News

It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)

Police calls for Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

  • Aug 11, 2021
  • Juneau Empire
  • Crime
It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)
Screenshot Deputy attorney general John Skidmore of the Alaska Department of Law speaks during a news conference about a new DNA collection initiative being undertaken by the state on Aug. 10, 2021.

Governor, law enforcement agencies announce DNA collection initiative

The effort will prioritize getting samples from violent or sex offenders.

Screenshot Deputy attorney general John Skidmore of the Alaska Department of Law speaks during a news conference about a new DNA collection initiative being undertaken by the state on Aug. 10, 2021.
Juneau’s Capitol Disposal Landfill in June 2013. Members of the City and Borough of Juneau’s Public Works and Facilities Committee have a plan to address concerns about the long-term viability of Juneau’s landfill and of complaints about odors in the Lemon Creek area. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Tackling the trash

City eyes zero waste plan

Juneau’s Capitol Disposal Landfill in June 2013. Members of the City and Borough of Juneau’s Public Works and Facilities Committee have a plan to address concerns about the long-term viability of Juneau’s landfill and of complaints about odors in the Lemon Creek area. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
This May 30 photo shows a view aboard the MV LeConte. The Alaska Marine Highway System is poised to benefit from a massive spending plan with bipartisan backing. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed the Senate on Tuesday. The bill, a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s agenda, now heads to the House. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

Alaska’s senators part of bipartisan push for big bill

Both voted for the ‘historic’ $1T infrastructure plan.

This May 30 photo shows a view aboard the MV LeConte. The Alaska Marine Highway System is poised to benefit from a massive spending plan with bipartisan backing. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed the Senate on Tuesday. The bill, a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s agenda, now heads to the House. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)
Juneau’s first electric bus, parked in the Capital Transit garage on April 8, 2021. As more electric busses join the fleet and the new Valley Transit Center opens, existing bus routes will be reconfigured. (Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire File)

Valley Transit Center on track to open next summer

New bus routes, new shelters coming

Juneau’s first electric bus, parked in the Capital Transit garage on April 8, 2021. As more electric busses join the fleet and the new Valley Transit Center opens, existing bus routes will be reconfigured. (Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire File)
A starry flounder in the intertidal zone shows its distinctive black bars on dorsal and anal fins. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
Video

On the Trails: Learning more about starry flounder

Rounding out knowledge of a flat fish.

  • Aug 10, 2021
  • By Mary F. Willson
A starry flounder in the intertidal zone shows its distinctive black bars on dorsal and anal fins. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
Video
A sign points the way to the weigh station at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor during last year's Golden North Salmon Derby on Aug. 16, 2020. This year is the derby's 75th year and organizers have added additional prizes in celebration of the event. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Salmon derby celebrates 75 years with new ways to win

Derby days are here again.

A sign points the way to the weigh station at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor during last year's Golden North Salmon Derby on Aug. 16, 2020. This year is the derby's 75th year and organizers have added additional prizes in celebration of the event. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)

Police calls for Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2021

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

  • Aug 10, 2021
  • Juneau Empire
  • Crime
It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)
Travel Juneau CEO and President Liz Perry, Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl, City and Borough of Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon, and Ironman regional director Dave Christen hold a sign for the 2022 Juneau Ironman event as they announce the race’s Alaska debut on the University of Alaska- Southeast campus on Aug. 9, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Juneau picked to be 1st Ironman host city in Alaska

The unique full-distance triathlon is a grueling test of endurance by run, swim, and bike.

Travel Juneau CEO and President Liz Perry, Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl, City and Borough of Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon, and Ironman regional director Dave Christen hold a sign for the 2022 Juneau Ironman event as they announce the race’s Alaska debut on the University of Alaska- Southeast campus on Aug. 9, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Juneau City Hall on October 24, 2020. At Monday’s Public Works and Facilities Committee meeting, members discussed options for moving forward with a new city hall building. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

CBJ to consider new city hall locations

Voters will have final say

Juneau City Hall on October 24, 2020. At Monday’s Public Works and Facilities Committee meeting, members discussed options for moving forward with a new city hall building. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)
An Idaho man was indicted and arrested for charges dealing with creating child pornography in Haines in late July, according to a Department of Justice news release. (Courtesy photo / DOJ)

Idaho man arrested on charges of sexually exploiting children in Haines

He was arrested in Idaho in late July and awaits extradition to Alaska.

