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The entrance to the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area in the Tongass National Forest was covered in snow on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, a day after federal authorities announced the next step in restoring the 2001 Roadless Rule on the forest. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Feds put freeze on Roadless Rule rollback

On the Roadless Rule again.

The last cruise ship of the year, the Norwegian Encore, sails out of Juneau on Wednesday, Oct., 20, 2021, ending a cruise ship season that almost didn't happen. According to the Juneau's Docks and Harbor's department, the Encore brought more than 2,000 passengers Wednesday, far below an average year. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Final cruise ship of 2021 leaves Juneau

A limited season winds down.

pexels

News

Alaska’s minimum wage to remain unchanged in 2022

$1 more than the federal wage.

A plane lands at Juneau International Airport on May 25, 2021, as the number of travelers in the state started to rise after the lockdowns of 2020. Travel numbers are not back up to their pre-pandemic levels, but they are increasing according to local travel authorities. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

News

After steep decline, transportation numbers are slowly taking off again

Passengers are coming back by boat, plane and bus, but not yet at pre-pandemic numbers.

Chum salmon, like the kind seen here as a man examines the fish ladder at the Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc. hatchery on Channel Drive on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, have had lower returns this year according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists, even as fisheries in Bristol Bay are breaking records. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Salmon returns set records in Bristol Bay while Southeast runs struggle

Prices are up all around.

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File 
Coeur Alaska will likely be able to expand their facilities at the Kensington Gold Mine including the Tailing Treatment Facility, seen here in this October 2019 photo, after the U.S. Forest Service announced it intends to approve the company’s proposal to extend the mine’s life by 10 years. Operations were expected to end in 2023 under a plan approved in 2005.

News

Forest Service set to approve Kensington expansion

Objections period is open.

Survey shows Southeast business owners at odds with Dunleavy budget

News

Survey shows Southeast business owners at odds with Dunleavy budget

The survey spans the region.

Myrna Gardner, tribal partnership specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau, said Alaska’s low census response rate is costing the state millions every year during a presentation at Southeast Housing Summit, Thursday, March 14, 2019. *Ben Hohenstatt | Juneau Empire)

News

Low census response loses Alaska billions of dollars

Money left on the table.

Opinion: Job losses are personal. I should know.

Opinion

Opinion: Job losses are personal. I should know.

I’m preparing to tell you something very personal and intensely painful.

Opinion: Taxes are the only way to boost Alaska’s economy

Opinion

Opinion: Taxes are the only way to boost Alaska’s economy

The state needs a new revenue stream.

Opinion: Pulp fiction won’t grow the economy

Opinion

Opinion: Pulp fiction won’t grow the economy

It’s an elaborate cover on top of a cheap fantasy.

Opinion: Build Alaska’s economy on the strengths of its university system

Opinion

Opinion: Build Alaska’s economy on the strengths of its university system

A strong state requires a strong university.

Opinion: Investment is the only way to achieve growth and stability

Opinion

Opinion: Investment is the only way to achieve growth and stability

Cutting projects and jobs has never built a society.

Alaska Air Group plans to add 3,000 jobs this year

News

Alaska Air Group plans to add 3,000 jobs this year

Most of the openings will not require previous airline experience.

Chuck Wimberly, President & CEO of Goldbelt Inc., speaks to the Juneau Chamber of Commerce during its weekly luncheon at the Moose Lodge on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Goldbelt officials “fairly confident” about $5.4 billion federal contract

The company would do work for the U.S. Army.

Meilani Schijvens, Director of Rain Coast Data, speaks to the Juneau Chamber of Commerce about Juneau ecomony at the Moose Lodge on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

State jobs, population projected to keep falling in Juneau

A silver lining was that jobs and earnings increased in Southeast.

Maria Covarrubian, right, Maddie Simbirdi, center, and Kourtney Howard wait to direct cruise ship passengers to their excursions downtown on Tuesday, August 14, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Young adults become largest group in town

Juneau’s overall population is still getting older, but young adults are now the largest group in town.