Anchorage news

• Juneau prepares to welcome thousands as Celebration 2026 approaches

  30-05-2026 00:13 via ktoo.org
  
  Dancers fill the stage at Centennial Hall during a processional and grand entrance for Celebration in Juneau on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Thousands of people will converge in Juneau next week to dance, sing and showcase their Indigenous culture. 
  Celebration 2026 officially kicks off on Wednesday with the theme “enduring strength.” The every-other-year gathering began more than 40 years ago to recognize the survival and persistence of Lingít, Haida an
  
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• Deep sea observation station that tracks climate change set to be pulled from Gulf of Alaska

  04-06-2026 03:20 via ktoo.org
  
  Researchers recover an old mooring from Ocean Station Papa during an Ocean Observatories Initiative expedition. (Photo courtesy of Rebecca Travis/WHOI)
  The National Science Foundation plans to yank a long-standing ocean observation station from the sea floor far off the coast of Alaska next year. 
  It’s one station in an entire ocean monitoring system slated to be dismantled as part of the Trump Administration’s rollback on federal science programs that help researchers study the
  
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• Newscast – Wednesday, June 3, 2026

  04-06-2026 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260603-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Celebration officially starts with a Grand Entrance tonight,
  Carvers have developed a new method to build traditional canoes without relying on old growth trees,
  Some cruise ship companies in Southeast Alaska say customers are concerned about Hantavirus, but state health officials are more worried about other diseases,
  Dozens and dozens of candidates officially kicked off their campaigns for governor, Con
  
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• An evolution in traditional canoe carving had its maiden voyage this week

  04-06-2026 02:29 via ktoo.org
  
  Ḵaayák’w Brandon Gomez introduces the Wind Dancer yaakw and asks permission to come ashore at Auke Recreation Area on June 2, 2026. (Photo by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)
  Listen:
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/03stripcanoe.mp3
  On Tuesday afternoon, canoes — or yaakw — arrived and paddlers asked permission to come ashore. Ten yaakw landed on the beach at Auke Recreation Area, the site of a former Lingít village.
  One was different from the others, th
  
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• In bid for re-election, Alaska U.S. Rep. Nick Begich defends against 14 challengers

  03-06-2026 23:12 via ktoo.org
  
  Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich and his supporters wave campaign signs at the corner of the Seward Highway and Northern Lights Boulevard on Nov. 4, 2024, the day before Election Day. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
  Two years ago, Republican Nick Begich III defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and became Alaska’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
  Now, 14 people are hoping to imitate Begich’s performance.
  Monday was the filing deadline for c
  
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• A note of gratitude one year after the loss of federal funding

  03-06-2026 22:38 via ktoo.org
  
  This July will mark one year since Congress voted to eliminate all federal funding for public media — perhaps the most consequential twelve months in KTOO’s history. When the news came that the federal government was stripping funding that was already allocated, the road ahead looked very uncertain.
  As you already know, KTOO lost $1.2 million this year, and every year going forward (34% of our annual operating budget). What happened next, though, was something none of us will forget.
  
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• Nearly 70 candidates filed on deadline for Alaska’s August primary ballot

  03-06-2026 19:11 via ktoo.org
  
  A sample ballot from the 2022 special election. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
  Dozens of candidates officially kicked off their campaigns for governor, U.S. Congress and the state Legislature on Monday.
  A spokesperson for the Division of Elections, Stephen Kirch, said by email that “nearly 70” filings came in on Monday alone, which was the last day to register a campaign ahead of the August primary. Elections officials were still sifting through them on Tuesday, Kirch said.
  As rece
  
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• Yaakw paddlers arrive in Juneau from across Southeast, Canada as Celebration begins

  03-06-2026 03:33 via ktoo.org
  
  Paddlers arrive at Auke Recreation Area from across Southeast Alaska and Canada for Celebration on June 2, 2026. (Photo by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)
  Thirteen canoes bringing Alaska Native paddlers from across Southeast Alaska and Canada arrived in Juneau on Tuesday afternoon. The canoes landed in two separate groups — one in downtown Juneau and the other at Auke Recreation Area, the site of a former Áak’w village.
  Listen:
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/02celeblan
  
