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This combination image shows photos from stories that defined 2021. Top left, Vanessa Dickinson adjusts second grade student Kanani Dickinson’s glasses ahead of the first day of school. Top middle, doses of COVID-19 vaccination await arms during a vaccine clinic. Top right, a cruise ship looms large over downtown Juneau. Middle left, a sign marks the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area as part of the Tongass National Forest. Middle, the bygone calendar year is written in the sand. Middle right, Alan Salsman receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine from VA nurse Michael Addo at Coast Guard Station Juneau. Bottom left, School board member Emil Mackey casts a ballot in Juneau’s municipal election. Bottom middle, the Alaska State Capitol stands behind a statue of William H. Seward. Bottom left, Sen. Lisa Murkowski talks during a sitdown in the Empire offices. (Juneau Empire Photos, Engin Akyurt / Unsplash)

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The stories that shaped our 2021

Some loom large in 2022, too.

The Supreme Court is seen on the first day of the new term, in Washington, Oct. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

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Chief justice: Judges must better avoid financial conflicts

Roberts made the comments as part of his annual report on the federal judiciary released Friday.

Cruise ships float at PortMiami, on April 7, 2020, in Miami. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now warning people not to cruise regardless of their vaccination status because of an increase in cases fueled by the omicron variant detected in ships. (AP Photo / Lynne Sladky, File)

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CDC warns against cruises, regardless of vaccination status

Warning comes as over 90 cruise ships under investigation or observation after COVID-19 cases.

AP Photo / Elizabeth Williams In this courtroom sketch, Ghislaine Maxwell, center, sits in the courtroom Wednesday during a discussion about a note from the jury during her sex trafficking trial in New York.

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Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Epstein sex abuse case

The verdict capped a monthlong trial.

In this photo provided by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a 22 Wing member is seen showing how they track Santa on his sleigh on Christmas evening during a media preview at the Canadian Forces Base in North Bay on Dec. 9, 2021. In a Christmas Eve tradition going on its 66th year, a wildly popular program run by the U.S. and Canadian militaries is providing real-time updates on Santa’s progress around the globe — and fielding calls from children who want to know St. Nick’s exact whereabouts. (Sable Brown / NORAD)

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Yes, there is a Santa Claus. And no, COVID-19 won’t stop him

Santa’s coming this Christmas Eve, and a second holiday with COVID-19 won’t stop him.

Dan Martinez, emergency manager for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, pauses in a classroom used to store donated water on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, in, Warm Springs, Ore. In Oregon, tribal officials have handed out about 3 million gallons (11 million liters) of water — almost all of it donated — from a decommissioned elementary school on the reservation. (AP Photo / Nathan Howard)

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US tribes see hope for clean water in infrastructure bill

Erland Suppah Jr. doesn’t trust what comes out of his faucet.

AP Photo / Jessica Hill Miss Alaska Emma Broyles reacts after being crowned Miss America, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

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New Miss America is the first Alaskan, Korean American title holder

The contestant from Alaska was crowned Miss America.

Astronaut Candidate Deniz Burnham, of ASCAN Class of 2021, poses for an official photo on Dec. 3, 2021. (Robert Markowitz / NASA)

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‘Find a passion and stay the course’: Burnham joins newest group of astronauts

From the Last Frontier to the Final Frontier.

This photo provided by NASA shows its 2021 astronaut candidate class, announced on Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. The 10 candidates stand for a photo at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Dec. 3, 2021. From left are U.S. Air Force Maj. Nichole Ayers, Christopher Williams, U.S. Marine Corps Maj. (retired.) Luke Delaney, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Wittner, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Anil Menon, U.S. Air Force Maj. Marcos Berríos, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jack Hathaway, Christina Birch, U.S. Navy Lt. Deniz Burnham, and Andre Douglas. (Robert Markowitz / NASA)

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NASA’s 10 new astronauts: pilots, doctor, physicist, cyclist

An Alaskan is among those selected.

