Site Logo
Bins of old PFAS-containing firefighting foams are seen on Oct. 24, 2024, at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport fire department headquarters. The PFAS foams are due to be removed and sent to a treatment facility. The airport, like all other state-operated airports, is to switch to non-PFAS firefighting foams by the start of 2025, under a new state law. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Opinion

Opinion: A change for safer attire: PFAS Alternatives Act 2023

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, are man-made synthetic chemicals with substantial fire and water-resistant properties.…

Attendees are seated during former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, on Jan. 9, 2025. Pictures shared on social media by the vice president and by the Carter Center prominently showed other past presidents in attendance. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times)

Opinion

Opinion: Karen Pence’s silent act of conscience

Last week at Jimmy Carter’s funeral, President-elect Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama were seated next to…

The Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc hatchery. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Fisheries Proposal 156 jeopardizes Juneau sport fishing and salmon

The Board of Fisheries will meet in Ketchikan Jan. 28–Feb. 9 to consider Southeast proposals, including Proposal 156…

The Alaska State Capitol is seen in partial morning sun on May 10, 2024. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Opinion

Opinion: Attacking Biden is not the answer for Alaska — leadership is

Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s transition report to the Trump administration accuses the Biden administration of carrying out a four-year…

Congress holds a joint session to certify the election results of 2024 on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 6, 2025. President-elect Donald J. Trump has waffled on his preferences for how his party tackles his agenda, adding to the uncertainty for Republicans. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

Opinion

Opinion: The moral imperative of our time

Last week, the Washington Post, censored a political cartoon by Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes. It depicted Jeff…

A view from the mountainside at Eaglecrest Ski Area. (Eaglecrest Ski Area photo)

Opinion

Opinion: New report demonstrates how Eaglecrest Ski Area can be self-supporting

A recently released report by the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) provides insight into efforts to increase…

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski addresses the Alaska State Legislature in February of 2023 at the Alaska State Capitol. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Alaska delegation deserves kudos for new Social Security law

The Social Security legislation just now signed into law brings a significant economic benefit to Alaska. Our Alaska…

(Juneau Empire file photo)

Letters to the Editor

Letter: Social Security law restores payments Congress took from public workers

The news media has been wrongly depicting the social security fix to the Wage Equalization Program (WEP) and…

(Juneau Empire file photo)

Letters to the Editor

Appreciative of Win Gruening’s columns, even if not always in agreement

In his Dec. 28 column Win Gruening reflected on his ten years writing biweekly commentaries for the Empire,…

The Alaska State Capitol is seen in partial morning sun on May 10, 2024. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Opinion

Opinion: Attacking Biden is not the answer for Alaska — leadership is

Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s transition report to the Trump administration accuses the Biden administration of carrying out a four-year…

A Chinook salmon is seen in an undated photo. (Photo by Ryan Hagerty/USFWS)

Opinion

My Turn: Efforts to protect salmon, environment are to benefit a wide spectrum of interests

Tom Conner’s recent My Turn criticizing SalmonState was a messy mashup of insults and misinformation that read suspiciously…

Rep.-elect Nick Begich III of Alaska is scheduled to be sworn in Monday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Lip service to the Constitution

On Monday, Nick Begich III will be sworn in as Alaska’s congressman at large. But the oath he…

The headwaters of the Ambler River in the Noatak National Preserve of Alaska, near where a proposed access road would end, are seen in an undated photo. (Ken Hill/National Park Service)

Opinion

My Turn: Alaska’s responsible resource development is under threat

By Tom Conner

(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Alaska fisheries management is on an historical threshold

Alaska has a governor who habitually makes appointments to governing boards of individuals who have what should be…

Solomon Dunlap cleans and makes up beds in the day surgery department as part of his internship at Bartlett Regional Hospital on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Scores of Alaskans face another eye-watering spike in their health care costs next year

Late last year, when I went to sign up for my 2024 health insurance on the federal Obamacare…

Win Gruening. (Courtesy photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Ten years and counting with the Juneau Empire…

In 2014, two years after I retired from a 32-year banking career, I was offered the opportunity to…

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, addresses a crowd with President-elect Donald Trump present. (Photo from U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan’s office)

Opinion

Opinion: Sen. Sullivan’s Orwellian style of transparency

When I read that President-elect Donald Trump had filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register on Monday,…

Sunrise over Prince of Wales Island in the Craig Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest. (Forest Service photo by Brian Barr)

Opinion

Southeast Alaska’s ecosystem is speaking. Here’s how to listen.

Have you ever stepped into an old-growth forest alive with ancient trees or traveled a shoreline with migrating…

As a protester waves a sign in the background, Daniel Penny, center, accused of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, arrives at State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. A New York jury acquitted Daniel Penny in the death of Jordan Neely and as Republican politicians hailed the verdict, some New Yorkers found it deeply disturbing.(Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times)

Opinion

Opinion: Stress testing the justice system

On Monday, a New York City jury found Daniel Penny not guilty of negligent homicide in the death…

Members of the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé hockey team help Mendenhall Valley residents affected by the record Aug. 6 flood fill more than 3,000 sandbags in October. (JHDS Hockey photo)

Opinion

Opinion: What does it mean to be part of a community?

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” Coretta Scott…