Columns

Filcom’s Ray Zimmer (0) blocks a shot from Klukwan’s Jess McGraw in the first half of the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament C Bracket Championship Game on Saturday, March 26, 2023, in Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s gymnasium. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)

My Turn: Foul decision by Gold Medal officials to leave defending champs out of this year’s tournament

I am writing to the editor to express my extreme disappointment and frustration to this year’s Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal (GM) Selection Committee members… Continue reading

 

A ninth grader places her cellphone in to a phone holder as she enters class at Delta High School on Feb. 23 in Delta, Utah. Most schools have policies regulating student cellphone use at school. But the reality is kids don’t always follow the rules and schools enforce them sporadically. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Opinion: The problem education funding and reforms can’t fix

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is right. Increasing the Base Student Allocation funding for Alaska’s public schools alone won’t improve education outcomes for students. But I don’t… Continue reading

 

From left, Lauren Shea, Chantale Bégin, Isabelle Côté and Noelle Helder propel their 28-foot boat Emma off the coast of Florida during a training run for their crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. (Photo courtesy Noelle Helder)

Alaska Science Forum: Marine scientist rows across the Atlantic

The first days were the hardest days, Noelle Helder said. Imagine being as seasick as you will ever be while surfing waves that look like… Continue reading

 

The author and his wife ride a lift at Eaglecrest over the weekend. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: All you can eat pizza

There are times you’re confronted with the culmination of your career as an active human and you end up wishing you’d have had a better… Continue reading

The author and his wife ride a lift at Eaglecrest over the weekend. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
Laura Rorem is a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church. (Courtesy of Laura Rorem)

Living and Growing: The beauty of brokeness

Panicked, I feverishly wandered into my mother’s sewing room looking for her. I could not find her, but her sewing machine was beckoning me to… Continue reading

Laura Rorem is a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church. (Courtesy of Laura Rorem)
(Juneau Emire file photo)

Opinion: Some state lawmakers need to embrace reality, not PFD political theater

It was a polar-opposite week in the Legislature. While the Senate Finance Committee was reviewing honest numbers about real budget needs hitting up against the… Continue reading

(Juneau Emire file photo)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks in March of 2023 in support of an agreement between the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and Goldbelt Inc. to pursue engineering and design services to determine whether it’s feasible to build a new ferry terminal facility in Juneau at Cascade Point. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion: Cascade Point, AMHOB, and DOT’s stonewalling strategy

On Tuesday a joint session of the Legislature is scheduled to hold a vote on rejecting Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s executive order that gives him authority… Continue reading

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks in March of 2023 in support of an agreement between the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and Goldbelt Inc. to pursue engineering and design services to determine whether it’s feasible to build a new ferry terminal facility in Juneau at Cascade Point. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
(City and Borough of Juneau photo)

Opinion: Juneau school board veers off-course

Last week’s Juneau School District (JSD) Board of Education meeting, expected to be perfunctory, was far from routine. The Thursday, March 7 special meeting was… Continue reading

(City and Borough of Juneau photo)
A pine grosbeak munches on some old berries. (Photo by Kerry Howard)

On the Trails: Animal tracks and pine grosbeaks

February had an extra day this year, a cold and gusty one. Those gusts were enough to knock me off balance and make it temporarily… Continue reading

A pine grosbeak munches on some old berries. (Photo by Kerry Howard)
Deedie Sorensen is president of the Juneau Board of Education. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

My Turn: Powers and duties as a member of the Juneau Board of Education

“The Board of Education’s primary goal is to provide each student with an education of the highest quality in keeping with his/her capacity to learn.… Continue reading

Deedie Sorensen is president of the Juneau Board of Education. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
Kara Haeussler skis back to an airstrip on Kahiltna Glacier in 2014 with Denali in the far background and the Kahiltna Peaks in the foreground right. (Photo by Peter Haeussler)

Alaska Science Forum: Why is Denali so tall?

Denali, North America’s highest peak at 20,310 feet above sea level, always seemed abnormally high to Peter Haeussler. He is a geologist who has studied… Continue reading

Kara Haeussler skis back to an airstrip on Kahiltna Glacier in 2014 with Denali in the far background and the Kahiltna Peaks in the foreground right. (Photo by Peter Haeussler)
Wanda Culp (left) speaks during a rally at the Alaska State Capitol on Saturday, June 22, 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Why Alaska Natives like me oppose the landless bill

The 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) has never addressed Native claims. ANCSA is an industrial-rooted tool of Congress, created to exterminate Indigenous land… Continue reading

Wanda Culp (left) speaks during a rally at the Alaska State Capitol on Saturday, June 22, 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
(Getty Images)

Opinion: Alaska serves as an immigration model to take note of

Between the border crisis and election-year politics, “immigration” has been in the news a lot. While I have no intention of wading into the politics… Continue reading

(Getty Images)
Tari Stage-Harvey is the pastor of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church. (Photo courtesy of Tari Stage-Harvey)

Living and Growing: Thoughts of jellyfish during time of holy mystery of death and resurrection

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor… Continue reading

Tari Stage-Harvey is the pastor of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church. (Photo courtesy of Tari Stage-Harvey)
Israeli soldiers are seen near the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on Monday. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

My Turn: Israel/Gaza and historic, religious and ethnic challenges of global terrorism

Dixie Belcher’s article titled “Palestinian residents are helpless victim in attacks made by leaders” published in the Juneau Empire on Feb. 26, 2024, is a… Continue reading

Israeli soldiers are seen near the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on Monday. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Students enter a bus stopped on Douglas Highway during the first day of the 2023-2024 school year. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

My Turn: Unintended consequences of the school district reorganization plan

During school board public comment sessions on proposed school reorganization options, many people suggested ways to keep both Thunder Mountain and Juneau-Douglas high schools open.… Continue reading

Students enter a bus stopped on Douglas Highway during the first day of the 2023-2024 school year. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
An infection of dwarf mistletoe has caused the deformation of tree branches, making what is called a witch’s broom. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Witch’s brooms and gumboots

Local creatures have often been given the names of early explorers and naturalists that visited our northern shores and forests. So (until the names are… Continue reading

An infection of dwarf mistletoe has caused the deformation of tree branches, making what is called a witch’s broom. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
Hydrologist Heather Best rides her fat bike in the White Mountains National Recreation Area north of Fairbanks. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Wet overflow a winter hazard in Alaska

While following a snowmachine trail recently, my dog and I came to a low spot that looked like a swimming pool filled with ice water.… Continue reading

Hydrologist Heather Best rides her fat bike in the White Mountains National Recreation Area north of Fairbanks. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
Former President Donald Trump speaks to a capacity crowd at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on July 9, 2022. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion: A primary election of ill-informed voters

On Tuesday, Republicans across the state will help anoint Donald Trump as their party’s nominee for president. But if national polling reasonably reflects the views… Continue reading

Former President Donald Trump speaks to a capacity crowd at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on July 9, 2022. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
HEX Cook Inlet, LLC and Subsidiaries presents a check to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Administration in October of 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Administration)

My Turn: The Legislature should rein in AIDEA

This story has been updated to correct the photo caption, which originally stated AIDEA was presenting a check to HEX Cook Inlet, rather than the… Continue reading

HEX Cook Inlet, LLC and Subsidiaries presents a check to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Administration in October of 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Administration)