The cruise ship season is starting in Juneau today while tariffs and federal firings bring uncertainty to the city's tourism industry; microplastics appear to be ubiquitous in spotted seals harvested in Alaska's most remote waters; and two Anchorage teens are trying to encourage more young people to get involved with philanthropy.

Starting May 7th every air traveler over age 18 will need a REAL ID to board a flight in the US; Tlinget Linguist James Crippen talks about his efforts to document the Tlinget Language;Long-time vet Burgess Bauder in Sitka retired this year after providing years of free vet care.

Juneau Assembly passes a resolution urging Alaska Delegation to oppose cuts to federal agencies; Bills moving through the Alaska Legislature are intended to streamline prior authorizations for medical services and exempt small businesses from providing sick leave to employees; A report last week says the Red Chris Mine in the Stikine Watershed in British Columbia is leaching heavy metals; The lone produce stocker at Skagway's grocery store is moving on after eight years

Good Samaritans rescue a man from the chilly waters of Wrangell Narrows Monday Night; A 5th Cruise ship dock approved for Juneau by the Assembly; Cuts to the Department and Health and Hum,an Services threaten services provided to the elderly and the disabled population in Alaska; rents in Alaska have stabilized

Local rally of about 100 people to protest Trump Administration policies on Saturday; Alaska Humanities Forum faces major cuts when National Endowment for Humanities Budget is slashed; Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center will have some help with visitors from Cultural Ambassadors which is a new program started by Central Council of Tlinget and Haida; The 8th Annual Traditional Games were held in Juneau last weekend

A high-priority bill that would increase education funding took another step forward in the state legislature this week; Juneau officials may put city money towards hiring staff at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, following federal job cuts; and this year, sport fishermen in Southeast Alaska are getting a bag limit of one wild king salmon.

Ketchikan's high school principal joined other school district officials from across Alaska to testify before state lawmakers; education leaders from tribal organizations spoke against the dissolution of the federal Department of Education; and as Southcentral Alaska prepares for Mt. Spurr's likely eruption, officials say the impacts could reach as far as Southeast.

Alaska's U.S. Senators want to keep the U.S. Postal Service an independent agency and not privatize it; a Canadian company is starting studies to explore a possible new gold mine in Juneau; and 130 thousand treaty Chinook salmon will be available this year for all Southeast fisheries.

A Kodiak-based company may run Sitka's publicly-owned marine haul out; a Wrangell man is being charged with two felonies; and an executive order from President Trump is causing concern for voters in rural Alaska Native communities.

Plans for Chilkat Valley's first major timber harvest in decades have temporarily halted; HIV prevention organizations in Alaska worry about deadly consequences from losing federal funding; and the Alaska Legislature passed a bill designating March as Women's History Month in state law.