News

Peter Segall | Juneau Empire An UnCruise vessel sits tied up on Juneau’s waterfront on Monday, June 22, 2020. UnCruise and other small cruise ship lines are planning limited voyages to Alaska for the end of summer. That has some local officials worried about how they might handle a health crisis, and considering how they can boost the economy.

Smaller cruise lines plan Southeast voyages as case count rises

Small communities, big decisions.

Peter Segall | Juneau Empire An UnCruise vessel sits tied up on Juneau’s waterfront on Monday, June 22, 2020. UnCruise and other small cruise ship lines are planning limited voyages to Alaska for the end of summer. That has some local officials worried about how they might handle a health crisis, and considering how they can boost the economy.
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. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. (NIAID-RML via AP)

State reports 6 new cases for residents

4 nonresidents test positive in Southeast, according to report.

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. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. (NIAID-RML via AP)
University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen speaks in July 2019 at a meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. Johnsen, the embattled University of Alaska president, has resigned, the university announced Monday, June 22, 2020. The change in leadership was a mutual decision made after Johnsen consulted with the Board of Regents, according to a statement. His biography was immediately removed from the university’s web page. (AP Photo | Dan Joling)

University of Alaska president resigns

An interim president will be named no later than July 15.

University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen speaks in July 2019 at a meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. Johnsen, the embattled University of Alaska president, has resigned, the university announced Monday, June 22, 2020. The change in leadership was a mutual decision made after Johnsen consulted with the Board of Regents, according to a statement. His biography was immediately removed from the university’s web page. (AP Photo | Dan Joling)
Agents Amanda Toma and Ashley Brodeur work with customers outside in the parking lot of cannabis purveyor Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield, Mass. Laws legalizing recreational marijuana may lead to more traffic deaths, two new studies suggest, although questions remain about how they might influence driving habits. Previous research has had mixed results and the new studies, published Monday, June 22, 2020, in JAMA Internal Medicine, can’t prove that the traffic death increases they found were caused by marijuana use. (Gillian Jones/The Berkshire Eagle via AP, File)

Recreational pot laws may boost traffic deaths, studies say

One study found an excess 75 traffic deaths per year after retail sales began in Colorado.

Agents Amanda Toma and Ashley Brodeur work with customers outside in the parking lot of cannabis purveyor Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield, Mass. Laws legalizing recreational marijuana may lead to more traffic deaths, two new studies suggest, although questions remain about how they might influence driving habits. Previous research has had mixed results and the new studies, published Monday, June 22, 2020, in JAMA Internal Medicine, can’t prove that the traffic death increases they found were caused by marijuana use. (Gillian Jones/The Berkshire Eagle via AP, File)

Police calls for Sunday, June 21, 2020

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

Young activist has hope for climate, despite leaders’ inaction

The 17-year-old has become a global figurehead of the youth climate movement.

  • Jun 20, 2020
A sign on the street reads “Welcome to the CHOP,” Saturday, June 20, 2020, inside what has been named the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone in Seattle. A pre-dawn shooting near the area left one person dead and critically injured another person, authorities said Saturday. The area has been occupied by protesters after Seattle Police pulled back from several blocks of the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood near the Police Department’s East Precinct building. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Shooting in Seattle protest zone leaves 1 dead, 1 injured

Officers responding to the shooting, but said they initially had trouble getting to the scene.

  • Jun 20, 2020
A sign on the street reads “Welcome to the CHOP,” Saturday, June 20, 2020, inside what has been named the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone in Seattle. A pre-dawn shooting near the area left one person dead and critically injured another person, authorities said Saturday. The area has been occupied by protesters after Seattle Police pulled back from several blocks of the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood near the Police Department’s East Precinct building. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. (NIAID-RML via AP)

State reports more than 20 new COVID-19 cases

The state reported Saturday 21 new cases of COVID-19 involving Alaskans. None of the new cases were reported in Juneau, according to Department of Health… Continue reading

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. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. (NIAID-RML via AP)
The Rev. Michael Bunton, pastor for Greater Friendship Baptist Church in Anchorage, speaks during Black Awareness Association, Juneau’s, virtual Juneteenth community event. (Screenshot)

Black Awareness Association holds Juneteenth community event

Topics included current events and ways everyone can do better.

