KTOO News Update
The day’s local and state news in about 10 minutes.
Newscast – Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019
In this newscast: Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposes a budget that depends on spending down state savings, the governor suspends parts of a plan to cut financial assistance for disabled and elderly Alaska residents, stakeholders get together for training in Juneau to better resolve complicated child welfare cases, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Don Young says he doesn't support the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, the Department of Transportation works on plans to build an airport in Angoon, a commercial airline in British Columbia has its first flight of a fully electric seaplane, and the Alaska National Guard brought its Operation Santa Claus to Napakiak.
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019
In this newscast: State budget veterans put governors' ambitious budget plans in a context, state lawmakers discuss how the state uses compacts to empower tribes to provide public services, Ketchikan officials push back against a state plan to relocate its trooper dispatch center to Anchorage, the trans-Alaska pipeline passes the milestone of 18 billion barrels pumped, NOAA releases the 2019 Arctic Report Card, some White Castle burgers are getting recalled because of possible listeria bacteria, and hundreds of people stop by the Governor's Mansion for the annual Christmas open house.
Read More »Newscast – Monday, Dec. 9, 2019
In this newscast: The state's latest forecast for revenue is down, half of the Alaska Marine Highway System fleet is now out of service, Alaska public safety officials update an online list of missing people with decades of old cases, the City and Borough of Juneau announces a new director of public works and engineering, Native corporation Doyon signs an oil and gas exploration agreement with Hilcorp, state and federal officials tally up over $300 million from summer wildfire fighting expenses in Alaska, wildlife biologists set up traps to kill at least one problem bear in Sitka, a man gets buried and saved in an avalanche on Flattop Mountain, SpaceX delivers Christmas presents and cargo for experiments to the International Space Station, and dense fog affects air and road travel in Juneau.
Read More »Newscast – Friday, Dec. 6, 2019
In this newscast: An expert tells the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. Board a few bad years could jeopardize the ability to pay dividends and support state government, the federal government awards another $36 million in earthquake disaster recovery grants, a private business proposes building a new marine haul out in Sitka, Petro Star is set to begin transporting fuel by rail between Anchorage and Fairbanks, a man from Kaktovik agrees to plead guilty to killing a polar bear without harvesting any of its meat, the Seward Peninsula community of White Mountain has gone without regular postal service since late October, and NATO-affiliated researchers say social media companies are failing to stop phony accounts and manipulated activity.
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019
In this newscast: Several service members are hospitalized after a small Coast Guard boat collides with a small Navy boat near Kodiak, about 24 marine highway system employees will be "relieved of service" after the ferry Aurora is put in layup, the University of Alaska Board of Regents rejects a consolidation plan the Legislature had backed, Gov. Mike Dunleavy asks for public input on a bill to set up a framework for tribal governments to operate K-12 schools, the latest quarterly report from the company trying to get the proposed Pebble Mine permitted flags significant cash flow problems, the family of former Juneau man Cody Eyre files a wrongful death lawsuit after law enforcement shot him to death in Fairbanks, upcoming research will show the last advancing glacier off the Juneau Icefield is now in retreat, the annual holiday open house at the Governor's Mansion is scheduled for Tuesday, and new research documents a spike in emergency room visits for mostly minor injuries that correspond to the rise of smartphones.
Read More »Newscast – Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019
In this newscast: Parents wrestle with impossible "what ifs" after their 19-year-old daughter's death, Wrangell's Evergreen Elementary School wins national recognition as a "distinguished school," the city of North Pole encourages residents with contaminated groundwater to sign up for municipal water service, Quinhagak closes its airport to all night flights due to disabled runway lights, an Anchorage company fires and disciplines workers caught on video throwing Amazon delivery packages, 58 mushers sign up for the 2020 Iditarod, for the first time a Native American justice is appointed to Washington state's highest court, and the Tennessee Aquarium gets an electric eel to light up Christmas lights.
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019
In this newscast: Gov. Mike Dunleavy appoints an acting commissioner of the Department of Revenue, Alaska is now the 50th state to confirm its first case of the vaping related illness, The Wilderness Society produces and sells out a show designed to compel young people to care about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's king salmon forecasts for Stikine and Taku rivers probably won't allow for harvesting next year, a commercial fisherman from Naukati Bay pleads guilty to fishing in closed waters and falsifying a harvest report, the National Weather Service issues a winter weather advisory for Juneau, and the creators of the "Baby Shark" video announce they're developing a version in Navajo.
Read More »Newscast – Monday, Dec. 2, 2019
In this newscast: All 60 seats of the Alaska Legislature are filled for the first time since August after an Anchorage Republican is sworn into the House, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski dedicates funding to a bill in Congress intended to help law enforcement investigate cold cases of missing and murdered indigenous women, President Donald Trump's pick to be Alaska's next Federal District Court judge scores poorly in an Alaska Bar Association poll, the Alaska Bar Association flags a coming legal brain drain in the state as older lawyers retire, a new study identifies environmental hazards threatening rural Alaska Native communities, officials say more buildings were damaged by last year's earthquake in Chugiak-Eagle River where regulations are more lax than in an Anchorage zone, the Fairbanks City Council considers raising the tax on vaping products to be the same as tobacco products, and a Delta Junction High School sprinter becomes the first athlete from that community to be offered a chance to compete at a Division 1 school.
Read More »Newscast – Friday, Nov. 29, 2019
In this newscast: A newly formed committee charged with planning for Alaska's redistricting process will hold its first meeting next week, a boat adrift in Gastineau Channel prompts a little mystery, Alaska Native cultural interpreters discuss the work of explaining their existence to cruise ship visitors, the Anchorage Assembly approves studying a waste-to-energy incineration plant, Skagway Brewing Company's has harnessed carbon dioxide from making beer to fuel an aeroponic garden, authorities arrest a Fairbanks man for allegedly using a backhoe to steal a truck, and a bear is blamed for a pair of vehicle break-ins in Akhiok.
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019
In this newscast: Proponents of a ballot initiative push Alaska election reforms while Republicans say its unconstitutional, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecast another underwhelming year for pink salmon in Southeast Alaska, a new federal report flags more problems with the F-35 fighter jets scheduled to come to Alaska, and Oregon State University haul in the remains of a massive blue whale to reassemble its skeleton.
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