Site Logo
Juneau Assembly members cast a 6-3 informal vote on Nov. 6 in favor of the city’s tourism director exploring a strategy for 2026 and beyond that results in fewer annual cruise visitors. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Assembly vote to reduce cruise ships risks sending taxes even higher

During a Nov. 6 Committee of the Whole meeting, Assembly members voted informally on whether the city should…

A by-mail ballot asks voters in 2020 to approve a measure calling for rank choice voting, which was approved. A petition is now circulating calling for another ballot measure to repeal rank choice. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Failed election shows why Alaska should repeal ranked-choice voting

Most Americans just want elections where it’s easy to vote, hard to cheat and easy to trust the…

A flying squirrel launches a glide, with patagium spread wide. (Photo by Richard A. Wood)

Sports

On the Trails: Gliding in air

An eagle soars overhead, wings spread, making only minute steering adjustments of wing and tail feathers. It’s gliding…

Visitors take a selfie on the downtown cruise ship docks in July. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Know who you’re sitting with at the table

As a professional who has sat at many a negotiating table, I am all for sitting down to…

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivers remarks at the Rolling Back Regulations to Help All Americans event Thursday, July 16, 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House. (Official White House Photo | Joyce N. Boghosian)

Opinion

Opinion: A constitutional defense of the administrative state

In the summer of 2020, then-Vice President Mike Pence told an audience gathered on the White House lawn…

Page Bridges of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Juneau. (Photo courtesy of Page Bridges)

Neighbors

Living and Growing: Heartbreak Hill

Trying to write about beauty and our need for it is hard. Here is a poet’s effort to…

Former Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch in 2018. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Assembly needs to retreat

We might not be privy to what the Assembly’s agenda is, but we need to begin with the…

The Yukon River, seen here as a wide white band, is freezing later in fall and breaking up earlier in spring than it was a few decades ago. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Long-term views of a changed Alaska

As an instructor for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, I have stood before a group of Alaskans every Tuesday…

An aging outhouse overlooks Tenakee Inlet. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion

My Turn: Murkowski’s bill will dramatically change map of public land in Southeast Alaska

There has been very little reporting on federal legislation that would greatly impact Southeast Alaska. Sponsored by Sen.…

A female robin carries a wad of earthworms to her chicks. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

Sports

On the Trails: November gloom and cheers

I like to live where there are seasonal changes in weather and natural history activity, but sometimes those…

(Photo courtesy of the City and Borough of Juneau)

Opinion

Opinion: Choosing a seat at the table

To advocates for limiting cruise ship tourism and combatting climate change, partnering with the titans of industry seems…

(Associated Press file photo)

Neighbors

Gimme a Smile: To every chocolate there is a season

Chocolate makes the world go ‘round. From day to day, season to season, chocolate is a constant. Sometimes…

A public notice about one of several Thanksgiving proclamations President Abraham Lincoln issued during the Civil War. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum)

Neighbors

Living and Growing: Give thanks with a grateful heart

Happy Thanksgiving! Once again we celebrate what is a distinctively American holiday, instituted by our government almost from…

The author guides his skiff in the direction of muskegs free from digital connectivity, but there is no escaping thoughts of contemporary life. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: Freedom of gratitude

I have fumbled for years attempting to put into words what the outdoor world means to me and…

A photo of Juneau featured on the front cover of this year’s annual “Economic Indicators and Outlook” by the Juneau Economic Development Council. (Juneau Economic Development Council)

Opinion

Opinion: Troubling trends deserve Assembly attention

The economic indicators report published last month by the Juneau Economic Development Council (JEDC) is a wake-up call…

Kristen Rozell skate skis in Valdez in January 2023. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Surfing in winter on cross-country skis

With mild temperatures and ample snow, much of Alaska is now primed for cross-country skiing. It’s a sport…

A female bear with her cubs: bears have direct-development life cycles, looking like bears from the time they are born. (Photo by Jos Bakker)

Neighbors

On the Trails: Animal life cycles

There are two basic life-cycle patterns among animals. Many animals have complex life cycles with two or more…

Passengers return to the Norwegian Sun on Oct. 25, the final day of this year’s cruise ship season in Juneau. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion

My Turn: “Partnering” with cruise ship industry isn’t in Juneau’s interests

Regarding Jim Powell’s lecture at the Evening at Egan event on Friday, Nov, 10, on partnering with the…

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., questions Navy Adm. Lisa Franchetti during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Sept. 14 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Opinion

Opinion: Music to the ears of America’s adversaries

Two weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan made a commendable effort to end Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) one-man…

Fog drifts through the trees in the Tongass National Forest on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Opinion

My Turn: A response to ‘There are no Landless Natives in Southeast Alaska’

Where to begin?