KTOO News Update
The day’s local and state news in about 10 minutes.
Newscast – Wednesday, April 29, 2026
In this newscast: Community members can provide feedback on the City and Borough of Juneau's budget Wednesday during a special meeting; Juneau student Cassie Lumba advanced to the national finals of Poetry Out Loud after competing in the semifinals in Washington D.C; Two groups of Juneau residents filed proposed citizen propositions this week in hopes of putting questions on the 2026 local election ballot; The U.S. Forest Service has released a draft environmental impact statement for a timber sale on Prince of Wales Island; Mt. Edgecumbe High School is cutting staff for the second year in a row amid ongoing budget and enrollment issues.
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, April 28, 2026
In this newscast: Four Alaskans appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to serve on various state boards and commissions recently resigned ahead of a legislative confirmation vote expected May 7; The remains of a woman found in a wooded area in Spenard last week have been identified as Kelly Hunt, a 19-year-old college student from Shaktoolik who had been missing since January; A bill that would reinstate a pension system for state and local government employees in Alaska is on the verge of a state Senate vote, which would bring it closer than ever to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s desk; Tongass Voices: Brian Wallace on preserving time through photography
Read More »Newscast – Monday, April 27, 2026
In this newscast: Juneau's first cruise ship of the year arrived this afternoon; The Canadian company proposing to open the New Amalga gold mine in Juneau, announced this week that it plans to build an ore barge dock at Cascade Point regardless of whether the state moves forward with its controversial ferry terminal at the same location; Petersburg's local tribe unveiled and blessed its new killer whale canoe earlier this month. It's the first canoe made in the community in a century
Read More »Newscast – Friday, April 24, 2026
In this newscast: A former Juneau School District principal pleaded not guilty Thursday to an assault charge stemming from an incident involving a student; The defense attorney for a former Juneau chiropractor accused of assaulting more than a dozen women said he wants a retrial to be moved to Anchorage instead of Juneau; The Skagway Borough was awarded a federal grant to construct an industrial dock that will allow heavy materials to be transported; Rail megaprojects in Interior and Southcentral Alaska got a symbolic show of support on Wednesday from the Alaska Legislature.
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, April 23, 2026
In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly discussed a list of more than 40 city services and facilities that could face reductions or closures for the first time at a finance committee meeting Wednesday night; A week after a Ward Air plane crashed and sank into Favorite Channel near Juneau, officials are still piecing together what happened; The U.S. Forest Service is rethinking how it defines areas of the Tongass National Forest. One of its ideas is to designate recreation areas according to commercial use, which could guide where the Forest Service concentrates permits for tour operators; The state Senate Finance Committee released its first revision of the state’s operating budget Wednesday, including a $1,000 Permanent Fund dividend and a $150 energy relief check; Civil rights advocates are suing over Alaska’s decision last year to share confidential voter data, including home addresses, dates of birth and partial Social Security numbers, with the federal government.
Read More »Newscast – Wednesday, April 22, 2026
In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly will discuss potential city service reductions at a finance committee meeting on Wednesday night; The kickoff of the 2026 cruise ship tourism season is just around the corner in Juneau. The first ship, the MS Eurodam, arrives Monday afternoon; A proposal to raise Alaska’s age of consent from 16 to 18 took a step forward on Friday as a key part of an omnibus package of crime legislation proposed by Anchorage Democratic Sen. Matt Claman; An Alaska inmate died last week under the care of the state department of corrections; A key Alaska Senate committee is out with a new take on the governor’s proposal to cut taxes for the Alaska LNG project — with a much smaller tax cut.
Read More »Newscast – Tuesday, April 21, 2026
In this newscast: Leadership of the Juneau School District will undergo a major changeover this summer; Juneau's cold-weather warming shelter was supposed to close for the season last week, but, instead, the shelter will be open year-round, thanks to a decision by the Juneau Assembly earlier this month; April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Aware is planning a fashion show to celebrate survivors of sexual assault; The U.S. Coast Guard announced last week that the first of its two medium-weight icebreakers will be homeported in Alaska
Read More »Newscast – Monday, April 20, 2026
In this newscast: A year-long investigation into Anchorage and Mat-Su massage parlors has led to seven arrests involving sex trafficking; As part of a crime bill passed by the Legislature two years ago, the Department of Corrections contracted with the Alaska Federation of Natives to conduct a study looking at ways to reduce the overrepresentation of Alaska Native People in the state’s prison population. The study was released recently; Normally Alaska has three people at the U.S. Capitol arguing for federal land and natural resources policies that boost the state’s economy. Last week, 150 Alaskans fanned out across the Capitol to make the case for their industries, ranging from drilling and mining to tourism and fishing; The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that it has opened an Office of Seafood within the department. This first of its kind office comes after years of advocacy from Alaska’s Congressional delegation and fishermen
Read More »Newscast – Friday, April 17, 2026
In this newscast: Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau was evacuated Thursday after a fire broke out in a utility closet: Officials say a plane made a crash landing in Favorite Channel near Juneau Thursday morning: Tlingit and Haida’s Generations Southeast Juneau Campus is offering free community emergency response team training beginning April 25th.
Read More »Newscast – Thursday, April 16, 2026
In this Newscast: A Lingit composer and musician from Sitka has been part of a team composing the first full opera in the Lingit language: A Juneau school principal is on administrative leave and facing a charge of misdemeanor assault for allegedly restraining a student: The Juneau School Board unanimously approved a long-awaited contract between the district and its teachers union: President Trump has appointed Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy to a seat on the U.S. Arctic Research Commission.
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