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The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building in October 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

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Permanent Fund posts record earnings as lawmakers debate state deficit

Record earnings, lengthy debate.

COVID-19 cases are rising and health officials say new variants are spurring the increase, even among the vaccinated. But health officials note the majority of hospitalizations and deaths are occurring in unvaccinated people. (Michael Lockett / Juneau Empire file)

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Officials urge health diligence as COVID cases rise

Mask up indoors.

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Gabriel Katzeek, 39, works unloading supplies at the new Glory Hall facility on Teal Street in the Mendenhall Valley on Friday. The new facility opened the day before, and Katzeek said he hoped the services provided at the Glory Hall will help people get back on their feet.

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‘So far, so good’: New Glory Hall facility opens on Teal Street

Step in the right direction.

flers

News

2020 saw a decline in marriages statewide, but wedding-related businesses remain optimistic

Coming down the aisle?

Mollie Walsh, seen here in “cabinet card” photograph from 1894 at age 25 in Butte, Montana, is the subject of a biography by Art Petersen who said Walsh’s life is the story of the Klondike Gold Rush. But, Petersen said, there was quite a lot of fact to be sorted from the fictions recorded about Walsh’s life. (James Schultz / Courtesy of Richard Gibson via Art Petersen)

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Biography tries to sort fact from fiction in life of Skagway frontierswoman

‘History is a living thing.’

Tweet

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State conducts review after report links racist, antisemitic Twitter account to state lawyer

Limited ability to comment.

Chum salmon, like the kind seen here as a man examines the fish ladder at the Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc. hatchery on Channel Drive on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, have had lower returns this year according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists, even as fisheries in Bristol Bay are breaking records. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Salmon returns set records in Bristol Bay while Southeast runs struggle

Prices are up all around.

Das Kapitol

News

With deadline looming, lawmakers skeptical of work group schedule

More meetings and public testimony.

A surplus warehouse at 1325 Eastaugh Way, off Thane Road, seen here on Monday, July 19, 2021, is being considered by the City and Borough of Juneau as a possible location for a ballot-counting center should the city decide to increase its use of voting by mail in future municipal elections. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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City eyes warehouse for possible ballot-counting center

Not a cheap endeavor.

justice

News

Coalition sues to fund power subsidies for rural Alaskans

Villages, cities among plaintiffs.

Courtesy photo / Norwegian Cruise Line Large cruises ships like Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Bliss, seen here near Ketchikan in this undated photo, are returning to Alaska after being shut down due to COVID-19. Trade group Cruise Lines International Association says the industry is ready to get back to business safely.

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Cruises are coming back to Alaska prepared, industry exec says

Post-pandemic passengers.

A Juneau resident holds up a Recall Dunleavy signature collection page when the campaign first began in August, 2019, but the Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday the campaign’s application for recall was legally sufficient. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file)

News

State Supreme Court sides with recall campaign, draws Dunleavy’s ire

High court affirms superior court decision.

Rep. Jonathan Kriess-Tomkins, D-Sitka, facilitates a meeting of the newly-formed Fiscal Plan Working Group at legislative offices in Anchorage on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. The working group is meant to draft recommendations to resolve the state’s budget deficit, but some members said they wanted to see a faster pace from the group. (Courtesy photo / Joe Plesha, Alaska House Majority Coalition)

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Lawmakers say group working to solve budget woes must pick up the pace

Many more meetings.

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire A sign lets visitors know they’re in the Tongass National Forest on Thursday, July 15, 2021, the same day the Biden administration announced yet another reversal of policy over the largest national forest. Debates about the 2001 Roadless Rule are familiar in Southeast Alaska, and Thursday’s announcement prompted familiar reactions in the state.

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Conservation or constraint? Roadless Rule reversal divides Alaskans

New administration, new rules

A map of Alaska shows the number of projects throughout the state that have received grants from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy since 2009. On Tuesday, July 13, 2021, DOE announced $12 million in energy grants for 13 American Indian and Alaska Native communities, seven of which are in Alaska. (Courtesy image / U.S. Department of Energy)

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Metlakatla, Alaska Native villages to receive federal grants for energy upgrades

Upgrading the grid.

The American Constellation arrives at the cruise ship docks Monday evening. Crew members will quarantine on board he American Cruise Lines vessel following multiple reported cases of COVID-19 among the crew, according to City and Borough of Juneau. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Small cruise ship to stay at downtown docks during quarantine

Protocols in place.

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File Coeur Alaska will likely be able to expand their facilities at the Kensington Gold Mine including the Tailing Treatment Facility, seen here in this October 2019 photo, after the U.S. Forest Service announced it intends to approve the company’s proposal to extend the mine’s life by 10 years. Operations were expected to end in 2023 under a plan approved in 2005.

News

Forest Service set to approve Kensington expansion

Objections period is open.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks at a ceremony for Alaska Native Veterans from the Vietnam era at the Walter Soboleff Building in downtown Juneau on May 5, 2021. Dunleavy announced the state filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Biden administration for what Dunleavy says is illegally keeping restrictions in place on federal lands in Alaska. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

State sues feds over continuing land restrictions

Veteran lands available, DOI says.

Courtesy photo / Alaska Court System Chief Justice Daniel E. Winfree, right, is sword in by Justice Dario Borghesan in Anchorage on July 1. Winfree will take over after former Chief Justice Joel Bolger retired earlier this year.

News

State Supreme Court has new Chief Justice

Governor announces appointment to high court.

Another special legislative session is scheduled to start Aug. 2, 2021, at the Alaska State Capitol, seen here in this Empire file photo. But some lawmakers said Wednesday August may be too soon, and suggest that date may change. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

News

Fiscal working group members set lofty goals, say time is needed

Cautious optimism.