KTOO News Update
756 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★ - 8 ratingsThe latest local, state, and regional news is compiled from reports from the KTOO newsroom in Juneau.
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Episodes
Newscast – Friday, Nov. 2, 2020
November 03, 2020 03:32 - 9.28 MBIn this newscast: Juneau residents from Thane to the end of the road woke up with no electricity this morning. Some of the outages persisted into the afternoon; Why are there 22 judges on the statewide ballot on Tuesday, what does it mean, and how is Alaska's judicial retention process different from other states in which judges actually have to campaign, make speeches, and raise funds to stay on the bench?; Researchers track Arctic sea ice “extent” every year -- essentially how far it extend...
Newscast – Oct. 30, 2020
October 31, 2020 02:01 - 9.28 MBJuneau’s Montessori School in Douglas is closed after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. As of Friday afternoon, about 750 people have applied for housing and utility assistance through Juneau's new pandemic relief program A few years after the Libertarian Party was founded in the Lower 48, voters in Fairbanks elected the first Libertarian to any partisan office in the country. Most Alaskans register to vote as nonpartisan or undeclared, leaving a lot of room for that Libertarian se...
Newscast – Friday, Oct. 30, 2020
October 31, 2020 02:01 - 9.28 MBJuneau’s Montessori School in Douglas is closed after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. As of Friday afternoon, about 750 people have applied for housing and utility assistance through Juneau's new pandemic relief program A few years after the Libertarian Party was founded in the Lower 48, voters in Fairbanks elected the first Libertarian to any partisan office in the country. Most Alaskans register to vote as nonpartisan or undeclared, leaving a lot of room for that Libertarian se...
Newscast – Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020
October 30, 2020 02:02 - 12.2 MBTlingit culture bearer and leader King̱eestí David Katzeek died suddenly last night, While the pandemic put a damper on many holidays this year, determined Juneauites are finding creative ways to celebrate Halloween, More than a dozen candidates for the Alaska Legislature gathered for a virtual forum last week on racial equity, Governor Mike Dunleavy says obsolete technology has prevented the state government from distributing additional money to Alaskans who are unemployed due to COVID-19, ...
Newscast — Monday, Oct. 28, 2020
October 29, 2020 01:10 - 9.11 MBJuneau officials are reporting 12 new cases of COVID-19 in the area. Half of those are connected to a cluster of infections among the city's unsheltered population, The Juneau Assembly made a decision earlier this week requiring the disclosure of real estate sales prices to the city assessor's office, despite opposition from local realtors, Gov. Dunleavy's public health emergency disaster declaration is set to expire on Nov. 15. Healthcare providers and local governments say they need that ...
Newscast — Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020
October 29, 2020 01:10 - 9.11 MBJuneau officials are reporting 12 new cases of COVID-19 in the area. Half of those are connected to a cluster of infections among the city's unsheltered population, The Juneau Assembly made a decision earlier this week requiring the disclosure of real estate sales prices to the city assessor's office, despite opposition from local realtors, Gov. Dunleavy's public health emergency disaster declaration is set to expire on Nov. 15. Healthcare providers and local governments say they need that ...
Newscast – Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020
October 28, 2020 01:21 - 9.3 MBAfter seven months, Juneau's residential substance abuse treatment facility reopens this week. Although Rainforest Recover Center will limit the number of patients for now, providers say the need in - and outside - the community is growing, With contact tracing capacity strained by COVID-19 outbreaks statewide, Juneau city officials are asking the public to take more proactive steps to help contact tracers, Alaska won't start counting absentee ballots this year until a week after Election D...
Newscast – Monday, Oct. 26, 2020
October 27, 2020 01:23 - 4.64 MBAlaska's Department of Health and Social Services reported another 348 new coronavirus infections today, A new community radio station is being developed in the Southeast Alaska village of Klukwan, Health care and personal wealth came up again and again during a debate between Republican Senator Dan Sullivan and his Independent challenger Al Gross, Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced this weekend that she will vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, A former teacher at a school i...
Newscast – Friday, Oct. 23, 2020
October 24, 2020 00:52 - 4.65 MBScientists believe a massive glacial dam release recently occurred in Southeast Alaska. But, they probably would not have known about it if an observant local fisherman hadn't tipped them off, In the past week, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation has announced more than 180 new cases of COVID-19 in Chevak, seemingly out of nowhere. How did such a large outbreak develop, and what's being done in response? Independent U.S. House candidate Alyse Galvin took some swipes at Republican Congre...
