It’s been a busy summer, and after a vacation on my part late last month, an even busier fall. It’ll be over before we know it, and snow will be on the ground.
Before the season slips away entirely, I wanted to share a few things that are new on our end.
Please flip to page A13 for an announcement on the editorial board. Summary: It’s back, and we couldn’t be more excited. It’ll be great to once more delve into community issues, and try to further the discussion on what to do about Juneau’s most pressing problems.
For readers, please don’t forget that anyone can weigh in on our editorial pages by submitting a Letter to the Editor or My Turn. You can find instructions on how to submit those sorts of pieces by visiting juneauempire.com/submit-my-turnletter.
If you would also like to meet with the editorial board, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at editor@juneauempire.com. Ideas for editorials are always welcome, too.
In another section of the paper, Outdoors, we have a new segment that I am happy to announce: Curious by Nature. Curious by Nature will be answering reader-submitted questions about Mother Nature in Juneau and Southeast Alaska.
Have you ever wondered why the water here gets murkier in the summertime? Exactly how fast the Mendenhall Glacier is melting? Whether the Fukushima disaster is hurting Juneau’s salmon stocks? Why your dog loves the smell of bear poop?
If so, send your questions to outdoors@juneauempire.com. Reporter Kevin Gullufsen will be fielding them, and he promises to scour mountains, rivers, labs and university hallways to try to answer them. You can also contact Kevin directly at 523-2228.
In case you missed it, the first Curious by Nature column ran in this Friday’s Outdoors section, where a reader wanted to know what a mysterious white blob was that washed up on a beach at Berners Bay. You can read the story here online: http://juneauempire.com/outdoors/2017-10-12/curious-nature-mysterious-white-matter.
The third new thing isn’t actually as new as some of the others, but I did want to make a belated introduction for those who haven’t seen it yet. The Juneau Empire now has a fashion photographer in Kerry Howard!
Kerry has been taking photos for our weekly fashion segment called “Juneau Style,” which showcases how Juneauites dress, whether on the streets downtown, on the fishing docks or on the trails. It’s an idea borne out of the belief that the Juneau look — XtraTufs, Carhartts, rain gear and the rest — is something to be celebrated.
You can find Kerry’s pics every Sunday in the Neighbors section of the newspaper. Sometimes she also rotates with other photographers, such as Gina Vose in this week’s issue.
If you see Kerry around town snapping pictures, be sure to give her a wave and say hi, or maybe just strike a pose. (By the way, you can find all her Juneau Style photos online at juneauempire.com in a photo slideshow called Juneau Style.)
One more quick announcement: The Empire will be hosting another meet-and-greet this month. It’s Wednesday, Oct. 18, from 10:30-11 a.m. at the Mendenhall Valley Heritage Coffee shop. Come say hi, and feel free to share any questions you may have or ideas for the newspaper. I’ll be there, as will other Empire staff.
See you there, and thanks, as always, for reading.
• Emily Russo Miller is the editor of the Juneau Empire. She can be reached at 523-2263 or emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
