Opinion

veggies
File Photo 
Community organizations that serve food at their gatherings can do a lot by making menus of whole, nutritious offerings according to health and wellness coach Burl Sheldon.

Food served by “groups for good” can be health changemakers

Health and wellness coach thinks change can start on community event menus

  • Dec 20, 2025
  • By Burl Sheldon

 

Construction equipment operating at night at the White House. (photo by Peter W. Stevenson/The Washington Post)

Opinion: Gold at the center of power

What the White House’s golden ballroom reveals about Modern America

 

Win Gruening (courtesy)

Opinion: Affordability message delivered to Juneau Assembly; but will it matter?

On October 7, frustrated voters passed two ballot propositions aimed at making Juneau more affordable and decisively defeated an Assembly-sponsored sales tax increase. The message… Continue reading

  • Dec 12, 2025
  • Win Gruening

 

Alaska Children’s Trust Photo
Natalie Hodges and Hailey Clark use the online safety conversation cards produced by the Alaska Children’s Trust.

My Turn: Staying connected starts with showing up

When our daughter was 11 and the COVID lockdown was in full swing, she, like many of the preteens and teens around her, turned to… Continue reading

  • Dec 10, 2025
  • Azri-el Sellers & Kaila Pfister THE CONVERSATION
Alaska Children’s Trust Photo
Natalie Hodges and Hailey Clark use the online safety conversation cards produced by the Alaska Children’s Trust.
Telephone Hill as seen from above (Photo courtesy of City and Borough of Juneau)

Letter: For Telephone Hill, remember small is adaptable

Writer finds the finances don’t add up on planned development

  • Dec 10, 2025
  • Larry Talley
Telephone Hill as seen from above (Photo courtesy of City and Borough of Juneau)
Doug Mills/The New York Times 
President Donald Trump disembarks the USS Harry S. Truman before delivering remarks for the Navy’s 250th anniversary in Norfolk, Va., Oct. 5, 2025.

Opinion: Trump’s job is done

The ultra-rich have completed their takeover of America.

Doug Mills/The New York Times 
President Donald Trump disembarks the USS Harry S. Truman before delivering remarks for the Navy’s 250th anniversary in Norfolk, Va., Oct. 5, 2025.
Google Maps screenshot
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc.

Opinion: An open letter to Cascade Point ferry terminal proponents

To: Governor Dunleavy, DOT Directors, and Cascade Point ferry terminal project consultants, Building a ferry terminal at Cascade Point would represent government at its most… Continue reading

  • Dec 3, 2025
  • By Gershon Cohen
Google Maps screenshot
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc.

My Turn: Supreme Court decision treats Alaskans with mental illness worse than criminals

A criminal in Alaska who’s in custody must be presented with charges in court within 48 hours or be freed. It’s a constitutional due process… Continue reading

  • Dec 3, 2025
  • By Val Van Brocklin
Win Gruening (courtesy)

Gratitude for our libraries, museums and historians

The thanksgiving weekend is a chance to recognize those who preserve local history

  • Nov 28, 2025
  • By Win Gruening
Win Gruening (courtesy)
Google Maps screenshot 
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc.

My Turn: Cascade Point terminal would not be efficient

I have enjoyed traveling on the Alaska State Ferries over the years and hope we can continue them in an efficient and reliable manner. The… Continue reading

Google Maps screenshot 
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc.
photo by Peter W. Stevenson / The Washington Post 
President Donald Trump on Oct. 24.

Opinion: ‘Hang them,’ Trump said

A president’s threat against Congress and the duty of Alaska’s delegation.

photo by Peter W. Stevenson / The Washington Post 
President Donald Trump on Oct. 24.
Telephone Hill as seen from above. (photo courtesy of City and Borough of Juneau)

My Turn: Telephone Hill Concept C vs Concept D – could we see Pro Forma?

It is standard that before a municipality undertakes a construction project for housing that a pro forma is done for the project that shows the… Continue reading

Telephone Hill as seen from above. (photo courtesy of City and Borough of Juneau)
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on March 7 in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Opinion: Senator Sullivan supports $500,000 Grift

A hidden clause in Congress’s spending bill turns public service into personal profit.

  • Nov 19, 2025
  • Van Abbott
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on March 7 in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Win Gruening (courtesy)

Opinion: Sen. Dan Sullivan – promises made, promises kept

The senator has promised and delivered on red-tape slashing solutions

Win Gruening (courtesy)
U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, addresses a joint session of the Alaska Legislature. (Mark Sabbatini file photo)

My Turn: Sullivan and Begich Will Lose in 2026

Supporting Trump’s Agenda Is Highly Unpopular… Even in Alaska

  • Nov 12, 2025
  • By Van Abbott
U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, addresses a joint session of the Alaska Legislature. (Mark Sabbatini file photo)
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc. (Google Maps screenshot)

My Turn: The case against Cascade Point Ferry Terminal

I am writing to say that I think the State of Alaska’s Cascade Point Terminal is a bad idea. But first I want to tell… Continue reading

  • Nov 12, 2025
  • By William Tonsgard Jr.
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc. (Google Maps screenshot)
File photo, Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
The marble statue depicting “The Authority of Law” is visible outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025.

My Turn: The Supreme Court is creating dictatorship in the shadows

Van Abbott weighs in on quiet power of the judiciary branch.

  • Nov 8, 2025
  • By Van Abbott
File photo, Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
The marble statue depicting “The Authority of Law” is visible outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025.
Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion: Governor’s early Christmas spirit is misplaced

“I told the president, it’s like Christmas every morning,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said at last week’s staged event in Washington, D.C., where the Department of… Continue reading

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Faith Myers stands at the doors of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage. (File, courtesy photo)

Opinion: Court rulings on mistreatment of psychiatric patients need more state follow-up

Faith Myers weighs in on the legacy of “Myers v API.”

  • Nov 5, 2025
  • By Faith Myers
Faith Myers stands at the doors of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage. (File, courtesy photo)
President Donald Trump announces that he is assuming control of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department and deploying the National Guard in the nation’s capital, citing high crime rates at the White House on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

My Turn: How Trump’s “best people” became America’s worst problem

With the aid of Murkowski and Sullivan.

  • Oct 31, 2025
  • By Van Abbott
President Donald Trump announces that he is assuming control of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department and deploying the National Guard in the nation’s capital, citing high crime rates at the White House on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)