KTOO Public Media (Juneau, AK)

Anchorage school buses are parked next to each other at the ASD Transportation Center on Aug. 2, 2023. (Tim Rockey/Alaska Public Media) School districts across Alaska are set to receive up to $115 million in one-time funding this year thanks to high oil prices. That’s due to what’s known as a “waterfall” in the state budget that passed shortly before the end of the Alaska Legislature’s regular session in late May. But how much of that $115 million will actually materialize is, for now, unclear.

A handful of the nearly 30 parakeets that Karen Rappe is fostering in her South Anchorage home on June 24. 2026. To apply to adopt a bird, contact the Alaska Bird Club. Parakeet cages filled a room in a modest house in South Anchorage. The birds’ chattering and chirping mixed with country music coming from a boombox below the cages. As the music swelled at the refrain “Somebody pour me a drank” the birds’ chirping increased, followed by loud squawks. The sound keeps them company, Karen Rappe said.

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/20260702-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: Two cruise ships in Southeast Alaska have reported norovirus outbreaks in recent weeks, Tlingit and Haida’s president spoke about addiction prevention during the grand opening of Juneau’s first casino, Cancer Connection now has its first executive director, Alaska lawmakers failed to meet an informal deadline Wednesday to vote on a bill reducing taxes for the Alaska LNG project Top Alaska stories...

Tlingit and Haida President Chalyee Eesh Richard Peterson speaks at the grand opening of Two Coppers Casino on July 1, 2026. (Photo by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO) The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s president, Chalyee Eesh Richard Peterson, spoke about addiction prevention during the grand opening of Juneau’s first casino on Wednesday. The ceremonial event follows a soft open of the tribe’s Two Coppers Casino on Douglas Island last month.

Cruise ships berth in downtown Juneau on Monday, June 9, 2026. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO) Two cruise ships in Southeast Alaska have reported norovirus outbreaks in recent weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Ruby Princess – a Princess Cruises ship – had 102 of its 3,032 passengers as well as 23 crew members fall ill. The National Geographic Sea Bird also reported a norovirus outbreak.

Sen. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican, presides over a mostly empty Senate chamber during a technical session at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau on July 1, 2026. Alaska lawmakers failed to meet an informal deadline Wednesday to vote on a bill reducing taxes for the Alaska LNG project in hopes of improving the long-dreamed gas pipeline’s chances of moving forward.

A team carries the goose-beaked whale fetus to their boat. Ellie Schmidt and a few of her friends were camping at Fred’s Creek Cabin on Kruzof Island in early June. On a rainy Saturday morning at low tide, they took a walk on the beach. “And we came across a weird object, which I thought was part of a boat,” Schmidt said. “[My friend] thought maybe it was a very weirdly colored log. It was very white and gleaming.” As they got closer, they realized it was a whale. Closer still, a very unusual one.

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/20260701-News-Update-1.mp3 In this newscast: Juneau’s city clerk’s office certified a citizen ballot proposition late last week that seeks to raise the city’s cap on the local property tax rate, A draft environmental assessment looking at homeporting up to two Coast Guard icebreakers in Juneau is open for public comment, A glacial lake outburst flood on the Taku River south of Juneau crested early Wednesday morning, Former U.S. Secretary of...

The confluence of the Taku and Tulsequah Rivers. (Photo Courtesy of USGS/Alaska Science Center) A glacial outburst flood on the Taku River south of Juneau crested early Wednesday morning. Water rushed out of Lake No Lake, a basin dammed by the Tulsequah Glacier in British Columbia. Aaron Jacobs is the senior service hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Juneau. He said the release began sometime Tuesday morning and was confirmed by a resident in the remote area.

Catherine Reardon reads a display from the Coast Guard at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center on July 7, 2026. (Photo by Jamie Diep/KTOO) A draft environmental assessment looking at homeporting up to two Coast Guard icebreakers in Juneau is open for public comment. The agency held an open house on the assessment Tuesday at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center. Mark Ridgway runs the environmental management branch of the Coast Guard’s civil engineering unit in Juneau.