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Contributed/UAF 
Xochitl Muñoz (left) is a master’s student in paleontology at UAF; Willa Johnson (right) is pursuing a master’s degree in marine biology in the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.

Alaska graduate students awarded national research fellowship for work in sciences

Willa Johnson and Xochitl Muñoz are recipients of the 2025-2026 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships

  • Oct 2, 2025
  • By News Staff Peninsula
Contributed/UAF 
Xochitl Muñoz (left) is a master’s student in paleontology at UAF; Willa Johnson (right) is pursuing a master’s degree in marine biology in the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
Win Gruening (courtesy)

Opinion: Juneau Assembly spends recklessly despite voter concerns about affordability

In just one night, at the September 22 Assembly meeting, almost $30 million in cash went out the door. That’s when the Assembly approved moving… Continue reading

  • Oct 1, 2025
  • By Win Gruening
Win Gruening (courtesy)
Photo courtesy of CBJ
Jonathan Snyder, wildlife biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Conservation Investment, made closing remarks.

$1M in upgrades celebrated at Hank Harmon Public Range

The only outdoor public use range in Juneau has gotten some ‘much-needed’ upgrades, says project manager

Photo courtesy of CBJ
Jonathan Snyder, wildlife biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Conservation Investment, made closing remarks.
The University of Alaska Southeast, seen here on Monday, May 25, 2020. (Peter Segall | Juneau Empire)

UAS fall lecture series returns

The next installment is “Researching the Mendenhall Outburst Flood: 2025 and Beyond”

The University of Alaska Southeast, seen here on Monday, May 25, 2020. (Peter Segall | Juneau Empire)
Todd Hunt introduces “The Circle” at Juneau Community Band’s 2023 Oktoberfest concert. The score for the alphorns was composed specially the concert by Juneau composer Spencer Edgers. (Photo courtesy JCB President Sarah McNair-Grove)

Juneau Community Bands’ Oktoberfest Concert returns Saturday

The theme, Oktoberfest, is back by popular demand, since they first debuted the theme two years ago

Todd Hunt introduces “The Circle” at Juneau Community Band’s 2023 Oktoberfest concert. The score for the alphorns was composed specially the concert by Juneau composer Spencer Edgers. (Photo courtesy JCB President Sarah McNair-Grove)
An attendee holds up a sign opposing the demolition of homes on Telephone Hill at the Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, City and Borough of Juneau Assembly meeting. (Screenshot)

Opposition to Telephone Hill demolition heard at Monday CBJ Assembly meeting

Monday’s meeting was the last regular Assembly session before the deadline to evict residents

An attendee holds up a sign opposing the demolition of homes on Telephone Hill at the Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, City and Borough of Juneau Assembly meeting. (Screenshot)
Photo by Ned Rozell
Golds and greens of aspens and birches adorn a hillside above the Angel Creek drainage east of Fairbanks.

Alaska Science Forum: The season of senescence is upon us

Trees and other plants are simply shedding what no longer suits them

Photo by Ned Rozell
Golds and greens of aspens and birches adorn a hillside above the Angel Creek drainage east of Fairbanks.
Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire
A bald eagle is pictured near Eagle Beach on Sept. 16.

Weekly Wonder: Eagles, a symbol of hope and patriotism

Every time I see an eagle down south, I think of Rachel Carson

Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire
A bald eagle is pictured near Eagle Beach on Sept. 16.
The existing 70-year-old Juneau City Hall. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Juneau Assembly OKs $10M purchase of new city hall office space

Purchasing two floors of the Michael J. Burns Building will cost $10.2 million, with an estimated $7.7 million in future remodeling

The existing 70-year-old Juneau City Hall. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Juneau’s cruise ship dock is seen July 11, 2025. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire file)

Juneau chamber opposes Proposition 3, takes no stance on Propositions 1 and 2

Proposition 3 would institute a 7.5% sales tax rate from April through September

Juneau’s cruise ship dock is seen July 11, 2025. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire file)
Land and marine hazards released by the National Weather Service were updated Monday, Sept. 22. (National Weather Service screenshot)

