Kell Morris, left wearing a brown hat, was trapped under a 700-pound boulder near Seward on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (Jason Harrington/Seward Fire Department)

Seward man survives 3 hours pinned face down under a 700-pound boulder

Rescuers found Kell Morris with hypothermia and face first in a creek as his wife held his head out of the water.

  • May 31, 2025
  • By Aimee Ortiz ©2025 The New York Times Company
  • rescue
Kell Morris, left wearing a brown hat, was trapped under a 700-pound boulder near Seward on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (Jason Harrington/Seward Fire Department)
Karen Levasseur (left), Cyndy Norbryhn (middle), and Jessica Estes and her daughter May, 7, chat at Rainforest Play Zone in the Mendenhall Mall on Friday, May 30, 2025. The play zone is moving to a different location in the mall, with Hearthside Books and Toys scheduled to move in Rainforest’s current space by September. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Hearthside Books moving to kids’ play zone at Mendenhall Mall; mall’s owners step in to buy, relocate play area

Move of local bookstore from Nugget Mall announced same week Joanne closes it doors there.

Karen Levasseur (left), Cyndy Norbryhn (middle), and Jessica Estes and her daughter May, 7, chat at Rainforest Play Zone in the Mendenhall Mall on Friday, May 30, 2025. The play zone is moving to a different location in the mall, with Hearthside Books and Toys scheduled to move in Rainforest’s current space by September. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Serjoe Gutierrez plays violin with the Kodiak High School Orchestra during warm ups (Brian Venua/KMXT)

Alaska schools need teachers. They’re hiring them from the Philippines.

Alaska schools are hiring teachers from the Philippines amid a massive national shortage. It’s the latest wave of immigrants from Southeast Asia to come to… Continue reading

Serjoe Gutierrez plays violin with the Kodiak High School Orchestra during warm ups (Brian Venua/KMXT)
Three petitions seeking to put questions about altering local tax and election rules on the fall municipal election ballot were turned in to the Juneau city clerk’s office on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Ballot petitions to lower property and sales taxes, alter election process turned in to CBJ

City has 10 days to review signatures; supporter says more may be needed to get proposals on fall ballot.

Three petitions seeking to put questions about altering local tax and election rules on the fall municipal election ballot were turned in to the Juneau city clerk’s office on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
A vaccine dose is prepared at a mass vaccination site in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, in 2021. Vaccination rates for Alaska children have declined in recent years, the state reports. (Maryland Executive Office of the Governor photo)

Amid national measles outbreaks, vaccination rates for Alaska children have fallen, report says

Measles, once thought eliminated in the U.S., has spread among unvaccinated people.

A vaccine dose is prepared at a mass vaccination site in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, in 2021. Vaccination rates for Alaska children have declined in recent years, the state reports. (Maryland Executive Office of the Governor photo)
Juneau singer/songwriter Annie Bartholomew rehearses with the Juneau Symphony on Thursday, May 29, 2025, in the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé auditorium. Two folk songs by Bartholomew about women during Klondike Gold Rush will be featured in rearrangements for orchestra during performances Saturday and Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Juneau Symphony’s last mainstage concert of season features some notable firsts

First music by Indigenous composer, local folk singer’s songs rescored for orchestra among weekend’s works

Juneau singer/songwriter Annie Bartholomew rehearses with the Juneau Symphony on Thursday, May 29, 2025, in the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé auditorium. Two folk songs by Bartholomew about women during Klondike Gold Rush will be featured in rearrangements for orchestra during performances Saturday and Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The Lewis Glacier on Mount Kenya, one of the few glaciers in Africa, in March. (Luis Tato/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Some glaciers will vanish no matter what, study finds

Glacial ice will melt for centuries even if global temperatures stop rising now, according to new research.

The Lewis Glacier on Mount Kenya, one of the few glaciers in Africa, in March. (Luis Tato/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)
Monitoring equipment at Suicide Basin was turned back on by the U.S. Geological Survey on Sunday, May 4, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Jamie Pierce)

UAS releases Juneau Glacial Flood Dashboard to help community plan for flooding

Website provides forecasting, depths of inundation maps and explains why glacial outbursts occur.

