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Alaska Air National Guard Col. Torrence Saxe, Commander of the168th Wing, celebrates the opening of the service branch’s Juneau recruiting office, the first outside the Anchorage and Fairbanks road system. Senior Master Sgt. Vickie Padello, who oversaw the office’s opening, and Technical Sgt. Jasmine Gallatin, a recruiter, hold a ceremonial ribbon in front of the new office at the National Guard Armory in the University of Alaska Southeast Rec Center. (Kevin Gullufsen | Juneau Empire)

Alaska Air National Guard looks to increase presence in Juneau

New recruiting office opens, aims to get capital on drill flight rotation.

Alaska Air National Guard Col. Torrence Saxe, Commander of the168th Wing, celebrates the opening of the service branch’s Juneau recruiting office, the first outside the Anchorage and Fairbanks road system. Senior Master Sgt. Vickie Padello, who oversaw the office’s opening, and Technical Sgt. Jasmine Gallatin, a recruiter, hold a ceremonial ribbon in front of the new office at the National Guard Armory in the University of Alaska Southeast Rec Center. (Kevin Gullufsen | Juneau Empire)
Two Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews rescue 11 people after a float plane crashed 39 miles south southwest of Ketchikan, Alaska, on Prince of Wales Island, July 10, 2018. All 11 people were taken to a staging area nearby for further transfer to Ketchikan. (U.S. Coast Guard | Courtesy Photo)

All 11 rescued from crashed plane on Prince of Wales

All 11 people aboard a plane that crashed Tuesday have been rescued in mountainous terrain on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska, officials said. A… Continue reading

Two Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews rescue 11 people after a float plane crashed 39 miles south southwest of Ketchikan, Alaska, on Prince of Wales Island, July 10, 2018. All 11 people were taken to a staging area nearby for further transfer to Ketchikan. (U.S. Coast Guard | Courtesy Photo)
Eric Forrer, left, and Joe Geldhof, right, have sued the state of Alaska in an attempt to stop a plan that calls for borrowing up to $1 billion from global bond markets to pay oil and gas tax credits owed by the state. They are pictured May 22, 2018 in an interview at the Juneau Empire. (James Brooks | Juneau Empire File)

Alaska pauses plan to borrow $1 billion for oil-company payouts

State officials confirmed Tuesday that a billion-dollar bond issue is on hold amid a pending lawsuit by two Juneau men.

Eric Forrer, left, and Joe Geldhof, right, have sued the state of Alaska in an attempt to stop a plan that calls for borrowing up to $1 billion from global bond markets to pay oil and gas tax credits owed by the state. They are pictured May 22, 2018 in an interview at the Juneau Empire. (James Brooks | Juneau Empire File)
Two Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews rescue 11 people after a float plane crashed 39 miles south southwest of Ketchikan, Alaska, on Prince of Wales Island, July 10, 2018. All 11 people were taken to a staging area nearby for further transfer to Ketchikan. (U.S. Coast Guard | Courtesy Photo)

All 11 rescued from crashed plane on Prince of Wales

All 11 people aboard a plane that crashed Tuesday have been rescued in mountainous terrain on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska, officials said. A… Continue reading

Two Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews rescue 11 people after a float plane crashed 39 miles south southwest of Ketchikan, Alaska, on Prince of Wales Island, July 10, 2018. All 11 people were taken to a staging area nearby for further transfer to Ketchikan. (U.S. Coast Guard | Courtesy Photo)
Eric Forrer, left, and Joe Geldhof, right, have sued the state of Alaska in an attempt to stop a plan that calls for borrowing up to $1 billion from global bond markets to pay oil and gas tax credits owed by the state. They are pictured May 22, 2018 in an interview at the Juneau Empire. (James Brooks | Juneau Empire File)

Alaska pauses plan to borrow $1 billion for oil-company payouts

State officials confirmed Tuesday that a billion-dollar bond issue is on hold amid a pending lawsuit by two Juneau men. The bonds, authorized by the… Continue reading

Eric Forrer, left, and Joe Geldhof, right, have sued the state of Alaska in an attempt to stop a plan that calls for borrowing up to $1 billion from global bond markets to pay oil and gas tax credits owed by the state. They are pictured May 22, 2018 in an interview at the Juneau Empire. (James Brooks | Juneau Empire File)
Juneau Empire file.

USDA Sec. Perdue: Logging, other Southeast industries not ‘mutually-exclusive’

Correction: This article initially listed an incorrect figure for the number of acres the roadless rule would apply to in the Tongass National Forest. The… Continue reading

Juneau Empire file.
Dr. Cate Buley, the medical director of primary care clinics for the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), talks about changing policies in the realm of opioid prescriptions. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

State shows progress on reducing opioids

Looking at the entirety of the opioid addiction epidemic that has taken hold of Alaska and the rest of the country, it’s easy to get… Continue reading

Dr. Cate Buley, the medical director of primary care clinics for the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), talks about changing policies in the realm of opioid prescriptions. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)
The Alaska Marine Highway System ferries LeConte, left, and Fairweather at the Auke Bay Terminal on Monday, March 5, 2018. (Juneau Empire file)

Ferry passengers stranded without toilets

A pair of generators broke down on the Alaska Marine Highway ferry M/V LeConte Thursday afternoon, stranding 52 passengers on board without working toilets and… Continue reading

The Alaska Marine Highway System ferries LeConte, left, and Fairweather at the Auke Bay Terminal on Monday, March 5, 2018. (Juneau Empire file)
A 13-year-old girl and her aunt and uncle are taken back to a cabin on Kruzof Island, Alaska, July 3, 2018, in an Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. The girl was reported missing in a kayak in Shelikof Bay, last seen wearing a purple, blue and black life jacket, and was later found by the Jayhawk crew in good condition. (U.S. Coast Guard | Courtesy Photo)

