Opinion

In this file photo from August 2015, Juneau Police Department Officer Ben Beck hands out pencils and paper police hats to neighborhood kids in the Mendenhall Valley during National Night Out.

Empire Readers’ Council Editorial: Community policing in Juneau

Horrific videos of young men shot by police. The tragic murders of law enforcement officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge. We seem to face an… Continue reading

  • Aug 9, 2016
  • By EMPIRE READERS' COUNCIL
In this file photo from August 2015, Juneau Police Department Officer Ben Beck hands out pencils and paper police hats to neighborhood kids in the Mendenhall Valley during National Night Out.

My Turn: On parental notification, court makes mockery of parents’ rights

In 2007, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the Alaska Parental Consent law regarding a minor child’s abortion was unconstitutional. In that ruling, the court… Continue reading

  • Aug 9, 2016
  • By SIDNEY HEIDERSDORF

My Turn: Firefly lights and HB 156

The firefly lights kept blinking on and off. As we chased their flight through the Washington, D.C., hotel garden, we admired their efforts. Their adult… Continue reading

  • Aug 8, 2016
  • By AMY JO MEINERS

My Turn: Lisa Murkowski has a Donald Trump dilemma

After losing to Joe Miller in the 2010 primary, Sen. Lisa Murkowski bucked the Republican establishment by mounting a historic write-in campaign. She justified her… Continue reading

  • Aug 7, 2016
  • By Rich Moniak

Empire Editorial: To save millions of lives, make mosquitoes extinct

The deadliest animal in the world isn’t the shark, bear or the human being. It is the mosquito.This past week, the Empire has published a… Continue reading

  • Aug 7, 2016

Empire Editorial: When help is needed, Juneau responds

It’s easy these days to focus on all the things wrong with our city and state, but this week there was much good to celebrate.Juneauites… Continue reading

  • Aug 5, 2016

My Turn: Has Alaska cut the fat out of the budget?

The Walker Administration and a supportive legislative minority have struggled mightily to persuade Alaskans the budget really has been “cut to the bone” and it’s… Continue reading

  • Aug 5, 2016
  • By WIN GRUENING

Empire Editorial: Keep the ferry system healthy in Southwest

Imagine life in Juneau without ferries.It isn’t a pleasant mental picture.Yet, in 2013, this is exactly what the residents of Kodiak, the Alaska Peninsula and… Continue reading

  • Aug 4, 2016

My Turn: Two years later, all is not well following Mount Polley disaster

Before the Mount Polley Mine disaster struck two years ago, our communities of Xat’sull First Nation and Likely, British Columbia, lived in the reassurance from… Continue reading

  • Aug 4, 2016
  • By JACINDA MACK and RICHARD HOLMES

My Turn: In 2016, what we know trumps who we know

As I grew up in the 1940s and ‘50s, it was common to hear many grown-ups say, “It’s not what you know, but who you… Continue reading

  • Aug 3, 2016
  • By GEORGE BROWN

Empire Editorial: Treat both downtowns the same

Mark Dundore has a problem, and we all need to help fix it.You see, Dundore is working to get his new business, The Douglas Outpost,… Continue reading

  • Aug 3, 2016

My Turn: Longstanding fisheries act doesn’t need changing

Those who catch ocean fish, dine on the country’s marine bounty or simply appreciate the remarkable improvement in the state of America’s fisheries can thank… Continue reading

  • Aug 3, 2016
  • By WILLIAM HOGARTH and STEVE MURAWSKI

Alaska Editorial: Oil won’t save us

The following editorial first appeared in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: A report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration earlier this month contained a small but… Continue reading

  • Aug 2, 2016

My Turn: Help put Alaska on a path to recovery

I had an extremely moving meeting in Washington, D.C. last fall with a group of Alaskan women. They were in the capital to attend the… Continue reading

  • Aug 1, 2016
  • By SEN. DAN SULLIVAN

My Turn: NATO needed as much today as ever

As the world becomes increasingly more complicated, and troubles in one place seem to jump around the globe in no time, we should consider international… Continue reading

  • Jul 31, 2016
  • By Ben Brown

My Turn: Climate Change is a moral issue

The City and Borough of Juneau is now considering the Juneau Community Energy Plan. Our community must now decide how aggressively to work to reduce… Continue reading

  • Jul 31, 2016
  • By CHARLES ROHRBACHER and STUART COHEN

My Turn: Authentically divided parties

Party unity. After a long and often ugly primary process, that’s what both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sought at their respective party’s convention. But… Continue reading

  • Jul 31, 2016
  • By Rich Moniak

My Turn: Bring the Ancient One home

The threads of history, culture and ancestry form a timeless and unbreakable weave in Native American life. The elders who came before us are as… Continue reading

  • Jul 28, 2016
  • By ROSITA WORL

My Turn: We can’t live tax-free anymore

The political and public debate over Alaska’s fiscal future is too focused on too many of us protecting too much of our own. Don’t touch… Continue reading

  • Jul 28, 2016
  • By LARRY PERSILY

Alaska Editorial: Gov. Walker is the one leading in the fiscal crisis. Legislators? Not at all.

The following editorial first appeared in The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:There really is only one adult in the messy room of Alaska’s finances. It’s Gov. Bill… Continue reading

  • Jul 27, 2016