Pearl Harbor survivor and World War II Navy veteran David Russell, 101, reads a birthday card while talking about his time aboard the USS Oklahoma and his life after the war on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, in Albany, Ore. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

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101-year-old returns to Pearl Harbor to remember those lost

By Audrey McAvoy and Gillian Flaccus

Nick Begich III, seen here in this undated photo, is challenging Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives saying Alaska needs new energy in Washington D.C. (Courtesy photo / Alaskans for Nick Begich)

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Nick Begich III touts fiscal conservatism in U.S. House race

Young is old.

A painted mural of Ahmaud Arbery is displayed on May 17, 2020, in Brunswick, Ga., where the 25-year-old man was shot and killed in February. Arbery was shot and killed by two men who told police they thought he was a burglar. (AP Photo / Sarah Blake Morgan)

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All 3 men charged in Arbery’s death convicted of murder

Jurors on Wednesday convicted the three men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery.

Kyle Rittenhouse, center, enters the courtroom with his attorneys Mark Richards, left, and Corey Chirafisi for a meeting called by Judge Bruce Schroeder at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. (Sean Krajacic / The Kenosha News)

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Kyle Rittenhouse cleared of all charges in Kenosha shootings

Rittenhouse could have gotten life in prison if found guilty.

In this photo provided by Ben Pascal, five-year-old Naomi Pascal, holding her teddy bear, is pictured on a hike to Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park, Mont., in October 2020. Naomi lost the bear while on the hike, but it was found by a park ranger who took care of the bear until it was spotted on the dash of his ranger truck and returned to Naomi this fall. (Ben Pascal)

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Girl, teddy bear reunited a year after loss in Glacier park

Hope won out.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks at an Anchorage news conference on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, to discuss the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package soon to be signed into law by President Joe Biden. (Screenshot)

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‘It is a win for Alaska’ Murkowski touts bipartisan infrastructure bill

Bipartisan bill.

This photo Pride flags. A bipartisan, interfaith group of Alaskans are advocating for federal protections for LGBTQ people. The group, which includes over 40 organizations, says the time is right for the U.S. Congress to pass the Equality Act, which would bar discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation or gender identity when it comes to public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit and the jury system. (Cecilie Johnson / Unsplash)

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Alaskans throw support behind federal LGBTQ protections

Over 40 organizations and congregations stump for equality legislation.

This 2020 photo provided by Polar Bears International shows a polar bear in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada during migration. At risk of disappearing, the polar bear is dependent on something melting away on our warming planet: sea ice. (Kieran McIver/Polar Bears International via AP)

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The warming Arctic affects sea ice and polar bears. Here’s how

Majestic, increasingly hungry and at risk of disappearing…

An Exam Corp Lab employee, right, wears a mask as she talks with a patient lined up for COVID-19 testing in Niles, Ill. Millions of U.S. workers now have a Jan. 4 deadline to get a COVID vaccine. The federal government on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021 announced new vaccine requirements for workers at companies with more than 100 employees as well as workers at health care facilities that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh)

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Lawsuits over workplace vaccine rule focus on states’ rights

Alaska among states suing.

This photo provided by Pfizer shows kid-size doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in Puurs, Belgium. (Pfizer)

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US gives final clearance to COVID-19 shots for kids 5 to 11

By Lauran Neergaard and Mike Stobbe

Elizabeth Azzuz stands in prayer with a handmade torch of dried wormwood branches before leading a cultural training burn on the Yurok reservation in Weitchpec, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Azzuz, who is Yurok, along with other native tribes in the U.S. West are making progress toward restoring their ancient practice of treating lands with fire, an act that could have meant jail a century ago. But state and federal agencies that long banned “cultural burns” are coming to terms with them and even collaborating as the wildfire crisis worsens. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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For tribes, ‘good fire’ a key to restoring nature and people

Working with fire, instead of against it.