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Southeast Alaska Native Veterans carry flags as they walk to the stage at the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Veterans Day Friday. A ceremony and luncheon were hosted in commemoration and honor of those who served and continue to serve in the U.S. military. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

‘It’s good that we can all come together’: Veterans Day observances held in Juneau

Three events took place in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Southeast Alaska Native Veterans carry flags as they walk to the stage at the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Veterans Day Friday. A ceremony and luncheon were hosted in commemoration and honor of those who served and continue to serve in the U.S. military. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Ethel Aanwoogeex’ Lund, an Alaska Native leader and healthcare pioneer, died Friday morning. She was 91. (Courtesy / Healing Hand Foundation)

Tribal health care trailblazer Ethel Aanwoogeex’ Lund dies at 91

She was “a champion for health care.”

Ethel Aanwoogeex’ Lund, an Alaska Native leader and healthcare pioneer, died Friday morning. She was 91. (Courtesy / Healing Hand Foundation)
Ron Carver, curator of "Waging Peace In Vietnam: The Story of U.S. Soldiers and Veterans Who Opposed the War," explains during a preview of the exhibit Thursday how underground media influenced soldiers during the Vietnam War. The exhibit at the University Of Alaska Southeast library debuts Friday and will remain until Dec. 15, with a series of events featuring veterans and others affected by U.S. war involvement, (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Vets protesting past wars are a lesson for today’s, exhibit leader says

Displays, discussions, other events highlighting soldiers opposing Vietnam War debuts Friday at UAS

Ron Carver, curator of "Waging Peace In Vietnam: The Story of U.S. Soldiers and Veterans Who Opposed the War," explains during a preview of the exhibit Thursday how underground media influenced soldiers during the Vietnam War. The exhibit at the University Of Alaska Southeast library debuts Friday and will remain until Dec. 15, with a series of events featuring veterans and others affected by U.S. war involvement, (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Maxine Petersen, 8, stands with her parents Carl Petersen and Samantha Jenkins to accept the Alaska 529 annual $25K Giveaway at Kax̱dig̱oowu Héen Elementary on Thursday. Maxine is the first recipient to receive the scholarship within Southeast. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

Juneau third grader receives $25,000 scholarship

She’s the first Southeast Alaska recipient of the Alaska 529 scholarship

Maxine Petersen, 8, stands with her parents Carl Petersen and Samantha Jenkins to accept the Alaska 529 annual $25K Giveaway at Kax̱dig̱oowu Héen Elementary on Thursday. Maxine is the first recipient to receive the scholarship within Southeast. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Charlie Blattner, a Juneau-based Dungeness crab fisherman, holds two live Dungeness crabs he caught in the past few days around the Juneau area. Blattner said fall Dungeness crab harvest for his boat has been “hit or miss.” (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Dungeness crab summer harvest drops $10M from previous season

Some Southeast fishermen skipping fall season entirely, other’s say season has been “hit or miss”

Charlie Blattner, a Juneau-based Dungeness crab fisherman, holds two live Dungeness crabs he caught in the past few days around the Juneau area. Blattner said fall Dungeness crab harvest for his boat has been “hit or miss.” (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Tuesday night at the Juneau School District school board meeting Superintendent Bridgette Weiss presented her formal letter of retirement from her position, prompting the members to give the OK to start the process of finding someone to fill the position come July 1, 2023. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

Weiss is resigning as Juneau School District superintendent — what’s next?

District begins the process of filling the position by July.

Tuesday night at the Juneau School District school board meeting Superintendent Bridgette Weiss presented her formal letter of retirement from her position, prompting the members to give the OK to start the process of finding someone to fill the position come July 1, 2023. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
Juneau Skating Club Forget-Me-Not team featured in last year’s spring event. The team is traveling to Irvine, California to compete in the Glacier Falls Classic on Saturday, Nov. 12. (Courtesy Photo / Kim Hort)

Forget-Me-Not skaters return to California

Juneau Skating Club team competes in Glacier Fall Classic.

Juneau Skating Club Forget-Me-Not team featured in last year’s spring event. The team is traveling to Irvine, California to compete in the Glacier Falls Classic on Saturday, Nov. 12. (Courtesy Photo / Kim Hort)
Courtesy / Huna Totem Corp. This rendering depicts a proposed community park that is included in Huna Totem Corp.’s plans to develop a new pier and cruise terminal for the downtown waterfront.

Big change could be on deck for Juneau’s waterfront

Huna Totems plan for developing the land is still on track

Courtesy / Huna Totem Corp. This rendering depicts a proposed community park that is included in Huna Totem Corp.’s plans to develop a new pier and cruise terminal for the downtown waterfront.
KinderReady Preschool students from Harborview Elementary frolic in a pile of dried leaves at Evergreen Cemetery on Tuesday. The leaf jump is an annual event organized by Linda Torgerson and has been happening in Juneau for around 25 years. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Piles of fun: Juneau students partake in annual leaf jump

Cannonball!

KinderReady Preschool students from Harborview Elementary frolic in a pile of dried leaves at Evergreen Cemetery on Tuesday. The leaf jump is an annual event organized by Linda Torgerson and has been happening in Juneau for around 25 years. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
CCFR firefighters working to extinguish a fire at a mobile home in Sprucewood Park on Monday morning. One man was reported to have escaped the fire with minor injuries and was taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital. (Courtesy Photo / CCFR)

Person escapes trailer fire with minor injuries

Second fire at Sprucewood Park in a week.