Newscast – Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020
October 23, 2020 01:11 - 9.29 MBIn this newscast: While the Juneau School District board celebrated its newly elected member Martin Stepetin yesterday, the district continues to face the tough challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic; Juneau Democrat Andi Story is facing a challenger for her seat representing the Mendenhall Valley in the Alaska House of Representatives; City staff say skateboarders are causing problems on Juneau's downtown docks; The grocer Alaska Commercial Company, also known as AC, has been fined more than $2...
Newscast – Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020
October 22, 2020 01:25 - 9.29 MBIn this newscast: Final results are in for Juneau’s local election. The Canvass Review Board met Tuesday to certify the Oct. 6 election results; Correction: A story aired on yesterday's news update erroneously defined what state right of way is; This year, the Alaska Day organizing committee canceled the parade and other public events because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the growing effort to re-brand the holiday “Reconciliation Day” continued; Rural Alaska tribes are working to get more ...
Newscast – Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020
October 21, 2020 01:11 - 9.33 MBIn this newscast: Polls opened Monday for early in-person voting in Anchorage and across the state; The Division of Elections reported that 3,726 votes were cast on Monday; Earlier this month Ricky Diesing of Juneau noticed to big campaign signs in front of his house had disappeared; Alaskans across the state woke up this morning to a strange threatening email telling them how to vote; The National Tsunami Warning Center has lifted a tsunami advisory after a reported 7.5 magnitude earthquake ...
Newscast – Monday, Oct. 19, 2020
October 20, 2020 01:10 - 9.3 MBIn this newscast: Juneau election officials finished processing ballots for the city’s election on Friday; The future of Permanent Fund Dividend checks is one of the most pressing issues facing state lawmakers; The Alaska Federation of Natives’ first virtual convention came to a close on Friday.
Newscast – Friday, Oct. 16, 2020
October 17, 2020 01:17 - 9.53 MBA report co-written by former Alaska budget director Donna Arduin ranks her former boss, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, as the second-worst governor in the country on what it calls “economic freedom,” At least 38 people who are currently homeless in Juneau have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two weeks. Now, with temperatures dipping below…
Newscast – Thursday, October 15, 2020
October 16, 2020 01:23 - 5.28 MBIn this newscast: Counting for the 2020 Census ends today. That’s following a Supreme Court ruling earlier this week that allows the federal government to end the count early; More than 17,000 Alaskans’ absentee ballots have already been returned to the state Division of Elections. That leaves hundreds of thousands who still have a chance to vote; The so-called “Pebble Tapes” that came out last month revealed how the company talked to potential investors about its sway over elected officials,...
Newscast – Wednesday, October 14, 2020
October 15, 2020 01:11 - 9.32 MBIn this newscast: State health officials reported that four more Alaskans died of COVID-19 recently; A staff member at Blatchley Middle School in Sitka has tested positive for coronavirus; Ravn Alaska says it could resume scheduled flights between Anchorage and Unalaska in two weeks; The final votes have been tallied for the municipal elections in Haines and Skagway; Officials say eligible Alaska residents receiving unemployment checks from the state are expected to get a $300 increase in wee...
Newscast – Tuesday, October 13, 2020
October 13, 2020 13:32 - 4.61 MBIn this newscast: A Juneau woman in her sixties died of COVID-19 at Bartlett Regional Hospital on Tuesday; Following a historic voter turnout, the Southeast community of Hoonah is holding a runoff election for a city council seat later this month; This year, the Elders and Youth Conference went virtual for the first time in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; A watchdog group hopes a lawsuit will shake loose more evidence of lost revenue from timber sales on the Tongass National Forest in Sout...
Newscast – Friday, October 9, 2020
October 09, 2020 13:15 - 9.51 MBIn this newscast: Voting in Juneau’s first by-mail local election ended Tuesday, but results aren’t expected until later Friday; Yakutat has a new health center after nearly six years of planning and construction; Alaska’s U.S. Senate race this year was not expected to be especially competitive -- incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan was predicted to cruise to victory; Industry opponents of a ballot measure to raise oil taxes have donated most of the money given to all Alaska political campaigns...
Newscast – Thursday, October 8, 2020
October 09, 2020 02:43 - 9.31 MBIn this newscast: The Census Bureau reports that almost all Alaskan households have been counted already. But the accuracy of that number is in question; Ketchikan emergency officials raised the community’s pandemic alert level to “moderate” after reporting five new positive cases of COVID-19 Wednesday; Alaska’s elections watchdog commission says a group opposing a ballot measure to overhaul elections violated state law by airing radio ads with outdated contributors and ordered the group to r...
