Wire Service

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia during a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. President Trump is pushing to end the war in Ukraine, but analysts say the Russian leader could turn a hastily-planned meeting to his advantage. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

Trump to meet Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage

Trump was expected to make what amounted to a day trip to Alaska to meet with Putin.

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia during a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. President Trump is pushing to end the war in Ukraine, but analysts say the Russian leader could turn a hastily-planned meeting to his advantage. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
Photo courtesy Jeff Lund 
The author’s wife with a Dolly Varden.

I Went to the Woods: The fly fishing ecosystem

Anyone who didn’t drop rent on a single rod on their first trip into a fly shop remembers their own journey to the top tier of fly rod technology

Photo courtesy Jeff Lund 
The author’s wife with a Dolly Varden.
Sailors participate in the commissioning ceremony for U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreaker Storis, on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Image courtesy the Office of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan)

U.S. Coast Guard adds icebreaker to fleet for first time in 25 years

Federal officials see the refurbished ship Storis as the first of many new additions and a statement of sovereignty in the Arctic under the Trump administration

Sailors participate in the commissioning ceremony for U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreaker Storis, on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Image courtesy the Office of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan)
In this June 23, 2016, photo, the Alaska Marine Highway ferry Matanuska passes Eagle Glacier. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: The Cascade Point subsidy Dunleavy is trying to hide

Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants us to think he’s doing it to improve ferry service between Juneau, Haines and Skagway

In this June 23, 2016, photo, the Alaska Marine Highway ferry Matanuska passes Eagle Glacier. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Alexander Dolitsky, left, and Russian Ambassador Yuri Dubinin, right, in spring of 1990 at the University of Alaska Southeast library. (Photo courtesy Alexander Dolitsky)

Opinion: Why the West provoked and prolongs the Russia-Ukraine war

The West never stopped its Cold War policies of undermining USSR/Russia

Alexander Dolitsky, left, and Russian Ambassador Yuri Dubinin, right, in spring of 1990 at the University of Alaska Southeast library. (Photo courtesy Alexander Dolitsky)
KTOO, Juneau’s public radio station, is photographed in Juneau, Alaska, on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Opinion: Alaska’s public media is under threat. Together, we can save it.

Public media is more than just news — it’s essential community infrastructure serving Alaska’s towns and villages

KTOO, Juneau’s public radio station, is photographed in Juneau, Alaska, on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at an event at the White House in Washington, Aug. 7, 2025. Airstrikes on Ukraine by Russia on Friday came the day that President Trump’s deadline expired for Russia’s leader to agree to end the war. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

Trump says he will meet with Putin in Alaska next week

The meeting comes as he tries to secure a deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine

President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at an event at the White House in Washington, Aug. 7, 2025. Airstrikes on Ukraine by Russia on Friday came the day that President Trump’s deadline expired for Russia’s leader to agree to end the war. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)
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Community calendar for Aug. 9, 2025

Submissions to this calendar can be sent to editor@juneauempire.com. They should include the date, time, location, short summary of the event, a website and/or social… Continue reading

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Police calls, July 31-Aug. 6

This report contains public information available to the Empire from law enforcement and public safety agencies. This report includes arrest and citation information, not conviction… Continue reading

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Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo
The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14, 2025.

Ships in port, Aug. 9-13

This information comes from the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska’s 2025 schedule. Capacity figures in parenthesis were pulled from cruise lines’ websites. Saturday, Aug. 9… Continue reading

Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo
The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14, 2025.
The author’s father, “Tatay,” and mother are seen in this undated image. (Image courtesy Gina Del Rosario)

Living and Growing: Our Father

Tatay taught us, mostly, not by words, but by how he lived his life

The author’s father, “Tatay,” and mother are seen in this undated image. (Image courtesy Gina Del Rosario)
A meter stick laid alongside the damaged petroglyph rock shows the size of the stone. (Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service)

Officials respond to vandalism that damaged a petroglyph rock at Wrangell beach site

A petroglyph rock was found split in half last month

A meter stick laid alongside the damaged petroglyph rock shows the size of the stone. (Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service)
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, listen to a question asked at a news conference held Tuesday at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium headquarters in Anchorage. At the event, which was part of Kennedy’s itinerary during his Alaska trip, the secretary made several claims about vaccines that are disputed by medical experts. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

US Sec. Kennedy, in Alaska trip, repeats doubts of vaccines, while promising new ‘universal vaccine’

Comments follow the secretary’s decision to axe funding for mRNA vaccine development

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, listen to a question asked at a news conference held Tuesday at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium headquarters in Anchorage. At the event, which was part of Kennedy’s itinerary during his Alaska trip, the secretary made several claims about vaccines that are disputed by medical experts. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Three Alaska Marine Highway System ferries are docked at its headquarters in Ketchikan as the Columbia arrives on July 16. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire)

Opinion: Juneau needs new ferry terminal like it needs a hole in a boat

What’s the rush to spend money designing a project that may never get built — that shouldn’t get built

Three Alaska Marine Highway System ferries are docked at its headquarters in Ketchikan as the Columbia arrives on July 16. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire)
The Alaska Capitol is photographed Friday, July 11, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire)

Special session continues in almost-empty Alaska Capitol building

Most state legislators have left Juneau and aren’t scheduled to meet again until Aug. 19 due to differences over the agenda

The Alaska Capitol is photographed Friday, July 11, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire)
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Community Calendar for Aug. 6, 2025

Submissions to this calendar can be sent to editor@juneauempire.com. They should include the date, time, location, short summary of the event, a website and/or social… Continue reading

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Denali, the tallest mountain in the United States, is seen in this undated photo. (Denali National Park and Preserve photo)

Driver dies after hitting a moose near Denali National Park

The National Park Service said it was investigating the crash

Denali, the tallest mountain in the United States, is seen in this undated photo. (Denali National Park and Preserve photo)
Alaska National Guard courtesy photo
Multiple homes and roads are seen inundated in the Mendenhall Glacier Basin following an Aug. 6, 2024, outburst flood from the Mendenhall Glacier.

Alaskans work to analyze and reduce risks of glacial outburst flooding

As residents of Juneau use new information to gird for near-annual floods, scientists are studying glacier dynamics to better understand what the future holds

Alaska National Guard courtesy photo
Multiple homes and roads are seen inundated in the Mendenhall Glacier Basin following an Aug. 6, 2024, outburst flood from the Mendenhall Glacier.
A flying bat shows its extended hand and fingers of its “hand-wing.” (Photo by Bob Armstrong/courtesy)

On the Trails: Bats in the belfry

There are now six species of bat known to be resident in Southeast

A flying bat shows its extended hand and fingers of its “hand-wing.” (Photo by Bob Armstrong/courtesy)
Humpback whales bubblenet feed in Saginaw Channel on July 18, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Chloe Anderson/Juneau Empire)

Weekly Wonder: Bubblenet feeding shows the humanity in humpback whales

Bubblenet feeding is a complex cooperative behavior handed down from one generation of whales to the next

Humpback whales bubblenet feed in Saginaw Channel on July 18, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Chloe Anderson/Juneau Empire)