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Hundreds of people gathered in raincoats and boots at the Twin Lakes Kaasei Totem Plaza for a ceremony unveiling a Tlingit healing totem pole and screens on Oct. 1, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

My Turn: Tlingit traditions and integrity

Our Tlingit people reside in Southeast Alaska and Canada. We have existed in Alaska for about 15,000 years, or approximately 750 family generations. Our Tlingit… Continue reading

Hundreds of people gathered in raincoats and boots at the Twin Lakes Kaasei Totem Plaza for a ceremony unveiling a Tlingit healing totem pole and screens on Oct. 1, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Photo courtesy of Patty Schied The author hosting a Christmas dinner for her family in 2022.
Capital City Weekly

Cooking For Pleasure: Serving up a warm mood in lousy weather

This Middle Eastern red lentil soup is not the sustenance of long-ago cold memories.

Photo courtesy of Patty Schied The author hosting a Christmas dinner for her family in 2022.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy addresses the audience during his inauguration ceremony Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, in Anchorage. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Opinion: Dunleavy’s public trust deficit

According to two longtime researchers at the Alaska Department of Labor, articles produced for Alaska Economic Trends had never been removed from the publication before.… Continue reading

Gov. Mike Dunleavy addresses the audience during his inauguration ceremony Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, in Anchorage. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Just strumming along in the downtown flats area on Oct. 19. (Photo by Denise Carroll)

Neighbors: Art in Unusual Places

The Juneau Empire welcomes reader-submitted photos of art in unusual or unexpected places. To submit email your photos and captions to editor@juneauempire.com.… Continue reading

Just strumming along in the downtown flats area on Oct. 19. (Photo by Denise Carroll)
Scientist/explorer Ernest Leffingwell spent nine winters on Flaxman Island off Alaska’s northern coast. (Photo from the book “Conquering the Arctic ice,” by Ejnar Mikkelsen)

Alaska Science Forum: Ernest Leffingwell, fan of the far north

One hundred years ago, a group of men sailed to the northern coast of Alaska to find a land mass rumored to protrude from the… Continue reading

Scientist/explorer Ernest Leffingwell spent nine winters on Flaxman Island off Alaska’s northern coast. (Photo from the book “Conquering the Arctic ice,” by Ejnar Mikkelsen)
A sign at Chicago Midway International Airport. (Photo by Teri Schwartz)

Living and Growing: “All lanes lead to all gates”

Some time ago I was standing in a long security line at Chicago’s Midway airport. Above the crowd a large sign read “All Lanes Lead… Continue reading

A sign at Chicago Midway International Airport. (Photo by Teri Schwartz)
(Juneau Empire File)

My Turn: Give Dunleavy the same quality of legal defense he gives indigents

As reported recently by the Alaska Beacon, a new regulation approved by the Dunleavy administration will give the governor and attorney general access to free… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire File)
An American goshawk female in brown “juvenile” plumage guards her nest. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Hawks of the forest

We have two species of forest hawks: the American goshawk and the much smaller sharp-shinned hawk. Both have short, broad, powerful wings and long tails,… Continue reading

An American goshawk female in brown “juvenile” plumage guards her nest. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to media about Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Opinion: Sullivan’s cynical concern about the rule of law

Rather than submit nominations for federal judge positions by the method that’s been used for years, Sen. Dan Sullivan created the Alaska Federal Judiciary Council… Continue reading

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to media about Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Northern lights seen from flight arriving in Juneau on Oct. 26. (Photo by Jack Beedle)

Wild Shots

To showcase our readers’ work to the widest possible audience, Wild Shots have been moved in front of the Juneau Empire’s paywall. Don’t have a… Continue reading

Northern lights seen from flight arriving in Juneau on Oct. 26. (Photo by Jack Beedle)
University of Alaska Southeast graduate student Muriel Walatka gathers samples of beach sand to examine for microplastics at Auke Recreation Area in August 2019. (Photo courtesy Sonia Nagorski)

Alaska Science Forum: Plastic in the rain of Southeast Alaska

“We found microplastics in every single rain sample (gathered in Juneau),” Sonia Nagorski told a group of people listening to her talk at the American… Continue reading

University of Alaska Southeast graduate student Muriel Walatka gathers samples of beach sand to examine for microplastics at Auke Recreation Area in August 2019. (Photo courtesy Sonia Nagorski)
Sunlight is cast over part of Mount Juneau on Dec. 16, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)

Living and Growing: Light and beauty

October is the start of fall festivities, it ushers in Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas, along with Alaska Day and Veterans Day, and other holiday… Continue reading

Sunlight is cast over part of Mount Juneau on Dec. 16, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)
(Szabó János / Unsplash)
Capital City Weekly

Gimme A Smile: If I go to the doctor on Halloween, will a vampire take my blood?

I have a doctor’s appointment on Halloween. How can that be good? I can picture the scene in the lab: me holding out my arm… Continue reading

(Szabó János / Unsplash)
Juneau Assembly candidates discuss a range of issues during a forum Sept. 12 at the KTOO studio. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Opinion: After the election where does Juneau go from here?

The dust has finally settled on Juneau’s recent municipal election, and there’s an expectation that our Assembly will start conducting its business more transparently and… Continue reading

Juneau Assembly candidates discuss a range of issues during a forum Sept. 12 at the KTOO studio. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A lone berry hangs from a bush on the edge of a muskeg in which the author and his wife sought a buck, but found a doe. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: Muskeg mornings

Twenty minutes after the first call and maybe two after the last sip of coffee, a gray body walked casually behind a smattering of brush… Continue reading

A lone berry hangs from a bush on the edge of a muskeg in which the author and his wife sought a buck, but found a doe. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
Fall colors at Mendenhall Lake. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
Video

On the Trails: Plants’ sensory world and other things

If you think about it, plants are really quite remarkable organisms. They don’t have hearts or brains, and they can’t run or hop around, but… Continue reading

Fall colors at Mendenhall Lake. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
Video
A rainbow appears over downtown as residents check out rows of electric vehicles at Juneau’s EV & E-bike Roundup on Sept. 23. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: We should all pay more for the privilege of driving

Last month a law charging an annual $200 fee on electric vehicles (EV) went into effect in Texas. The Alaska Legislature needs to enact a… Continue reading

A rainbow appears over downtown as residents check out rows of electric vehicles at Juneau’s EV & E-bike Roundup on Sept. 23. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Fisheries biologist Randy Brown of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Fairbanks handles a net used for dolly varden trout in northern Alaska. (Photo by Katrina Liebich)

Alaska Science Forum: Finned adventurers nosing into the Arctic

A few years ago, Randy Brown wondered if he might lose $50,000 he had just won as part of the Rachel Carson Award for Exemplary… Continue reading

  • Oct 20, 2023
  • By Ned Rozell
Fisheries biologist Randy Brown of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Fairbanks handles a net used for dolly varden trout in northern Alaska. (Photo by Katrina Liebich)
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

My Turn: Math and the apportionment of Alaska’s legislative district boundaries

Recently, in response to the news that “we the people” must now pay $400,000 out of Alaska’s public treasury to a plaintiff unhappy with the… Continue reading

(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Rafters navigate the Mendenhall River in July of 2021. (Photo by John Harley)
Capital City Weekly

Sustainable Alaska: Adventures in a changing climate

It’s difficult to quantify and rank the threats of climate change — how do you weigh the complete collapse of a Yukon salmon run against… Continue reading

Rafters navigate the Mendenhall River in July of 2021. (Photo by John Harley)