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Second season of grantee investigation digs into housing crunch in small Alaska town

The new White Pass complex will house up to 20 people with individual rooms, and two kitchen/living areas per floor. (Munson/KHNS)

KHNS, the NPR affiliate in the Alaska panhandle, is airing a second season of Molly McCluskey’s award-winning series examining how the cruise-ship industry created a housing crunch in a tiny Alaska town. With support from the Fund, McCluskey dug into changes to local housing in the aftermath of the first season – and found that, while some important steps have been taken to provide stable housing, many local residents are still struggling. The series focuses on the town of Skagway, which has about 1,000 residents but sees 1.4 million tourists a year, mostly from large cruise lines.