Newscast – Wednesday, October 7, 2020
October 08, 2020 02:04 - 9.28 MBIn this newscast: Juneau is closing the Mill Campground for the season; Several Americans have been cited by law enforcement in British Columbia for breaking rules intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19; The pandemic has disrupted all of our lives in some way or another, but it’s had a particularly dramatic impact on the lives of college students; This year the FCC opened a window of opportunity for Native Americans to secure rights to their own wireless broadband networks; Alaska U.S. Se...
Newscast – Tuesday, October 6, 2020
October 07, 2020 00:58 - 9.29 MBIn this newscast: Voters cast their last-minute ballots today in Juneau’s first-ever by mail election; Early voter turnout is more than triple last year’s count in Sitka meaning residents likely won’t have a good idea of who won until Wednesday afternoon; Construction began in August on Sealaska Heritage Institute’s future arts campus in downtown Juneau. But they found contaminated soil, which may affect the institute’s goal to have it complete in time for Celebration next year; The temporary...
Newscast – Monday, October 5, 2020
October 06, 2020 01:38 - 9.12 MBIn this newscast: Voting in Juneau’s local election ends Tuesday Oct. 6; With COVID-19 case counts rising significantly in Alaska, hospitals are concerned about what comes next; The group tasked with reshaping the future of the state-run ferry system is recommending the creation of an executive board, fewer vessels, and at least two years of forward funding for the cash-strapped ferries.
Newscast – Friday, October 2, 2020
October 03, 2020 01:55 - 9.29 MBIn this newscast: The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska held its 85th Tribal Assembly yesterday. For the first time it was held virtually and it was a condensed version of the usual three-day event; Summer is typically the money-making season for many Alaska businesses, as tourists flock to the state. But this summer, the COVID-19 pandemic made that a lot harder; Petersburg has seen an unusual amount of black bears in town this year. Biologists think the bears natur...
Newscast – Thursday, October 1, 2020
October 02, 2020 01:33 - 9.29 MBIn this newscast: Juneau officials are poised to approve millions of dollars in pandemic relief tonight; A tribe in Southeast Alaska has won permanent protection for the site of a historic Tlingit village whose descendants claim centuries-old ties to Glacier Bay; It’s been a hard season for small fishermen in many parts of Alaska because of economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Newscast – Wednesday, September 30, 2020
October 01, 2020 02:37 - 9.29 MBIn this newscast: Proposition 2 in Juneau’s municipal election asks voters to authorize up to $15 million in new public debt to pay for repairs and improvements to city infrastructure; Sitka’s urban Native corporation has a new look -- and a new outlook following annual board elections in September; An annual market event held for the past 37 years in Alaska’s capital city has been canceled because of the coronavirus; Owners of sled dogs in Alaska’s Yukon River region have had difficulty feed...
Newscast – Tuesday, September 29, 2020
September 30, 2020 02:31 - 9.29 MBIn this newscast: Seven candidates for three Assembly seats in Juneau's municipal elections sound off on why they're running; Alaska residents are enrolling in DenaliCare at unprecedented levels; Officials in Yakutat are asking those who visited local businesses in the last two weeks to get tested for the coronavirus; Officials at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska say a grizzly bear that was believed to have gotten into buildings and food storages over the last year has been euthani...
Newscast – Monday, September 28, 2020
September 29, 2020 01:29 - 9.29 MBIn this newscast: The Department of Corrections says it’s found ways to offer limited programming for inmates but advocates say it’s not enough; President Donald Trump has announced he’ll issue a permit soon that will allow a Canadian-based company to build a proposed 16-hundred-mile rail line from Alberta to Alaska across the international border; Southeast Alaska had its first big fall storm of the year; The amount of donations to a fight over an Alaska oil tax ballot initiative has exceede...
Newscast – Friday, September 25, 2020
September 26, 2020 01:17 - 9.31 MBIn this newscast: a record number of COVID-19 deaths in Alaska, a big airport grant for Juneau, jury trials resume, the 'Into the Wild' bus finds a new home, and more.
Newscast – Thursday, September 24, 2020
September 25, 2020 01:34 - 9.33 MBIn this newscast: The Glory Hall is closed, more on that fatal brown bear attack in Wrangell-St. Elias, an explanation of Ballot Measure 2 and a ferry system update from SE Conference.
Newscast – Wednesday, September 23, 2020
September 24, 2020 01:17 - 9.31 MBIn this newscast: a brown bear killed an alpaca at the zoo, a month of in-person schooling in the Mat-Su Borough, F-16 fighter jets make an emergency landing in Bethel and more.
