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An Eaglecrest Ski Area lift operator helps skiers on Dec. 20. A study published earlier this month states the average wage of $13.06 for Eaglecrest lift operators and attendants is 25% below the average at U.S. ski resorts. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Study: Eaglecrest wages effectively 40% below average at U.S. resorts

Higher cost of living cited as significant factor; staff says Juneau’s allure helps attract workers.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on Jan. 10, 1994. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week of Jan. 14

Three decades of capital city coverage.

Mickey Prescott and dogs watch for fish jumps in Wrangell. (Photo by Vivian Faith Prescott)

News

Planet Alaska: Island of gifts

Ten treasures from the past year to remember heading into 2024

Corey B. Coleman, a Juneau resident, is being sought by the Juneau Police Department as the suspect in a shooting incident on Wednesday night near 33-mile Glacier Highway. (Juneau Police Department photo)

News

Update: JPD identifies man being sought as suspect in shooting at 33-mile Glacier Highway

Corey B. Coleman of Juneau last seen near Berner’s Bay Cabin; victim injured by shot to head

Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, carries a box of signed petitions for an increased minimum wage to be delivered to the Alaska Division of Elections on Tuesday. Hall is a leader of the campaign to pass a ballot initiative increasing workers’ minimum pay, mandating paid sick leave and ensuring that workers are not required to hear employers’ political, religious or anti-union messages. Behind her are other advocates for the ballot initiative. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska advocates submit petition signatures to put minimum wage increase on ballot

Initiative also mandates paid sick leave, protects workers from political or religious messages.

Juneau School District administrators and board members listen Tuesday to a remote presentation by Lisa Pearce, hired as a budget expert in December, about how her analysis during the past few weeks revealed a $9.5 million deficit facing the district this fiscal year. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

School district leaders express shock, anger at $9.5M deficit, say fix by June 30 deadline unrealistic

Board to meet next week to review all non-required expenses, such as student activities, for cuts.

A sign with newly installed reflectors warns drivers on Back Loop Road about pedestrians crossing near the entrance of Mendenhall River Community School on Wednesday morning. A woman and two kids were hit by a vehicle on the road Dec. 7, prompting local school district officials to seek safety improvements from the state. Additional short- and long-term safety measures are still being discussed. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Back Loop Road near school where pedestrians hit gets some safety improvements, more being discussed

Sign reflectors installed, upgraded entrance lighting and change to city bus route expected soon.

Alaska Airlines planes park at the gates at Juneau International Airport in July of 2022. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Two Juneau flights on Max 9s scheduled Tuesday rebooked on different planes

No local flights cancelled yet due to grounding of fleet, next Max 9s scheduled Thursday and Friday.

Fairbanks-based Alaska State Troopers visiting the Interior village of Allakaket in December 2023 pose for a photo while wearing fur hats. Such hats are provided by the state to help troopers work in cold conditions. The Department of Public Safety is now seeking to replenish its supply of fur hats to be used by troopers. (Photo provided by the Alaska State Troopers)

News

Fur hats on shopping list for Alaska Department of Public Safety

The Alaska Department of Public Safety is shopping for some distinctly Northern items of clothing: a collection of…

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Mila Hargrave (#24) and Bella Whisenant (#44) fight for the ball during Saturday’s game at JDHS. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS gets pair of home court wins — one easy, one in a battle — against Ketchikan

Gwen Nizich scores 25 of Crimson Bears’ 45 points Saturday, including game-clinching free throws.

The U.S Supreme Court is photographed on Wednesday, Jan. 3, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

News

Supreme Court denies Alaska’s bid to revive the copper and gold Pebble Mine proposal blocked by EPA

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Alaska’s bid to revive a proposed copper and gold mine…

Skip Gray holds a simulated conversation on an early 20th-century box phone and his cell phone during the opening of the exhibit “Switch and Exchange: A Brief History of Telephones in 20th Century Juneau” at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum on Friday. Gray is a former resident of the Telephone Hill neighborhood, which got its name when Juneau became the first city in Alaska with an established telephone system and a telephone company called the downtown area home during the early 1900s. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Dialing, cranking and ringing into Juneau’s history as a telephone pioneer in Alaska

Museum exhibit highlights how capital got state’s first phone system and Telephone Hill got its name.

The Juneau School District is facing a deficit of more than $9.5 million for the current fiscal year, according a district report published Jan. 5. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Juneau School District facing $9.5 million deficit this year, new analysis shows

Lower revenues and higher costs mean $7.6M shortfall for FY24, plus $1.9M deficit from FY23.

State Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, speaks during a rally on behalf of Alaska residents with disabilities at the Alaska State Capitol on March 1, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

First prefiled bills include voter preregistration for 16-year-olds, funds for remedial reading

Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, introduces the two proposals among the 48 by state lawmakers on Monday.

Wigeon Ponds is one of the areas adjacent to the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge purchased by the Southeast Alaska Land Trust, which is producing an updated digital map of the entire wetlands area. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo)

News

Mendenhall wetlands area to get first new full map since 1979

Change in vegetation, tidal areas, land “rebound” after glacial retreat shown — along with area’s name.

The Mendenhall Towers apartment building on early Sunday morning, where a fire in a second-story apartment caused about $100,000 in damage. (Photo by Capital City Fire/Rescue)

News

Mendenhall Towers fire causes about $100,000 damage, one person hospitalized for smoke inhalation

CCFR: Fire early Sunday morning limited to one apartment, cause remains under investigation

Alaska Airlines flight 1276, a Boeing 737-900, taxis before takeoff from Portland International Airport in Portland, Ore., on Saturday. The FAA has ordered the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft after part of the fuselage blew out during a flight. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)

News

Alaska Airlines again grounds all Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners as more maintenance may be needed

Alaska Airlines again grounded all of its Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners on Sunday after federal officials indicated…

Alaska Airlines planes are shown parked at gates at sunrise, March 1, 2021, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. An Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Oregon on Friday after a window and chunk of its fuselage blew out in mid-air, media reports said. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

News

No Juneau flights among those cancelled Saturday by grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9s

First local flights aboard Max 9 scheduled Tuesday; Alaska Air hopes fleet inspections done in days.

The village of Kake on Kupreanof Island in Southeast Alaska. (Flickr/Umnak under Creative Commons license)

News

Alaska lost a challenge to a COVID-era emergency moose hunt. Now it’s appealing for a second time.

It’s one of multiple cases where the Dunleavy administration is clashing with the federal government.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Caden Morris (#15) and Sonny Monsef (#11) face off against Homer High School’s Aria Hill (#27) and Cody Thomas (#8) in front of the Homer net during Saturday’s game at Treadwell Arena. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS shuts out rebuilding Homer in 16-0, 13-0 matchups at Treadwell Arena

Both teams say focus was on future, with Crimson Bears giving several JV players lots of ice time.