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An exploration rig operates in the winter of 2019 at ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.’s Willow prospect. The company announced on Friday that it made its final investment decision in favor of developing the huge prospect. (Photo provided by ConocoPhillips)

News

ConocoPhillips announces official go-ahead for Willow oil project

Nine months after the Biden administration approved it, ConocoPhillips Inc. announced it has officially sanctioned full development of…

Salmon fisherman stack their nets June 22 in Kodiak. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

News

Alaska fishers, consumers likely to see higher seafood prices due to expanded Russian products ban

Political and industrial leaders praise Biden’s order, citing abusive practices by Russia and China.

Martha Crockroft (foreground) and Jeff Marks wrap gifts for the annual Adopt-A-Family Christmas Gift Program at the St. Vincent de Paul Juneau complex on Saturday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Getting an early start on helping Santa and people in need of good cheer

Hundreds of Southeast families get food, gifts as need, donations high in Juneau’s goodwill efforts.

Hepatitis B virus particles, in orange, are seen in this microscopic image captured in 1981. Since so many people are unaware that they are infected, state health officials recommend stepped-up screening. (Photo by Dr. Erskin Palmer/U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

News

Experts recommend steps to reduce Alaska’s high rate of chronic hepatitis B

All adults should be screened at least once during their lifetimes, bulletin advises

Kenneth Kitka, 65, is taken into custody following a nearly three-hour standoff with police at a downtown Juneau residence on Thursday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Man arrested after downtown standoff faces 10 criminal charges as drugs, cash, handguns seized

Kenneth Kitka, 65, has previous history of drug charges as new case gets first hearing Friday.

A sign for a store that accepts food stamps and exchange benefits transfer cards is seen in this 2019 photo. Ten Alaskans are suing the state over its failure to provide food stamps within the time frames required by federal law. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)

News

Division of Public Assistance makes progress on food stamp backlog

Backlog that was 12,000 down to 10,074 after eight days, according to agency’s director.

Afternoon skies at Mendenhall Campground on Dec. 16. (Photo by Deborah Rudis)

News

Wild Shots

To showcase our readers’ work to the widest possible audience, Wild Shots have been moved in front of…

The front page of the Juneau Empire on Dec. 23, 2005. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week of Dec. 24

Three decades of capital city coverage.

A screenshot of the Alaska Division of Finance’s “Checkbook Online” system.

News

One year and $250,000 later, Alaska’s new spending database is missing in action

Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration has missed a legal deadline to expand Alaska’s public spending database to some…

Juneau Police Department and FBI officers are deployed outside a downtown residence at midday Thursday, with JPD attempting to serve a search warrant for the house and a person inside. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Nearly three-hour standoff with JPD, FBI in drug case at home near Capitol ends with man in custody

Streets closed off as officers fire chemical projectiles inside structure.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to a capacity crowd at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on July 9, 2022. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Alaska among states with lawsuits seeking to make Trump ineligible to run

Federal court complaint filed in September gets more attention after successful Colorado challenge.

(Chart by Paul E. Peterson and M. Danish Shakeel, Harvard University)

News

Alaska leads 35 states and D.C. in first-ever rankings of charter performance on NAEP

Harvard researchers’ examination puts performance of Hawaii charters at the bottom

A pod of killer whales, also known as orcas, swims in waters off Southeast Alaska’s Chicagof Island in July of 2023. A new federal report describes the 37 killer whale entanglements that were documented in Alaska waters from 1991 to 2022. (Photo by Meghan Chamberlain/U.S. Forest Service)

News

Report details 37 known killer whale entanglements in Alaska over three decades

Over the last three decades, 37 killer whales were entangled in fishing gear in Alaska, which resulted in…

Juneau City Manager Katie Koester (center) discusses options for additional office space for city workers during a Juneau Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday night as Deputy City Manager Robert Barr (left) and City Attorney Robert Palmer listen. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

City to yet again consider office space options after voters twice reject new City Hall

Trio of options range from space for all staff to moving just those in one troublesome building.

A pair of skiers are among the first to board the Ptarmigan lift on the first day of the 2023-24 season at Eaglecrest Ski Area shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Eaglecrest Ski Area opens at last with fresh snow, early-season conditions

Skiers describe conditions as excellent, but ski patrol warns people to watch for hazards.

The ConocoPhillips Alaska headquarters, seen here on April 8, 2020, looms over downtown Anchorage. An appeals court order denying environmentalists’ request for an emergency injunction allows the company to proceed with its ongoing winter construction at its massive Willow project on the North Slope. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

Appeals court allows ConocoPhillips to keep building its Willow project

Construction is underway at the massive oil project even as the legal fight continues.

Lt. Krag Campbell with the Juneau Police Department smiles for a photo outside of City Hall on Sept. 26, when he was interviewed as one of two finalists for police chief. Campbell on Tuesday was named JPD’s new deputy chief as of Jan. 1, serving under new Chief Derek Bos who is scheduled to start Feb. 1. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Krag Campbell, runner-up for JPD’s new chief, named deputy chief starting Jan. 1

21-year veteran of department will serve as acting chief until Derek Bos takes over Feb. 1

Charles Skultka Jr. teaches formline design during a Sitka High School class supported by the Sitka Native Education Program and Sealaska Heritage Institute. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich)

News

Resilient Peoples and Place: Celebrating and supporting Southeast Alaska’s growing arts economy

Thousands of artists, tens of millions of dollars annually, generations of passing on traditions.

Fog drifts through the trees in the Tongass National Forest on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Biden administration moves to protect oldest trees as climate change brings more fires, pests

The Biden administration moved on Tuesday to conserve groves of old-growth trees on national forests across the U.S.…

A crane unloads a car from a used gondola after its arrival in Juneau last year. Eaglecrest Ski Area officials say they are hoping the gondola will be operational by the 2025-26 winter ski season. (Photo courtesy of Eaglecrest Ski Area)

News

Eaglecrest gondola needs more parts than expected as prices for them soar

Ski area manager says installation possible without extra city funds via ‘alternative procurement.’