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Kell Morris, left wearing a brown hat, was trapped under a 700-pound boulder near Seward on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (Jason Harrington/Seward Fire Department)

Seward man survives 3 hours pinned face down under a 700-pound boulder

Rescuers found Kell Morris with hypothermia and face first in a creek as his wife held his head out of the water.

  • May 31, 2025
  • By Aimee Ortiz ©2025 The New York Times Company
  • rescue
Kell Morris, left wearing a brown hat, was trapped under a 700-pound boulder near Seward on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (Jason Harrington/Seward Fire Department)
Karen Levasseur (left), Cyndy Norbryhn (middle), and Jessica Estes and her daughter May, 7, chat at Rainforest Play Zone in the Mendenhall Mall on Friday, May 30, 2025. The play zone is moving to a different location in the mall, with Hearthside Books and Toys scheduled to move in Rainforest’s current space by September. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Hearthside Books moving to kids’ play zone at Mendenhall Mall; mall’s owners step in to buy, relocate play area

Move of local bookstore from Nugget Mall announced same week Joanne closes it doors there.

Karen Levasseur (left), Cyndy Norbryhn (middle), and Jessica Estes and her daughter May, 7, chat at Rainforest Play Zone in the Mendenhall Mall on Friday, May 30, 2025. The play zone is moving to a different location in the mall, with Hearthside Books and Toys scheduled to move in Rainforest’s current space by September. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé freshman Bryce Haygood scores past West Anchorage sophomore defender Nathan Conlon and sophomore keeper Gideon Plikat during the Crimson Bears’ 3-2 loss in extra time to the Eagles in the 2025 ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Soccer State Championship semifinals Friday at Wasilla High School. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Crimson Bears fall in soccer state tournament semifinal

JDHS comeback against West Anchorage stalls in extra time.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé freshman Bryce Haygood scores past West Anchorage sophomore defender Nathan Conlon and sophomore keeper Gideon Plikat during the Crimson Bears’ 3-2 loss in extra time to the Eagles in the 2025 ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Soccer State Championship semifinals Friday at Wasilla High School. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Serjoe Gutierrez plays violin with the Kodiak High School Orchestra during warm ups (Brian Venua/KMXT)

Alaska schools need teachers. They’re hiring them from the Philippines.

Alaska schools are hiring teachers from the Philippines amid a massive national shortage. It’s the latest wave of immigrants from Southeast Asia to come to… Continue reading

Serjoe Gutierrez plays violin with the Kodiak High School Orchestra during warm ups (Brian Venua/KMXT)
Three petitions seeking to put questions about altering local tax and election rules on the fall municipal election ballot were turned in to the Juneau city clerk’s office on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Ballot petitions to lower property and sales taxes, alter election process turned in to CBJ

City has 10 days to review signatures; supporter says more may be needed to get proposals on fall ballot.

Three petitions seeking to put questions about altering local tax and election rules on the fall municipal election ballot were turned in to the Juneau city clerk’s office on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
A vaccine dose is prepared at a mass vaccination site in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, in 2021. Vaccination rates for Alaska children have declined in recent years, the state reports. (Maryland Executive Office of the Governor photo)

Amid national measles outbreaks, vaccination rates for Alaska children have fallen, report says

Measles, once thought eliminated in the U.S., has spread among unvaccinated people.

A vaccine dose is prepared at a mass vaccination site in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, in 2021. Vaccination rates for Alaska children have declined in recent years, the state reports. (Maryland Executive Office of the Governor photo)
Juneau singer/songwriter Annie Bartholomew rehearses with the Juneau Symphony on Thursday, May 29, 2025, in the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé auditorium. Two folk songs by Bartholomew about women during Klondike Gold Rush will be featured in rearrangements for orchestra during performances Saturday and Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Juneau Symphony’s last mainstage concert of season features some notable firsts

First music by Indigenous composer, local folk singer’s songs rescored for orchestra among weekend’s works

Juneau singer/songwriter Annie Bartholomew rehearses with the Juneau Symphony on Thursday, May 29, 2025, in the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé auditorium. Two folk songs by Bartholomew about women during Klondike Gold Rush will be featured in rearrangements for orchestra during performances Saturday and Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Chrish Newell, right, and partner Jess Contreras, far left, compete in the Farmers Carry during the HYROX 2025 Atlanta Doubles in late April. They qualified for the World Championships scheduled Sunday, June 15, 2025, in Chicago. (Photo courtesy Chris Newell)

Chrish Newell finds strength in new sport

2012 JDHS grad in HYDROX world championships.

Chrish Newell, right, and partner Jess Contreras, far left, compete in the Farmers Carry during the HYROX 2025 Atlanta Doubles in late April. They qualified for the World Championships scheduled Sunday, June 15, 2025, in Chicago. (Photo courtesy Chris Newell)
Klas Stolpe, a sports reporter for the Juneau Empire and multiple other publications since the mid-1990s, receives the Alaska School Activities Association’s Gold Lifetime Pass for Region V this year during a ceremony at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Saturday. (Melissa Bastable Ganey / Mel G Photography)

Longtime Southeast Alaska sports reporter Klas Stolpe wins ASAA’s annual Gold Lifetime Pass award

Honor recognizes “significant service to high school students of Alaska” for at least 20 years.

