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Employees use large knives to chop up bull kelp as it makes it was down the conveyor belt. (Clarise Larson // Juneau Empire)

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Kelp is on the way: After a pandemic setback, mariculture farming is on the rise — and could help combat climate change

Self-help-kelp.

In this July 2020 photo, a sign on a Mendenhall Valley business advertises Permanent Fund dividend sales. Payments for this year's PFD will start July 20, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Friday.

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Dunleavy: PFD payments start Sept. 20

That’s weeks earlier than is typical.

A roll of I voted stickers await voters on Saturday at the Alaska Division of Elections office in Juneau. A federal judge on Thursday denied a request to block campaign finance provisions of a ballot measure approved by Alaska voters in 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

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Judge refuses to block Alaska campaign disclosure rules

There is a special election for U.S. House and a primary in Alaska on Aug. 16.

Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf returns home to California following a nearly three-month patrol monitoring for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing on Nov. 1, 2021. (Chief Petty Officer Matt Masaschi / U.S. Coast Guard)

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Coast Guard announces penalties against fishing vessels

The annual patrol to monitor illegal fishing is set to begin soon.

(Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Entering the political arena

MAGA rally faithful—and Trump —come to Alaska.

This photo shows a sample ballot for the Aug. 16 special general election to determine who will fill the months remaining on Don Young's term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Alaska's longtime representative died in March. The three candidates vying to fill Young's term are also among those running for a full two-year term and will appear on primary ballot the same day. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

Dunleavy, Begich, Murkowski remain favorites in new poll

Ranked-choice voting could shake up U.S. House race, as Peltola has slim edge against Palin

A couple of visitors watch preparations Friday afternoon for the Save America Rally scheduled Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Quiet before the red storm

Arena for Donald Trump rally mostly tranquil, but buzz building 24 hours before speakers take stage

In this Nov. 7, 2020, photo Jaimie Sekona holds a Trump flag on the steps of the Alaska State Capitol. The former president is scheduled to speak Saturday afternoon at a rally in Anchorage. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

News

Still time to trip out for Trump

Plenty of flights and rooms available for weekend rally in Anchorage — but much local interest?

Flathead Lake Biological Station researchers Erin Sexton (right) and Chris Sergeant watch spawning salmon in a groundwater channel of the mine-impacted Tulsequah River in British Columbia. (Courtesy Photo / Jonathan Moore, Simon Fraser University)

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New paper sheds light on mining’s impact on salmon and transboundary watersheds

Decisions can have centuries of impact, according to researchers.

A P-18 Super Cub aircraft and two people on shore at Montague Island, Alaska, after the plane crashed July 6, 2022. (U.S. Coast Guard / Lt. Cmdr. Josh Wofford)

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Coast Guard performs multiple rescues around holiday weekend

Alaskans might have relaxed for the holiday, but the Coast Guard didn’t.

Bill Allen, former chief executive of VECO Corp. leaves federal court on Oct. 28, 2009 in Anchorage. Allen, a former oil services executive who was a key figure in a corruption scandal that rocked Alaska politics, has died. He was 85. (AP Photo /Al Grillo, File)

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Bill Allen, key figure in Alaska corruption scandal, dies

Bill Allen, a central figure in a corruption scandal that rocked Alaska politics, has died. He was 85.

Tents are shown Wednesday, July 6, 2022, inside Centennial Park in Anchorage, Alaska. State wildlife officials have killed four black bears in a campground recently set aside for the city's homeless population after Anchorage's largest shelter was closed. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen)

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4 bears killed in Anchorage campground reserved for homeless

Wildlife officials said before the bears were killed, they were entering tents.

This photo shows boats moored at Don D. Statter Harbor on a recent sunny day. According to statistics recently release by the U.S. Coast Guard, boating accidents were down in Alaska in 2021.(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

Boating fatalities trending down for 2021

Numbers met expectations, said safety instructors.

This October 2011 photo, shows the Perdido oil platform located about 200 miles south of Galveston, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico. The Biden administration is proposing up to 10 oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one in Alaska over the next five years. The announcement on Friday, July 1, 2022, said fewer lease sales or even zero could occur, with a final decision not due for months. (AP Photo / Jon Fahey)

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Biden offshore drilling proposal would allow up to 11 sales

Proposal includes up to 10 oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and 1 off…

Former Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho spoke about rank choice voting at the Chamber of Commerce's weekly luncheon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

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The 411 on ranked choice voting

Former Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho gives the lowdown.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Road to Majority conference Friday, June 17, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. A rally planned to include Trump is scheduled to happen in Anchorage on July 9. (AP Photo / Mark Humphrey File)

News

Trump to rally for Palin, Dunleavy, Tshibaka in Anchorage

Former President Donald Trump plans to attend a rally in Alaska next week.

Kim Kovol will be the acting commissioner for the new Alaska Department of Family and Community Services which debuts Friday. (Courtesy Photo)

News

New state department gets new commissioner

Kim Kovol, a longtime social services worker, will head the Dept. of Family and Community Services

In this April 11, 2018 photo state Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau, walks out of the Senate chambers and to a reception to honor him and Sen. Berta Gardner, D-Anchorage, at the Capitol. Both were retiring from the legislature. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

News

Dennis Egan, former state lawmaker and Juneau mayor, dies

He fought hard to keep the capital here in Juneau.

Courtesy Photo / Office of Gov. Mike Dunleavy Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Tuesday signed the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

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Gov. Dunleavy signs budget

PFD of about $3,200, $400 million in vetoes to Legislature-approved items among declared highlights

The Alaska Department of Health And Social Services building in Juneau has no visible signs indicating the department is splitting into two agencies as of Friday. Top officials at the department said many of the changes, both physical and in services, are likely weeks and in some cases months away. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Little sign of big change for DHSS

No commissioner at new department, other Dept. of Health and Social Services changes may take months