News

The NASA Black Brant XII rocket lifts off with the KiNET-X experiment at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on May 16, 2021. (Terry Zaperach / NASA)

Chasing starlight: Alaska team shoots rocket searching for aurora data

Weather conditions on the East Coast nearly scrubbed the mission.

The NASA Black Brant XII rocket lifts off with the KiNET-X experiment at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on May 16, 2021. (Terry Zaperach / NASA)
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 Sunday, May 23, 2021

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

It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)
Alaska State Trooper Josh Bentz, left, addresses volunteers searching for a missing woman in Juneau before they set out on May 21, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Update: Search for missing woman comes to tragic end

The death is not considered suspicious, police said.

Alaska State Trooper Josh Bentz, left, addresses volunteers searching for a missing woman in Juneau before they set out on May 21, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
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Wild Shots: Photos of Mother Nature in Alaska

Reader-submitted photos of Southeast Alaska.

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In this April 22, 2021, photo, signs of spring thaw appear along the Tazlina River in Tazlina, Alaska. The Catholic Church wants to sell 462 acres that once housed the Copper Valley mission school to the Native Village of Tazlina, a federally recognized tribe. The tribe is scrambling to raise the nearly $1.9 million asking price so it can regain stewardship of its ancestral land. (John Tierney/Indian Country Today)

Alaska village eyes return of ancestral lands

A federally recognized tribe is scrambling to raise funds to regain stewardship of the lands.

In this April 22, 2021, photo, signs of spring thaw appear along the Tazlina River in Tazlina, Alaska. The Catholic Church wants to sell 462 acres that once housed the Copper Valley mission school to the Native Village of Tazlina, a federally recognized tribe. The tribe is scrambling to raise the nearly $1.9 million asking price so it can regain stewardship of its ancestral land. (John Tierney/Indian Country Today)
Courtesy photo/University of Alaska Fairbanks Pat Pitney, president of the University of Alaska system, will give the keynote address Sunday at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé commencement. She said her remarks will focus on the future ahead of the graduates as well as the skills they learned during COVID.

‘You can do hard things’: Commencement address comes together

UA President Pat Pitney said she was humbled to be selected.

Courtesy photo/University of Alaska Fairbanks Pat Pitney, president of the University of Alaska system, will give the keynote address Sunday at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé commencement. She said her remarks will focus on the future ahead of the graduates as well as the skills they learned during COVID.
Members of the class of 2021, including Anna Wu, JDHS (left), Chemery Marte,TMHS (second from left), Connor Carroll (center right), and Yarrow Platt, (far right) from YDHS. (Courtesy Photos)

Seniors reflect, look forward

Graduation day evokes a wide variety of feelings

Members of the class of 2021, including Anna Wu, JDHS (left), Chemery Marte,TMHS (second from left), Connor Carroll (center right), and Yarrow Platt, (far right) from YDHS. (Courtesy Photos)
Hikers traverse the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes on the Alaska Peninsula, walking on a sheet of ash and volcanic rock more than 500-feet thick. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Bringing the world to a standstill

On a fine June day about 100 years ago, the world fell apart.

Hikers traverse the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes on the Alaska Peninsula, walking on a sheet of ash and volcanic rock more than 500-feet thick. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
Leslie Ishii, artistic director for Perseverance Theatre; Dennis Arashiro, Board President of the Alaska Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League; and Adriana Li, program coordinator and instructor for IMPACT; will be featured on a conversation panel that will be held in recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. (Courtesy Photos)

Community conversation to spotlight Alaska’s AAPI community

“We have to take a look at how we humanize each other.”

