KTOO

11/18/2025

The state has largely ignored hundreds of requests from rural school districts to fix deteriorating buildings. Some of the worst conditions exist at state-owned schools.

(From KYUK)

Rural school district superintendents are trying to find the best use of limited resources. Taking on the state's unmaintained buildings, they say, will only increase their burden.

11/17/2025

The university is projecting 8% to 10% overall cost increases across the system for this fiscal year. That means health coverage for 3,442 employees is estimated to cost $85.5 million.

(From Alaska Beacon)

Nationally, employers are anticipating an 8.5% increase in medical costs and an 11% increase in pharmacy costs, according to data presented to the Board of Regents.

11/17/2025

KYUK, one of the few sources of local news and native language programming in the region devastated by last month's storm, lost federal funding that was up to 70% of its budget and plans to make cuts in January.

(From NPR)

KYUK public TV and radio station in Western Alaska serves dozens of villages damaged by Typhoon Halong. But with federal funding eliminated, KYUK makes severe cuts to its staff and news department.

11/17/2025

The bill Congress passed Wednesday affirms back pay will arrive for federal workers as soon as possible, despite comments that President Donald Trump made last month.

Reopening the federal government has not necessarily been a smooth process for some local agency workers who went 43 days without pay.

11/17/2025

Vizsla Copper Corp. said Thursday that it’s purchasing the Palmer Project near Klukwan from American Pacific Mining Corp.

(From KHNS-fm)

Vizsla Copper Corp. has purchased the Palmer Project from America Pacific Mining Corp.

11/15/2025

Gov. Mike Dunleavy will select her replacement from among a number of nominees to be selected by Republican party officials in her district. Republican Senators must confirm his choice before that person is seated.

(From Alaska Beacon)

Her resignation follows that of fellow Senate minority caucus member Mike Shower, who represented Wasilla and resigned at the end of last month to focus on his run for lieutenant governor.

11/15/2025

On Friday morning, about a dozen people pulled items out of their makeshift homes along Teal Street, and packed them into black trash bags or tote boxes.

Police stood on the sidewalk, and volunteers and nonprofit workers passed out breakfast as campers considered where they'll sleep next.

The city says it's concerned that people camping near roads will be at risk from snow plows. But the people living there are frustrated they’re being forced to leave, without clear guidance on where…

11/15/2025

In local elections, Juneau voters currently choose one candidate in a single-seat race. With ranked choice voting, voters would instead rank candidates by preference.

If adopted, Juneau would become the first major city in Alaska to adopt ranked choice voting for municipal elections.

11/14/2025

Yesterday on Juneau Afternoon, Trickster Co. is having a pop-up shop for Gallery Walk at Aan Hít (Village House), Con Brio Chamber Series features its opening concert of the season on Saturday and Friday's Evening at Egan lecture series features Dr. Logan Berner's talk, “Arctic Ecosystems in a Warming World."

Juneau Afternoon airs at 3 p.m. on KTOO and KAUK with a rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Listen online or subscribe to the podcast.

Juneau Afternoon: Trickster Co. pop-up for Gallery Walk at Aan Hít (Village House), The Icefield Quartet plays candlelight concerts, and Dr. Logan Berner talks Arctic ecosystems at Evening at Egan…

11/14/2025

Wednesday’s challenges came in three lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. All assert that the land trade and road development pose dire threats to migratory bird populations that use Izembek’s wetlands.

(From Alaska Beacon)

Three lawsuits take aim at a Trump administration-approved land trade that would allow for a road through designated wilderness in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

11/14/2025

Juneau high school students are getting real-world building experience while creating much-needed affordable homes in the community. That’s thanks to a house build program that’s a partnership between the Juneau Housing Trust and Juneau School District.

On Wednesday, Raegan Adams fed pink fluffy insulation into a machine in the garage of a partially built home in Lemon Creek. The machine pushed the insulation through a long spiraling tube through the house and into its attic. She and her classmates are building the house she’s standing in.

Adams is a junior at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé and one of the students enrolled in the district’s House Build program.

The district has offered many house building projects to students on and off, dating back to the 1970s. The program has seen multiple iterations over the years. Students who take the semester-long class get to learn hands-on construction skills by building new, energy-efficient homes that then go back into the community. Adams says she was hesitant to take the class at first, but now she’s glad she did.

“I think it’s a very important class that teaches skills everyone should have. Like, I’ve been telling my mom about stuff we do in the class. And she’s like, ‘Oh, you can do this to our house next,’” she said.

Students in this class are currently finishing up the sixth house in a small neighborhood of homes constructed by the program in Lemon Creek. Soon, they’ll begin laying the foundation for the seventh.

🔗 Read the full story at the link in our bio
📸 Photos by Clarise Larson/KTOO

11/14/2025

For Shgendootaan George, the history of the Killer Whale Tooth clan house and its kootéeyaa — or totem poles — are intertwined with her own personal history.

Shgendootaan George laid out the history of three killer whale totem poles that have stood next to her clan house in Angoon as part of a Sealaska Heritage Institute series celebrating Native American…