KTOO News Update

In this newscast:  The Juneau church that has run the city's emergency cold weather shelter for two years isn't planning to do it again this year, and city leaders are trying to figure out what to do instead; The Skagway Borough Assembly postponed decisions on what to do with land that was the site of a boarding school for Indigenous children

In this newscast: Gov. Dunleavy vetoes bill to ban harmful ‘forever chemicals’ in firefighting foams. Sitka records higher rates of cigarette butt litter linked to record numbers of cruise visitors. Elevated drug prices for fentanyl attract drug traffickers to the state. After a cold, poor growing season for pumpkins, one farmer still managed to show…

In this newscast: Alaska remains near the top of the list of expensive places to live in the country; The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has denied a petition to put Southeast Alaska wolves on the endangered species list

In this newscast: Juneau's largest event space is reopening next month, after nine months of renovations; At last week's meeting, Petersburg's Assembly set a new precedent for the sale of Borough-owned tidelands; The people who live along the Yukon river have known about dinosaur tracks there for years

In this newscast: A 2017 tugboat sinking in Sitka produced a $1 million settlement, because it came at a critical time in the herring lifecycle; Two hikers who survived more than a week in the woods near Chena Hot Springs are back home; The Alaska Department of Public Safety and the Anchorage Police Department announced that they are publishing new quarterly reports about missing Indigenous people

In this newscast: A standard homeowners  insurance policy excludes many of Alaska's most common disasters; There's a new marker along Anchorage's Coastal Trail that's part of the Indigenous Place Names Project; A crew member on an American Seafoods factory trawler died at sea last week, likely from an ammonia leak

In this newscast:  A fire broke out early Wednesday morning aboard an Alaska Marine Highway System ferry traveling through the Wrangell Narrows; Alaska's foster care system has been struggling for years and a lack of child care in the state is making matters worse

In this newscast: Visitors to Alaska’s national parks and preserves spent more than a billion dollars in the state last year U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine traveled throughout Alaska this month to learn about public health challenges Southeast Alaska nonprofit Spruce Root is accepting applications for its small business competition

In this newscast:  The Harvest Fest in Juneau celebrated another growing season Saturday; Both recreational berry pickers and subsistence harvesters across Southeast Alaska are worried that wild berries are dwindling; Researchers have identified a new, lesser-known predator that may help keep Alaska's kelp forests healthy

In this newscast: At least two children needed medical attention this week after someone sprayed bear spray on a slide in Twin Lakes Park; Leaders in one interior Alaska village are using grant funding and other creative solutions to address housing issues; Sen. Bert Stedman says the earnings reserve of the Alaska Permanent Fund is at risk