Leslie Ishii, artistic director for Perseverance Theatre; Dennis Arashiro, Board President of the Alaska Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League; and Adriana Li, program coordinator and instructor for IMPACT; will be featured on a conversation panel that will be held in recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. (Courtesy Photos)
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, May 21

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
Proclamations from Gov. Mike Dunleavy calling special sessions of the Alaska State Legislature for late May and early August were posted in the otherwise quiet office of the House Clerk on Friday, May 21, 2021. The first special session has started but the Capitol building was quiet as most of the work before lawmakers will take place in committee. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Special session begins, aims to solve Alaska’s fiscal deficit for good

Get ready in May for August.

Proclamations from Gov. Mike Dunleavy calling special sessions of the Alaska State Legislature for late May and early August were posted in the otherwise quiet office of the House Clerk on Friday, May 21, 2021. The first special session has started but the Capitol building was quiet as most of the work before lawmakers will take place in committee. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
This May 2020 photo shows an open sign illuminated on a Juneau business. Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development reports the state has added jobs but has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels of employment. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

Alaska gains jobs but doesn’t reach pre-pandemic levels

Numbers still lagged what they were before the pandemic, per state report.

This May 2020 photo shows an open sign illuminated on a Juneau business. Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development reports the state has added jobs but has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels of employment. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)
Six people were arrested and charged following an investigation into a drug ring in Juneau on May 21, 2021. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

6 arrested and indicted in drug ring bust

Those arrested allegedly distributed drugs across the Southeast.

Six people were arrested and charged following an investigation into a drug ring in Juneau on May 21, 2021. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
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, May 21, 2021

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

It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)
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 Thursday, May 20

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
House Speaker Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, left, and House Finance Committee co-chair Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, speak with reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, May 20, 2021. The Alaska State Legislature worked until past midnight Wednesday on the state’s budget bill which will now be negotiated in committee. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Budget bill goes to committee for deliberation

Changes to be made.

House Speaker Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, left, and House Finance Committee co-chair Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, speak with reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, May 20, 2021. The Alaska State Legislature worked until past midnight Wednesday on the state’s budget bill which will now be negotiated in committee. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
The Norwegian Pearl, right, pulls into the AJ Dock in Juneau in September 2018. Big-deck cruise ships may be seen in Juneau this year yet as a bill allowing them to bypass Canada passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 20, 2021. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire File)

US House passes bill that could allow an Alaska cruise season

The bill would allow cruise ships to skip Canada on their way north.

The Norwegian Pearl, right, pulls into the AJ Dock in Juneau in September 2018. Big-deck cruise ships may be seen in Juneau this year yet as a bill allowing them to bypass Canada passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 20, 2021. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire File)
Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, spoke to reporters in his office on Thursday, May 20, 2021, to discuss next steps after the Senate debated the state budget until just before midnight the night before. Senators voted for a Permanent Fund Dividend of $2,300, the largest in history, but negotiations with the House of Representatives are still to come. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Senate votes for $2,300 PFD, but the amount could change

It would be the largest PFD in state history.

Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, spoke to reporters in his office on Thursday, May 20, 2021, to discuss next steps after the Senate debated the state budget until just before midnight the night before. Senators voted for a Permanent Fund Dividend of $2,300, the largest in history, but negotiations with the House of Representatives are still to come. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
On Wednesday night, the City and Borough of Juneau’s finance committee voted to keep the city’s property tax mill rate steady amid news of increasing commercial valuations and the associated increased tax revenue as well as an influx of federal money that has buoyed the city’s overall financial situation heading into the new fiscal year. (File Photo)

Committee votes to keep property tax rate the same

Finance Committee stands pat on mill rate

On Wednesday night, the City and Borough of Juneau’s finance committee voted to keep the city’s property tax mill rate steady amid news of increasing commercial valuations and the associated increased tax revenue as well as an influx of federal money that has buoyed the city’s overall financial situation heading into the new fiscal year. (File Photo)
Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire A new scoreboard was recently installed at Melvin Park. The installation is one of a number of park projects that are on tap for this summer.

Summer means park improvements

Planning and construction on tap for summer

Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire A new scoreboard was recently installed at Melvin Park. The installation is one of a number of park projects that are on tap for this summer.