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The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls basketball team pose at the Ceasar’s Palace fountain in Las Vegas during the Tarkanian Classic Tournament. (Photo courtesy JDHS Crimson Bears)

Sports

Crimson Bears girls win second in a row at Tarkanian Classic

JDHS continues to impress at prestigious Las Vegas tournament.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears boys basketball team pose upon their arrival in Las Vegas for the Tarkanian Classic Tournament. (Photo courtesy JDHS Crimson Bears)1

Sports

Crimson Bears boys fall in Las Vegas tournament opener

JDHS playing among some of nation’s top high school teams.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls basketball team pose at The Orleans Hotel upon their arrival in Las Vegas for the Tarkanian Classic Tournament. (Photo courtesy JDHS Crimson Bears)

Sports

Crimson Bears girls win season opener at Tarkanian Classic

JDHS among 48 girls’ teams playing in prestigious Las Vegas tournament.

The Wet Bandits’ Shannon Hendricks and the Nutcrackers’ Kyle Hebert play a ball during the opening night of the Holiday Cup soccer tournament at the Dimond Park Field House on Wednesday. The 32nd annual holiday tournament runs through Dec. 31. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Pure Sole: Mistletoe or turf toe

Forget the mistletoe. I fear it may be turf toe that tickles my fancy this holiday.

A pygmy owl in the snow outside the doorstep of a Juneau home. (Photo by Denise Carroll)

Sports

On the Trails: Pygmy owls

This little owl was quite frequently detected in the trees at the edge of the wetlands this fall.…

Members of the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls and boys basketball teams pose above and below the new signage and plaque for the George Houston Gymnasium on Monday. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

George Houston Gymnasium adds another touch of class

Second phase of renaming honor for former coach brings in more red.

The Holiday Cup has been a community favorite event for years. This 2014 photo shows the Jolly Saint Kicks and Reigning Snowballs players in action. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Holiday Cup soccer action brings community spirit to the pitch

Every Christmas name imaginable heads a cast of futbol characters starting Wednesday.

Hayden Aube and Ivan Shockley go head to head on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, during the Region V wrestling tournament in Haines. Eleven Crimson Bears earned individual titles, 12 placed second meaning that 23 are headed to state in Anchorage next weekend. (Rashah McChesney/Chilkat Valley News)

Sports

Crimson Bears wrestlers snare Region V championship

11 earn individual titles, 12 place second, 23 head to state

Smokin’ Old Geezers Jesse Stringer, Brandon Ivanowicz, Steve Ricci, Juan Orozco Jr., John Bursell and John Nagel at the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships on Saturday at University Place, Washington. (Photo courtesy S.O.G.)

Sports

Smokin’ Old Geezers compete at national club cross-country championships

Group of adult Juneau runners hope to inspire others to challenge themselves.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior goalie Caleb Friend (1) controls the net as Soldotna’s Daniel Heath (10) and JDHS senior Loren Platt (26) play a puck during the Crimson Bears 2-0 win over the Stars on Saturday at Treadwell Ice Arena. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS’ Friend holds clean sheet in 2-0 win over Soldotna

Northern Lights Conference battle shines on Crimson Bears, not Stars

Photo provided by Maeve Wolf

Sports

Sustainable Alaska: From grief to action

How awe and environmental engagement help students navigate climate anxiety

The Walter Washington Center in downtown Washington, D.C., hosted the 25,000 scientists who attended the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union from Dec. 9-13, 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: More familiar news of the North

WASHINGTON, D.C. — I am once again elbow-to-elbow with thousands of scientists, at a meeting I first attended…

Soldotna’s Keegan Myrick and Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé sophomore Caden Morris battle for a puck during Friday’s 4-3 Crimson Bears’ loss to the visiting Stars at Treadwell Ice Arena. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Stars eclipse Crimson Bears

JDHS hockey team falls to visiting Soldotna skaters.

The 2024-25 Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears Girls Basketball team. Standing, from left-to-right, senior Kerra Baxter (22), junior Gwen Nizich (11), freshman Lydia Goins (15), senior Addison Wilson (10), sophomore Layla Tokuoka (14), junior Cambry Lockhart (3), sophomore June Troxel (5), senior Mary Johnson (4), freshman Sadie Lockhart (13), sophomore Bergen Erickson (12), freshman Athena Warr (21) and senior Cailynn Baxter (23). Seated l-r: Senior manager Nadia Wilson, head coach Tanya Nizich, assistant coaches Jasmine James, Angie Kemp, Nicole Fenumiai, and junior manager Jadyn Cook. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Crimson Bears girls basketball has roster for state title

Combining of two schools sets high expectations, but region and state are daunting.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Jayden Johnson (4), shown in action against West Anchorage during the ASAA State Playoffs on Oct. 12, was selected to play in the 2025 Native American High School Football All-Star Game, Jan. 7, at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Jayden Johnson one of three Alaskans selected for Native American High School Football All-Star Game

60 Native American athletes from across U.S. will play in front of college recruiters Jan. 7 in Texas.

The 2024-25 Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears are, standing left-to-right, sophomore manager Amelia Geary, junior Brandon Casperson (5), senior Pedrin Saceda-Hurt (10), senior Ben Sikes (11), sophomore Logan Carriker (24), junior Elias Dybdahl (20), freshman Keaton Belcourt (44), junior Damian Efergan (1), junior Tyler Frisby (21) and sophomore manager Skylar Oliva. Seated at front l-r, junior Kurt Kuppert (14), senior Ahmir Parker (2), senior Gavin Gerrin (3) and sophomore Hunter Carte (15). Not pictured is junior Joren Gasga. (Photo courtesy Crimson Bears)

Sports

Crimson Bears look to return to the show

JDHS boys basketball team ready to earn next state title.

Alev Kelter, a member of the bronze-winning USA’s Rugby Sevens team at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, is one of two new inductees in the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. (USA Rugby photo)

Sports

NHL star Brandon Dubinsky, Olympic rugby medalist Alev Kelter elected to Alaska Sports Hall of Fame

Hall also adding historic Alaska moments involving 1992 Winter Games, 2008 NCAA basketball title game

A male downy woodpecker pecks at a suet block with its small bill. (Photo by Steve Willson)

Sports

On the Trails: Hairy and downy woodpeckers

A male hairy woodpecker is a regular visitor to my peanut butter feeders, also sampling from the suet…

The author wearing one of the only Christmas sweaters he is allowed to wear, largely because it is one of the only sweaters he owns. (Photo by Klas Stolpe)

Sports

Pure Sole: Sweater Up!

Dear readers, I am at a loss and need some help.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Emilio Holbrook (37), shown in a game this season against North Pole at Treadwell Ice Arena, had three goals and two assists in two Crimson Bears wins at Kodiak over the weekend. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire file photo)

Sports

JDHS hockey dominates at Kodiak

Southeast’s Crimson Bears bigger, faster, stronger than Kodiak Bears.