Daily local and statewide news update from the KMXT news team in Kodiak, Alaska.

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:Recovery in the isolated Western Alaska communities slammed by typhoon Halong will be a long process. University of Alaska President Pat Pitney will retire this spring. And three tribal governments and several environmental groups have sued the Trump administration to try to block a deal to build a road from King Cove to Cold Bay.Photo: University of Alaska President Pat Pitney announced her retirement for May 2026, on Nov. 13, 2025. (Screenshot of UA video announcement)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:Glennallen's only hotel burned to the ground Wednesday. Biologists are interested in sounds whales make above water. And Anchorage residents have reported seeing – and hearing – wolves on area trails.Photo: Fire destroyed the Caribou Hotel in downtown Glennallen Wednesday. (Cross Road Medical Center)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:State Senator Matt Claman has entered the race for Governor. A group of state lawmakers has been tasked with studying how Alaska pays for public education. And the state of Alaska is limiting payments to SNAP recipients this week in response to federal guidance.Photo: Matt Claman. (Wikipedia)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:Fairbanksans are stepping up to make sure their neighbors don't go hungry. Elders and youth from around Alaska learned how to process a seal. And the University of Alaska Board of Regents approved increasing tuition across the board by 4% next year.The Fairbanks Food Bank. (The Fairbanks Food Bank)

This week with host Davis Hovey, we hear about the City of Kodiak again seeking an interim manager, the state has launched a project to replace Sargent Creek and Russian River bridges, Dr. Nick Loomis has been appointed as the interim administrator at PKIMC, the U.S. Arctic Research Commission held its 121st meeting in Kodiak this week, flights at Anchorage International Airport are being cut, KMXT has put together a list of local holiday bazaars and art markets, and hundreds of people on Kodiak Island need assistance paying for food.

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:Skagway's summer drag season finished with its last event in September. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is among 40 airports across the country forced to slash air traffic by 10% starting today. And World Central Kitchen is bringing familiar foods to victims of typhoon Halong. Mustached participants at Skagway's September drag bingo. Photo: (Munson/KHNS)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:The Rasmuson Foundation has named Kodiak-born carver Jerry Laktonen as its 2025 Distinguished Artist. Alaska might soon regulate its own hazardous waste. And Alaska Public Media's Liz Ruskin checked in with a few furloughed workers in Anchorage.Photo: Jerry Laktonen and a bird mask he made. (Rasmuson Foundation)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:A controversial higher education compact from the Trump administration has sparked a petition from several University of Alaska unions. Months before a storm devastated parts of Western Alaska, a federal agency canceled a grant that would have helped protect one of the communities from flooding. And some residents of Juneau's Telephone Hill refuse to leave despite being evicted by the city.Photo: The village of Kipnuk, largely submerged by the remnants of Typhoon Halong, is seen from the air on Oct. 12, 2025. (Courtesy Alaska National Guard)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:People who rely on food assistance from SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, could have their electronic benefits cards refilled as soon as this week, thanks to the state. The Environmental Protection Agency said last week that Alaska's revised plan to improve air quality in the Fairbanks and North Pole is good to go. And communities across Alaska are doing what they can to support the more than one thousand people displaced by Typhoon Halong.Photo: Smokestack emissions rise into the air on Feb. 7, 2025, above Golden Heart Plaza in downtown Fairbanks. Snow dusts the statute of the “Unknown First Family” that is the plaza's centerpiece. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:State officials say there are no longer evacuees from Western Alaska staying at mass shelters in Anchorage. The nearly 70,000 Alaskans who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps, are still waiting for their November benefits to hit their accounts. And Mary Peltola, is about even in a head-to-head match with Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a new poll shows.Photo: Mary Peltola, in her official Congressional photo. (Leah Herman)

In this week's episode with Host Brian Venua, near record winds in Kodiak, Caroline Roberts will remain on the borough assembly, Kodiak schools have fewer students, there will be no Tanner crab fishery for Kodiak, Highmark Marine Fabrication is taking more control over the City of Kodiak's shipyard, United Fishermen of Alaska held a meeting on the island — a first in over 20 years, and the Alaska Desk's Shelby Herbert talks about support for the military amid a government shutdown.

