Female golden-crowned kinglets have showy crowns too, but without the extra color contrast of the males (Courtesy Photo / Mark Schwann)

On The Trails: In the court of the golden-crowned kinglet

These birds have appeared in “On The Trails” several times, but never as the main feature.

Female golden-crowned kinglets have showy crowns too, but without the extra color contrast of the males (Courtesy Photo / Mark Schwann)
Caribou from the Porcupine Caribou Herd migrate onto the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. A U.S. judge on Tuesday refused to halt oil and gas lease sales in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were pushed by the Trump administration in its final days. (Courtesy Photo / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Judge allows oil, gas lease sales in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Judge refuses to halt oil and gas lease sales in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Caribou from the Porcupine Caribou Herd migrate onto the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. A U.S. judge on Tuesday refused to halt oil and gas lease sales in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were pushed by the Trump administration in its final days. (Courtesy Photo / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

COVID at a glance for Monday, Jan. 4

The most recent state and local numbers.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
A crane sits in the city-owned Aurora Harbor on Nov. 6, there for a project to repair the docks. The construction industry was one of the few in Southeast Alaska which wasn't dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state economists. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
A crane sits in the city-owned Aurora Harbor on Nov. 6, there for a project to repair the docks. The construction industry was one of the few in Southeast Alaska which wasn't dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state economists. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Peter Segall/ Juneau Empire File 
Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to local leaders at the Alaska Municipal League’s legislative conference in this February 2020 photo.

Lawyers for Dunleavy want part of law on appointments tossed

Appointments are at center of dispute.

Peter Segall/ Juneau Empire File 
Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to local leaders at the Alaska Municipal League’s legislative conference in this February 2020 photo.
Sarah Palmer holds up a swab before administering a COVID-19 test. The City and Borough of Juneau is offering free, asymptomatic testing. The drive-thru testing is available daily through Jan. 10 with the exception of New Year's Day. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Sarah Palmer holds up a swab before administering a COVID-19 test. The City and Borough of Juneau is offering free, asymptomatic testing. The drive-thru testing is available daily through Jan. 10 with the exception of New Year's Day. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, speaks on the House floor on opening day of the 117th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. (Bill Clark / Pool)

Rep Young calls for bipartisanship while giving Pelosi oath

Young used Sunday’s occasion as an opportunity to try to bring together political parties.

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, speaks on the House floor on opening day of the 117th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. (Bill Clark / Pool)
Has it always been a police car. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire)

Police calls for Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021

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

  • Jan 5, 2021
  • Juneau Empire
  • Crime
Has it always been a police car. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire)
An airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine caribou herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. Conservationists will try to persuade a U.S. judge to stop the Trump administration from issuing leases to oil and gas companies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Anchorage Daily News reported that the videoconference Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, in U.S. District Court in Anchorage is expected to determine whether the Bureau of Land Management can open bids in an online lease sale scheduled for Wednesday. The agency has offered 10-year leases on 22 tracts covering about 1,563 square miles in the coastal plain, which accounts for about 5% of the refuge’s area. (Courtesy Photo / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Court hears challenge to Arctic refuge oil leases

Attorneys for conservation groups asked a judge to halt the issuance of oil and gas leases in ANWR.

  • Jan 4, 2021
  • Becky Bohrer Associated Press
  • ANWR
An airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine caribou herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. Conservationists will try to persuade a U.S. judge to stop the Trump administration from issuing leases to oil and gas companies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Anchorage Daily News reported that the videoconference Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, in U.S. District Court in Anchorage is expected to determine whether the Bureau of Land Management can open bids in an online lease sale scheduled for Wednesday. The agency has offered 10-year leases on 22 tracts covering about 1,563 square miles in the coastal plain, which accounts for about 5% of the refuge’s area. (Courtesy Photo / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
President-elect Joe Biden speaks at a drive-in rally for Georgia Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, in Atlanta. The first full week of 2021 is shaping up to be one of the biggest of Biden’s presidency. And he hasn’t even taken office yet. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Murkowski, Sullivan share plan to affirm election results

Senators share thoughts ahead of unlikely flashpoint procedure.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks at a drive-in rally for Georgia Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, in Atlanta. The first full week of 2021 is shaping up to be one of the biggest of Biden’s presidency. And he hasn’t even taken office yet. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Residents on Wire Street near Twin Lakes clean up debris from a landslide caused by heavy rains on Dec. 2, 2020. The state of Alaska has set up a website to help people apply for state and federal relief money for damages caused by the storm. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
Residents on Wire Street near Twin Lakes clean up debris from a landslide caused by heavy rains on Dec. 2, 2020. The state of Alaska has set up a website to help people apply for state and federal relief money for damages caused by the storm. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
State Representatives stand at their desks during the Pledge of Allegiance in the Iowa House chambers, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa, in June 2020. As states brace for a coronavirus surge following holiday gatherings, one place stands out as a potential super-spreader site, the statehouses where lawmakers will help shape the response to the pandemic. (AP Photo / Charlie Neibergall)

Statehouses could prove to be hothouses for virus infection

Statehouses around the nation set to convene.

