U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks during an interview at the Juneau Empire on Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Federal education funding to be released after monthlong delay

The federal funding freeze blocked around $420,000 to the Juneau School District

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks during an interview at the Juneau Empire on Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
Cathie Stone, of California, took a break during her tour through Alaska to view the Wrangell Mariners’ Memorial at Heritage Harbor on July 9. (Photo by Jonathon Dawe / Wrangell Sentinel)

Wrangell Mariners’ Memorial wins statewide honor for design

The story of the memorial is anchored in the community

  • Jul 25, 2025
  • By Sue Bahleda For the Wrangell Sentinel
  • Local News
Cathie Stone, of California, took a break during her tour through Alaska to view the Wrangell Mariners’ Memorial at Heritage Harbor on July 9. (Photo by Jonathon Dawe / Wrangell Sentinel)
(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Police calls, July 16-23

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

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Photo by Jonathon Dawe / Wrangell Sentinel
Several hundred people turned out to celebrate as more than three dozen carried the Kadashan pole from the WCA Carving Shed downtown to its raising at Totem Park on Saturday, July 19.

Totem ceremonies bring hundreds together to celebrate and remember

Tlingit and Haida came together in Wrangell from throughout Southeast and celebrated the unveiling of five new totem poles

Photo by Jonathon Dawe / Wrangell Sentinel
Several hundred people turned out to celebrate as more than three dozen carried the Kadashan pole from the WCA Carving Shed downtown to its raising at Totem Park on Saturday, July 19.
Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park is photographed on June 22, 2018, in Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

2 rescued by park service near Exit Glacier

The hikers were stranded in the “Exit Creek Prohibited Visitor Use Zone.”

Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park is photographed on June 22, 2018, in Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
KTOO, Juneau’s public radio station, is photographed in Juneau, Alaska, on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Trump signs law yanking $9B from NPR, PBS, foreign aid

The law rescinds $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

KTOO, Juneau’s public radio station, is photographed in Juneau, Alaska, on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo
The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14.

Ships in port, July 26-30

This information comes from the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska’s 2025 schedule. Capacity figures in parenthesis were pulled from cruise lines’ websites. Saturday, July 26… Continue reading

Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo
The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14.
The Alaska Capitol is photographed Friday, July 11, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire)

Alaska state senator, key vote on possible budget veto override, gets waiver from US Army

Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat from Anchorage, is deployed in Poland with the Alaska National Guard

The Alaska Capitol is photographed Friday, July 11, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire)
Hal Kulm (left), Luke Kulm (center) and Chanda Lawless place trash and lumber debris by the side of North Douglas Highway during a community shoreline cleanup. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file)

Bits of fishing gear and buoys dominate marine debris load in Alaska, report says

Alaska’s marine debris mix shows how ocean activities and ocean currents bring trash to the state’s shores

Hal Kulm (left), Luke Kulm (center) and Chanda Lawless place trash and lumber debris by the side of North Douglas Highway during a community shoreline cleanup. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file)
Fresh-picked lettuces are for sale at the final Homer Farmers Market of the year on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)

USDA ends regional food program, pulls $6M from Alaska businesses

On July 15, the Alaska Food Policy Council was notified that the USDA had terminated the Regional Food Business Center Program “effective immediately.”

Fresh-picked lettuces are for sale at the final Homer Farmers Market of the year on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
A photo provided by NTSB shows a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, that crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska, Sept. 12, 2023. The plane was weighed down by too much moose meat and faced drag from a set of antlers mounted on its right wing strut, federal investigators said on Tuesday.

Crash that killed husband of former congresswoman was overloaded with moose meat and antlers, NTSB says

The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska on Sept. 12, 2023.

