Anchorage news

• Juneau’s Visitor Industry Task Force seeks community input on recommendations

  03-11-2026 01:13 via KTOO
   
  Visitors walk Juneau’s downtown seawalk on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  The city’s Visitor Industry Task Force has put out its draft recommendations is looking for feedback from the community this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library.
  The recommendations focus on the whale watching industry, downtown congestion, helicopter flightseeing and data collection. KTOO’s Mike Lane sat down with Assembly and task force Chair Ella Adkison to lea
  
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• Peltola and JKT strengthen leads in latest Alaska election results

  11-11-2026 17:06 via KTOO
  Mary Peltola and Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. (Alaska Public Media and KCAW)
  Democrat Mary Peltola increased her lead over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan again Tuesday, as election officials counted more than 24,000 additional votes. Peltola now leads 49% to 47.2% in one of the nation’s last undecided U.S. Senate contests.
  Meanwhile, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins continues to hold a large lead in the race for governor. He now has 49.9% of the first-choice vote in the four-way race against three
  
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• U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Storis visits Juneau, captain reflects on Arctic security voyage

  11-11-2026 03:10 via KTOO
  USCGC Storis travels up Gastineau Channel to port in Juneau on Nov. 7, 2026. (Photo by Mikko Wilson/KTOO)
  Listen to this story:
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/10Storis-WEB.mp3
  After a 4.5-month deployment in the Arctic, the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Storis visited its future homeport of Juneau this week. At a press meeting aboard the ship in Juneau on Tuesday, Captain Corey Kerns said the mission’s purpose was to enforce U.S. sovereignty in Arctic waters.
  “We have some s
  
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• Alaska legislators tasked with assessing education funding call for new study in draft report

  11-11-2026 02:21 via KTOO
  School buses sit in a lot in Bethel. (Katie Basile/KYUK)
  A group of state legislators tasked with charting the future of public school funding in Alaska is calling for further study of the subject.
  The Legislature’s Task Force on Education Funding was set up as part of a deal to win Republican support for a school funding boost lawmakers overcame a veto to pass last year. The group put out the first public draft Monday of a nine-page document outlining its recommendations.
  For a report on fund
  
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• University of Alaska reports $86.2M in frozen federal grants restored

  10-11-2026 23:07 via KTOO
  A sign, seen July 24, 2026, celebrates the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ status as a leader in Arctic research. Behind the sign are buildings that house UAF’s Geophysical Institute and International Arctic Research Center. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
  Officials with the University of Alaska report more than $86 million in federal grants that were frozen or delayed by the Trump administration have been restored.
  The update was provided to the University of Alaska Board of Regents at their q
  
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• Juneau man detained by immigration officials in Anchorage

  10-11-2026 22:17 via KTOO
  The entrance to the Anchorage Correctional Complex is seen on Aug. 29, 2022. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
  A Juneau man has been detained by federal immigration officials in Anchorage. Cruz Vargas-Enriques was taken into custody on Oct. 28, according to the Alaska Department of Corrections. He was transferred out of Alaska on Nov. 7.
  Vargas-Enriques is 42 and has children in Juneau schools. Shawn Arnold, superintendent of the Juneau School District, says the district is aware of the situation. 
  
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• Observing Veterans Day in Juneau

  10-11-2026 21:47 via KTOO
  Southeast Alaska Native Veterans carry flags to the stage at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Veterans Day in 2022. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Wednesday is Veterans Day and there are several ceremonies honoring veterans in Juneau. 
  The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and Southeast Alaska Native Veterans will host their annual Veterans Day ceremony and luncheon on Wednesday starting at 11 a.m. This year’s event will take place at the Tlingit & Haida Commun
  
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• How to observe Veterans Day in Juneau

  10-11-2026 21:47 via KTOO
  Southeast Alaska Native Veterans carry flags to the stage at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Veterans Day in 2022. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Wednesday is Veterans Day and there are several ceremonies honoring veterans in Juneau. 
  The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and Southeast Alaska Native Veterans will host their annual Veterans Day ceremony and luncheon on Wednesday starting at 11 a.m. This year’s event will take place at the Tlingit & Haida Commun
  
