Mark Sabbatini

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The Columbia docks at the terminal in Haines while in service previously. (Geraldine Young / Alaska DOTPF)

Columbia cancels sailings for at least a week due to repairs

Mechanical issue on aging ferry affects stops between Haines and Bellingham

The Columbia docks at the terminal in Haines while in service previously. (Geraldine Young / Alaska DOTPF)
Uhtred Permanentfundsen, the “defender of the Permanent Fund,” occupies a shelf near the head of the table in the Senate Finance Committee room at the Alaska State Capitol. The committee was responsible for adding to the state budget the formula being used to calculate this year’s Permanent Fund dividend, which is estimated to be $1,304. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)

This year’s PFD is a budget-balancing $1,304. Is this the new normal?

Dunleavy OKs lower dividend despite originally seeking a $3,800 “statutory” payout.

Uhtred Permanentfundsen, the “defender of the Permanent Fund,” occupies a shelf near the head of the table in the Senate Finance Committee room at the Alaska State Capitol. The committee was responsible for adding to the state budget the formula being used to calculate this year’s Permanent Fund dividend, which is estimated to be $1,304. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference in April focusing on the budget and a long-range fiscal plan for the state. He signed the budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 on Sunday, but did not publicly announce the signing or line-item vetoes made — including cutting in half an increase to public education spending — until Monday. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Dunleavy vetoes half of education increase as he signs budget

Governor cuts $200 million in capital projects, other spending from bill passed by Legislature

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference in April focusing on the budget and a long-range fiscal plan for the state. He signed the budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 on Sunday, but did not publicly announce the signing or line-item vetoes made — including cutting in half an increase to public education spending — until Monday. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
A notice about the arrival of summer is posted outside the entrance to Sitʼ Eeti Shaanáx̱ - Glacier Valley Elementary School. The school’s principal told the Juneau Board of Education last Tuesday there was a 55% “chronically absent” rate during the past school year. (Juneau Empire File)

A local principal says more than half the students were chronically absent. Is that cause for alarm?

District officials seek causes, solutions and context of absenteeism, which is also high nationally

A notice about the arrival of summer is posted outside the entrance to Sitʼ Eeti Shaanáx̱ - Glacier Valley Elementary School. The school’s principal told the Juneau Board of Education last Tuesday there was a 55% “chronically absent” rate during the past school year. (Juneau Empire File)
Hannahadina Kuhnert leads a music procession outside the Mendenhall Valley Public Library on Saturday during a Juneteenth celebration where participants heard the history of the June 19 holiday and made their own musical instruments. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Juneteenth also marks a day of liberty for local tribal members

June 19 is Tlingit & Haida Day as well as a national holiday celebrating the end of slavery

Hannahadina Kuhnert leads a music procession outside the Mendenhall Valley Public Library on Saturday during a Juneteenth celebration where participants heard the history of the June 19 holiday and made their own musical instruments. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The Hōkūle‘a arrives in Auke Bay on June 11, where it was welcomed by hundreds of Juneau residents and tribal leaders. The wind-powered traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe departed Juneau at about 4:15 a.m. Sunday to begin a scheduled 47-month global voyage. The originally scheduled start of the trip was delayed from Thursday due to poor weather. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Hōkūle‘a calmly departs Juneau for 47-month voyage

Traditional Polynesian canoe sets sail at 4:15 a.m. Sunday after weather delays original launch

The Hōkūle‘a arrives in Auke Bay on June 11, where it was welcomed by hundreds of Juneau residents and tribal leaders. The wind-powered traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe departed Juneau at about 4:15 a.m. Sunday to begin a scheduled 47-month global voyage. The originally scheduled start of the trip was delayed from Thursday due to poor weather. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Jesse Stringer, a former worker in Coeur Alaska’s Kensington mine competes in the jackleg drilling competition Saturday during the 31st annual Juneau Gold Rush Days. The event in Douglas at Savikko Park is scheduled to continue with logging competitions on Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

An old-time heavy metal festival for all ages

Juneau Gold Rush Days sings “Happy Birthday” to axe-wielding woman, lets kids do some heavy lifting

Jesse Stringer, a former worker in Coeur Alaska’s Kensington mine competes in the jackleg drilling competition Saturday during the 31st annual Juneau Gold Rush Days. The event in Douglas at Savikko Park is scheduled to continue with logging competitions on Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
About 30 people take off from the starting line at the Ben Blackgoat Memorial Run on Saturday morning at the base of Perseverance Trail. The race, named after a Juneau teenage who died in an accident on the trail, was the first by the Juneau Trail and Road Runners since it officially added a nonbinary category for participants. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

