Anchorage news

• PFD amount announced: $1,100

  16-09-2017 04:32 via ktoo.org
  The State of Alaska has announced the dollar figure for this year’s Permanent Fund Dividend. In a release this afternoon, the Department of Revenue said eligible Alaskans will receive $1,100 each when checks are mailed out starting Oct. 5.
  About 640,000 Alaskans will get a PFD this year, totaling about $672,000,000 paid out from the Permanent Fund’s earnings.
  This year’s dividend level was set in the state Legislature when it passed its budget in June.
  
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• Newscast – Wednesday, May 8, 2024

  09-05-2024 02:42 via ktoo.org
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240508-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:The Juneau Assembly wants the city to ask community organizations if they’d be interested in continuing to care for graveyards on Douglas — with potential funding,
  An audio postcard from this years MMIP Awareness Day in Bethel
  
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• 10-mile Lower Kuskokwim ice jam causes flooding, high water

  08-05-2024 21:57 via ktoo.org
  
  Ice jammed outside of Akiak, May 7, 2024. (From National Weather Service)
  Early Wednesday morning, Akiak residents reported slowly rising water and the sound of moving ice. Tuluksak is experiencing what residents describe as some of its “worst flooding” in 10-15 years. A 10-mile-long ice jam had been wedged below Akiak, which is under flood advisory on Wednesday.
  Bethel Search and Rescue member Mark Leary joined the RiverWatch team on their Tuesday aerial survey of the Kusk
  
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• Volunteers want the city to manage Douglas Island’s cemeteries. Instead, the Assembly is asking for help.

  08-05-2024 21:49 via ktoo.org
  
  Ed Schoenfeld looks at a headstone at the old Douglas city cemetery on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/gravesMP3.mp3
  Trudging through the bumpy, brush-covered grounds at the old Douglas city cemetery, Ed Schoenfeld squints at a headstone. It’s half protruding out of the ground, with fiddleheads popping up around it. 
  “It’s a headstone for Fred Schuler. It says he was born in Germany in 1859 and died November 11,
  
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• Legislature rejects Dunleavy appointees to state school board and commercial fishing agency

  08-05-2024 20:52 via ktoo.org
  
  Members of the Alaska House and Senate vote on the confirmation of state Board of Education and Early Development member Bob Griffin on May 5, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
  The Alaska Legislature shot down one of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s nominees to the state Board of Education and Early Development on Tuesday. Members of the House and Senate objected to what they said were ethics violations by Bob Griffin, who has sat on the state board for five years.
  The 21-39 bipartisan vote came
  
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• The U.S. was supposed to get keys to a new heavy icebreaker this year. Instead, construction is years late as costs soar.

  08-05-2024 19:59 via ktoo.org
  
  Artist rendering of the Polar Security Cutter design. (VT Halter Marine/Technology Associates, Inc.)
  The Coast Guard’s plan to build three heavy icebreakers is five years behind schedule and the price has ballooned to $5.1 billion from an initial estimate of less than $2 billion, according to projections from Congressional Budget Office and other watchdogs.
  “The Coast Guard originally aimed to have the first PSC (polar security cutter) delivered in 2024, but the ship’s estimate
  
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• FBI arrests man in Juneau after stabbing multiple people on cruise ship

  08-05-2024 03:47 via ktoo.org
  
  The Norwegian Encore berths in Juneau in Oct. 2022. (Clarise Larson/ for the Juneau Empire)
  The FBI arrested a cruise ship employee in Juneau on Tuesday afternoon, the day after he allegedly stabbed multiple people with scissors aboard the Norwegian Encore. 
  Ntando Sogoni, 35, of South Africa was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
  In an interview, FBI Public Affairs Officer Chloe Martin said the agency continues to investigate the
  
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• FBI arrests cruise ship crew member in Juneau after allegedly stabbing multiple people on board

