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Phyllis Marder poses with her cat, Nellie, with food she recently obtained from a local food bank in the dining room of her home in Evanston, Ill., on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. At first, Marder, 66, didn’t tell anyone about going to food pantries. Then she had a change of heart. “Keeping a secret makes things get worse,” she says ’”… and makes me feel worse about myself, and so I decided that it was more important to talk about it.” (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Pandemic pushes newly hungry Americans to crowded food lines

Millions of Americans are worried about empty refrigerators and barren cupboards.

Phyllis Marder poses with her cat, Nellie, with food she recently obtained from a local food bank in the dining room of her home in Evanston, Ill., on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. At first, Marder, 66, didn’t tell anyone about going to food pantries. Then she had a change of heart. “Keeping a secret makes things get worse,” she says ’”… and makes me feel worse about myself, and so I decided that it was more important to talk about it.” (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Ketchikan police and emergency response personnel deliver evacuation warnings to residents within a flood evacuation area that borders Ketchikan Creek, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, in Ketchikan, Alaska. Water levels were reported at 3-feet over the spillway at the Lower Ketchikan Lake dam. (Dustin Safranek / Ketchikan Daily News)

State officials say landslide danger remains after storm

Officials in Southeast Alaska have repeated warnings about possible landslide danger.

Ketchikan police and emergency response personnel deliver evacuation warnings to residents within a flood evacuation area that borders Ketchikan Creek, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, in Ketchikan, Alaska. Water levels were reported at 3-feet over the spillway at the Lower Ketchikan Lake dam. (Dustin Safranek / Ketchikan Daily News)
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Thank you letter for the week of Nov. 29

Thank you, merci, danke, gracias, gunalchéesh.

Thx
The Rev. Tari Stage-Harvey is pastor at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church. (Courtesy Photo | Tari Stage Harvey)
The Rev. Tari Stage-Harvey is pastor at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church. (Courtesy Photo | Tari Stage Harvey)
Copies of the U.S. Constitution as well as “I voted” stickers are available to voters during the Municipal Election at AEL&P on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer announced the state’s August 2020 primary would be conducted in the traditional manner and pointed to the state’s already available alternative voting options in response to COVID-19 health concerns. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Data breach should mean consequences

This administration needs to show some leadership, for once.

Copies of the U.S. Constitution as well as “I voted” stickers are available to voters during the Municipal Election at AEL&P on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer announced the state’s August 2020 primary would be conducted in the traditional manner and pointed to the state’s already available alternative voting options in response to COVID-19 health concerns. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
This photo provided by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shows damage from heavy rains and a mudslide 600 feet wide in Haines, Alaska, on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. Authorities say six people are unaccounted for, and four homes were destroyed in the slide, with the search resuming Thursday morning for survivors. (Matt Boron / Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

Governor declares a disaster for storm-damaged Southeast

Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Saturday signed a disaster declaration.

This photo provided by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shows damage from heavy rains and a mudslide 600 feet wide in Haines, Alaska, on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. Authorities say six people are unaccounted for, and four homes were destroyed in the slide, with the search resuming Thursday morning for survivors. (Matt Boron / Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
The Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: The numbers don’t lie, but people do

Newly elected legislators should be open to learning from data once in office.

The Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)
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Alaska Science Forum: Catching ‘the butcher bird’ in action

Shrikes are songbirds, but they don’t eat fruits or seeds. They are carnivores

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This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

COVID at a glance for Friday, Dec. 4

The most recent state and local numbers.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
This photo from the U.S. Coast Guard shows where a rainstorm caused landslides in Haines, Alaska, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020. Authorities have identified the two people missing after a landslide the width of two football fields slammed into the southeast Alaska community. The Coast Guard remains engaged with the Alaska State Troopers and the city of Haines while responding to this event. (Lt. Erick Oredson / U.S. Coast Guard)

Search continues for 2 missing after Haines landslide

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE — The search continued Friday for two people missing after a massive landslide crashed into a town in southeast… Continue reading

