Anchorage news

• Juneau Afternoon: Juneau World Affairs Council presents Steve Niva; Captial Brewfest celebrates beverage makers; UAS Evening at Egan presents Dr. Skylar Bayer

  26-09-2024 03:25 via ktoo.org
  
  UAS Evening at Egan lecture series presents “Uncharted: Stories of Scientists Navigating Disabilities, Chronic Conditions, and Potential Bias in STEM Careers” with Dr. Skylar Bayer on Friday, Sept. 27, at 7:00 p.m. at the Egan Library.On today’s program:Juneau World Affairs Council Speaker Series presents “The Middle East on Edge: Assessing the Prospects for a Regional War” with Professor Steven Niva on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 5:15 p.m.The talk will air on KTOO 360
  
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• Newscast – Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024

  27-09-2024 02:51 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240926-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:A new roundabout in the Mendenhall Valley got approval to move forward from the Juneau Planning Commission earlier this week.
  Alaska’s winter ferry schedule starts October 1st and looks a lot like last year.
  U.S. Navy leaders visited Kake last weekend to formally apologize for the 1869 bombardment of the community.
  
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• Juneau Afternoon: Theatre in the Rough’s ‘Through the Roughing Glass’ Fundraiser; St. Vincent de Paul’s 14th annual Walk to End Poverty; Theater Alaska’s ‘Henvy V’

  27-09-2024 02:51 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Director James Palmer chats with actor Bryan Crowder during a rehearsal for “Henry V” playing in Juneau this October. (Flordelino Lagundino/Theater Alaska)On this episode:Theatre in the Rough’s “THROUGH THE ROUGHING GLASS” is a fashion show, silent auction, and costume sale and a fundraiser for Housing First’s Forget-Me-Not Manor happening Saturday, Sept. 28 at McPhetres Hall.Theater Alaska opens Shakespeare’s “Henry V” on Friday, Sept. 27, f
  
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• Juneau planning commission OKs $8.5M roundabout project in Mendenhall Valley

  27-09-2024 01:05 via ktoo.org
  
  Cars drive through where Mendenhall Loop Road intersects with Valley Boulevard and Mendenhall Boulevard on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  A new roundabout in the Mendenhall Valley got approval to move forward from the Juneau Planning Commission earlier this week.   
  Commission members voted 4-1 in favor of building a roundabout where Mendenhall Loop Road intersects with Valley and Mendenhall Boulevards. That’s despite receiving a number of public comments &m
  
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• Southeast by the Numbers report reveals growing role of tourism in region’s economy

  27-09-2024 00:46 via ktoo.org
  
  The Southeast Conference in Ketchikan in September 2024. (Photo by Michael Fanelli/KRBD)
  An annual report on Southeast Alaska’s economy shows a region firmly dependent on tourism with a struggling fishing sector. The findings were presented Tuesday at Southeast Conference in Ketchikan.
  Meilani Schijvens owns Rain Coast Data and authors the annual Southeast by the Numbers report, which looks at the last calendar year. In her presentation, Schijvens said tourism has become the strong backbon
  
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• Five candidates vie for a District 2 seat on the Juneau Assembly

  26-09-2024 22:25 via ktoo.org
  
  From left to right, Emily Mesch, Mary Marks, Maureen Hall, Nano Brooks and Dorene Lorenz are the candidates running for Juneau Assembly District 2 in the 2024 municipal election. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  In last year’s municipal election, 10 candidates ran for two areawide seats. This year, five are running for a single District 2 seat. 
  The winner will replace outgoing member Michelle Hale, who is retiring from her role after serving six years on the Assembly. 
  As Election Day near
  
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• Two new faces make their bid for a District 1 seat on the Juneau Assembly

  26-09-2024 19:58 via ktoo.org
  
  Connor Ulmer (left) and Neil Steininger (right) are the candidates running for Juneau Assembly District 1 in the 2024 municipal election. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Neil Steininger and Connor Ulmer are making their debut in Juneau’s local political arena in hopes to secure the open District 1 seat on the Juneau Assembly this municipal election.
  The two new candidates are going head to head to replace outgoing Assembly member ‘Waahlaal Gidaag Barbara Blake, who is not seeking re-election.
  
