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Zack Pursell, assistant coach for the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé track team, puts James Connally’s name on the school record board for breaking a long-standing record for the 100 meter dash on May 11, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS junior breaks 40-year-old school track record

The 100 meter dash record has stood since Reagan was president.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy made changes to a proposed constitutional amendment in a news conference at the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday, May 12, 2021, he hopes will set the state on a better fiscal path. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Dunleavy makes changes to Permanent Fund proposal

Gov says proposal is first step to better fiscal future

As COVID restrictions ease, assembly members are making plans to move municipal meetings back to the Assembly Chambers in city hall while maintaining the broad public access that Zoom meetings provide. During Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, pictured here, assembly members discussed the transition in advance of the May 24 regular assembly meeting, which will be the first meeting to take place in person in more than a year. (Screenshot)

News

Lights, camera, government: Assembly prepares for hybrid meetings

In-person meetings poised to resume later this month.

A sign downtown encourages residents to wear a face covering while in public spaces. The city announced on Tuesday it will be relaxing masking mitigation measures in spaces where people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

News

City lowers risk level, restrictions ease

Changes for masks and distancing requirements.

Coast Guardsmen and partner organizations practice oil spill cleanup in the Gastineau Channel near Sandy Beach on May 11. 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

News

A well-oiled routine: Oil spill responders train in Gastineau Channel

Residents of the Savikko Park area might have been perplexed to see boats with oil booms swanning about…

Fashion enthusiasts and retail boutique buyers and owners from around the state and the Pacific Northwest descended on Juneau to preview fall collections from local and national designers during the first-ever Alaska Fashion Week. Here, Qaulluq of Kotzebue, Inuraaq of Nome, Carley Thayer and Suzanne Nierra, both of Juneau, watch Saturday's runway show from inside the Harris Building. The windows were removed so spectators could watch models as they came down Shattuck Way, which served as the runway for the event. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau serves as Alaska’s Fashion Capital

First-ever Alaska Fashion Week in the books

This photo shows a vial of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 in Seattle. U.S. regulators on Monday, May 10, 2021, expanded use of Pfizer’s shot to those as young as 12, sparking a race to protect middle and high school students before they head back to class in the fall. (AP Photo / Ted S. Warren)

News

Pfizer COVID-19 shot expanded to US children as young as 12

City, district partner for clinics at high schools

Howard Sherman, executive vice president, onboard revenue and destination development for Norwegian Cruise Lines, sat down with the Empire this week to conduct a wide-ranging interview. He said that Alaska remains an in-demand destination for cruise ship travelers but that he suspects the overall passenger load is close to the cap. (Ben Hohenstatt/Juneau Empire)

News

Covering the water: Execs talk restarting cruises, industry future and ballot initiatives

There’s a lot to talk about.

Workers with City and Borough of Juneau Parks and Recreation clear the basin at Cope Park of excess sediment and other material washed down the waterway on Sept. 16, 2020. This work is an example of one of the many varied jobs done by public servants and recognized during Public Service Recognition Week, which ends May 8. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)

News

CBJ employees grow, pivot during an unprecedented year

City manager looks back during Public Service Recognition Week

Heath Coro competes in the hand mucking contest as judge Bill Wilcox watches during the Mining & Logging Competition at the 29th Annual Gold Rush Days at Savikko Park on Saturday, June 22, 2019. The event has been canceled for 2021. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

News

Gold Rush Days canceled for 2021

Announcement made on May 7.

A man charged with assault at Fred Meyer on Jun. 1, 2020 was acquitted after a trial last week at the Dimond Courthouse, shown here on Oct. 20, 2019. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

News

Man charged with assault for Fred Meyer altercation acquitted

The defendant claimed it was self-defense.

Sandi Eldridge, pharmacist for the Department of Veterans Affairs, draws a dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine on March 13, 2021. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)

News

Vax to the future: City, state look at next steps for vaccines

The state is ready if boosters for the vaccine are necessary.

Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick, a 154-foot Sentinel–class vessel, towed the derelict tugboat Lumberman, to a position 54 miles west of Cross Sound, Alaska, on May 2, 2021. The decision to dispose of the Lumberman at sea, which had been abandoned in the Gastineau channel in 2016, was made after it was determined to be derelict and posed a significant public safety risk. (Courtesy photo / U.S. Coast Guard)

News

Lumberman finally towed out and scuttled

We won’t be seeing it again.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé and Thunder Mountain High School track teams held a meet at TMHS on April 30, 2021 as the track season gets going. (Courtesy photo / Dwayne Duskin)

Sports

Track teams up and running for spring season

Athletes are excited to get competing, coaches say.

Fr. Gordon Blue takes part in the 31st annual Blessing of the Fleet and Reading of Names at the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial in Juneau on May 1, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau holds annual ceremony blessing and recognizing fishermen

It was the 31st iteration of the ceremony.

Gloria Bixby, a student-athlete at Juneau Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé, slides safely into second base and avoids the tag from Thunder Mountain’s Jenna Dobson during the first inning of a drizzly Friday night game. With about three weeks left in the school year, the Juneau School District announced new COVID-19 protocols that let student-athletes compete without masks. The changes begin this week and were shared with families in an email Monday evening. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau schools update COVID policies

Mask and travel guidelines changed in light of evolving factors.

Rev. Simeon Johnson, rector of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in downtown Juneau, celebrates orthodox Easter, or Pascha, with his congregation on Sunday, May 2, 2021. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

News

After a missed year, historic church celebrates

Parishioners gather in Juneau, Livestream to villages

Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images Talisa Rhea, shown here on October 6, 2020 after the Seattle Storm won the WNBA championships, has been promoted to general manager of the team.

Sports

From rainy Juneau to the Seattle Storm: JDHS grad promoted to GM of WNBA team

One of Juneau’s brightest stars keeps climbing,

Nora Baldwin, 8, a member of Girl Scout Troop 4009 carries a dirty shirt found on the side of Mendenhall Loop Road in between gloved fingers toward a litter bag on Saturday, May 1, 2021. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau has its pick of the litter

Many hands make litter work.

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake, indicated by the large red dot on the Alaska Earthquake Center’s quake map, occurred near the surface, about 60 miles east of Elfin Cove, early in the morning of May 1, 2021. (Screenshot / AEC)

News

Magnitude 4.7 earthquake reported west of Elfin Cove

Rumbles felt in Juneau.