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Trainer Marcia Hinton pets Lolita, a captive orca whale, during a performance at the Miami Seaquarium in Miami, March 9, 1995. An unlikely coalition made up of a theme park owner, an animal rights group, a mayor and a philanthropist who owns an NFL team announced Thursday, March 30, 2023, that a plan is in place to return Lolita — an orca that has lived in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium for more than 50 years — to its home waters in the Pacific Northwest. (Nuri Vallbona / Miami Herald)

News

How to release a long-captive orca?

An ambitious plan was announced last week to return a killer whale long held captive to her home.

Death Notices

Death Notice: Leonard Sims Sr.

Leonard Sims Sr., 72, a longtime Juneau resident, died on March 31, 2023. A full obituary will follow…

This photo taken along the Rainforest Trail shows adventitious shoots on a red alder. (Mary F. Willson / For the Juneau Empire)

News

On the Trails: Roots, shoots, tumors and bone spurs

Adventitious adventures.

An ice-covered ConocoPhillips sign is displayed at the Colville-Delta 5, or as it's more commonly known, CD5, drilling site on Alaska's North Slope, Feb. 9, 2016. Construction can proceed related to a major oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope after a federal judge on Monday, April 3, 2023, rejected requests to halt work until challenges to the Biden administration’s recent approval are resolved. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen)

News

Alaska oil plan opponents lose 1st fight over Willow project

Judge said the groups did not succeed in showing it would cause irreparable harm before she makes a…

Letters to the Editor

Opinion: An attack on our courts is an attack on our democracy

Our founding fathers set up our three branches of government to be independent of each other. Now some…

T

Letters to the Editor

Opinion: Lead levels in Hawk Inlet unsurprising

I have read with interest the recent articles on the Greens Creek Mine and the tidelands sampling in…

Ed Sniffen, former acting attorney general for Alaska, appears in an Anchorage courtroom for an evidentiary hearing on Jan. 5, 2023. Sniffen was indicted in September 2022 on three felony charges of sexual abuse of a minor in 1991. On Friday, March 31, 2023, a judge dismissed the sex abuse case against Sniffen, citing the statute of limitations in place when the alleged abuse happened over 30 years earlier. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News)

News

Sex abuse case against ex-Alaska attorney general thrown out

A judge cited the statute of limitations in dismissing the case.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion

Opinion: Building cross-border trust means cleaning up the Tulsequah Chief

Why does unacceptable toxic discharge into the Taku watershed continue?

People queue with their cars at a gas station in Frankfurt, Germany, on Aug. 31, 2022, the last day when the government's fuel prize discount is in effect. Major oil-producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia have said they're throttling back supplies of crude — again. And this time, the decision to cut back was a surprise that is underlining worries about where the global economy might be headed. (AP Photo / Michael Probst)

News

Oil producers’ cuts could boost gasoline prices, help Russia

Here are key things to know about the cutbacks…

This map shows the location of the Willow oil-drilling project in Alaska’s Western Arctic, which the Biden administration approved March 13. (Associated Press)

News

Willow-related construction allowed as lawsuits play out

ConocoPhillips Alaska can forge ahead with cold-weather construction work.

The sun partially sines on the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in February. The center will be closed for most of April for seasonal staff training and to prepare the center for summer visitors. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

News

Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center to be closed for most of April

Closure allows prep for summer.

(Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion

Opinion: Alaska ferries take on more water

A satirical My Turn for April Fool’s Day.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

News

Police calls for Thursday, April 1, 2023

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

This March 28, 2023, photo shows Bruce Boolowon, left, posing with Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, the adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, during a ceremony in Gambell, Alaska. Saxe presented Alaska Heroism Medals to Boolowon, the last surviving guardsman who helped rescue 11 Navy crewmen after they crash landed on St. Lawrence Island on June 22, 1955, and to the family members of 15 other guardsman who are now deceased. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen)

News

Alaska Native Scouts honored 67 years after rescuing Navy crew

“I’m glad we did our duty as a guardsman.”

(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion

Opinion: Dunleavy is punting tax hikes to his successor

It’s a rare thing in American politics when a Republican proposes new or increased taxes. But last week,…

(Left to right): Britt Smith, President of the National Engineering Society, Floyd Dryden Middle School team members: Tyler Oudekerk, Caden Morris, Dan Degener, FDMS Coach Alan Degener and State Mathcounts Coordinator Clark Milne. FDMS team receiving their second place trophies at the state Mathcounts tournament in Fairbanks on March 25.

News

Local mathletes make trip to Fairbanks count

The Floyd Dryden Mathcounts team recently placed second in the state Mathcounts competition.

A raven scans the horizon. Ravens are one of several animals known to gather together when resting at night. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

News

Raven roosts shrouded in mystery

As the sun set and the sky dimmed, the birds kept coming.

Áakʼw Ḵwáan spokesperson Fran Houston addresses a crowd of people during a blessing ceremony on Friday at Marine Park as part of the Kootéeyaa Deiyí (Totem Pole Trail) that will run along the downtown Juneau waterfront. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

Neighbors

PHOTOS: Blessing held at grounds of Kootéeyaa Deiyí

Ceremony held at future site of Totem Pole Trail.

Vera Metcalf stands on Wednesday by a chunk of sea ice transported from Utqiagvik and displayed at the Arctic Encounter Symposium. The melting ice, which started at 310 pounds, symbolizes the rapid climate change that is weaking the Arctic ice pack, with profound implications for ecosystems, communties and cultures. (Photo by Yereth Rosen / Alaska Beacon)

News

Sea ice, critical to ecosystems and communities, looms large at Alaska conference

Suspended in netting in a downtown Anchorage building is a potent symbol of Arctic climate change: a chunk…

Page Bridges (Courtesy Photo)

Neighbors

Living & Growing: The miracle of life

The kingdom of God is here. Now.