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Peter Segall / Juneau Empire There aren’t many patients currently hospitalized for COVID-19 at Bartlett Regional Hospitals, seen here on Wednesday, but health officials are urging Alaksans to get vaccinated as a flood of new cases is straining health care systems in other parts of the state.

Officials encourage vaccination as hospitals in state near capacity

Hospitalizations remain low locally, but there’s concern about a surge.

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire There aren’t many patients currently hospitalized for COVID-19 at Bartlett Regional Hospitals, seen here on Wednesday, but health officials are urging Alaksans to get vaccinated as a flood of new cases is straining health care systems in other parts of the state.
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State lawyer no longer with law department after social media report

Accusations remain unconfirmed.

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The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building in October 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

Permanent Fund posts record earnings as lawmakers debate state deficit

Record earnings, lengthy debate.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building in October 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
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Judge hears arguments in budget effective date suit

Superior Court Judge Herman Walker Jr. heard arguments in Anchorage

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Mariya Lovishchuk, Executive Director of the Glory Hall -- Juneau’s homeless shelter and soup kitchen -- speaks Wednesday, July 17, 2019, about cuts in services that will take place starting next month with the elimination of state funding. Watch a full video online at juneauempire.com. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
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WATCH: Glory Hall homeless shelter talks cuts in services

Juneau’s homeless shelter is hoping for a miracle.

Mariya Lovishchuk, Executive Director of the Glory Hall -- Juneau’s homeless shelter and soup kitchen -- speaks Wednesday, July 17, 2019, about cuts in services that will take place starting next month with the elimination of state funding. Watch a full video online at juneauempire.com. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
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2020 saw a decline in marriages statewide, but wedding-related businesses remain optimistic

Coming down the aisle?

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Chum salmon, like the kind seen here as a man examines the fish ladder at the Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc. hatchery on Channel Drive on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, have had lower returns this year according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists, even as fisheries in Bristol Bay are breaking records. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Salmon returns set records in Bristol Bay while Southeast runs struggle

Prices are up all around.

Chum salmon, like the kind seen here as a man examines the fish ladder at the Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc. hatchery on Channel Drive on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, have had lower returns this year according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists, even as fisheries in Bristol Bay are breaking records. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
In this July 8, 2021 photo, first lady Jill Biden delivers remarks before the start of the finals of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Jill Biden will attend the opening ceremony of the summer Olympic games in Tokyo. The White House announced the trip Tuesday, even as the city has entered a new state of emergency over a rise in coronavirus cases.(AP Photo / John Raoux)

FLOTUS stops in Alaska on her way to Tokyo Olympics

Alaska to Japan to Hawaii.

In this July 8, 2021 photo, first lady Jill Biden delivers remarks before the start of the finals of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Jill Biden will attend the opening ceremony of the summer Olympic games in Tokyo. The White House announced the trip Tuesday, even as the city has entered a new state of emergency over a rise in coronavirus cases.(AP Photo / John Raoux)
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State conducts review after report links racist, antisemitic Twitter account to state lawyer

Limited ability to comment.

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Das Kapitol

With deadline looming, lawmakers skeptical of work group schedule

More meetings and public testimony.

Das Kapitol
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Coalition sues to fund power subsidies for rural Alaskans

Villages, cities among plaintiffs.

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Courtesy photo / Norwegian Cruise Line Large cruises ships like Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Bliss, seen here near Ketchikan in this undated photo, are returning to Alaska after being shut down due to COVID-19. Trade group Cruise Lines International Association says the industry is ready to get back to business safely.

Cruises are coming back to Alaska prepared, industry exec says

Post-pandemic passengers.

Courtesy photo / Norwegian Cruise Line Large cruises ships like Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Bliss, seen here near Ketchikan in this undated photo, are returning to Alaska after being shut down due to COVID-19. Trade group Cruise Lines International Association says the industry is ready to get back to business safely.
A Juneau resident holds up a Recall Dunleavy signature collection page when the campaign first began in August, 2019, but the Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday the campaign’s application for recall was legally sufficient. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file)

State Supreme Court sides with recall campaign, draws Dunleavy’s ire

High court affirms superior court decision.

A Juneau resident holds up a Recall Dunleavy signature collection page when the campaign first began in August, 2019, but the Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday the campaign’s application for recall was legally sufficient. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file)
Kenneth Manzanares, 42, appears in U.S. District Court in Juneau for a change of plea hearing in this February 2020 photo. A barrier put in place in the public courtroom hallway blocked Manzanares from public view, per the judge’s orders. Photography is not allowed in the courtroom. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)

Man sentenced in wife’s beating death on Alaska cruise dies

He was found unresponsive in his cell Wednesday morning.

