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A scene from the PBS children’s series “Molly of Denali.” (WGBH Educational Foundation photo)

News

‘Molly of Denali’ and other PBS children’s programs on hold as Trump cancels funds

Emmy-winning Juneau writer of “Molly” says PBS told creators the series isn’t being renewed.

Noatak, just after midnight. (Ash Adams / The New York Times)

News

Congress’ fight over Trump’s agenda runs through Alaska

Clashes inclue repealing Biden-era clean energy tax credits that are a lifeline for some constituents.

An Arctic “fogbow” is seen from the deck of the Coast Guard cutter Healy during the 2016 Hidden Ocean mission to the High Arctic area known as the Chukchi Borderland. The Healy cruise was part of a project carried out over several years to map the extended continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean beyond the nation’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. That extended area includes the Chukchi Borderland. (Photo provided by Caitlin Bailey/Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration)

News

Trump administration plans for oil deep in Arctic Ocean, where US claim has yet to be recognized

President seeks to designate High Arctic offshore area beyond the 200-mile limit.

Zuill Bailey, artistic director for the Juneau Jazz and Classics festival, performs on cello during the Juneau Maritime Festival on Saturday. JJAC is among the organizations receiving a termination notice Friday of funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Local arts and culture programs in crosshairs of latest cuts by Trump administration

Perseverance Theatre, music programs, public library’s statewide remote services hit by fund cancellations.

People in Juneau gather in the rain at the Alaska State Capitol for a global May Day protest on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

‘Mayday, Mayday’: Protesters and Liz Cheney urge wake-up call for defending democracy

Unity and solidarity expressed in rainfall on International Workers’ Day.

Tribal elder lder Ilskyaalas Delores Churchill picks up black cod during a traditional foods distribution by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska in Hydaburg earlier this year. (CCTHITA photo)

News

Tlingit and Haida halts traditional foods distribution due to cancellation of federal funding

Providing of salmon, other foods to communities among multiple tribal cuts by Trump administration.

An Alaska Airlines plane passes above participants in the annual Turkey Trot run/walk next to Juneau International Airport on Thanksgiving Day of 2022. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Alaska Airlines issues warning amidst travel industry downturn due to Trump-fueled uncertainty

Company reports $166M loss during first quarter of year, won’t release an outlook for 2025.

Workers process pollock. (Photo provided by Thompson and Co. PR on behalf of the Alaska Pollock Fishery Alliance)

News

Murkowski and other US lawmakers seek guest worker visa exception for seafood industry

Legislation would exempt seafood companies from a cap on the number of H-2B visa workers.

Protesters rally against the Trump administration’s deportation polices in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Feb. 5, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

‘Just give us a chance’: One Juneau refugee family puts faith in God, another flees as departure orders arrive

Both families arrived legally; validity of demands by Trump administration to depart being challenged

A polar bear is spotted on a multiyear ice floe in the Beaufort Sea on Aug. 13, 2023. The Trump administration is planning to designate a new “High Arctic” region off Alaska for offshore oil and gas leasing. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Scott Bice/U.S. Coast Guard)

News

Trump administration plans offshore oil leasing in Alaska’s ‘High Arctic’

Multiyear program will include a reconfigured Arctic area where future lease sales will be held.

Flags fly outside the Juneau Arts and Culture Center on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, shortly before the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council’s 50-year anniversary celebration the same week. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Juneau Arts and Humanities Council bans DEI on ‘public facing documents’ due to funding threat

Executive director: No events cancelled, “racial equity” and other deleted website content being rewritten.

Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson, president of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, delivers his State of the Tribe speech to delegates during the opening of the 89th annual Tribal Assembly on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. This year’s three-day tribal assembly is scheduled to start Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Tlingit and Haida’s 90th tribal assembly will feature constitutional convention amidst ‘crazy times’

Impacts of federal and state turmoil on tribal issues likely to loom large at three-day gathering.

Welcome messages in multiple languages are painted on windows at the University of Alaska Anchorage at the start of the semester in January. (University of Alaska Anchorage photo)

News

Juneau refugee family gets ‘leave immediately’ notice; four people affiliated with UAA have visas revoked

Actions part of nationwide sweep as Trump ignores legal orders against detentions, deportations.

The planned restriction on phone services were expected to route more people to Social Security field offices as their staff levels were being cut. (Adriana Zehbrauskas / For The New York Times)

News

Social Security rolls back restrictions on filing for benefits by phone

Widely criticized plan would have limited Alaskans to filing online or in one of three major cities.

Venezuelan migrants waiting to cross into the United States after receiving an asylum hearing through the CBP One app in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. (Alejandro Cegarra / For The New York Times)

News

White House moves to cancel migrants’ legally-obtained Social Security numbers to force self-deportation

Trump administration seeks to cut off access to credit cards, bank accounts, employment.

Students swing on a playground at Meadow Lakes Head Start in Wasilla, Alaska. It closed in 2024 due to funding and staffing challenges. (Image by Lela Seiler, courtesy of CCS Early Learning)

News

Alaska Head Start programs in limbo after regional office closed by U.S. Health Secretary Kennedy

Tribal programs such as Tlingit and Haida’s not affected by closures.

Debris from a home that partially fell into the Mendenhall River due to a record glacial outburst flood remains on the riverbank on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Trump executive order seeks to block states and municipalities from enforcing their climate policies

Order could affect everything from recently enacted state carbon laws to Juneau’s renewable energy goals.

President Donald Trump announced yet another abrupt change in economic policy on Wednesday. (Eric Lee / The New York Times)

News

Trump backs down by reducing many reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, but hikes China’s to 125%

Universal 10% levy remains for other countries; change comes after tailspin in global markets.

The offices of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are seen Monday, June 6, 2022 in Juneau. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska Permanent Fund suffers multibillion-dollar decline amid Trump tariff-driven market crash

The Alaska Permanent Fund, the No. 1 source of general-purpose revenue for state services and the Permanent Fund…

The head of the National Archives, which has been described as “the custodian of America’s collective memory,” was fired by President Trump in February. (Jared Soares / For The New York Times)

News

The White House frames the past by erasing parts of it

Public record being selectively deleted, letting president declare his version of history, archivists say.