KTOO News Update

In this newscast: Juneau police say DNA has identified human remains found in the Gastineau Channel more than 20 years ago; Lawmakers are headed to Juneau for the special legislative session called by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, which begins Saturday; The Juneau Police Department has placed an officer on administrative leave following a violent arrest on Wednesday that led to a man being medevaced out of town for a head injury; The trial against former Juneau chiropractor Jeffrey Fultz, who's accused of assaulting more than a dozen women under the guise of medical care is underway; Part of education funding being released by the federal government is for migrant education and families can be considered migratory if they have to leave town to engage in their livelihood, like students in families who commercial or subsistence fish

In this newscast: Juneau residents will see a hike in their utility rates beginning in August; A Juneau man was medevaced to Seattle this week after being slammed into the ground by a Juneau police officer; Monday was the first chance for residents to testify to the Juneau Assembly about whether to implement a ranked choice voting system for local elections; The impending glacial outburst flood in Juneau's Mendenhall Valley is raising tensions; Alaska's U.S. District Court should have three judges to hear cases but for the past year, it's had just one. But Sen. Lisa Murkowski says there's been progress on the process to select new candidates for the court

In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly narrowly voted against putting two bond questions on this fall's municipal ballot at a meeting earlier this week; Juneau Animal Rescue may have a location for a new updated shelter; A Juneau child care center is set to open in a new location nearly a year after being displaced by flooding, but challenges in finding and preparing the site have left families with few options to fill a monthslong gap in child care; A trial of a former Juneau chiropractor arrested in 2021 on sexual assault charges is underway

In this newscast: Southeast's sunshine yesterday was one for the books, literally. Multiple towns in the region reached record high temperatures; There is a small pool of candidates running for the open Juneau Assembly and Board of Education seats in this fall's local election; The Juneau Assembly approved a ballot question asking voters weather the city should implement a new seasonal sales tax system; Organizers of a tiny home neighborhood in Anchorage meant to transition people out of homelessness say the pilot project is succeeding, and now the city is looking to launch its own version

In this newscast: Contract negotiations between the Juneau School District and the Juneau Education Associations stalled Thursday when both sides declared an impasse, as the district and teacher's union enter their sixth month of negotiations; Northern Panhandle communities enjoyed sunshine and warm temperatures over the weekend but today brought a heat advisory; A dead humpback whale calf washed ashore near Juneau's Douglas Harbor on Saturday, and NOAA officials don't yet know how it died; Members of the Juneau Off-Road Association have been volunteering their weekends this summer to construct the capital city's first-ever dedicated off-road vehicle park; The Trump administration wants to eliminate the federal agency that's helped Alaska villages develop infrastructure with more than $2 billion over the decades

In this newscast: A second Juneau school board member is not running for reelection; Juneau's Bartlett Regional Hospital leadership discusses the financial impacts on cuts to Medicaid funding; Law enforcement officers arrested Juneau residents this week for their roles in an alleged drug distribution ring; State Sen. Shelley Hughes, a Palmer Republican, says she's running for governor; Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced today that Department of Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum plans to resign early next month; Petersburg teenagers learned outdoor skills on a weeklong kayak trip

In this newscast: Satellite internet provider Starlink experienced a major “network outage” on Thursday that lasted about two and a half hours; Longtime Juneau School District board member and board president Deedie Sorensen says she is no longer planning to run for reelection. She's been known as a longstanding advocate and voice for teachers during her six-year tenure; Drag queens in Alaska typically find their stages in Anchorage or Fairbanks. But last week, three Alaska queens traveled to the bush to perform in Bethel's first-ever drag show; Alaska's former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola is suing the owners of the aircraft that her late husband Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr. was piloting at the time of his death. 

In this newscast: A 35-year-old woman has died after the vessel she was on capsized near Sitka on Sunday; Nearly all the staff of Juneau's only print newspaper left the publication for a new, web-based local news outlet; Haines is Alaska's oldest borough – and a recent survey of residents under 40 years old provides a clearer picture of why. Respondents outlined a long list of factors that make it increasingly difficult for younger people to live in the small Southeast  community, ranging from scant housing and childcare options – to polarized local politics; The Alaska Department of Health says it's still assessing how President Trump's so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act will affect the state's Medicaid program. State officials say they do not have reliable estimates of how many Alaskans could lose coverage or how much the new law will reduce federal health care spending.

