Anchorage news

• Following winter stroms, Walker declares disaster in Savoonga, Gambell

  08-02-2017 03:01 via ktoo.org
  
  Mayor Myron Kingeekuk and a Red Cross employee survey storm-damaged homes in the community. (Photo by Davis Hovey/KNOM)
  Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration for the winter storms that struck Savoonga and Gambell at the end of 2016.
  Almost $3 million in public assistance, state individual assistance and temporary housing assistance will be given to the St. Lawrence Island communities.
  Walker signed the disaster declaration on Feb. 1, according to a news release, which&nbs
  
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• Fat Bear Week Day 2: Subadults, Scars, Beefcakes, and Bad Boys

  24-09-2026 19:56 via ktoo.org
  A composite of images of each bear competing today as part of Fat Bear Week 2026 (Images courtesy of the National Park Service)
  In case you missed it: voter turnout for Day 1 of Fat Bear Week was so huge, it broke their website. Organizers made changes to the voting collection process and re-opened Day 2 with a repeat of Day 1’s polls. Voters had mixed success, due to maxing out the new software limits as well. What we observed is that there ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t
  
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• Gov. Dunleavy lifts freeze on state government hiring, new regulations and worker travel

  24-09-2026 15:00 via ktoo.org
  Gov. Mike Dunleavy discusses proposed education legislation at a news conference on Jan. 31, 2025. (Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
  Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Monday lifted a statewide executive branch hiring freeze, removing restrictions on managers who had been required since May 2025 to obtain special permission before hiring new state employees.
  The governor’s decision was revealed without fanfare in a new administrative order that took effect Monday.
  This week’s order also repealed a f
  
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• Proposed EPA rule would exempt most offshore seafood processing vessels from reporting their pollution discharge

  24-09-2026 14:59 via ktoo.org
  The Starbound, a 300-foot catcher-processor in port in Unalaska in February 2022. (Theo Greenly/KUCB)
  The Environmental Protection Agency published a proposed rule on Sept. 4 that would de-regulate pollution released by certain offshore seafood processing vessels.
  Under the proposal, a vessel that’s more than three miles from shore in federal waters and not attached to the seabed would be exempt from the Clean Water Act’s pollution discharge permitting requirements.
  That means that
  
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• UAF project aims to reduce US dependence on imported critical minerals

  24-09-2026 03:18 via ktoo.org
  UAF geochronologist Florian Hoffman works on the program’s argon mass spectrometer. (JR Ancheta/University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute)
  Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks say work is already underway on a project to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported critical minerals. That’s after the U.S. National Science Foundation awarded the university $15 million this summer to lead a regional collaboration the foundation calls a critical mineral acce
  
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• Candidates for President and First VP of Tlingit and Haida speak ahead of vote

  24-09-2026 03:07 via ktoo.org
  Jáx Kóoste Tasha Hotch, Shkaadul.aat Lisa Gassman, Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson, Melissa Kookesh, Ku.seen Jacqueline Pata, and Clinton Cook spoke during Tlingit and Haida’s annual tribal assembly about their candidacy for president and first vice president of the regional tribe government on Sept. 23, 2026. (Photos by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)
  Five candidates vying to lead Southeast Alaska’s largest tribal government spoke about their experience and platforms today d
  
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• Newscast – Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026

  24-09-2026 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/20260923-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Tlingit and Haida’s president championed the tribe’s first casino opening in Juneau at his annual state of the tribe address
  The EPA wants Teck Alaska Inc. to pay over $21K for a spill last year at its Red Dog Mine
  Jobs and wages are up in Sitka this year, according to a new economic report
  A federal court of appeals ruled construction can continue on the contentious King Cove Road through Ize
  
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• Juneau Tlingit & Haida Community Council Orange Shirt Day | Dolly Fest & Imagination Library | Garden Talk | Election reminders with deputy municipal clerk Andi Hirsh