State Representatives stand at their desks during the Pledge of Allegiance in the Iowa House chambers, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa, in June 2020. As states brace for a coronavirus surge following holiday gatherings, one place stands out as a potential super-spreader site, the statehouses where lawmakers will help shape the response to the pandemic. (AP Photo / Charlie Neibergall)
In this Dec. 24 photo, Arsenio “Pastor” Credo receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine from nurse Courtney Taber at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Ethel Lund Medical Center. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
In this Dec. 24 photo, Arsenio “Pastor” Credo receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine from nurse Courtney Taber at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Ethel Lund Medical Center. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

COVID at a glance for Saturday, Jan. 2

The most recent state and local numbers.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
In this July 13, 2007, file photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)

Investors sue parent company behind proposed Pebble Mine

Investors claim company misled shareholders who have seen an 85% drop in stock value.

  • Jan 2, 2021
  • Associated Press
In this July 13, 2007, file photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)
Sherri McDonald and Reid Tippets dry off after their annual dip in the water at Auke Recreation Picnic Area on New Years Day, Jan. 1, 2021. Tippets said he’d done the dip for 11 years in a row. The Polar Bear Dip, held for 30 years at Auke Rec, was canceled this year over pandemic concerns, but some individual households opted to make the dip with their families, with masks, distancing, and care very much in evidence, while other pods had fires or walked dogs next to the cold ocean. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Sherri McDonald and Reid Tippets dry off after their annual dip in the water at Auke Recreation Picnic Area on New Years Day, Jan. 1, 2021. Tippets said he’d done the dip for 11 years in a row. The Polar Bear Dip, held for 30 years at Auke Rec, was canceled this year over pandemic concerns, but some individual households opted to make the dip with their families, with masks, distancing, and care very much in evidence, while other pods had fires or walked dogs next to the cold ocean. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
This photo composite shows Alaska’s congressional delegation, from left to right, Sen. Dan Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Rep. Don Young, all Republicans. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Alaska senators vote for veto override

It’s the first veto override of the Trump presidency.

This photo composite shows Alaska’s congressional delegation, from left to right, Sen. Dan Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Rep. Don Young, all Republicans. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
A bald eagle found near Montana Creek Road on Dec. 22 had to be euthanized due to injuries, visible here, received from a lead shot fired from a shotgun. The Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward for information on the shooter. (Courtesy photo / Juneau Raptor Center)

Authorities investigate fatal shooting of bald eagle

The otherwise healthy, adult bird had to be euthanized for its injuries.

A bald eagle found near Montana Creek Road on Dec. 22 had to be euthanized due to injuries, visible here, received from a lead shot fired from a shotgun. The Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward for information on the shooter. (Courtesy photo / Juneau Raptor Center)
(Vivian Faith Prescott / For the Capital City Weekly)

Planet Alaska: The practice of gifting

In these hard times, our Southeast Alaskan gifting culture is more apparent.

(Vivian Faith Prescott / For the Capital City Weekly)
"I hope that we will move toward greater disaster preparedness and mitigation," writes  Sonia Nagorski. "That way, the next time a remote Aleutian volcano erupts or a landslide drops into a fjord, our community and others around the world will not be caught off guard and can jump into action to respond effectively and cooperatively to persevere on this beautiful and mighty planet that is our home." (Courtesy Photo / Unsplash)

Sustainable Alaska: Building resilience on a restless Earth

To avoid compounding natural disasters, we need to aggressively tackle climate change.

"I hope that we will move toward greater disaster preparedness and mitigation," writes  Sonia Nagorski. "That way, the next time a remote Aleutian volcano erupts or a landslide drops into a fjord, our community and others around the world will not be caught off guard and can jump into action to respond effectively and cooperatively to persevere on this beautiful and mighty planet that is our home." (Courtesy Photo / Unsplash)