Between passenger taxes and city sales taxes, Juneau collects enough revenue during cruise ship season to pay each permanent resident over $700. But it doesn’t. So where does it all go?
Jeremy Hsieh
Local News Reporter, KTOO
I dig into questions about the forces and institutions that shape Juneau, big and small, delightful and outrageous. What stirs you up about how Juneau is built and how the city works?
Newscast – Nov. 14, 2019
In this newscast: A judge sets arguments in a case challenging the state’s rejection of the Recall Dunleavy effort for January, a new FBI report shows Alaska bucking the national decline trend in violent crime and sexual assault statistics, 20 years of city finance documents help show how Juneau has spent $170 million cruise ship head taxes, the Alaska Department of Transportation considers options after a private study of the Alaska Marine Highway System, Pelican copes after two weeks without ferry service, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office announces an interim director of the agency that regulates marijuana and alcohol, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Energy says he’s for developing mini-nuclear reactors for rural Alaska, and fall rains lead the U.S. Drought Monitor to upgrade Southeast Alaska communities status from “severe.”
Newscast – Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019
In this newscast: An organization funded by the Murdoch family has donated more than $500,000 to the campaign to overhaul Alaska’s election laws, some Alaskans call for more financial transparency from Hilcorp as it seeks to buy BP’s North Slope assets, education advocates are hopeful Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s will change his approach in his next budget, UAS Chancellor Rick Caulfield announces his retirement, state alcohol regulators reject a rule that would have prohibited organized events at breweries and distillers, the National Marine Fisheries Service proposes creating critical habitat sites to protect humpback whales around Juneau, and former Gov. Sarah Palin reveals she learned her husband wanted a divorce — in an email from his attorney.
Newscast – Monday, Nov. 11, 2019
In this newscast: A Superior Court judge sides against the Dunleavy administration in an education funding lawsuit, Attorney General Kevin Clarkson’s high-profile cases raise eyebrows, the Coast Guard says its problems with VHF radio communication has no end in sight, and rocker Johnny Solinger decides he wants to auction off a star-studded guitar to help Alaska veterans.
Q&A: Rocker Johnny Solinger to auction off star-studded guitar for Alaska veterans
Huna Totem Corp. brought a Las Vegas rock and roll show to Juneau last month, and Alaska left quite an impression on one of the performers.
Newscast – Friday, Nov. 8, 2019
In this newscast:
Political ads try to push U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski to vote against a judicial nominee who may be connected to the phone call at the heart of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, Juneau’s seasonal cold weather shelter reopens this weekend, University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Rick Caulfield announces his retirement next year, the Port of Alaska receives $25 million in federal grant money, a prominent Native American rights attorney discusses a major U.S. Supreme Court land rights case between a Tlingit group and the Forest Service, and what to do on Veterans Day in Juneau.
Here’s what to do on Veterans Day in Juneau
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Matthew Bell, commander of District 17, will be the featured speaker at Monday’s Veterans Day ceremony at Centennial Hall.
Newscast – Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019
In this newscast: A bipartisan group forms to fight an initiative to increase taxes on some North Slope oil fields, the Dunleavy administration is soliciting outside law firms with U.S. Supreme Court experience to fight to end automatic deduction of union dues, the National Transportation Safety Board releases a narrative of what led to a 2018 plane crash on Prince of Wales Island, federal regulators fine a Sitka seafood processor for letting its waste pile up on the seafloor, mineral explorers spent almost three times as much in 2018 in Alaska as three years earlier, a small scale woodworker in Sitka laments the irony of how difficult it is to locally source wood, protesters chain themselves to a dock at the Port of Vancouver in Washington state to block a pipeline shipment for expanding Alberta tar sands export capacity, and a flight cancellation forces the U.S. Forest Service to cancel a Roadless Rule meeting in Gustavus.
Newscast – Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019
In this newscast: A national expert on recalls of elected officials says the effort aimed at Gov. Mike Dunleavy highlights how unusual Alaska’s recall law is, a judge is considering whether to dismiss an ACLU lawsuit against the governor for vetoing some of the court system budget for a decision on abortions, consultants to the city of Skagway explore what it would take to establish a locally controlled ferry authority, members of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce formally take a position to support the Alaska Marine Highway System, the National Transportation Safety Board recommends all 50 states enact bicycle helmet laws to stem an increase in cyclist deaths on roadways, the last Alaska State Trooper drug dog trained to detect marijuana is set to retire soon, Petro Marine does a drill in Gastineau Channel to practice its spill response, the University of Alaska Board of Regents is set for two days of meetings about the system’s future, and the University of Alaska Anchorage says it will take peanut butter and jelly as payment outstanding parking tickets as part of a food drive.
Petro Marine: Gastineau Channel spill response is only a drill
“It’s just one of those things, like basketball practice,” said Petro Marine plant manager Jeff Irvin said. “The more you do it, the better you get, right?”