Kenneth Manzanares, 42, appears in U.S. District Court in Juneau for a change of plea hearing in this February 2020 photo. A barrier put in place in the public courtroom hallway blocked Manzanares from public view, per the judge’s orders. Photography is not allowed in the courtroom. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)
Peter Segall / Juneau Empire A sign lets visitors know they’re in the Tongass National Forest on Thursday, July 15, 2021, the same day the Biden administration announced yet another reversal of policy over the largest national forest. Debates about the 2001 Roadless Rule are familiar in Southeast Alaska, and Thursday’s announcement prompted familiar reactions in the state.

Conservation or constraint? Roadless Rule reversal divides Alaskans

New administration, new rules

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire A sign lets visitors know they’re in the Tongass National Forest on Thursday, July 15, 2021, the same day the Biden administration announced yet another reversal of policy over the largest national forest. Debates about the 2001 Roadless Rule are familiar in Southeast Alaska, and Thursday’s announcement prompted familiar reactions in the state.
Rep. Jonathan Kriess-Tomkins, D-Sitka, facilitates a meeting of the newly-formed Fiscal Plan Working Group at legislative offices in Anchorage on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. The working group is meant to draft recommendations to resolve the state’s budget deficit, but some members said they wanted to see a faster pace from the group. (Courtesy photo / Joe Plesha, Alaska House Majority Coalition)

Lawmakers say group working to solve budget woes must pick up the pace

Many more meetings.

Rep. Jonathan Kriess-Tomkins, D-Sitka, facilitates a meeting of the newly-formed Fiscal Plan Working Group at legislative offices in Anchorage on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. The working group is meant to draft recommendations to resolve the state’s budget deficit, but some members said they wanted to see a faster pace from the group. (Courtesy photo / Joe Plesha, Alaska House Majority Coalition)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a negotiator in the infrastructure talks, pauses for reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Murkowski hasn’t officially announced her re-election plans but her campaign released fundraising details, Wednesday, July 14, 2021, that an advisor says “strongly positions,” a re-election bid by Murkowski. The campaign statement comes ahead of a filing deadline and days after Republican party leaders in Alaska endorsed newcomer Kelly Tshibaka for Senate. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Murkowski camp teases fundraising ahead of deadline

Adviser: Fundraising “strongly positions” the Alaska Republican for a reelection bid.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a negotiator in the infrastructure talks, pauses for reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Murkowski hasn’t officially announced her re-election plans but her campaign released fundraising details, Wednesday, July 14, 2021, that an advisor says “strongly positions,” a re-election bid by Murkowski. The campaign statement comes ahead of a filing deadline and days after Republican party leaders in Alaska endorsed newcomer Kelly Tshibaka for Senate. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)
A map of Alaska shows the number of projects throughout the state that have received grants from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy since 2009. On Tuesday, July 13, 2021, DOE announced $12 million in energy grants for 13 American Indian and Alaska Native communities, seven of which are in Alaska. (Courtesy image / U.S. Department of Energy)

Metlakatla, Alaska Native villages to receive federal grants for energy upgrades

Upgrading the grid.

A map of Alaska shows the number of projects throughout the state that have received grants from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy since 2009. On Tuesday, July 13, 2021, DOE announced $12 million in energy grants for 13 American Indian and Alaska Native communities, seven of which are in Alaska. (Courtesy image / U.S. Department of Energy)
Courtesy photo / CCTHITA Tribal leaders from across the Southeast, including President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson of Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, left; President Gloria Burns of the Ketchikan Indian Community, center; and Marina Anderson, Tribal Adminitrator of the Organized Village of Kaasan, right; and many others attended a consultation with officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service last week to meet and set the ground for replacing protections for the Tongass National Forest.

Federal officials meet with Southeast tribal governments

The current administration says they’re trying to have a better relationship than the previous one.

Courtesy photo / CCTHITA Tribal leaders from across the Southeast, including President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson of Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, left; President Gloria Burns of the Ketchikan Indian Community, center; and Marina Anderson, Tribal Adminitrator of the Organized Village of Kaasan, right; and many others attended a consultation with officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service last week to meet and set the ground for replacing protections for the Tongass National Forest.
Gavel (Courtesy photo)

Judge hears case challenging new Alaska election system

Superior Court Judge Gregory Miller did not immediately rule Monday.

Gavel (Courtesy photo)