In this newscast: The City and Borough of Juneau is inviting developers, nonprofit and tribal governments to apply for grants or loans from its affordable housing fund; Two black bear cubs were electrocuted to death after climbing a utility pole in downtown Juneau Monday night; The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is appealing a federal decision that could cost the state $80 million; A coalition of schools and advocacy groups, including several Alaska school districts, is suing the Trump administration over its decision to withhold about $6.8 billion in federal education funds approved by Congress; The state's only med school program started this week with its biggest cohort

In this newscast: Tomorrow marks one month since Juneau resident Benjamin or “Benny” Stepetin was last seen in the capital city; For years, the state has struggled to keep up with Alaskans who apply for government benefits intended to help people facing disabilities and poverty. Despite efforts to address the problem, thousands of Alaskans are still caught in backlogs; It's been three weeks since the Alaska Department of Fish and Game seized dozens of animals from a wildlife facility outside Haines. But a number were left behind; An IT outage that grounded all Alaska Airlines flights Sunday night led to cancellations today at the Anchorage and Fairbanks international airports.

In this newscast: The Environmental Protection Agency is sticking with its veto of the proposed Pebble Mine project in southwest Alaska. Northern Dynasty, the parent company behind the Pebble project, is still suing to get the veto overturned; The late civil rights activist John Lewis didn't have Juneau ties, but Juneau residents marked the anniversary of his death Thursday with a protest of the Trump Administration's cuts to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy and what they see as an attack on civil rights; The U.S. House passed a rescission bill Thursday to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, sending the bill to the president to sign into law; The U.S. Department of Interior announced Wednesday that it finalized the transfer of nearly 28,000 acres of federal land in the Northwest Arctic to NANA Regional Corporation. The land is on the western end of the Ambler Road corridor – a proposed 200-mile road branching from the Dalton Highway to connect to a mining region south of the Brooks Range.

In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly is moving forward with a plan to temporarily move its regular meetings from City Hall to Centennial Hall due to sound quality issues; The candidate filing period for Juneau's local election opens tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.; City officials are warning residents in Mendenhall Valley's flood zone to evacuate when the flood happens — even with temporary levees in place; This week's Curious Juneau looks into a local Easter egg that has fallen silent

In this newscast: The Petersburg Borough settled a lawsuit from its police chief out of court; The Juneau School District Board of Education approved grant funding to maintain a high school counselor position; A Juneau man pleaded guilty to killing a 1-month-old infant in his care last year; A retired school teacher and principal from the City of Angoon entered Alaska's 2026 governor's race earlier this month; Camping in certain public spaces in Anchorage will soon be a criminal offense following Assembly approval; The Native village of Klukwan is in the middle of a research project to better understand landslide risk in the area

In this newscast: As electronic gaming machines chime away at the Eklutna Tribe's new casino near Anchorage, the high-stakes legal battles over its right to operate goes on. It's a case that other tribes have their eye on; The Juneau Assembly is considering changing city code to make it easier for Juneau Police officers to arrest people without housing who are camping in public spaces; A man who was wrongfully detained in Anchorage by federal immigration officials is claiming that officers stole his wallet, which contained his immigration documents and social security card; The Trump administration's new budget reconciliation bill is drawing criticism from some Alaskans for its cuts to social safety net programs. But residents in one Arctic community say the bill will support their economy, thanks to several carveouts for Alaska, including an increased tax break for whaling captains.

In this newscast: June's commercial salmon harvest in the South Alaska Peninsula was one of the lowest in four decades; Wrangell students are continuing to track wildlife with cameras at the Anan Wildlife Observatory; A Shungnak man died Saturday after falling into the Kobuk river Saturday; A man jailed in Anchorage died Friday after correctional officers restrained him during a fight, according to Alaska State Troopers; Firefighters in the Interior utilize specially trained dogs to keep them safe from bears.

In this newscast:  A Juneau man who pleaded guilty to stabbing someone to death at a senior and disabled housing facility in 2020 was sentenced this week, nearly 5 years after his arrest; Juneau officials released a list of potential hazard mitigation projects for review on Thursday; Juneau has a high cost of living compared to other cities in Alaska and the rest of the nation; Sport fishing for wild king salmon just got a bit more restricted for nonresidents; An atmospheric research facility near Gakona in the Interior has been a magnet for conspiracy theories for decades, so the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program hosts an open house every year to show the public what they're really up to

In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly is moving forward with a plan to ask voters this fall whether to implement a new seasonal sales tax system next year; Like much of Alaska, Juneau has its share of disasters and emergencies. Part of living here is planning ahead for scenarios that may require evacuating your home. Juneau Animal Rescue wants to inform residents about how best to prepare to evacuate their pets too; An immigration detainee originally from Peru and recently held in Alaska was later hospitalized in Washington state with tuberculosis, according to his attorney. State corrections officials deny claims he contracted TB at the Anchorage jail; Multiple research vessels are out in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska this summer conducting surveys that inform stock assessments for fisheries managers. One of those surveys only happens every two years and comes during a challenging time for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; A fire burned through the public safety building and city jail in the Western Alaska coastal community of Chevak early Tuesday morning. City officials say the building is a total loss.

