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The Columbia state ferry is the first to provide Wi-Fi service to passengers. (Alaska Marine Highway System photo)

News

AMHS debuts passenger Wi-Fi aboard Columbia, releases schedule for next summer

No cross-Gulf sailings planned until at least 2027 due to ongoing maintenance issues, officials say.

Officials prepare to move Ashley Rae Johnston from the street where she was fatally shot by police on Wednesday near the Mendenhall Valley Breeze In. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Woman with hatchet shot by police on Christmas Day has long been in ‘a very dark place,’ mother says

Ashley Rae Johnston, 30, suffered early family hardship, first lived on the streets at the age of 12.

Juneau Police Department officers close off an area around the intersection of Glacier Highway and Trout Street on Wednesday morning following an officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of a woman believed to be experiencing homelessness. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Update: Woman wielding hammer, hatchet dies in officer-involved shooting near valley Breeze In

Woman threatened person at convenience store with hammer, officers with hatchet, according to JPD

Maria Laura Guollo Martins, 22, an Eaglecrest Ski Area employee from Urussanga, Brazil, working via a J-1 student visa, helps Juneau kids make holiday decorations during the resort’s annual Christmas Eve Torchlight Parade gathering on Tuesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Foreign students working at Eaglecrest trade Christmas Eve traditions for neon lights and lasagna

26 employees from Central and South America are far from family, yet among many at Torchlight Parade.

The newly named Ka-PLOW is seen with other Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities equipment in Juneau in a video announcing the names of three local snowplows in a contest featuring more than 400 entries. (Screenshot from Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities video)

News

Newly named DOT snowplows probably won’t visit Juneau neighborhoods until after Christmas

Berminator, Salt-O-Saurus Rex, Ka-PLOW selected as winners in contest with more than 400 entries.

A bear family sculpture decorated for the holidays awaits visitors at the entrance of the DIPAC Macaulay Salmon Hatchery on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

DIPAC sounds alarm about proposal reducing Southeast hatchery pink and chum production by 25%

Backer says limits needed due to threat to wild chinook statewide; numerous similar proposals have failed.

Denali as seen in a picture distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2015 when the nation’s tallest mountain was renamed from Mount McKinley. (National Park Service photo)

News

Trump vows name of highest mountain in U.S. will be changed from Denali back to Mt. McKinley

Similar declaration by Trump in 2016 abandoned after Alaska’s U.S. senators expressed opposition.

State Rep. Sara Hannan talks with visitors outside her office at the Alaska State Capitol during the annual holiday open house hosted by Juneau’s legislative delegation on Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

A moving holiday season for Juneau’s legislators

Delegation hosts annual open house as at least two prepare to occupy better offices as majority members.

A street in a Mendenhall Valley neighborhood is closed following record flooding on Aug. 6 that damaged nearly 300 homes. (City and Borough of Juneau photo)

News

Flood district protection plan faces high barrier if enough property owners protest $6,300 payments

Eight of nine Assembly members need to OK plan if enough objections filed; at least two already have…

Bartlett Regional Hospital leaders listen to comments from residents during a forum June 13 about proposed cuts to some services, after officials said the reductions were necessary to keep the hospital from going bankrupt within a few years. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Bartlett rebounds from years of losses with profits past six months; staffing down 12% during past year

Hospital’s balance sheet shows dramatic bottom-line turnaround starting in May as services cut.

Alan Steffert, a project engineer for the City and Borough of Juneau, explains alternatives considered when assessing infrastructure improvements including utilities upgrades during a meeting to discuss a proposed fee increase Thursday night at Thunder Mountain Middle School. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Hike of more than 60% in water rates, 80% in sewer over next five years proposed by CBJ utilities

Increase needed due to rates not keeping up with inflation, officials say; Assembly will need to OK plan.

Pauline Plumb and Penny Saddler carry vegetables grown by fellow gardeners during the 29th Annual Juneau Community Garden Harvest Fair on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Dunleavy says he plans to reestablish state Department of Agriculture via executive order

Demoted to division status after statehood, governor says revival will improve food production policies.

The icebreaker originally known as the Aiviq, which arrived at a Florida shipyard about three weeks ago, is seen with a new paint job matching that of other modern Coast Guard icebreakers and the name “Storis” painted on its stern. (USCG Auxiliary Public Affairs photo)

News

First of Coast Guard’s new Polar Security Cutters likely delayed until at least 2030, U.S. House panel says

Delay means Juneau-based icebreaker may play stopgap role longer than expected.

Bartlett Regional Hospital, along with Juneau’s police and fire departments, are partnering in a new behavioral health crisis response program announced Thursday. (Bartlett Regional Hospital photo)

News

New local behavioral health crisis program using hospital, fire and police officials debuts

Mobile crisis team of responders forms five months after hospital ends crisis stabilization program.

Rep. Alyse Galvin, an Anchorage independent, takes a photo with Meadow Stanley, a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on April before they took part in a march protesting education funding from the school to the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Drops in Alaska’s student test scores and education funding follow similar paths past 20 years, study claims

Fourth graders now are a year behind their 2007 peers in reading and math, author of report asserts.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on Dec. 18, 1984. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week ending Dec. 21

Three decades of capital city coverage.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and President-elect Donald Trump (left) will be working as chief executives at opposite ends of the U.S. next year, a face constructed of rocks on Sandy Beach is seen among snow in November (center), and KINY’s prize patrol van (right) flashes its colors outside the station this summer. (Photos, from left to right, from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office, Elliot Welch via Juneau Parks and Recreation, and Mark Sabbatini via the Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau’s 10 strangest news stories of 2024

Governor’s captivating journey to nowhere, woman who won’t leave the beach among those making waves.

The city of Hoonah is seeking to incorporate as a borough with a large tract of surrounding area that includes most of Glacier Bay National Park and a few tiny communities. (Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development photo)

News

New Xunaa Borough gets OK in published decision, but opponents not yet done with challenges

State boundary commission reaffirms 3-2 vote; excluded communities likely to ask for reconsideration.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on Dec. 27, 1994. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week ending Dec. 28

Three decades of capital city coverage.

Juneau City Manager Katie Koester (left) and Mayor Beth Weldon (right) meet with residents affected by glacial outburst flooding during a break in a Juneau Assembly meeting Monday night at City Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau’s mayor gets an award, city manager gets a raise

Beth Weldon gets lifetime Alaska Municipal League honor; Katie Koester gets bonus, retroactive pay hike.