KFSK Midday Magazine

Alaska's Division of Forestry released its plan for selling timber in Southeast Alaska for the next five years; Juneau's emergency warming shelter closed last week; in Alaska, fewer children get tested for lead than in other parts of the country, and now public health officials are launching a new program to encourage testing.

Beat-The-Odds is a local nonprofit that helps people cope with a cancer diagnosis, and this weekend they are holding their 25th Annual Run/Walk to raise money; Petersburg Medical Center has a new mammography machine; the next solar eclipse in North America will appear in 2033, with the path of totality crossing NW Alaska and locals and tourists are planning ahead.

Petersburg High School students attend the Borough Assembly meeting to encourage Assembly members to support increased funding for the school district in the upcoming 2025 Operating budget; the Sitka School District also facing budget challenges in the face of flat funding from the State of Alaska; Congresswoman Mary Peltola leads her Republican challengers in fundraising by a wide margin

Region 5 Artfest starts in Petersburg drawing students and art teachers from around Southeast Alaska; The Alaska House of Representatives passed a 6 billion dollar budget last week; A fish passage restorarion project will boost a salmon population in Southern Kenai Peninsula

The Petersburg School Board will see a first draft of next year's budget at their meeting tonight; state education official continue to dispute the federal government's claim that Alaska didn't fund schools equitably during the pandemic; U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Mary Peltola hope closing a loophole on Russian imports could help bolster Alaska's presence in seafood markets.

Petersburg's Borough Assembly will hear appeals of the 2024 property tax assessment at tonight's meeting; Peter Pan Seafoods announced Friday it is ceasing operations; projects in Juneau funded by cruise ship passenger fees are in jeopardy this year.

The Alaska House of Representatives passed its $6 billion operating budget yesterday. The budget now heads to the Senate; Sitka is deciding whether to refocus their visitor marketing program toward independent travelers; Petersburg's Heather Conn was recognized last week as the National Distinguished Principal for 2024.

An Alaska superior court judge sentences Jordan Joplin to 99 years in prison for murdering Eric Garcia, a prominent Ketchikan surgeon; a fire broke our at one of Ketchikan's fire stations Monday night, destroying multiple vehicles. No one was injured; Petersburg's boy's basketball coach, Rick Brock, was named Division 2A Coach of the Year.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy released a poll that he says shows that a majority of Alaskans want education reforms;

for the first time, money from Alaska Marine Highway ticket sales will be used to fund ferry projects;

and Silver Bay Seafoods is positioned to take over Peter Pan Seafoods' processing facilities.

New for-sale signs appeared on Alaska Mental Health Trust-owned lots along Petersburg's Mitkof Highway, directly contradicting what the Trust Land Office recently told Borough officials;

troll fishermen in Southeast have a new buyer for their king salmon with the reopening of the Annette Island Packing Company;

and Ketchikan's low-barrier homeless shelter is in danger of closing its doors.