KTOO News Update
The day’s local and state news in about 10 minutes.
Newscast – Wednesday, August 6, 2025
In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly delayed voting on whether to adopt a ranked choice voting system for local elections beginning in 2026; A summer school program taught incoming seventh graders in Juneau what to expect in middle school; Anchorage business reported a sharp decline in overall confidence in a new survey from the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation; An unlikely discovery in a cave on Prince of Wales Island could help scientists understand Earth's climate history.
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, August 5, 2025
In this newscast: Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski isn't ruling out running for governor; Juneau Assembly members rejected a plan to create a shelter safety zone around a homeless shelter in the Mendenhall Valley; The state of Alaska is pressing forward with a controversial plan to build a ferry terminal it says will streamline service in the Upper Lynn Canal; The Bayside Fire Department in Kodiak hosted a weeklong camp teaching children about firefighting and fire safety.
Read More »Newscast – Monday, August 4, 2025
In this newscast: Registration for after-school child care in the Juneau School District opened, but information provided to families did not line up with the actual application process; Dozens of Juneau residents gathered at a police station on Saturday to protest a violent arrest last week; State prosecutors charged a Selawik man on Friday with murder and assault in connection with the death of Nettie Ballot in February; Alaska lawmakers on Saturday voted to override Governor Mike Dunleavy's veto of state funding for public schools; State lawmakers also overrode Dunleavy's veto of a bill intended to bolster the authority of the legislative auditor on Saturday; Dozens of artists lined Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall in downtown Juneau for the third annual Ink Masters Tattoo Show.
Read More »Newscast – Friday, August 1, 2025
In this newscast: Juneau police say DNA has identified human remains found in the Gastineau Channel more than 20 years ago; Lawmakers are headed to Juneau for the special legislative session called by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, which begins Saturday; The Juneau Police Department has placed an officer on administrative leave following a violent arrest on Wednesday that led to a man being medevaced out of town for a head injury; The trial against former Juneau chiropractor Jeffrey Fultz, who's accused of assaulting more than a dozen women under the guise of medical care is underway; Part of education funding being released by the federal government is for migrant education and families can be considered migratory if they have to leave town to engage in their livelihood, like students in families who commercial or subsistence fish
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, July 31, 2025
In this newscast: Juneau residents will see a hike in their utility rates beginning in August; A Juneau man was medevaced to Seattle this week after being slammed into the ground by a Juneau police officer; Monday was the first chance for residents to testify to the Juneau Assembly about whether to implement a ranked choice voting system for local elections; The impending glacial outburst flood in Juneau's Mendenhall Valley is raising tensions; Alaska's U.S. District Court should have three judges to hear cases but for the past year, it's had just one. But Sen. Lisa Murkowski says there's been progress on the process to select new candidates for the court
Read More »Newscast – Wednesday, July 30, 2025
In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly narrowly voted against putting two bond questions on this fall's municipal ballot at a meeting earlier this week; Juneau Animal Rescue may have a location for a new updated shelter; A Juneau child care center is set to open in a new location nearly a year after being displaced by flooding, but challenges in finding and preparing the site have left families with few options to fill a monthslong gap in child care; A trial of a former Juneau chiropractor arrested in 2021 on sexual assault charges is underway
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, July 29, 2025
In this newscast: Southeast's sunshine yesterday was one for the books, literally. Multiple towns in the region reached record high temperatures; There is a small pool of candidates running for the open Juneau Assembly and Board of Education seats in this fall's local election; The Juneau Assembly approved a ballot question asking voters weather the city should implement a new seasonal sales tax system; Organizers of a tiny home neighborhood in Anchorage meant to transition people out of homelessness say the pilot project is succeeding, and now the city is looking to launch its own version
Read More »Newscast – Monday, July 28, 2025
In this newscast: Contract negotiations between the Juneau School District and the Juneau Education Associations stalled Thursday when both sides declared an impasse, as the district and teacher's union enter their sixth month of negotiations; Northern Panhandle communities enjoyed sunshine and warm temperatures over the weekend but today brought a heat advisory; A dead humpback whale calf washed ashore near Juneau's Douglas Harbor on Saturday, and NOAA officials don't yet know how it died; Members of the Juneau Off-Road Association have been volunteering their weekends this summer to construct the capital city's first-ever dedicated off-road vehicle park; The Trump administration wants to eliminate the federal agency that's helped Alaska villages develop infrastructure with more than $2 billion over the decades
Read More »Newscast – Friday, July 25, 2025
In this newscast: A second Juneau school board member is not running for reelection; Juneau's Bartlett Regional Hospital leadership discusses the financial impacts on cuts to Medicaid funding; Law enforcement officers arrested Juneau residents this week for their roles in an alleged drug distribution ring; State Sen. Shelley Hughes, a Palmer Republican, says she's running for governor; Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced today that Department of Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum plans to resign early next month; Petersburg teenagers learned outdoor skills on a weeklong kayak trip
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, July 24, 2025
In this newscast: Satellite internet provider Starlink experienced a major “network outage” on Thursday that lasted about two and a half hours; Longtime Juneau School District board member and board president Deedie Sorensen says she is no longer planning to run for reelection. She’s been known as a longstanding advocate and voice for teachers during her six-year tenure; Drag queens in Alaska typically find their stages in Anchorage or Fairbanks. But last week, three Alaska queens traveled to the bush to perform in Bethel’s first-ever drag show; Alaska’s former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola is suing the owners of the aircraft that her late husband Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr. was piloting at the time of his death.
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