This photo from the U.S. Coast Guard shows where a rainstorm caused landslides in Haines, Alaska, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020. Authorities have identified the two people missing after a landslide the width of two football fields slammed into the southeast Alaska community. The Coast Guard remains engaged with the Alaska State Troopers and the city of Haines while responding to this event. (Lt. Erick Oredson / U.S. Coast Guard)
In this Oct. 8, 2019, file photo, protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington where the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in the first case of LGBT rights since the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.  As vice president in 2012, Joe Biden endeared himself to many LGBTQ Americans by endorsing same-sex marriage even before his boss, President Barack Obama. Now, as president-elect, Biden is making sweeping promises to LGBTQ activists, proposing to carry out virtually every major proposal on their wish lists.   (AP Photo / Susan Walsh, File)

Opinion: Now is the time to pass the Equality Act

Equality is not a Democratic or Republican value, it’s an American value.

In this Oct. 8, 2019, file photo, protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington where the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in the first case of LGBT rights since the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.  As vice president in 2012, Joe Biden endeared himself to many LGBTQ Americans by endorsing same-sex marriage even before his boss, President Barack Obama. Now, as president-elect, Biden is making sweeping promises to LGBTQ activists, proposing to carry out virtually every major proposal on their wish lists.   (AP Photo / Susan Walsh, File)
Has it always been a police car? (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire)

Police calls for Friday, Dec. 4, 2020

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

Has it always been a police car? (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire)
This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
Caribou from the Porcupine Caribou Herd migrate onto the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. The Trump Administration has paved the way for an oil and lease sale in Alaska's pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge scheduling a lease sale for Jan. 6, 2021, before the president leaves office later next month. (Courtesy Photo / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

US plans oil, gas lease sale in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to hold an oil and gas lease sale for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife… Continue reading

Caribou from the Porcupine Caribou Herd migrate onto the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. The Trump Administration has paved the way for an oil and lease sale in Alaska's pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge scheduling a lease sale for Jan. 6, 2021, before the president leaves office later next month. (Courtesy Photo / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
This photo hows damage from heavy rains and a mudslide 600 feet wide in Haines, Alaska, on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. Authorities say six people are unaccounted for, and four homes were destroyed in the slide, with the search resuming Thursday morning for survivors. (Matt Boron/Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

6 missing after landslide hits Haines neighborhood

It was one of several reported landslides after a period of intense rain.

This photo hows damage from heavy rains and a mudslide 600 feet wide in Haines, Alaska, on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. Authorities say six people are unaccounted for, and four homes were destroyed in the slide, with the search resuming Thursday morning for survivors. (Matt Boron/Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
This photo shows Vivian Mork Yeilk’ and supplies for villages in Juneau. (Courtesy Photo / Aakatchaq Shaeffer)

Planet Alaska: It takes a planet

Wooch.éen Yéi Jintuné. We Are Working Together.

This photo shows Vivian Mork Yeilk’ and supplies for villages in Juneau. (Courtesy Photo / Aakatchaq Shaeffer)
The author never saw the buck he captured on his game camera. In fact, he didn’t see many bucks at all after the first weekend of November. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went To The Woods: Is ‘my way’ overrated

It seems that plans unravel more than they unfold.

The author never saw the buck he captured on his game camera. In fact, he didn’t see many bucks at all after the first weekend of November. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
This photo of a by-mail ballot sent to an Alaska voter in October shows Ballot Measure 2. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
This photo of a by-mail ballot sent to an Alaska voter in October shows Ballot Measure 2. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Alaska State Troopers investigate a fatal shooting scene at a home on North Valley Way in Palmer, Alaska, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. An 18-year-old Alaska man just out of jail for assaulting a family member has been charged with killing four members of his family, including two cousins under the age of 10, charging documents released Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020 said. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News)

18-year-old man charged in 4 shooting deaths

Charging documents did not indicate a motive for the shootings.

Alaska State Troopers investigate a fatal shooting scene at a home on North Valley Way in Palmer, Alaska, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. An 18-year-old Alaska man just out of jail for assaulting a family member has been charged with killing four members of his family, including two cousins under the age of 10, charging documents released Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020 said. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News)