In this newscast: Petersburg is among the top hotspots for COVID-19 cases in the country, according to the New York Times; The National Transportation Safety Board has opened up an investigation into the disappearance of the helicopter piloted by former tribal health executive Andy Teuber; Sealaska Heritage Institute and the luxury retailer Neiman Marcus have settled a lawsuit over a coat the company sold; Alaska is preparing for its first elections under a new system green-lit by voters last year; Officials at the Alaska Volcano Observatory have raised the alert level after a small explosion was recorded at a remote volcano.
Pablo Arauz Peña, KTOO
Newscast — Wednesday, March 3, 2021
In this newscast: The avalanche danger has gone down, from extreme to considerable, in downtown Juneau this week; An important part of tackling climate change is understanding how carbon moves through different ecosystems; Indigenous people across the country continue to confront the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons epidemic.
Welcome news for the tourism industry: Juneau assembly votes to relax travel restrictions
The new changes don’t mean the city is lifting all the requirements, but they are meant to be encouraging for COVID-conscious travelers.
Newscast — Tuesday, March 2, 2021
In this newscast: For the first time in over a week Petersburg’s active COVID-19 case count dropped Monday; An unfolding outbreak in Cordova, the Prince William Sound fishing town of 2,000, is a cautionary tale about what happens when residents don’t follow mitigation guidelines; A new musical project led by Nicholas Galanin has signed with legendary SubPop records; Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has declined to reappoint Loren Jones of Juneau to the board the regulates the state’s legal marijuana industry; Alaska and Canadian officials in British Columbia have announced they have completed and will not continue data collection on three transboundary watersheds.
Newscast — Monday, March 1, 2021
In this newscast: Over the weekend, Juneau city officials warned of the potential for historic avalanches, prompting a voluntary evacuation of one downtown neighborhood; A dime-sized fragment of dog bone — more than ten-thousand years old — has given researchers new clues about how domesticated dogs first made their way to the Americas; Two close contacts of state Representative Mike Cronk and two other legislative staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 since Cronk tested positive on Wednesday.
Newscast — Friday, Feb. 26, 2021
In this newscast: Avalanche forecasters are warning of increasing danger in downtown Juneau and the surrounding backcountry; Juneau residents found out this week that their local electric utility will not cover damage caused by an unusual power surge in November; Matanuska-Susitna Borough submitted a bid to host the 2024 Arctic Winter Games.
Newscast — Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021
In this newscast: Schools in Juneau are a little safer now that all teachers and staff in the district are eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19; Hospital employees at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage are stepping in to fill the void to hold some of the hospital’s sickest newborns; The Alaska Marine Highway System is working to finalize the sale of its fast ferries to an overseas bidder; U.S. Rep. Don Young introduced legislation that aims to allow large cruise ships to return to Alaska this summer.
Over 300 Juneau School District staff received first vaccine dose, superintendent says
It took a lot of advocacy with the state’s medical team to get all teachers on the eligibility tier for vaccination.
Newscast — Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021
In this newscast: Hospital workers began processing COVID-19 tests locally in Juneau on Tuesday; Many Petersburg residents are rallying behind a family left homeless after a Feb. 15 fire destroyed their Scow Bay rental; Petersburg’s COVID cases continue to climb from an outbreak that appears to have begun last week; Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday and is suffering from what his office is calling mild symptoms.
Newscast — Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021
In this newscast: The president of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Andy Teuber has resigned; Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka ceelbrated Gil Truitt Day today and will honor the Tlingit elder and local historian this evening with a plaque dedication and tribute; Some Alaska communities have had no COVID-19 cases through the whole pandemic and have vaccinated enough people to be close to reaching herd immunity; Trident Seafoods’ huge processing plant on the remote Aleutian island of Akutan reopened Friday after nearly a month-long COVID-19 closure.