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• Newscast – Tuesday, June 2, 2026

  03-06-2026 03:05 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260602-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Twelve people were infected by an outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness while aboard a cruise ship traveling through Southeast Alaska last week.
  A new public use cabin opened near Ward Lake this week.
  Thirteen canoes bringing Alaska Native paddlers from across Southeast Alaska and Canada arrived in Juneau this afternoon.
  A soon-to-be change in shipping services for Juneau’s Costco is expected to ma
  
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• 12 people infected with gastrointestinal outbreak on cruise ship in Southeast Alaska

  03-06-2026 02:01 via ktoo.org
  
  The National Geographic Sea Bird. (Photo courtesy of Ethan Ableman/Flickr)
  Twelve people were infected by an outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness while aboard a small cruise ship traveling through Southeast Alaska last week.
  That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released a report of the outbreak aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird on Monday.
  The ship began its six-day voyage in Juneau last Tuesday and traveled through several towns, including Sitka
  
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• FEMA denies request to cover 90 percent of initial Halong disaster relief costs

  02-06-2026 23:46 via ktoo.org
  
  Boats were overturned by flooding in Kwigillingok. Oct. 16, 2025. (Nathaniel Herz/KYUK and Northern Journal)
  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has rejected the State of Alaska’s request for a 90% federal cost reimbursement to cover millions in damages caused by the October 2025 storms in Western Alaska.
  That’s according to a denial letter the agency sent to Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on May 31.
  The increase would have been limited to disaster relief during the first 90 da
  
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• Changes to Juneau Costco’s shipping service expected to hurt small businesses in outlying Southeast communities

  02-06-2026 23:29 via ktoo.org
  
  Shoppers exit Juneau’s Costco on Monday, June 1. 2026. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/02narrcostco.wav
  Juneau’s Costco might be the smallest in the world, but it has an outsized impact on many outlying Southeast Alaska communities that rely on it for supplies. 
  However, a soon-to-be change in its shipping services is expected to make it more difficult and expensive for small businesses to get products to their towns. 
  For ye
  
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• Glacier Bay’s humpbacks are recovering, slowly, from 2014-16 marine heatwave

  02-06-2026 19:33 via ktoo.org
  
  Whale #2161 diving in Glacier Bay in 2025. (Piper Bishop, taken under the authorization of NOAA Scientific Research Permit No. 27027/NPS)
  Spring is one of Christine Gabriele’s favorite times of year. She spends her days in and around Glacier Bay National Park, watching as the area’s humpback whales return after wintering overseas.
  “It’s like taking attendance and seeing your old friends,” said Gabriele, who has been a whale biologist in the park for nearly four deca
  
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• Newscast – Monday, June 1, 2026

  02-06-2026 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260601-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium opened a new urgent care facility in downtown Juneau over the weekend.
  King salmon sport fishing opened today in Juneau’s hatchery harvest areas.
  Monday was the last day to officially begin a campaign for state or federal office in Alaska, after a few shakeups late last week. As Alaska Public Media’s Eric Stone reports, there were also some twists in
  
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• Election updates: Dahlstrom drops out, Kreiss-Tomkins picks running mate, Myers retires

  02-06-2026 02:31 via ktoo.org
  
  Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom looks on during Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s final State of the State address on Jan. 22, 2026. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
  Monday is the last day to officially begin a campaign for state or federal office in Alaska this election cycle after a few shakeups late last week. The Division of Elections is taking candidates’ registration paperwork until 5 p.m.
  Sitting Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom drops bid for governor
  Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, a Republican who 
  
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• Juneau hatchery king salmon sport fishing opens