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:The Western Alaska disaster relief effort has moved to its next phase. The government shutdown is delaying funding for a federal heating assistance program, according to the Alaska Department of Health. And land acknowledgment signs and statements honoring Dena'ina and Ahtna people will no longer be used in Mat-Su district schools.Photo: A student reads a land acknowledgment sign in Wasilla High School on Oct. 16, 2025. District officials removed the sign on Oct. 17, 2025, school officials said. (Amy Bushatz/Mat-Su Sentinel)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:The government shutdown is creating a lot of uncertainty and disruption for Alaska Native communities, and for tribal organizations that administer federal programs. Federal subsidies for rural air travel will continue through at least mid-November despite the government shutdown. And a bill passing through Congress hopes to solidify protections for Alaska Native ivory artists.Photo: An Island Air Cessna Caravan flies toward Old Harbor, a village of about 200 people in the Kodiak Archipelago, July 2, 2024. ( Brian Venua/KMXT)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:The State of Alaska cut its payments to districts and municipalities for school construction and renovation projects by roughly 25 to 30 percent this year. Alaska State Troopers are looking for a North Pole man connected to a fatal shooting during a party early Saturday morning in Fairbanks. And Juneau plans to expand its temporary levee along the Mendenhall River, in part by using money originally intended for a new arts and culture center.Photo: HESCO flood barriers line the Mendenhall River. (Photo by Clarise Larson, Mikko Wilson/KTOO)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:The proposed Alaska natural gas pipeline project picked up another nonbinding agreement last week. Sen. Lisa Murkowski took to the Senate floor yesterday to call on her fellow senators to put away the partisan rhetoric and end the government shutdown.And the City and Borough of Wrangell is pausing work at a housing project after archaeologists confirmed artifacts at the site.Photo: Sen. Lisa Murkowski at the U.S. Capitol in 2023. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:For some Ketchikan residents, Diaz Cafe is more than just a Filipino restaurant – it's a gathering place that blends culture and community. A fix for a rockslide that has been threatening Skagway's busiest cruise ship dock won't be cheap. And the Trump administration is again advancing the Ambler Road project in Northwest Alaska.Photo: Diaz Cafe

In this week's episode we hear about new Kodiak Island Borough Assembly members swearing in, YMCA Alaska has a new program at East Elementary, Kodiak College held a college and career fair, Fish and Game upped its commercial harvest limits for Bering Sea snow crab, and several groups are coordinating relief efforts for Western Alaska after damage from remnants of Typhoon Halong.

This week with host Davis Hovey, we hear about Malia Villegas winning an AFN award, Kodiak KINDNESS has hired two new peer counselors in the Northwest Arctic Borough, Kodiak's legislators give an update on the state's finances, the head of Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center leaves the hospital, KIBSD's superintendent has announced this school year will be her last in Kodiak, and the new city manager is leaving the City of Kodiak at the end of the month.

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:Evacuees of Western Alaska are taking comfort in donated traditional subsistence foods. Farmers in the Interior have to diversify to make ends meet. And a long growing season doesn't always mean higher production for Alaska farmers.Photo: Tom Zimmer picks cherry tomatoes at the Calypso Farm and Ecology Center greenhouse on Oct. 9, 2025. (Shelby Herbert/KUAC)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:Power has been restored to all Adak residents following a 17-day outage. President Trump has signed a disaster declaration for Western Alaska. And Alaskans will not receive SNAP, or food stamp, benefits for November unless the federal government shutdown ends before then. Photo: SNAP

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:In Kipnuk, Halong's high winds and storm surge left a catastrophe. Quyana Alaska followed the first and second days of the Alaska Federation of Natives convention. And out in the Bering Sea, when planes can't land, grocery shelves go bare.Photo: St. Paul's 300 residents went without many major staples in June when travel disruptions led to a food shortage on the island, photographed here in September 2025. ( Theo Greenly/KUHB)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:More than 400 Sitkans turned out Saturday to speak out against what they call an escalating abuse of power by President Donald Trump. Gubernatorial hopeful Tom Begich kicked off a statewide listening tour on the Kenai Peninsula last weekend. And Alaska Congressman Nick Begich on Saturday delivered his first address to the Alaska Federation of Natives.Photo: No Kings protesters in Sitka. (Hope McKenney KCAW)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:Anchorage city leaders voted Friday to extend an emergency declaration as the city welcomes hundreds of people displaced by heavy flooding in Western Alaska. Gov. Mike Dunleavy visited two Western Alaska villages to assess the damage left by high winds and flooding. Dozens of attendees at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention stood in protest during U.S. Sen.Dan Sullivan's speech.

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:The theme of unity has been prominent at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention. A massive airlift is underway in Western Alaska, bringing evacuees of last week's storm to Anchorage. And Adak is without power.Photo: Adak Alaska. Aleut Adventures.

