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The snowy steps of the Alaska State Capitol are scheduled to see a Nativity scene during an hour-long gathering starting at 4 p.m. Friday which, in the words of a local organizer, is “for families to start their Gallery Walk in a prayerful manner.” But two Outside groups dedicated to placing Nativity scenes at as many state capitol buildings as possible are proclaiming it a victory against the so-called “war on Christmas.” The head of Alaska’s Legislative Affairs Agency, which has administrative oversight of the building, said the gathering is legal since a wide variety of events occur all the time, often with religious overtones, but the placement of a fixed or unattended display is illegal. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

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Scene and heard: Religious freedom groups say Nativity event makes statement

State officials say happening planned for Capitol relatively common and legal.

AP Photo / Al Grillo In this July 13, 2007, photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma.

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EPA proposes restrictions to block proposed Pebble Mine

The decision will now be forwarded to the EPA Office of Water.

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire Juneau state Sen. Jesse Kiehl, left, gives a legislative proclamation to former longtime Juneau Assembly member Loren Jones, following Kiehl’s speech at the Juneau Chamber of Commerce’s weekly luncheon Thursday at the Juneau Moose Family Center.

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Cloudy economy, but sunnier political outlook lie ahead for lawmakers, Kiehl says

Juneau’s state senator tells Chamber of Commerce bipartisan majority a key to meaningful action

FILE - Freight train cars sit in a Norfolk Southern rail yard on Sept. 14, 2022, in Atlanta. The Biden administration is saying the U.S. economy would face a severe economic shock if senators don't pass legislation this week to avert a rail worker strike. The administration is delivering that message personally to Democratic senators in a closed-door session Thursday, Dec. 1. (AP Photo / Danny Karnik)

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Congress votes to avert rail strike amid dire warnings

President vows to quickly sign the bill.

Performers from Juneau Drag put on a show on Front Street from last year’s Gallery Walk 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)

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Juneau’s Gallery Walk returns to downtown

Over 40 events featured with live music and Holiday Trolley

Aires Kelley, 1, holds a Pride flag Saturday during Drag Storytime at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library, one of many LGBTQ+ friendly events held in Alaska’s capital city. For the second year in a row, the City and Borough of Juneau received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2022 Municipality Equality Index scorecard. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

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Juneau receives perfect score for LGBTQ+ inclusivity

Meanwhile, state and federal protections are lacking, advocates say.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Juneau in Auke Bay is the preferred home port for a private icebreaker that may be purchased by the federal government to help patrol Alaska’s Arctic waters, according to U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan. Among the reasons Juneau is preferred over other state ports is the harbor is currently capable of accommodating the vessel and is adjacent to land where necessary supporting infrastructure could be built.

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Juneau may be home to only Coast Guard icebreaker stationed in Alaska

Effort to buy private ship for Arctic use may bring 190 enlistees, Sen. Sullivan says.

An independent third-party audit found Juneau School District spent at a deficit of over $620,000, in the past fiscal year and failed to adhere to district policies that could have lessened the total. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire File) An independent third-party audit found Juneau School District spent at a deficit of over $620,000 and will need to figure out a way to replenish the fund deficit and balance its budget before the next budgeting cycle starting June 30, 2023. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire File)

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‘There’s no easy way out of this’: City discusses school district’s overall $3.2M deficit

The district will need to replenish its $620,000 operating fund deficit before next budgeting cycle

Steve Lewis, foreground, and Stephen Sorensen from the Alaska State Review Board scan ballots from precincts where they were hand counted at the Division of Elections office Nov. 15. Board officials spent the period between the Nov. 8 election and its certification Wednesday performing about 20 different to verify the results. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Election certified, but challenges pending

Outcome of at least two state House races unknown, which may determine chamber’s leadership

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore berths at in the Juneau Harbor in late October. Findings from this year’s Juneau Tourism Survey showed nearly 75% supported limiting the number of large cruise ships per day in Juneau’s harbor to five.

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Survey shows preference for daily limit on ships visiting Juneau

Respondents generally report positive impact, but shine light on some challenges.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., briefs reporters as he returns from a White House meeting with President Joe Biden and other congressional leaders, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. Biden is looking to ensure government funding and lock in more legislative wins before Democrats lose control of the House in January. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

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Landmark same-sex marriage bill wins Senate passage

Alaska senators among 12 Republicans to support bill.

This photo shows cabins for Eaglecrest Ski Area’s recently acquired gondola which overall shipping cost came in $262,000 over budget. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire File)

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Eaglecrest Gondola shipping cost comes in $262,000 over budget

City talks funding of gondola project and a possible new partnership

Gavel (Courtesy photo)

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Maassen named new chief justice of Alaska Supreme Court

Longtime private attorney appointed to court in 2012 expects to continue predecessor’s approach.

This photo is a still image taken from the film “Finding She” by Lauren Tanel, which set to be one of the local films featured in the Juneau Underground Motion Picture Society’s Winter Film Festival this weekend at the Gold TownTheater downtown. (Courtesy / Pat Race)

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Picture this: Local film festival set to celebrate 20th anniversary at upcoming weekend event

JUMP into the fun.

Wind blows a shimmer over the water at the Douglas Harbor Sunday afternoon. Taku Winds along with single-digit temperatures are expected to hit downtown Juneau and Douglas in the early hours of Tuesday morning and are predicted to last until later Tuesday evening. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

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Taku Tuesday: Officials warn of high winds and cold weather

Winds between 60-70 mph expected.

Brittney Fuhr digs through remaining canned goods offered at Helping Hands Food Bank during the pantry’s closing day on Friday, Nov. 25. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

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Helping Hands Food Bank closes after 39 years

“We just want to give a big heartfelt thank you to everyone for their support.”

The ranked choice outcome for Alaska’s U.S. Senate race is shown during an Alaska Public Media broadcast on Thursday. Incumbent Lisa Murkowski defeated fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka by getting more than 50% of votes when two lower-finishing candidates were eliminated, with votes from people opting for Democrat Pat Chesbro as their first choice providing the necessary margin. Murkowski supporters note she won more first-choice votes than Tshibaka and thus would have prevailed without ranked choice voting, while Tshibaka supporters claim the challenger would have prevailed back in August under a closed-primary system and thus almost certainly would have won the general election. (Alaska Division of Elections)

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Voting far from over for ranked choice

Alaska certain to revive the debate during coming months as many nationwide hail it as a success.

CCFR crews work to extinguish a house fire in the 2200 block of Radcliffe Road early Monday morning. All occupants of the home were able to escape safely without injury. (Courtesy Photo / CCFR)

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Recent fires underscore importance of smoke detectors, fire marshal says

Residences safely evacuated in two separate blazes.

Defeated candidates Kelly Tshibaka in the U.S. Senate race, left, Les Gara in the governor’s race, center, and Nick Begich in the U.S. House race are among the losers who could again be viable contenders and/or political figures leading up to the 2024 election, according to analysts. (Sources: Mark Thiessen / AP, Peter Segall / Juneau Empire, Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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What’s next for the election’s winners and losers?

Murkowski and Peltola may be key swing votes, Tshibaka the biggest “winner” of losers, analysts say.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Aug. 18, 2022. Florida, Georgia, Texas and Virginia all started new law enforcement units to investigate voter fraud in this year’s elections based on former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential contest. So far, those units seem to have produced more headlines than actual cases. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

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New state voter fraud units finding few cases from midterms

That’s what election experts expected. Critics suggest units more about politics than finding fraud.