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A crane sits in the city-owned Aurora Harbor on Nov. 6, there for a project to repair the docks. The construction industry was one of the few in Southeast Alaska which wasn't dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state economists. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Southeast Alaska’s economic recovery expected to be slow

When will tourists come back?

A crane sits in the city-owned Aurora Harbor on Nov. 6, there for a project to repair the docks. The construction industry was one of the few in Southeast Alaska which wasn't dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state economists. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Peter Segall/ Juneau Empire File Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to local leaders at the Alaska Municipal League’s legislative conference in this February 2020 photo.

Lawyers for Dunleavy want part of law on appointments tossed

Appointments are at center of dispute.

Peter Segall/ Juneau Empire File Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to local leaders at the Alaska Municipal League’s legislative conference in this February 2020 photo.
Sarah Palmer holds up a swab before administering a COVID-19 test. The City and Borough of Juneau is offering free, asymptomatic testing. The drive-thru testing is available daily through Jan. 10 with the exception of New Year's Day. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

COVID cases trending down

Still on high alert.

Sarah Palmer holds up a swab before administering a COVID-19 test. The City and Borough of Juneau is offering free, asymptomatic testing. The drive-thru testing is available daily through Jan. 10 with the exception of New Year's Day. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, speaks on the House floor on opening day of the 117th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. (Bill Clark / Pool)

Rep Young calls for bipartisanship while giving Pelosi oath

Young used Sunday’s occasion as an opportunity to try to bring together political parties.

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, speaks on the House floor on opening day of the 117th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. (Bill Clark / Pool)
An airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine caribou herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. Conservationists will try to persuade a U.S. judge to stop the Trump administration from issuing leases to oil and gas companies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Anchorage Daily News reported that the videoconference Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, in U.S. District Court in Anchorage is expected to determine whether the Bureau of Land Management can open bids in an online lease sale scheduled for Wednesday. The agency has offered 10-year leases on 22 tracts covering about 1,563 square miles in the coastal plain, which accounts for about 5% of the refuge’s area. (Courtesy Photo / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Court hears challenge to Arctic refuge oil leases

Attorneys for conservation groups asked a judge to halt the issuance of oil and gas leases in ANWR.

  • Jan 4, 2021
  • Becky Bohrer Associated Press
  • ANWR
An airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine caribou herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. Conservationists will try to persuade a U.S. judge to stop the Trump administration from issuing leases to oil and gas companies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Anchorage Daily News reported that the videoconference Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, in U.S. District Court in Anchorage is expected to determine whether the Bureau of Land Management can open bids in an online lease sale scheduled for Wednesday. The agency has offered 10-year leases on 22 tracts covering about 1,563 square miles in the coastal plain, which accounts for about 5% of the refuge’s area. (Courtesy Photo / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
President-elect Joe Biden speaks at a drive-in rally for Georgia Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, in Atlanta. The first full week of 2021 is shaping up to be one of the biggest of Biden’s presidency. And he hasn’t even taken office yet. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Murkowski, Sullivan share plan to affirm election results

Senators share thoughts ahead of unlikely flashpoint procedure.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks at a drive-in rally for Georgia Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, in Atlanta. The first full week of 2021 is shaping up to be one of the biggest of Biden’s presidency. And he hasn’t even taken office yet. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Residents on Wire Street near Twin Lakes clean up debris from a landslide caused by heavy rains on Dec. 2, 2020. The state of Alaska has set up a website to help people apply for state and federal relief money for damages caused by the storm. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

Application opens for December storm disaster relief

There’s a Feb. 26. deadline.

Residents on Wire Street near Twin Lakes clean up debris from a landslide caused by heavy rains on Dec. 2, 2020. The state of Alaska has set up a website to help people apply for state and federal relief money for damages caused by the storm. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
State Representatives stand at their desks during the Pledge of Allegiance in the Iowa House chambers, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa, in June 2020. As states brace for a coronavirus surge following holiday gatherings, one place stands out as a potential super-spreader site, the statehouses where lawmakers will help shape the response to the pandemic. (AP Photo / Charlie Neibergall)

Statehouses could prove to be hothouses for virus infection

Statehouses around the nation set to convene.

State Representatives stand at their desks during the Pledge of Allegiance in the Iowa House chambers, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa, in June 2020. As states brace for a coronavirus surge following holiday gatherings, one place stands out as a potential super-spreader site, the statehouses where lawmakers will help shape the response to the pandemic. (AP Photo / Charlie Neibergall)
In this Dec. 24 photo, Arsenio “Pastor” Credo receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine from nurse Courtney Taber at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Ethel Lund Medical Center. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Alaskans over 65 eligible for vaccinations earlier than first expected

Appointments can be made starting Wednesday.