CCFR firefighters working to extinguish a fire at a mobile home in Sprucewood Park on Monday morning. One man was reported to have escaped the fire with minor injuries and was taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital. (Courtesy Photo / CCFR)
A sign directs early voters to the polling station at the Mendenhall Mall on Monday. The mall is one of two early voting locations in Juneau, but more than a dozen polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Election Day is finally here

Many winners of Alaska’s first ranked-choice general election won’t be known until Thanksgiving

A sign directs early voters to the polling station at the Mendenhall Mall on Monday. The mall is one of two early voting locations in Juneau, but more than a dozen polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
A map showing Alternative 2, the most aggressive of four original options for expanding the Mendenhall Glacier Recreational Area, includes a dock for commercial motor boats that would carry passengers to a new visitor area at the face of the Mendenhall Glacier. That alternative is the “proposed action” by the U.S. Forest Service, but a revised draft Environmental Impact Statement scheduled to be released Tuesday adds three new lower-impact alternatives to three others already being considered. (U.S. Forest Service)

Seven up for Mendenhall Glacier expansion project

New alternatives unbottled.

A map showing Alternative 2, the most aggressive of four original options for expanding the Mendenhall Glacier Recreational Area, includes a dock for commercial motor boats that would carry passengers to a new visitor area at the face of the Mendenhall Glacier. That alternative is the “proposed action” by the U.S. Forest Service, but a revised draft Environmental Impact Statement scheduled to be released Tuesday adds three new lower-impact alternatives to three others already being considered. (U.S. Forest Service)
Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire Floyd Dryden Middle School teacher James White poses with seventh graders with mustaches as a way of recognizing Movember, a movement raising awareness of men’s health issues throughout the month of November.

Mo’ money, men’s problems: Movember is more than lip service for a good cause

Movember is more than lip service for a good cause.

Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire Floyd Dryden Middle School teacher James White poses with seventh graders with mustaches as a way of recognizing Movember, a movement raising awareness of men’s health issues throughout the month of November.
This photo shows downtown Juneau in late October. A recent study looked at the causes of worsening affordability and availability of housing in Juneau and found that demographic change in Juneau’s population is among the largest factors. ( Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Study suggests demographic change as largest factor in Juneau’s housing shortage

Short-term rentals contribute to shortage, but are not the root cause

This photo shows downtown Juneau in late October. A recent study looked at the causes of worsening affordability and availability of housing in Juneau and found that demographic change in Juneau’s population is among the largest factors. ( Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Alaska State Museum conservator Ellen Carrlee stands in a raised bucket of a truck provided by Alaska Electric Light & Power as she inspects the Yaxté Totem Pole at the Auke Village Recreation Area. (Courtesy / Pete Schneider)

Standing strong: Community effort helps inspect 80 year-old totem pole

“We couldn’t have done it without them”

Alaska State Museum conservator Ellen Carrlee stands in a raised bucket of a truck provided by Alaska Electric Light & Power as she inspects the Yaxté Totem Pole at the Auke Village Recreation Area. (Courtesy / Pete Schneider)
Participants sit in “jail” Wednesday afternoon at a reentry simulation at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall hosted by the Juneau Reentry Coalition. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Reentry simulation gives a glimpse of life after incarceration

Juneau residents and stakeholders learn about the challenges faced by former convicts

Participants sit in “jail” Wednesday afternoon at a reentry simulation at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall hosted by the Juneau Reentry Coalition. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Mendenhall River and Mendenhall Lake, heavily used by rafters and other non-motorized vessel operators, are the targets of a lawsuit by Gov. Mike Dunleavy that seeks to seize state control of the waters from the federal government. The lawsuit is based on claiming the state owns the submerged lands beneath the waters, which the federal government has failed to recognize. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Gov sues to seize Mendenhall lake, river from feds

Lawsuit filed a week before election claims state owns submerged land; feds disagree.

Mendenhall River and Mendenhall Lake, heavily used by rafters and other non-motorized vessel operators, are the targets of a lawsuit by Gov. Mike Dunleavy that seeks to seize state control of the waters from the federal government. The lawsuit is based on claiming the state owns the submerged lands beneath the waters, which the federal government has failed to recognize. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
CCFR Acting Captain John Adams poses with plaque awarded at his presentation ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Adams was awarded the 2022 Fire Life Safety Educator of the Year for his dedication to educating Juneau youth and community of fire safety. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

CCFR captain recognized for commitment to fire safety education

John Adams first member of department to earn the statewide award.

CCFR Acting Captain John Adams poses with plaque awarded at his presentation ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Adams was awarded the 2022 Fire Life Safety Educator of the Year for his dedication to educating Juneau youth and community of fire safety. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Luke, Wesley and Elsie Stevens smile alongside other trick-or-treaters as they walk down Franklin Street Monday afternoon during the downtown trick-or-treat event. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Halloween is back in business: Downtown trick-or-treating returns

Thrills and chills

Luke, Wesley and Elsie Stevens smile alongside other trick-or-treaters as they walk down Franklin Street Monday afternoon during the downtown trick-or-treat event. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
A person enters the Division of Election’s office at the Mendenhall Mall, where early voting is taking place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Nov. 8. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Mail-in remains popular for early voters

Half of 30,000 ballots during first week of early arrive via mail, requests far above 2018 midterms

A person enters the Division of Election’s office at the Mendenhall Mall, where early voting is taking place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Nov. 8. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)