Site Logo
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)

News

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…

Southeast Alaska experiences heavy rainfall and 95% of our electricity is generated by clean hydropower. (Courtesy Photo / Bethany S Goodrich)

News

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

Air source heat pumps for Southeast Alaskans.

A brown bear sleeps after taking a break from grazing on spring vegetation. (Courtesy Photo / Bjorn Dihle)

News

Pride of Bristol Bay: The brown bears of Bristol Bay and Alaska Peninsula

Bristol Bay and Alaska Peninsula makes up about one third of Alaska’s entire brown bear population.

Blueberry flowers bloom in some sites in early March (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

News

On the Trails: Waiting for spring

Critters and plants are getting ready for spring

Chignik Lake is the first of two lakes in the Chignik River system; it is longer and deeper than the second lake, Black Lake, which is wide and shallow. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

News

The Salmon State: A tale of two salmon

Chignik has two genetically distinct runs of sockey

JDHS’ Trinity Jackson (12), a senior, dribbles while defended by KHS’ Paige Boehlert (3), a senior, during the Region V 4A championship game. Ketchikan High School won the tournament, securing an automatic berth in the state tournament. Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé will find out Sunday if they will be heading to state, too. (Courtesy Photo / Jeff Lund)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: Reflections of a former coach

Basketball can teach you a lot about life. But the key word is can.

A hawk owl surveys the ground around its perch; note the white patches on the side of the head and the facial disc. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

News

On the Trails: Eagle-eyed birders spot a hawk owl

Owl’s well on the trails.

This photo shows a least and crested auklet on Kasatochi Volcano in 2012 (Gary S Drew / United States Geological Survey)

News

On the Trails: Birds’ sense of smell

Old myth doesn’t pass the sniff test.

teaser

News

Alaska Science Forum: Dave Covey made the world a calmer place

He left us last week — a quiet exit that was totally Dave.

"My most beloved childhood memories are of my grandmother—the taste of her cooking; the sight of her coming home from her job at the bakery down the street; the songs she loved—Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “Old Rugged Cross” was one of her favorites and is still one of mine," writes Jane Hale. (Courtesy Photo)

Neighbors

Coming Out: My grandmother Agnes

It pleases me to think that maybe I’m growing into her loveliness.

Lora Vess is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Department Chair of Social Sciences at the University of Alaska Southeast. (Courtesy Photo)

News

Sustainable Alaska: Recent events serve as reminders of nuclear energy risks

Nuclear power is not the panacea for climate change.

I really want a tent with a stove. But by not buying one, I can afford a caribou hunt in the Brooks Range. Luckily, my buddy who owns a tent with a stove is bringing his. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

News

I Went to the Woods: Wants vs. needs

I started to see the value of the middle ground.

tease

Neighbors

Gimme a Smile: Do I have the right stuff?

Despite the national trend toward decluttering, there are various legitimate reasons to keep stuff…

An olive-sided flycatcher perches atop a tree in Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Sara Germain, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

News

Alaska Science Forum: Bird havens on a trans-continental journey

Right about now, songbirds in Brazil are shifting on their perches…

Mary, Ryker and Lucas Goddard foraging on Japonski Island, Sitka. (Courtesy Photo / Donna Rae Photography)

News

Planet Alaska: A place for healing at Waypoint for Veterans

A point at which a course is changed…

Jane Hale

Neighbors

Coming Out: How to cross a desert and coming out as myself

Call me the breeze. Or call me Jane.

Glacial retreat will create thousands of miles of new salmon habitat by 2100 — which means, scientists say, that managers need to be thinking proactively about how to manage that land. Pictured is a king salmon on a Southeast Alaska shore. (Mary Catharine Martin / SalmonState)

News

The Salmon State: Glacier retreat means new habitat — and challenges — for wild salmon

Alaska is about to get thousands of miles of new salmon habitat….

Moving to the other side of town has provided new views for the author on morning walks. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

News

I Went to the Woods: Home is where the baleen is

It seems like a real, authentic Southeast home needs to be centered around a good piece of baleen.

Kéet and Oscar walk the bike path after it’s plowed. (Vivian Faith Prescott / For the Capital City Weekly)

News

Planet Alaska: For the love of community

We often don’t know how the things we do affects our community.

A bull caribou from the Fortymile herd as seen from a camera around the neck of a female caribou. Still image from a nine-second video the collar captured during a study of the herd using cameras that dropped to the ground in autumn. I(Courtesy Image /Libby Ehlers)

News

Alaska Science Forum: Secret lives of caribou caught on camera

Cams gave biologists who teamed up from several agencies a new look at the Fortymile herd.