Capital City Weekly

Janalee Minnich Gage, activist and artist at home in Ketchikan. (Courtesy Photo / Janalee Minnich Gage)

Planet Alaska: ‘A day that changed everything’

“Whoosh! I was floating,”

Janalee Minnich Gage, activist and artist at home in Ketchikan. (Courtesy Photo / Janalee Minnich Gage)
Keishísh enjoys the beach in Juneau (Yeilk’ Vivian Mork / For the Capital City Weekly)

Planet Alaska: This old dog

This old dog is a good dog.

Keishísh enjoys the beach in Juneau (Yeilk’ Vivian Mork / For the Capital City Weekly)
Linda Buckley, a retired Juneau educator, has written her second children’s book “The Humpback in the Herring.” Like her first book, “The Bear in the Blueberry,” the book examines the relationship between organisms big and small. (Courtesy Photo)

Children’s author is back with a whale tale

First there was “The Bear in the Blueberry.” Now, there’s “The Humpback in the Herring.”

Linda Buckley, a retired Juneau educator, has written her second children’s book “The Humpback in the Herring.” Like her first book, “The Bear in the Blueberry,” the book examines the relationship between organisms big and small. (Courtesy Photo)
Jake Blount, an award winning banjo player, is the featured artist for the Alaska Folk Festival’s 2022 show. (Courtesy photo / Michael Last)

Q&A: Renowned East Coast banjo performer to headline Folk Fest

Drawing his inspiration from Black and Indigenous communties back east, Blount is the featured artist for 2022.

Jake Blount, an award winning banjo player, is the featured artist for the Alaska Folk Festival’s 2022 show. (Courtesy photo / Michael Last)
Cam Byrnes will be the April featured artist at Juneau Artists Gallery. (Courtesy Photo / Cam Bryrnes)

Here’s what’s happening for First Friday

No foolin’.

Cam Byrnes will be the April featured artist at Juneau Artists Gallery. (Courtesy Photo / Cam Bryrnes)
This December 2021 photo shows Erin Heist on stage in Juneau. Heist's debut album "From the Land of Rusted Dreams" is set to be released on April 8. The album is heavily shaped by connections Heist has made through the Alaska Folk Festival, which is held annually in Juneau. (Courtesy Photo / Annie Bartholomew)

Roots music: New album draws from memories and connections made in Southeast Alaska

Steel (pedal) yourself for new music.

This December 2021 photo shows Erin Heist on stage in Juneau. Heist's debut album "From the Land of Rusted Dreams" is set to be released on April 8. The album is heavily shaped by connections Heist has made through the Alaska Folk Festival, which is held annually in Juneau. (Courtesy Photo / Annie Bartholomew)
Diane Kaplan connects with a child during a 2017 visit with the Foundation Board to Oscarville on the Kuskokwim River near Bethel. (Courtesy photo / Rasmusen Foundation)

Rasmuson Foundation CEO to step down

Her 26-year tenure is expected to end early next year.

Diane Kaplan connects with a child during a 2017 visit with the Foundation Board to Oscarville on the Kuskokwim River near Bethel. (Courtesy photo / Rasmusen Foundation)
Southeast Alaska experiences heavy rainfall and 95% of our electricity is generated by clean hydropower. (Courtesy Photo / Bethany S Goodrich)

Resilient Peoples Place: Energy independence is both a destination and a journey

Air source heat pumps for Southeast Alaskans.

Southeast Alaska experiences heavy rainfall and 95% of our electricity is generated by clean hydropower. (Courtesy Photo / Bethany S Goodrich)
Left of knife: removing and chopping only needles, leaving the center stem. Right of knife: chopping the whole spruce tip including the stem. (Vivian Faith Prescott / For the Capital City Weekly)

Planet Alaska: Spruce tips for all seasons

If you have a few bags of spruce tips in the freezer, now is the time to use them.

Left of knife: removing and chopping only needles, leaving the center stem. Right of knife: chopping the whole spruce tip including the stem. (Vivian Faith Prescott / For the Capital City Weekly)
Kristine Paulick and Bill Paulick rehearse in a music classroom in Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School ahead of an upcoming Juneau Community Bands Horns a Plenty concert set for Sunday at Thunder Mountain High School. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Pardon their French horns: Live music returns with Horns A-Plenty concert

Unless you were in New York City two years ago, you haven’t heard this played live before.

Kristine Paulick and Bill Paulick rehearse in a music classroom in Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School ahead of an upcoming Juneau Community Bands Horns a Plenty concert set for Sunday at Thunder Mountain High School. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
This photo shows a dandelion. "During spring’s root season, people dig up and dry dandelion root, then ground it for coffee, claiming it’s a good substitute." writes By Yéilk’ Vivian Mork. (Yéilk’ Vivian Mork / For the Capital City Weekly)

Planet Alaska: Waking up with the plants of Taakw eetí

Wake up, Taakw eetí is almost here!

