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The Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore docks in Juneau in October, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

News

Ships in Port for the Week of Aug. 6

Here’s what to expect this week.

In this photo provided by the Alaska SeaLife Center, a Pacific walrus pup rests his head on the lap of a staff member after being admitted to the center’s Wildlife Response Program in Seward on Aug. 1. A walrus calf found by oil field workers in Alaska about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) inland is under 24-hour care as the Alaska SeaLife Center nurses it back to health. The male Pacific walrus was transported across the state Tuesday from the North Slope to Seward in south-central Alaska, where the Alaska SeaLife Center is based. (Kaiti Grant/Alaska SeaLife Center via AP)

News

‘Cuddling’: Just what the doctor ordered for rescued walrus calf found by North Slope oil workers

A walrus calf is being nursed back to health after being found on its own miles inland by…

A nanny and kid cool down on a patch of snow near the author. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: The (Hunting) New Year

Of all the ways to begin a new year, the agreed upon one is the least interesting.

Jurisdiction over this small plot of Juneau land, seen Jan. 20, is being disputed between the state of Alaska, the federal government and the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska asks judge to determine whether federal officials can create ‘Indian country’ on Juneau land

Lawsuit focuses on Tlingit and Haida’s 787-square-foot parcel of land downtown

Tuckerman Babcock hosts a rally in Soldotna during his campaign for state Senate in October of 2022. On Wednesday he was appointed to the University of Alaska’s Board of Regents by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Babcock has a long and controversial political history in Alaska, including illegally demanding hundreds of state employees sign loyalty oaths to Dunleavy or be fired. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion File)

News

Tuckerman Babcock resigns from UA Board of Regents after two months

Controversial former chief of staff to Gov. Dunleavy was an interim appointment

Bog blueberries Zuzana Vaneková picked when she visited Alaska recently fill a plastic container. (Photo by Zuzana Vaneková)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska blueberries are good for you. Right?

Our beloved Alaska blueberry seems to have a bad reputation in parts of Europe and Scandinavia. There, people…

Four brown bears line up at the top of the falls on the Brooks River on Sept. 6, 2021, to fish for salmon. Brooks Falls draws bears from around the region, as well as Katmai National Park and Preserve tourists who travel there to view the bear crowds. One of the two lawsuits challenging the state’s predator-control program in the Mulchatna caribou area cites signs that some of the bears normally seen at Brooks Falls may have been among the 99 bears killed in the spring campaign carried out by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. (Photo by L. Law/National Park Service)

News

Lawsuits target Alaska predator-control program that killed 99 bears in effort to boost caribou

The Board of Game-authorized program was carried out in southwestern Alaska.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

News

Police calls for Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

A statue of the Most Holy Mother Mary at the author’s home alter in Juneau. (Photo by Gina Del Rosario)

Neighbors

Living and Growing: Medjugorje, shrine of the Queen of Peace

For over 42 years now, in the quiet rural village of Medjugorje in Bosnia, Hercegovina, our Most Holy…

An empty classroom at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé in Juneau on July 20, 2022. (Photo by Lisa Phu/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska to use crowdsourcing website to distribute $2M in COVID-19 money for school supplies

Alaska public school teachers short of supplies this year have a new source to turn to for funding,…

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is seen in a screenshot of a news conference on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, in Anchorage. (Screenshot)

News

Alaska pays $350,000 to settle last wrongful-firing lawsuit from loyalty-pledge scheme

The state of Alaska has paid $350,000 to settle a four-year-old lawsuit that found Gov. Mike Dunleavy and…

A king salmon is laid out for inspection by Alaska Department of Fish and Game at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor during the Golden North Salmon Derby on Aug. 25, 2019. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion

My Turn: Decline of king salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska started many decade ago

From the reports I’ve heard about the July 1-14 commercial troll opening, the king salmon for some of…

Telephone Hill Park. (Photo courtesy of the City and Borough of Juneau)

Opinion

Opinion: Telephone Hill — an opportunity to do it right

In August of 2022, the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) Assembly passed Resolution 2999 accepting the donation…

Assembly member Michelle Bonnet Hale smiles for a photo in November 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

News

My Turn: Let’s talk about that $50,000 and City Hall

CBJ’s Assembly and administration have been receiving criticism for appropriating up to $50,000 to provide information about the…

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

News

Police calls for Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Jason Brune, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and a member of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. board of trustees, is seen during a special meeting on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska’s top environmental regulator will resign after almost five years as commissioner

Jason Brune is one of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s last remaining original cabinet picks

A sexual assault kit. (Photo from Alaska Department of Public Safety)

News

Sexual assault survivors in Alaska can now track their rape kits online

A new online tool will allow survivors to check the status of their sexual assault kits, Alaska’s Department…

Two people ride an all-terrain vehicle on Utqiagvik’s beach on Aug. 2, 2022. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska natural resources agency OKs bigger off-road vehicles on most state land

Alaskans can now use larger and heavier recreational off-road vehicles on most state land without a specialty permit,…

This is a map of the Telephone Hill area. (Courtesy / City and Borough of Juneau)

Opinion

My Turn: Telephone Hill needs caretakers, not consultants

On July 26, the City and Borough of Juneau hosted a live meeting at the old Armoury because…

The Alaska flag flies from the bow of a boat in one of Ketchikan’s small-boat harbors on July 24. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

With Alaska’s maritime heritage at risk of being lost, program seeks to preserve it

Alaska Maritime Heritage Preservation Program is open to funding projects by museums, others