KRBD Evening Report

Tonight on the KRBD Evening Report…. As part of a CoastAlaska series on education, we’ll see how one remote Southeast school is working to keep kids safe; free Wi-Fi debuted on an Alaska Marine Highway ferry; and the small town of Gustavus is opening a food bank. Those stories and more…

Tonight on the KRBD Evening Report…. As part of a CoastAlaska series on education, we’ll go into a classroom to find out the challenges of learning and teaching reading; the community of Hoonah faces some hurdles in forming a borough; and a Native-run health consortium has acquired another healthcare facility in Juneau. Those stories and more coming up…

Tonight on the KRBD Evening Report…. We’ll hear the first part of an education series. This segment looks at challenges for students who don’t speak English as their first language, there's an increase in Alaskan’s experiencing hemorrhaging during and after birth, and a chess club that started up in Juneau. 

The city of Ketchikan passes its 2025 budgets. Alaska refugees fear deportation. A retiring traveling oncologist reflects on a career serving Southeast Alaska.

The Ketchikan Indian Community receives a grant to build a new permanent supportive housing building; the Fairbanks School Board is considering replacing custodians to save money; Juneau’s Planned Parenthood center closes and won’t reopen; and a leak at Petersburg’s hospital is the latest breakdown at the aging facility. 

A mining company wants to explore for new mineral deposits near Juneau; this year’s Bristol Bay sockeye run came in above forecast, but fishermen didn’t necessarily see extra income; Petersburg’s tribe is using federal money to improve local quality of life; and, an interview with an archaeologist who says the first Americans ate a lot of wooly mammoth.

The collapse of a staffing agency has left emergency medical physicians in Ketchikan facing months without pay; a group of locals announces they have acquired the Ward Cove cruise port and surrounding property; the Petersburg Borough is looking to sell land to a developer who wants to build cheap housing; and a problematic sea lion is harvested by two Tlingit brothers.

As House Republicans form a minority caucus in the Alaska legislature, Ketchikan’s Jeremy Bynum will join the finance committee; plus, the local government and tribal leaders are collaborating in Juneau; Sitka considers creative solutions to the childcare shortage; and a recent study about salmon size relied on indigenous knowledge to inform its research. 

The Ketchikan School District considers consolidating its elementary schools. Eaglecrest kicks off the winter ski season in Juneau this weekend. An international film festival kicks off in Anchorage.

New findings predict a sharp drop in Southeast Alaska’s population over the next few decades; plus, Wrangell tribal leaders bless the Capitol Christmas tree in Washington; and, a summer camp in Sitka is going cell phone free. 

Jeremy Bynum resigns from the Borough Assembly. Geologists assess Hillside Road following a small landslide. Southeast Alaska author Ken Post talks about working with the Forest Service and writing about the region.

Heavy rainfall triggers a small landslide in Ketchikan, while winter weather creates hazardous conditions in Juneau; plus, advocates for limiting cruise visitors in Sitka have submitted another petition for a ballot proposition; U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski proposes a bill to improve natural disaster forecasting; and, an Alaskan fourth-grader gets to help light a Christmas tree at the U.S. Capitol.

Record setting rainfall prompts a closure of the Third Avenue Bypass; plus, the Coast Guard suspends its search for five mariners who went missing over the weekend; new research is challenging the relationship between Southeast salmon and Puget Sound orcas; and, high school students in Angoon are learning how to grow their own produce.

One of the two paramedics making up Ketchikan’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare program is fired after publicly criticizing city policies; and, Ketchikan’s First Lutheran Church receives a historic preservation grant.

Ketchikan City Manager Delilah Walsh announces her plans to resign; plus, guidance from authorities about winter airport parking; Ketchikan’s popular thrift store is being sold; and, a look at the downturn in Alaska salmon harvests this year.

More snow is headed towards Southeast Alaska; plus, the state Republican party is gearing up for a recount of the narrowly failed attempt to repeal ranked choice voting; residents of Kake get stuck in Juneau after a mishap with their ferry; and, a look at what it took to bring Ketchikan a production of “Something Rotten,” which wrapped on Saturday.

Final tallies favor Jeremy Bynum as District 1’s representative in the state legislature. A mine upstream of Haines changes hands. Ketchikan artist Dave Rubin on his life in Ketchikan. 

A new program will fund the installation of heat pumps in Ketchikan and throughout coastal Alaska; plus, residents in Juneau debate who would pay for temporary levee to protect against future flooding; and, Wrangellites reflect on how they’ve coped during the year since the fatal landslide there.

Juneau approves funding to help expand addiction treatment services; plus, Wrangell’s tribal government plans a dinner commemorating one year since their fatal landslide; two amateur tanners are building community around leather-making in Southeast; and the Sitka business community is adding up the financial hit they took from the prolonged August internet outage.

We talk to residents as Ketchikan woke up to it's first real snowfall of the season; also, the latest update on Alaska elections, including a ballot measure now trailing by less than 1%; President Biden approves a disaster declaration for Ketchikan’s landslide, freeing up FEMA funding; and state government reporter Eric Stone forecasts the balance of power for the next legislative session.

AP&T brings Prince of Wales Island more high-speed internet - while Juneau loses it due to an area-wide power outage. An organization on the hunt for aliens turns their attention to the waves. 

Ketchikan students will get a full week off for Thanksgiving next year. Borough Clerk Kacie Paxton receives citizen of the year. Going deeper on last year’s Coast Guard helicopter crash near Petersburg. 

Experts discuss their approach to the expansion of European Green Crabs; also, three fisherman are rescued by the Sitka Coast Guard; and new information sheds light on what happened to a helicopter that crashed near Petersburg last year while assisting a fishing boat.

SEAPA receives federal funding to expand its capacity. Texting while driving spikes among Alaska teens. A summit on environmental health in Southeast Alaska kicks off in Sitka tomorrow. 

Respiratory disease season in Alaska. Silver Bay Seafood’s expands its operations. A peculiar error in unofficial election results in one Southeast Alaska precinct. More on the passage of the Capital Christmas Tree.