In this newscast: An atmospheric river will saturate Southeast Alaska tomorrow with heavy rain; Looming school funding on a state and federal level could mean future cuts to the Juneau School District; Sitka police spent Friday afternoon searching for a Soldotna man who has been missing in Sitka since December 2023; Tongass Voices: Juneau's mobile crisis responders on meeting patients where they're at

In this newscast: A judge serving in Nome could be reprimanded after the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct found he acted in ways that could damage public trust in the court system; A new trial date has been set for the Juneau chiropractor that was arrested four years ago on multiple sexual assault charges; Alaska lawmakers plan to compel Gov. Mike Dunleavy to release data on oil taxes; An island in the Western Aleutians could become home to Alaska's first green ammonia facility

In this newscast: Search and rescue responders located the body of a cruise ship passenger in Juneau who went missing during a hike on Tuesday morning of last week; The Juneau Symphony appointed a new music director for its next season; The future of two programs remain uncertain at Kodiak College following a funding freeze from the Trump administration; the National Transportation Safety Board release a preliminary report on the North Slope helicopter crash that killed a pilot and a passenger in June; Scientists in Sand Point are finding toxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning in freshwater

In this newscast: The U.S. Department of Education is withholding about $6.8 billion in education funding for programs serving students that range from migrant education to English language instruction and gifted education; A Juneau man who is currently homeless has been missing for nearly two weeks; A man who was charged with the murder of a Juneau woman has been released due to a lack of evidence, according to his defense attorney; Juneau Animal Rescue has too many cats; Thirty-five men who were detained by ICE in the Lower 48 and held for weeks in an Anchorage jail have now been transferred out of state, officials say

In this newscast: Search and rescue responder are actively searching for a cruise ship passenger in Juneau who has not been seen since leaving for a hike yesterday morning; A humpback whale was severely injured in Glacier Bay on Saturday; Property tax bills are starting to arrive in Juneau residents' mailboxes this week; Juneau officials are updating the local hazard mitigation plan to make the city eligible for federal disaster funding; The Juneau School District will end its after-school child care program, due to staffing challenges; Gov. Mike Dunleavy is calling lawmakers back to Juneau for a special session next month

In this newscast: A man originally charged with the 2022 murder of a Juneau woman is being released from prison; Two proposed ballot initiatives received enough public support to appear in Juneau's municipal election this fall; A woman died in a van in the parking lot of a Juneau grocery store two years ago. Her death was ruled an accident, but her family still has questions; Non-teaching staff across the University of Alaska system are working to form a union

In this newscast: Proposed public land sales in Alaska are no longer included in the Republican budget bill that is making its way through the Senate this week; A glacial outburst flood is underway on the Taku River; Juneau's municipal clerk Beth McEwen talks about what she's learned over the years as she heads into retirement; A former orphanage 50 miles north of Nome is now a place to gather and camp

In this newscast: The fate of Juneau School District's universal free breakfast program remains uncertain after the Board of Education delayed a decision yesterday; Huna Totem Corporation shareholders adopted open enrollment last week at the village corporation's annual meeting; Dozens of Juneau residents gathered outside Senator Dan Sullivan's office today to implore him to consider Alaskan's reliance on Medicaid; Some key Alaska state legislators are pushing back on the Republican budget package known as the "big, beautiful bill"; Subsistence hunting isn't rare in western Alaska, but one recent catch is stirring excitement in Nome

In this newscast: The City and Borough of Juneau has a new emergency manager; A mandate to sell millions of acres of Public Land was struck from the Republican budget reconciliation bill that's moving through the U.S. Senate this week, but some parcels of land might make it back into the bill; Gov. Mike Dunleavy told lawmakers Wednesday he had vetoed a bill that would have sharply limited payday loans in Alaska; A Haines guide died on Sunday during a non-work-related rafting trip on the Blanchard and Tatshenshini Rivers; A ballot measure that increases the minimum wage in Alaska and requires sick leave goes into effect next week, but a pause on new regulations leaves business leaders without a clear outline of the rules to follow.