  08-05-2024 03:47 via ktoo.org
  
  The Norwegian Encore berths in Juneau in Oct. 2022. (Clarise Larson/ for the Juneau Empire)
  The FBI arrested a cruise ship employee in Juneau on Tuesday afternoon, the day after he allegedly stabbed multiple people with scissors aboard the Norwegian Encore. 
  Ntando Sogoni, 35, of South Africa was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
  In an interview, FBI Public Affairs Officer Chloe Martin said the agency continues to investigate the
  
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• Newscast – Tuesday, May 7, 2024

  08-05-2024 02:45 via ktoo.org
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240507-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Juneau’s annual workshop on How to Run for Local Office is this Saturday, and October’s municipal election is already shaping up to be an interesting one,
  A proposal headed to the Alaska Board of Fisheries next year would change how a popular run of king salmon is managed near Petersburg,
  Tongass Voices: Haa Tooch Lichéesh Coalition members find inner strength through ocean dipping
  
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• How to Run for Local Office workshop preps candidates for Juneau’s October election on Saturday

  08-05-2024 00:42 via ktoo.org
  
  Michael Beasley drops a ballot into a drop box at the City Hall Assembly Chambers on Election Day on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Clarise Larson / for the Juneau Empire)
  Juneau’s annual How to Run for Local Office workshop is happening on Saturday. It gives anyone a chance to ask questions and learn about what it takes to campaign for the Juneau Assembly or School Board. 
  Current and former members will offer advice to prospective candidates for this October’s municipal election.
  Peg
  
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• Alaska House nears vote on big increase for public school maintenance statewide

  07-05-2024 20:59 via ktoo.org
  
  Members of the Alaska House Finance Committee discuss their first-draft budget on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
  A key Alaska House committee has approved funding for the most school maintenance projects in several years — from new roofs to copper pipe and electrical replacements.
  The finance committee advanced a $552 million construction and renovation spending plan that includes a huge increase for school maintenance. If adopted, the $63 million earmarked
  
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• Tongass Voices: Haa Tooch Lichéesh Coalition members find inner strength through ocean dipping

  07-05-2024 20:45 via ktoo.org
  
  People dipping with Haa Tooch Lichéesh Coalition at Auke Recreation Area on March 24, 2024. (Photo by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)
  This is Tongass Voices, a series from KTOO sharing weekly perspectives from the homelands of the Áak’w Kwáan and beyond.
  Haa Tooch Lichéesh Coalition is a nonprofit that offers Indigenous-based healing practices and reconciliation with the violent history of colonization and its impacts on Juneau’s community today.
  One of these tra
  
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• Alaska officials announce ‘One Pill Can Kill’ campaign to address fentanyl crisis

  07-05-2024 20:37 via ktoo.org
  
  Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Monday announced a new state awareness campaign called “One Pill Can Kill,” aimed at addressing the fentanyl crisis in Alaska. (Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
  Alaska officials have announced a new awareness campaign aimed at highlighting and combating the growing danger of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
  Gov. Mike Dunleavy and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan announced the “One Pill Can Kill” campaign at an Anchorage news conference Monday. Sullivan said tha
  
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• Alaska House committee kills state-owned corporation’s plan to borrow up to $300 million

  07-05-2024 19:53 via ktoo.org
  
  Members of the Alaska House Finance Committee, at left, listen to budget aide Remond Henderson during a break in amendment discussions on Monday, March 27, 2023. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
  Members of the Alaska House have refused a request by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority for permission to borrow up to $300 million for unspecified mining-related projects.
  On Friday night, the House Finance Committee removed the requested bonding authority from House Bill 122,
  
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• Close encounters with a curious killer whale remind Juneau residents of the city’s wild nature

