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Three students hold hands as they walk up the stairs to the entrance of Sayéik: Gastineau Community School for the first day of the 2023-2024 school year in August. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

News

With fewer students enrolled, Juneau School District officials anticipate $500K loss in funding

Preliminary district enrollment count comes in below projections, likely to create funding gap.

The state’s official COVID-19 dashboard shows infection rates for various areas during the past week. (Alaska Department of Health)

News

Small uptick in respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, in Juneau

Health officials remind people to be proactive with flu season ahead

Angela Boyd and Tiffany Ridle offer a selfie greeting to viewers as they test their livestream camera before the kickoff of the Juneau Huskies game against Service High School on Saturday in Anchorage. (Screenshot from Juneau Huskies livestream video).

Sports

Ma’amingCast: Two football moms offering wisdom and wit with livestreams of Huskies road games

With a smartphone and no previous experience, pair giving fans in Juneau an interactive experience.

The living room of Marty and Marjorie McKeown’s house remains exposed a month after record flooding of the Mendenhall River eroded the couple’s backyard and portions of the earth under their home. In the backdrop next door are the remains of a home that mostly collapsed into the river during the flood and a condominium that is being propped up with posts and rock fill in an attempt to make it safe to occupy again. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Between rocks and a hard place for flood victims trying to save homes

Many residents paying to install rock fill along riverbank, but cost just one of many concerns.

Environmental Protection Administrator Michael Regan speaks at a news conference on Thursday at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. Behind him are Bailey Richards, contamination support program coordinator for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium; Natalie Cale, chief operating officer for the Ounalashka Corp.; and Aaron Leggett, president of the Native Village of Eklutna. Regan made a five-day tour of Alaska as part of the EPA’s national Journey to Justice program, which focuses on the ways minority, Indigenous and low-income communities are disproportionately burdened by pollution and climate change. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska trip highlights challenges facing Indigenous communities, EPA leader says

Travels to the to the tiny Yup’ik village of Igiugig in the Bristol Bay region, to Utqiagvik at…

Traffic at the Fred Meyer intersection, formally known as Egan and Yandukin drives, in November 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

News

Assembly to formally urge state to improve safety at Fred Meyer intersection

A special meeting with a resolution seeking action planned Wednesday.

David Holmes digs through a pile of board games during Platypus Gaming’s two-day mini-con at Douglas Public Library on Jan. 28. The full convention is scheduled to take place this weekend, the first time ever in September, following the reopening of Centennial Hall. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire File)

News

Thousands of games, hundreds of players

Platypus-Con happening this weekend for the first time in September

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Athletes practice new moves while wrestling during a Labor Day weekend clinic at the Juneau Youth Wrestling Club’s new building on Monday.

Sports

New wrestling club building means more gym time for aspiring athletes

Nearly 60 youths flocked to building to partake in first weekend clinic since its opening.

Ketchikan High School’s Bella Westfall-Zink attempts to block Thunder Mountain High School’s Ashlyn Gates during Friday’s match in Ketchikan, which Thunder Mountain won 3-0. TMHS also swept Ketchikan 3-0 on Saturday night. (Christopher Mullen / Ketchikan Daily News)

Sports

TMHS volleyball sweeps Ketchikan during two-night road trip, remains undefeated

Last year’s conference champs haven’t lost a set this season, boost record to 4-0

A Service High School player returns a punt deep into Juneau territory during the first quarter of Saturday’s game on the Anchorages school’s home field. Service scored its second touchdown a short time later to take a 15-0 lead before going on to win 54-14. (Courtesy of Juneau Huskies Football)

Sports

Punting miscues pivotal as Huskies lose to Service 54-14

Bad snap, kicks and coverage result in TDs for Anchorage team as Juneau drops to 0-4.

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire Sterling Salisbury (right), president of the Juneau Police Department Employees Association, and Travis Wolf, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 4303 in Juneau, explain the format and rules of a Thursday night debate at the KTOO studios about public safety by 13 candidates seeking four open seats on the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly.

News

Assembly candidates debate public safety issues

Wages, affordable housing, other possible remedies for workforce shortages discussed by 13 hopefuls.

This photo shows Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

News

Family of man who died by suicide in Juneau prison sues state for wrongful death, negligence

“It may be the last thing I do, but I intend to do every bit that I can.”

Doug Vincent-Lang, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, explains the state’s position on fisheries management on the Kuskokwim River during a press conference Friday in Anchorage. Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced during the event the state is seeking summary judgment in a lawsuit by the federal government that accuses the state of illegal subsistence management practices. (Screenshot from official video by the Governor of Alaska)

News

Dunleavy, Taylor push to get Kuskokwim case tossed

Jurisdictional battle with feds could have long-ranging implications

A sign opposing the participation of trans girls in girls sports is propped against a fire hydrant outside of the George A. Navarre Admin Building on Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. The Alaska Board of Education met in the building to discuss a resolution that would ban trans girls from girls high school sports. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

State Board of Education bars trans girls from girls’ high school sports teams

Alaska becomes 24th state to impose such restrictions.

The Assembly Building is seen on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, in downtown Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska Legislature’s new apartment building is on budget, on schedule

A project intended to renovate a historic Juneau building into apartments for state legislators and staff is running…

A network of pipelines, seen on Aug. 23, 2018, snakes through a portion of the Greater Prudhoe Bay Unit on Alaska’s North Slope. The oil and gas industry has more impact on Alaska’s economy than any other industry, a new study finds. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

Oil and gas companies have outsized economic impact on Alaska, says industry study

The oil industry packs a bigger economic punch than any other industry in Alaska, according to study findings…

A promotional image for the 2021 TV series “Alaskan Killer Bigfoot” depicts a creature residents of Portlock say drove them from their fishing village 70 years ago. The nine-episode series on Discovery+ documented a 40-day trip by a team of people seeking clues about the creature. (Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.)

News

Bigfoot making tracks to Juneau

Juneau hosting a town hall for Sasquatch-curious and devotees.

This is a photo of a news story on a page of the Juneau Empire published on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 1995, from an archived book. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week of Sept. 2

Three decades of capital city coverage.

Norval Nelson, owner and operator of Star of the Sea, and his wife, Barbara Cadiente, clean and prep the boat in Aurora Harbor on Wednesday, the same day the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced commercial crab fisheries would remain closed again this year. (Meredith Jordan/Juneau Empire)

News

Commercial crab fishery closed for 2023-2024 season

News comes atop plummeting prices for chum and pink salmon for professional fishers

This is a photo of Austin Brady, 28, a village public safety officer in Kake. Brady was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Alaska State Troopers after he reportedly assaulted a woman and possessed a weapon while intoxicated. (Courtesy / Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)

News

Kake public safety officer arrested for assault, possessing a weapon while intoxicated

The assault of the woman occurred while he was off-duty, Alaska State Troopers say.