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Brent Merten is the pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Juneau. (Courtesy photo)

Neighbors

Living and Growing: Imagine the comfort of Jesus’ promise of heaven

Earlier this month, former president Jimmy Carter died at the age of 100. While factors like double-digit inflation,…

Juneau Assembly members confer with city administrative leaders during a break in an Assembly meeting Monday, Nov 18, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Community affordability takes a back seat to Assembly spending

Less than four months ago, Juneau voters approved a $10 million bond for wastewater facility upgrades and a…

Naturalists try to identify a small plant — answering the “Who” question, with others to follow. (Photo by Mary Anne Slemmons)

Sports

On the Trails: Naturalists ask many questions

Curious naturalists can ask different kinds of questions about what we see. The most basic kinds consist of…

Sputnik 1 orbits Earth in this artist’s rendition by Gregory Todd. (Creative Commons)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: The first satellite’s Alaska connection

The first satellite’s Alaska connection

Attendees are seated during former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, on Jan. 9, 2025. Pictures shared on social media by the vice president and by the Carter Center prominently showed other past presidents in attendance. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times)

Opinion

Opinion: Karen Pence’s silent act of conscience

Last week at Jimmy Carter’s funeral, President-elect Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama were seated next to…

(Photo by Gina Del Rosario)

Neighbors

Living and Growing: Free will

Genesis 1: 26 -28 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and…

Destination angling often creates an unhealthy feeling of incompleteness and desperation. Fishing goals I knew what it was going to be, but I clicked anyway. “What are your fishing goals for 2025” was an advertisement for a lodge in an area I have longed to fish but I’m priced out, have priced myself out or however you write “it’s expensive and probably won’t happen.” (Photo by Jeff Lund)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: Angling for goals to appreciate in 2025

This is somewhat devastating because saying you might not do something at 23-years old is just youth speaking.…

Women from Juneau Women Running group pose on a Jan. 1 run to mark the start of January Streak month. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Pure Sole: A mile a day

Sigh. January.

The Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc hatchery. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Fisheries Proposal 156 jeopardizes Juneau sport fishing and salmon

The Board of Fisheries will meet in Ketchikan Jan. 28–Feb. 9 to consider Southeast proposals, including Proposal 156…

A female acorn woodpecker. (Charles J. Sharp / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sports

On the Trails: Making hay and storing food

Many animals store food in preparation for winter or just to be eaten later. Bears and wolves are…

Boaters paddle Kenai Fjords National Park in summer 2024. The park was created in 1980 as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Jimmy Carter, the man who preserved Alaska

Right about now, within a shrub in southern Texas, a ruby-crowned kinglet twitches to face northward.

Becky Corson is a member of Shepherd Of The Valley Lutheran Church. (Photo provided by Becky Corson)

Neighbors

Living and Growing: ‘Secondhand’ can be a wonderful way to go

These clothing sales are ruining my life.

Congress holds a joint session to certify the election results of 2024 on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 6, 2025. President-elect Donald J. Trump has waffled on his preferences for how his party tackles his agenda, adding to the uncertainty for Republicans. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

Opinion

Opinion: The moral imperative of our time

Last week, the Washington Post, censored a political cartoon by Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes. It depicted Jeff…

A view from the mountainside at Eaglecrest Ski Area. (Eaglecrest Ski Area photo)

Opinion

Opinion: New report demonstrates how Eaglecrest Ski Area can be self-supporting

A recently released report by the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) provides insight into efforts to increase…

Licorice ferns often grow on tree trunks and branches. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

Sports

On the Trails: Licorice ferns

The understory of our forests is graced with lots of ferns in a variety of shapes and sizes.…

The author during his morning constitutional on Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo provided by Klas Stolpe)

Sports

Pure Sole: Resolution or resolute

Ahem, a report from my daily morning constitutional, Jan. 1, 2025.

Rep.-elect Nick Begich III of Alaska is scheduled to be sworn in Monday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Lip service to the Constitution

On Monday, Nick Begich III will be sworn in as Alaska’s congressman at large. But the oath he…

A sculpture of Constantine the Great by Philip Jackson in York. (Public domain photo republished under a Creative Commons license)

Neighbors

Living and Growing: Christianity or Churchianity?

Several cruise ship passengers arriving in Juneau this September were greeted on the dock with a sign that…

The author’s wife grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts where she had more classmates go to Harvard than the author had classmates total. But that doesn’t mean her upbringing was better. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: Different, not better or worse

A seven-foot minuteman stands on a rock base where Massachusetts Avenue splits at the end of Lexington’s main…

The headwaters of the Ambler River in the Noatak National Preserve of Alaska, near where a proposed access road would end, are seen in an undated photo. (Ken Hill/National Park Service)

Opinion

My Turn: Alaska’s responsible resource development is under threat

By Tom Conner