies. But those ferries move thanks to teams of on-board engineers. And those engine room employees say they are critically understaffed and the only solution is more state funding or fewer sailings; Alaska volcano researchers say seismic activity around Mount Spurr has continued to decline over the last month, but the closest active volcano to the state’s population centers could still erupt.
Read More »Newscast – Wednesday, May 28, 2025
In this newscast: Researchers launched and interactive glacial outburst flood website today to help Juneau's Mendenhall Valley residents plan for annual floods; Many businesses in Southeast Alaska say they're facing uncertainty amid recent actions by the federal government, according to a report released yesterday by the Southeast Alaska Business Climate Survey; The Juneau School District is expanding its support of a local language immersion program; It's been nearly three years since the town of Bar Harbor, Maine voted to limit cruise traffic. KCAW reached out to those involved in the decision to find out how things have been since the town enacted the limit
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, May 27, 2025
In this newscast: State officials took another step toward building a new ferry terminal at the end of the road in Juneau; Some Juneau residents are calling for police to crack down on homeless encampments in the Mendenhall Valley, but city officials and police say there isn't an easy fix to growing rates of homelessness and its impacts; The Trump administration is attempting to alter environmental regulations that seek to protect endangered species habitat in order to "unlock" the potential of energy and resource developments. the move is raising alarm among Alaska's environmental researchers; All NOAA Weather Radio sites in Southeast Alaska will be down today through Thursday while broadcast equipment is being upgraded
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