https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250522-News-Update.mp3 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…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250521-News-Update.mp3 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 …

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250520-News-Update.wav 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who filed a petition with the City and Borough of Juneau last month to put harder limits on cruise ship tourism have withdrawn it.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 fo…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250519-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: The Juneau School District Board of Education appointed Steve Whitney to the board on Saturday, Senator Lisa Murkowski has introduced a bill that would reauthorize funds for landslide monitoring projects across Southeast Alaska, The Alaska Department of Edu…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250516-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: Five candidates have applied to fill an empty seat on the Juneau School District Board of Education after Will Muldoon resigned, Alaska regulators have assessed a $49,000 fine against Hilcorp for lapses in Cook Inlet offshore well management, the Alaska Bea…

Abigail Sweetman frosts a North Douglas chocolate cake. (Photo by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/CJ-Cake.mp3 If you ask longtime Juneau residents what cake they want on their birthday or for special occasions, one answer comes up a lot — North Douglas chocolate cake. “People love this cake,” said Abigail Sweet…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250515-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: A German Shepherd who was on the lam for nearly three months has been captured to returned to her family, The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation says 400,000 gallons of process water spilled at a large lead and zinc mine in Northern Alaska yest…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250514-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: Lawmakers are setting aside until next year a bill that would kick off a pilot program for tribally-run public schools, The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska can now receive reimbursements for providing child welfare services …

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250513-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: Juneau was one of nine communities selected for an annual grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a health philanthropy group, Flood inundation maps that model how Juneau’s Mendenhall River levee should perform have finally arrived, Initial results fro…

Joe Gorilla, a one-time candidate for Juneau mayor, makes a surprise appearance Friday, Feb. 3, 2017, for Erin Heist of Juneau, who asked Curious Juneau if the rumors of a simian mayoral candidate were true. Joe Gorilla was the sometimes-identity of former KTOO funnyman Jeff Brown. (Photo by Tripp J Crouse/KTOO) KTOO’s Digital Content Director Adel…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250509-News-Update-1.wav In this newscast: The filing period to run for an elected position in Southeast Alaska’s proposed Xunaa Borough closes this Friday. But, a pending appeal of a state commission’s approval of the new borough could halt the special election scheduled this July, when residents…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250509-News-Update.wav In this newscast: The federal government may soon return a traditional subsistence site connected to Douglas Island to its original tribal owners. The next season of the PBS KIDS show “Molly of Denali” will be the last for the foreseeable future. The team behind the award-wi…

A paper boat made by KTOO staff braves Gold Creek. July 11, 2024. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/cj_race-2.mp3 Alaskans celebrate the Fourth of July in a myriad of ways, whether it’s log-rolling competitions, launching cars off of cliffs, or jumping high in the air in the blanket toss. Do you have a…

This wind turbine on Gastineau Channel generates just under 10% of the electricity needed to run Juneau’s Coast Guard station. (Photo by KTOO/Clarise Larson) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/27CJwind.wav On a windy day in Juneau, you can see state flags fluttering along Egan Drive or a bald eagle coasting over Gastineau Channel. On…

Gary Waid points to the man depicted on the “Raven discovering mankind in a clamshell” mural at City Hall on Monday, June 11, 2024. The man is modeled off of Waid in the ’80s. (Clarise Larson/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/CJmuralMP3.mp3 Spanning an outside wall of City Hall in downtown Juneau, there’s a 10-and-a-half by 61…

People walking at Aanchg̱altsóow, or Auke Recreation Area, on March 24, 2024. (Photo by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/CJAukeRec.mp3 Every other June, canoes — or yaakw — arrive at a beach in Juneau. With carved formline paddles in hand, Southeast Alaska Native people row for days to get there. They come for…

A raven sits on the roof of the Foodland grocery store on Thursday, May 16 2024. (Photo by Anna Canny/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/16CJravens-new.wav Marc Wheeler lives in downtown Juneau, close to the Foodland grocery store. He often stops there for lunch. That’s when he sees the parking lot’s resident ravens. “I’ll be l…

