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Juneau as pictured from the Downtown Public Library on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Mari Kanagy/Juneau Empire)

Weekly events guide: Juneau community calendar for Dec. 15-21

Visit Juneau Arts and Humanities Council at JAHC.org for more details on this week’s happenings.

 

Hiking down from Dan Moller cabin in mid-January 2025. (photo courtesy John Harley)

Sustainable Alaska: Skiing on the edge

The difference between a great winter for skiing and a bad one can be a matter of a few degrees.

 

Patrick Sullivan stands by an acid seep on July 15,2023. Sullivan is part of a team of scientists who tested water quality in Kobuk Valley National Park’s Salmon River and its tributaries, where permafrost thaw has caused acid rock drainage. The process is releasing metals that have turned the waters a rusty color. A chapter in the 2025 Arctic Report Card described “rusting rivers” phenomenon. (Photo by Roman Dial/Alaska Pacific University)

Ecosystem shifts, glacial flooding and ‘rusting rivers’ among Alaska impacts in Arctic report

NOAA’s 2025 report comes despite Trump administration cuts to climate science research and projects

  • Dec 19, 2025
  • By Yereth Rosen Alaska Beacon

 

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Moderate US House Republicans join Dems to force vote on extension of health care subsidies

WASHINGTON — Republican leaders in the U.S. House will face a floor vote in early 2026 on Democrats’ plan to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act… Continue reading

  • Dec 19, 2025
  • Jennifer Shutt & Shauneen Miranda States Newsroom
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference in Juneau on Thursday, April 27, 2023. To his side is a screen displaying significant budget deficits and exhausted savings accounts if oil prices perform as expected.

Disasters, dividends and deficit: Alaska governor unveils first-draft state budget

In his final year, Gov. Dunleavy again proposes to spend from savings in order to pay a larger Permanent Fund dividend

Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference in Juneau on Thursday, April 27, 2023. To his side is a screen displaying significant budget deficits and exhausted savings accounts if oil prices perform as expected.
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks Wednesday, April 23, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska Senate. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

State senators express skepticism about proposed Juneau ferry terminal backed by Dunleavy

In a Friday hearing, members of the Alaska Senate spoke critically about a proposed new ferry terminal in Juneau, questioning why the project would be… Continue reading

  • Dec 11, 2025
  • By James Brooks Alaska Beacon
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks Wednesday, April 23, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska Senate. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Gulls hunting seeking scraps of fish swarm the docked fishing vessel Gold Rush, which harvests pollock and other groundfish, and Trident Seafood's Kodiak plant on Oct. 3, 2022. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council set 2026 Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska ccatch limits for pollock and other groundfish species, but the prolonged federal government shutdown interrupted the flow of information that would normally be used to set those harvests. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Without completed 2025 reports, federal fishery managers use last year’s data to set Alaska harvests

Lacking the usual amount of data to guide them, federal fishery managers relied on last year’s reports to set the coming year’s harvests for the… Continue reading

  • Dec 11, 2025
  • By Yereth Rosen Alaska Beacon
Gulls hunting seeking scraps of fish swarm the docked fishing vessel Gold Rush, which harvests pollock and other groundfish, and Trident Seafood's Kodiak plant on Oct. 3, 2022. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council set 2026 Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska ccatch limits for pollock and other groundfish species, but the prolonged federal government shutdown interrupted the flow of information that would normally be used to set those harvests. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
A commercial bowpicker is seen headed out of the Cordova harbor for a salmon fishing opener in June 2024 (Photo by Corinne Smith)

Planned fiber-optic cable will add backup for Alaska’s phone and high-speed internet network

The project is expected to bring more reliable connection to some isolated coastal communities.

A commercial bowpicker is seen headed out of the Cordova harbor for a salmon fishing opener in June 2024 (Photo by Corinne Smith)
The Alaska State Capitol is seen on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Senate Republicans confirm Rauscher, Tilton and open two vacancies in state House

The Alaska Republican Party is moving quickly after Republicans in the Alaska Senate confirmed Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s picks for two vacancies in the Senate on… Continue reading

The Alaska State Capitol is seen on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Downtown Skagway, with snow dusting its streets, is seen in this undated photo. (Photo by C. Anderson/National Park Service)

Skagway’s lone paramedic is suing the city, alleging retaliation by fire department officials

This article was reported and published in collaboration between the Chilkat Valley News and the Alaska Beacon. Skagway’s former paramedic is alleging wrongdoing by the… Continue reading

  • Dec 2, 2025
  • By Will Steinfeld Chilkat Valley News, James Brooks Alaska Beacon
Downtown Skagway, with snow dusting its streets, is seen in this undated photo. (Photo by C. Anderson/National Park Service)

Controversial political website Alaska Landmine faces defamation suit from Alaska state official

By James Brooks Alaska Beacon The chair of Alaska’s human rights commission has sued a political writer for defamation over his description of her work… Continue reading

A page of the Juneau Empire from a Nov. 27, 1915 edition. (Mari Kanagy / Juneau Empire)

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week of Nov. 29

Capital city coverage from a century ago.

