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Alaska state Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, sits in the House on April 29, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. Eastman, accused of violating the state constitution’s disloyalty clause over his lifetime membership in Oath Keepers, has not condemned the organization in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S Capitol. “No, I generally don’t condemn groups,” Eastman, a Wasilla Republican, said during his bench hearing on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, his second day on the witness stand. (AP Photo / Becky Bohrer)

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Man who challenged Eastman’s eligibility won’t appeal

The man who unsuccessfully challenged Alaska state Rep. David Eastman’s eligibility to hold office — over Eastman’s membership…

A humpback whale breaches near Juneau. (Heidi Pearson/ NOAA/NMFS)

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New paper explores whales as carbon sinks

University of Alaska Southeast biologist was lead author on the paper

While a lot about the year-to-come is sure to be a surprise some things, including housing, an impending legislative session and budget-making at all levels of government, among many others are certain to impact Juneau and its residents. (Moritz Knöringer / Unsplash)

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Stories likely to break big in 2023

New housing, federally-funded projects, school leadership changes among items affecting Juneau

This map from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management shows the sale area for a recently concluded oil and gas lease sale.

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U..S. gets 1 bid for oil and gas lease in Alaska’s Cook Inlet

Hilcorp Alaska LLC submitted the sole bid — $63,983 for an area covering 5,693 acres.

Juneau’s Telephone Hill neighborhood is seen at center right, beneath the State Office Building, on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022. The neighborhood, owned by the state of Alaska, is being transferred to the City and Borough of Juneau. (James Brooks / Alaska Beacon)

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Historic neighborhood, once envisioned for new Alaska Capitol, is given away by the state

Order signed transferring Telephone Hill to the capital city.

Applications and notifications about changes to benefits line a table at the entrance of the Alaska Division of Public Assistance office in Juneau. The division’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is months behind processing applications to due to workforce shortages and lingering problems of a cyberattack. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Food stamps backlog expected to continue for months

8,000 Alaska households go months without SNAP benefits; cyberattack, lack of workers blamed

The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program conducts a preflight checklist before the Asteroid Bounce campaign Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, in Gakona, Alaska, as temperatures hit 40 below. The mission is slated for Dec. 27. (Photo courtesy UAF/GI photo by JR Ancheta)

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Alaska research site to send radio signal to asteroid

The purpose of the experiment is to probe the interior of the asteroid

Alaska state Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, sits in the House on April 29, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. Eastman, accused of violating the state constitution's disloyalty clause over his lifetime membership in Oath Keepers, has not condemned the organization in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S Capitol. "No, I generally don't condemn groups," Eastman, a Wasilla Republican, said during his bench hearing on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, his second day on the witness stand. (AP Photo / Becky Bohrer, File)

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Judge rules Eastman eligible to hold office

The judge’s order is on hold pending a possible appeal.

An architect’s depiction shows the first crisis stabilization center for youth and adults in Southeast Alaska, now under construction at Bartlett Region Hospital and scheduled for completion in March of 2023. Among the goals for the center is reducing the number of youths experiencing a behavioral health crisis who must leave the community and receive treatment away from their families. (City and Borough of Juneau)

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DOJ: Alaska illegally institutionalizing troubled kids

State locks up youths far from home instead of offering adequate treatment, investigation finds.

Gavel (Courtesy photo)

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Suit challenges review underlying Alaska oil lease sale

The lawsuit asks that a judge strike down the environmental review underlying the lease sale.

This November 2021 photo shows a poster promoting Narcan, a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses, inside the Juneau Public Health Center. According to statistics shared recently by the state, overdose deaths have been on the rise recently. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

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Alaska by the somber and strange numbers

Annual stats report shows life expectancy dropping, COVID, drug deaths up.

Aaron Prussian, a natural resource specialist for the Sitka Ranger District, goes skiing in Tongass National Forest. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is proposing to leave large portions of the state’s forests intact from timber harvesting and other industrial activity in exchange for carbon credits to help balance the state’s budget. Such restrictions would not make forests off-limits to recreational use. (Will Sirokman / U.S. Forest Service)

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What is ‘monetizing carbon credits’? And how would it work?

How the governor is making a “$900 million a year or bust” bet on Alaska’s financial future

While nearly $8 million for state disability access projects are proposed on paper for Juneau in Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget for next year, in reality those funds are for statewide items administered through a local office. It is among a number of regional budget items where, to the naked eye, money isn’t necessarily going where it first appears. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Mixed feelings on local items in state budget

Flat funding of ferries, education not a big hit, but governor’s appaent willingness to negotiate is.

Courtesy Photo / JR Ancheta, UAF Matthew Wooller kneels in the mammoth tusk collection at the University of Alaska Museum of the North in 2021. Wooller is leading the museum’s Adopt a Mammoth program, which will date and identify specimens at the museum.

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UAF partners with Alaska students for a mammoth of a project

“De-extinction” company adopts fossils for Alaska school districts.

This photo shows the TikTok icon on a phone screen. University of Alaska and travel industry officials recently joined forces to attract potential students to employment and learning opportunities in Alaska through the popular app. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

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New kids on the Tok

University uses popular app to reach new students as states move to ban it from government devices.

FILE - Alaska state Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, sits in the House on April 29, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. Eastman, accused of violating the state constitution's disloyalty clause over his lifetime membership in Oath Keepers, has not condemned the organization in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S Capitol. "No, I generally don't condemn groups," Eastman, a Wasilla Republican, said during his bench hearing on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, his second day on the witness stand. (AP Photo / Becky Bohrer)

News

Alaska lawmaker won’t condemn Oath Keepers in Capitol riot

“No, I generally don’t condemn groups.”

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire Gov. Mike Dunleavy discusses his proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year during a press conference Thursday at the Alaska State Capitol. He said it features no major increases or reductions compared to the current year’s budget, incurs about a $265 million deficit covered with reserve funds, and includes a “full PFD” projected to be about $3,800

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Governor’s budget calls for no major cuts, no major adds and a big new revenue plan

Governor says no major increases or cuts, “full PFD”; bets long-term stability on carbon credits

The Aiviq icebreaker, seen here towing a mobile drilling rig about 100 miles southwest of Kodiak, is the privately owned vessel likely to be purchased with a $150 million allocation in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. Juneau is the preferred home port for the icebreaker, which would be the only such ship stationed in Alaska and would result in about an additional 190 personnel in the city. (U.S. Coast Guard)

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Juneau-based icebreaker in final NDAA bill, Sullivan says

Purchase of private ship, which may bring 600 people to Juneau, gets warm support from local leaders

In this Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016 file photo, dead common murres lie washed up on a rocky beach in Whittier, Alaska. Arctic seabirds unable to find enough food in warmer ocean waters are just one sign of the vast changes in the polar region, where the climate is being transformed faster than anywhere else on Earth. An annual report, to be released Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022 by U.S. scientists, also documents rising Arctic temperatures and disappearing sea ice. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen File)

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Starving seabirds on Alaska coast show climate change peril

The seabirds are struggling because of climate-linked ecosystem shifts…

Gov. Mike Dunleavy answers media questions about his proposed budget for next year and the upcoming legislative session shortly before the annual holiday open house at the governor’s mansion on Tuesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Dunleavy offers holiday sneak peek of budget, agenda

Governor to seek new revenue in budget, abortion amendment, favors motorized Mendenhall access.