KTOO News Update

Dozens of child-sized Ravenstail robes were danced for the first time at an event in Juneau on Tuesday. It’s the largest collection of new Ravenstail weaving in decades; KTOO's Katie Anastas investigated Juneau's varying gas prices for this week's Curious Juneau Episode.

In this newscast: Alaska gets an infusion of $125 million to build and expand solar energy. The Juneau Assembly rejected a symbolic resolution for bilateral peace between Israel and Palestine. Malin Babcock, treasurer of the Gastineau Historical Society and a descendent of victims of Juneau’s 1936 landslide, shares her story for Tongass Voices.

In this newscast: A new campus slated for Juneau will be dedicated to immersing children in Alaska Native culture and languages; An Indigenous-led group, the Herring Protectors, received an unexpected contribution -- two parcels of land on an island outside of Sitka; House lawmakers removed an amendment from a bill that would have raised the age of consent from 16 to 18 in some situations

In this newscast: Alaska's Division of Forestry released its plan for selling timber in Southeast Alaska for the next five years and an environmental group in the region is frustrated with the public process; A recent paper in Nature attempts to set a new timeframe of when humans first appeared in Southeast Alaska, but for Southeast Alaska Natives, it's just one piece of a much bigger puzzle

In this newscast: The City and Borough of Juneau is creating a task force to tackle if -- and how -- they should be regulated; Juneau's emergency warming shelter closed last week and the city doesn't have a campground for people to move to this year; Tongass Voices: Holly Huber on what it takes to be Miss Alaska Volunteer

In this newscast – The Tongass National Forest has grown, with the addition of 5 acres of important fish and wildlife habitat Earlier this month, the Denver Post reported that Lingit tribal members have been requesting cultural items back from the Denver Art Museum in Colorado for years – to no avail

In this newscast: Scientists and Alaska Native leaders released a report this week claiming plastic waste in the Arctic is contaminating essential resources of Indigenous communities Khalil English shares his research on silverweed, a seemingly inconspicuous plant with deep roots in Pacific Northwest history

In this newscast: Wrangell’s Nolan Center hosted a screening of Blue Ticket on Monday. It’s a film of a play that KTOO documented back in 2019. The play’s author, Maureen Longworth, documented how gay men in Juneau were exiled from the city in the 1960s. The Alaska Native Birthworkers Community is a collective of Indigenous…

In this newscast: The Juneau planning commission agreed to let an outdoor food court expand into the empty lot that once housed the demolished Elks Hall building; The National Native Boarding School Healing Coalition will conduct interviews to document abuse at boarding schools; Alaska Public Media reporter Eric Stone on the Superior Court ruling that found a key benefit to families who choose certain types of homeschooling unconstitutional, and what it means

In this newscast: Peter Pan Seafood announced Friday that it was ceasing operations; A partisan brawl is about to erupt in Congress over the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Alaska's US senators are seemingly split over it; Tongass Voices: Jeremy Kane on the philosophy of bowl-making

In this newscast: Cancer patients in Juneau who need gynecological surgery no longer have to leave town to get it; The Alaska House of Representatives passed its $6 billion operating budget today

In this newscast: City officials in Juneau have proposed a municipal spending plan for next year that slightly raises the property tax rate; Many Alaskans have to travel a long way for certain healthcare treatments, but a bill in the state House aims to close that distance by expanding the list of providers Alaskans can see remotely; And from Wednesday night's Alaska Folk Fest mainstage: Costa's Poets Thieves and Liars

In this newscast: A group of activists in Juneau filed paperwork in the hopes of putting a question on the 2024 local election ballot about whether the city should begin enforcing "Ship-free Saturdays"; The Sitka Assembly is calling for the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium to reconsider a decision it made to close the home health department; A taste of the 49th annual Alaska Folk Festival

In this newscast: The Norwegian Bliss docked in Juneau this morning, marking the beginning of the 2024 cruise ship season; State education officials continue to dispute the federal government's claim that Alaska didn't fund schools equitably during the pandemic; Athletes from across Alaska and some from the Lower 48 came to Juneau to compete in the seventh annual Traditional Games

In this newscast: Some projects the city plans to fund with marine passenger fees are being contested by cruise line officials; A look ahead at this year's cruise season, which starts tomorrow; Tongass Voices: Joey Scoggins and Khrystal Brouillette-Gillam and the Juneau Hostel

In this newscast: Involvement in traditional games and Native Youth Olympics are growing across Alaska and two coaches from Juneau's team visited Petersburg to show students what these sports are all about; Legendary Juneau musician Buddy Tabor died in 2012, and a group of Southeast Alaska artists are working to make his music available on streaming services

In this newscast: Students from Juneau and across Alaska walked out of school today to protest Gov. Mike Dunleavy's education funding veto last month; Curious Juneau: the state of fast food in Juneau; State lawmakers got some new details Tuesday about the federal government's partial approval of a document outlining federally funded transportation projects

In this newscast: This cruise season, money collected from cruise passengers could be set aside to help Juneau's tourism businesses cut down on fossil-fuels; A group of students in Sitka is taking a class on navigating the Federal Subsistence Board process; Democrats in the U.S. House almost always vote in line with party leaders, but Congresswoman Mary Peltola has a different voting record

In this newscast: The City and Borough of Juneau has negotiated a conceptual agreement with cruise lines that could limit the number of daily passengers that come off their ships and into Juneau; It's also moving forward with a plan to relocate its seasonal campground to a different site further from downtown; The House Finance Committee is working through its latest draft of the state budget, after lawmakers rejected a roughly $3,500 PFD Thursday; The Southeast Regional Health Consortium is suing the United States for over $8 million it claims it is owed for indirect costs in 2016

In this newscast: Tongass Voices: Shiggoap Alfie Price is a language learner and teacher who believes in using the power of community to strengthen the language revitalization movement; The Alaska Legislature has relaunched a caucus focused on providing support to children from birth to adulthood