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A path leading from the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in 1962. (U.S. Forest Service photo)

News

The original road to the glacier

Despite the flurry of activity and development proposals in the 1960s, the first road to the glacier was…

The State Office Building in downtown Juneau on Saturday, May 3, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

State, employees’ union reach tentative agreement on 11% pay hike over three years

Deal will also significantly boost state’s health insurance contribution if OK’d by workers, lawmakers.

West Anchorage and Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé players react to the Eagles’ game-winning goal by senior Hattie Luckasson (5) during the Crimson Bears’ 2-1 loss to the Eagles on Saturday at Adair Kennedy Memorial Park. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS girls soccer team falls 2-1 to West Anchorage

Crimson Bears score first, Eagles win second half.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Kai Ciambor (14) puts a shot past West Anchorage senior Porter Youngman (19) and sophomore Nathan Conlon (12) during the Crimson Bears’ 7-1 loss to the Eagles on Saturday at Adair Kennedy Memorial Park. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS boys pitched 7-1 by West Anchorage

Crimson Bears outplayed, but not overmatched against Eagles.

Laa.éi Kathleen John leads the Yées Ḵu.oo dance group through the Haida entrance song at the Juneau Maritime Festival on Saturday, May 3, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

A merry 15th annual Juneau Maritime Festival despite the rain

“This kind of feels like it’s just for us.”

Capital City Fire/Rescue firefighter Jenna Habig transports a hospital gurney in an undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Jesse Inman)

News

Juneau firefighters’ union sounds the alarm on delayed ambulance response times this summer

The concerns arise from a decline in staff and a rise in tourism.

People in Juneau gather in the rain at the Alaska State Capitol for a global May Day protest on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

‘Mayday, Mayday’: Protesters and Liz Cheney urge wake-up call for defending democracy

Unity and solidarity expressed in rainfall on International Workers’ Day.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé sophomore forward Clairee Overson (18) moves a ball past West Anchorage freshman Kiana Isenberg (28) during the Crimson Bears 0-0 tie with the Eagles on Friday at Adair Kennedy Memorial Park. Overson earned the Crimson Bears’ Hard Hat Award in the game. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS soccer girls play even with West Anchorage

Crimson Bears and Eagles go scoreless on the pitch.

Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon and Deputy Mayor Greg Smith discuss the city’s proposed budget for next year during a pair of meetings by Assembly members Wednesday night at City Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Assembly moves forward on mill rate and utility fee hikes, $10M school projects bond

Juneau leaders opt against utility projects bond, put seasonal sales tax on hold for further study.

The city of Hoonah is seeking to incorporate as a borough with a large tract of surrounding area that includes most of Glacier Bay National Park and a few tiny communities. (Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development photo)

News

Election to incorporate new Xunaa Borough, and select its Assembly and school board, set for July 15

Approval would form Alaska’s 20th borough; result in dissolution of Hoonah’s municipal government.

Tribal elder lder Ilskyaalas Delores Churchill picks up black cod during a traditional foods distribution by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska in Hydaburg earlier this year. (CCTHITA photo)

News

Tlingit and Haida halts traditional foods distribution due to cancellation of federal funding

Providing of salmon, other foods to communities among multiple tribal cuts by Trump administration.

The chairs of the Senate Finance Committee huddle for a discussion after introducing their draft operating budget, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska Senate committee drops proposed 2025 PFD to $1,000 per recipient, an inflation-adjusted low

Amid a severe state budget deficit, the Alaska Senate Finance Committee is proposing the lowest Permanent Fund dividend…

Glacier Swim Club’s Valerie Peimann and Emma Fellman tied for first place for the 15-19 girls high-point award at the Alaska Swimming State Championships last weekend in Anchorage. At right is third-placer Lelaina Trembath of Chugiak Aquatics Club (Photo courtesy GSC).

Sports

GSC places second in Alaska Swimming State Championships

Glacier Swim Club wins honors as seniors swim final meet.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on May 1, 1995. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week ending May 3

Three decades of capital city coverage.

A dropoff box for ballots at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library during Juneau’s 2024 municipal election. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Petitions for mill rate cap, sales tax exemptions and in-person elections certified for signatures

Supporters have until May 30 to get 2,720 signatures to put measures on local fall ballot.

Senate Minority Leader Mike Shower (R-Wasilla), right, explains why he is changing his vote on a compromise education bill during Wednesday’s floor session at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Compromise education bill passes Legislature by veto-proof margin despite Dunleavy administration threats

Education commissioner tells school districts to support governor’s policy goals or risk losing funds.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears first baseman Taylor Williams puts out Sitka Wolves runner Vada West during softball action Wednesday at Moller Field in Sitka. (James Poulson / Daily Sitka Sentinel)

Sports

Crimson Bears devour Wolves 18-9, get nipped 10-9

Nizich home run highlights JDHS “rap sheet” in two game series.

The JACK Quartet, a modern experimental string ensemble, is scheduled to perform the world premier of a composition by John Luther Adams on May 14 at the National Shrine of St. Thérèse as part of Juneau Jazz and Classics’ 38th annual Spring Festival. (Photo courtesy of the JACK Quartet)

News

Pulitzer and Grammy winners put spring into Juneau Jazz and Classics starting Saturday

Husband-wife folk team arrives straight from Carnegie; experimental quartet to perform world premiere.

Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center as seen on March 14, 2025. (Photo by Laurie Craig)

News

Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center: Preserving the past, greeting the future

Generations of architects and naturalists have navigated through mass evolution of visitors and ice.

Bottles of wine are displayed on June 29, 2022, at an Anchorage liquor store. Alaska is the first U.S. state to require that businesses post signs warning that alcohol consumption raises cancer risks. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska becomes first state to require warnings about alcohol link to colon, breast cancers

Correction: The headline and article have been corrected to reflect the fact that Alaska is the first state…