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A Mendenhall Valley neighborhood is swamped by a record glacial outburst flood on Aug. 6, 2024. (Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities photo)

Neighbors

OPINION: Community safety not just another priority for Juneau — it’s the priority

With so many issues facing our community, it’s easy to lose sight of the one that matters the…

Letter

Opinion

LETTER: Juneau’s history is worth maintaining

After unanimous opposition at Assembly meetings, in editorials and emails, the Juneau Assembly voted to disappear the top…

Letter to the editor typewriter (web only)

Opinion

LETTER: Alaska psychiatric patients face longstanding mistreatment

Psychiatric patients at the state-run Alaska Psychiatric Institute are facing mistreatment because the only ones that help patients…

Van Abbott

Opinion

OPINION: Trumpism will end like McCarthyism

Fear built it. Corruption feeds it. Lawlessness will bury it

A sign directs early voters to the polling station at the Mendenhall Mall. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)

Letters to the Editor

LETTER: Alaska voters deserve an honest Senate ballot

Anyone who’s spent even a little time around Alaska politics knows a Senate race won’t be polite or…

Van Abbott

Opinion

OPINION: Trump’s populist promise and the billionaire takeover of America

The greatest political bait-and-switch in modern American history was not a foreign conspiracy or a stolen election, but…

Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire file 
City and Borough of Juneau City Hall is photographed on July 12, 2025.

Opinion

MY TURN: Juneau budget cuts services as bureaucracy keeps growing

Last Juneau Assembly meeting was another circus to distract the citizens from looking at the real issue —…

Van Abbott

Opinion

OPINION: Congress’s silence is Trump’s tax shield

The “1776 Fund” may prove to be one of the most successful acts of political misdirection in modern…

The Juneau-Douglas City Museum. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

MY TURN: Juneau Assembly elves shelve local history

Recent actions by the Juneau Assembly reflect a dispiriting trend among our elected officials. Two items are especially…

Letter to the editor typewriter (web only)

Letters to the Editor

LETTER: Crypto investments questioned

Van Abbott’s description (Empire 6 June) of Nick Begich III as Trump’s crypto salesman rings true. In fact,…

Letter to the editor typewriter (web only)

Letters to the Editor

LETTER: Business revenues going up in smoke

Our governor should take a hard look at the unintended consequences of massive new taxes on vapor products…

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

OPINION: Wheels of Fortune just spin better for some people

Rest easy, my column isn’t about politics this week. It’s not that I have sworn off political opinions…

Win Gruening retired as the senior vice-president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. (courtesy)

Opinion

OPINION: Is Juneau buying solutions — or just bigger social service budgets?

Capital City Fire and Rescue (CCFR) released its May 2026 response statistics earlier this week. During the month…

Jeff Lund/submitted 
A remote cabin is an important part of the Alaskan identity whether you buy one, build one, know someone who has one, or read about someone else’s experience.

Opinion

I Went to the Woods: The log

Conflict drives plot and develops character so protagonists need antagonists and grow and to make the story interesting.

Letter to the editor typewriter (web only)

Letters to the Editor

LETTER: Transparency needed on fossil fuel subsidies

The world as we know it today was built on the back of burning fossil fuels. Unfortunately this…

Van Abbott.

Opinion

OPINION: The trillion-dollar presidency

How Trump turned war, debt, and chaos into America’s most expensive policy

Letter to the editor typewriter (web only)

Letters to the Editor

LETTER: Wealth inequality reaching crisis levels

Wealth inequality in the United States has reached levels that should concern every American. While millions of working…

Van Abbott.

Opinion

OPINION: Trump’s crypto salesman

Why Nick Begich is spending political capital on Trump’s speculative scheme instead of Alaska’s problems

McHugh Pierre, Goldbelt’s president and CEO, discusses the Alaska Native Regional Corporation’s operations during its 50th-anniversary celebration in 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

OPINION: Goldbelt’s vision – A future that works for all of Juneau

Goldbelt wants to help build a future where families choose to stay in Juneau

Van Abbott. (Photo courtesy Van Abbott)

Opinion

OPINION: The art of losing

Donald Trump cannot recognize a losing hand