Newscast – Tuesday, September 22, 2020
September 23, 2020 01:18 - 9.2 MBIn this newscast: Sen. Lisa Murkowksi backtracks comments saying she would not support President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Sen. Dan Sullivan says he looks forward to voting on Trump's SCOTUS nominee, only one person called in to a comment at a public hearing about ballot Measure 2, secret videos show Pebble Mine executives discussing working with Donlin Gold, Southeast Alaska won't have a commercial red king crab fishery again this yea and conservation groups seek to stall a lique...
Newscast – Monday, September 21, 2020
September 22, 2020 01:39 - 8.9 MBIn this newscast: What Juneau voters need to know about this year's local by mail election, Juneau mourners held a silent vigil Saturday for late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and researchers discuss rapid melting at the Malaspina Glacier.
Newscast – Friday, September 18, 2020
September 19, 2020 01:06 - 9.29 MBIn this newscast: It's been four months since Alaska communities started receiving money from the state's share of federal COVID-19 relief but one in four communities haven't claimed the money yet; Alaskans living in the tiny village of Hyder are chafing against Canada's border rules that restrict travel to much of the outside world; Race officials say the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is still on. 61 mushers have already signed up for the 1,000 mile competition.
Newscast – Thursday, September 17, 2020
September 18, 2020 01:12 - 9.31 MBIn this newscast: The developers of the proposed Pebble Mine aired an ad on Fox News last night, and it seems to have hit home with one viewer in the White House; While commercial salmon fisheries in Southeast are looking to be a bust this year, that's not the case for the Dungeness crab; The brand new village of Mertarvik is one step closer to having a commercial runway; Selling or giving away Alaska's state-run ferry fleet is not a viable option; Shell Offshore Inc. has submitted plans to d...
Newscast – Wednesday, September 16, 2020
September 17, 2020 01:14 - 9.28 MBIn this newscast: Enrollment is down at the University of Alaska Southeast but not as much as university officials were expecting; This summer is shaping up to be one of the worst ever in recent memory for bears in Juneau; The U.S. Forest Service wants a do-over for an old growth timber sale that was halted by a federal court; Residents in Ketchikan woke up to hazy skies as a result of smoke from wildfires burning in the Lower 48.
Newscast – Tuesday, September 15, 2020
September 16, 2020 01:14 - 9.35 MBIn this newscast: Six years after his death, Tlingit photographer Cyril George's family donated a vast photo collection with the goal of making them available to the public; The debate over a permanent home for Juneau's cold weather shelter was put to rest last night when the Assembly rejected all of the proposals for new locations; It looks like there's a growing cottage industry for private tutoring in Juneau. One woman shared some insights about her new tutoring gig.
Newscast – Monday, September 14, 2020
September 15, 2020 01:11 - 9.42 MBIn this newscast: Bars in Juneau closed for indoor service on Saturday following a spike in residents testing positive for COVID-19; Petersburg Borough assembly is considering writing an opinion on a draft senate bill that would give federal land to five Southeast communities; Over the weekend, teams scoured the scorched earth at the Kodiak Pacific Spaceport to recover what's left Astra's 3.1 rocket; Anchorage will receive federal support to aid in the suppression of the coronavirus outbreak ...
Newscast – Friday, September 11, 2020
September 12, 2020 01:09 - 9.4 MBIn this newscast: Juneau public health officials reported Friday that another four people linked to bar activity tested positive for COVID-19; The first tenants began moving into the new wing of Juneau's Housing First facility this week; The Southeast Alaska community of Angoon has extended its emergency travel order until further notice; A muskox was recently spotted in the Bristol Bay village of Manokotak.
Newscast – Thursday, September 10, 2020
September 11, 2020 01:16 - 9.26 MBIn this newscast: Juneau is holding a pop-up testing event this weekend at Centennial Hall for people who have visited bars recently; As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the Northwest Arctic Borough, local stakeholders remain concerned over a steady rise in positive cases; Vision Maker Media's First Indigenous Online Film Festival is showcasing three films focused on stories about Alaska Native and First Nations history; The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced Wednesday that ...
Newscast – Wednesday, September 9, 2020
September 10, 2020 01:10 - 4.66 MBIn this newscast: The City and Borough of Juneau is trying to decide where to put its cold weather shelter, but the people staying there have been mostly absent from the conversation; There are a lot of downsides to the kind of heavy, prolonged rainfall in Southeast Alaska this summer but it did have some silver linings; Juneau emergency management officials say they're considering escalating the community's risk status following a new cluster of COVID-19 cases.