In this newscast: The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development has opened the public comment period for a proposed regulation change that redefines what counts as a local contribution for school districts; A cargo ship carrying thousands of vehicles that caught fire off of the Western Aleutians sank Monday amid salvage operations in the North Pacific Ocean; Skagway officials agreed to send a response protesting the plan to build a ferry terminal north of Juneau's current terminal; A Klukwan mother and son travelled to Washington D.C. to protest a federal bill that would likely include cuts to Medicaid; A proposed ordinance to criminalize camping in Anchorage's public spaces brought a huge crowd to the city's Assembly meeting 

In this newscast: The Coalition for Education Equity is preparing to sue the state over what it says is inadequate funding for public schools in Alaska; The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans to rescind the Roadless Rule yesterday,; Tongass Voices: Olga Sofia Lijó Seráns on a Juneau bookstore's 50-year legacy; A new federal report says the group overseeing the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline System needs to update its operations

In this newscast: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees federal fisheries off Alaska's coast, is scaling back operations due to federal funding uncertainties; A man died after falling roughly 150 near Salmon Creek Dam in Juneau on Saturday; Record breaking rainfall caused the water supply for the blind Slough Hydroelectric Plant near Petersburg to spill over; Attorneys allege the Alaska Department of Corrections is violating federal standards while holding dozens of immigration detainees; The community of Kwethluk burst with activity as Orthodox pilgrims from across the world honored the first-ever Yup'ik saint.

In this newscast: The Juneau Independent, a new web-based newsroom in Juneau, launched today with a mission to offer a newspaper that is locally owned and operated; A Juneau court declared a woman who has been missing for six years legally dead Tuesday, at the request of her family. The woman's case was never solved. They sought the death declaration in the hopes of getting a chance to ask police about their investigation in front of an official audience, but that didn't happen; Invasive species are everywhere… but the folks who dedicate their lives to battling them believe they can win, especially in Alaska.  Last week was Alaska's invasive species awareness week; More than 900 cyclists are set to participate this weekend in an annual cross-border race that starts in Canada and ends in Haines.

In this newscast: A man was arrested twice in Juneau last month for fraud, theft and attempted escape; The City and Borough of Juneau and the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska released a draft risk assessment for the capital city on Tuesday; Petersburg's Borough Assembly on Monday approved limiting the town's senior sales tax exemption to just low-income seniors. But before any change can be made official, the townspeople will have the final say; For a few weeks in February, Safety Roadhouse hosts Iditarod mushers making their way to Nome. The roadhouse is closed until May, when it takes on a new life as a summer hangout spot – steeped in Iditarod history; The field of candidates for Alaska governor grew to four last week. That's after Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor Edna DeVries filed a letter of intent saying she's considering a run for governor.

In this newscast: The editor of Juneau Empire is leaving the paper. Mark Sabbatini has edited the paper since 2023 and announced his departure in a Facebook post; The Juneau Police Department cleared a homeless encampment on the side of a Mendenhall Valley road this morning; The National Weather Service issued Juneau's first recorded severe thunderstorm warning yesterday afternoon after conditions escalated and a cruise ship partially broke free from its moorings; The special election to determine whether or not to form the Xunaa Borough will be paused until further notice, after a superior court judge granted a stay of a state commission's approval of the proposed borough in Southeast Alaska; Smoke poured over the Canadian border into eastern Alaska this weekend, impacting communities from Southeast to the Interior

In this newscast: The Juneau chapter of St. Vincent de Paul will have a new executive director in July; One of Eaglecrest Ski Area's four chairlifts is permanently closed; Nearly 2,000 Juneauites joined hundreds of thousands of people across the country to protest President Trump and his polices; Juneau will officially have a second electric utility that is poised to expand the capital city's renewable energy capacity, but only if the company can finance and build its proposed hydroelectric project before its federal license expires; A Petersburg senior was targeted in a phone scam and defrauded of over $100,000, but when two men came to town for another money pick-up, they were arrested

