KFSK Midday Magazine

Sitka's commercial herring fishery is smaller this year; a draft plan for the state ferry system is open for public comment; and millions of federal dollars are at stake in Alaska if President Trump's order abolishing the U.S. Department of Education disrupts funding.

Wrangell's borough manager shut down the deteriorating barge ramp last week; over a hundred people marched to the state capitol to advocate for improving disability rights on Wednesday; and a rockslide near Ketchikan yesterday has blocked the island's main road.

Investigators looking into the plane crash near Nome say the icy flight was overweight; lawmakers rejected Gov. Dunleavy's proposal to create a cabinet-level state agriculture department; and Silver Bay Seafoods is buying the seafood processing giant, OBI.

Ketchikan's school district superintendent is resigning; researchers say limits on Alaska's commercial fisheries backfired in rural Native villages; and the Alaska House Resources Committee heard testimony regarding the partnership between the U.S. and Canada.

Japanese performers from Oregon are touring Alaska, starting in Southeast; employees fired from the agency that oversees federal fisheries in Alaska were reinstated yesterday; and for the first time, fire season is starting early in Southeast Alaska.

A cruise limit ballot may go before voters in Sitka this spring; the Haines Assembly approved a resolution recognizing Canada's sovereignty; and Veterans in Juneau say they worry their benefits may be at risk.

Job cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could affect the fishing industry; six fathers of young dancers competed in a first-of-its-kind pageant fundraiser; and a commentary from Petersburg's Abby Knight for a series celebrating Women's History Month.

The Alaska House approved a bill to boost funding for public schools, which now heads to the Senate; Alaska health care experts say Medicaid cuts would have an enormous impact in the state; and orders from President Trump could increase timber harvest in Tongass National Forest.

A decades-old proposal to build a controversial road in Southeast is being resurrected; Alaska House lawmakers made some amendments to a high-priority education bill; and all recently fired USDA employees will be temporarily rehired, with back pay.

Department heads in Sitka's municipal government look for ways to trim spending; a woman in Ketchikan is going for a Guinness World record; and Petersburg's high school basketball teams finished up the season in Ketchikan last week.

Juneau residents protested funding cuts to scientific research; a delegation from Ketchikan advocated in Washington D.C. for restoring ferry service to Prince Rupert; and a commentary from Petersburg's Ivy Worhatch in recognition of Women's History Month.

Anglers will be able to fish for king salmon at a popular slough near Petersburg this summer; though President Donald Trump voiced support for an unbuilt Alaska LNG project, it still has some major hurdles; and a Petersburg fishing boat caught fire yesterday in Chatham Strait, but all of its crew are safe.

Residents protested in Soldotna about the recent federal actions by the Trump administration; a Petersburg man was sentenced to a decade of incarceration for sexual assault; and a high-priority education funding bill will be debated in the State House next week.

Local leaders in Juneau say they're committed to maintaining a good relationship with their Canadian sister city, despite tariff-relation tensions; a nonprofit in Sitka hopes to put displaced federal Forest Service crew back to work; and the Petersburg Borough is sending a letter to Alaska's congressional delegation about the impact that federal funding cuts could have on local services.

Only two Visitor Center staff are left to monitor the roughly one million visitors coming to the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau this summer; Alaskan border towns are bracing for the impact of tariffs; and the state legislature is reviewing a bill that would fund free breakfast and lunch for all public school students.

Alaska Senate leaders are reviving options for raising revenue as the state faces a steep dollar deficit; a state-run trust that owns land around a mining project near Haines decided not to buy federal mining claims in the area; and all felony charges against three Wrangell residents were dropped earlier this month.

The U.S Coast Guard called off the search for a missing fishing boat near Prince of Whales Island; the U.S. House passed a spending blueprint that would reduce Medicaid; and elementary students in Petersburg won't get as much physical education next year due to limited education funding.

A 27 year old man in Petersburg was arrested last week after a string of overnight break-ins; a new report by the Foraker Group paints a bleak picture of the impacts of frozen and cancelled federal funds in Alaska; flu cases are spiking in Alaska, according to data from the state's division of public health.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced a bill aiming to reverse Alaska's ban on finfish farming; a new report says glacier loss in Alaska is outpacing other regions worldwide; and Petersburg's high school basketball teams played their rivals in Wrangell for a second time this season.

Red king crab commercial permit holders in Southeast Alaska will have a better chance of fishing in coming seasons; the union representing fired U.S. Forest Service workers in Wrangell is doing everything it can to reverse the terminations; a larger state deficit than expected is complicating a boost to state funding for public schools.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted against confirming Kash Patel as President Trump's FBI director; a conversation about the Alaska Permanent Fund's risky investing in Alaska-based companies; and at least nine U.S. Forest Service employees in Petersburg lost their jobs, which could impact the local economy.

Federal workers in Juneau are dealing with layoffs; Anchorage parents could be held legally liable if their child brings a deadly weapon to school; and a bill that would boost state funding for public schools took a step forward on Wednesday.

Alaska Marine Highway officials say they're struggling with staffing for the ferry system; state lawmakers are considering a new student loan repayment program; and Petersburg held a town hall last week to talk about the future of tourism in Alaska's Little Norway.

Nearly 250 people gathered outside Petersburg's courthouse yesterday to show support for recently fired federal employees; a look at a bill that would return public-sector workers to a defined benefit pension system; and the Petersburg Borough Assembly will hear an annual report from the police department at tonight's meeting.

Petersburg's high school basketball teams played in Haines over the weekend; Alaska's Board of Fisheries rejected a proposal that would've closed a bay near Sitka to commercial herring fishing; and Ketchikan's school board approved combining its three elementary schools by grade level.