A very ordinary, yet extraordinary race for a like-minded teen

Ben Blackgoat Memorial Run first after host adds nonbinary category, but thoughts stay with namesake

About 30 people take off from the starting line at the Ben Blackgoat Memorial Run on Saturday morning at the base of Perseverance Trail. The race, named after a Juneau teenage who died in an accident on the trail, was the first by the Juneau Trail and Road Runners since it officially added a nonbinary category for participants. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Courtesy Photo / Alaska State Council on the Arts A “Whale’s Tail” license plate by Juneau artist Crystal Worl is among six semi-finalists in a statewide contest open to public voting until July 31. The winner will be announced Aug. 26 at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer and available afterward for purchase at DMVs statewide through 2027.

Worl among six contenders in artistic license plate contest

Juneau artist who designed Alaska Airlines “Salmon People” plane now sets sights on Alaska’s vehicles

Courtesy Photo / Alaska State Council on the Arts A “Whale’s Tail” license plate by Juneau artist Crystal Worl is among six semi-finalists in a statewide contest open to public voting until July 31. The winner will be announced Aug. 26 at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer and available afterward for purchase at DMVs statewide through 2027.
Volunteers reset a gravel pile during the men’s hand mucking event of Juneau Gold Rush Days in Savikko Park on June 18, 2022. This year’s events are scheduled Saturday and Sunday. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)
Capital City Weekly

New look and sound for Juneau Gold Rush Days

Weekend of traditional mining and logging events will also feature new band, bouncy house

Volunteers reset a gravel pile during the men’s hand mucking event of Juneau Gold Rush Days in Savikko Park on June 18, 2022. This year’s events are scheduled Saturday and Sunday. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)
A clock ticks away the seconds at Thunder Mountain High School on Tuesday night, where the Juneau Board of Education voted to table a proposal to shorten the school day for students by 30 minutes once a week to free up time for teachers to participate in training and other professional development activities. Some district officials opposed to the delay said it will in effect kill the proposal because the school board’s next scheduled meeting is in August, which will be too late to implement specific policy changes before the school year starts. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Shorter days for students tabled by school board

Proposal would cut 30 minutes once a week to allow teachers time for training and other activities

A clock ticks away the seconds at Thunder Mountain High School on Tuesday night, where the Juneau Board of Education voted to table a proposal to shorten the school day for students by 30 minutes once a week to free up time for teachers to participate in training and other professional development activities. Some district officials opposed to the delay said it will in effect kill the proposal because the school board’s next scheduled meeting is in August, which will be too late to implement specific policy changes before the school year starts. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
One person was killed and four medevaced out of Juneau following a two-vehicle collision on Egan Drive near Fred Meyer on Saturday afternoon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

3 people now in stable condition after two-vehicle collision; man killed in crash identified

Police say fault in crash still being determined

One person was killed and four medevaced out of Juneau following a two-vehicle collision on Egan Drive near Fred Meyer on Saturday afternoon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Runners begin the Ben Blackgoat Memorial Run on Basin Road in 2018. This year’s run will be the first where the Juneau Trail and Road Runners club has an official nonbinary category and registration will be free to nonbinary participants. (Nolin Ainsworth / Juneau Empire File)

Local running club adds nonbinary category

Juneau Trail and Road Runners to celebrate change during Ben Blackgoat Memorial Race on Saturday.

Runners begin the Ben Blackgoat Memorial Run on Basin Road in 2018. This year’s run will be the first where the Juneau Trail and Road Runners club has an official nonbinary category and registration will be free to nonbinary participants. (Nolin Ainsworth / Juneau Empire File)
A police vehicle blocks the left turn lane from Egan Drive into Yandukin Drive on Saturday after a two-vehicle collision killed one person and seriously injured four others. Changes intended to improve drivers’ line of sight when making left turns on both sides of Egan Drive are scheduled to be complete by October. But state officials said Monday more significant changes recommended in a 2021 study, including a traffic signal and an alternative detour lane, are still on hold and will likely take a long time to get through the regulatory process. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Limited safety changes planned soon at Fred Meyer intersection

Traffic light and detour route not part of upcoming work as fatal crash revives call for action