In this newscast: Alaska's public schools likely won't get all the money lawmakers approved in a bipartisan vote last month after Gov. Mike Dunleavy unilaterally reduced education funding with a line-item veto; Juneau's fire department is piloting a paid internship program this year that equips locals with certifications and skills needed to work in the field; A shipping container full of empty industrial-sized fish food bags fell off a barge heading from Baranof Island to the landfill in Petersburg and dozens of the plastic bags have washed up near Juneau over the past week; Residents are advised against harvesting clams, mussels and other shellfish near beaches across Southeast Alaska due to concerns about paralytic shellfish poisoning; Curious Juneau: Why is the state capital Juneau and not Anchorage

In this newscast: The massive budget reconciliation bill the U.S. House delivered to the Senate would block Medicaid patients from receiving care at Planned Parenthood health centers, and health care providers and advocates in Alaska are afraid that would prevent many Alaskans from getting critical health care; The Juneau School District is cracking down on cell phone use in schools; A group of state lawmakers is set to meet this summer and fall to continue working on ways to improve Alaska's public schools; Researchers say it's clear that wolves in parts of Southeast Alaska are increasingly turning to the sea, instead of the land, for food, but now there's evidence that the behavior can have toxic results; Ketchikan's tribal government will soon be under new leadership 

In this newscast: Juneteenth will now be an observed holiday for most City and Borough of Juneau employees starting next week; Juneau's three Democratic state lawmakers met with constituents downtown to share what happened and what didn't happen during this year's legislative session; In Juneau, a traditional subsistence site owned by the federal government is now one step closer to returning to its original tribal owners; A contractor died while doing maintenance work at a popular cruise tourism facility near Ketchikan last month, and the company that hired him has a history of safety problems

In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly voted to increase both the city's property tax and utility rates for the fiscal year that begins in July; The City and Borough of Juneau plans to evict all residents of the historic downtown Telephone Hill neighborhood by October 1st; After upheaval in the federal funding that supports trail maintenance, KTOO checked up on the state of trail work in Juneau on National Trails Day; A team of about 10 people returned last month from visiting the old shipwreck site of the Star of Bengal near Wrangell

In this newscast:  Dozens of Juneau residents in the glacial outburst flood zone learned how to prepare for flooding expected later this summer; Sealaska Heritage Institute is hoping people can help them identify the subjects of thousands of photos taken by a late Lingit leader; The Skagway Borough Assembly accepted Mayor Sam Bass' resignation on Thursday; The Alaska Department of Corrections has taken in 40 people who were detained outside of the state by U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement

In this newscast:  Juneau is getting a new public-use cabin, this time built by a local trail maintenance nonprofit; The largest timber companies operating in Southeast Alaska want the Tongass National Forest to sell them more old-growth timber, and they're suing the federal government to get it. The Department of Justice asked the court to throw the case out in May; An appeals court has ruled that the board that regulates subsistence hunting on federal lands within Alaska acted legally when it created an emergency hunt for a Southeast Alaska village during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency; Tongass Voices: Conservator Ellen Carlee on preserving the Alaska State Museum's collection

In this newscast: The National Guard will conduct emergency preparation drills throughout Juneau beginning this Sunday; A polar icebreaker is on its way to Juneau, where it will eventually be homeported; The Alaska Board of Education unanimously approved new reading standards for Alaska Native languages Wednesday; An eagle nest paused a wastewater pump station replacement near downtown Petersburg; KTOO's Yvonne Krumrey speaks with a retiring emergency responder who led a mobile response units in Juneau

In this newscast: The Coast Guard responded to a ship fire near Adak Tuesday; Petersburg's borough assembly passed its budget for the next fiscal year, but funding for a potential cruise ship dock caused friction among assembly members; Nineteen dogs were brought to the Dillingham Animal Control shelter over the weekend after a police investigation into animal cruelty; Local officials say this year's Bering Sea pollack fishery was off to a good start. The City of Hoonah and Huna Heritage Foundation unveiled a brand new totem pole last week.

In this newscast: The Alaska State Board of Education is considering a regulation change that would further limit how much money local governments can give to school districts; The Juneau Assembly is mulling over a plan to implement a ranked choice voting system for local elections beginning next year; They also voted to wait on a second extension of Juneau's Mendenhall River levee until after this flood season; Hoonah's police chief submitted his resignation after less than two years in the role. Then, the city fired him for misconduct. He says it was retaliation; May was a record-breaking month for rain in Southeast Alaska; A nine-year old has won the Sitka Salmon Derby, for the second time in three years