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• Ousted Hoonah superintendent seeks damages in Alaska district court

  26-09-2024 19:06 via ktoo.org
  
  Part of the city of Hoonah’s waterfront is seen in a 2012 photo. (Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development; Division of Community and Regional Affairs’ Community Photo Library)
  The former Hoonah City School District superintendent has filed a complaint against the local school board over a conflict with its president that allegedly led to the superintendent’s dismissal.
  In court filings, former Superintendent Helen Cheek claims that school board President Haro
  
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• Alaska’s congressional delegation joins House, Senate in voting to avert government shutdown

  26-09-2024 03:39 via ktoo.org
  
  The U.S. Capitol. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
  Alaska’s three members of Congress joined a majority of the House and Senate in voting to approve a budgetary resolution that averts a government shutdown until at least December.
  Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, joined the House in voting 341-82 to pass the measure, and the Senate voted 78-18, with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan also voting in favor.
  The measure goes to the desk of President Joe Biden, who has said he will
  
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• Alaska U.S. Attorney’s Office investigated, as fallout over judge’s misconduct continues

  26-09-2024 03:33 via ktoo.org
  
  Joshua Kindred at his confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate. (Screenshot from Senate Judiciary Committee video)
  The Alaska U.S. Attorney’s Office is the subject of a Department of Justice investigation related to a federal judge’s sexual misconduct, Sen. Lisa Murkowski has revealed.
  Former U.S. District Court Judge Joshua Kindred resigned in early July ahead of a report by the 9th Circuit’s Judicial Council that he had inappropriate relationships with two federal pr
  
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• Newscast – Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024

  26-09-2024 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240925-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:
  Advocates for Juneau’s Ship Free Saturdays ballot proposition say the reins need to be pulled on the growth of tourism, but opponents say the financial and legal implications could hurt the local economy.
  An annual report on Southeast Alaska’s economy shows a region firmly dependent on tourism and a struggling fishing sector.
  A crew from Sitka Search and Rescue remained in the field Tuesday
  
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• US Navy apologizes for burning and bombarding the village of Kake in 1869

  26-09-2024 02:49 via ktoo.org
  
  Rear Adm. Mark Sucato issues a formal apology for the 1869 bombardment of Kake at the village’s community center on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Screenshot from Sealaska Heritage Institute livestream)
  Over 150 years have passed since the U.S. Navy bombed Kake, a Tlingit village in Southeast Alaska. Navy representatives visited this weekend to formally apologize for the winter attack, which left many people to starve or die of exposure after the village was destroyed.
  At Kake’s communit
  
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• Why some Juneau residents want to ban cruise ships on Saturdays this election — and what’s at stake if it passes

  26-09-2024 00:22 via ktoo.org
  
  The Majestic Princess berths in Juneau’s harbor on July 24, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/25shipfree.wav
  Imagine one day a week in the summertime when there are no large cruise ships floating in the harbor, no tourists bustling down the docks and no buses driving people to the Mendenhall Glacier. 
  If Proposition 2 is passed by Juneau voters this fall, that could become a reality.
  The proposition, known as Ship Free Saturdays, asks voters
  
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• In Valdez, a community feels the pinch of the child care shortage

  25-09-2024 19:45 via ktoo.org
  
  A sign welcomes visitors to City Hall in Valdez, Alaska on August 14, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
  Since the Valdez child care center Stepping Stones closed two years ago, working parents like Brianne Skilbred have had to scramble.
  “[My kids’] current child care provider that they have is their fifth in two years,” Skilbred said.
  Stepping Stones was the only licensed facility offering all-day care. The only other licensed provider is a preschool that offers half-day c
  
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• Alaska enacts law to reduce high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous persons

  25-09-2024 18:56 via ktoo.org
  
  Candace Frank gets a red handprint pressed onto her face at the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Rally in Juneau on May 5, 2022. (Lisa Phu/Alaska Beacon)
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Despite Alaska’s small population, a 2018 report by the Urban Indian Health Institute identified it as the state with the fourth-highest number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and Anchorage as the city with the third-highest number of such cases in the nation.
  A new law aims to
  
