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Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, tells reporters why the bill for next year’s budget was held over Tuesday until the final day of the session on Wednesday. The Senate floor session is scheduled to start at 11 a.m., giving the Senate and House 13 hours to resolve their differences before the 121-day session deadline. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Senate stalls budget for suspenseful final day

Legislature will have 13 hours to solve differences over PFD, other issues to avoid special session

Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, tells reporters why the bill for next year’s budget was held over Tuesday until the final day of the session on Wednesday. The Senate floor session is scheduled to start at 11 a.m., giving the Senate and House 13 hours to resolve their differences before the 121-day session deadline. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Lisa Hawkins interviews drummer Cameron Cartland for the Anchorage-based livestream concert/conversation podcast Amplify Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Yngvil Vatn Guttu)
Capital City Weekly

Upcoming concert series to ‘Amplify Alaska’ voices

Saturday night show to serve as a fundraiser for Aak’w Rock Indigenous Music Festival.

Lisa Hawkins interviews drummer Cameron Cartland for the Anchorage-based livestream concert/conversation podcast Amplify Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Yngvil Vatn Guttu)
An array of vapes line the shelf of a display case at Alaska Pipeline vape store downtown. The Alaska Senate passed a bill that would impose a 25% statewide tax on retail e-cigarette products in Alaska Tuesday morning. It now heads to the House. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

​​Senate passes bill to impose statewide tax on e-cigarettes

A similar bill was vetoed by Gov. Dun Mike Dunleavy last fall.

An array of vapes line the shelf of a display case at Alaska Pipeline vape store downtown. The Alaska Senate passed a bill that would impose a 25% statewide tax on retail e-cigarette products in Alaska Tuesday morning. It now heads to the House. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
State Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, speaks in opposition Tuesday to a bill prohibiting state and municipal officials from closing firearms businesses during declared emergencies if other essential businesses remain open. The Senate voted 17-3 to pass the bill, which sets the stage for it to pass the full Legislature before the session adjourns Wednesday as part of a package agreement on various bills. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Ban on gun store shutdowns during disasters passes Senate

Kiehl among dissenters in 17-3 vote; proposal may be part of final negotiations with Housde

State Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, speaks in opposition Tuesday to a bill prohibiting state and municipal officials from closing firearms businesses during declared emergencies if other essential businesses remain open. The Senate voted 17-3 to pass the bill, which sets the stage for it to pass the full Legislature before the session adjourns Wednesday as part of a package agreement on various bills. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
People walk past an American flag inside the Oculus, part of the World Trade Center transportation hub, at the start of a work day in New York, Sept. 11, 2019. American lore is full of tales of a nation built on the foundations of individualism. In reality, loneliness in America can be deadly. In May 2023, the U.S. surgeon general declared it an epidemic, saying that it takes as deadly a toll as smoking. (AP Photo / Wong Maye-E)

How the American Dream convinces people loneliness is normal

In reality, loneliness in America can be deadly.

People walk past an American flag inside the Oculus, part of the World Trade Center transportation hub, at the start of a work day in New York, Sept. 11, 2019. American lore is full of tales of a nation built on the foundations of individualism. In reality, loneliness in America can be deadly. In May 2023, the U.S. surgeon general declared it an epidemic, saying that it takes as deadly a toll as smoking. (AP Photo / Wong Maye-E)
State Sen. Shelly Hughes, R-Palmer, talks with Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, right, following the Senate’s unanimous passage of carbon credits bill Monday. Hughes and Se. Mike Shower, center, voted for the bill despite voicing strong concerns about some of its provisions. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Carbon credits bill unanimously passes Senate, House quickly takes it up

Legislature seeks to OK priority bill for Dunleavy as part of package to adjourn session in time