In this Dec. 24 photo, Arsenio “Pastor” Credo receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine from nurse Courtney Taber at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Ethel Lund Medical Center. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
In this July 13, 2007, file photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)

Investors sue parent company behind proposed Pebble Mine

Investors claim company misled shareholders who have seen an 85% drop in stock value.

  • Jan 2, 2021
  • Associated Press
In this July 13, 2007, file photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)
teeze

Opinion: Bad economic policy comes disguised as compassion

Neither the feds nor state has money in the bank to cover such unnecessary expenses.

  • Jan 2, 2021
  • By Rich Moniak
teeze
Sherri McDonald and Reid Tippets dry off after their annual dip in the water at Auke Recreation Picnic Area on New Years Day, Jan. 1, 2021. Tippets said he’d done the dip for 11 years in a row. The Polar Bear Dip, held for 30 years at Auke Rec, was canceled this year over pandemic concerns, but some individual households opted to make the dip with their families, with masks, distancing, and care very much in evidence, while other pods had fires or walked dogs next to the cold ocean. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Photos: A (distanced) dip

… Continue reading

Sherri McDonald and Reid Tippets dry off after their annual dip in the water at Auke Recreation Picnic Area on New Years Day, Jan. 1, 2021. Tippets said he’d done the dip for 11 years in a row. The Polar Bear Dip, held for 30 years at Auke Rec, was canceled this year over pandemic concerns, but some individual households opted to make the dip with their families, with masks, distancing, and care very much in evidence, while other pods had fires or walked dogs next to the cold ocean. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
This photo composite shows Alaska’s congressional delegation, from left to right, Sen. Dan Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Rep. Don Young, all Republicans. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Alaska senators vote for veto override

It’s the first veto override of the Trump presidency.

This photo composite shows Alaska’s congressional delegation, from left to right, Sen. Dan Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Rep. Don Young, all Republicans. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
A bald eagle found near Montana Creek Road on Dec. 22 had to be euthanized due to injuries, visible here, received from a lead shot fired from a shotgun. The Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward for information on the shooter. (Courtesy photo / Juneau Raptor Center)

Authorities investigate fatal shooting of bald eagle

The otherwise healthy, adult bird had to be euthanized for its injuries.

A bald eagle found near Montana Creek Road on Dec. 22 had to be euthanized due to injuries, visible here, received from a lead shot fired from a shotgun. The Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward for information on the shooter. (Courtesy photo / Juneau Raptor Center)
This bookmark made by Virginia Potts is one of 11 winning entries in Juneau Public Libraries annual bookmark contest. (Courtesy Photo / Juneau Public Libraries)

Public libraries announce winners, honorable mentions in annual bookmark contest

Bookmark this page.

This bookmark made by Virginia Potts is one of 11 winning entries in Juneau Public Libraries annual bookmark contest. (Courtesy Photo / Juneau Public Libraries)
The Fairbanks Experimental Farm, shown in this 2014 photo, on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus opened in 1906.(Courtesy Photo / by Todd Paris, UAF)

Alaska Science Forum: The gardening potential of the Last Frontier

The potential for more is here.

  • Jan 1, 2021
  • By Ned Rozell
The Fairbanks Experimental Farm, shown in this 2014 photo, on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus opened in 1906.(Courtesy Photo / by Todd Paris, UAF)
Fireworks light up the sky above the Mendenhall Valley the evening of Dec. 31, 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Police talk fireworks and New Year’s Eve safety

Don’t celebrate the end of 2020 too hard.

Fireworks light up the sky above the Mendenhall Valley the evening of Dec. 31, 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., walks off of the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh)

Chaotic Congress comes to close

Shutdown, impeachment, virus and more.

  • Jan 1, 2021
  • By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent
  • National News
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., walks off of the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh)
Composite Image / Juneau Empire staff and Unsplash This composite image shows a Tongass National Forest sign that stands near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, Juneau Police Chief Ed Mercer at an event held following the killing of George Floyd, a man voting in the November general election, the effects of early December storms in Juneau and a health care worker at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site.

5 stories that shaped Juneau’s 2020

The year was defined by more than COVID-19.

Composite Image / Juneau Empire staff and Unsplash This composite image shows a Tongass National Forest sign that stands near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, Juneau Police Chief Ed Mercer at an event held following the killing of George Floyd, a man voting in the November general election, the effects of early December storms in Juneau and a health care worker at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site.
Bartlett Regional Hospital pharmacist Chris Sperry holds a vial of COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 15, 2020. BRH immediately began vaccinating its personnel upon receipt of the vaccine. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Officials: More vaccine doses are on the way

Older Alaskans and frontline essential workers among those next in line for vaccine.

Bartlett Regional Hospital pharmacist Chris Sperry holds a vial of COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 15, 2020. BRH immediately began vaccinating its personnel upon receipt of the vaccine. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)