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Emergency worker Melanie Chavez takes a sample from a man at Juneau International Airport in October. Airport-based testing is expected to transition to a vendor being secured by the state in late January. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

News

Local COVID-19 numbers stable

Juneau’s COVID-19 case level remains stable heading into the Christmas and New Year holidays.

This October photo shows the MV Kennicott at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal. The ferry's schedule has been changed due to predicted storms. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

News

Storm delays Kennicott sailing

A winter storm will alter the schedule for the next two weeks.

Bill Conrow, Juneau resident and long-time, free-lance stage director and light designer stands in front of a holiday light display near Juneau-Douglas City Museum. (Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire)

News

Holiday lights bring cheer to winter solstice and city museum

By Dana Zigmund

Curtis Jackson, second from right, poses on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, with SVT Heath & Wellness Center health care workers in Jakolof Bay, Alaska, after making a trip across Kachemak Bay from Homer to deliver the medical team and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. From left to right are nurse Candice Kreger, family nurse practitioner Kourtney Holder, Jackson, and family nurse practitioner Julie Drude. The health care workers then went by road to Seldovia. (Photo by Janel Harris courtesy of Mako's Water Taxi)

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‘Capt. Balto’ drives boat in rough seas to deliver vaccine, medical workers

In the spirit of the 1925 Nome Serum Run, Capt. Curtis Jackson helps deliver medical team, vaccine to…

A beached vessel is anchored to the shoreline in Barlow Cove, about 15 miles northeast of Juneau, Alaska, Dec. 17, 2020. The crew of Coast Guard cutter Bailey Barco rescued three hunters who ended up stranded on shore after the vessel took on water. (Courtesy Photo / U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bailey Barco)

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Coast Guard rescues 3 from foundered vessel at Barlow Cove

No injuries were reported.

This photo shows the Juneau Pioneer Home on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

News

Pioneer Homes begin vaccinating residents and staff

Juneau expected to vaccinate last week of December.

Tease

News

Kids can send Santa an email

Emails should include the writer’s name, age and city of residence.

Courtesy photo / City and Borough of Juneau Capital Transit received its first electric bus, seen here, on Wednesday. The bus will enter active service in February.

News

Leading the charge: City welcomes fleet’s 1st electric bus

Bus is expected to be rider-ready in February.

Courtesy photo / Katie Bausler Justin Richardson, a pharmacy technician with Bartlett Regional Hospital, prepares the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday.

News

Feds, state monitor for adverse reactions as vaccinations ramp up

Juneau played reluctant host to the country’s first adverse reaction on Tuesday.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

News

COVID at a glance for Wednesday, Dec. 16

The most recent state and local numbers.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

News

COVID at a glance for Tuesday, Dec. 22

The most recent state and local numbers.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

News

COVID at a glance for Tuesday, Dec. 22

The most recent state and local numbers.

Juneauites were out and about in the snow on 2nd Street in Douglas Wednesday, but the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for another storm Thursday morning which could bring up to two feet of snow in two days. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

National Weather Service warns 2 feet of snow possible by weekend

Check your boats.

Mike Wiley, left, and daughter Megan Bishop serve a customer at their store, Ben Franklin Store, in downtown Juneau on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. The city extended its mask mandate at a meeting Monday, but Wiley and Bishop said they'd ask customers to wear a mask regardless of the mandate. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau extends mask mandate

Vaccines have arrived, but vigilance remains important, city officials said.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

News

COVID at a glance for Tuesday, Dec. 14

The most recent state and local numbers.

Bartlett Regional Hospital pharmacy personnel Justin Richardson, Andrea Stats, Krischelle Batac and Ursula Iha take delivery of the first shipment of the coronavirus vaccine on Dec. 15, 2020. BRH immediately began vaccinating its personnel upon receipt of the vaccine. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

News

COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Juneau

Vaccination of key healthcare staff began immediately.

The property at 9290 Hurlock Avenue near the intersection of Egan Drive and Mendenhall Loop Road was vacant Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, but a group of nonprofit organizations are partnering to try and turn the site into a youth homeless center. The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly passed two ordinances Monday which would allow the project to move forward. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Youth shelter awaits funding

Worthy project but funds are tight.

Capital City Fire/Rescue will be escorting their Clauses around Juneau this year, with some slight modifications to the annual tradition. (Courtesy photo / City and Borough of Juneau)

News

Santa Claus is coming to town

Capital City Fire/Rescue, Mr. and Mrs. Claus ready for parade

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, seen here in this April 7, photo, will hold a news conference Tuesday evening. (Courtesy photo / Office of Gov. Mike Dunleavy)

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Watch: Gov. Dunleavy discuss vaccine, Southeast disaster

Watch the video live

The first doses of the vaccine for the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Anchorage on Dec. 13, 2020, and are due to begin being injected within days. (Courtesy photo / Alaska Department of Health and Social Services)

News

Alaska receives first coronavirus vaccine shipments

The first vaccinations are expected to happen this week.