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• For the first time, America has an Arctic ambassador, and he’s Alaskan

  25-09-2024 03:25 via ktoo.org
  
  Mike Sfraga discusses Arctic issues during a Juneau World Affairs Council presentation at KTOO in Juneau on Feb. 6, 2020. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
  The U.S. Senate has confirmed Michael Sfraga of Fairbanks to be the nation’s first ambassador-at-large for the Arctic.
  The vote was 55-36, with nine Republicans joining Democrats to vote yes.
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the chief advocate for creating the ambassador position and Sfraga’s biggest champion in the Senate.
  “Mike is proba
  
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• Newscast – Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024

  25-09-2024 03:05 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240924-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:The Juneau Assembly unanimously agreed to commit $3 million in city dollars to a possible U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study that would examine engineering solutions for long-term glacial outburst flood prevention.
  Why a recall of two Juneau School Board members is on the local election ballot and what happens if it’s successful
  and local actor Enrique Bravo shares his perspective on being an
  
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• For Juneau mayor, incumbent Beth Weldon faces challenger Angela Rodell

  25-09-2024 02:52 via ktoo.org
  
  Angela Rodell (left) and Beth Weldon (right) are the candidates running for Juneau Mayor in the 2024 municipal election. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Two people are vying to serve as Juneau’s next mayor in the Oct. 1 municipal election.Incumbent Mayor Beth Weldon faces challenger Angela Rodell, who is running on a fiscally conservative platform and out-fundraising her opponent so far. 
  Weldon has served as Juneau’s mayor since 2018. In an interview leading up to the election, she said
  
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• Why Sitka lost almost everything else when it lost the internet

  24-09-2024 22:03 via ktoo.org
  
  An iPhone. (Photo by Renee Gross/KBBI)
  The last time Sitka’s undersea fiber optic cable broke in 2017, the resulting outage lasted 12 days, but didn’t seem nearly as apocalyptic as the latest event.
  We didn’t see stories about the social and psychological impact of the outage in 2016; business leaders didn’t put out a survey on its economic impact.
  That’s because it wasn’t an outage in 2017 – it was a partial outage. The undersea fiber opt
  
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• Tongass Voices: Enrique Bravo on being the everyman of Juneau’s theater scene

  24-09-2024 19:22 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Enrique Bravo in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. (Courtesy of Perseverance Theater)
  This is Tongass Voices, a series from KTOO sharing weekly perspectives from the homelands of the Áak’w Kwáan and beyond.
  Enrique Bravo has been acting in Juneau for nearly 20 years. He didn’t think he’d end up in Alaska, but he says the theater community here has allowed him to perform roles he never expected. 
  Bravo plays the titular role in Theater Alaska’s &ldqu
  
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• Tongass Voices: Enrique Bravo on being an every man in Juneau’s theater scene

  24-09-2024 19:22 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Enrique Bravo in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. (Courtesy of Perseverance Theater)
  This is Tongass Voices, a series from KTOO sharing weekly perspectives from the homelands of the Áak’w Kwáan and beyond.
  Enrique Bravo has been acting in Juneau for nearly 20 years. He didn’t think he’d end up in Alaska, but he says the theater community here has allowed him to perform roles he never expected. 
  Bravo plays the titular role in Theater Alaska’s &ldqu
  
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• Alaska youth need expanded access to mental health support, advocates tell lawmakers

  24-09-2024 03:12 via ktoo.org
  
  Children’s coats hang in a hallway at Hillcrest Childcare Center in Anchorage on April 18, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
  Expanded access to mental health care was a primary concern for the state legislators and nonprofits serving children and families who responded to a survey for the Alaska Children’s Caucus.
  The bipartisan group of lawmakers whose focus is policy that improves early childhood outcomes met on Friday afternoon. The caucus formed last winter.
  Sen. L&o
  
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• Quakers return cultural artifacts to Kake at annual Dog Salmon Festival

  24-09-2024 03:08 via ktoo.org
  Joel Jackson, President of the Organized Village of Kake (OVK) holds up up a couple carved wooden paddles, which were among the objects a group of quakers returned to Kake in August. (Photo courtesy of Juulie Downs)
  A group of quakers from Oregon visited Kake last month for the annual Dog Salmon Festival. The visit to the remote Southeast Alaska village was part of an ongoing effort to apologize for the religious group’s participation in the forced assimilation of the Tlingit people. 
  
