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The city eased requirements for masks for vaccinated individuals indoors on Dec. 13, 2021. Masks will still be requireed in all City and Borough of Juneau facilities. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

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City lowers community risk level

Very little will change, save that the vaccinated are no longer required to wear masks indoors.

Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire This photo shows vehicles at the city impound lot in Lemon Creek on Dec. 9, 2021. Space is perpetually at a premium in the impound lot, which holds vehicles for all sorts of reasons.

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Junk car disposals are on the rise, city seeks to do more

Clearing abandoned vehicles from city property can be admistratively tricky.

Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire Alexandra Pierce, the newly named City and Borough of Juneau Tourism Manager, stands on South Franklin Street on Dec. 3.

News

From the docks to a desk in city hall

Pierce prepares for Tourism Manager role

This March 2020 photo shows Juneau’s City Hall. On Wednesday, the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly heard a rosy revenue report at the Finance Committee meeting. (Peter Segall | Juneau Empire File)

News

Sales tax collection surpasses city’s projection

“Sales tax doesn’t lie,” says CBJ finance director.

Commercial property owners throughout the city filed 210 tax appeals this year. On Wednesday night, Jeff Rogers, finance director for the City and Borough of Juneau, told the city’s Finance Committee that 130 appeals had been closed and 80 appeals remain open. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File) Mt. Juneau, looming above downtown, seen here on April 21, 2021, is a brisk hike with a good view from the summit. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Commercial property tax appeals continue

No appellant has won so far.

FedEx trucks sit outside the Juneau Fed Ex office on Nov. 25. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

News

Shopping online? CBJ taxes still apply

Remote sellers tax generated $2M last year

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File Alexandra Pierce, a planning manager at the City and Borough of Juneau, gives a presentation to the Visitor Industry Task Force in the Assembly chambers on Dec. 3, 2019. Task force members suggested creating a Tourism Manager role. On Monday, city officials named Pierce to fill the newly created role.

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CBJ employee named to new tourism manager post

The job is a Visitor Industry Task Force recommendation

Jerel Humphrey, Intermin CEO at Bartlett Regional Hospital. (Courtesy photo/Bartlett Regional Hospital website)

News

Interim CEO: ‘Incredibly dedicated hospital staff works through pandemic stressors’

Humphrey not sure how long he will stay on job

The Norwegian Encore sails past Douglas Island on Sept. 8, 2021. The Encore was visiting Juneau as part of an abbreviated cruise season this summer after COVID-19 canceled the 2020 season. The City and Borough of Juneau recently conducted an online survey for residents to share their views on the tourism industry. Local cruise critics say they are eagerly awaiting survey results. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

News

Cruise critics reflect on shortened season

“It was not intolerable”

Triangle Club bartender Sam Sims pulls a pint on Nov. 17, 2021 as Juneau recently announced that bars would be able to operate for their full hours under modified mitigation measures. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

News

Bar owners welcome eased mitigation measures

Rapidly shifting tides around mitigation measures have made many of them leery, however.

The former Walmart was used as an example for a vacant building that could potentially be assessed for redevelopment via a federal grant that Juneau is applying for. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

News

City to apply for grant to potentially redevelop underused buildings

This grant will help assess what contaminants or chemicals may be present on potential sites.

Loren Jones addresses the Juneau Chamber of Commerce in this January 2019 photo. In October, he completed his third, three-year term on the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly. Term limits prevented him from running again, and he recently attended his last official meeting. But, he has no plans to slow down. Earlier this week, he answered nine questions for the Empire — one question for each year of service on the assembly. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

News

Q&A: Jones steps back, but not away

Long-serving CBJ Assembly member plans to stay busy

This photo shows the Alaska State Capitol on Sept. 24, 2021. State lawmakers are expected to consider ways to raise revenue when they begin meeting again. Leaders in the City and Borough are considering whether to go on record with a preference for how state officials proceed in the quest to raise money. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File) This photo shows the Alaska State Capitol on Sept. 24, 2021. State lawmakers are expected to consider ways to raise revenue when they begin meeting again. Leaders in the City and Borough are considering whether to go on record with a preference for how state officials proceed in the quest to raise money. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

News

City considers whether to weigh in on state revenue options

City leaders generally oppose a statewide sales tax

The Celebrity Millennium sails into the Port of Juneau early on the morning of July 26, 2021. During this voyage, onboard purchases were exempt from the City and Borough of Juneau’s sales tax. However, a new ordinance winding through the City Assembly could change that for next year. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

News

City seeks to tax onboard purchases

“An issue of tax fairness”

This March 2020 photo shows Juneau’s City Hall. At Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, City and Borough of Juneau assembly members agreed to provide $2.88 from the General Fund to Docks and Harbors to purchase a parcel of land located between Harris and Aurora Harbors downtown. (Peter Segall/Juneau Empire File)

News

Docks and Harbors to buy land

It’s cheaper to buy than rent

Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire Currently, the privately owned Franklin Street dock shown in this Nov. 1 photo is Juneau’s only electrified dock. Plans are underway to electrify two city-owned cruise ship docks. In addition to electrifying city-owned docks, more electric docks may be on the horizon for Juneau, as Norwegian Cruise Lines eyes electrification for the cruise ship dock the company seeks to build on their waterfront property on Egan Drive.

News

Study sheds light on electrifying cruise ship docks

City leaders await federal announcement of grant award

It took two forklifts, a large crane, a flatbed truck a team of workers to move the Wooshkeetaan Kootéeyaa (totem pole) to its new location inside the atrium of the State Office Building on Oct. 15. (Michael Penn / For the Jundeau-Douglas City Museum)

News

Poling place: Totem pole carved for Juneau’s centennial gets a new home

It’s safe from the elements and will be back on display soon

The downtown branch of the Juneau Public Library on April 7, 2020. Residents who wonder what portion of their tax dollars go to support the library can now find out through Taxpayer Receipt. This new, online tool estimates how the City and Borough of Juneau spends property and sales taxes with a personalized and detailed program-by-program breakdown itemizing the number of tax dollars a resident spends on each program (Michael S. Lockett/Juneau Empire File)

News

Anatomy of a taxing body: City offers tool that breaks down spending

Earlier this week, the city’s Finance Department introduced Taxpayer Receipt.

Long-serving City and Borough of Juneau Assembly member Loren Jones, addresses the crowd at his last assembly meeting on Oct. 25. His wife of almost 52 years, La Rae Jones, stands beside him. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

News

Changing of the guard

Jones departs, Blake joins, Weldon and Hale return

Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire The Norwegian Encore slips past Douglas Island on Sept. 8, as part of 2021’s abbreviated cruise season. In 2020, COVID-19 halted all cruise traffic. Earlier this year, Norwegian Cruise Lines announced $10 million in donations to communities hard hit by 2020’s pandemic-induced suspension on cruising, including $2 million to organizations in Juneau. Recently, local organizations have started to receive the money.

News

Donations flow to local nonprofit groups

NCL money offers pier-to-peer support