KRBD Evening Report

Ketchikan locals celebrate poet Robert Burns and Scottish heritage. Plus, the U.S. Forest Service moves forward with a plan to manage the Tongass.

In a landmark decision, Ketchikan becomes classified as rural in the eyes of federal subsistence regulations. Plus, Southeast Alaska won’t be getting a new commercial fishery for magister squid just yet, and geologists present findings from 2023's deadly landslide in Wrangell.

Ketchikan’s local governments are pursuing a new sales tax on cruise passengers, and Alaska nonprofits face federal funding uncertainty in a state that relies heavily on them. Plus, Southeast Alaskans will be able to fish for yelloweye rockfish for the first time in years.

The Alaska Board of Fisheries enters its second week, with controversial proposals on salmon and herring to be decided. Plus, we talk to the newly elected Ketchikan Indian Community president about her priorities for the coming year.

State data on herring is called into question as the Board of Fish considers changes to the fishery; and Alaskans testify in favor of a bill to boost state education funding; plus, three Wrangell residents are charged with possessing and selling opioids following a drug bust this week.

A rundown on the proposals the Board of Fish are voting on this week. The Ketchikan Salvation Army could soon reopen. Haines is devastated by another fire. 

The Alaska Board of Fisheries begins its highly anticipated regulatory meeting in Ketchikan; a team of researchers receives funding to study glacial outburst flooding in Juneau; Native leaders react to Trump’s move to rename Denali; and, the new owner of a Haines newspaper is helping modernize local news in Alaska. 

A proposals going before the Board of Fisheries in Ketchikan this week seeks to open up more opportunities for red king crabbing in Southeast Alaska. Another would slash regional salmon hatchery production by 25%. Education in Alaska faces more challenges and those effects extend beyond the classroom. 

Delta Airlines pulls out of Ketchikan. The state looks at banning cellphones in school. Craig high school basketballers attend an invitational in Petersburg. 

KIC announces its newly elected Tribal Council and Advisory Health Board members; plus, a sci-fi film set in Ketchikan and starring locals is selected for its first film festival; the City and Borough of Juneau warns of a potential measles exposure that could affect Southeast residents; and, the stories of two Juneau residents affected by the fires in Los Angeles.

Regional stakeholders react to President Trump’s move to roll back protections of the Tongass National Forest; an update on last week’s drug bust and car chase in Sitka; and public sector employees in Alaska await their retirement contributions after a hacking attempt pushed systems offline.

Tensions continue in Ketchikan around the dismissal of Kayhi teacher Clint McClennan. The National Weather Service tweaks its threshold for cold weather advisories. The US Forest Service plans to raise new totem poles at the Mendenhall Glacier. 

Ketchikan High School students protest the termination of an auto shop teacher; plus, the Ketchikan City Council votes to raise electric rates; police arrest two Sitka residents in a drug bust turned car chase; and, data from Juneau offers a preview of what removing fluoride from public water might mean for dental health.

Alaska tribal organizations locally and across the state receive funding for housing projects; plus, the Petersburg borough approves a deal to build utilities on public-owned lots; and, a student workshop in Sitka is constructing storage sheds for land trust cottages.

Saxman residents are again boiling their drinking water. Ketchikan's representative in the state senate pushes for new ways to insure local homeowners against landslides. 

Local tribes mount legal challenges against Canadian mining operations; plus, new data shows an increase in substance use among girls in Sitka; and, Juneau changes zoning laws in attempt to get more homes built.

A conversation with Ketchikan’s new police chief Eric Mattson about his hopes for the future of policing in Ketchikan. Juneau’s upcoming Aak’w Rock music festival is cancelled. 

More on Southeast’s population trends. The US army plans to apologize to Wrangell this weekend. Christmas Day surfing on the Bering Sea. 

A Washington state man dies while exploring an abandoned mine on Prince of Wales Island; plus, the Ketchikan City Council moves ahead with a increase on electric rates; and, a task force is working on expanding child care options statewide. 

The Ketchikan Borough Assembly appoints a previous member to fill the seat recently vacated by Jeremy Bynum; plus, Juneau approves funding for a new housing complex; Petersburg’s student-run movie theater is in financial trouble; and, visitors travel to Haines to see the country’s newly designated national bird. 

Voting opens for the Ketchikan Indian Community tribal council and advisory health board; reflections from the family of a Juneau resident killed in a Christmas day police shooting; and, our Coast Alaska education series concludes with a story about preserving the traditional language in the remote Bering Sea community of St. Paul. 

Ketchikan receives a big snow that caught forecasters by surprise. Southeast Alaskans remember Jimmy Carter. An entry in CoastAlaska’s Evolving Education series about a remote school in the Aleutians.

The Ketchikan Indian Community opens a warming shelter in Ketchikan. PFD applications open across the state. The City Council is set to deliberate on a significant electric rate hike. We head up north to hear about the changing arctic. 

Ketchikan gets a new police chief and a new Port & Harbors director; plus, an overview of the Southeast Alaska crab fisheries opening in February; Petersburg’s harbormaster says the state’s harbors need more funding; and, our education series continues with a school in Skagway that tops test scores year after year.

As 2024 comes to a close, we look back on some of the biggest stories of the year, and reflect on how they shaped Ketchikan.