Alaska

Multiple small avalanches release in Juneau after city issues evacuation advisory

Published

2 months ago

January 9, 2026

Multiple small avalanches release in Juneau after city issues evacuation advisory

Ezra Strong in front of the Behrends slide path on Friday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Photo by Alix Soliman/KTOO)

Two small avalanches released on a slide path of Mount Juneau, above the Behrends neighborhood, as Ezra Strong was on a walk this morning in the pouring rain.

The city issued an evacuation advisory about an hour earlier for Juneau residents in all known slide paths downtown and along Thane Road. Strong and his wife live on Gruening Avenue with their dog. He said he’s not heeding the advisory.

“I think in part because we’re a little bit protected by a rock wall and some other things behind us, in part because we have seen slides come down before on the main slide path that didn’t even get close to us,” he said.

During an online press conference Friday morning, the City & Borough of Juneau’s new Avalanche Advisor John Bressette said that many small slides reduce the hazard by decreasing the amount of snow that could be released in a larger slide.

“So it’s actually a good thing that we’re seeing smaller slides reducing the total snow load that is capable of producing an avalanche,” Bressette said.

Some avalanches released above the Flume Trail today. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities confirmed numerous small avalanches along Thane Road this morning. The agency expects more avalanches this evening since the forecast shows continued heavy rainfall, strong winds and warming temperatures. The closure of Thane Road could be extended multiple days.

A slide coming off Mt. Juneau down Chop Gully above the flume in the Basin Road area on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (Photo by Mikko Wilson/KTOO)

Some residents of the Behrends neighborhood have evacuated to friends’ houses or Centennial Hall, the official shelter set up by the city and the American Red Cross.

Carlos Cadiente lives kitty-corner from Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé in the Behrends slide path. He evacuated at around 11:30 a.m. in one vehicle while his wife drove behind in another. At a stop sign, he told KTOO they were headed to a friend’s house just down the street.

“We already had a go bag going and we already had the cars loaded up and ready to roll, and so we’re rolling,” Cadiente said.

He said this is the first time they’ve heeded an avalanche evacuation advisory in the decades they’ve lived here.

“It’s kind of an extreme measure, you know, extreme weather that we’ve had,” he said. “So we’re just kind of trying to be proactive and not be a problem,” he said.

Britt Tonnessen is the community disaster program manager for the Red Cross of Alaska in Southeast. In coordination with the city, the Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at Centennial Hall downtown for residents on Friday.

At the shelter on Friday morning, she said the Red Cross has been preparing for the last week in case of an evacuation.

“We’ve seen multiple fatal landslides and avalanches in the past decade,” she said. “Evacuating to a congregate shelter is not people’s dream idea. It’s a safe place to go. We do the best to meet the needs and we have incredible, loving, warm volunteers to meet people.”

Tonnessen said that anyone from avalanche zones, as well as those who feel the load on their roof is becoming too heavy, are welcome at the shelter.

She said they are prepared to take 150 people, and around 30 people signed in by the early afternoon.

Avalanche, weather and road conditions are expected to worsen this evening.

KTOO reporter Clarise Larson contributed to this report.

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Alaska

Alaska accepts ballots that arrive after Election Day. This case could end that.

Published

4 hours ago

March 24, 2026

Press Room

Alaska accepts ballots that arrive after Election Day. This case could end that.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to rule in favor of the Republican National Committee that all ballots must be received on Election Day to be counted.

In a case argued Monday, the RNC challenges a Mississipi law that allows ballots postmarked on or before Election Day to arrive up to five days later.

Alaska accepts postmarked ballots that arrive up to 10 days after Election Day – 15 days if mailed from overseas. And, for Alaska, the implications of the Supreme Court ruling could extend beyond mailed ballots.

The RNC case could be consequential for the midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. While people of both parties vote by mail, more permissive rules for it are perceived to help Democrats, especially since President Trump rails against the practice.

U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer argued that counting ballots that arrive late violates the federal law that sets the Tuesday following the first Monday of November as Election Day for the whole country.

“All ballots have to be received and the ballot box has to close on Election Day,” he said.

In Alaska’s last general election, more than 50,000 ballots arrived by mail. The Division of Elections couldn’t immediately say how many of those arrived in the 10 days after Election Day but it appears to be many thousand.

Sometimes, even Alaska ballots cast in person on Election Day aren’t received the same day. The village of Atqasuk , on the North Slope, tried to phone in its 2024 election results but couldn’t get through to the Division of Elections. The mailed ballots arrived nine days later.

Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox cited the Atqasuk episode in a friend-of-court brief he filed in the Mississippi case.

“Alaska asks this Court to consider how its rule here will apply in all States—including Alaska, where ‘receiving’ a ballot isn’t always as simple as walking to a precinct or driving a few hours to pick up a ballot box,” he wrote.

Pat Redmond, co-president of the Alaska League of Women Voters, said Alaska has a secure process for mailed ballots. She believes the current deadline is fair and allows remote places necessary time to deliver their ballots.

“Not every place has electronic transmission,” said Redmond, who has also served as an election worker. If all ballots have to be in on Election Day “then those people, their ballots don’t count, and that’s disenfranchising people.”

Attorney Scott Stewart, defending Mississippi’s ballot deadline, told the justices that it’s wrong for the Trump administration to suggest that late-arriving ballots are subject to fraud.

“Obviously, they’ve sounded the anti-fraud theme,” Stewart said. “They haven’t cited a single example of fraud from post-Election Day ballot receipts.”

Late-counted ballots have swung several statewide contests in Alaska.

•The 2020 ballot measure creating Alaska’s ranked choice voting system and open primaries was losing on election night but ultimately won.

•Post-Election Day counts gave Sen. Lisa Murkowski the lead over challenger Kelly Tshibaka in 2022, and Murkowski’s lead grew further after second- and third-choice votes were tallied.

•In 2024, a measure to repeal ranked choice voting was ahead on election night but narrowly lost in later counts.

Late-counted ballots typically include an unknown number of ballots that arrived before Election Day, too. Still, despite no evidence of wrongdoing, supporters of the losing campaign have sometimes alleged fraud.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the Mississippi case this summer. An attorney for the Republican National Committee told the justices a June ruling would allow states to change their ballot rules in time for the November election.

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Alaska

Polar bear undergoes root canal at Alaska Zoo

Published

16 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

Polar bear undergoes root canal at Alaska Zoo

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (InvestigateTV) — Staff at the Alaska Zoo performed a root canal on one of its polar bears after the bear broke a canine tooth.

Kova, 4, shares an enclosure with another polar bear named Cranbeary. The two have toys, treats and a large pool where Kova likes to take her morning swim.

Curator Sam Lavin noticed something was wrong when Kova’s behavior changed.

“Kova is a very interactive and busy bear and she just seemed kind of off. She was pawing at her mouth a little bit,” Lavin said.

Lavin suspected a tooth issue and asked Kova to open her mouth for a closer look.

“We could see that she had broken one of her canines and there’s any number of ways she could have done that,” Lavin said.

An X-ray confirmed the diagnosis. Zoo staff consulted with a veterinary specialist outside Alaska, sent the X-rays and received advice on how to proceed.

“We went with a local doctor to do the work,” Lavin said.

An endodontist who normally operates on humans was part of the large team that performed the root canal on the fully sedated 450-pound bear.

“Everybody knew ahead of time what their role was and what to do and where to be and it was so well planned out and everybody worked so well together,” Lavin said.

The procedure went smoothly.

“She feels so much better,” Lavin said.

The zoo said Kova quickly recovered and is back with her playmate Cranbeary.