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In this July 13, 2007, file photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)

News

Proposed conservation plans could affect Pebble Mine

Agreement would restrict development.

From left to right, Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau; Martin Stepetin Sr. and Gov. Mike Dunleavy at a signing ceremony for a bill protecting a cemetery in Funter Bay at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum on Tuesday, June 8, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

‘We don’t want anyone to forget what happened here’

Bill protecting Unangax̂ cemetery signed in Juneau.

Without a budget to vote on, many lawmakers were absent from the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, June 7, 2021, as negotiations continue in committee. But even the conference committee isn’t scheduled until later in the week as deep divisions among lawmakers remain. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Divisions slow budget work as deadline looms

Two weeks left in special session.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé softball team were crowned state champions on Jun 5, 2021, winning the championship for the first time in approximately eight years, said coach Lexie Razor. (Courtesy photo / Shaley Hunt)

Sports

JDHS softball takes home state championship

High temps didn’t stop the softball team from bringing the heat.

The Cunard cruise ship Queen Elizabeth sails through Cook Inlet Thursday, May 16, 2019, for a port call in Anchorage. Federal officials say a lawsuit in Florida could block cruise ships from visiting Alaska in summer 2021. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen)

News

CDC: Florida lawsuit imperils summer cruises to Alaska

CDC lawyers say injunction win would “end cruising in Alaska for the season.”

The Alaska State Capitol was quiet on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, with several lawmakers excused even as negotiations over the state's budget continue. Lawmakers said they couldn't say when the budget might be put to a vote, but talks were moving to the more contentious items in the budget.

News

With nothing to vote on, many lawmakers head home

Session ends June 19.

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)

News

Biden suspends oil leases in Alaska’s Arctic refuge

Move draws rebuke from the state.

COVID-19 vaccines, like these seen at a March 13, 2021 Department of Veteran’s Affairs vaccine clinic, will be available at Alaska three main airports and open to anyone who wants one. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)

News

Vaccines for visitors: Shots now available at 3 Alaska airports

Ages 12 and up.

Members of a bicameral conference committee of lawmakers, seen here at their first meeting on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, will meet again Wednesday, June 2. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Budget talks to resume Wednesday

19 days left.

This photo shows a view of one of the faces of North America’s tallest peak, then-named Mount McKinley, in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Rangers who keep an eye on North America’s highest mountain peak say they are seeing impatient and inexperienced climbers take more risks and put their lives and other climbers in danger In 2021. (AP Photo / Becky Bohrer)

News

Risky, impatient climbers bring danger to Denali

Rangers say impatient and inexperienced climbers are taking more risks and endangering themselves.

The Alaska State Capitol was quiet on Friday, May 28, 2021, as several lawmakers returned to their home districts for the Memorial Day weekend. Negotiations on the state's budget won't begin again until Tuesday, June 1. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Divided Legislature takes holiday break

Special session ends June 19.

Members of a bicameral conference committee of lawmakers, seen here at their first meeting on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, met again Thursday to negotiate the final version of the state's budget. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Budget committee adjourns until after holiday

Lengthy process.

In this July 13, 2007, file photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)

News

Corps: Pebble Mine appeal review could take over a year

The proposed mine has been the subject of heated debate for years.

Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, at center, chairs the first meeting of a bicameral conference committee tasked with negotiating the state's final budget bill in the Senate Finance Committee chambers on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Lawmakers had said they wanted to finish before Memorial Day, but Foster said that didn't seem like a possibility. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Budget negotiations begin, will likely continue into June

One day at a time.

From left to right: Sens. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau; Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak; Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, and Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, speak on the floor of the Alaska Senate on Monday, May 24, 2021, the first day of one of two special sessions called by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Lawmakers: Budget negotiations to begin Wednesday

Buttoning up the budget.

In this April 22, 2021, photo, signs of spring thaw appear along the Tazlina River in Tazlina, Alaska. The Catholic Church wants to sell 462 acres that once housed the Copper Valley mission school to the Native Village of Tazlina, a federally recognized tribe. The tribe is scrambling to raise the nearly $1.9 million asking price so it can regain stewardship of its ancestral land. (John Tierney/Indian Country Today)

News

Alaska village eyes return of ancestral lands

A federally recognized tribe is scrambling to raise funds to regain stewardship of the lands.

This May 2020 photo shows an open sign illuminated on a Juneau business. Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development reports the state has added jobs but has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels of employment. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

News

Alaska gains jobs but doesn’t reach pre-pandemic levels

Numbers still lagged what they were before the pandemic, per state report.

Proclamations from Gov. Mike Dunleavy calling special sessions of the Alaska State Legislature for late May and early August were posted in the otherwise quiet office of the House Clerk on Friday, May 21, 2021. The first special session has started but the Capitol building was quiet as most of the work before lawmakers will take place in committee. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Special session begins, aims to solve Alaska’s fiscal deficit for good

Get ready in May for August.

Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, spoke to reporters in his office on Thursday, May 20, 2021, to discuss next steps after the Senate debated the state budget until just before midnight the night before. Senators voted for a Permanent Fund Dividend of $2,300, the largest in history, but negotiations with the House of Representatives are still to come. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Senate votes for $2,300 PFD, but the amount could change

It would be the largest PFD in state history.

House Speaker Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, left, and House Finance Committee co-chair Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, speak with reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, May 20, 2021. The Alaska State Legislature worked until past midnight Wednesday on the state’s budget bill which will now be negotiated in committee. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Budget bill goes to committee for deliberation

Changes to be made.