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• Juneau snow sports enthusiasts undaunted by low-snow El Niño predictions

  10-11-2026 03:02 via KTOO
  Centennial hall is packed with people shopping for snow sports gear at the annual ski swap on Nov. 7, 2026. (Photo by Alix Soliman/KTOO)
  Listen:
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/09SkiSwap-WEB.mp3
  At Juneau’s annual ski swap, snow sports enthusiasts said they’re not discouraged by dismal snow predictions that could result from a “Godzilla” El Niño. That could be good news for the city’s struggling ski area.
  Aurah Landau stood in a long line outside of Centennial Hall m
  
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• Newscast – Monday, Nov. 9, 2026

  10-11-2026 02:34 via KTOO
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/20261109-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Warming waters cause salmon born in Juneau’s Auke Creek to shift when they return home
  Snowsports enthusiasts at Juneau’s annual ski swap say they’re undaunted by dismal El Niño snow predictions
  Juneau’s Zach Gordon Youth Center celebrated its 80th birthday with alumna Seikoonie Fran Houston
  Alaska Tribal communities had high voter turnouts in the midterm election, and ballots are still being cou
  
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• Peltola, Kreiss-Tomkins increase leads in Monday results update

  10-11-2026 02:17 via KTOO
  Voters cast ballots at the University of Alaska Anchorage on Nov. 3, 2026. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
  Democrat Mary Peltola increased her lead over Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan Monday, when the Alaska Division of Elections updated its count in one of the nation’s most closely watched U.S. Senate races.
  Peltola now leads by 2,517 first-choice votes. That’s up from the 637 lead she held last week, in the days following the Nov. 3 election.
  She now has 48.6% of the vote. Sullivan has
  
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• Staff and youth — past and present — celebrate 80 years of Zach Gordon Youth Center

  10-11-2026 02:05 via KTOO
  
  
  Seikoonie Fran Houston prepares to blow out the candles on a birthday cake celebrating her and the Zach Gordon Youth Center’s 80th birthday on Nov. 6, 2026. (Photo by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)
  Listen:
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/09EightiethBday.mp3
  Seikoonie Fran Houston blew out a birthday cake candle on Friday as a couple dozen youth, volunteers and center staff sang to her.
  Like Zach Gordon Youth Center, Houston turned 80 years old this year. She’s Áak’w Kwáan, the or
  
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• Early numbers show signs of strong Alaska Native turnout, advocates say

  10-11-2026 01:03 via KTOO
  Yupiit Picaryarait Cultural Center in Bethel on Nov. 3, 2026. (Gabby Salgado/KYUK)
  As Alaska election results continue to trickle in, there’s already some optimism around the number of Indigenous voters who went to the polls on Tuesday.
  Michelle Sparck is the director of Get Out the Native Vote, a statewide voter education organization. She said the organization partnered with tribes, Native corporations, local governments and community groups this year to educate voters and help them get to t
  
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• Wild Fish Conservancy issues notice of intent to sue over alleged mismanagement of Alaska fisheries

  09-11-2026 22:17 via KTOO
  A king salmon. (Photo by Ryan Hagerty/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
  The Washington state nonprofit organization Wild Fish Conservancy released a notice of intent last month to sue the Alaska Department of Fish and Game over alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act.
  The organization claims that threatened or endangered king salmon from the Pacific Northwest are being caught in the commercial salmon fisheries of the Alaska Peninsula and Chignik Management Areas — Area M and Area L, res
  
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• DNR could soon adopt a controversial new plan for the Haines State Forest

  09-11-2026 21:49 via KTOO
  Chilkoot Lake is surrounded by the Haines State Forest and Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. (Avery Ellfeldt/KHNS)
  Alaska Department of Natural Resources staff are gearing up to present the head of the department with a plan that would significantly alter how the Haines State Forest is managed. That’s after agency staff spent months reviewing and responding to public input on an earlier draft.
  But according to agency documents, the majority of the changes recommended by the public — includ
  
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• New magazine for kids spotlights Alaska Native languages, stories and cultures