An Idaho man was indicted and arrested for charges dealing with creating child pornography in Haines in late July, according to a Department of Justice news release. (Courtesy photo / DOJ)
This Aug. 5, 2021, photo provided by Lee LaFollette shows a de Havilland Beaver aircraft departing the Port of Ketchikan, Alaska. Foggy, reduced-visibility conditions have delayed efforts to recover the wreckage of a sightseeing plane that crashed in southeast Alaska, killing six people. Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region, says the agency had hoped to recover the wreckage Sunday. But he says those efforts were called off due to poor conditions. He says the crew planned to try again on Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. (Lee LaFollette via AP)

Reduced visibility hampers Alaska plane wreckage effort

Foggy and reduced visibility conditions delayed efforts to recover the wreckage.

This Aug. 5, 2021, photo provided by Lee LaFollette shows a de Havilland Beaver aircraft departing the Port of Ketchikan, Alaska. Foggy, reduced-visibility conditions have delayed efforts to recover the wreckage of a sightseeing plane that crashed in southeast Alaska, killing six people. Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region, says the agency had hoped to recover the wreckage Sunday. But he says those efforts were called off due to poor conditions. He says the crew planned to try again on Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. (Lee LaFollette via AP)
A Coast Guard aircrew aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter like the one in this June 19 photo, rescued two plane crash survivors 40 miles southeast of Ketchikan on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Coast Guard rescues two from plane crash

No casualties resulted from the crash, which occurred on takeoff.

A Coast Guard aircrew aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter like the one in this June 19 photo, rescued two plane crash survivors 40 miles southeast of Ketchikan on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Juneau resident Katie Kowalchuk let her mask express her excitement before competing in the Aukeman Triathlon on Saturday, August 7. Organizers adopted COVID mitigations, including pre-race masking and distancing, as part of the event. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

Get ready, get set, go: Athletes compete in Aukeman Triathlon

“Race day, yay!”

Juneau resident Katie Kowalchuk let her mask express her excitement before competing in the Aukeman Triathlon on Saturday, August 7. Organizers adopted COVID mitigations, including pre-race masking and distancing, as part of the event. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)
It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)

Police calls for Friday, Aug. 8, 2021

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

  • Aug 8, 2021
  • Juneau Empire
  • Crime
It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, one of the key Senate Republicans who negotiated the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill with Democrats, departs after a procedural vote on the measure, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021. More votes will be needed before final Senate passage. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate votes to advance Biden’s $1T infrastructure bill

“The Senate needs some demonstrated acts of bipartisanship.”

  • Aug 7, 2021
  • By Lisa Mascaro AP Congressional Correspondent
  • National News
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, one of the key Senate Republicans who negotiated the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill with Democrats, departs after a procedural vote on the measure, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021. More votes will be needed before final Senate passage. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)
Environmentalists in Southeast Alaska are hoping to renew a push for action on pollution of transboundary waters flowing from Canada into the U.S. South of the Juneau, heavy metals run out of the Tulsequah Chief mine opening and down to holding ponds next to the Tulsequah River Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008. Leakage from those ponds can be seen entering the river that flows into the Taku River down stream. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)

Resolution urges action on transboundary pollution

‘Coming at us quickly.’

Environmentalists in Southeast Alaska are hoping to renew a push for action on pollution of transboundary waters flowing from Canada into the U.S. South of the Juneau, heavy metals run out of the Tulsequah Chief mine opening and down to holding ponds next to the Tulsequah River Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008. Leakage from those ponds can be seen entering the river that flows into the Taku River down stream. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)
This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML

COVID at a glance for Friday, Aug. 6

The most recent state and local figures

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML
Jeff Rogers, CBJ’s finance director, joined the April 22 Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce Alaska Business Roundtable’s Zoom meeting to explain why commercial properties have recently been reassessed and what it means for business and property owners in the borough. (Screenshot)

Strictly commercial: Property owners chafe at new assessments

Business owners question assessment process.

Jeff Rogers, CBJ’s finance director, joined the April 22 Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce Alaska Business Roundtable’s Zoom meeting to explain why commercial properties have recently been reassessed and what it means for business and property owners in the borough. (Screenshot)
A cabin on Chowiet Island off the Alaska Peninsula in which two biologists were the closest humans to a recent magnitude 8.2 earthquake. (Courtesy Photo /Erik Andersen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)

Alaska Science Forum: The closest people to an 8.2 earthquake

The people who were closest were two biologists who are living on Chowiet Island this summer.

A cabin on Chowiet Island off the Alaska Peninsula in which two biologists were the closest humans to a recent magnitude 8.2 earthquake. (Courtesy Photo /Erik Andersen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)