Site Logo
Derek Bos of Colorado smiles for a photo Sept. 28 outside of City Hall during a visit to Juneau as a finalist for chief of the Juneau Police Department. He was named the new chief on Tuesday and is scheduled to start Feb. 1. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

News

Juneau reaches to Colorado for new police chief

Derek Bos replaces Chief Ed Mercer, who retired July 31

Troy Michael Smith, a part-time Juneau resident, at the Mr. Gay World competition in Cape Town, South Africa, where he prevailed among the 11 candidates. (Photo courtesy of Rudi Du Toit Photography)

News

Juneau resident crowned Mr. Gay World

Troy Michael Smith bests 11 international candidates in Cape Town.

The front of the Alaska State Capitol is seen on Wednesday, April 12. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska retirement board recommends closure of widely used plan after analysis finds flaws

“Managed accounts” cover more than 10,000 of the 122,000-plus managed by state.

Acrylic works by local artist Jessalyn Ward will be featured at Bustin Out Boutique as part of November’s First Friday in Juneau. (Courtesy of the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council)

News

Here’s what’s happening for First Friday in November

An annual napkin art contest, a workshop for homemade dog treats, and art featuring end-of-an-age glaciers and end-of-life…

Workers remove awning from the old Elks Lodge building at 109 S. Franklin St. at midday Monday. While heavy construction equipment is parked next to the structure, the owner says no decision about the fate of the building has been made yet. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

A bit of the historic former Elks Lodge downtown is coming down, but the building isn’t for now

Fate of building that was home to first territorial Legislature still being determined, owner says.

A sign for a store that accepts food stamps and exchange benefits transfer cards is seen in this 2019 photo. Alaska has being going through a year-long crisis in processing applications for benefits. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)

News

Alaska faces new backlog in processing food stamp benefits after clearing older applications

ANCHORAGE — An Alaska state agency faces a new backlog in processing applications for people seeking food stamp…

Suzanne Morris, left, and Melissa Anderson finish the Halloween Half Marathon on Saturday. (Klas Stolpe for the Juneau Empire)

Sports

Miller, Kruger win scary Halloween Half

Gentemann, Tracy top costumes; Janes 5K winner

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Alexander Smith battles for a puck in front of the Eagle River goal during Saturday’s 6-1 Crimson Bears win over the Wolves at Treadwell Arena. (Klas Stolpe for the Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS opens season by icing Eagle River

Crimson Bears hockey puts football-size scores on visiting Wolves

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé varsity volleyball team celebrates a comeback five-set win against Ketchikan High School on Saturday night at JDHS. Ketchikan won the first two sets before JDHS won the next three, all by close back-and-forth scores until the fifth set which the Crimson Bears won decisively. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS, TMHS volleyball teams celebrate Senior Nights with wins over Ketchikan

Crimson Bears win five-set comeback thriller; Falcons continue strong season with straight-sets win.

University of Alaska environmental science professor Eran Hood (foreground right) and National Weather Service Juneau hydrologist Aaron Jacobs discuss their hope of renaming Suicide Basin to Kʼóox Ḵaadí Basin, a Tlingit name referring to a small weasel-like mammal in the area — during a presentation Friday at the University of Alaska Southeast. They also discussed the basin’s history, a record flood from it that occurred this summer and the possibility of future such floods. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Experts seek to rename Suicide Basin to Kʼóox Ḵaadí Basin; warn its deadly flood threat rising

History, future and monitoring of ice dam that caused record flooding this year focus of UAS event.

Felicia Price, an employee of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, hands a copy of the Lingít-language book “Kuhaantí” to her son, Brayden, 8, while staffing the distribution table for the book with co-worker Genevieve McFadden during its release party Friday night at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Landmark Lingít-language children’s book is an ‘orphan’ with a very large family

“Kuhaantí,” first release of its kind in decades, part of nine-story collaborative tribal project.

Fishers set out equipment a short distance from shore in the Tongass National Forest. A collective $110 million in public investment for mariculture in Alaska is occurring via federal and other funding. (Courtesy Photo/U.S. Forest Service)

News

Envisioning a future of mariculture boom times

More than $100M helping spur growth in oyster and kelp farming, research and development.

Alaska Electric Light and Power Co.’s Lemon Creek operations center in Juneau. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

News

AEL&P rates change — up for most customers, down for small commercial users

New rates part of two-step process that included 4.5% increase for all users last year.

A map by the U.S. Geological Survey shows where a magnitude 5.3 earthquake occurred near Juneau at 7:44 p.m. Friday. (U.S. Geological Survey)

News

At least two earthquakes near Glacier Bay felt Friday night in Juneau

Magnitude 5.1 quake at 7:01 p.m. followed by magnitude 5.3 quake 89 miles northwest of town.

Passengers return to the Norwegian Sun cruise ship early Wednesday evening, the final ship to visit Juneau this year. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Sun sets on record cruise ship season

1.65 million passengers representing 101% of ship capacity visited Juneau, preliminary figures show.

Newly-sworn Juneau Board of Education members Britteny Cioni-Haywood and David Noon (left) prepare to take their seats as outgoing members Brian Holst and Martin Stepetin Sr. (right) depart during the board’s meeting Tuesday night at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. At center, Jessica Richmond, administrative assistant to the Juneau School District superintendent, replaces the name signs of the board members at the two seats. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

School district gets $2.8M of bad news due to low enrollment and audit, but also $2.3M of good news

Preliminary audit shows faulty practices; meanwhile, state backs off fight on “over-the-cap” funds.

This is a photo of the front page of the Juneau Empire on Oct. 23, 2005. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week of Oct. 29

Three decades of capital city coverage.

The offices of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development in Juneau are seen on Thursday. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska governor’s staff deleted state agency’s analysis of teacher pay

Article would have been on cover of Alaska Economic Trends for October.

An entangled humpback whale seen from above on Oct. 10 near Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. (Photo by Sean Neilson, NOAA MMHSRP Permit No. 24359)

News

Juvenile whale caught in heavy fishing apparatus freed by team effort

Rescue follows the loss of a whale calf to a vessel strike in August

Marta Lastufka (left) plays the lead role of Nora while Becky Orford plays Anne Marie in a rehearsal of “A Doll’s House, Part 2” at the Filipino Community Hall on Thursday. The play is scheduled to debut at the hall at 7 p.m. next Wednesday, with 12 more performances at venues around Juneau through Nov. 19. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

A notorious woman’s challenging return home — on stage and in real life

Longtime actor Marta Lastufka returns after many years in Theater Alaska’s “In A Doll’s House, Part 2”