  09-11-2026 21:08 via KTOO
  Qass’uq Lexi Trainer poses with the inaugural issue of Yaaruin Kids, a kids magazine aimed at sharing Alaska Native culture, language and stories. (Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
  Culturally relevant literature for Alaska Native kids can be hard to come by. That’s why an Anchorage-based publisher recently launched Yaaruin Kids, a magazine for Native children.
  The goal is to inspire kids to embrace their own cultures while learning about a variety of Alaska Native customs, said Qass’uq Le
  
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• Peltola campaign demands information about rejected absentee ballots

  09-11-2026 19:54 via KTOO
  Mary Peltola at her election night watch party on Nov. 3, 2026. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
  The campaign of Democrat Mary Peltola went to court Friday in an attempt to get information about which absentee ballots the Alaska Division of Elections is rejecting.
  Peltola currently leads Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan by about 600 votes in the U.S. Senate race.
  The lawsuit is based on state public records law. The Peltola campaign wants a copy of the register showing why each absentee
  
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• ‘I feel like he’ll always be there’: Friends and artists remember C. Scott Fry

  07-11-2026 04:33 via KTOO
  C. Scott Fry at the Alaskan Hotel and Bar in 2018. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KXLL)
  For C. Scott Fry, music was a lifelong passion. 
  “I knew, ever since I was probably like five or six, that I wanted to play music. I know the exact epiphany eureka moment,” he told Rob Weber in early 2015. Weber was a fellow KRNN volunteer DJ and produced a sound portrait of Fry. 
  At the time, Fry was living in Newport News, Virginia. He had a neighbor who was in junior high school and lived in a house tha
  
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• Warming waters are altering salmon run timing in Southeast, NOAA report says

  07-11-2026 02:39 via KTOO
  UAS students Josh Russell and Donovan Bell count outmigrating juvenile salmon in spring 2016. (Courtesy of Dave Tallmon)
  Warming waters are causing salmon born in Juneau’s Auke Creek to shift when they return home — a trend that’s been going on for 46 years. That’s according to an annual report published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in August. 
  The report details findings from the Auke Creek Research Station. It houses the Auke Creek weir and is operated by NOA
  
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• Newscast – Friday, Nov. 6, 2026

  07-11-2026 02:39 via KTOO
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/20261106-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Superior Court Judge Carpeneti will stay on the bench in Juneau while two attorneys vie for an open judge seat on the Juneau District Court
  A state contractor is preparing to build the controversial Cascade Point Ferry Terminal in Juneau’s Berners Bay despite overwhelming public opposition
  Fairbanks residents are feeling the pinch of the Iran War as heating oil prices rise
  Seafood harvesting jobs increa
  
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• New Lingít book from X’unei Lance Twitchell | Diego Caetano opens Juneau Piano Series | Rock Dump ‘Reel Rock’ fundraiser | St. Vincent de Paul Thanksgiving baskets

  07-11-2026 02:35 via KTOO
  
  
  Juneau Afternoon recorded live on Friday, November 6, 2026Audio Podcast
  “The Lingít: People, Culture, and History,” by X’unei Lance Twitchell, is now available.
  Juneau Piano Series season 8 kicks off on Sunday, Nov. 8 with Diego Caetano.
  Rock Dump’s fundraiser is on Friday, Nov. 13 and features “REEL ROCK 20,” a film about four seminal figures in the rock climbing world.
  St. Vincent de Paul’s annual Thanksgiving basket community event is now underway. Options to donate food, deli
  
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• Two candidates are vying for a judicial vacancy in Juneau

  07-11-2026 01:36 via KTOO
  Juneau District Court Judge Kirsten Swanson speaks during an eviction hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  A Juneau Superior Court judge will stay on after her retention election. Meanwhile, Juneau District Court Judge Kirsten Swanson has retired, and two attorneys have been nominated to fill her position. 
  In unofficial results, 66% of Juneau voters cast yes votes to keep Superior Court Judge Marianna Carpeneti on the bench. That’s after the Alaska Judicial Cou
  
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• 4 interesting things we’ve learned from Alaska ballot data