  24-09-2026 02:46 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Juneau Afternoon recorded live on Wednesday, September 23, 2026
  Juneau Tlingit & Haida Community Council Orange Shirt Day event on Sunday, September 27, 2026Dolly Fest at the Goldtown Nick & Southeast Childhood Collective Dolly Parton Imagination LibraryGarden Talk with UAF Cooperative Extenstion Agent Darren SnyderElection reminders with deputy municipal clerk Andi Hirsh
  Audio PodcastVideo LivestreamBostin Christopher hosts the conversation. Juneau Afternoon airs at 3:00 p.m. on KTOO a
  
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• Tlingit and Haida president champions new casino during annual State of the Tribe address

  24-09-2026 00:23 via ktoo.org
  The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson speaks during the tribe’s 91st annual tribal assembly in Juneau on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s president championed the tribe’s opening of its first casino in Juneau during his annual State of the Tribe address Wednesday morning. 
  President Chalyee &Ea
  
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• Ketchikan’s borough assembly condemns discriminatory remarks made by planning commissioner

  23-09-2026 19:50 via ktoo.org
  The White Cliff building, where Ketchikan Gateway Borough and School Board meetings are held, is seen on July 19, 2024. (Michael Fanelli/KRBD)
  The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly has officially and publicly condemned a planning commissioner who made discriminatory comments against the local tribe, Ketchikan Indian Community.
  Darlene Dollimont-Svenson holds a rural seat on the borough’s planning commission. In a public meeting last week, there was an agenda item regarding a requested par
  
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• Poll shows Democrat with lead in Alaska governor’s race, but large swaths remain undecided

  23-09-2026 19:42 via ktoo.org
  Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins poses at his primary election night party the The Rail in Anchorage on Aug. 18, 2026. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
  Republican Bernadette Wilson is again calling on fellow Republicans Dave Bronson and Treg Taylor to drop out of the race to be Alaska’s next governor. That’s after an AARP-sponsored poll showed Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins winning the race by 10 percentage points after ranked choice tabulation.
  “That poll issues a stark warning to
  
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• Flu and flu-related sickness killed 36 Alaskans last winter

  23-09-2026 15:00 via ktoo.org
  A poster in Juneau’s Dimond Courthouse on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, advises anti-flu measures. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
  Influenza-related illnesses killed 36 Alaskans during the 2025-2026 flu season, the Alaska Section of Epidemiology said Friday in a regular annual report summarizing the prior flu season.
  The report was released alongside a bulletin recommending flu shots for all Alaskans that are at least six months old who do not have medical conditions affected by a flu shot.
  The st
  
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• Metlakatla educator named Alaska’s superintendent of the year

  23-09-2026 14:59 via ktoo.org
  Taw Lindsey (left) is awarded Alaska’s 2027 Superintendent of the Year Award. Alaska Council of School Administrators Executive Director Lisa Parady (right) presents the award. (Image courtesy of the Alaska Council of School Administrators)
  On a recent summer day, Taw Lindsey was doing maintenance work in Metlakatla’s high school gym when his phone rang. On the line was the executive director of the Alaska Council of School Administrators, informing Lindsey that he was named the stat
  
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• Newscast – Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026

  23-09-2026 03:00 via ktoo.org
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/20260922-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Southeast Alaska’s largest tribal government might see a change in leadership this week,
  Prop A asks Juneau voters to renew a 3% temporary tax for bread-and-butter city services,
  Juneau might vote on a glacial outburst flood tax next year,
  Ketchikan’s borough assembly has officially and publicly condemned a planning commissioner who made discriminatory comments against a local tribe,
   It&
  
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• Tlingit and Haida’s second-in-command challenges its long-standing president in elections this week

  23-09-2026 01:27 via ktoo.org
  Tlingit and Haida’s First Vice President Ku.seen Jacqueline Pata and President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson speak at the grand opening of Two Coppers Casino on Douglas Island on July 1, 2026. (Photos by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)
  Southeast Alaska’s largest tribal government might see its leadership change this week. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska annual tribal assembly meeting and leadership elections starts Wednesday at Elizabeth Peratrovich H
  