Klas Stolpe, a sports reporter for the Juneau Empire and multiple other publications since the mid-1990s, receives the Alaska School Activities Association’s Gold Lifetime Pass for Region V this year during a ceremony at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Saturday. (Melissa Bastable Ganey / Mel G Photography)
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Charlie Begenyl pitches during their 10-5 victory over Ketchikan on the first day of the Region V Baseball tournament at Norman Walker Field on Thursday. (Christopher Mullen/Ketchikan Daily News)

JDHS baseball opens region tournament with win

Crimson Bears boys defeat Kayhi on Thursday, face Sitka on Friday.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Charlie Begenyl pitches during their 10-5 victory over Ketchikan on the first day of the Region V Baseball tournament at Norman Walker Field on Thursday. (Christopher Mullen/Ketchikan Daily News)
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears freshman goalkeeper Callen Walker (1) is swarmed by teammates after saving the final shot in a penalty shootout win over Service to open the 2025 ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Soccer State Championships at Wasilla High School on Thursday, May 29, 2025. Senior teammate Kellen Chester (8) consoles Service senior Matej Omalley (2). (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Crimson Bears freshman keeper saves seniors’ state title hopes in tournament opener

JDHS defeats Service in penalty shootout, advances to Friday’s semifinals.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears freshman goalkeeper Callen Walker (1) is swarmed by teammates after saving the final shot in a penalty shootout win over Service to open the 2025 ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Soccer State Championships at Wasilla High School on Thursday, May 29, 2025. Senior teammate Kellen Chester (8) consoles Service senior Matej Omalley (2). (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
The Lewis Glacier on Mount Kenya, one of the few glaciers in Africa, in March. (Luis Tato/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Some glaciers will vanish no matter what, study finds

Glacial ice will melt for centuries even if global temperatures stop rising now, according to new research.

The Lewis Glacier on Mount Kenya, one of the few glaciers in Africa, in March. (Luis Tato/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)
Monitoring equipment at Suicide Basin was turned back on by the U.S. Geological Survey on Sunday, May 4, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Jamie Pierce)

UAS releases Juneau Glacial Flood Dashboard to help community plan for flooding

Website provides forecasting, depths of inundation maps and explains why glacial outbursts occur.

Monitoring equipment at Suicide Basin was turned back on by the U.S. Geological Survey on Sunday, May 4, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Jamie Pierce)
Sitka Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson, left, looks over paperwork from precinct 1 with Holley Bayne, Precinct 1 chair Alix Snelling and deputy Clerk Jess Earnshaw. durinng Wednesday night’s tally of votes at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Unofficial results have 773 in favor and 2,071 against the proposition which would have limited cruise visitors ashore to 300,000 annually, and 4,500 daily; required at least one quiet day a week with no large ships; and implemented a permit system for cruise ships. (James Poulson / Daily Sitka Sentinel)

Sitka voters reject cruise ship limits

By a more than 2-to-1 margin, voters in Wednesday’s special election turned down a ballot proposition to limit cruise ship visitation in Sitka. The vote… Continue reading

Sitka Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson, left, looks over paperwork from precinct 1 with Holley Bayne, Precinct 1 chair Alix Snelling and deputy Clerk Jess Earnshaw. durinng Wednesday night’s tally of votes at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Unofficial results have 773 in favor and 2,071 against the proposition which would have limited cruise visitors ashore to 300,000 annually, and 4,500 daily; required at least one quiet day a week with no large ships; and implemented a permit system for cruise ships. (James Poulson / Daily Sitka Sentinel)
Long time Juneau official Bob Sims, shown during action last week at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park, has been named the 2024-25 Alaska Sports Official of the Year by a committee sponsored through the Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Juneau whistle blower receives state honor

Robert Sims named Alaska Sports Official of the Year.

Long time Juneau official Bob Sims, shown during action last week at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park, has been named the 2024-25 Alaska Sports Official of the Year by a committee sponsored through the Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
The front page of the Juneau Empire on May 26, 1995. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The front page of the Juneau Empire on May 26, 1995. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A hemp crop waits to be harvested in Lincolnshire for British CBD oil producer Crop England on Aug. 27, 2021, in Grantham, England. The farm supplies Crop England, a British CBD oil producer founded in 2019 by Mike and Jackie Lamyman. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Judge: Alaska limits on intoxicating hemp products do not violate the U.S. Constitution

Ruling may end 2023 legal challenge and mean such products are restricted to marijuana retailers here.

A hemp crop waits to be harvested in Lincolnshire for British CBD oil producer Crop England on Aug. 27, 2021, in Grantham, England. The farm supplies Crop England, a British CBD oil producer founded in 2019 by Mike and Jackie Lamyman. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Butch Laiti is president of the Douglas Indian Association, a tribal government in Juneau. The association has purchased a fishing boat and wants to buy a commercial fishing permit for its members to share, but a state law bars it from doing so. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)

Coastal Alaskans see commercial fishing limits as a ‘crisis.’ Lawmakers don’t.

Legislature adjourned without addressing expanding access to commercial fishing careers.

Butch Laiti is president of the Douglas Indian Association, a tribal government in Juneau. The association has purchased a fishing boat and wants to buy a commercial fishing permit for its members to share, but a state law bars it from doing so. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
Juneau ranked eighth out of 12 communities in an annual study asking business leaders how they feel about the business climate in Southeast Alaska. (City and Borough of Juneau)

Uncertainty dragging down mood of Southeast business leaders in annual survey

Tariffs, layoffs, other Trump policies result in “second-lowest levels of positivity” since 2010.

Juneau ranked eighth out of 12 communities in an annual study asking business leaders how they feel about the business climate in Southeast Alaska. (City and Borough of Juneau)
A group of fourth-grade Harborview Elementary School students share the digging and planting task at Juneau’s newest accredited arboretum on Arbor Day, celebrated Monday, May 19, 2025. (Laurie Craig / For the Juneau Empire)

Planting of new trees at Evergreen Cemetery celebrate its new status as an arboretum

More than 100 donated trees of 42 varieties planted during past decades.

A group of fourth-grade Harborview Elementary School students share the digging and planting task at Juneau’s newest accredited arboretum on Arbor Day, celebrated Monday, May 19, 2025. (Laurie Craig / For the Juneau Empire)