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Otis, the four-time Fat Bear Week champion, fishes at Katmai National Park on Sept. 16, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Lian Law, National Parks Service)

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Katmai announces its hefty champion

O, tis a hefty bear.

Juneau residents gathered around the statue of William H. Seward in downtown Juneau on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, for the local version of a national rally for abortion rights. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Juneau rallies for abortion rights

Tension over Texas.

From left to right: Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, House Majority Leader Chris Tuck, D-Anchorage, and House Minority Leader Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, discuss messages from the Senate in the hall of the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. A plan to hold the special session mostly from afar was hampered by demands from Republican Senators. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Plan for remote session stalled by lawmakers

Next meeting is Friday.

Joyce Johnson-Albert looks on as she receives an antibody infusion while lying on a bed in a trauma room at the Upper Tanana Health Center Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in Tok, Alaska. Johnson-Albert was optimistic but also realistic. "I just hope the next few days I'll be getting a little better than now," Johnson-Albert told a reporter on the other side of a closed, sliding glass door to the treatment room two days after testing positive for COVID-19 and while receiving an antibody infusion. "It's just hard to say. You can go either way." (AP Photo / Rick Bowmer)

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COVID spike pushes Alaska’s health care system to brink

One Alaska Native village knew what to do to keep out COVID-19.

Michael Williams scans the shoreline for moose while traveling up the Yukon River on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, near Stevens Village, Alaska. For the first time in memory, both king and chum salmon have dwindled to almost nothing and the state has banned salmon fishing on the Yukon. The remote communities that dot the river and live off its bounty are desperate and doubling down on moose and caribou hunts in the waning days of fall. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

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Dwindling Alaska salmon leave Yukon River tribes in crisis

For the first time in memory, both king and chum salmon have dwindled to almost nothing.

Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, and House Minority Leader Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, step outside the House chambers on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, to discuss a message from the Senate. Lawmakers entered their fourth special session Monday, with a resolution to hold committee meetings remotely. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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4th special session gets off to a slow start

Lawmakers discuss making legislative work remote

This photo shows Bartlett Regional Hospital, which was among the 20 facilities for which the state activated crisis standards of care on Saturday. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

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State activates crisis standards of care for 20 health care facilities, including Bartlett Regional Hospital

Surging COVID cases, strained resources in some hospitals cited as reason.

Cap

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Gov names new commissioner of Department of Administration

Cabinet changes.

Office Max at the Nugget Mall in the Mendenhall Valley advertised Permanent Fund dividend sales on Thursday, July 2, 2020. This year's PFD will be $1,114, the Alaska Department of Revenue announced. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

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Revenue Department announces 2021 PFD amount

It’s a little more filling than last year.

Courtesy photo / Paxson Woelber, The Alaska Landmine Christine Hill sits in the Municipality of Anchorage Assembly’s chambers on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021, wearing a yellow Star of David reading “do not consent” to protest the implementation of masking requirements in public places meant to curb the spread of COVID-19.

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Jewish groups say Holocaust comparisons a worrisome trend

Anchorage protest most recent, high-profile example.

Jamiann Hasselquist, vice president of Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 2, speaks to an invited crowd at the Juneau Montessori School about Orange Shirt Day, a day of remembrance for the victims of residential school systems for Indigenous people in Canada and the United States on Sept. 28, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

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Local groups recognize and remember victims of residential schools

Sept. 30 is an annual day of remembrance for the victims of that system.

Lawmakers will return to the Alaska State Capitol, seen here on Sept. 24, for a fourth special session. Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office confirmed the start date of the next session will be changed from a Friday to a Monday. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Next special session to begin Monday, not Friday

Fourth special session.

Alaskans with GCI Communications email accounts reported having trouble signing up for a free credit monitor service being offered by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, their Juneau offices seen here in this Jan. 13, 2021, file photo, in the wake of a data breach. GCI said Tuesday the issue should be resolved soon. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

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GCI working to fix issues registering for credit monitoring offered by state

Some email accounts had trouble signing up for free post-data breach service.

A bear feasts on the salmon run at Katmai National Park and Preserve on July 13, 2021. (Courtesy of Lian Law, National Parks Service)

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Bears show off full bellies at Katmai for Fat Bear Week

KENAI — The bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve are preparing to show the world their beefy…

State health officials announced record numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths Friday, but said the high numbers were the result of a data reporting backlog and needed context. Despite the anamolies in the reporting, health officials emphasized COVID-19 was stressing the states health care systems and urgerd Alaskans to get vaccines, like these laid out during a mass-inoculation clinic in Juneau on Mar. 13, 2021. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)

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Health department: Data backlog drives high numbers for cases, deaths

Zink: ‘Get vaccinated.’

The doors of the Alaska State Capitol were open Friday, Sept. 24, 2021, though the Alaska State Legislature was not in session. They will be soon, however, as Gov. Mike Dunleavy has called a fourth special session of the year. Lawmakers receive a per diem for days in session, and with so many special sessions those costs can add up. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Per diem for special sessions? It’s up to lawmakers

They have options.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking public comment until Oct. 18, to generate ideas for investment opportunities for the Biden administration’s Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy which hopes to build upon partnerships with regional entities. The USDA Forest Service has previously worked with regional organizations to promote regional development, such as this May, 2021 stream restoration project near Craig, done in partnership with the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition and many others. (Courtesy photo / Ian Johnson via U.S. Forest Service)

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US Forest Service seeks public comment for regional investment ideas

Door’s wide open.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced legislation to permanently exempt large ships from the Passenger Vessel Services Act, which threatened Alaska's cruise ship season this year. The PVSA puts regulations on large cruise ship vessels, like this one entering the Gastineau Channel on Aug. 22, which are critical to the local tourism industry. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Murkowski enters bill to exempt Alaska from Passenger Vessel Services Act

Legislation would let ships travel to Alaska without stopping in Canada.

Gov. Dunleavy called for Alaskans to be careful and avoid putting more demand on the perilously strained healthcare system as he announced measures to ease some of that demand during a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

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State officials: Health care reinforcements are coming

State contracts short-term health care workers to buttress fatigued hospitals

A proposal from the Alaska Redistricting Board would substantially change Juneau's legislative districts. One of the latest proposals, seen here, would put parts of Auke Bay and the Mendenhall Valley in the same district as downtown Juneau and Douglas Island. The Northern Lynn Canal communities of Haines, Skagway and Kluckwan would be placed in the same district as the Mendenhall Valley. (Courtesy image / Alaska Redistricting Board)

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Hitting the road: Redistricting maps to be shown in local hearings

Redistricting roadshow.