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• Juneau might vote on a glacial outburst flood tax next year

  23-09-2026 01:26 via ktoo.org
  Juneau Assembly member Maureen Hall speaks during a committee meeting on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  The Juneau Assembly is considering creating a new borough-wide tax to help fund a long-term solution to glacial outburst flooding. 
  Local leaders said a solution sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would require the city to cough up a portion of the funding — as much as 25%. That’s expected to pencil out to tens of millions of dollars. 
  Th
  
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• Prop A asks Juneau voters to renew a 3% temporary tax for bread-and-butter city services

  23-09-2026 00:10 via ktoo.org
  An operator moved snow in downtown Juneau on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  It’s hard to believe that just this past winter, most Juneau residents found themselves outside in the snow, shoveling day after day after day. 
  A so-called “snowpocalypse” took Juneau by storm — literally — causing the city and tribal governments to declare an emergency. This past winter, the capital city broke its all-time snowfall record. 
  But Juneau was
  
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• Mail trouble canceled some Alaska primary votes in Western Alaska

  22-09-2026 20:39 via ktoo.org
  Members of the Alaska State Review Board are seen reviewing precinct ballot counts following the primary election on Aug 26, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
  About 1 in 30 absentee ballots cast in Alaska’s August primary election were rejected for procedural errors, according to data published this month by the Alaska Division of Elections.
  The 3.4% rejection rate for absentee ballots was almost double what it was in the 2024 general election but it was below the record high 4.
  
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• Where do Alaska’s four governor candidates stand on data centers?

  22-09-2026 15:00 via ktoo.org
  Former Attorney General Treg Taylor, at right, speaks at a Sept. 9. 2026, forum held by the Last Frontier Republican Club at the Petroleum Club of Anchorage. Next to him, from left, are two of the other three gubernatorial candidates: former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, and former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
  On the day that his campaign announced it had accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from employees of a California-based artificial in
  
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• Fat Bear Week Begins with Family Groups and Sow Power

  22-09-2026 15:00 via ktoo.org
  A composite of images of each bear competing today as part of Fat Bear Week 2026 (Images courtesy of the National Park Service)
  Welcome to Fat Bear Week, Day 1! 
  Today we have a total of four matches—eight bears!—to weigh. New this year is the introduction of family groups. Female bears who are well-fed going into hibernation are more likely to have the nutrients needed to birth and care for cubs in the den. The adorable outcome of last year’s record-breaking salmon run is
  
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• Whittier’s new $80M dock considered total loss after fire

  22-09-2026 03:29 via ktoo.org
  A fire Monday, Sept. 15, 2026, at Whittier’s new cruise ship dock. (Courtesy Barbara Clark Mackessy)
  Whittier’s new $80 million cruise ship dock is considered a total loss after a fire Monday that also damaged a tour boat in the Prince William Sound community.
  The state fire marshal’s office is investigating how the fire started and reviewing the dock’s building plans to see if it was built to fire code, Department of Public Safety spokesperson Austin McDaniel said.
  The
  
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• Scientists found 9 new sea sponge species in Alaska

  22-09-2026 03:13 via ktoo.org
  Deep-sea sponges and other invertebrates in a collection basket during a bottom trawl survey. (NOAA Fisheries)
  This summer, researchers announced the discovery of nine new species of deep-sea sponges off the coast of Alaska. Five of them were found in the Aleutian Islands.
  Sean Rooney is a fish biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center. As part of NOAA’s Groundfish Assessment Program, he and his team conduct bottom trawl sur
  
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• Haines to vote on measure to reduce a property tax break for seniors and disabled veterans

  22-09-2026 03:11 via ktoo.org
  The Haines Borough administrative office. (Avery Ellfeldt/KHNS)
  Haines seniors saw major savings in 2025 after voters decided to double a property tax exemption for seniors and disabled veterans. Now that exemption could change again – but in the opposite direction.
  The state of Alaska requires all municipalities to exempt the first $150,000 in value on eligible primary residences from property taxes. In 2024, Haines voters boosted that exemption to $300,000.
  Next month, local voters will
  
