National News

In this April photo, Tommy Beaudreau, of Alaska, appears before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on his nomination to be deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior, at the Capitol in Washington. The Senate easily confirmed former Obama administration official Tommy Beaudreau as deputy secretary at the Interior Department, a rare bipartisan moment in an increasingly bitter fight over President Joe Biden's policies on energy production and climate change. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate GOP hails new Interior deputy as ‘voice of reason’

Appointee, who grew up in Alaska, was easily confirmed.

 

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland appears before the Senate Appropriations Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senators press Interior Secretary Haaland on oil lease pause

Murkowski said she was flabbergasted that Haaland did not address the court ruling.

 

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry speaks in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. The Biden administration’s suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal land and water was blocked Tuesday, June 15, 2021, by a federal judge in Louisiana. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed in March by Louisiana’s Republican attorney general, Jeff Landry and officials in 12 other states. Doughty’s ruling granting a preliminary injunction to those states said his order applies nationwide. (AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Federal judge blocks Biden’s pause on new oil, gas leases

The decision is a blow to Biden’s efforts to rapidly transition the nation away from fossil fuels.

 

The Biden Administration announced it would reverse a decision by the previous administration to remove the Roadless Rule from the Tongass National Forest, seen here on Sun, March 30, 2021. Conservationists praised the decision while others called it suppressing Alaska's economic opportunities. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Roadless Rule announcement draws mixed reaction from Alaskans

Roadless reversal riles some.

The Biden Administration announced it would reverse a decision by the previous administration to remove the Roadless Rule from the Tongass National Forest, seen here on Sun, March 30, 2021. Conservationists praised the decision while others called it suppressing Alaska's economic opportunities. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
A Utah man who pleaded guilty to killing his wife is being sentenced in United States District Court at the Hurff A. Saunders Federal Building, seen here on June 2, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Man charged for cruise ship killing to be sentenced soon

Suspect pleaded guilty to killing his wife aboard ship in 2017.

A Utah man who pleaded guilty to killing his wife is being sentenced in United States District Court at the Hurff A. Saunders Federal Building, seen here on June 2, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
This undated aerial photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a herd of caribou on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. The Biden administration is suspending oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as it reviews the environmental impacts of drilling in the remote region.(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Biden suspends oil leases in Alaska’s Arctic refuge

Move draws rebuke from the state.

This undated aerial photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a herd of caribou on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. The Biden administration is suspending oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as it reviews the environmental impacts of drilling in the remote region.(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
The Capitol Dome looms behind the Peace Monument statue in Washington, Friday, May 28, 2021, as the Senate tries to finish to its work going into the Memorial Day recess with Republican leaders insisting they will block a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection by a mob loyal to former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

GOP blocks bipartisan probe of deadly Jan. 6 riot at Capitol

Senate Republicans blocked creation of a bipartisan panel to study the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The Capitol Dome looms behind the Peace Monument statue in Washington, Friday, May 28, 2021, as the Senate tries to finish to its work going into the Memorial Day recess with Republican leaders insisting they will block a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection by a mob loyal to former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)
Firefighter medic Andy Tighe snaps a photo of the breakaway plus-class cruise ship Norwegian Bliss while Captain Tracy Mettler operates a fireboat in the Tongass Narrows in Ketchikan, Alaska, on June 4, 2018. President Joe Biden signed into law Monday, May 24, 2021, legislation that opens a door for resumed cruise ship travel to Alaska after the pandemic last year scrapped sailings. (Dustin Safranek/Ketchikan Daily News)

Biden signs bill opening door for Alaska cruises to resume

The measure will allow large cruise ships to sail directly from Washington state to Alaska.

Firefighter medic Andy Tighe snaps a photo of the breakaway plus-class cruise ship Norwegian Bliss while Captain Tracy Mettler operates a fireboat in the Tongass Narrows in Ketchikan, Alaska, on June 4, 2018. President Joe Biden signed into law Monday, May 24, 2021, legislation that opens a door for resumed cruise ship travel to Alaska after the pandemic last year scrapped sailings. (Dustin Safranek/Ketchikan Daily News)
The Norwegian Pearl, right, pulls into the AJ Dock in Juneau in September 2018. Big-deck cruise ships may be seen in Juneau this year yet as a bill allowing them to bypass Canada passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 20, 2021. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire File)

US House passes bill that could allow an Alaska cruise season

The bill would allow cruise ships to skip Canada on their way north.

The Norwegian Pearl, right, pulls into the AJ Dock in Juneau in September 2018. Big-deck cruise ships may be seen in Juneau this year yet as a bill allowing them to bypass Canada passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 20, 2021. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire File)
Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, gave his annual address to the Alaska State Legislature on May 3, 2021, but some Democratic lawmakers said the speech brought the partisanship of Washington D.C. to Alaska.

In letter, Alaska Democrats say Sullivan brought D.C. partisanship to Juneau

Not what Alaskans do.

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, gave his annual address to the Alaska State Legislature on May 3, 2021, but some Democratic lawmakers said the speech brought the partisanship of Washington D.C. to Alaska.
A fishing vessel is dwarfed by the Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Norwegian Jewel and Norwegian Pearl in Juneau’s downtown harbor in September 2014. The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a bill that could allow cruise ships to come to Alaska. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

U.S. Senate passes bill that could allow cruise ships to come to Alaska

It now heads to the House.