State Sen. Shelly Hughes, R-Palmer, talks with Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, right, following the Senate’s unanimous passage of carbon credits bill Monday. Hughes and Se. Mike Shower, center, voted for the bill despite voicing strong concerns about some of its provisions. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
State Senate leaders depart the House Speaker’s office following a long meeting between members of both chambers Saturday afternoon that failed to resolve budget differences with only four days left until the scheduled adjournment of the legislative session. Leaders with both chambers have said there’s a strong likelihood of a special session, but a breakthrough on some key items late Monday may allow legislators to finish in time on Wednesday if they work at a whirlwind pace. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

‘It’s the weirdest session I’ve ever seen’: Odds for special session fluctuating drastically

Accusations by House and Senate leaders lead to late pacts as Legislature tries to adjourn on time

State Senate leaders depart the House Speaker’s office following a long meeting between members of both chambers Saturday afternoon that failed to resolve budget differences with only four days left until the scheduled adjournment of the legislative session. Leaders with both chambers have said there’s a strong likelihood of a special session, but a breakthrough on some key items late Monday may allow legislators to finish in time on Wednesday if they work at a whirlwind pace. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
City and Borough of Juneau Docks and Harbors Board Vice Chairman Jim Becker cuts a ribbon Monday afternoon stretched across the Seawalk downtown in celebration of the city’s completion of the Docks and Harbors Marine Deckover Project. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Docks and Harbors celebrates completion of Marine Park deckover project

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Monday afternoon.

City and Borough of Juneau Docks and Harbors Board Vice Chairman Jim Becker cuts a ribbon Monday afternoon stretched across the Seawalk downtown in celebration of the city’s completion of the Docks and Harbors Marine Deckover Project. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
A Starburst is unwrapped by the Da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgery System under the control of Eugene Rehfield, 10, who was one of the many residents that tried out the machine at the Bartlett Regional Hospital lobby Monday evening. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Bartlett unveils new robotic surgery system

The hospital hosted an open house to celebrate the new technology.

A Starburst is unwrapped by the Da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgery System under the control of Eugene Rehfield, 10, who was one of the many residents that tried out the machine at the Bartlett Regional Hospital lobby Monday evening. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
This Juneau Hydropower Inc. photo shows an overview of the Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Project site. (Courtesy Photo / Robert Johnson)

Sweetheart Lake project still in the works after partnership ends

Permit application withdrawn after Tokyo-based partners terminate agreement.

This Juneau Hydropower Inc. photo shows an overview of the Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Project site. (Courtesy Photo / Robert Johnson)
A sign hangs outside of outgoing City Manager Rorie Watt’s office located in the City Hall downtown. On Monday the Assembly City Manager Recruitment Committee met for the first time to discuss the recruitment process to hire Watt’s replacement by the end of September. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

City begins search for new manager

Outgoing Rorie Watt is expected to leave his post this fall.

A sign hangs outside of outgoing City Manager Rorie Watt’s office located in the City Hall downtown. On Monday the Assembly City Manager Recruitment Committee met for the first time to discuss the recruitment process to hire Watt’s replacement by the end of September. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
This is a photo of a Capital City Fire/Rescue truck in the Mendenhall Valley in May. CCFR and the Juneau Police Department are investigating a recent blaze Sunday morning as possible arson. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Doorstep fire investigated as possible arson

The circumstances of the blaze make it unlikely to be an accident, fire marshal says

This is a photo of a Capital City Fire/Rescue truck in the Mendenhall Valley in May. CCFR and the Juneau Police Department are investigating a recent blaze Sunday morning as possible arson. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
The Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore docks in Juneau in October, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Ships in Port for the Week of May 14

Here’s what to expect this week.

The Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore docks in Juneau in October, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
A skunk cabbage inflorescence shows the pointed stigmas of the female phase and the beginning of pollen presentation for the male phase. (Mary F. Willson / For the Juneau Empire)

On the Trails: Spring has sprung

Early avian harbingers have been joined by lots of other species…

A skunk cabbage inflorescence shows the pointed stigmas of the female phase and the beginning of pollen presentation for the male phase. (Mary F. Willson / For the Juneau Empire)
Hecla Green’s Creek environment/surface operations manager Martin Stearns (left) listens to Angoon resident Floyd Kim express his opposition to the four alternatives for the Hecla Greens Creek Mine North Extension Project, of which includes expanding its 8.5-million-cubic yard disposal facility to hold up to an additional five million cubic yards of tailings and waste rock storage. Kim was among the around 15 residents who joined the meeting held Friday afternoon in Angoon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Angoon residents speak out against Greens Creek Mine expansion

“We have no real power to stop what’s going on — even if we fight it seems to happen anyways.”

Hecla Green’s Creek environment/surface operations manager Martin Stearns (left) listens to Angoon resident Floyd Kim express his opposition to the four alternatives for the Hecla Greens Creek Mine North Extension Project, of which includes expanding its 8.5-million-cubic yard disposal facility to hold up to an additional five million cubic yards of tailings and waste rock storage. Kim was among the around 15 residents who joined the meeting held Friday afternoon in Angoon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
State House Speaker Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, left, offers her opinion during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Sunday about changes the committee made to a bill she’s sponsoring that would prevent state and municipal officials from closing stores that sell firearms during disaster declarations. The committee, which watered down some aspects of the original version, advanced the bill to a potential floor vote after a 50-minute hearing that featured heated public testimony both for and against the proposal. At right, state Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, presiding over the meeting as chair of the committee, denied the sudden hearing scheduled with less than a day’s notice is related to efforts to advance a bill of his that’s stalled in a House committee. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Gun legislation gets short-notice hearing on Mother’s Day

Senate holds expedited meeting to advance House Speaker’s bill lessening disaster restrictions.

State House Speaker Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, left, offers her opinion during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Sunday about changes the committee made to a bill she’s sponsoring that would prevent state and municipal officials from closing stores that sell firearms during disaster declarations. The committee, which watered down some aspects of the original version, advanced the bill to a potential floor vote after a 50-minute hearing that featured heated public testimony both for and against the proposal. At right, state Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, presiding over the meeting as chair of the committee, denied the sudden hearing scheduled with less than a day’s notice is related to efforts to advance a bill of his that’s stalled in a House committee. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Sen. Robert Myers, a North Pole Republican, smiles while on the Senate floor in early May. On Saturday the Alaska House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill he sponsored that would require the state’s Department of Corrections to issue state IDs to anyone leaving the state’s custody who does not have one at the time of their release. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Bill to offer incarcerated people in Alaska state IDs upon release heads to governor

The House passed the bill unanimously Saturday afternoon.

Sen. Robert Myers, a North Pole Republican, smiles while on the Senate floor in early May. On Saturday the Alaska House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill he sponsored that would require the state’s Department of Corrections to issue state IDs to anyone leaving the state’s custody who does not have one at the time of their release. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
This image shows the cover of Kate Troll’s new book, “All In Due Time: A Memoir of Siblings, Genealogy, Secrets and Love.” (Cirque Press)
Capital City Weekly

New book tells story of growing family and admiration

Kate Troll’s memoir details discovery of siblings and new appreciation of her mother.

This image shows the cover of Kate Troll’s new book, “All In Due Time: A Memoir of Siblings, Genealogy, Secrets and Love.” (Cirque Press)
A plane sits in brush on Fontaine Avenue at around 5:45 p.m. after a crash on Thursday, May 11, 2023, near Sterling, Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Alisha Joe)

No injuries reported after Sterling plane crash

Alaska State Troopers were notified of the crash at around 5:45 p.m. on Thursday

A plane sits in brush on Fontaine Avenue at around 5:45 p.m. after a crash on Thursday, May 11, 2023, near Sterling, Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Alisha Joe)
A marijuana plant is displayed in a cannabis shop. (Jeff Chiu/AP)

House OKs making some marijuana convictions private

Bill expanding court’s decision to limit public web access for minor offenses passes 36-4.

A marijuana plant is displayed in a cannabis shop. (Jeff Chiu/AP)