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Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, speaks during a House of Representatives floor session on Tuesday. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

News

Local lawmakers hoping for bipartisan, strong majority

The governor’s late budget is a factor in the standstill.

A man with camping gear walks by City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. Leaders of organizations addressing homelessness have expressed concerns about how state budget cuts will affect their funding for the homeless. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Budget cuts could damage local efforts to battle homelessness

Large cuts are expected.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivers the State of the State address on Jan. 22, 2019 in the Alaska Capitol. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Legislators brace for unknowns of Dunleavy’s budget

The budget comes out Wednesday.

Angelica Curtis and her son Jonathan are shown in this recent photograph. (Courtesy photo | Curtis family)

News

Custody case goes before Supreme Court

The case connects to the Legislature as well.

Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, receives a kiss from his daughter, Adara, before Kiehl is sworn in on the first day of the 31st Session of the Alaska Legislature on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

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Juneau senator proposes first legislation

It continues a theme from his days on Juneau’s Assembly.

Young marijuana plants grow indoors under lights at the Fireweed Factory in Juneau on Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

News

Juneau marijuana sellers have biggest year yet

The numbers are in.

Harris Harbor on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. David Little, 67, who lived aboard the boat Quality Time, was found dead in the water next to his boat in Harris Harbor on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Man found dead in Harris Harbor after apparent fall

He lived aboard his boat in the harbor.

Andy Jones, Director of the Department of Health and Social Services’ Office of Substance Misuse, right, speak about the fiscal impacts of the opioids on the state along with Michael Duxbury, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, center, and Laura Brooks, Director of Health and Rehabilitation for the Department of Corrections, in front of the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

The opioid crisis costs Alaska more than $1B per year, and it’s going to keep being costly

The cost of an epidemic.

Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, left, asks a question of Attorney General Kevin Clarkson about Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s four crime bills as Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Wasilla, listens at the Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Senators open to public comment on crime bills

The bills aim to ‘reset the stage’ for addressing crime rates.

Amanda Price, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, right, watches as Kathryn Monfreda, bureau chief of the Department of Public Safety’s Division of Statewide Services, presents the Uniform Crime Reporting Annual Report to House members during an informational meeting at the Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Crime data will be much more accurate under new system

Costs to municipal agencies remain unknown.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Wasilla, listens to Attorney General Kevin Clarkson speak about Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s four crime bills at the Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Ethics restrictions too broad, some lawmakers say

They believe the intentions of the law are good.

House Speaker Jim Duncan, D-Juneau, confers with Majority Leader Russ Meekins on Feb. 3, 1981, after the 22-day gridlock over House organization was broken late the previous afternoon following a series of parliamentary maneuvers. (Mark Kelley | Juneau Empire File)

News

Key legislator in 1981 House gridlock offers advice for current reps

The two are quite different sessions.

Fireworks are set off as hundreds of Juneau residents attend a candlelight vigil at Mayor Bill Overstreet Park on Friday, Feb. 1, 2019, in 8-degree weather for the Guardian medical flight crew that went missing this week. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Community pays respect to those aboard missing plane

Hundreds showed up.

Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority is looking at all options in the sale of the subport land along Juneau downtown waterfront on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

News

Mental Health Trust preparing to sell subport property

City officials are looking forward to the sale.

The wall of the Red Chris tailings pond is a little less than 350 feet, or about the height of a 35-story building. It follows the same design as the Mount Polley tailings dam, which broke in 2014, sending 24 million cubic meters of toxic mine tailings into the Fraser River watershed. It is designed, however, to hold 305 million cubic meters of mine waste — seven times more than Mount Polley. Both mines are owned by Imperial Metals. (Courtesy Photo | Garth Lenz via Salmon State)

News

Could Canadian mine be cautionary tale for Southeast?

Experts weigh in on environmental and economic hazards.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, left, listens as Attorney General Kevin Clarkson describes three constitutional amendments that would be a foundation of his administration’s fiscal plan during a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Dunleavy amendments look to shift power away from lawmakers

It will be tough to get enough support for them.

State sues opioid manufacturer, alleging willful deception

News

State sues opioid manufacturer, alleging willful deception

It’s the country’s leading opioid producer.

Woman indicted for bringing meth, heroin on flight to Juneau

News

Woman indicted for bringing meth, heroin on flight to Juneau

She had other drug-related items as well.

Rep. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, center, speaks from a panel of the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission during a listening session at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

To repeal or not? Statewide crime commission hoping for feedback on SB 91

We know where the governor stands.

Father of deceased Kotzebue girl among Dunleavy’s new appointments

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Father of deceased Kotzebue girl among Dunleavy’s new appointments

A few locals have new statewide seats.