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A whimbrel rests on a willow near the Jago River in summer 2024. Photo courtesy Alan Kneidel

Opinion

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska lovebirds go their own way

During a month of endless summer light, a mated pair of shorebirds teaches their four chicks how to…

Northern sea ice, such as this surrounding the community of Kivalina, has declined dramatically in area and thickness over the last few decades. Photo courtesy Ned Rozell

Opinion

20 years of Arctic report cards

Twenty years have passed since scientists released the first version of the Arctic Report Card, now a staple…

Dr. Karissa Niehoff

Opinion

OPINION: Protecting the purpose

Why funding schools must include student activities.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy gestures during his State of the State address on Jan. 22, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

Opinion

OPINION: It’s time to end Alaska’s fiscal experiment

For decades, Alaska has operated under a fiscal and budgeting system unlike any other state, and some could…

At the Elvey Building, home of UAF’s Geophysical Institute, Carl Benson, far right, and Val Scullion of the GI business office attend a 2014 retirement party with Glenn Shaw. Photo by Ned Rozell

Opinion

Alaska Science Forum: Carl Benson embodied the far North

Carl Benson’s last winter on Earth featured 32 consecutive days during which temperatures in his chosen town did…

Four members of the Riley Creek wolf pack, including the matriarch, “Riley,” dig a moose carcass frozen from creek ice in May 2016. National Park Service trail camera photo

Neighbors

Alaska Science Forum: The Riley Creek pack’s sole survivor

Born in May, 2009, Riley first saw sunlight after crawling from a hole dug in the roots of…

President Donald Trump greets President Vladimir Putin of Russia as they met at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

News

Trump and Putin put on a show of friendship but come away without a deal

ANCHORAGE — President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached no agreement to end the war in…

Meredith Jordan/ Juneau Empire
A manager at Alaska Glacier Seafood shows a filleted sea cucumber ready for further processing.

News

Sea cucumber season off to a good start

Divers seeing much better prices than last year to start

Ice fog, a phrase in Russell Tabbert’s Dictionary of Alaskan English, is not uttered in many other places because to form it takes a sustained temperature of minus 35 F. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

News

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska lexicon sinks in over the years

When my little Ford pickup chugged into Alaska 36 years ago this month, I didn’t know a wheel…

The Pacific Spaceport Complex- Alaska is Alaska’s only spaceport, located near Kodiak, Alaska. (Courtesy photo / Alaska Aerospace Corporation)

News

Eyes on the stars: Launches continue as Alaska’s spaceport thinks expansion

Next week will see one of the six launches that was initially scheduled for 2020.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon speak during the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds’ annual meeting Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, at Centennial Hall. The two governors were part of a panel discussion during the yearly gathering of state-owned investment funds. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Gov says warming Arctic could be good for Alaska

Alaska, Wyoming governors discuss state of the Arctic.

The Alaska Marine Highway System’s M/V Kennicott pulls away from the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal in this August 2014 photo. The Kennicott was the first vessel on the scene to help five Canadians who jumped into the water south of Bella Bella, British Columbia, Canada, to escape a sinking ship. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

News

One person still missing: M/V Kennicott rescues 5 after boat sinks

The AMHS ferry was the first vessel on the scene.

University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen makes a presentation to the university’s Board of Regents at the UAS Recreation Center on Sept. 15, 2016. A declaration of financial exigency that would have allowed University of Alaska to make drastic cuts was rescinded Tuesday. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

News

University of Alaska rescinds emergency financial declaration

The financial picture still isn’t rosy.

The Crown Princess, owned and operated by Princess Cruises, steams by the ruins of the Treadwell Mine’s salt water Pump House and toward Juneau’s downtown harbor in this September 2015 photo. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

News

Cruise ship complaint numbers for this year may surprise you

Complaints about cruise ship emissions and violations are both on track for year-over-year decreases, according to numbers from…

Stranded: Ferry strikes leave visitors, businesses and locals high and dry

News

Stranded: Ferry strikes leave visitors, businesses and locals high and dry

Ferry worker strike has left visitors to the region trapped.

Legislators use ‘symbolic’ vote to deliver verbal smackdown to vetoes

News

Legislators use ‘symbolic’ vote to deliver verbal smackdown to vetoes

The vote failed, but they said a lot.

Senate Finance member Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, center, studies the FY20 Budget during a Senate Finance Committee meeting at the Capitol on Tuesday, July 9, 2019. Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, left, and Sen. Chris Birch, R-Anchorage, right, listen in the background. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Legislative finance director points out potential ‘nightmare’ scenario

Time to fear the sweeper?

Even ‘right-leaning’ groups, bankers and builders are calling for an override

News

Even ‘right-leaning’ groups, bankers and builders are calling for an override

They had one message to the governor.

Capitol Live: There may not be enough lawmakers in Juneau to override vetoes

News

Capitol Live: There may not be enough lawmakers in Juneau to override vetoes

Live updates from inside the Capitol.

Capitol Live: Veto override vote fails

News

Capitol Live: Veto override vote fails

Live updates from inside the Capitol.