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Bartlett Regional Hospital leaders listen to comments from residents during a forum June 13 about proposed cuts to some services, after officials said the reductions were necessary to keep the hospital from going bankrupt within a few years. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Bartlett rebounds from years of losses with profits past six months; staffing down 12% during past year

Hospital’s balance sheet shows dramatic bottom-line turnaround starting in May as services cut.

Alan Steffert, a project engineer for the City and Borough of Juneau, explains alternatives considered when assessing infrastructure improvements including utilities upgrades during a meeting to discuss a proposed fee increase Thursday night at Thunder Mountain Middle School. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Hike of more than 60% in water rates, 80% in sewer over next five years proposed by CBJ utilities

Increase needed due to rates not keeping up with inflation, officials say; Assembly will need to OK plan.

Pauline Plumb and Penny Saddler carry vegetables grown by fellow gardeners during the 29th Annual Juneau Community Garden Harvest Fair on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Dunleavy says he plans to reestablish state Department of Agriculture via executive order

Demoted to division status after statehood, governor says revival will improve food production policies.

The icebreaker originally known as the Aiviq, which arrived at a Florida shipyard about three weeks ago, is seen with a new paint job matching that of other modern Coast Guard icebreakers and the name “Storis” painted on its stern. (USCG Auxiliary Public Affairs photo)

News

First of Coast Guard’s new Polar Security Cutters likely delayed until at least 2030, U.S. House panel says

Delay means Juneau-based icebreaker may play stopgap role longer than expected.

Bartlett Regional Hospital, along with Juneau’s police and fire departments, are partnering in a new behavioral health crisis response program announced Thursday. (Bartlett Regional Hospital photo)

News

New local behavioral health crisis program using hospital, fire and police officials debuts

Mobile crisis team of responders forms five months after hospital ends crisis stabilization program.

The cover image from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s “Alaska Priorities For Federal Transition” report. (Office of the Governor)

News

Loch Ness ducks or ‘vampire grebes’? Alaska governor report for Trump comes with AI hallucinations

A ChatGPT-generated image of Alaska included some strange-looking waterfowl.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears boys basketball team pose in the bleachers at Durango High School in Las Vegas during the Tarkanian Classic Tournament. (Photo courtesy JDHS Crimson Bears)

Sports

JDHS boys earn win at Tarkanian Classic tournament

Crimson Bears find defensive “science” in crucial second half swing.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls basketball team pose at the Ceasar’s Palace fountain in Las Vegas during the Tarkanian Classic Tournament. (Photo courtesy JDHS Crimson Bears)

Sports

Crimson Bears girls win second in a row at Tarkanian Classic

JDHS continues to impress at prestigious Las Vegas tournament.

The Wrangell shoreline with about two dozen buildings visible, including a Russian Orthodox church, before the U.S. Army bombardment in 1869. (Alaska State Library, U.S. Army Infantry Brigade photo collection)

News

Army will issue January apology for 1869 bombardment of Wrangell

Ceremony will be the third by military to Southeast Alaska communities in recent months.

Lightering boats return to their ships in Eastern Channel in Sitka on June 7, 2022. (James Poulson/Sitka Sentinel)

News

Sitka OKs another cruise ship petition for signature drive

Group seeks 300K annual and 4,500 daily visitor limits, and one or more days with no large ships.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears boys basketball team pose upon their arrival in Las Vegas for the Tarkanian Classic Tournament. (Photo courtesy JDHS Crimson Bears)1

Sports

Crimson Bears boys fall in Las Vegas tournament opener

JDHS playing among some of nation’s top high school teams.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls basketball team pose at The Orleans Hotel upon their arrival in Las Vegas for the Tarkanian Classic Tournament. (Photo courtesy JDHS Crimson Bears)

Sports

Crimson Bears girls win season opener at Tarkanian Classic

JDHS among 48 girls’ teams playing in prestigious Las Vegas tournament.

Rep. Alyse Galvin, an Anchorage independent, takes a photo with Meadow Stanley, a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on April before they took part in a march protesting education funding from the school to the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Drops in Alaska’s student test scores and education funding follow similar paths past 20 years, study claims

Fourth graders now are a year behind their 2007 peers in reading and math, author of report asserts.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on Dec. 18, 1984. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

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

Three decades of capital city coverage.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and President-elect Donald Trump (left) will be working as chief executives at opposite ends of the U.S. next year, a face constructed of rocks on Sandy Beach is seen among snow in November (center), and KINY’s prize patrol van (right) flashes its colors outside the station this summer. (Photos, from left to right, from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office, Elliot Welch via Juneau Parks and Recreation, and Mark Sabbatini via the Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau’s 10 strangest news stories of 2024

Governor’s captivating journey to nowhere, woman who won’t leave the beach among those making waves.

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

New Xunaa Borough gets OK in published decision, but opponents not yet done with challenges

State boundary commission reaffirms 3-2 vote; excluded communities likely to ask for reconsideration.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on Dec. 27, 1994. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week ending Dec. 28

Three decades of capital city coverage.

Juneau City Manager Katie Koester (left) and Mayor Beth Weldon (right) meet with residents affected by glacial outburst flooding during a break in a Juneau Assembly meeting Monday night at City Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau’s mayor gets an award, city manager gets a raise

Beth Weldon gets lifetime Alaska Municipal League honor; Katie Koester gets bonus, retroactive pay hike.

Juneau Board of Education members vote during an online meeting Tuesday to extend a free student breakfast program during the second half of the school year. (Screenshot from Juneau Board of Education meeting on Zoom)

News

Extending free student breakfast program until end of school year OK’d by school board

Officials express concern about continuing program in future years without community funding.

Common murres are clustered together on a cliff ledge in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge on July 30, 2019. Annual monitoring of key nesting sites has found that the common murre population has yet to recover from the massive die-off caused by the marine heatwave known as the “Blob.” It was the biggest wildlife die-off in modern times, a new study says. (Photo by Brie Drummond/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

News

Alaska birds suffered biggest die-off in recorded history in ‘Blob’ heat wave, new study says

4 million deaths of common murres during the intense North Pacific marine heatwave.