Monitoring equipment at Suicide Basin was turned back on by the U.S. Geological Survey on Sunday, May 4, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Jamie Pierce)
Sitka Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson, left, looks over paperwork from precinct 1 with Holley Bayne, Precinct 1 chair Alix Snelling and deputy Clerk Jess Earnshaw. durinng Wednesday night’s tally of votes at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Unofficial results have 773 in favor and 2,071 against the proposition which would have limited cruise visitors ashore to 300,000 annually, and 4,500 daily; required at least one quiet day a week with no large ships; and implemented a permit system for cruise ships. (James Poulson / Daily Sitka Sentinel)

Sitka voters reject cruise ship limits

By a more than 2-to-1 margin, voters in Wednesday’s special election turned down a ballot proposition to limit cruise ship visitation in Sitka. The vote… Continue reading

Sitka Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson, left, looks over paperwork from precinct 1 with Holley Bayne, Precinct 1 chair Alix Snelling and deputy Clerk Jess Earnshaw. durinng Wednesday night’s tally of votes at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Unofficial results have 773 in favor and 2,071 against the proposition which would have limited cruise visitors ashore to 300,000 annually, and 4,500 daily; required at least one quiet day a week with no large ships; and implemented a permit system for cruise ships. (James Poulson / Daily Sitka Sentinel)
(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Police calls for Wednesday, May 28, 2025

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

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
The front page of the Juneau Empire on May 26, 1995. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The front page of the Juneau Empire on May 26, 1995. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A hemp crop waits to be harvested in Lincolnshire for British CBD oil producer Crop England on Aug. 27, 2021, in Grantham, England. The farm supplies Crop England, a British CBD oil producer founded in 2019 by Mike and Jackie Lamyman. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Judge: Alaska limits on intoxicating hemp products do not violate the U.S. Constitution

Ruling may end 2023 legal challenge and mean such products are restricted to marijuana retailers here.

A hemp crop waits to be harvested in Lincolnshire for British CBD oil producer Crop England on Aug. 27, 2021, in Grantham, England. The farm supplies Crop England, a British CBD oil producer founded in 2019 by Mike and Jackie Lamyman. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Butch Laiti is president of the Douglas Indian Association, a tribal government in Juneau. The association has purchased a fishing boat and wants to buy a commercial fishing permit for its members to share, but a state law bars it from doing so. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)

Coastal Alaskans see commercial fishing limits as a ‘crisis.’ Lawmakers don’t.

Legislature adjourned without addressing expanding access to commercial fishing careers.

Butch Laiti is president of the Douglas Indian Association, a tribal government in Juneau. The association has purchased a fishing boat and wants to buy a commercial fishing permit for its members to share, but a state law bars it from doing so. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Police calls for Tuesday, May 27, 2025

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

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Police calls for Monday, May 26, 2025

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

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Juneau ranked eighth out of 12 communities in an annual study asking business leaders how they feel about the business climate in Southeast Alaska. (City and Borough of Juneau)

Uncertainty dragging down mood of Southeast business leaders in annual survey

Tariffs, layoffs, other Trump policies result in “second-lowest levels of positivity” since 2010.

Juneau ranked eighth out of 12 communities in an annual study asking business leaders how they feel about the business climate in Southeast Alaska. (City and Borough of Juneau)
A group of fourth-grade Harborview Elementary School students share the digging and planting task at Juneau’s newest accredited arboretum on Arbor Day, celebrated Monday, May 19, 2025. (Laurie Craig / For the Juneau Empire)

Planting of new trees at Evergreen Cemetery celebrate its new status as an arboretum

More than 100 donated trees of 42 varieties planted during past decades.

A group of fourth-grade Harborview Elementary School students share the digging and planting task at Juneau’s newest accredited arboretum on Arbor Day, celebrated Monday, May 19, 2025. (Laurie Craig / For the Juneau Empire)
Olga Lijo Serans, owner of Hearthside Books, discusses its inclusion in USA Today’s voting competition to determine the “10 Best Independent Bookstores” in the U.S. at her Nugget Mall branch on Monday, May 26, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Hearthside Books and Toys among 20 contenders in online vote for 10 best independent bookstores in US

USA Today contest that ends June 2 also includes famous stores such as Strand Book Store in NYC.

Olga Lijo Serans, owner of Hearthside Books, discusses its inclusion in USA Today’s voting competition to determine the “10 Best Independent Bookstores” in the U.S. at her Nugget Mall branch on Monday, May 26, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
KINY’s “prize patrol” vehicle is parked outside the Local First Media Group Inc.’s building on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

KINY’s parent company enters Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceedings; local co-owner says operations unaffected

Company that owns 11 Southeast Alaska radio stations placed in receivership over defaulted $8.2M loan.

KINY’s “prize patrol” vehicle is parked outside the Local First Media Group Inc.’s building on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
A payday advance neon sign is seen in this undated photo. (EHStock/Getty Images)

Alaska Legislature votes to limit high interest rates and fees for payday loan lenders

On the 120th and last day of Alaska’s annual legislative session, the state House passed a bill that would curb high interest rates and fees… Continue reading

A payday advance neon sign is seen in this undated photo. (EHStock/Getty Images)