  07-05-2024 03:57 via ktoo.org
  
  An orca travels near Admiralty Cove on Saturday, March 23, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  On a recent sunny Friday in Juneau, Lindsey Bloom was eager to get outside and enjoy the spring weather. 
  “I was like ‘Okay, I’m just going to go for a little paddleboard. I’m gonna just watch the sun sparkle on the water and that’s gonna like light me up from just a day of emails,” Bloom said.  “I mean it just seemed so … just so benign.”
  At Blo
  
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• Newscast – Monday, May 6, 2024

  07-05-2024 03:46 via ktoo.org
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240506.mp3
  In this newscast:Juneau residents had some close encounters with a curious killer whale.
  Sitka’s “Indian Village” was recognized as one of 11 endangered historic places in the U.S. Organizers are hoping that attention will inspire efforts to conserve and rebuild a cultural hub.
  
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• Competing House and Senate bills propose fixes to homeschool laws ruled unconstitutional

  07-05-2024 03:39 via ktoo.org
  
  The Alaska State Capitol on March 25, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
  Lawmakers in the Alaska House and Senate are racing to craft a bill that would allow homeschool programs to continue after a judge threw out two key homeschool laws as unconstitutional, leaving parents of more than 20,000 students wondering what next school year will look like.
  Legislators are hoping to pass a bill in the next week or so that would provide those parents with some clarity on what’s ahead, but
  
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• UAA graduation is extra sweet for students who missed high school ceremonies 4 years ago

  07-05-2024 02:18 via ktoo.org
  
  Student commencement speaker Katie Scoggin walks up to the podium for her graduation speech at the Alaska Airlines Center on Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
  Just before receiving her diploma as a University of Alaska Anchorage graduate on Sunday, Katie Scoggin spoke to her classmates about the importance of being part of a community.
  “There is strength not only in numbers, but especially in dedicating yourself to serving others and giving back to the communitie
  
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• Local air carrier adopts new tech with aim to make travel in Southeast Alaska safer, more reliable

  06-05-2024 21:24 via ktoo.org
  
  An airplane equipped with instruments to allow for flight in cloudy conditions is ready for passengers at the Haines airport on May 2, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
  The air was clear and smooth over the Lynn Canal between Juneau and Haines on Thursday, so there was no need to use the new technology installed in the Cessna Grand Caravan’s instrument panel. But when the clouds roll in, as they are forecasted to do next week, the updated avionics will allow pilots to fly this
  
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• Juneau School District hires new chief financial officer following budget crisis

  06-05-2024 21:07 via ktoo.org
  
  Juneau School District’s temporary budget manager Lisa Pearce explains the district’s projected $9.5 million budget deficit during a meeting on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  The Juneau School District is hiring a familiar face to serve as its new chief financial officer. 
  On Friday, the district announced Lisa Pearce would take over the role in July. She is a school finance consultant who previously worked as the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District&rsqu
  
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• This oil platform stopped pumping 30 years ago. Alaska still won’t make the owner tear it down.

  06-05-2024 20:46 via ktoo.org
  
  Hilcorp’s Spurr platform, photographed last year, has not produced any oil or gas since 1992. (Nathaniel Herz for Alaska Public Media)
  The Spurr oil platform stopped pumping crude from beneath the silty ocean water outside Anchorage in 1992.
  The platform, built in Cook Inlet during Alaska’s first oil boom in the 1960s, was losing money, officials from owner Marathon Oil wrote in a letter to the state. Oil production was expected to decline, and a review of seismic data showed that &l
  
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• Former head prison doctor replaces Anne Zink as Alaska’s chief medical officer

  04-05-2024 05:18 via ktoo.org
  
  Dr. Robert Lawrence is a family medicine doctor and previously worked as the chief medical officer for the Department of Corrections. (Image courtesy of Alaska Division of Public Health)
  Dr. Robert Lawrence started as Alaska’s new chief medical officer on Monday. Lawrence replaces Dr. Anne Zink, who served as chief medical officer for five years and led the state’s health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  Lawrence, a family medicine doctor who began his work in rural Alask
  
