KTOO News Update

It's the first day of the fall semester at the University of Alaska Southeast, 

Humpback whales were hit hard by "the blob" -- a warm water event that killed off all kinds of sea life in the North Pacific but researchers at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve say the humpback population is rebounding, 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to everyone, age 16 and older, 

City officials announced 63 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend.

Two more pandemic relief programs opened this week that thousands of Tlingit and Haida tribal members and Goldbelt shareholders are eligible for, 

Juneau emergency officials repeatedly stressed the danger of the delta variant of coronavirus after they raised the community's risk level, 

Former state Rep. Les Gara announced that he's running for governor, 

Juneau's public libraries are reducing their hours so that staff can be reassigned to the city's emergency operations center to help with the city's COVID-19 response

Five residents at Ketchikan's Pioneer Home died from COVID-19 at the nursing home this past week, 

There was another fire on Chena Hot Springs Road, it's the 9th structure fire along the road since mid-May being investigated as arson, 

Inspectors in Anchorage recently discovered more than 3,000 counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards in a shipment from China to the Port of Alaska, 

The Aleutian Arc recently has experienced a lot of volcanic activity -- three are currently erupting, 

Last year's heavy rain and snowfall continue to affect Southeast Alaska -- here's more on how the Forest Service is responding, 

An Alaska lawmaker is criticizing the state's decision to not seek further legal review of a court ruling that stuck down several campaign contribution caps

Immunocompromised Juneau residents looking for a third COVID-19 shot, have limited options,

A federal judge has reversed the Trump administration's environmental approval for ConocoPhillips' major proposed Willow project on Alaska's North Slope, 

A zine centered on the LGBTQ community in Southeast Alaska started up this year, releasing its second issue this month, 

The Biden administration will require nursing homes to mandate their employees be vaccinated -- it's not clear what effect that this could have on Alaska's understaffed nursing homes.

Former Alaska Gov. Bill Walker announced that he's running for governor again, 

The Lower Kuskokwim School District has agreed to pay $3.8 million dollars to settle a lawsuit after two girls sued the district for failing to protect them from sexual abuse at the hands of a former Bethel elementary school principal, 

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited Fairbanks and Anchorage this week, 

Three people were killed in an accident on the Parks Highway on Sunday, the second of two fatal crashes in the area this past weekend.

Another Juneau woman died of COVId-19 at Bartlett Regional Hospital on Sunday night, 

It was the first day of school for hundreds of Juneau public school students, 

The Alaska Legislature met on Monday for a third special session this year, 

The largest wildfire in California's history is burning a destructive swathe of around 900 square miles, it has destroyed some historic communities including Juneau radio reporter Greg Knight's Sierra Nevada mountain community.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that vulnerable people get a third "booster" dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,

Dividends are a sticking point for Alaska's special session,

An Alaska Native comic artist will release a book heavily influenced by stories passed down to him by his grandmother, 

A shipwreck from decades ago has begun leaking diesel fuel off Kodiak Island. Environmental officials say last month's massive earthquake may have disturbed he wreck's resting place at the bottom of Women's Bay.

Over the weekend, a staff member at Juneau's Wildflower Court nursing home started to feel mildly ill. That person got tested on Monday and turned up positive for COVID-19,

Silver Alerts are meant to help communities locate vulnerable adults when they go missing. But after an elderly woman went missing in Juneau earlier this year, family members say the system is flawed and not enough people know how it works,

As Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier retreats, it opens up new land and that federal land is open to potential mining claims - the Forest Service is stepping in to stop that, 

An Anchorage Superior Court judge ruled on Wednesday to keep more than $ billion in the Power Cost Equalization Endowment fund -- a fund that pays for a program that lowers power bills.

In this newscast: Juneau's students will have to wear masks at school; Alaska will collect DNA samples from decades worth of crimes; the latest on the plane crash that killed 6 near Ketchikan

In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly is looking into turning a warehouse into a ballot counting facility; the bait herring shortage; Palmer Correctional Center reopening