With help from aunt, Coast Guard finds missing girl near Sitka

A 13-year-old girl briefly went missing on Kruzof Island near Sitka on Tuesday afternoon, according to a Coast Guard release, as she paddled in the… Continue reading

A 13-year-old girl and her aunt and uncle are taken back to a cabin on Kruzof Island, Alaska, July 3, 2018, in an Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. The girl was reported missing in a kayak in Shelikof Bay, last seen wearing a purple, blue and black life jacket, and was later found by the Jayhawk crew in good condition. (U.S. Coast Guard | Courtesy Photo)
A U.S. Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter is seen in this undated image. (The Weather Channel | Courtesy Photo)

Three on board rescued as boat sinks near Sitka

A Coast Guard helicopter and a good Samaritan fishing vessel helped rescue three people on a sinking vessel in Sitka Sound on Monday night, according… Continue reading

A U.S. Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter is seen in this undated image. (The Weather Channel | Courtesy Photo)
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, right, shakes hands with owner Ray Keenan after touring Rollo Bay Holdings, which specializes in potato producing, marketing, shipping and exporting, in Souris, Prince Edward Island, Canada, on Friday, June 15, 2018. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Secretary of Agriculture to visit Southeast timber industry sites

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will visit Southeast Alaska on Thursday as part of a “Back to Our Roots” tour of Washington, Oregon, Idaho… Continue reading

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, right, shakes hands with owner Ray Keenan after touring Rollo Bay Holdings, which specializes in potato producing, marketing, shipping and exporting, in Souris, Prince Edward Island, Canada, on Friday, June 15, 2018. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP)
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, right, shakes hands with owner Ray Keenan after touring Rollo Bay Holdings, which specializes in potato producing, marketing, shipping and exporting, in Souris, Prince Edward Island, Canada, on Friday, June 15, 2018. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Secretary of Agriculture to visit Southeast timber industry sites

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will visit Southeast Alaska on Thursday as part of a “Back to Our Roots” tour of Washington, Oregon, Idaho… Continue reading

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, right, shakes hands with owner Ray Keenan after touring Rollo Bay Holdings, which specializes in potato producing, marketing, shipping and exporting, in Souris, Prince Edward Island, Canada, on Friday, June 15, 2018. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Gov. Bill Walker (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Governor backtracks on judge appointment after seeing ‘disturbing’ legal brief

Comments in an old legal brief prevented a local defense attorney from becoming the state’s newest Juneau Superior Court judge.

Gov. Bill Walker (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
A bowhead whale in Disko Bay, West Greenland. (Courtesy Photo | The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

More Arctic boats are bad news for bowheads, narwhals

Sea ice is breaking up faster every year in the Arctic, opening up the Northwest Passage and Northern Sea Route to increased vessel traffic.

A bowhead whale in Disko Bay, West Greenland. (Courtesy Photo | The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

More Arctic boats are bad news for bowheads, narwhals

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Alaska Natives are currently allowed to harvest 280 bowhead whales annually. The number is actually… Continue reading

Feds push deal for Admiralty Island land

The U.S. Forest Service finalized a deal Thursday with Sitka urban Native corporation Shee Atiká, Incorporated, to return 6,077 acres of heavily-logged land on Admiralty… Continue reading

Fisherman Pat Pellett set gillnet fishing on the Alsek River. (Photo courtesy Nicole Zeiser)

Unexplained sockeye dropoff shuts down Yakutat fishery

Add Yakutat’s wild sockeye run to a growing list of struggling Alaska salmon stocks.

Fisherman Pat Pellett set gillnet fishing on the Alsek River. (Photo courtesy Nicole Zeiser)
In 2017, a Rural Power System Upgrade grant from the Alaska Energy Authority paid for renovations by the Inside Passage Electric Cooperative to the diesel powerhouse in Kake, seen here in a photograph provided by IPEC CEO Jodi Mitchell. The AEA is considering changes to the program, with major implications for rural electric customers. (Courtesy photo)

As funding dries up, Alaska seeks new way to pay for rural power

The Alaska Energy Authority is considering a major change to the way it supports rural power projects, and customers are likely to pay more as a result.

In 2017, a Rural Power System Upgrade grant from the Alaska Energy Authority paid for renovations by the Inside Passage Electric Cooperative to the diesel powerhouse in Kake, seen here in a photograph provided by IPEC CEO Jodi Mitchell. The AEA is considering changes to the program, with major implications for rural electric customers. (Courtesy photo)
Former Alaska U.S. Senator Mark Begich greets and speaks to Juneau residents interested in his campaign for governor at the IBEW Local 1547 Union office on Thursday, June 29, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Mark Begich makes campaign stop in Juneau

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Begich made a campaign stop Thursday in Juneau, speaking to about 45 people at the local IBEW union hall. As attendees… Continue reading

Former Alaska U.S. Senator Mark Begich greets and speaks to Juneau residents interested in his campaign for governor at the IBEW Local 1547 Union office on Thursday, June 29, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is warning Alaskans that a security breach may have affected more than 500 people who used public assistance in the Interior and northern Alaska. (Luca Bravo | Unsplash)

Security breach: Hackers access Alaskans’ information from state computer

A security breach may have exposed the personal information of at least 500 northern Alaskans to unknown hackers, possibly in Russia.

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is warning Alaskans that a security breach may have affected more than 500 people who used public assistance in the Interior and northern Alaska. (Luca Bravo | Unsplash)