KTOO News Update
The day’s local and state news in about 10 minutes.
Newscast – Tuesday, March 10, 2026
In this newscast: Social service providers in Juneau say they’re worried about fallout if the Juneau Assembly decides to cut city funding to some of Juneau's most critical social services; The Juneau Assembly decided Monday to sign an agreement with the federal government for a buyout of View Drive, the street hit hardest by annual glacial outburst funding; A trial date for a lawsuit between the Juneau School District and its support staff union won’t be decided on for another six months; Alaska students could have a new graduation requirement in the not-too-distant-future. The Alaska Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday that would mandate a new civics course or exam for high-schoolers starting in 2027; About three dozen sled dog teams are on the thousand-mile Iditarod Trail to Nome as part of this year’s race, and thousands of people around the world are following along. Some of the spectators are kids participating in the IditaRead Challenge, and as Alaska Public Media’s Ava White reports, that includes Anchorage students counting each minute spent with a book as a mile on the trail.
Read More »Newscast – Monday, March 9, 2026
In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly will vote tonight on whether to appropriate nearly $500,000 to Dzantik'i Heeni Playground Capital Improvement Project; A team of specialists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory stopped by Sitka to do some station maintenance work on Mt. Edgecumbe, a volcano on nearby Kruzof Island; British Columbia is proposing to limit U.S.-based Tribes from government consultations related to environmental projects; Juneau singer-songwriter Taylor Dallas Vidic’s first album delves into relationships through jazz-folk mashup
Read More »Newscast – Friday, March 6, 2026
In this newscast: The U.S. Forest Service has announced its public meetings schedule for residents across Southeast to share feedback on a revised Tongass National Forest management plan. The plan will set the agency’s priorities for the forest over the next decade or so; Community members had the opportunity to meet and ask questions to the three Juneau schools superintendent finalists during a forum Wednesday night; Researchers are documenting black seaweed across seven communities in Southeast Alaska. They are trying to get a baseline for the seaweed, and to look at whether the important cultural resource should be considered a keystone species; Three Southeast Alaska fishermen have been charged with intentionally sinking their fishing boats in waters near Sitka and Petersburg; The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday against a resolution that would have limited President Trump's power to continue the war on Iran. Nearly all Republicans voted against it , including Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, March 5, 2026
In this newscast: Tribal members spoke out against the state's proposed Cascade Point Ferry Terminal in Juneau at a panel hosted by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council; A new preliminary cost estimate to install the controversial gondola project at Eaglecrest Ski Area is a staggering $27 million; Skijoring is an exhilarating way to spend time with your dog. Here are 4 tips to get started; Alaska lawmakers are considering another boost to per-student funding for public schools
Read More »Newscast – Wednesday, March 4, 2026
In this newscast: The federal government is suing a former chair of Juneau's Docks and Harbors board for nearly $1 million spent to raise his sunken tugboat from Gastineau Channel in 2023; The Juneau School District and its support staff union reached a tentative agreement yesterday, almost one year after both parties initially exchanged proposed contracts; Juneau students have missed four days this school year due to snow. So far, they won’t have to make them up; The Juneau School District has one of the oldest school-based hunter education programs in Alaska and its current teacher recently won the state's Hunter Educator of the Year award; Alaska lawmakers are preaching caution as war in Iran and across much of the Middle East pushes oil prices higher
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, March 3, 2026
In this newscast: The City and Borough of Juneau announced early facilities closures today, since a snowstorm has affected road conditions; The Arctic Winter Games begin Sunday in Whitehorse, and half of Alaska's snowshoe team has been practicing in Juneau; The state has expanded a fishing closure for shrimp in Southeast Alaska to protect the species. Shrimping in Southeast is now closed to all harvesters through the end of April; State lawmakers had some sharp question on Monday for Alaska's Division of Elections about its decision to share the state's full, unredacted voter list with the Department of Justice; The Alaska House unanimously passed a prohibition on AI-generated child sexual abuse material on Friday. But lawmakers vastly expanded the scope of the bill just before passing it, including provisions that would severely limit children's access to social media
Read More »Newscast – Monday, March 2, 2026
In this newscast: Members of the Juneau community have an opportunity to watch recorded interviews with finalists for Juneau schools superintendent and give feedback to the school board by Thursday; Since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pulled back its decision to design a lake tap that would put a stop to annual glacial outburst flooding in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley, local and congressional leaders have pressed the agency to explain why; Crews are about half way done removing a colossal drilling rig that toppled over on the North Slope; Folk singer-songwriter Willi Carlisle is the guest artist for the 51st annual Alaska Folk Festival in April. KTOO’s Yvonne Krumrey spoke with Carlisle about what makes Folk Fest special
Read More »Newscast – Friday, Feb. 27, 2026
In this newscast: Downtown Juneau's popular Marine Park will become a construction site for more than a year, starting next week; Two state lawmakers introduced legislation this month that aims to crack down on water pollution from major ships, including cruises; The Alaska Permanent Fund beat its performance benchmark last year and is approaching $90 billion. That's according to the investment consulting firm Callan, which has advised the state on the Permanent Fund's performance for decades; How can you convince yourself to bike to work, even in the winter? The Alaska Survival Kit series tries to answer that question
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026
In this newscast: The City and Borough of Juneau has reached a collective bargaining agreement with the union that represents Juneau police; Most of the residents of the Juneau neighborhood hit hardest by annual glacial outburst flooding don't want to pay for a portion of a buyout program that would allow them to leave the flood zone; Juneau's city-owned airport was briefly at risk of an emergency closure as its fleet of Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting trucks faced maintenance issues that could have shut down air traffic if all vehicles broke down; Staffing shortages, heavy workloads and burnout have stretched Juneau's fire department thin. Now, a new chief is at the helm, and he wants to rebuild morale and reshape the culture inside Capital City Fire Rescue
Read More »Newscast – Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026
In this newscast: A Juneau man who had been staying at a local shelter for unhoused people has not been seen by staff in more than two weeks and has been reported missing; Winter maintenance of streets, supporting schools and public safety are the top budget priorities of more than 4,000 Juneau residents who took a city budget survey earlier this year; The Juneau planning commission unanimously approved a conditional use permit on Tuesday for a two-story retail and entertainment building called “Alaska Fly & Dive” in the heart of downtown Juneau’s tourism corridor; Language educators in Juneau are working to create a Master’s in teaching program for Indigenous languages at the University of Alaska Southeast. It would be the first of its kind in Alaska; At least 10 high school students from around the globe are in Alaska right now as exchange students. Several gathered in Juneau earlier this month for a student orientation; Alaska senators moved forward a new version of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s tax bill last week. The newest draft of the bill bears little resemblance to the bill the governor proposed earlier this year as part of his broader fiscal plan
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