KFSK Midday Magazine

Petersburg's teachers are negotiating a new contract with the school district - and Sitka's teacher just negotiated a new contract with theirs; U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski is urging Alaskans to put the state first in the coming general election; a store in Ketchikan is looking into ways to cut down on plastic.

Members of the House and Senate are working out details of a wide-ranging education bill, but they're still far apart on how much to increase state education funding; a Ketchikan resident submitted a letter of complaint to Alaska's Attorney General accusing local officials of retaliating against her after she attempted to remove books from teen library shelves; Petersburg hosted a basketball tournament last weekend, which was attended by teams from all over the state.

Alaska lawmakers heard overwhelming opposition to a bill last week that would allow electronic monitoring in state fisheries; Gov. Mike Dunleavy is calling on lawmakers to expand Alaska's charter school system, repeatedly citing a study ranking Alaska's charter schools as the best in the nation; Ketchikan residents are wondering why their roads are in disrepair.

Law enforcement in Ketchikan seized fentanyl and meth last week in a bust related to another seizure in January; the Sitka Fine Arts Camp has won a $45 thousand dollar grant from the National Endowment for the Arts; Petersburg High School hosted a basketball tournament last week, which was attended by teams from all across the state.

Sitkans got a chance to talk to SEARHC administrators about the closure of its Home Health department in Sitka; the US Forest Service issued a proposal that would allow the Hecla Greens Creeks Mine to expand its waste storage facilities and continue operations for up to 18 years; Petersburg's Hammer and Wikan was named Retailer of the Year by the Independent Grocer's Alliance, or IGA.

Juneau's Amalga Distillery is a semifinalist for the 2024 James Beard Awards category of "Outstanding Bar;" Ketchikan had its 38th Annual Wearable Arts Show last weekend. The town claims to have the first wearable arts show in the world; concert pianist and music teacher Tony Lu is in Petersburg.

The Petersburg Borough will receive nearly three million dollars in federal grant money for an upgrade to its hydropower plant; school administrators told lawmakers on Monday that Alaska school districts are facing unprecedented challenges to hiring and turnover; a conservation organization is asking the federal government to list King salmon in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska under the protection of the Endangered Species Act.

Petersburg's airport might be getting an upgrade in the future after the Borough Assembly voted to support the initiative; in his State of the State address last month, Gov. Mike Dunleavy honored several people involved in Wrangell's deadly November landslide; a condo developer in Juneau plans to sell its units at market rates even though the developer borrowed money from the city's affordable housing fund.

Gov. Dunleavy has introduced a pair of bills that would allow eletronic monitoring aboard commercial fishing vessels in state fisheries; Unalaska leaders are pushing back against a proposed petition to eliminate Chinook bycatch in the Bear Sea Alaska pollock fishery; Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola was in Juneau late last month - it was the last stop in a statewide tour to kick off her re-election campaign.

The Alaska Senate passed a bill this week that would create a new pension plan for state and local government employees; Petersburg's middle and high schools now have stricter cell phone policies; the Petersburg Police Department's annual report indicates that many categories of violent crime in the community are down from previous years.