High winds in Juneau today, flood warning expected through Tuesday

Two landslides along Auke Lake Trail prompted the trail’s closure on Saturday

Land and marine hazards released by the National Weather Service were updated Monday, Sept. 22. (National Weather Service screenshot)
The offices of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are seen Monday, June 6, 2022, in Juneau. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska’s 2025 Permanent Fund dividend will be $1,000 and arrives starting Oct. 2

This year, lawmakers set a specific dividend amount

The offices of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are seen Monday, June 6, 2022, in Juneau. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
A brown bear near the boundary of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in King Cove, Alaska, May 18, 2022. The Trump administration is poised to approve a deal that would allow a long contentious project to build a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, a vast wild area in southwestern Alaska, according to internal Interior Department documents reviewed by The New York Times. (Acacia Johnson/The New York Times)

Trump nears deal for road through Alaskan wildlife refuge

The deal calls for the Interior Department to transfer 490 acres of land within the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge

A brown bear near the boundary of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in King Cove, Alaska, May 18, 2022. The Trump administration is poised to approve a deal that would allow a long contentious project to build a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, a vast wild area in southwestern Alaska, according to internal Interior Department documents reviewed by The New York Times. (Acacia Johnson/The New York Times)
Roasted tofu and quinoa salad with sunflower miso dressing make a high-protein salad to fuel busy afternoons. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

A meal to feel good about

Roasted tofu and quinoa salad with sunflower miso dressing is a high-protein salad to fuel busy afternoons.

Roasted tofu and quinoa salad with sunflower miso dressing make a high-protein salad to fuel busy afternoons. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Things you won’t find camping in Southeast Alaska. (Jeff Lund/Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: Sodium and serenity

The terrain of interior Alaska is captivating in a way that Southeast isn’t

Things you won’t find camping in Southeast Alaska. (Jeff Lund/Juneau Empire)
The Juneau League of Women Voters and KTOO are hosting a candidate forum on Friday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m.
Video

Watch Now: 2025 League of Women Voters candidate forum

The forum will be held Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.

The Juneau League of Women Voters and KTOO are hosting a candidate forum on Friday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m.
Video
This photo shows the University of Alaska Southeast Juneau campus on a rainy day. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Trump cuts to University of Alaska programs for Native students worse than previously announced

UAF officials estimate $8.8 million in canceled funding for a variety of programs and student services

This photo shows the University of Alaska Southeast Juneau campus on a rainy day. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Charles Fox for ICT
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition held an event and candlelight vigil for the National Day of Remembrance at the Indian Gaming Association in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday Sept. 16. They honored U.S. Indian boarding school survivors and the children who never returned home.

‘I would not cry:’ National Day of Remembrance recognizes boarding school survivors and families

A candlelight vigil, songs, and talks marked a day set aside to remember the children who survived boarding schools and those who didn’t

  • Sep 19, 2025
  • By Jourdan Bennett-Begaye ICT News
Charles Fox for ICT
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition held an event and candlelight vigil for the National Day of Remembrance at the Indian Gaming Association in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday Sept. 16. They honored U.S. Indian boarding school survivors and the children who never returned home.
Electrify Juneau! A Clean Energy Fair will be held inside the Juneau Arts and Culture Center from 2-5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21. Admission is free.

Upcoming fair aims to celebrate clean energy and ‘Electrify Juneau!’

The event on Sunday coincides with the national Sun Day initiative

Electrify Juneau! A Clean Energy Fair will be held inside the Juneau Arts and Culture Center from 2-5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21. Admission is free.
The Mount Roberts Tramway car nears the top of its run above Juneau, Alaska. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Cruise ship passenger dies after fall from Mount Roberts trail

The man is among a handful of people to die this summer while exploring Juneau’s outdoors

The Mount Roberts Tramway car nears the top of its run above Juneau, Alaska. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)