KTOO News Update
The day’s local and state news in about 10 minutes.
Newscast – Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019
In this newscast: Local early education providers explain what Gov. Mike Dunleavy's veto reversal means to their programs, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says a Trump administration decision is expected soon on a road building rule affecting the Tongass National Forest, one of five candidates vying for two Juneau School Board seats withdraws, a local sportfish biologist shares some professional and personal insights ahead of the Golden North Salmon Derby that starts Friday, meanwhile a salmon derby based in Wrangell gets off to a slow start, the ferry Columbia capsizes a small skiff with its wake, and the short film "Who We Are" reflects on how coastal erosion affects Alaska Native villages.
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019
In this newscast: Gov. Mike Dunleavy announces a major reversal on his cuts to the University of Alaska funding and early childhood programs, two Alaska groups fighting for a full permanent fund dividend argue the governor should not veto the $1,600 version lawmakers sent him, nine candidates file to run for Juneau Assembly and Juneau School Board in October, and middle and high school teachers are literally weaving Northwest Coast art into their math lessons.
Read More »Newscast – Monday, Aug. 12, 2019
In this newscast: Gov. Mike Dunleavy's latest line-item veto hits Alaska's primary provider of real-time marine vessel tracking, Juneau's Alaska Native community galvanizes its response to state budget cuts, a UAF forest ecologist figures out ideal times to cut spruce for firewood, Yakutat hosts what may be a first-of-its-kind-in-Alaska surfing camp, and U.S. Geological Survey scientists find polar bears spending more time on shore.
Read More »Newscast – Friday, Aug. 9, 2019
In this newscast: Authorities identified the scientist who died during a research dive Wednesday in Glacier Bay National Park, Newtok residents prepare to their new home in Mertarvik, Nome's busiest cruise ship tourism season ever gets underway and the Sitka Sound Science Center is studying disposable crab pots.
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019
In this newscast: Colleagues and family members remember late state Sen. Chris Birch, Permanent Fund Dividend checks could be delayed depending on whether Gov. Mike Dunleavy decides to veto a bill providing for a $1,600 PFD, a diver died in Glacier Bay National Park Wednesday, Southeast Alaska's drought continued with above average temperatures in July, and Yakutat hosts what may be the first surf camp of its kind in Alaska.
Read More »Newscast – Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019
In this newscast: What did ferry workers get from this summer's strike? Also, a Juneau-based fisheries scientist received the highest honor given to early-career scientists and engineers by the U.S. government and environmental groups have filed a new lawsuit to block road construction in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019
In this newscast: The second special legislative session ended quietly Tuesday, a Maine man pleads not guilty to sexual assault and murder of a woman at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1993, the Department of Fish & Game closes commercial salmon trolling in much of Southeast Alaska for eight days, Petersburg ferry workers remain concerned about state cuts to ferry service even as the strike ends, tourists stranded in Kodiak by the ferry strike found a way to stay busy and tribal protesters commemorate the anniversary of 2014's Mount Polley mine disaster by advocating for stronger oversight of transboundary mining.
Read More »Newscast – Monday, Aug. 5, 2019
In this newscast: State ferries resumed sailing following the ratification of a contract by striking members of the Alaska Marine Highway System's largest union. Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration extended a no-bid contract awarded to a relative of a major financial supporter of the governor. A lawsuit brought by a former police detective against the City of Sitka is going before a mediator and could be settled out of court. A related case concerning a former Sitka police detective who filed a sexual harassment suit against the city remains on track for trial next spring. A new species of deer are moving into parts of Alaska, including the Upper Lynn Canal. The federally chartered Denali Commission is awaiting results of an investigation into the conduct of one of its staff members. A light earthquake was felt in the greater Anchorage area, and officials say it was an aftershock from the Nov. 30 magnitude 7.1 quake that rocked the city.
Read More »Newscast – Friday, Aug. 2, 2019
In this newscast: A tentative deal between the state and a striking ferry union could get the Alaska Marine Highway System back up and running as early as this weekend. Voters in more than a dozen Alaska towns can now sign the petition to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy, but there are plenty of communities across the state where voters do not have that option right now. Pacific walruses have been spotted on shore in northwest Alaska. It's their earliest appearance to date, and it's tied to receding sea ice. A profile on Tom Ainsworth, the National Weather Service's chief weather forecaster for Southeast Alaska. Ainsworth retired today. Juneau's Perseverance Theatre removed "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" from its schedule after concerns were raised about its content and cost.
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019
In this newscast: Signature gathering to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy launches around the state, coastal community residents sound off on the Alaska Marine Highway System's stripped down winter ferry schedule, the filing period opens Friday for Juneau's Oct. 1 municipal elections, Douglas Highway water main work is expected to shift traffic delays toward the Douglas roundabout, Pacific walruses are making their earliest appearances on northwest Alaska beaches due to sea ice receding early, and the pilot of single-propeller plane shocks drivers in Washington state with an emergency landing on a busy road.
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