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• Newscast – Monday, Sept. 23, 2024

  24-09-2024 03:05 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240923-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Hear from mayoral candidates in this year’s Oct. 1 Juneau Municipal Election as they share their thoughts on the public safety and infrastructure bond debt questions on the ballot
  
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• Juneau Assembly commits $3M toward possible long-term flood prevention study

  24-09-2024 02:56 via ktoo.org
  
  People watch as the water continues to rise along the Mendenhall River during Juneau’s annual glacial outburst flood on Monday, August 5, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  The Juneau Assembly unanimously agreed to commit $3 million in city dollars to a possible U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study that would examine engineering solutions for long-term glacial outburst flood prevention.
  Members made the decision during a special meeting Monday afternoon. They also agreed to spend $100,000 from the
  
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• Why a recall of two Juneau School Board members is on the ballot — and what happens if it’s successful

  24-09-2024 01:49 via ktoo.org
  
  Juneau School Board President Deedie Sorensen and Vice President Emil Mackey at a meeting in February 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/24recall.wav
  When Juneau voters fill out this year’s municipal election ballot, they’re going to see two recall petitions – one asking whether to recall Board of Education President Deedie Sorensen, and another asking whether to recall board Vice President Emil Mackey. 
  The recall questions made i
  
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• Lingít Word of the Week: Ch’áak’ — Eagle

  23-09-2024 20:42 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Visitors to the Father Andrew P. Kashevaroff State Library, Archives and Museum building are dwarfed by a life-sized eagle nesting tree on Thursday May 26, 2016 in Juneau, Alaska. The facility cost about $139 million to build and will be opened to the public on June 6. The eagles and tree were on permanent display in the former Alaska State Museum and were restored before being installed in the new building.(Photo by Rashah McChesney/KTOO)
  This is Lingít Word of the Week. Each week, we fea
  
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• Alaska’s ferry system receives $177.4 million in federal funds

  23-09-2024 02:06 via ktoo.org
  
  The 418-foot-long Columbia ferry is docked at the Vigor shipyard in Ketchikan, getting repairs, June 21, 2023. (Photo by Mikko Wilson/KTOO)
  The Alaska Marine Highway System has been awarded $177.4 million to go towards operational costs, bringing WiFi to passengers and replacing the oldest ferry in the fleet.
  Alaska’s Congressional Delegation announced the new funds on Friday.
  Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Sam Dapcevich said they don’t yet know all the details of h
  
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• Juneau Afternoon: Second Crossing Public Forum; Sustainability session on bears and trash; Jensen-Olsen Arboretum accessibility path ribbon-cutting

  21-09-2024 20:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  The accessibility path ribbon-cutting ceremony at Jensen-Olsen Arboretum will occur on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 1:00 p.m.On today’s program:Mendenhall Wetlands Study Group is hosting a Second Crossing Public Forum on Monday, Sept. 23, at 6:00 p.m.The Juneau Commission on Sustainability is holding a public session on bears and trash at Harborview Elementary on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 6:00 p.m.Jensen-Olsen Arboretum will host the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new accessibility path on Saturd
  
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• Whooping cough spike reaches epidemic level in Alaska, public health experts warn

  21-09-2024 04:19 via ktoo.org
  
  Syringes containing a vaccine for whooping cough at a pediatric office in Anchorage. About two thirds of Alaskan kids are up to date on their pertussis vaccines. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
  Dr. Janet Shen has been a pediatrician at the Children’s Clinic in Anchorage for almost thirty years. And she said in the past few weeks, she’s seen more cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, than in the rest of her career.
  “Mostly it’s children [or] teenagers who have had a co
  
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