KTOO News Update

By KTOO Public Media

KTOO News Update episodes

March 15, 2025Newscast – Friday, March 14, 2025
https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250314-News-Update.mp3
In this newscast:
Alaska’s state ombudsman is resigning in April. Kate Burkhart leaves after eight years on the job and countless investigations that have led to major systemic reforms in the state,
The Juneau School District approved a budget for the next fiscal year on Thursday,
People rallied again outside the Alaska State Capitol today, this time to protest the Trump Administration’s plans to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs at the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs,
After a German Shepherd named Jackie evaded euthanasia in Los Angeles, she’s now evading animal control officers in Juneau,
Alaska’s fired federal workers are beginning to file unemployment claims, following the Trump administration’s move to reduce the federal workforce
13 min
March 14, 2025Newscast – Thursday, March 13, 2025
https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250313-News-Update.mp3
In this newscast:
The Juneau School District Board of Education is expected to pass a budget at a special meeting tonight. The board made last minute changes at its Tuesday meeting and now needs to rebalance the proposed budget
3 min
March 13, 2025Newscast – Wednesday, March 12, 2025
https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250312-News-Update.mp3
In this newscast:
The Alaska House narrowly approved a bill today that would substantially increase state funding for public schools on a long-term basis for the first time in nearly a decade,
Dozens of Juneau residents protested as Congress considers drastic funding cuts to Medicaid,
President Trump issued two executive orders on March 1 to expand logging in national forests. That’s after he suspended the Roadless Road, which banned new road construction in national forests. Together, these orders could increase timber harvest in the Tongass National Forest,
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that all recently terminated employees will be rehired, with back pay,
The likelihood of an Alaska volcano’s eruption not far from the state’s largest city has increased
13 min
March 12, 2025Newscast – Tuesday, March 11, 2025
https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250311-News-Update.mp3
In this newscast:
Alaska House lawmakers made a few changes to a high-priority education bill during a marathon floor session on Monday,
No one was hurt in a fire at the Dzantik’i Heeni campus in Juneau earlier today, but evacuated students huddled outside for hours,
The state Department of Transportation is resurrecting the controversial idea to build a road between Juneau and the communities of Haines and Skagway,
Congress is considering huge cuts to Medicaid and Alaska health care experts say that would have an outsized impact in the state,
One of the teams in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is comprised mostly of shelter adoptees
12 min
March 11, 2025Newscast – Monday, March 10, 2025
https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250310-News-Update.mp3
In this newscast:
The ACLU of Alaska is suing the Alaska Department of Corrections for its role in the 2023 death of Lewis Jordan Junior on behalf of Jordan’s family,
The University of Alaska Southeast is taking next steps to remove mentions of DEI from its website,
Alaska’s National Weather Service offices have not been spared from the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal workforce,
Members of Juneau’s LGBTQ+ community, and the people who support them, gathered in droves on Sunday to protest the Trump administration’s policies and language surrounding queer and trans people
13 min
March 08, 2025Newscast – Friday, March 7, 2025
https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250307-News-Update.wav
In this newscast:
The Juneau School District Board of Education appears to maintain its concerns about state funding as it moves through the budget process for the next fiscal year.
Juneau residents join protesters nationwide in response to President Trumps scientific research funding cuts and firings at federal science institutions.
Anglers will be able to fish for king salmon near Petersburg this summer after a recent decision from the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
There’s a 50-50 change the Alaska Permanent Fund won’t have enough spendable money to pay dividends and the state’s bills at least once over the next decade.
12 min
March 07, 2025Newscast – Thursday, March 6, 2025
https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250306-News-Update.wav
In this newscast:
Homes in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley are seeing a decline in their assessed value following last August’s glacial outburst flood.
Juneau’s trail maintenance nonprofit, Trail Mix, wants to hire fired Forest Service employees if — it can raise enough money to pay them.
Three heli-skiers who died in an avalanche Tuesday near Girdwood had ties to Minnesota.
Research in marine species show they may be fixtures in the Arctic, to the interest of scientists. It may also mean changes to subsistence to Alaska’s most northern communities.
12 min
March 06, 2025Newscast – Wednesday, March 5, 2025
https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250305-News-Update.wav
In this newscast:
State lawmakers unveiled a revised education funding ahead of a floor debate in the House tentatively scheduled for Monday
The City of Juneau is doing site assessments at homes to prepare for flood barrier installations
Untried defendents – people accused of crimes but presumed innocent until found otherwise by the court – remain in jail as criminal cases take a long time to go to trial
GCI users in Sitka will lose internet service starting Friday for up to ten days.
13 min
March 05, 2025Newscast – Tuesday, March 4, 2025
https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250304-News-Update.mp3
In this newscast:
President Donald Trump’s long-promised tariffs on goods imported from China, Canada and Mexico took effect this morning. It marks the start of a trade war that has many Alaskans bracing for higher prices. Despite the growing tensions between the countries, local leaders in Juneau say they are committed to maintaining a close relationship with the Canadian City of Whitehorse.
Juneau’s trail maintenance nonprofit won’t be maintaining Forest Service trails this season, unless it can crowd-source funding for a new trail crew.
There are just 33 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race teams sprinting to Nome right now, tying the record of the smallest field ever. As Alaska Public Media’s Ava White reports, mushers all point to one big challenge.
11 min
March 04, 2025Newscast – Monday, March 3, 2025
https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250303-News-Updates.mp3
In this newscast:
Temporary cell service and internet connection has most Juneau residents back online after a damaged subsea cable caused a region-wide outage late last week,
Former Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola and her former chief of staff are now working for Holland and Hart, a law and lobbying firm,
Protestors took to the streets of Gustavus on Saturday, joining hundreds of demonstrations around the country in response to staffing cuts at national parks,
A hydroelectric project in the remote Southeast Alaska community of Angoon is on pause following the federal grant freeze announced in late January by the Trump administration,
Leaders in the Alaska House and Senate say they’re deeply concerned about the impacts of federal staff cuts and a forthcoming congressional immigration and tax cuts bill,
With changes to requirements by the Trump administration, it’s an uncertain time for immigrants, but the new Philippine Honorary Consul for Alaska hopes she can be of service
13 min