  02-06-2026 02:22 via ktoo.org
  
  A king salmon weighs in at Auke Nu Harbor in Juneau on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  King salmon sport fishing opened Monday in Juneau’s hatchery harvest areas. 
  Those areas include Gastineau Channel, Fritz Cove, Auke Bay and Lena Cove. Hatchery area rules are in effect through the end of August. The daily limit is four kings, or Chinook, of any size. 
  Daniel Teske, the Juneau area management biologist for sport fisheries at Alaska Department of Fish and
  
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• SEARHC opens new urgent care clinic in downtown Juneau

  02-06-2026 01:32 via ktoo.org
  
  Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s new urgent care entrance in downtown Juneau on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, or SEARHC, opened a new urgent care facility in downtown Juneau over the weekend.
  The Alaska Native-run health care organization announced on Friday that the new facility is located at the back entrance of its Front Street Clinic, near Harbor Mountain Brewing Company. The clinic officially opened on Su
  
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• In setback for oil companies, tax board raises trans-Alaska pipeline value by $3 billion

  02-06-2026 01:03 via ktoo.org
  
  The trans-Alaska pipeline parallels the Dalton Highway north of the Yukon River. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
  Alaska and three of its municipalities could be in line for an extra $60 million in oil industry tax revenue after a new ruling in a long-running feud over the value of the trans-Alaska pipeline system.
  A state appeals board this week determined the property tax value of the enormous 50-year-old pipeline system, which moves crude 800 miles from the North Slope’s oil
  
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• Alaska’s deteriorating schools could receive more than $148M for repairs. It’s a fraction of what they need

  02-06-2026 00:10 via ktoo.org
  
  Brian Smith teaches students at the school in Sleetmute in 2024, which has suffered from a leaky roof and structural problems as a result. One lawmaker has labeled the school “the poster child” for what’s wrong with the state’s public school infrastructure. (Emily Schwing/KYUK)
  Alaska would more than triple the funding it devotes to school construction and maintenance projects next year under a budget approved this month by the Alaska Legislature. The funding, which awai
  
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• Newscast – Friday, May 29, 2026

  01-06-2026 19:58 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260529-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Thousands of people will converge in Juneau next week to dance, sing and showcase their Indigenous culture.
  More than 100 Sitkans gathered at the Starrigavan boat launch Thursday morning for a blessing and send-off of the “Ancestral Echoes” canoe heading to Celebration in Juneau. Lingít elders Ed Peele and Harvey Kitka offered a blessing accompanied by drumming and singing before the 12
  
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• Canoes launch from Petersburg on Journey to Celebration

  01-06-2026 19:55 via ktoo.org
  
  Pullers in Petersburg’s kéet yaakw, or killer whale canoe, paddle out of South Harbor during the inaugural launch on May 24, 2026. (Olivia Rose/KFSK)
  A group of canoes from several different communities embarked from Petersburg on May 24 to paddle together to Juneau, camping and visiting villages along the way. It’s a tradition known as Journey.
  Kéet yaakw — a hand-painted, 39-foot, Tlingit-style fiberglass canoe — is Petersburg’s first in ov
  
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• 3 things to watch as Alaska’s election filing deadline approaches

  01-06-2026 19:26 via ktoo.org
  
  Voters cast their ballots in the 2022 primary election in Anchorage on Aug. 16, 2022. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
  Anybody hoping to throw their hat in the ring to be Alaska’s next governor, senator, congressman or state legislator is running out of time. The deadline to file to run for office is 5 p.m. Monday.
  There are already 20 candidates running for governor and dozens more seeking other state and federal offices.
  Here are three things to watch as the deadline approaches.
  1. Lat
  
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• Appeals court says Alaska has the right to make ConocoPhillips oil well data public

  30-05-2026 01:17 via ktoo.org
  
  Late-afternoon sunlight bathes the ConocoPhillips building in downtown Anchorage on March 10, 2026. A legal dispute over confidentiality of data from exploratory wells drilled by ConocoPhillips in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska came down to interpretations of the federal Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is seeking to release the information publicly, and an appeals court ruled in the state’s favor. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon
  
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• Alaskans seeking Sen. Sullivan, Rep. Begich stance on Trump compensation fund get silence