A police vehicle blocks the left turn lane from Egan Drive into Yandukin Drive on Saturday after a two-vehicle collision killed one person and seriously injured four others. Changes intended to improve drivers’ line of sight when making left turns on both sides of Egan Drive are scheduled to be complete by October. But state officials said Monday more significant changes recommended in a 2021 study, including a traffic signal and an alternative detour lane, are still on hold and will likely take a long time to get through the regulatory process. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Heidi Teshner, acting commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development, discusses proposed legislation during a House Education Committee hearing March 29. Teshner is among four Juneau residents named to a Child Care Task Force announced in April by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, which currently has 13 members and is scheduled to release a report of recommendations in July of 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)

Four Juneau residents named to governor’s Child Care Task Force

Locals say progress at community level will help with study of problems statewide.

Heidi Teshner, acting commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development, discusses proposed legislation during a House Education Committee hearing March 29. Teshner is among four Juneau residents named to a Child Care Task Force announced in April by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, which currently has 13 members and is scheduled to release a report of recommendations in July of 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)
State Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, addresses a crowd during a May 7 rally at the Alaska State Capitol calling for public employee pension reform. Kiehl received the second-highest score in an annual online survey ranking legislators released Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)

Kiehl finishes second in annual survey ranking legislators

Juneau state senator finishes behind Sen. Bill Wielechowski; Rep. Jamie Allard finishes last

State Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, addresses a crowd during a May 7 rally at the Alaska State Capitol calling for public employee pension reform. Kiehl received the second-highest score in an annual online survey ranking legislators released Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)
J. Allan MacKinnon performs his first concert in more than three years on the 1928 Kimball Theatre Pipe Organ in the Alaska State Office Building during the noon hour on Friday. Weekly concerts on the instrument were a hallmark of the building for decades, but were halted in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The inactivity left the organ unplayable until technicians from Oregon tuned and restored the instrument the week before MacKinnon’s performance. Additional concerts are scheduled weekly through August. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Kimball Theatre Pipe Organ concerts return to State Office Building

Longtime local fans and first-time visitors hear first performance in more than three years.

J. Allan MacKinnon performs his first concert in more than three years on the 1928 Kimball Theatre Pipe Organ in the Alaska State Office Building during the noon hour on Friday. Weekly concerts on the instrument were a hallmark of the building for decades, but were halted in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The inactivity left the organ unplayable until technicians from Oregon tuned and restored the instrument the week before MacKinnon’s performance. Additional concerts are scheduled weekly through August. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Annie Bartholomew plays a song from her upcoming debut album “Sisters of White Chapel” on a clawhammer banjo on a bench at Mayor Bill Overstreet Park on Thursday. The longtime local folk musician said she learned the instrument specifically for the project, and both the character of the instrument and women who played it during the Klondike Gold Rush helped inspire the mostly original songs she performs on the album. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Capital City Weekly

Musical revelations of the Klondike’s ‘White Chapel’

Annie Bartholomew’s new album shares surprising untold stories of sex workers during the gold rush

Annie Bartholomew plays a song from her upcoming debut album “Sisters of White Chapel” on a clawhammer banjo on a bench at Mayor Bill Overstreet Park on Thursday. The longtime local folk musician said she learned the instrument specifically for the project, and both the character of the instrument and women who played it during the Klondike Gold Rush helped inspire the mostly original songs she performs on the album. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File Girls teams face off on the twin courts of the main gym at Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kalé High School during the Juneau Invitational Volleyball Extravaganza on Oct. 15, 2022. A proposal being considered by the Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development to ban transgender females from participating in girls high school sports could take effect before this year’s fall sports season.

Public comment open for statewide transgender sports ban

Proposal barring transgender girls from girls’ high school sports teams to be reconsidered July 26

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File Girls teams face off on the twin courts of the main gym at Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kalé High School during the Juneau Invitational Volleyball Extravaganza on Oct. 15, 2022. A proposal being considered by the Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development to ban transgender females from participating in girls high school sports could take effect before this year’s fall sports season.
Wanda Fleming, a Juneau resident since 1973, eats dinner Wednesday with other new residents at the Riverview Senior Living complex. Fleming said she has been following the facility’s progress since she first read about it in 2021 and was among the first four residents to move in. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Riverview Senior Living complex opens

Initial group of residents and staff bond quickly, say facility helps address a critical shortage

Wanda Fleming, a Juneau resident since 1973, eats dinner Wednesday with other new residents at the Riverview Senior Living complex. Fleming said she has been following the facility’s progress since she first read about it in 2021 and was among the first four residents to move in. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)