News

A local-mail in ballot is deposited in a drop box. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)

Juneau Votes 2025: Here’s what you need to know for election day

Juneau residents are voting to fill three seats on the Assembly and another three on the Board of Education, along with deciding on three ballot… Continue reading

A local-mail in ballot is deposited in a drop box. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)
FILE — Cew of the USS Hampton, a Los Angeles class submarine, out on the ice after surfacing in the Beaufort Sea during Operation Ice Camp, March 16, 2024. The Trump administration is emphasizing defense concerns instead of climate research in the rapidly warming Arctic region. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

In the Arctic, U.S. shifts focus from climate research to security

The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet and is one of the most rapidly changing places on Earth.… Continue reading

  • Oct 6, 2025
  • New York Times
FILE — Cew of the USS Hampton, a Los Angeles class submarine, out on the ice after surfacing in the Beaufort Sea during Operation Ice Camp, March 16, 2024. The Trump administration is emphasizing defense concerns instead of climate research in the rapidly warming Arctic region. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
Brochures available on Oct. 17, 2023, at the Youth and Elders Conference in Anchorage give information on safer sex and avoidance of sexually transmitted infections. Alaska has long had among the nation’s highest rates for some sexually transmitted infections, but case numbers declined in 2024. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Annual Alaska disease report shows dip in sexually transmitted infections

Cases of sexually transmitted infections declined in Alaska from 2023 to 2024, though as in past years, they continue to dominate the state’s annual infectious… Continue reading

  • Oct 6, 2025
  • Yereth Rosen Alaska Beacon
Brochures available on Oct. 17, 2023, at the Youth and Elders Conference in Anchorage give information on safer sex and avoidance of sexually transmitted infections. Alaska has long had among the nation’s highest rates for some sexually transmitted infections, but case numbers declined in 2024. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Signage outside the Capitol Hill visitors center notifies the public of its closure due to the government shutdown in Washington, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. The first government shutdown in nearly six years left federal agencies in flux and many of their employees in a state of confusion on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, as they received last-minute and conflicting instructions from managers. (Alex Kent/The New York Times)

Alaska braces for federal government shutdown

The shutdown will take its toll on government land, services and workers

Signage outside the Capitol Hill visitors center notifies the public of its closure due to the government shutdown in Washington, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. The first government shutdown in nearly six years left federal agencies in flux and many of their employees in a state of confusion on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, as they received last-minute and conflicting instructions from managers. (Alex Kent/The New York Times)
Telephone Hill as seen from above (Photo courtesy of City and Borough of

Telephone Hill eviction delayed by one month in Juneau

The announcement came just days before the Oct. 1, the previous eviction deadline

Telephone Hill as seen from above (Photo courtesy of City and Borough of
A photo provided by the National Park Service shows 32 Chunk, a bear at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, Sept. 15, 2025. Fat Bear Week, a bracket-style competition to pick the bear best suited for winter at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, was won by Chunk. (The National Park Service/T Carmack via The New York Times) — NO SALES; EDITORIAL USE ONLY —

Meet this year’s Fat Bear contest winner

After a weeklong battle to the finish, this year’s Fat Bear Week victor has been crowned. Congratulations to 32 Chunk, a brown bear who weighed… Continue reading

  • Oct 2, 2025
A photo provided by the National Park Service shows 32 Chunk, a bear at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, Sept. 15, 2025. Fat Bear Week, a bracket-style competition to pick the bear best suited for winter at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, was won by Chunk. (The National Park Service/T Carmack via The New York Times) — NO SALES; EDITORIAL USE ONLY —
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.
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.
t

Ships in port, Sept. 27-Oct.1

This information comes from the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska’s 2025 schedule. Capacity figures in parenthesis were pulled from cruise lines’ websites. Saturday, Sept. 27… Continue reading

  • Sep 27, 2025
t
c

Police calls, Sept. 20-23

For Saturday, Sept. 20 Traffic Stop On Saturday at 9:36 p.m., on the Glacier Highway, 37-year-old Nicole Lewis was arrested for driving while driving while… Continue reading

c
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)
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)
Candidates for the school board and Juneau Assembly participate in a candidate forum hosted by the Juneau League of Women Voters and KTOO on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (screenshot)

School board, Assembly candidates discuss issues at League of Women forum

Election day is Oct. 7

Candidates for the school board and Juneau Assembly participate in a candidate forum hosted by the Juneau League of Women Voters and KTOO on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (screenshot)
t

Ships in port, Sept. 24-27

This information comes from the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska’s 2025 schedule. Capacity figures in parenthesis were pulled from cruise lines’ websites. Wednesday, Sept. 24… Continue reading

  • Sep 24, 2025
t
x

Police calls, Sept. 17-20

This report contains public information available to the Empire from law enforcement and public safety agencies. This report includes arrest and citation information, not conviction… Continue reading

x
file photo

Johnson, Jr. convicted of attempted sexual assault

The Juneau jury reached their decision on Friday after a three-day trial

file photo
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)