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Gov. Mike Dunleavy poses for a photo with Gladys Castaños during an inaugural celebration for the governor and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom on Friday night at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

All’s a ball for reelected governor

Dunleavy celebrates “peaceful transfer of power…to myself” at inaugural party Friday

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Little chairs sit in stacks after the temporary closure of downtown Gold Creek Child Development Center in mid-January, and another closure shortly followed, leaving dozens of families scrambling to find child care. Now, providers are speaking out about the dire situation the industry finds itself in and what needs to be done to fix it.

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A child care conundrum: Closures make local shortage worse, and providers say solutions may take a while.

“The crisis that we are having and experiencing right now, we are not alone in it.”

Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire The National Labor Relations Board meets with representatives of Southeast Alaska Conservation Council and its employees on Friday via Zoom to further discuss the matter of whether employees are in a position to unionize.

News

Hearing held in SEACC union dispute

No decision made on Friday.

This image is a screen grab of an interactive online map that outlines the different pieces of vacant and underdeveloped property in Juneau. According to the map website, privately owned vacant parcels are highlighted yellow, CBJ Lands and Resources owned vacant parcels are highlighted pink and private developed properties below maximum allowable housing density are highlighted green. (Courtesy / City and Borough of Juneau)

News

City hopes new interactive map of vacant properties will expand housing opportunities

“It’s one more tool in the toolbox.”

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire State Senate Finance Committee Chair Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, left, discusses the state’s revenue forecast following a presentation of the report Friday at the Alaska State Capitol.

News

Fiscal forecast both calm and stormy

Lawmakers told mid-case scenario for state is smooth, but global events may again shake things up.

JDHS senior Orion Dybdahl takes the ball down court while being closely guarded by two defenders on Wednesday night’s game. Dybdahl led the Crimson Bears in scoring with 19 points. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS loses close game against Colony

Wednesday night’s game was Suicide Prevention Awareness.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire A handful of workers clean the floors of the Centennial Hall ballroom Wednesday evening as renovations continue. According to project’s manager, the renovation are expected to be completed in early August.

News

Ballroom blitz: Centennial Hall space takes on a new look amid closure for renovations.

Rennovations expected to complete in early August

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Gov. Mike Dunleavy talks with local residents and people involved with this year’s legislative session during an annual welcoming reception hosted by city government and business leaders Tuesday at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. Dunleavy is scheduled to deliver his annual State of the State address, the first of his second term, to a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature at 7 p.m. Monday.

News

Rallies and State of the State set for Monday at the Capitol

Dunleavy to deliver annual address following two big-issue demonstrations.

Moving boxes are stacked outside the offices of state Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, and former House Speaker Louise Stutes, a Kodiak Republican, on the second floor of the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday morning following their demotion to minority status after a Republican-led majority excluding Stutes was named Tuesday. As minority members, they will have no official say on the location of their new offices. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Moving day for House as committees set

Hannan, Bush Caucus get prized finance seats as Republican-led majority shakes up status quo.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Arsenio “Pastor” Credo and other Alaska Native veterans listen to a presentation Thursday afternoon how to apply for up to 160 acres of the more than 27 million acres of public land available to Alaska Native veterans who were unable to apply for their acres of in-state land due to serving during the Vietnam War.

News

Millions of acres are available for Vietnam-era Alaska Native veterans, but many in Southeast don’t want it

‘We want Southeast Alaska.’

Vivian Faith Prescott, accompanied by dogs Kéet and Oscar, holds Alaska’s literary journals in Wrangell. (Courtesy Photo / Vivian Faith Prescott)

News

Planet Alaska: Poetry lives and thrives in Alaska

We’ve been listening to poetry for a long time in Southeast Alaska.

Juneau-based photographer Mark Kelley smiles next to a photo he took that was a part of his award-winning portfolio featured in the 2022 National Wildlife Magazine photo contest. The annual competition that receives more than 30,000 photos submitted by over 3,100 photographers with images coming in from across the globe. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau resident wins prestigious wildlife photography award

“I think for a wildlife photographer it’s the world’s highest compliment.”

Kyle Worl gets launched into the air as he demonstrates the blanket toss at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé before the start of the 2020 Traditional Games, March 6, 2020. The 2023 Traditional Games will take place at Thunder Mountain High School on Saturday and Sunday, April 1-2. Registration is now open. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)

Sports

Traditional Games are returning to Juneau

Registration is now open and games will be livestreamed.

State Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, right, listens to an overview of Alaska’s past and projected oil production by Department of Natural Resources Commissioner John Boyle during Kiehl’s first meeting as a member of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Business as usual underway in the Senate

Key committees meetings start with optimistic tone about working with House, governor

State Rep. Cathy TIlton, R-Wasilla, takes to gavel from State Rep. Josiah Patkotak, I-Utqiaġvik, after she is elected speaker of the Alaska State House on Wednesday. She was elected by a 26-14 bipartisan vote, but the initial majority consists of 19 Republicans and four members of the Bush Caucus. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Tilton elected House speaker in unusual vote

Wasilla Republican elected by 26-14 bipartisan vote, but initial majority has 23 members

A parcel of land just off the corner of Capital Avenue and Village Street in downtown Juneau was approved to be the first parcel of land owned by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska to be put into federal trust, however, the state of Alaska filed a lawsuit against the federal government and asked the U.S. District Court of Alaska to reverse the federal government’s decision, return the land to Tlingit and Haida and stop future land-into-trust applications. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

News

State sues feds over Tlingit and Haida land trust

Suit calls DOI decision capricious; Tlingit and Haida president says complaint is mean-spirited.

State Rep. Josiah Patkotak, left, an Utqiagvik independent, accepts the gavel from Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom after he’s elected speaker pro tem of the House during the opening day of the 33rd Alaska State Legislature on Tuesday. Patkotak, who has served as president pro tem during a previous stalemate in determining a House majority, is among the members Republicans are trying to lure to join a coalition controlled by their party. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Session starts sans House speaker, smooth in Senate

Temporary House leader elected as another majority stalemate looms; Senate slights its minority.

The Tazlina is docked at the Auke Bay ferry terminal in this November 2021 photo. The Alaska Marine Highway System announced an opportunity to submit written comments about the draft schedule summer schedule. The comment period is currently open and runs until Jan. 26. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

News

DOT seeks input on proposed summer ferry schedule

The public comment period runs until Jan. 26.

Early last week at the Juneau State Courthouse, a Juneau man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison for a felony related to suffocating and torturing one or multiple kittens in early 2020. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

News

Juneau man sentenced to five years for torturing kittens

He was also sentenced on a drug charge.

A large group gathers to watch a wreath-laying ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Washington, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik)

News

On King’s holiday, daughter calls for bold action over words

Other commemorations echoed the Rev. Bernice King’s reminder.