KTOO News Update
The day’s local and state news in about 10 minutes.
Newscast – Wednesday, April 16, 2025
In this newscast: Alaska organizations that provide weather and environmental information to mariners and subsistence hunters are bracing for reduced funding. The University of Alaska Southeast is retaining services and federal funding for now as the Trump administration continues to threated and investigate universities. Juneau's city-run emergency warming center closed for the season this morning and some clients say they have nowhere else to go. Arctic research has not been spared as President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk seek to slash what they see as unnecessary government spending.
Read More » Audio PlayerNewscast – Tuesday, April 15, 2025
In this newscast: The Alaska Legislature passed a bill Friday that would boost per-student education funding by $1,000. Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he plans to veto it; Juneau residents who haven't filed have some extra time; A new Juneau advocacy group called the the Affordable Juneau Coalition filed three ballot petitions with the city last week, to lower the property tax rate, to remove sales tax on food and utilities, and to make in-person voting the default again; The Norwegian Bliss and its more than 4,0000 passengers arrived in Juneau yesterday to kick of the 2025 cruise ship season; Tensions over a levee that's taking shape in backyards along Juneau's Mendenhall River have come to a head as one homeowner filed a suit against the city, seeking to exempt his property or be paid for it; A Ketchikan woman now officially holds the Guinness World Record for "largest female mouth gape"
Read More »Audio PlayerNewscast – Monday, April 14, 2025
In this newscast: Cruise ship tourism will pay for a number of upgrades to infrastructure in Juneau this year. Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration released a long-delayed study on state worker salaries last week. Federal investigators released a final report on their investigation into the crash of a commercial cargo plane near Fairbanks last year that killed two people. An Anchorage judge declared a mistrial Friday in the case against a young man involved in a 2019 Unalaska car crash that killed two teenage girls. The Kenai Peninsula's largest energy cooperative wants to try an save a Nikiski solar farm that stalled earlier this year.
Read More »Audio PlayerNewscast – Friday, April 11, 2025
In this newscast: People packed WKFL Park on Saturday to protest recent actions by the Trump administration; the JoAnn fabric store chain is closing their stores, including on with a large footprint in Fairbanks; two Anchorage teens are trying to encourage more young people to get involved with philanthropy-giving their time and money to benefit society as a whole; the 50th Annual Alaska Folk Fest celebrated its fourth night by welcoming guest artists Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell for a 45-minute set.
Read More »Audio PlayerNewscast – Thursday, April 10, 2025
In this newscast: Two Alaska State Troopers facing assault charges over alleged conduct during their arrest of the wrong man in Kenai last year won't go to trial until next February; Fairbanks Senior Center officials worry that federal funding cuts will limit the organization's ability to provide Meals on Wheels to elderly people who need the nutrition-assistance program; the first of three new Coast Guard fast response cutters to be homeported in Kodiak is officially ready for duty.
Read More »Audio PlayerNewscast-Wednesday, April 9, 2025
In this newscast: A middle-aged man was rescued from frigid waters near Petersburg, The person in charge of ordering and stocking produce at Skagway's only year-round grocery store is moving on, Justin Smith of Gustavus has produced albums for Alaska artists like Annie Bartholomew, Blackwater Railroad Company and Josh Fortenbery, A Ketchikan-raised filmmaker, Emilio Torres, was recently named the Arizona Filmmaker of the Year.
Read More »Audio PlayerNewscast – Tuesday, April 8, 2025
In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly voted last night to approve a tidelands lease for a fifth cruise ship dock in downtown Juneau; Less than a year after Juneau voters shot down a ballot initiative to ban large cruise ships on Saturdays, advocates are trying again to put hard limits on tourism's growth; As Juneau residents face the impacts of the Trump administration's widespread federal firings, the Juneau Assembly unanimously passed a resolution last night urging Alaska's congressional delegation to oppose cuts to federal agencies; The City and Borough of Juneau's municipal budget process kicked off over the weekend
Read More »Audio PlayerNewscast – Monday, April 7, 2025
In this newscast: The Trump administration has frozen a million dollars in funding for Planned Parenthood in Alaska; More than 1,300 people in Juneau joined the nationwide Hands-off rally at the Alaska State Capitol on Saturday; State legislators grilled two University of Alaska Board of Regents appointees at a Senate Education Committee meeting last week as part of their confirmation process; The eighth annual Traditional Games was held in Juneau this weekend, and more than 250 athletes from 30 teams competed in sporting events rooted in Alaska Native values
Read More »Audio PlayerNewscast – Friday, April 4, 2025
In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly is set to take a critical vote Monday night that will determine if the construction of a fifth cruise ship dock downtown will move forward; Two weeks after a rockslide came down over Ketchikan's Tongass Highway, the temporary bypass road constructed to get around the work area will open to two-way traffic; It's been more than a year since the Juneau Assembly voted to move forward with a plan to demolish the downtown Telephone Hill neighborhoods' historic homes and add new housing units, but not much movement on the project has happened, leaving residents in limbo; A high-priority bill that would substantially boost education funding took another step forward in the state Legislature this week; While Forest Service staffing at the Mendenhall Glacier remains uncertain, there will be eight people working there in a different role -- as cultural ambassadors
Read More »Audio PlayerNewscast – Thursday, April 3, 2025
In this newscast: Alaskans used to pay the highest rent in the nation, but new state data show that cost has stabilized; Juneau officials are proposing to set city money aside to hire staff for one of the city's main tourist attractions: the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center; Contractors are building flood barriers along the Mendenhall River to protect Juneau neighborhoods from flooding expected this summer, but new flood maps meant to show whether the barriers will keep homes dry have been delayed a month; Visitors to the Alaska State Capitol will son have to go through a metal detector and have their belongings screened in an X-ray machine, after lawmakers approved a new screening policy
Read More »Audio Player