Newscasts

KNBA NEWSCAST: Wednesday, October 7, 2026

KNBA | By Rhonda McBride

Published October 7, 2026 at 10:45 AM AKDT

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Thomkins talks with voter Tarn Coffey at a candidate meet-and-greet in Anchorage on July 20, 2026.

KNBA’s Top Stories:

FUNDRAISING. In the governor’s race, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss Tomkins has a big lead in fundraising.

(Left to Right) Christina Eubanks, executive director of Hillcrest Children's Center, Pastor Emily Carroll of First United Methodist Church and Kayla Petersen, executive director of 3 Elements Educare, stand near a mural at the church on Sept. 22, 2026. — *(Left to Right)* Christina Eubanks, executive director of Hillcrest Children's Center, Pastor Emily Carroll of First United Methodist Church and Kayla Petersen, executive director of 3 Elements Educare, stand near a mural at the church on Sept. 22, 2026.

ANCHORAGE CHILDCARE. Childcare centers in Alaska have struggled for years, with rising costs and tight margins forcing many to close. But as Alaska Public Media’s Wesley Early reports, a group of Anchorage providers have teamed up to share services.

A poster in Juneau’s Dimond Courthouse on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, advises anti-flu measures.

FLU SEASON. Masks at the grocery store and people calling in sick: All signs that flu cases are on the rise in Alaska. Public health experts say the flu season is off to an early start this year.

The Pacific Storm, a 104-foot trawler homeported in Kodiak, fishes pollock in the Gulf of Alaska. It also tenders for salmon during the summer.

BYCATCH SERIES, PART 2. Bycatch from factory trawlers is the hot topic this political season, with candidates staking positions on a controversial industry and its impact on Alaska’s salmon runs. In the first part of her series, Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin went to the Kuskokwim River to look at the Alaska Native subsistence side of the bycatch debate. In Part 2, she takes us to Kodiak, for the commercial fisheries perspective.