Newscast – Tuesday, September 8, 2020
September 09, 2020 01:13 - 4.96 MBIn this newscast: Juneau's emergency management officials say they may raise the community's risk status due to case spread, all the rain in Southeast this year was good for hydroelectric power, school administrators aren't sure yet how lower enrollment at Alaska's schools will impact state funding and a logging project involving old growth forest in Southeast has drawn criticism from environmentalists and the timber industry.
Newscast – Monday, September 7, 2020
September 07, 2020 23:03 - 4.65 MBIn this newscast: There's a torrent of viral misinformation undermining the COVID-19 pandemic response; Winter is coming and competition over a popular trail in Juneau has pit winter sports enthusiasts against each other; Alaska has reached a settlement with an advocacy group in a dispute over involuntary commitments of people suffering mental health crises; Jack Little figures a $500 tip can give some waiters a boost during tough times; Gov. Mike Dunleavy says he currently does not need to f...
Newscast – Friday, September 4, 2020
September 05, 2020 01:11 - 4.66 MBIn this newscast: The declining price of oil and the COVID-19 pandemic has some oyster farmers worried about the future; Capital City Fire and Rescue recently refurbished one of its ambulances and the ambulance serves a second purpose as a piece of public art; Alaska's Supreme Court has blocked the state's plan to borrow money to pay off hundreds of millions in debt to oil and gas companies; A federal judge has denied a request seeking to have Alaska election officials send absentee ballot ap...
Newscast – Thursday, September 3, 2020
September 04, 2020 01:12 - 4.65 MBIn this newscast: A group that wants to save a neglected site where the Alaska territorial flag was designed, sewn and first flown sued this week; Alaska's job losses weren't as steep as the national average but the state's recovery is lagging behind nearly every other state; For many Alaska communities, the early end of the 2020 census means committees have to work harder to count everyone; Some University of Alaska students have called for the resignation of the student regent following a l...
Newscast – Wednesday, September 2, 2020
September 03, 2020 01:10 - 4.66 MBIn this newscast: Civil rights groups are asking Alaska's lieutenant governor not to enforce the requirement that voters get a witness to sign the envelope of their mail-in ballots; Seafood companies bring thousands of seasonal workers to Alaska's fishing towns every year, but this year's summer workers were largely unseen; A company operating one of the world's largest zinc mines in Alaska says thawing permafrost linked to global warming has forced an expenditure of $20 million; Documents pr...
Newscast – Tuesday, September 1, 2020
September 02, 2020 01:09 - 4.65 MBIn this newscast: Juneau School District officials say they have about 10 percent fewer students than they forecast in the spring; Since the pandemic hit, the number of people choosing to fly has tanked, but in Alaska that's often not an option; Some Southeast Alaska towns are setting rain records this summer; The Anchorage Assembly says it will reopen meetings for in-person participation by members of the public.
Newscast – Monday, August 31, 2020
September 01, 2020 01:28 - 4.66 MBIn this newscast: Construction on a new bike track in Juneau's Cope Park will begin as soon as the weather allows; When a child needed to be medevaced to Anchorage, residents in the Southwest Alaska village of Igiugig came together to light the airport's runway; Juneau's Augustus Brown Pool in downtown reopens on September 8 with limited capacity; Restaurants and bars in Anchorage reopen today for dine-in service with multiple restrictions; Administrators say student athletes at UA Fairbanks ...
Newscast – Friday, August 28, 2020
August 29, 2020 01:10 - 4.66 MBIn this newscast: After the first week of school in Juneau, families are reporting highs and lows with the all-distance learning start of the year; People in Juneau -- and around the country -- say they're getting mysterious packages in the mail from overseas; The Bering Sea pollock fishing fleet was going about its business Wednesday afternoon when it encountered a flotilla of Russian military ships.
Newscast – Thursday, August 27, 2020
August 28, 2020 01:11 - 4.66 MBIn this newscast: The City and Borough of Juneau says it's not going to change its testing strategy to match new guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Indigenous leaders are creating mockups of Vogue covers to share on social media to raise awareness for policy changes to the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest; A local COVID-19 testing program aims to identify and isolate any positive cases for residents and seasonal workers in Petersburg.
Newscast – Tuesday, August 25, 2020
August 26, 2020 01:18 - 4.66 MBIn this newscast: Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson has resigned after a series of texts with a younger state worker became public; The Juneau Assembly passed an ordinance last night creating a systemic racism review committee; Efforts to relocate Juneau's shelter for homeless residents has seen pushback from other residents; The Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska received a $150,000 investment from the federal government this week; The group tasked by Gov. Mike Du...