A fishing vessel is dwarfed by the Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Norwegian Jewel and Norwegian Pearl in Juneau’s downtown harbor in September 2014. The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a bill that could allow cruise ships to come to Alaska. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Department of Veterans Affairs nurse Dale Cotton administers a dose of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine during a clinic at Coast Guard Station Juneau on March 13, 2021. On Thursday, the CDC announced revised masking guidelines for people who have been vaccinated. City officials had not announced changes to local mandates as Thursday evening. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

New CDC guidelines: Vaccinated people can largely ditch masks

City officials are reviewing the federal guidance, with updates coming

Department of Veterans Affairs nurse Dale Cotton administers a dose of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine during a clinic at Coast Guard Station Juneau on March 13, 2021. On Thursday, the CDC announced revised masking guidelines for people who have been vaccinated. City officials had not announced changes to local mandates as Thursday evening. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 164 (Reinforced), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit flies over the Gulf of Alaska in support of Northern Edge 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps / Lance Cpl. Brendan Mullin)

Marines and sailors take part in largest joint exercise of 2021

Ships, aircraft, and 15,000 servicemembers all came together to hold the huge interservice exercise.

A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 164 (Reinforced), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit flies over the Gulf of Alaska in support of Northern Edge 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps / Lance Cpl. Brendan Mullin)
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)

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

City, district partner for clinics at high schools

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)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011 file photo, the remains of a carp are seen on the dry lake bed of O.C. Fisher Lake in San Angelo, Texas. According to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, the new United States normal is not just hotter, but wetter in the eastern and central parts of the nation and considerably drier in the West than just a decade earlier. (AP Photo / Tony Gutierrez)

America’s new normal: A degree hotter than two decades ago

America’s new normal temperature is a degree hotter than it was just two decades ago.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011 file photo, the remains of a carp are seen on the dry lake bed of O.C. Fisher Lake in San Angelo, Texas. According to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, the new United States normal is not just hotter, but wetter in the eastern and central parts of the nation and considerably drier in the West than just a decade earlier. (AP Photo / Tony Gutierrez)
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, met with reporters after delivering an address to the first joint session of 2021 for the Alaska State Legislature on Monday, May 3, 2021. Sullivan was critical of the Biden administration in his remarks to lawmakers, saying his environmental policies were punative to Alaska. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Sullivan talks tough on jobs, China

Room for work.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, met with reporters after delivering an address to the first joint session of 2021 for the Alaska State Legislature on Monday, May 3, 2021. Sullivan was critical of the Biden administration in his remarks to lawmakers, saying his environmental policies were punative to Alaska. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
This photo shows Emigrant Peak rising above the Paradise Valley and the Yellowstone River near Emigrant, Mont. The Biden administration has nominated a longtime environmental advocate and Democratic aide, Tracy Stone-Manning, to oversee roughly 250 million acres of public lands as director of the Bureau of Land Management. (AP Photo / Matthew Brown)

Biden taps Montana environmentalist for US public lands boss

She was nominated on Thursday to direct the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.

This photo shows Emigrant Peak rising above the Paradise Valley and the Yellowstone River near Emigrant, Mont. The Biden administration has nominated a longtime environmental advocate and Democratic aide, Tracy Stone-Manning, to oversee roughly 250 million acres of public lands as director of the Bureau of Land Management. (AP Photo / Matthew Brown)
In this image from video, defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin address Judge Peter Cahill at the courthouse in Minneapolis during Chauvin’s trial in the death of George Floyd. (Court TV / Pool)

Ex-cop guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd case

By Amy Forliti, Stephen Groves and Tammy Webber Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder and manslaughter… Continue reading

In this image from video, defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin address Judge Peter Cahill at the courthouse in Minneapolis during Chauvin’s trial in the death of George Floyd. (Court TV / Pool)
FILE - In this May 24, 2015, file photo, a vehicle drives on a pier to be loaded onto an Alaska state ferry while people fish underneath the pier in Homer, Alaska. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday, April 19, 2021, in a case that will determine who is eligible to receive more than $530 million in federal virus relief funding set aside for tribes more than a year ago. More than a dozen Native American tribes sued the U.S. Treasury Department to keep the money out of the hands of Alaska Native corporations, which provide services to Alaska Natives but do not have a government-to-government relationship with the United States. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

High court seems ready to send virus funds to Alaska Natives

Justices heard arguments in a case involving the massive pandemic relief package.

FILE - In this May 24, 2015, file photo, a vehicle drives on a pier to be loaded onto an Alaska state ferry while people fish underneath the pier in Homer, Alaska. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday, April 19, 2021, in a case that will determine who is eligible to receive more than $530 million in federal virus relief funding set aside for tribes more than a year ago. More than a dozen Native American tribes sued the U.S. Treasury Department to keep the money out of the hands of Alaska Native corporations, which provide services to Alaska Natives but do not have a government-to-government relationship with the United States. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
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Rep. Young advocates for Puerto Rico statehood

“I think it’s time,” said U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.

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