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• Newscast – Friday, May 3, 2024

  04-05-2024 03:11 via ktoo.org
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20230503-News-Update.wav
  In this newscast:Gov. Mike Dunleavy is calling on lawmakers to pause their efforts to address a court ruling that threatens the state’s homeschool system. But, the Superior Court judge ruled Thursday evening that the ruling would remain on hold only through this June. The court also rejected Dunleavy’s broad interpretation of his ruling.
  Sitka’s Tourism Task Force adopted cruise tourism recommendations
  
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• Garden Talk: Good pruning technique can help your trees and bushes reach their potential

  04-05-2024 00:25 via ktoo.org
  
  A cherry tree in blossom by the stairs behind Fireweed Place in Juneau on April 24, 2024. Buyarski says the cherry trees downtown are “severely, really thick,” and that pruning would help a lot. (Will Mader/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Garden-Talk-4-Pruning.mp3
  If you’ve taken a walk outside in Juneau lately, you’ve probably noticed the smell of growing things. Maybe you’ve also noticed the budding and blooming trees and bushes.
  Master Gard
  
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• Scientists welcome new rules on marijuana, but research will still face obstacles

  03-05-2024 23:17 via ktoo.org
  
  For decades, researchers in the U.S. had to use only marijuana grown at a facility located in Oxford, Mississippi. A few other approved growers have been added in recent years. (Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
  As the Biden administration moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, scientists say the change will lift some of the restrictions on studying the drug.
  But the change won’t lift all restrictions, they say, neither will it decrease
  
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• Deer are expanding north. That could hurt some species like boreal caribou

  03-05-2024 19:05 via ktoo.org
  
  (Jim Cumming/Getty Images)https://play.podtrac.com/npr-510351/traffic.megaphone.fm/NPR4930940066.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1007&p=510351&e=1198909932&size=8645948&d=540&t=podcast&ft=nprml&f=1198909932
  White-tailed deer have expanded their range in North America over many decades. Since the early-2000s, these deer have moved north into the boreal forests of western Canada. These forests are full of spruce and pine trees, sandy soil and freezing winters with lots of snow.
  
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• Homeschool ruling is on hold — but only through the end of June, judge rules

  03-05-2024 17:58 via ktoo.org
  
  Pedestrians pass the Nesbett Courthouse, located in downtown Anchorage on August 31, 2022. (Valerie Kern/ Alaska Public Media)
  A ruling that declared two laws key to Alaska’s homeschool system unconstitutional will be put on hold — but only through the end of June.
  It’s the latest development in the landmark case. One of the statutes in question outlines a system of cash payments to families of homeschooled students, known as “allotments.” The other authorizes &ldqu
  
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• Dunleavy says lawmakers shouldn’t pass bills to address homeschool decision. Lawmakers say that’s risky.

  03-05-2024 17:54 via ktoo.org
  
  Gov. Mike Dunleavy reads from a book of Alaska laws at a news conference on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
  Gov. Mike Dunleavy is calling on lawmakers to pause their efforts to address a court ruling that threatens the state’s homeschool system, saying they should wait for a ruling from the Alaska Supreme Court.
  “This is literally a disaster, potentially, an emergency because of its magnitude,” he told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.
  The de
  
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• For one Utqiaġvik family, spring bowhead whaling marks an important milestone

  03-05-2024 17:45 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Quincy Adams slices through bowhead whale meat to distribute to his family and community members in Utqiaġvik on April 24, 2024. (Valerie Lake/Alaska Public Media)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01292024-News-Update.mp3
  For the Aaluk Crew, last Wednesday was cooking day.
  The night before, the whaling crew, captained by Bernadette and Quincy Adams, had landed the first bowhead whale of Utqiaġvik’s spring season. The crew flag, featuring a harpooned bowhead tail f
  
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• Newscast – Thursday, May 2, 2024

  03-05-2024 03:05 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01292024-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast: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.
  
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