The De Hart’s gas station in Auke Bay charged $3.49 per gallon on Feb. 15, 2024. (Katie Anastas/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/12CJgas.mp3 On a sunny Saturday at the Fisherman’s Bend gas station back in February, Juneau resident Joyce Sepel was filling up her tank. She said the Auke Bay gas station is her favorite. “I’ve be…

Signs tell Juneau residents where to deposit their recyclables at the city Recycling Center in Lemon Creek. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/05CJRecycling.mp3 Editor’s Note: After we finished this story, a power outage forced the city’s recycling center to close for repairs. The city’s public works dep…

Makenzie O’Halloran makes a sandwich at Subway in the Mendenhall Valley on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CJfastcurious3.wav Fast-food restaurants have come and gone from Juneau for decades — but very few stick around for long. Beyond Subway, McDonald’s, Domino’s, Papa John’s and Pap…

The Salvation Army Family Store on a busy Saturday donation day in February 2024 (Photo by Anna Canny/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/26cjthrift.wav Dick Wood wrestled white garbage bags and cardboard boxes from the backseat of his beat up red car. There were children’s books, toys and clothes that once belonged to Wood’s so…

Snow dusts trees on a mountain in Juneau on Nov. 30, 2023. (Katie Anastas/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CJnames_lede.mps_.mp3 Anywhere you go in Juneau, there are mountains shooting u…

Alaska’s Capitol has a ground floor and a first floor. It’s relatively uncommon in American buildings. (Katie Anastas/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/24capitol.wav When Americans walk into a multi-story building, they’d usually say they’re on the first floor. Not in the lobby of Alaska’s Capitol building. “It has a very Euro…

A jumble of fallen trees at Auke Nu Cove caught the attention of a Curious Juneau listener (Photo by Anna Canny/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/26microbursts.wav If you look across Auke Nu Cove from the parking lot at the Juneau ferry terminal, there’s a strange patch of fallen trees — about a dozen — that are splayed out in…

A Coast Guardsmen working on the recovery of the 81-year-old tugboat Tagish, which sank just south of Juneau’s cruise ship docks in December, 2022. (Courtesy of Coast Guard Sector Juneau) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/29CoastGuard_adjusted.mp3 At a Coast Guard change-of-command ceremony on Thursday, about 30 active-duty Coast Gu…

A sign at the airport tells drivers to go no faster than 19 1/2 mph. (Katie Anastas/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/05sign.wav On a rainy afternoon at the Airport Dike Trail, Laura Minne is walking her dog, Bodhi. Over on the airport side of the fence, a speed limit sign tells drivers to go no faster than 19 ½ miles per hour…

Charles McKenry poses in front of the menu at Juneau’s downtown Taco Bell in 1999. (Photo courtesy of Charles McKenry) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/03TacoBell.mp3 In the late ’90s, Juneau had two Taco Bells. But by the early 2000s, they were both gone. Juneau has a history of fast food franchises coming and going, but the disap…

A street light near the Juneau Public Library glows purple on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022. (Photo by Bridget Dowd/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/24PurpleLights.mp3 On a foggy Sunday night in Juneau, the corner of Ferry Way and Marine Way is made eerie by a violet glow coming from a nearby street light. It’s just one of several li…

A Maloja Snake or naagáas’ cloud formation over downtown Juneau at dawn on Aug. 26, 2021. (Image captured from SnowCloud Services webcam) In the 2014 film “Clouds of Sils Maria,” the climax of the story features a scene in the Swiss Alps where the two lead actresses, Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche, hike up high in the mountains to witness an …

The 1958-1959 girls’ high school rifle club poses for a yearbook photo in the basement of Harborview. (Courtesy of Karleen Grummett) As part of KTOO’s Curious Juneau project, a listener asked: “Was there really a gun range in the basement of Harborview Elementary School?” The short answer is yes. It was there for decades, and there are plenty of pe…