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The voting board in the Alaska House of Representatives displays the total votes for and against Senate Bill 45 on Monday. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska lawmakers OK rules for subscription-style basic health care

The Alaska Legislature has voted to approve a health care approach likened to a gym membership.

About 20 people gather in Marine Park at midday Tuesday for a rally calling for a ban on large cruise ships on Saturdays in Juneau. Some of the participants are members of a committee planning to gather signatures for a petition to put the question on the ballot for local voters. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Activists hoping to put Saturday ban on large cruise ships on local ballot

Proposed initiative would also make July 4 a ship-free day in Juneau.

Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, stares at a pile stack of budget amendments on Tuesday. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska House digs into budget — and a developing gap between expenses and revenue

Financial estimates show may not be enough revenue to cover the Legislature’s draft spending plan.

Construction workers work on retaining walls and other infrastructure Tuesday in preparation for an expanded three-season food court on South Franklin Street. The Juneau Planning Commission unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the project, some of which occupies the space where the historic Elks Lodge stood until it was demolished last year. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Expanded three-season food court on Franklin Street gets unanimous OK from Planning Commission

More food options, seating, a bar and restrooms among plans that include former Elks Lodge site.

Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer and co-chair of the House Finance Committee, signs the committee’s version of the state operating budget on Friday. Looking on is Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, and at background is Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska House prepares to consider budget changes, including money for homeless shelter and ferries

$12.3 billion spending plan includes PFD of more than $2,700, but lawmakers expect changes.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski meets with Thunder Mountain High School senior Elizabeth Djajalie in March in Washington, D.C., when Djajalie was one of two Alaskans chosen as delegates for the Senate Youth Program. (Photo courtesy U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office)

Neighbors

Neighbors: Juneau student among four National Honor Society Scholarship Award winners

TMHS senior Elizabeth Djajalie selected from among nearly 17,000 applicants.

Juneau Board of Education President Deedie Sorensen (left) and Vice President Emil Mackey, holding his son Emil Mackey IV, listen to discussion about next year’s budget for the school district during a meeting March 14 at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. Both are the targets of recall petitions expected to begin circulating this week. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Recall effort targets school board president, vice president due to district’s budget crisis

Deedie Sorensen, Emil Mackey failed to act on previous concerns about fiscal woes, petitioners say.

The House Education Committee hears public testimony on a multipart education bill on Monday. Members of the public chided lawmakers for a dysfunctional meeting. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

News

Committee advances Alaska education bill with Gov. Dunleavy priorities, historic funding increase

The meeting was dysfunctional enough that the public scolded lawmakers in testimony.

Elias Lowell, 15, balances his way to the end of the pond during the annual Slush Cup at Eaglecrest Ski Area on Sunday, the last day of what officials called and up-and-down season. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Up-and-down season at Eaglecrest ends on splashy note with Slush Cup

Ski area’s annual beach party features ice-filled water, snowy shores and showboating skimmers.

A security gate installed at Harris Harbor is scheduled to be locked from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily starting in early May, with access to boaters provided by key fobs or other means. (City and Borough of Juneau photo)

News

Harris Harbor to be protected at night by electronic security gate starting in early May

Barrier is believed to be the first at a public dock in Alaska; boaters will access via key…

Maddy Fortunato, a Chickaloon middle school student, sets to attempt the one-hand reach by touching a suspended ball while remaining balanced on the other hand during the Traditional Games on Sunday at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Striving for the perfect balance of competition, camaraderie at seventh annual Traditional Games

More than 250 participants pursue personal goals while helping others during Indigenous events.

Juneau Assembly members confer with Bartlett Regional Hospital leaders during a break in an Assembly Finance Committee meeting Saturday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau Assembly begins annual budget process with school district exiting crisis, hospital facing one

Bartlett has lost millions annually since ‘20, will be broke in three years without fixes, CFO says.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on April 4, 2004. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week ending April 6

Three decades of capital city coverage.

Laurie Lewis, a California bluegrass musician who has been performing for nearly four decades, is the featured guest artist at the 49th annual Alaska Folk Festival that starts Monday. (Photo courtesy of Laurie Lewis)

News

49th annual Alaska Folk Festival returns to its familiar roots at Centennial Hall

More than 130 acts scheduled to perform during week of concerts, dances and workshops.

Emergency lights flash on top of a police car. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Police: Death of man from gunshot wound near glacier not suspicious

Body discovered along roadside on Wednesday morning, with weapon next to him.

Visitors to the Denver Art Museum look at “Drum (Gaaw),” a cultural item from the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, on display in the Northwest Coast and Alaska Native Art Galleries on March 27. The tribes, from Southeast Alaska, have been trying to reclaim their cultural items from the Denver Art Museum for more than 30 years. (RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

News

Tlingit and Haida delegation came to Denver to reclaim their cultural heritage. They left empty-handed.

Tribal representatives say city museum has historic objects that should be returned under 1990 law.

Tourists wait at a Capital Transit bus stop about 1.5 miles from the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on July 19, 2023. Large numbers of cruise ship visitors taking city buses to get near the glacier last year meant there often wasn’t space for local residents going to other locations. (Photo by Laurie Craig)

News

First cruise ship of season expected to match last year’s record-high traffic arrives Tuesday

Officials say new five-ship daily limit will reduce passengers compared to busiest days last year.

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks during a March 19 news conference. Next to him is Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska Senate acts to keep cities, boroughs from taxing property sales

Juneau’s Jesse Kiehl among dissenters in 16-3 vote, saying decision should be made locally

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé students, along with a handful of state legislators and staff members, march from the school to the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday morning to protest lawmakers who earlier this year rejected an increase in the state’s funding formula for public schools. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau students take statewide protest for more education funding into the Capitol

Scores of students march from JDHS to the offices of the governor and other lawmakers.

Kaden Ollila, 20, a Washington state resident who used to live in Juneau, was recently indicted in Alaska on cyberstalking and child pornography charges. (U.S. Department of Justice photo)

News

Former Juneau resident indicted on cyberstalking and child pornography charges

Kaden Ollila, 20, is accused of targeting minors in Alaska, Washington and California.