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This May 2022 photo shows a ballot and return envelope in the state's special primary election. Tuesday is Election Day for the general election featuring three of the top vote-getters from the earlier ballot. Aug. 16 will also include a regular primary election. Only the special election will feature ranked choice voting. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

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Clarifying an election unlike any other

Confusion about unique ballot impairs otherwise lively vote next week.

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It’s a week until the vote — do you know where your candidates are?

A few contenders planning Juneau and Southeast Alaska stops before Tuesday’s primary/special election

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks with reporters about the state's budget at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, May 19, 2022. Dunleavy, who received a conditional endorsement from former President Donald Trump, was among the first prominent Alaska politicians to weigh in on the FBI's search of Trump's property. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

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Alaska pols buzzwording about FBI raid

Reactions by Trump backers — and lack thereof by opponents — mirror national furor

For the first time in a decade, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., source of more than half of Alaska’s general-purpose state revenue, posted negative investment returns for an entire fiscal year. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)

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Alaska Permanent Fund Corp posts negative returns for first time in a decade

The decline will not have an immediate negative effect on state finances

Mimi Israelah, center, cheers for Donald Trump inside the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, Alaska, during a rally Saturday July 9, 2022. Two Anchorage police officers violated department policy during a traffic stop last month when Israelah, in town for a rally by former President Donald Trump showed a "white privilege card" instead of a driver's license and was not ticketed. (Bill Roth / Anchorage Daily News)

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Alaska officers violated policy in ‘white privilege’ stop

It’s unclear what policy was violated or what disciplinary actions the two officers faced.

Congressional candidates Mary Peltola, left, Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III discuss Southeast Alaska and other issues during a midday forum Monday hosted by KINY radio. The three candidates are the finalists for the special election Aug. 16 fill the remainder of the late Rep. Don Young’s term and also are competing in the primary for the general election on that date. (Screenshot / KINY radio webcast)

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3 House candidates debate in Juneau

Mary Peltola, Nick Begich III and Sarah Palin make cases before Aug. 16 special election

A voter casts a ballot in the special primary election to fill Alaska's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The general election for that race is Aug. 16. Candidates for that race and others have raised millions this election cycle, but it raises a few questions, such as who's giving and why? (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

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Who donates to campaigns and why?

$1.5M from a business tycoon, $50 from a retiree, $8 from Planned Parenthood – what’s the reward?

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. The spread of monkeypox in the U.S. in 2022 could represent the dawn of a new sexually transmitted disease, or it could yet be contained. Or it might be too early to tell. (Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP, File)

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Alaska reports 1st case of monkeypox

Anchorage resident had contact with someone who recently traveled outside of the state.

A Coast Guard aircrew fro Coast Guard Air Station Sitka rescued a boat’s captain after his vessel ran aground southeast of Yakutat on Thursday morning. (Courtesy photo / USCG)

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Coast Guard rescue man after vessel runs aground

Aircrews also medevaced a crewman from a cargo ship near Dutch Harbor.

A cruise ship nears the glaciers near Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Glacier Bay is implementing a cruise ship inspection program that works similar to the inactive Ocean Ranger program. (Courtesy Photo / U.S. National Park Service)

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Glacier Bay implements cruise ship inspection program to replace Ocean Rangers

“The hope is that the Ocean Ranger program may revive because we’d rather not have this program”

Courtesy Photo / Alaska Federation of Natives Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds up a bill providing state recognition of the 229 federally recognized Alaska Native tribes after signing it Thursday during a ceremony at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. He also signed a bill authorizing tribes to establish compact schools under a pilot program.

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Tribal recognition bill arrives with lessons

Pilot program allowing Alaska Native compact schools adds heft to ceremony.

Alaskans for Better Government members La quen náay Liz Medicine Crow, Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson and ‘Wáahlaal Gidáak Barbara Blake embrace on the floor of the Alaska State Senate on Friday, May 13, 2022, following the passage of House Bill 123, a bill to formally recognize the state's 229 already federally-recognized tribes. Gov. Mike Dunleavy is scheduled to sign the bill during a ceremony Thursday during a ceremony in Anchorage. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Alaska Natives welcome tribal recognition by state at least

Dunleavy to sign bill Thursday; advocates say it advances cooperative relations.

A chart shows job approval ratings by party affiliation for U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski between Jan. 20, 2021 and June 30 of this year. The 22% increase since the beginning of Joe Biden’s presidency is among the biggest for senators. A different poll shows her losing to a Republican challenger among voters of that party in Alaska, but winning reelection due to cross-over votes from Democrats under the new ranked choice voting system. (Source: Morning Consult)

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Poll: Murkowski’s net approval up 22% during Biden administration

Morning Consult survey says Alaska incumbent’s popularity rising more than almost any other senator

This aerial photo provided by the Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service shows a tundra fire burning near the community of St. Mary's, Alaska, on June 10, 2022. Alaska's remarkable wildfire season includes over 530 blazes that have burned an area more than three times the size of Rhode Island, with nearly all the impacts, including dangerous breathing conditions from smoke, attributed to fires started by lightning. (Ryan McPherson / Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service)

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Alaska experiencing wildfires it’s never seen before

Already more than 530 wildfires have burned an area the size of Connecticut.

Gavel (Courtesy photo)

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Some public funds OK for private education, decision says

Not OK to replace core services.

Evidence markers are placed around the scene of a shooting in Centennial Park campground in Anchorage, Alaska, Wednesday, July 20, 2022. (Bill Roth / Anchorage Daily News)

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Officer, man wounded in shootout at Anchorage homeless camp

Both were taken to the hospital and are expected to survive, police said.

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter pilot watches as the aircrew assists overdue boaters, July 18, 2022. (Lt. Scott Kellerman / U.S. Coast Guard)

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USCG conducts multiple rescues around state

Coast Guard aircrews stayed busy on Monday from the Southeast to western Alaska.

A Walker-Drygas campaign sign stands across from the governor’s mansion in Juneau. Financial forms recently filed with the state showed contributions to gubernatorial campaigns up sharply from the same time period four years ago. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

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Governor race contributions triple from last cycle, filings show

Eliminating individual donation limits results in top tickets raising nearly $3M since February.

Campaign signs for Republican candidates leading in a recent poll in their respective races for governor, U.S. House and U.S. Senate hang from a structure near Juneau International Airport on Monday. Nick Begich and Lisa Murkowski, who had to file federal campaign donation reports by last Friday, also report having the most cash-on-hand by far in their races. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

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Murkowski, Palin top most recent fundraising reports

Senate incumbent also has huge campaign coffer advantage; Begich and Peltola top Palin’s cash-on-hand

Beginning Saturday, dialing 9-8-8 will connect callers to a mental heal crisis call center nationwide, based on the caller’s area code. It’s an expansion of extant Careline programs. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

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Nation stands up mental health crisis hotline

Three-digit number will connect callers not with police or fire, but with a mental crisis lifeline.