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:A mass evacuation is underway for Kipnuk and Kwigillingock, where a thousand people were sheltering in schools after Sunday's huge storm. Local officials are continuing to search for two people missing from Kwigillingock. And the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention has started in Anchorage.Photo: This dance group from Point Hope was one of many that performed at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:More than a thousand people in Western Alaska are sleeping in their local schools after a massive storm Sunday made their homes unlivable. The Elders and Youth Conference is underway. And Nome celebrates Indigenous Peoples day.Photo: Residents and their dogs in Kipnuk navigate high waters on Oct. 12, 2025, as the remnants of Typhoon Halong collide with the community. (Jacqui Lang)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:One person has died, two are still missing, and 51 have been rescued following a record-breaking storm that slammed into the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The Sitka Police Department has body cameras to equip its officers in its possession, but doesn't yet have the funding to implement them. And health officials in Bristol Bay say the region is in the middle of a Tuberculosis outbreak.Photo: Flooded cars and equipment are visible in this aerial view of Crooked Creek. (Kyle Van Perseum/Alaska-Pacific Forecast Center)

On this week's episode, we hear about a house fire on Carolyn St., two foreclosed properties that will be auctioned off by the Kodiak Island Borough in the near future, how federal grant cuts affect University of Alaska campuses like Kodiak College, a recap of Koniag's annual meeting, and unofficial election results from Kodiak's municipal election.

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:Researchers have awakened microbes that were last active as far back as 40,000 years ago. Flood waters have receded in Kotzebue and other western Alaska communities from a storm that hit earlier this week, but another one is coming. And the Alaska Board of Education sent a proposed regulation change that would have limited how much money local governments can give to schools back to the state education department.Photo: The Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility in Alaska was excavated between 1963 and 1969 to allow scientists to study permafrost, geology and ice science. Credit: Tristan Caro

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:The K-12 school on the Aleutian Island of Akutan now has two local Unangax̂ teachers. Governor Mike Dunleavy has issued a disaster declaration for communities in western Alaska hit by a powerful storm. And former Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum is defending his decision to invest $50 million from the state's rainy-day account in an outside private equity fund.Photo: Akutan students learning outside. (Jacob Mark Stepetin)

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:Funding for a program subsidizing rural air travel is set to continue through early November despite the ongoing government shutdown. The city of Kotzebue is under mandatory evacuation orders. And Alaska's growing birch syrup industry.Photo: Roads near Kotzebue's dock were flooded Wednesday afternoon.

In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:The state of Alaska is studying the possibility of building a road that would connect Juneau, Haines and Skagway. Indigenous peoples in the Arctic are reimagining the future of ice cellars. And a Washington state jury awarded nearly $17 million to the family of a man who died in a 2019 airplane crash on Unalaska's runway.Photo: A functioning ice cellar in Utqiagvik, Alaska. (Mike Brubaker/Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium/The Associated Press)

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:It s been six years since Alaska State Troopers updated their list of cold case homicides. Communities across Southeast Alaska are tweaking their tax policies to rake in tourist dollars during the summer months. And President Trump yesterday approved the 211-mile Ambler road in Northwest Alaska.Photo: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum points to a map of Alaska on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, as he announces the Trump administration's decision to reverse a Biden administration action that canceled a right-of-way permit for the Ambler Road.

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:Former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson is joining the race for governor. Juneau voters will decide in this fall's municipal election whether to exempt essential food and residential utilities from local sales tax. And the PFD doesn't buy what is used to.Photo: Former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson speaks at a campaign launch event at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)

On this week's episode, we hear about a NOAA report on entangled whales in 2024, an update on the St. Herman Harbor replacement project timeline and funds, Kodiak's main park has a new Alutiiq name, Election day in Kodiak is Oct. 7 for municipal elections, and Alaska Public Media tells us about the federal government shutdown that happened after end of day Sept. 30.

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:Former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson is joining the race for governor. Bethel residents gathered on Wednesday to highlight Domestic Violence Awareness Month. And Juneau's elementary schools have a library again after three years.Photo: The Tundra Women's Coalition demonstrates against domestic violence. (Marycait Dolan KYUK)

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:Congress defunded public broadcasting, but this week, 14 public media stations in Alaska got some good news. A Pennsylvania man allegedly used the stolen identities of seven Alaskans in an attempt to steal their Permanent Fund Dividends in 2022. And Tuesday was Orange Shirt Day — a day of remembrance for Indigenous children who were separated from their culture and sent to residential schools across North America.