  07-11-2026 01:23 via KTOO
  A ballot is fed into a scanner at a precinct at Northstar Elementary School on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2026. (Rhonda McBride/KNBA)
  We’re still days away from knowing who won key midterm races in Alaska. Elections officials are planning to release more votes Monday and Tuesday as the high-profile statewide races for Congress and governor remain uncalled.
  In the meantime, though, there’s plenty of data to sift through.
  The Division of Elections released a large file known as the “cast vote rec
  
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• Incoming Alaska House majority coalition names House speaker, leadership positions

  06-11-2026 19:59 via KTOO
  Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, waves a sign on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 in Midtown Anchorage. (Photo by Loren Holmes/Alaska Beacon)
  One day after the Alaska Senate’s bipartisan coalition announced key leadership positions, the incoming majority coalition in the Alaska House announced its leadership including that Anchorage independent Calvin Schrage will be the new House speaker.
  The new House majority coalition of the 35th Alaska State Legislature is forming with independent, Democra
  
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• Alaska seafood harvesting jobs are up for the first time since 2019

  06-11-2026 19:53 via KTOO
  The fishing fleet in Sand Point, seen here in June 2024. (Theo Greenly/KSDP)
  Last year, Alaska saw the biggest increase in seafood harvesting jobs in more than a decade, according to a recent report from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
  Seafood harvesters include permit holders and boat crews. Their numbers increased by 4% over the previous year, averaging over 200 more jobs per month than in 2024.
  That growth follows a five-year decline, with harvesting job numbers hitti
  
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• What can Juneauites do to prevent seasonal affective disorder as winter arrives?

  06-11-2026 16:09 via KTOO
  Jonathan Swinton, a family therapist in Juneau, smiles for a photo at KTOO on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  The dark days are upon us and winter is quickly approaching. As the days grow even shorter and darker, our mental health may be altered.
  KTOO’s Mike Lane spoke with Dr. Jonathan Swinton, a licensed family therapist in Juneau, to find out what people can do to help themselves combat seasonal depression.
  Listen:
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/02SA
  
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• What can Jueaunites do to prevent seasonal affective disorder as winter arrives?

  06-11-2026 16:09 via KTOO
  Jonathan Swinton, a family therapist in Juneau, smiles for a photo at KTOO on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  The dark days are upon us and winter is quickly approaching. As the days grow even shorter and darker, our mental health may be altered.
  KTOO’s Mike Lane spoke with Dr. Jonathan Swinton, a licensed family therapist in Juneau, to find out what people can do to help themselves combat seasonal depression.
  Listen:
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/02SA
  
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• Newscast – Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026

  06-11-2026 02:59 via KTOO
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/20261105-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Early results for the 2026 Alaska midterm election show a mixed bag for Democrats and Republicans, but Juneau joined much of the country in the “blue wave,”
  The city’s Visitor Industry Task Force has put out its draft recommendations and is looking for feedback from the community tonight at the Valley library,
  Industry experts say getting rid of roadless protections probably won’t fix the timber i
  
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• First Friday previews with artists Stephanie Harold, Shgendootan George, Crystal Worl, and Fu Bao

  06-11-2026 02:47 via KTOO
  
  
  Juneau Afternoon recorded live on Thursday, November 5, 2026
  “Journeys into Wild Plantscapes” is a solo gallery show by Hoonah artist Stephanie Harold at the JAHC (350 Whittier St.). The opening celebration is Friday, Nov. 6, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.The Alaska State Museum presents new work by Lingit weaver Shgendootan George. Miscellaneous Events of the Day – Yee een kakkwalaneek yáa Aangóont akawdulgaaní opens Friday, November 6 as the latest exhibit in the museum’s 2024–2026 Solo Artis
  
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• As winter sets in, the Iran war has some Alaskans dreading their heating bills

  06-11-2026 02:29 via KTOO
  Fairbanks resident Ray Turney fills his heating oil tank at the Sourdough Fuel bulk plant on Nov. 3, 2026. He said prices are “too darn high.” (Shelby Herbert/KUAC)
  Interior Alaska is already in the grip of winter, with freezing temperatures and a blanket of snow and ice. But in a warm coffee shop in downtown Fairbanks, Kate Marshall was sipping a latte.
  She doesn’t make it into town often. Marshall lives almost an hour north, in a cabin she built about 30 years ago. It’s not always conv
  
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