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• A bull moose is rutting around Juneau parking lots

  22-09-2026 03:06 via ktoo.org
  A moose runs through the Safeway parking lot. (Photo courtesy of Sheryl Shorty)
  A bull moose is running around parking lots and industrial areas surrounding Juneau’s Mendenhall River. 
  While moose sightings are frequent in Anchorage, that’s not the case in Juneau. Photos and videos have been swirling on social media. 
  “I saw one video that was near Safeway running around and it’s just not something people see every day,” said Carl Koch, Juneau’s area
  
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• Newscast – Monday, Sept. 21, 2026

  22-09-2026 02:59 via ktoo.org
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/20260921-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Ballots for this year’s municipal election are heading from Washington state to registered voters in Juneau,
  A bull moose is running around parking lots and industrial areas surrounding Juneau’s Mendenhall River,
  Kiks.ádi clan members raise concerns about ownership of Lingít opera story after Juneau debut,
  A Ketchikan planning commissioner is under fire for making discriminatory c
  
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• Endangered whale discovered dead on cruise ship bow in Sitka

  21-09-2026 23:37 via ktoo.org
  On Thursday, September 17, 2026, a cruise ship arrived in Sitka with a dead male fin whale on top of the ship’s bulbous bow. (Photo Courtesy of NOAA Fisheries Permit #24359)
  Thousands of passengers disembarked the cruise ship Norwegian Joy as it finally pulled up to Sitka’s dock on Thursday morning, three hours after its scheduled arrival.
  “There was an announcement this morning from the captain just saying that there’s an issue with a whale at the front of the ship, and
  
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• Newscast – Friday, Sept. 18, 2026

  19-09-2026 04:05 via ktoo.org
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/20260918-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:A 26-year-old Juneau motorcyclist died yesterday afternoon after colliding with a U.S. Postal Service vehicle while traveling on Douglas Island.
  Eaglecrest Ski Area’s new general manager Julie Piper talks about her plans for the upcoming season.
  Bear experts held a mini fair in Petersburg last weekend to educate attendees on the best practices for living with bears.
  
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• Kiks.ádi clan members raise concerns about ownership of Lingít opera story after Juneau debut

  19-09-2026 02:51 via ktoo.org
  An opera performed entirely in Lingít debuted in Juneau last weekend. The opera, titled “Ḵutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles,” is about a series of battles between Southeast Alaska Native peoples and Russian invaders in Sitka. The opera was produced by Sealaska Heritage Institute in partnership with Perseverance Theatre.
  The Kiks.ádi clan was especially involved in that history, and a text about the battles say this is their story. But members of that clan say
  
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• ‘Bridging Our Stories’ plays the Goldtown | Foundation for End of Life Care presents Dr. Lani Leary | Here and Now’s Peter O’Dowd | Fat Bear Week preview with Na Mee

  19-09-2026 02:37 via ktoo.org
  Juneau Afternoon recorded live on Friday, September 18
  “Bridging Our Stories” is a documentary film that follows the story of when Ketchikan’s last Filipino community center closes and a Filipina who has spent her life resisting her heritage travels to the Philippines to rediscover her roots through indigenous dance. It will play the Goldtown on Saturday, September 19 at 1PM.The Foundation for End of Life Care presents “Lean into Grief: Becoming Resilient in the Face of
  
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• Ballots are headed to voters for Juneau’s municipal election

  19-09-2026 00:33 via ktoo.org
  A ballot drop box sits outside City Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Ballots for this year’s municipal election are heading from Washington state to registered voters in Juneau on Friday. Residents have until Tuesday, Oct. 6 to vote. 
  It marks the kickoff of Juneau’s local by-mail election. This year, it features three ballot propositions, three open seats on the Juneau Assembly and two open seats on the school board. 
  Voters have a few ways to
  
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