The Rev. Michael Bunton, pastor for Greater Friendship Baptist Church in Anchorage, speaks during Black Awareness Association, Juneau’s, virtual Juneteenth community event. (Screenshot)

Polarizing Petition: Hundreds call for statue’s removal

But not everyone wants to see Seward leave spot near Capitol.

In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020, photo, Cod Cove Inn owners Ted and Jill Hugger show a draft of a compliance form that inn owners may be required to have out-of-state guests sign before being allowed to check in at their inn in Edgecomb, Maine. The form is part of the “Keep Maine Healthy” plan the state is proposing to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Residents of New Hampshire and Vermont would be exempt. (AP Photo | Robert F. Bukaty)

Summer vacationers weigh testing, quarantine or staying home

States from Maine to Hawaii are trying to strike a balance.

  • Jun 19, 2020
In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020, photo, Cod Cove Inn owners Ted and Jill Hugger show a draft of a compliance form that inn owners may be required to have out-of-state guests sign before being allowed to check in at their inn in Edgecomb, Maine. The form is part of the “Keep Maine Healthy” plan the state is proposing to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Residents of New Hampshire and Vermont would be exempt. (AP Photo | Robert F. Bukaty)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy the CDC)

State reports 14 new cases

That’s 50 cases since Monday, according to the state.

  • Jun 19, 2020
COVID-19. (Image courtesy the CDC)
Sunrise over South Fairbanks came at 3:10 a.m. on a recent June morning. (Courtesy Photo | Ned Rozell)

Here’s what happens when a world traveler visits South Fairbanks

The sun rose with the color of an orange Creamsicle.

Sunrise over South Fairbanks came at 3:10 a.m. on a recent June morning. (Courtesy Photo | Ned Rozell)

Police calls for Friday, June 19, 2020

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

After long night of listening, long road ahead

More discussions are needed, city officials say.

Alaska Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment execute an extraction mission via a CH-47 Chinook helicopter over Healy, Alaska, June 18, 2020. As part of a combined effort with the Department of Natural Resources, the Guardsmen rigged and airlifted “Bus 142,” known from book and film, “Into the Wild”, out of its location on Stampede Road in light of public safety concerns. (Courtesy photo | Alaska National Guard )

‘Into the Wild’ bus goes into the air

National Guard and Department of Natural Resources remove infamous bus.

Alaska Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment execute an extraction mission via a CH-47 Chinook helicopter over Healy, Alaska, June 18, 2020. As part of a combined effort with the Department of Natural Resources, the Guardsmen rigged and airlifted “Bus 142,” known from book and film, “Into the Wild”, out of its location on Stampede Road in light of public safety concerns. (Courtesy photo | Alaska National Guard )

Survey sheds light on what worries Alaska’s fishermen

Survey says…

Ketchikan warns virus spread possible after quarantine break

A person who didn’t follow quarantine procedures created the possibility of community spread.

In this July 2007 photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. The Pebble Limited Partnership, which wants to build a copper and gold mine near the headwaters of a major U.S. salmon fishery in southwest Alaska, says it plans to offer residents in the region a dividend. (AP Photo | Al Grillo, File)

Alaska mine project developer proposes dividend program

Company says they’re not attempting to buy support.

In this July 2007 photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. The Pebble Limited Partnership, which wants to build a copper and gold mine near the headwaters of a major U.S. salmon fishery in southwest Alaska, says it plans to offer residents in the region a dividend. (AP Photo | Al Grillo, File)

State reports 12 new cases statewide, 1 new locally

There’s a wait time for test results.

[flipp]