  30-05-2026 00:10 via ktoo.org
  
  U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, left, and Congressman Nick Begich III. (Alaska Public Media)
  WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich are not saying how they feel about two of President Trump’s most controversial priorities: a $1 billion security-related request for his ballroom and a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund that could pay Jan. 6 riot defendants and other Trump allies.
  The Trump administration claims the fund will compensate people who have been “victimize
  
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• Former Alaska Gov. Bill Walker considers fifth run for governor as deadline approaches

  29-05-2026 03:07 via ktoo.org
  
  Alaska Gov. Bill Walker listens to a question from KTOO and Alaska Public Media reporter Andrew Kitchenman from his Capitol office in Juneau on June 19, 2018. (Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
  Former Gov. Bill Walker is considering another run for governor. Walker, an independent and former Republican who served one term as governor from 2014 to 2018, filed a letter of intent with Alaska campaign regulators Thursday morning.
  It would be Walker’s fifth consecutive run for governor. He lost the Republican
  
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• Sitkans send off ‘Ancestral Echoes’ canoe headed to Celebration

  29-05-2026 03:01 via ktoo.org
  
  Sitka’s canoe is scheduled to arrive in Juneau on June 2, 2026. (Hope McKenney/KCAW)
  More than 100 Sitkans gathered at the Starrigavan boat launch Thursday morning for a blessing and send-off of the “Ancestral Echoes” canoe, sponsored by the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, heading to Celebration in Juneau.
  Paddles at the Starrigavan boat launch on May 28, 2026. (KCAW/McKenney)
  Lingít elders Ed Peele and Harvey Kitka offered a blessing accompanied b
  
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• Clarence ‘Butch’ Laiti remembered as Lingít leader and fisheries advocate

  23-05-2026 03:21 via ktoo.org
  Clarence “Butch” Laiti during the April 2025 panel discussion, “The Future of Rural Alaska Fisheries.” (Screengrab)
  Clarence “Butch” Laiti was Yanyeidí and T’aaḵu Ḵwáan, born and raised in Juneau. He was a Vietnam War veteran, grandfather and great grandfather. 
  Laiti died at the age of 77 on April 10. 
  Until his death, he served as president of the Douglas Indian Association, a tribal government based on Douglas Island.
  
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• Newscast – Friday, May 22, 2026

  23-05-2026 02:59 via ktoo.org
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/20260522-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:The popular Goldbelt Tram in downtown Juneau will remain closed as it undergoes repairs and inspections,
  More than 300 high school seniors are expected to graduate in Juneau this Sunday,
  Alaska Airlines might add a flight from Juneau to Portland, without stopping in Seattle,
  Douglas Island Pink and Chum celebrates its 50th anniversary this year,
  Hundreds of people gathered in Hoonah last weekend to unveil
  
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• Keeyées Tláa Moriah Hayes’ film ‘Dear Alaska,’ | One Eye Open Metallica cover band | Juneau Pools

  23-05-2026 02:35 via ktoo.org
  Juneau Afternoon – Recorded live on Friday, May 22, 2026
  Juneau Afternoon featuring filmmaker Keeyées Tláa Moriah Hayes on the film “Dear Alaska,” playing June 7 in Juneau, plus Metallica cover band One Eye Open, and CBJ Pools with Terra Patterson.
  Audio PodcastVideo LivestreamBostin Christopher hosts the conversation. Juneau Afternoon airs at 3:00 p.m. on KTOO and KAUK with a rebroadcast at 7:00 p.m. Listen online or subscribe to the podcast at ktoo.org/jun
  
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• Juneau’s Class of 2026 is set to graduate this Sunday

  23-05-2026 01:29 via ktoo.org
  New graduates at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé throw their hats in the air at their graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 26, 2024. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  More than 300 high school seniors are expected to graduate in Juneau this Sunday.
  Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi High School will hold its graduation for 34 seniors at the Dzantik’i Heeni gymnasium at noon. The ceremony will include remarks by interim Principal Lori Hoover and be followed by a reception i
  
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