Newscasts

In this newscast: Federal workers in Juneau are among the thousands nationwide to receive layoff notices in the inboxes last week and over the holiday weekend. This is part of the Trump Administration’s continued efforts to downsize the government; State lawmakers are considering a new student loan repayment program to attract former Alaskans to return and serve as teachers and state workers; Alaska’s state ferry system continues to face stiff headwinds when it comes to staffing, state officials say.

In this newscast: Juneau Democratic Representative Sara Hannan introduced a bill that would impose a statewide tax on e-cigarette or vape products and raise the minimum purchasing age in Alaska. Versions of this bill have come before lawmakers multiple times in the past few years and public testimony was divided; Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order to eliminate federally funded programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. That order could affect a wide range of programs in Alaska, from climate research to summer camps; The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will now start in Fairbanks due to a lack of snow, race officials announced yesterday. The last-minute change follows alarms raised by some mushers over the weekend who said stretches of the trail were not safe for their teams. 

In this newscast: Sen. Lisa Murkowski introduced a bill that would keep the name Denali for North America’s highest peak; Lawmakers are looking at Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposal to create a state Department of Agriculture; Preschool students presented lawmakers with Valentines — and plea for policy-level support for childcare — at the state Capitol; A…

In this newscast: Juneau’s city-owned hospital is in a much better financial position than it has been in years. For the last eight months, the hospital has been making steady positive income; A deadly strain of bird flu is sweeping the nation. It has killed more than 20 million chickens since October, and that has scrambled the egg market. Alaska Public Media’s Ava White has more on how Anchorage businesses are coping with rapidly increasing egg prices along with supply problems; Juneau’s city-owned hospital is in a much better financial position than it has been in years. For the last eight months, the hospital has been making steady positive income; Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as President Trump’s director of national intelligence. She also announced that she intends to vote to confirm Robert Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services.

In this newscast: Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Carney defended the court system’s work and laid out plans for the future in a speech to state lawmakers; Juneau’s Visitor Industry Director Alix Pierce shared data from an annual tourism survey that shows the conversation about the future of tourism’s growth is far from over; An education compact is an agreement between tribal and state governments that allows tribes to run their own public schools, and Alaska’s Department of Education and Early Development is working with tribes to kick start a compacting program and give tribes sovereignty over education; Alaska State Troopers arrested a Metlakatla man last week on six felony charges of sexual abuse of a minor, and they believe he may have had other victims

In this newscast: A team of researchers in Alaska have banded together to investigate a famous Alaska shipwreck. The Star of Bengal sank off the coast of Prince of Wales Island in 1908, taking more than 100 lives with it. The shipwreck highlighted a stark racial inequality in Alaska at the time– most of those who died were Asian cannery workers. Members of a 2022 expedition to the site of the wreck are going back in May. In this episode of Tongass Voices, team members Gig Decker and Jenya Anichtchenko share what they hope to uncover; As lawmakers continue to work through an education funding package, members of the House are turning to another priority for the session: reforming the retirement system for state and local government employees. Alaska Public Media’s Eric Stone has this look at a bill that would return public-sector workers to a defined benefit pension system.