Curious Juneau

Somehow, we found a Clemson economist who studies competition between gas stations.

Over the years, several Curious Juneau listeners have asked where Juneau’s recycling goes. A few even wonder if it’s really getting reused, or if some of it ends up in a landfill.

A listener asked KTOO what the local mountains’ original Lingít names are. For this installment of Curious Juneau, Yvonne Krumrey spoke with Lingít educators to find out. 

“It's a major footprint. And then we also have people who work for the Coast Guard who are not active duty,” she said. “It does end up being a significant economic driver in the community.”

In the late '90s Juneau had two Taco Bells. But by the early 2000s they were both gone.

Some Juneau residents have noticed street lights with a purple glow popping up around town. A KTOO listener asked why.

A Curious Juneau listener wrote in saying they'd witnessed a snake-like cloud forming along the Gastineau Channel and wondered if there are any Lingít stories or a Lingít name for this cloud feature.

The short answer is yes. It was there for decades, and there are plenty of people still around in Juneau who remember it.

One Curious Juneau listener has noticed janky-looking rafts and unnatural pits proliferating in recent years at his go-to fishing spot. So we asked one of the raft owners what they’re up to.

Sure it's small, but is it the smallest? When inside, do you shop clockwise or counterclockwise? And what's up with ToshCo in Gustavus?

The plan is for volunteers this summer to prune some encroaching vegetation, and to plant spruce seedlings in the footprint of the peace sign. Eventually, they expect the spruce will outgrow and contrast with the existing alders on the hillside.

Professional ticket reselling is rare for events in Juneau. A longtime local event organizer says the nine-time Grammy Award winner's upcoming concert in Juneau has caused the biggest stir she can think of.

Theodolites, semaphore, trigonometry and some "Big Lebowski" references — everything you wanted to know about the peace sign and a few things you didn't.

They've been gone for about four years. The system was originally installed by a private downtown bank in the 1960s.

How did the Red Dog Saloon come to have an antique Smith & Wesson No. 3 mounted behind the bar — and did it really belong to Wyatt Earp? Curious Juneau tries to find out.