KTOO News Update

In this newscast: Dozens of friends and family gathered last night at the shore of Mendenhall Lake to hold a candlelight vigil for Paul Jose Rodriguez Jr.; Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor signed a letter last month supporting states' rights to access medical information about abortion and gender affirming care; A federal judge has dismissed the state of Alaska's lawsuit against the federal government over contamination on Alaska Native Corporation lands; A conversation with Southeast Alaska's House District 2 Representative Rebecca Himschoot on budget vetoes at the end of the legislative session

In this newscast: One of Southeast Alaska's largest tour companies has a unique carbon offset program; A giant potato has been traveling around the country and is coming to Skagway this weekend; Fishermen from Dillingham and Naknek are planning a protest Thursday after Trident Seafoods posted a base price of just 50 cents per pound of Bristol Bay sockeye

In this newscast: Alaska State Troopers say evidence shows that a Juneau man missing since last week drowned in Mendenhall Lake; This year's Kodiak Tanner crab harvest levels were the highest they've ben in nearly 40 years; And the sockeye run at Redoubt Lake near Sitka could be record-breaking

In this newscast: A Juneau man has been missing for nearly a week after going kayaking on Mendenhall Lake; A long-awaited senior living facility is now open in Juneau; A mysterious flaming object crossed the sky of the northern Lynn Canal earlier this month, and it could have been an old satellite reentering the atmosphere; A magnitude 7.2 earthquake triggered a tsunami warning for the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island late Saturday night

In this newscast: Juneau residents wandering the Behrends neighborhood last week may have stumbled upon something magic -- a fairy forest; On Tuesday night, the Haines Borough Assembly discussed what restrictions to put on the Campbell heliport

In this newscast: Juneau elementary school students will end the day a half hour early on Mondays next year, The Juneau School District's budget for next year may be down over $2 million, after the State sent a letter saying the city could no longer provide outside-the-cap funding, A federal appeals court recently reaffirmed a landmark decision that outlined when local governments cannot enforce anti-camping laws against the homeless

In this newscast: The Ketchikan City Council last week voted to move a controversial book about sex and relationships from the teen section to the adult section of the library, reversing a previous vote to keep it in place; Large swaths of western Canada are ablaze in a record-shattering wildfire season for the country and now people in Southeast Alaska are starting to see the smoke; Alaska's labor shortage and declining population may have more to do with the smaller number of people coming into the state than the number of people leaving

In this newscast: Juneau residents and business owners say they've been having phone problems for the last few days -- and it's not clear what's causing them; After years of planning, Juneau's Thane Community Garden is in its first growing season; Nearly 700 sites -- like logging roads and culverts -- along Tongass National Forest streams could obstruct fish from migrating, but the US Forest Service has a plan to deal with them; The Fritz Creek General Store outside of Homer could be a total loss after a fire last week

In this newscast: Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier is reaching its capacity for commercial tours; The US Forest Service awarded grants to businesses in Southeast Alaska to revitalize the logging industry in the Tongass National Forest; Backers of ranked choice voting have filed a complaint with the Alaska Public Offices Commission that alleges a group working to repeal the system violated campaign finance laws

In this newscast: Petersburg’s Catholic Church caught fire yesterday afternoon in a blaze that lasted 10 hours. The Karluk Tribal Council is offering to pay families to move to their village in order to reestablish their school. The offer went viral online, drawing inquires from around the world. A new study from the University of…