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Good afternoon. It’s Thursday, April 16.

In today's newsletter:

The Anchorage School District is set to reverse course on changes to the 2026-27 school calendar announced last week, a move that comes after families across the district reacted with frustration.
This month, Alaska-based NANA Management Services partnered with Alaska Airlines to introduce three self-driving wheelchairs at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
Two weeks after the Trump administration announced a Forest Service “restructuring” that would close regional offices and most of the agency’s research facilities, impacts to Alaska – home to the two largest U.S. national forests – remain unclear.

For the first time, scientists have measured the instantaneous mind-blowing power of jets blasting from a black hole. An international research team also tracked the jet speed: roughly 355 million mph. Until now, a black hole’s jet power had to be averaged over tens of thousands of years. Read more about what the scientists discovered here.

Anchorage weather

It's cloudy today with a high around 43 degrees, and a mix of rain and snow is likely. The forecast calls for a wintry mix of precipitation on Friday and Saturday, followed by rain early next week.

Here’s what else is making headlines in Alaska today.

— Megan Pacer, mpacer@adn.com

Anchorage School District backtracks on plan to start 2026-27 school year a week earlier →

Instead of moving the first day of school up by one week to add three days of class to the school year, administrators have now recommended the Anchorage School Board approve putting those additional days in the fourth quarter.

Anchorage’s international airport rolls out self-driving wheelchairs →

The new technology is intended to expand airport staff’s bandwidth to work with passengers who may need more assistance. Passengers can request a free ride online through Alaska Airlines during booking or in person at a ticket counter.

Alaska Forest Service facility slated for closure amid federal restructuring →

Among the facilities on the closure list were two that are important to Alaska: the Anchorage Forestry Services Library and the Oregon-based Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland. (via Alaska Beacon)

Western Alaska hunting party rescued after being trapped on sea ice for nearly 2 days, officials say →

The U.S. Coast Guard said it rescued three adults and one child on a subsistence seal hunt about 10 miles west of Chefornak on Sunday morning after their 18-foot vessel became trapped on an ice floe.

In this U.S. hot spot for data centers, voters have turned against them →

Findings from a new Washington Post-Schar School poll come as a county in Virginia abandoned plans for one of the country’s biggest and most controversial data center projects.