A page of the Juneau Empire from a Nov. 27, 1915 edition. (Mari Kanagy / Juneau Empire)
Speaker of the House Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, talks to fellow lawmakers about rules for debate on House Bill 183 on Saturday, May 11, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Dunleavy appoints Rauscher and Tilton to Alaska Senate, opening two House vacancies

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has appointed state Reps. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, and Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, to two vacancies in the Alaska Senate. Each nomination will become… Continue reading

Speaker of the House Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, talks to fellow lawmakers about rules for debate on House Bill 183 on Saturday, May 11, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Shoppers and vendors mingle along rows of booths in the mall ballroom at Centennial Hall during the Juneau Public Market last year, which returns this year starting Friday, Nov. 28. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Weekly guide: Community calendar for Nov. 22-28

Visit Juneau Arts and Humanities Council for more details on this week’s happenings.

Shoppers and vendors mingle along rows of booths in the mall ballroom at Centennial Hall during the Juneau Public Market last year, which returns this year starting Friday, Nov. 28. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Cold water dipping is a centuries old stress reduction technique still practiced today. (Photo by Raven Hotch)

Recipes for stress reduction rooted in Indigenous knowledge

We must choose to live intentionally and learn to commit to our wellbeing.

Cold water dipping is a centuries old stress reduction technique still practiced today. (Photo by Raven Hotch)
Tone and Charles Deehr in Fairbanks, October 2021. (Photo courtesy Charles Deehr)

Alaska Science Forum: Red aurora rare enough to be special

Charles Deehr will never forget his first red aurora. On Feb. 11, 1958, Deehr was a student at Reed College in Portland, Ore. He asked… Continue reading

Tone and Charles Deehr in Fairbanks, October 2021. (Photo courtesy Charles Deehr)
Furloughed federal workers stand in line for hours ahead of a special food distribution by the Capital Area Food Bank and No Limits Outreach Ministries on Barlowe Road in Hyattsville, Maryland, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Government reopens after 43 days: Trump signs bill ending record shutdown

WASHINGTON — The longest shutdown in U.S. history ended Wednesday night when President Donald Trump signed a spending package that reopens the government and funds… Continue reading

  • Nov 13, 2025
  • By Jennifer Shutt, Ariana Figueroa & Shauneen Miranda States Newsroom
  • federal government
Furloughed federal workers stand in line for hours ahead of a special food distribution by the Capital Area Food Bank and No Limits Outreach Ministries on Barlowe Road in Hyattsville, Maryland, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
Photos by Mari Kanagy/Juneau Empire Yuxgitisiy George Holly, center, leads a Lingít dance and drumming class at Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary School on Oct. 23, 2025.

Q&A: Lorrie Heagy and Yuxgitisiy George Holly talk language revitalization

The Juneau Alaska Music Matters program uses the power of music to teach language.

Photos by Mari Kanagy/Juneau Empire Yuxgitisiy George Holly, center, leads a Lingít dance and drumming class at Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary School on Oct. 23, 2025.
Yuxgitisiy George Holly and Lorrie Gax.áan.sán Heagy (center left and right) stand alongside Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom (left) and other honorees at the Governor’s Arts and Humanities Award ceremony in Anchorage on Oct. 28, 2025. Holly won the Margaret Nick Cooke Award for Alaska Native Arts and Languages, and Heagy won the award for Individual Artist. (photo courtesy of Yuxgitisiy George Holly)

Two Juneau educators win Governor’s arts awards

Holly and Heagy turn music and dance into Lingít language learning, earning statewide arts awards.

Yuxgitisiy George Holly and Lorrie Gax.áan.sán Heagy (center left and right) stand alongside Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom (left) and other honorees at the Governor’s Arts and Humanities Award ceremony in Anchorage on Oct. 28, 2025. Holly won the Margaret Nick Cooke Award for Alaska Native Arts and Languages, and Heagy won the award for Individual Artist. (photo courtesy of Yuxgitisiy George Holly)
Win Gruening (courtesy)

Opinion: The vote is over, but the budget battle is just beginning

Win Gruening weighs in on Monday’s Assembly Reorganization Meeting.

Win Gruening (courtesy)