This photo shows a dandelion. "During spring’s root season, people dig up and dry dandelion root, then ground it for coffee, claiming it’s a good substitute." writes By Yéilk’ Vivian Mork. (Yéilk’ Vivian Mork / For the Capital City Weekly)
The Alaska Folk Festival will take place at Centennial Hall from April 4-10 after two years of being curtailed sharply by the pandemic. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Folk Fest returns full force to Juneau

The 47th annual performance of the event returns to live concerts with a roar.

The Alaska Folk Festival will take place at Centennial Hall from April 4-10 after two years of being curtailed sharply by the pandemic. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Michael S. Lockett / Capital City Weekly Sarah Davidson and Kevin Jeffrey, Annie Kaill’s featured artists for the March 2022 First Friday, stand by a display of their work at the store on Wednesday.

The feel of water: Artists work to rethink mental health and waterways

In addition to being cofounders of the project, they’re featured artists this First Friday.

Michael S. Lockett / Capital City Weekly Sarah Davidson and Kevin Jeffrey, Annie Kaill’s featured artists for the March 2022 First Friday, stand by a display of their work at the store on Wednesday.
Courtesy Photo Juneau Artists Gallery will hold a Unique Boot-Ique that feature a silent auction fundraiser for local nonprofits for the month of March.

Here’s what’s happening for First Friday

A boot-ique, new exhibits and more

Courtesy Photo Juneau Artists Gallery will hold a Unique Boot-Ique that feature a silent auction fundraiser for local nonprofits for the month of March.
Delia (Vivian Melde) is illuminated by a flashlight's beam following a frightening encounter with a ghost during a rehearsal for Perseverance Theatre's "The Brothers Paranormal." (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Review: ‘The Brothers Paranormal’ blends frights and fun

O, ‘Brothers’ scare art thou.

Delia (Vivian Melde) is illuminated by a flashlight's beam following a frightening encounter with a ghost during a rehearsal for Perseverance Theatre's "The Brothers Paranormal." (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Mary, Ryker and Lucas Goddard foraging on Japonski Island, Sitka. (Courtesy Photo / Donna Rae Photography)

Planet Alaska: A place for healing at Waypoint for Veterans

A point at which a course is changed…

Mary, Ryker and Lucas Goddard foraging on Japonski Island, Sitka. (Courtesy Photo / Donna Rae Photography)
Arias Hoyle, a 20-year-old Afro-Indigenous musician from Juneau, makes music as Air Jazz. "I feel like there’s instances where even the Afro-Indigenous people themselves feel like they have to choose one to move towards more than the other," Hoyle said. "And I don’t think that’s necessary. If you want to really embrace your full self, for as long as you shall live, just let it all be known." (Courtesy Photo)

Resilient Peoples & Place: Arias Hoyle on Afro Indigeneity, rap, and the ‘new wave’ of Indigenous expression

“From Oppression to Expression.”

Arias Hoyle, a 20-year-old Afro-Indigenous musician from Juneau, makes music as Air Jazz. "I feel like there’s instances where even the Afro-Indigenous people themselves feel like they have to choose one to move towards more than the other," Hoyle said. "And I don’t think that’s necessary. If you want to really embrace your full self, for as long as you shall live, just let it all be known." (Courtesy Photo)
Courtesy Photo / Nick Jans This photo provided by Nick Jans shows the wolf known as Romeo, famous for his friendly interactions with locals and their pets. Romeo inspired a series of events this month that culminates in “Wolf Songs,” which will premiere two original works inspired by the wolf. Jans who wrote the book “A Wolf Called Romeo” is credited with the text for a musical piece of the same title.

Songs in the key of wildlife

‘Wolf Songs’ features original works about Juneau’s famous Romeo.

Courtesy Photo / Nick Jans This photo provided by Nick Jans shows the wolf known as Romeo, famous for his friendly interactions with locals and their pets. Romeo inspired a series of events this month that culminates in “Wolf Songs,” which will premiere two original works inspired by the wolf. Jans who wrote the book “A Wolf Called Romeo” is credited with the text for a musical piece of the same title.
Max (Mike Rao), Felix (Eddie Jones) and Visarut (Phai Giron) consult a book containing information that attempts to rationalize an apparent uptick in sightings of “Asian-looking” ghosts. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Perseverance prepares ‘Paranormal’ play

A ghost story is born.

Max (Mike Rao), Felix (Eddie Jones) and Visarut (Phai Giron) consult a book containing information that attempts to rationalize an apparent uptick in sightings of “Asian-looking” ghosts. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
African-American soldiers of Company L, 24th Infantry, famously known as "Buffalo Soldiers" on parade on 5th Avenue in Skagway, between Broadway and State streets, in front of the Daily Budget newspaper on July 4, 1899. A recent book from a University of Alaska Anchorage history professor traces the long history of Black Americans in Alaska. (Courtesy image / Alaska's Digital Archives)

Book traces over 150 years of Black history in Alaska

Before the gold rush.

African-American soldiers of Company L, 24th Infantry, famously known as "Buffalo Soldiers" on parade on 5th Avenue in Skagway, between Broadway and State streets, in front of the Daily Budget newspaper on July 4, 1899. A recent book from a University of Alaska Anchorage history professor traces the long history of Black Americans in Alaska. (Courtesy image / Alaska's Digital Archives)