KTOO News Update
The day’s local and state news in about 10 minutes.
Newscast – Friday, March 22, 2024
In this newscast: How much money Alaska’s public schools will get from the state is up in the air. That’s after lawmakers fell one vote short of overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a funding boost and reform package; A regional working group in Southeast Alaska wants to create a landslide warning system - a tool that will monitor the region’s hazardous weather and warn residents of potential risks of slides. Sitka already has a system, but the new working group is brainstorming ways to serve even Southeast’s smaller communities
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, March 21, 2024
In this newscast: Alaska has submitted a first-of-its-kind plan to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions to the federal government; Curious Juneau: donating to thrift stores can be a challenge in Juneau. Anna Canny looks into why.
Read More »Newscast – Wednesday, March 20, 2024
In this newscast: The 75th annual Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament is underway this week, with more than 500 people from across Southeast Alaska playing or spectating nearly 50 games; It's more and more difficult for Alaska prisoners to win discretionary parole, and advocates and parolees went to the state Capitol to make the case that the parole board is considering the wrong factors
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, March 19, 2024
In this newscast: Around 100 people faced the Alaska State Capitol last night chanting in support of a ceasefire in Gaza and in opposition of Gov. Dunleavy's proposed bill that would crack down on unpermitted street protests; The Alaska Legislature voted Monday to sustain Gov. Dunleavy's veto of a bipartisan education bill that would have significantly increased funding for public schools; In Ketchikan, the borough assembly members are considering changing the name of two of their schools. The history behind one of the school's names is tied to a mysterious and controversial figure from the gold rush days
Read More »Newscast – Monday, March 18, 2024
In this newscast: A technology that typically listens for volcanic eruptions and nuclear explosions will now be used to keep track of avalanches in Juneau; Tongass Voices: Nimmy Philips came to Juneau as an engineer, but 3 years ago, she decided to buy a restaurant. Now she applies her engineer's precision to her recipes
Read More »Newscast – Friday, March 15, 2024
In this newscast: The Juneau school board unanimously approved a budget for the next school year, which relies on school closures and staff reductions to address a nearly $10 million budget deficit. Juneau Animal Rescue is rehoming 16 tarantulas, a ball python and a pair of bearded dragons. KCAW reporter Katherine Rose visits an early-morning…
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, March 14, 2024
In this newscast: A search for Alaska herring at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo, Japan. Money from the bipartisan education funding package does not pay for the building maintenance and repairs that some rural Alaska public schools desperately need.
Read More »Newscast – Wednesday, March 13, 2024
In this newscast: The Juneau School Board has decided to stick with its previously adopted school closure plan; Humpback whales are often considered a conservation success story. The species was near extinction just 50 years ago — today, tens of thousands of humpbacks call the North Pacific home. But climate change may be stunting the species’ recovery. A new study using artificial intelligence shows that Alaska’s humpback population has dropped more than 30% in a decade; A hydroelectric project on Admiralty Island over 40 years in the making has won federal funding for construction
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, March 12, 2024
In this newscast: The Juneau School District’s current school closure plan would have it vacate three city-owned buildings: the district office on Glacier Avenue, the Marie Drake building and Floyd Dryden Middle School. Now, the city is eyeing those buildings as possible new homes for City Hall; A little-known federal agency called Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has a big role in regulating nearly 7,000 miles of coastline in Alaska. Last week, they met with KTOO reporter Anna Canny, who asked them about the emergence of new technologies like offshore renewable energy and carbon storage projects in the state
Read More »Newscast – Monday, March 11, 2024
In this newscast: The Juneau School Board will reconsider a school closure plan it approved last month to help address the district's budget deficit; Tongass Voices: Jocelyn Clark was born in Juneau but has spent decades in Korea, studying a 1500 year old folk instrument; KCAW's Katherine Rose reports from Japan, where she's looking into the industry and culture of herring
Read More »