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This Sunday, June 30, 2019, aerial photo released by Earthjustice shows the Alaska's North Slope in the Western Arctic on the edge of Teshekpuk Lake, Alaska. The Biden administration issued a long-awaited study on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, that recommends allowing a major oil development on Alaska's North Slope, and the move — while not final — drew immediate anger from environmentalists who saw it as a betrayal of the president's pledges to reduce carbon emissions and promote clean energy sources. (Kiliii Yuyan for Earthjustice via AP)

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Biden administration takes step toward OK’ing Willow Project

Final decision expected no sooner than early March.

Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Daniel Winfree gets a standing ovation from the Alaska State Legislature as he enters the House chamber Wednesday to deliver his final State of the Judiciary speech. Winfree is stepping down next Monday when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Chief justice bids lawmakers a fervent farewell

Daniel Winfree, in State of Judiciary days before retirement, warns about mixing politics and courts

A worker with the Pebble Mine project digs in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska near the village of Iliamma, Alaska, July 13, 2007. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a decision Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, that would block plans for the proposed Pebble Mine, a copper and gold project in southwest Alaska. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)

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Feds use rare veto to block Pebble Mine

Litigation is likely.

This combination image shows former Alaska Office of Management and Budget Director Donna Arduin, left, and current director Neil Steininger presents portions of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budgets at the start of his first and second terms in 2019 and 2023, respectively. The two represent vastly different approaches the governor has taken in interacting with legislators at the start of those two terms. Michael Penn and Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire

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A tale of two terms

Lawmakers say governor’s appointments, agenda vastly less confrontational this time.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy talks about his second-term agenda with members of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce, which is doing a two-day legislative fly-in this week, before his speech during the Juneau Chamber’s weekly luncheon Thursday. The speech and subsequent question period was at the Baranof Hotel to accommodate the extra out-of-town guests spending much of their time at the Alaska State Capitol, rather than the usual location at the Juneau Moose Lodge Family Center. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Big carbon and ‘small nukes’ are state’s future, governor says

Dunleavy sells business leaders on greenhouse gas cash, greenhouses with mini nuclear power plants

The Tazlina is docked at the Auke Bay ferry terminal in this November 2021 photo. Over a quarter of a billion dollars is on its way to fund six projects for the Alaska Marine Highway System via grant funding awarded by the Federal Transit Administration. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

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Feds float AMHS $285M in ferry infrastructure funding

It will fund six projects, requires state partial fund match

Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file A sign marks the road entrance to the Mendenhall Glacier area of the Tongass National Forest. The Biden administration on Wednesday announced the Roadless Rule preventing logging and roads in about nine million acres of the 16.7-million-acre forest has been reinstated after former President Donald Trump repealed it in 2020.

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Biden administration reinstates Tongass Roadless Rule

Miners and timber interests upset, environmentalists thrilled, Sen. Sullivan vows retaliation

Library Director Dave Berry and Advisory Board Chair Kate Finn participate in Library Advisory Board meeting on Tuesday Jan. 17, 2023, at Homer City Hall, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Emilie Springer/Homer News)

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Homer Library Advisory Board upholds decision to retain LGBTQ+ books

A citizen’s group last year submitted a petition asking that the books be removed from the children’s section

Smoke and haze fill the air to filter the view of downtown Juneau from Douglas Island on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

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Report: Southeast Alaska drought risk declining, but warming temps may amplify future impacts

“This is going to happen again, and if it gets warmer and not wetter things can go south.”

Jim Cockrell, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, speaks in Wasilla at a May 3, 2022, news conference. Cockrell has ordered an investigation after troopers mistakenly took a school principal into custody for a mental health exam. (Photo by Yereth Rosen / Alaska Beacon)

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Troopers, misled by false court order, detained principal for mental health check

State troopers mistakenly took Alaska’s 2022 Principal of the Year into custody…

Alaska Department of Health Commissioner Heidi Hedberg explains why there is a major backlog of food stamp and Medicaid applications to the Senate Health And Resources Committee on Tuesday at the Alaska State Capitol. Part of the reason, shown on the slide during her presentation, is a computer system that uses 1959 technology and only one employee is currently qualified to program. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Food stamp, Medicaid backlogs still loom large

State lawmakers conduct first hearing into state’s struggles processing public assistance applicants.

Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire Shannen Greene holds a sign at the Alaska State Capitol during Monday’s anti-abortion rally held by Alaskans for Life Inc.

News

Abortion protesters gather at state Capitol

Rally comes after anniversary of now-overturned Roe v. Wade.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy addresses state lawmakers and guests attending his State of the State speech Monday night before a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature at the Alaska State Capitol. The 50-minute speech was praised by many legislators are more positive and less confrontational than his first address four years ago. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

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Dunleavy urges cooperation to change course of state’s history

War on fentanyl, resilient Alaskans and “most pro-life-state” vow among State of the State highlights.

A student holds a sign during a rally at the steps of the Alaska State Capitol Monday evening in advocacy for an increase in the state’s flat funding via the Base Student Allocation. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

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Juneau teachers and supporters rally for an increase in state funding for education

“We need a substantially increased BSA and we need it now.”

A by-mail ballot asks voters in 2020 to approve a measure calling for rank choice voting, which was approved. A petition is now circulating calling for another ballot measure to repeal rank choice, with the second-place candidates in both of Alaska’s most recent Congressional races among the most prominent supporters of the repeal. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

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Ranked choice repeal petition begins circulating

Kelly Tshibaka joins Sarah Palin as election losers leading effort to return to traditional voting

A sign for a store that accepts food stamps and exchange benefits transfer cards is seen in this 2019 photo. Ten Alaskans are suing the state over its failure to provide food stamps within the time frames required by federal law. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images via Alaska Beacon)

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Lawsuit says Alaska Department of Health exposed thousands to hunger risk by not giving food aid

Complaint filed Friday alleges some families have waited four months for nutrition assistance.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy poses for a photo with Gladys Castaños during an inaugural celebration for the governor and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom on Friday night at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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All’s a ball for reelected governor

Dunleavy celebrates “peaceful transfer of power…to myself” at inaugural party Friday

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Gov. Mike Dunleavy talks with local residents and people involved with this year’s legislative session during an annual welcoming reception hosted by city government and business leaders Tuesday at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. Dunleavy is scheduled to deliver his annual State of the State address, the first of his second term, to a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature at 7 p.m. Monday.

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Rallies and State of the State set for Monday at the Capitol

Dunleavy to deliver annual address following two big-issue demonstrations.

Moving boxes are stacked outside the offices of state Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, and former House Speaker Louise Stutes, a Kodiak Republican, on the second floor of the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday morning following their demotion to minority status after a Republican-led majority excluding Stutes was named Tuesday. As minority members, they will have no official say on the location of their new offices. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Moving day for House as committees set

Hannan, Bush Caucus get prized finance seats as Republican-led majority shakes up status quo.

State Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, right, listens to an overview of Alaska’s past and projected oil production by Department of Natural Resources Commissioner John Boyle during Kiehl’s first meeting as a member of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Business as usual underway in the Senate

Key committees meetings start with optimistic tone about working with House, governor