KTOO News Department

In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly has voted to get rid of land use regulations for landslide zones in the city’s downtown neighborhoods. The city’s new policy maintains restrictions for avalanche zones, while rolling back restrictions in landslide zones; Millions of people in Mexico honor the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico, each year on Dec. 12. In Juneau, the growing Hispanic community also gathers to pay homage from thousands of miles away; Five environmental and tribal organizations have signed their support onto a lawsuit against federal fisheries managers

In this newscast: State education officials say the Juneau School District can keep more than $2 million in supplemental funding it got from the city. But a potential amendment to state code could restrict how Juneau covers costs outside the classroom; Alaska spends a lot of money on education – roughly 40% more than the national average per student. But research presented by the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research suggests that number doesn’t tell the whole story; A team of researchers have been given almost $2 million to see if seaweed in Southeast Alaska is absorbing rare earth elements

In this newscast: Wrangell schools quickly adapted to a new norm after the Nov. 20 deadly landslide; Alaska’s campaign finance watchdog has denied a request to fast-track a complaint against a group collecting signatures on a petition to repeal Alaska’s ranked choice voting system; A state House subcommittee dismissed ethics complaints against one current and one former Republican lawmaker last week

In this newscast: The City and Borough of Wrangell has suspended the search for 12-year-old Derek Heller, who is the only person left missing from the Nov. 20 disastrous landslide; Juneau residents have until Christmas day to provide input on the potential environmental impacts of the city’s proposed compost facility; Using old recordings, Lingít language experts are documenting and compiling hand gestures used by birth speakers that have meaning in the context of the language̱; In a recent presentation to the Sitka Chamber of Commerce the director of the UAA Center for Economic Development, explained that Alaska ranks 45th out of all states in per capita new housing construction, building about 2 new units per thousand people on average

In this newscast: A record number of cruise ship passengers visited Juneau this year and now city leaders are considering whether and how to set a future limit; For people who were stranded in their homes beyond the Wrangell landslide, it was a night of confusion and fear — and then improvised evacuation where neighbors helped each other

In this newscast: Juneau residents can now submit proposals for how the city should spend marine passengers fees next year; Alaska Airlines is buying Hawaiian Airlines; A bill in Congress aims to undo Arctic conservation effects of the Biden administration 

In this newscast: The Klukwan Presbyterian Church has been returned to the Chilkat Indian Village; Alaska Department of Public Safety visited Dillingham to address overdose deaths; Bethel Search and Rescue says it found the body of a man under the ice, suspected to be a 20-year-old who’s been missing since Nov. 2 

In this newscast: The Federal Transit Administration announced today that rural ferries in Alaska will receive about $132 million. The federal money comes from a ferry grant program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; Juneau skiers will have to wait one more week to ski at Eaglecrest. The city-owned ski area has a tentative opening date of Dec. 9; Power was restored to Wrangell Island’s southside residents on Tuesday. Meanwhile, maintenance crews are still removing the debris from the fatal landslide that killed four people on November 20. Two others remain missing; Alaska may have ballots in fewer Native languages next year. A report required by the Voting Rights Act shows there are not enough speakers to justify printing ballots in Gwich’in; The school on Little Diomede Island is closed indefinitely after the city building partially collapsed into the school Sunday

In this newscast: Internet and phones are back online for residents in Wrangell cut off after last week’s landslide; An invasive species has found a home along Southeast’s highways, pushing out native blueberry and salmonberry bushes̱; The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to disperse $150 Million to Alaska Tribes for clean energy, and climate change resilience projects

In this newscast: A landslide came down across Zimovia Highway in Wrangell one week ago, leaving four dead and two missing. The debris effectively cut Wrangell in two. North of the slide, there’s town. And south of the slide, at least 70 residents got cut off from power, internet and their only road. In the week since, one man’s retirement project became a lifeline for those families; Drag queens from across the state vied for the title of Miss Gay Alaska America recently.  Taking the prize was Lamia Insomnia Lexicon Doom Monroe, the drag persona of Anchorage-based Robin O’Donoghue. Monroe spoke with KTOO’s Adelyn Baxter about the pageant, her connection to Juneau and preparing to compete in the national Miss Gay America competition