A photo provided by NTSB shows a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, that crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska, Sept. 12, 2023. The plane was weighed down by too much moose meat and faced drag from a set of antlers mounted on its right wing strut, federal investigators said on Tuesday.
Kai Monture shovels sand into bags at a City and Borough of Juneau and Tlingit & Haida collaborative event distributing sandbags to residents, Saturday<ins>, July 19, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska</ins>. Monture does not live in the flood zone, but came out to volunteer to “take care of community. It’s an important value to me.” (Carly Rundle-Borchert/Juneau Empire)

Juneau residents prepare for annual outburst flooding

The National Weather Service says it expects the basin to reach that capacity in mid-August

Kai Monture shovels sand into bags at a City and Borough of Juneau and Tlingit & Haida collaborative event distributing sandbags to residents, Saturday<ins>, July 19, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska</ins>. Monture does not live in the flood zone, but came out to volunteer to “take care of community. It’s an important value to me.” (Carly Rundle-Borchert/Juneau Empire)
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski delivers her annual address to the Alaska Legislature on March 18, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

On budget vote, Murkowski says she was ‘hung out to dry’ and stuck between 2 bad options

Alaska’s senior U.S. senator said the state fares better under Republicans’ budget plan because of her efforts to soften the fiscal blow

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski delivers her annual address to the Alaska Legislature on March 18, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Exit Glacier is photographed on June 22, 2018. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

2 rescued by park service near Exit Glacier

The hikers were stranded in the “Exit Creek Prohibited Visitor Use Zone.”

Exit Glacier is photographed on June 22, 2018. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is seen in a screenshot of a news conference on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, in Anchorage. (Screenshot)

Governor vetoes bill intended to provide emergency health care to Alaska police dogs

House Bill 70 was inspired by the death of an Alaska State Trooper canine during a 2017 police chase in Wasilla

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is seen in a screenshot of a news conference on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, in Anchorage. (Screenshot)
Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo
The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14.

Ships in port for the week of July 19

This information comes from the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska’s 2025 schedule. Capacity figures in parenthesis were pulled from cruise lines’ websites. Wednesday, July 23… Continue reading

Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo
The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14.
The KBBI AM 890 station is located on Kachemak Way in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)

Kenai Peninsula radio reacts to loss of federal funding

Congress last week approved President Trump’s rescission request, zeroing out all federal funding for public broadcasting, effective Oct. 1.

The KBBI AM 890 station is located on Kachemak Way in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)
Alaska Airlines passenger jets on the tarmac at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state on Jan. 8, 2024. Alaska Airlines resumed operations early Monday, July 21, 2025, after grounding its entire fleet of planes and those of a subsidiary because of a software outage for about three hours. (M. Scott Brauer/The New York Times)

Alaska Airlines resumes operations after software outage

The airline first requested to ground the more than 200 aircraft it operates under the Alaska Airlines brand about 11 p.m. Eastern time.

  • Jul 21, 2025
  • By Yan Zhuang and Livia Albeck-Ripka c.2025 The New York Times Company
  • State & Legislature
Alaska Airlines passenger jets on the tarmac at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state on Jan. 8, 2024. Alaska Airlines resumed operations early Monday, July 21, 2025, after grounding its entire fleet of planes and those of a subsidiary because of a software outage for about three hours. (M. Scott Brauer/The New York Times)
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks at a town hall meeting in the Moose Pass Sportsman’s Club in Moose Pass, Alaska, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Insurance authorization bill becomes law

The bill requires insurance companies and health care providers to meet new deadlines for authorizing requests for care.

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks at a town hall meeting in the Moose Pass Sportsman’s Club in Moose Pass, Alaska, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Bob Girt works with the Alaska Youth Stewards on Prince of Wales Island in 2022. (Photo courtesy of Bethany Goodrich / Sustainable Southeast Partnership)

Threads of the Tongass: Building a sustainable future

“These students can look back and say, ‘I helped build that. I was a contributor.’”

Bob Girt works with the Alaska Youth Stewards on Prince of Wales Island in 2022. (Photo courtesy of Bethany Goodrich / Sustainable Southeast Partnership)