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A U.S. Forest Service office sign in Juneau on Feb. 14, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

Trump’s federal layoffs hit wide range of Alaska agencies on Friday, with fears of many more to come

Murkowski: “Trying to get answers about the impact…but the response so far has been evasive and inadequate.”

A building directory in Juneau’s federal building lists departments, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Forest Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

Mass firings ordered by Trump administration, including nearly 10% of U.S. Forest Service

HUD plans 50% staff cut, scrutiny of “every dollar spent in serving tribal, rural and urban communities.”

Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich and his supporters wave campaign signs at the corner of the Seward Highway and Northern Lights Boulevard on Nov. 4, 2024, the day before Election Day. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

U.S. House passes two bills from Alaska Rep. Nick Begich

One month into his term, Alaska’s lone representative says he’s generally satisfied with how things have gone so…

State Sen. Löki Tobin (right), D-Anchorage, discusses possible impacts of a freeze on federal grants and loans during a press conference with other members of the Senate majority including Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, and Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, at the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Judge blocks Trump’s freeze on federal grants and loans until Monday

Alaska lawmaker says disruption “could be catastrophic” for education, homeless, other programs.

Katie Kachel (left), a federal lobbyist for the City and Borough of Juneau, talks with Juneau Assembly Member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs and Mayor Beth Weldon following a joint meeting of the Assembly and Juneau’s legislative delegation on Thursday at the Assembly Chambers. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Federal flood help for Juneau not likely to be affected by Trump, but officials avoiding climate references

Local impacts may include “green” issues such as electric vehicles, Assembly members told by lobbyist.

The U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Funding for the federal government will lapse at 8:01 p.m. Alaska time on Friday if no deal is reached. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

News

A federal government shutdown may begin tonight. Here’s what may happen.

TSA will still screen holiday travelers, military will work without paychecks; food stamps may lapse.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (left) talks with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and local leaders during an Aug. 7 visit to a Mendenhall Valley neighborhood hit by record flooding. (Photo provided by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office)

News

Dunleavy to Trump: Give us Mendenhall Lake; nix feds’ control of statewide land, wildlife, tribal issues

Governor asks president-elect for Alaska-specific executive order on dozens of policy actions.

An aerial view of people standing near destroyed and damaged buildings in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene flooding on Oct. 8, 2024 in Bat Cave, North Carolina. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

News

Members of U.S. Senate back disaster aid request amid increasing storm severity

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s request for nearly $100 billion in natural disaster response and recovery funding is…

Salmon dry on a rack in Quinhagak, a Yup’ik village in Western Alaska, in July 2023. Salmon is a staple of the traditional Indigenous diet in Alaska and one of the main foods harvested through subsistence practices. A new rule made final by the Department of the Interior is aimed at boosting tribal participation in subsistence management. (Alice Bailey/University of Alaska Fairbanks)

News

New rule adds three Alaska tribal representatives to federal board managing subsistence

Federal government also announces three agreements with tribal organizations on lands, water management.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Mayor Beth Weldon chat with Janet Coffin outside her home on Killewich Drive on Wednesday afternoon. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

Following state disaster declaration, Gov. Dunleavy and Sen. Murkowski survey Juneau’s flooded homes

“What do we do with the community a year from now?”

The U.S. Supreme Court, pictured, issued a decision on a case dealing with a legal precedent that gave federal agencies broad discretion to use their judgment to resolve any ambiguity Congress left in a federal statute. (Jane Norman/States Newsroom)

News

U.S. Supreme Court flips precedent that empowered federal agencies

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a precedent Friday that had for decades limited judicial power to strike…

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)

News

Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, addresses a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Sullivan touts new ocean cleanup headquarters in Juneau, attacks Biden in annual speech to legislators

Senator calls Trump “the best president ever” for Alaska, has harsh words for Iran and migrants

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, delivers her annual address to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday as Senate President Gary Stevens and House Speaker Cathy Tilton watch. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Murkowski expresses hope for Alaska overcoming difficulties in annual speech to state lawmakers

Senator also denounces Biden, Trump and an “unproductive Congress” during time of major challenges.

Traffic at the Fred Meyer intersection, formally known as Egan and Yandukin drives, in November 2019. Proposed safety upgrades at the intersection may be impacted by the federal government’s rejection of the State Transportation Improvement Program for 2024-27. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Statewide transportation projects at risk as federal government rejects 2024-27 improvement plan

Cascade Point terminal, numerous ferry upgrades among local projects potentially impacted.

The statue of William Henry Seward in front of the Alaska State Capitol is seen covered in snow on Monday, Jan. 21. Juneau received almost six feet of snow in January. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

The number of legal conflicts between Alaska and the federal government is rising sharply

The number of legal conflicts between the state of Alaska and America’s federal government has risen significantly over…

The village of Kake on Kupreanof Island in Southeast Alaska. (Flickr/Umnak under Creative Commons license)

News

Alaska lost a challenge to a COVID-era emergency moose hunt. Now it’s appealing for a second time.

It’s one of multiple cases where the Dunleavy administration is clashing with the federal government.

Henry Fleener, hatchery manager at Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute Mariculture Wet Lab, talks about a NOAA Fisheries project that involves building a small hatchery to house, condition and spawn oyster broodstock in order to find ways to improve existing processes. (Meredith Jordan/ Juneau Empire)

News

Pushing to expand mariculture in Alaska (Part 2): The pearl in mariculture, for now, are the oysters

Shellfish is still small business, but on the rise as Alaska works to diversity food sources.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy may be in contention for the position of Secretary of Energy. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

News

Dunleavy not going energy-where

Rumors of Dunleavy being tapped for Energy Secretary are greatly exaggerated.

Opinion: Sen. Murkowski continues her role as outdoor recreation’s fiercest advocate

Letters to the Editor

Opinion: Sen. Murkowski continues her role as outdoor recreation’s fiercest advocate

Murkowski deserve credit for uniting lawmakers on this bipartisan issue.