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:Most of the staff running three Alaska newspapers in Homer, Kenai-Soldotna and Juneau resigned in protest yesterday. A Wasilla couple has been charged in connection with the death of a child that was in their care. And the Juneau Police Department is taking action to reform its policies after an officer was filmed slamming a man to the ground during an arrest in July.Photo: A copy of the Homer News is seen in 2015. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:The Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center is so far spared from closures coming to a third of these climate science centers across the country. Another glacial outburst flood is underway on the Taku River south of Juneau today. And the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a $16.7 million dollar grant to begin construction of the first veterans cemetery in the Interior.Photo: The Taku River. (Commander John Bortniak, NOAA Corps)

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game may allow Jet Skis, in Kachemak Bay. A Homer Republican state representative is declaring victory after pressuring the local newspaper to revise a story about a vigil honoring Charlie Kirk. And Alaska State Troopers shot and killed a man near Anchor Point on Thursday who they say brandished a knife after a footchase.Photo: Rep. Sarah Vance speaks during a beachside memorial event for Charlie Kirk in Homer on Sept. 17, 2025. Simon Lopez/KBBI

In this week's episode, we hear about early voting opening in Kodiak, a borough assembly member resigned, hydroponics in Ouzinkie, and the White House increased the price of H1B teachers — the one many schools use to hire teachers from abroad.

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, dispatched U.S. aircraft Thursday to intercept four Russian military planes off Alaska. The Northwest Arctic community of Selawik hasn't had consistent drinking water for over three weeks. And people from around the world are voting for their favorite to be the chubby champion of Fat Bear Week. Photo: Selawik, Alaska. (Northwest Arctic Borough)

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:The Alaska LNG Project netted two more agreements earlier this month during an energy conference in Italy. The only year-round medical clinic in the small Interior community of Healy announced last week (9/17) that it will soon close its doors. And St. Paul has lost its major air carrier.Photo: The Interior Community Health Center clinic in Fairbanks, pictured on Sept. 24, 2025. After Nov. 1, the facility will be the only INHC clinic. (Shelby Herbert/KUAC)

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:University of Alaska Southeast staff and nursing students gathered at the Ketchikan campus to celebrate the new nursing lab. One family in Juneau is trying to raise a million dollars for a lifesaving treatment for their child. And researchers have been recording the mysterious “thrumming” sounds of humpback whales. Photo: A single-patient room inside UAS Ketchikan's new nursing lab. (Hunter Morrison/KRBD)

In today's Midday Report with host Davis Hovey:Democrats and independents in the Alaska state Legislature are urging Congress to preserve federal funding for science and research. A project to map out the Pacific Northwest's critical mineral potential Was frozen and put under review in February. And the U.S. Coast Guard is proposing a new two-way shipping route along the northern Alaska coast.Photo: The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean. Photo by Petty Officer Second Class Prentice Danner/U.S. Coast Guard

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:This year's Permanent Fund Dividend will be exactly $1,000. Payments to more than 600,000 Alaskans are set to begin Oct. 2. The U.S. Senate rejected two partisan spending bills on Friday, bringing the country closer to a partial government shutdown on October 1st. And Senator Sullivan and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez DeRemer were in Fairbanks Friday.Photo: Senator Sullivan and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez DeRemer. (FaceBook)

In today's Midday Report with host Davis Hovey:Lawyers are trading arguments in a case challenging the state's failure to process applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on time. Heat pumps are growing in popularity across the country, including in parts of Alaska. And a group in Unalakleet is bringing traditional dance back to life — after more than a century without it.

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:State officials are investigating the death of a 37-year-old man found unresponsive on Sunday in his locked Anchorage jail cell. Sen. Lisa Murkowski broke from other Republicans on the firing last month of the Director of the Centers for Disease Control. And former Alaska attorney general Treg Taylor filed to join the 2026 race for governor Wednesday.Photo: Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on an Alaska tour in August. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:An unusually warm August and early September near Sitka has attracted an unusual fish to the area - tuna. A U.S. House hearing Tuesday on energy in Alaska was largely a tale of two Alaskas. And six years ago, a man tossed a message in a bottle on a patch of sea ice near Utqiagvik. This spring, it was finally found – thousands of miles away.Photo: Jared Nelson, left, and Adam Olson, with albacore tuna caught off the Sitka coast on Sept. 7. (Photo by Rebecca Olson)

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:Alaskans can expect a La Niña climate pattern this winter. Former Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor is asking the Alaska Public Offices Commission to exempt him from disclosing who is renting his apartments. And Unangax̂ dance is having something of a renaissance in the Aleutians.Photo: Unangax̂ dancers. (Lucy Bagley, KUCB

In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:The U.S. Department of Education has announced that it will cut millions in federal grants for its Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions program. Scientists studying killer whales in Alaska are uncovering long-term impacts of a warmer ocean. And Native advocacy organizations say plans to reorganize U.S. Department of Agriculture could harm tribal food security programs.Photo: Killer whale. (AZ Animals)