KFSK Midday Magazine

Reporters in Petersburg and Wrangell tag along for the Audubon Society's annual Christmas bird count; an Alaskan public corporation has offered Ketchikan millions of dollars to build eight affordable housing units; health officials are encouraging Alaskans to take precautions against seasonal respiratory viruses.

The Petersburg School District has a lot more students this year, pulling it away from the funding cliff it's hovered near for the last few years; Alaska's teacher salaries are lagging significantly behind the state's cost of living; Eaglecrest Ski Resort in Juneau opened last week after getting some much needed snow.

President Biden signed an executive order to close a loophole that allowed Russia to sell seafood to U.S. markets;

Petersburg's Borough Assembly voted to auction off a decommissioned fire truck;

and SEARHC opened an urgent care center in Juneau, which got booked up fast.

United States Senator Lisa Murkowski traveled to Wrangell to offer words of comfort after the November 20th landslide;

Petersburg crowned the winners of its 2023 Pickled Herring Contest;

and tourism is growing exponentially in Sitka -- and locals are suffering growing pains.

Petersburg's Lady Vikings began their season without longtime basketball coach Dino Brock; Unalaska is working to increase tourism, as towns around the rest of the state saw record numbers of cruise passengers this year; the U.S. Forest Service has finalized its plan to overhaul Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area.

Petersburg's Borough Assembly voted unanimously to support a new bill that would tighten residency requirements for hunting, trapping, and sport fishing; Sitka's tourism task force is trying to determine what the right amount of cruise tourism is for the town; a look at the ways tourism has changed in Ketchikan through the eyes of the owner of the town's oldest bar.

Ketchikan fishermen and industry leaders consider the possible impacts of the closure of the town's Trident Seafoods processing plant; increased tourism is giving restaurants a boost in Petersburg, but supply chain issues sometimes make it hard to keep up with demand; SEARHC's top doctor answers community questions in Sitka after the closure of the local home health department.

"Landless" legislation passed a new milestone last week after winning approval of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; Petersburg's Borough Assembly will meet in regular session tonight and vote on a resolution to sell Petesrburg's recently decommissioned fire truck to the city of Hyder for $1; Gov, Dunleavy has allocated $5 million to help stabilize Wrangell's two earthen dams that contain the town's drinking water.

Petersburg's hydroelectric plant got an upgrade, which is in its final phase of testing;

high school students in Sitka are growing their own food;

and swim clubs across Southeast are mourning three swimmers who died in the Wrangell landslide.

Petersburg School District Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter announced her retirement yesterday; Gov. Mike Dunleavy says he plans to include funding to replace an aging state ferry in his budget request for next year; after a record number of cruise ship passengers visited Juneau this year, Juneau is considering whether - and how - to set future limits.