In this newscast:  Local advocates have failed to gather enough signatures before the initial deadline for three ballot petitions that seek to lower the cost of living in Juneau; The University of Alaska Southeast hired two new administrators. One will lead its School of Education and the other will oversee the campus in Sitka; June is Pride month, and Juneau's LGBTQ+ Pride month calendar is packed this year; Curious Juneau: Where do Juneau's bald eagles go?; The U.S. portion of a historic, 33 mile hiking trail between Skagway and British Columbia has been off limits to backcountry explorers since 2020, but that's about to change

In this newscast: Juneau's Joann arts and crafts store is closed; An unvaccinated Anchorage youth tested positive for measles earlier this month; Immigration officials detailed an Anchorage man originally from Peru last week, according to his wife; Sitka voters have overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have capped the number of cruise visitors beginning next year; Schools in the U.S. are facing a debilitating teacher shortage, and many districts are looking abroad, namely in the Philippines 

In this newscast: Heavy rains and flooding in Southeast Alaska triggered a series of small landslides in Ketchikan yesterday; Cancelled federal funding and grants have stalled the construction of a Juneau affordable housing project for at least a year. The project is aimed specifically at people in recovery from substance misuse and the delay means the dozens of people it could have housed will have to find another option; Many communities along Alaska's southern coast are dependent on state ferries to get around and to fuel their economies. But those ferries move thanks to teams of on-board engineers. And those engine room employees say they are critically understaffed and the only solution is more state funding or fewer sailings; Alaska volcano researchers say seismic activity around Mount Spurr has continued to decline over the last month, but the closest active volcano to the state's population centers could still erupt.

In this newscast: Researchers launched and interactive glacial outburst flood website today to help Juneau's Mendenhall Valley residents plan for annual floods; Many businesses in Southeast Alaska say they're facing uncertainty amid recent actions by the federal government, according to a report released yesterday by the Southeast Alaska Business Climate Survey; The Juneau School District is expanding its support of a local language immersion program; It's been nearly three years since the town of Bar Harbor, Maine voted to limit cruise traffic. KCAW reached out to those involved in the decision to find out how things have been since the town enacted the limit

In this newscast: State officials took another step toward building a new ferry terminal at the end of the road in Juneau; Some Juneau residents are calling for police to crack down on homeless encampments in the Mendenhall Valley, but city officials and police say there isn't an easy fix to growing rates of homelessness and its impacts; The Trump administration is attempting to alter environmental regulations that seek to protect endangered species habitat in order to "unlock" the potential of energy and resource developments. the move is raising alarm among Alaska's environmental researchers; All NOAA Weather Radio sites in Southeast Alaska will be down today through Thursday while broadcast equipment is being upgraded

In this newscast: An Anchorage lawyer has been implicated as a "cartel attorney" working for traffickers who allegedly sent hard drugs from Mexico to Alaska; It was Sen. Lisa Murkowski's 68th birthday yesterday; The Juneau Assembly considers a seasonal sales tax ballot proposition to capitalize on summer tourism; A teacher in Juneau's Mendenhall Valley is bringing current glacial outburst flood science to middle schoolers; The cruise line industry is suing Skagway over a new policy that makes a controversial change to how the borough taxes excursions sold by cruise companies

In this newscast: Tomorrow is the last day of school at the Juneau School District, and high school seniors are graduating on Sunday; A storm is set to hit Southeast Alaska this weekend with strong winds and heavy rain; Property taxes could go up for most Juneau residents if the Juneau Assembly moves forward with a plan to increase the rate it uses to calculate them in the next fiscal year; The Juneau School District is restructuring one of its specialized education programs. While staff and administrators say the change is desperately needed, some parents are concerned about how it will affect some of the district's most vulnerable students; The Chilkoot Indian Association in Haines is launching a new tourism effort

In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Monday in support of keeping the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area federally owned; The City and Borough of Juneau may step in to fund positions at the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area formerly held by federal workers; The Juneau Assembly also unanimously approved a change for how much the city charges large cruise ships to dock at city owned facilities; Alaska lawmakers overrode Gov. Mike Dunleavy's veto of a high profile education bill yesterday

In this newscast: The local advocates who filed a petition with the City and Borough of Juneau last month to put harder limits on cruise ship tourism have withdrawn it; The Juneau Assembly passed an ordinance mandating the Juneau Police Department release body-word camera footage no more than 30 days after a city police officer shoots someone; Another Ketchikan school board member stepped down, following the district's board president, superintendent and another board member; It's still not clear why the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development failed a federal test that saves the state millions of dollars; Juneau residents held a tree-planting ceremony in honor of Arbor Day yesterday.