Site Logo
This rendering depicts Huna Totem Corp.’s proposed new downtown development project. (City and Borough of Juneau)

News

Aak’w Landing private cruise ship dock advances to full Assembly for possible April vote

Modifications to proposed agreement include ship size limit, Coast Guard’s OK due to icebreaker.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R-Alaska) chats with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) before her annual address to the Alaska State Legislature on March 18, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

Murkowski embraces many of Trump’s goals, but questions his methods

Senator addresses flood concerns, federal firings, Medicaid worries in annual speech to Legislature.

A 2.9-acre plot of land donated to Huna Totem Corp. by Norwegian Cruise Line is the site for the proposed Aak’w Landing private cruise ship dock. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Amendments to Huna Totem’s proposed private cruise dock to be taken up Monday night by the Assembly

A dozen proposals seek limits on ship size, fines for violations, setting various operational goals.

A storage shed on Meadow Lane catches fire Monday morning. (Photo by Chelsea Stonex)

News

Storage shed fire spreads to two vehicles, causing explosion, but no injuries reported

Two homes on Meadow Lane suffer broken windows and other damage, according to CCFR.

An aerial view of downtown Juneau. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Local federal workers get mixed messages about returning to jobs after firings rescinded

DOT worker says he’s supposed to resume work Thursday; Forest Service worker says status still unclear.

Rep. Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan, speaks Feb. 21, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska legislators ask feds to reinstate program that sent money to rural schools

The Alaska House of Representatives is asking Congress to fix a problem with a program that pays money…

Metlakatla senior Brody Booth (12) scores over Seward’s Lane Petersen and Jack Lindquisst (1) during their 3rd/5th-place game Saturday at the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 2A State Basketball Championships at UAA’s Avis Sports Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Metlakatla Chiefs fall in third-place game at state 2A basketball tournament

Girls from Metlakatla also come up short in 4th/6th-place game.

Kake’s Aiden Clark (25) puts up a shot against Tri-Valley’s Kole Lucas (33), Reid Williams (2) and Henry Miner (34) during their 4th/6th-place game Saturday at the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 1A State Basketball Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Kake boys fourth at state, Clark and Jackson tally double-doubles

Skagway Panthers win consolation final for seventh place over Nunamiut.

Wrangell senior Lucas Schneider (15) fights for a loose ball with Susitna Valley’s Earl Davidson during the Wolves 53-50 loss to the Rams in the 4th/6th-place game Saturday at the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 2A State Basketball Championships at UAA’s Avis Sports Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Wolves battle Rams in 2A state tournament’s final day

Wrangell falls to Susitna Valley in 4th/6th-place game.

‘Wáats’asdiyei Joe Yates, Raye Lankford, X̱’unei Lance Twitchell and Rochelle Adams pose with the Children’s and Family Emmy Award award Lankford and Twitchell won for co-writing the an episode of the PBS animated children’s show “Molly of Denali.” (Photo courtesy of ‘Wáats’asdiyei Joe Yates)

News

‘Molly of Denali’ episode wins best writing honor at 2025 Children’s and Family Emmy Awards

First Emmy win for animated PBS show goes to episode co-writers X̱’unei Lance Twitchell and Raye Lankford.

The House Finance Committee listens to public testimony about next year’s proposed budget on Friday at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

The Alaska House budget currently has a ‘full’ PFD of about $3,800. Except it really doesn’t.

Legislators on all sides agree PFD will shrink drastically before floor vote to avoid $2 billion deficit.

The Tlingit and Haida Elders Group performs the entrance dance at the 89th annual Tribal Assembly of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Trump rescinds Biden executive order expanding tribal sovereignty and self-governance

Order giving Natives more access to federal funds cited in awarding of major Southeast Alaska projects.

(Getty Images)

Sports

Jessie Holmes, former reality TV star, wins longest-ever Iditarod dog race: ‘It’s a magical feeling’

Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star on “Life Below Zero,” won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog…

Jonathan Estes, a parent of three students attending the Dzantik’i Heeni campus, testifies for a safe playground at a special Juneau Board of Education meeting on Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau School District submits budget for next school year to Juneau Assembly

The plan assumes $400 BSA hike and no staff vacancies; board also advocates for DH playground.

Dylan Court and Emily Feliciano-Soto at a rehearsal of “Necessary Nonsense,” a Theater Alaska production debuting Friday. (Photo courtesy of Theatre Alaska)

News

Middle schoolers bring ‘Necessary Nonsense’ to life in Theater Alaska Kids Company’s debut play

Imagine a world where “Alice in Wonderland” characters mingle with limerick legends such as “an old man with…

Wrangell’s Trevyn Gillen (22), Jackson Powers and Boomchaine Loucks (4) contain Effie Kokrine ball handler Ryan Strom in the Wolves 75-40 win over the Warriors on Friday in the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 2A State Basketball Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Wrangell boys advance to state’s 2A fourth-place game

Kake boys advance to 1A fourth-place game, Skagway boys to seventh.

Haines’ Ari’el Godinez-Long (3) scores over Metlakatla’s Saahdia Buffalo during the Glacier Bears 58-34 loss to the MisChiefs on Friday in the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 2A State Basketball Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Metlakatla girls earn fourth place game at state

Hoonah and Klawock girls lose final state games.

Protesters gather for a protest against Medicaid cuts at the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

Alaskans across the state rally to save Medicaid: their ‘lifeline’

Caregivers raise their voices to protect their jobs and the thousands of lives impacted if Medicaid is cut.

The Alaska State Capitol is seen in partial morning sun on May 10, 2024. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

News

New Alaska revenue forecast worsens state’s big projected budget deficits

The state of Alaska is still facing a significant budget deficit despite a revised state revenue forecast published…

The Office of Personnel Management in Washington. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)

News

Judge orders Trump administration to rehire thousands of fired workers; at least some to get back pay

Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy and Interior departments affected by order.