Site Logo
A courtroom at the Juneau Courthouse. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Juneau man gets 27 years in prison in plea deal after indictment on 75 child sex abuse and assault charges

Steven Littlefield, 33, abused two children at home between 2016 and 2021, officials say.

The Senate Finance Committee takes public testimony on Senate Bill 114, on Thursday, May 4, 2023, at the Alaska State Capitol. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Public hearings planned for Alaska’s minimum-wage and ranked choice repeal ballot measures

The state of Alaska will hold public hearings Monday and Tuesday on ballot measures that seek to raise…

Vincent Colliard (left) and Børge Ousland examine a map of the Juneau Icefield at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on Friday night before giving a presentation about their planned crossing of the icefield. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Two famed polar explorers crossing Juneau Icefield to prove large point about shrinking glaciers

Børge Ousland and Vincent Colliard attempting to cross Earth’s 20 largest icefields in climate campaign.

The Tlingit and Haida Elder Dance Group performs during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Áakʼw Tá Hít building at the University of Alaska Southeast on Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

New Áakʼw Tá Hít building at UAS seeks state-of-the art science with traditional wisdom

Building that hosted ribbon-cutting Friday is first at Juneau campus with a primary name in Lingít.

Uhtred Permanentfundsen, the “defender of the Permanent Fund,” occupies a shelf near the head of the table in the Senate Finance Committee room at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

This year’s Permanent Fund Dividend is $1,702, with first payouts scheduled Oct. 3

Amount includes $1,403.83 from Permanent Fund earnings and $298.17 “one-time energy relief payment.”

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé freshman assistant coach and manager Jaasyah Crowley (72) directs varsity warmups before the Juneau Huskies’ game against West Anchorage High School last Saturday at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)

Sports

Jaasyah Crowley chasing gridiron dream as whistle-blowing manager for Juneau Huskies

JDHS freshman born with neurological disorder leads warmups for team as he works to get on the field.

Rainforest Recovery Center is seen during its final week of operation Wednesday as Bartlett Regional Hospital officials have said the residential substance abuse treatment program will close next Tuesday. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)

News

Giving up to $500K to expanding nonprofit rather than soon-to-close Rainforest Recovery gets Assembly nod

Gastineau Human Services hoping for eight new residential substance abuse treatment beds by Oct. 14.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior swim captains Matthew Godkin, Matthew Plang, Pacific Ricke and Nova Hines were chosen by teammates to lead the Crimson Bears in the pool this season. Godkin and Hines swam last year for the now defunct Thunder Mountain High School Falcons. (Klas Stolpe/For the Juneau Empire)

Sports

Swimmers find their lanes on combined JDHS team

Crimson Bears have 37 athletes who swim and 10 that dive, with 22 of them coming over from…

Juneau Huskies senior captains Hayden Aube (2), Sage Schultz (5), Caleb Ziegenfuss (16) and Jayden Johnson (4) approach the center of Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park for the coin toss of last weekend’s game against West Anchorage. (Klas Stolpe/For the Juneau Empire)

Sports

Huskies’ captains talk of facing Dimond pedigree

Juneau goes on the road to take on undefeated conference leader in Anchorage on Saturday.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on Sept. 21, 1984. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week ending Sept. 21

Three decades of capital city coverage.

The Alaska Division of Election’s director’s office in Juneau on Nov. 22, 2022. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Elections office in Juneau among those in more than dozen states to be mailed suspicious packages

Package for Juneau intercepted before delivery, no hazardous materials reported in incidents.

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, speaks at a news conference on March 15, 2024, with Gov. Mike Dunleavy. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska pursues appeal of $17.5 million penalty over federal education funding equity dispute

Feds say Gov. Dunleavy veto, DEED inaction are to blame for the penalties.

Candidates for Juneau Assembly and mayor gather at the KTOO studios on Tuesday night for a forum to discuss issues related to the Oct. 1 local election. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Election 2024: Watch the Juneau Municipal Candidate Forum for Mayor and Assembly

Eight candidates participate in one-hour forum Tuesday; school board candidate forum at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Cruise ship tourists watch floatplanes taxi out in Gastineau Channel on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Cruise industry giving opponents of Ship-Free Saturday a dominant campaign cash advantage

Three cruise companies, Goldbelt give $275,000 of more than $300,000 raised; supporters raise $380.

Candidates for the Juneau Board of Education gather at the KTOO studios on Wednesday night for a forum to discuss issues related to the Oct. 1 local election. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Election 2024: Watch the Juneau Municipal Candidate Forum for Juneau School Board

Six candidates seeking three seats in Oct. 1 election participate in televised forum Wednesday.

Students arrive at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Aug. 21. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Threat of school shooting posted widely, including in Juneau, does not appear credible, district says

Extra police at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Monday morning a precaution, according to notice.

Sonya Taton, center, listens to the verdict as she is found guilty on all five counts, including second-degree murder, during her trial in Superior Court in Juneau on Nov. 17, 2023. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Sonya Taton gets 50-year prison sentence for fatally stabbing one boyfriend and wounding another

Judge calls Taton “an enormously dangerous woman” after convictions for attacks in 2016 and 2019.

Angoon students prepare to paddle the unity canoe they built with master carver Wayne Price on June 19, 2023. It is the first canoe of its kind since the U.S. Navy bombardment of Angoon in 1882 that destroyed all the village’s canoes. The Navy plans to issue apologies to Kake and Angoon residents in the fall of 2024. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

News

U.S. Navy plans apologies to Southeast Alaska villages for century-old attacks

Navy officials say apologies in Kake and Angoon are both “long overdue” and “the right thing to do.”

Margaret Katzeek (right) offers public testimony about Suicide Basin flooding concerns while Renee Culp, who testified immediately before Katzeek, offers support during a Juneau Assembly meeting on Monday night. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

City leaders tell worried residents short- and long-term plans for Suicide Basin flooding are in progress

Basin now about half full, but should fill more slowly than earlier this year, city manager says.

Juneau Assembly and mayoral candidates discuss issues involving the community of Douglas during a forum Sept. 8 at the Douglas Public Library. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Local candidates agree on lots of big-picture issues, differ on details, at lots of forums

Housing, flooding, tourism among key issues so far; two more forums being broadcast this week.