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Flames are visible from the Beluga Point parking area near Anchorage on July 19, 2016, as a wildfire near McHugh Creek burns. A recent series of wildfires near Anchorage and the hottest day on record have sparked fears that a warming climate could soon mean serious, untenable blazes in urban areas — just like in the rest of the drought-plagued American West. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News)

Climate change sparks disaster fears in Alaska’s largest city

This is the new reality.

Flames are visible from the Beluga Point parking area near Anchorage on July 19, 2016, as a wildfire near McHugh Creek burns. A recent series of wildfires near Anchorage and the hottest day on record have sparked fears that a warming climate could soon mean serious, untenable blazes in urban areas — just like in the rest of the drought-plagued American West. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News)
(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Police calls for Tuesday, May 2, 2023

This report contains information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Travel Juneau President Liz Perry (left) and board member McHugh Pierre (right) discuss it’s budget at the Assembly’s Finance Committee Meeting last Wednesday. According to City Finance Director Jeff Rogers, the largest portion of the organization’s annual budget (around 80%) comes from the city’s hotel bed tax revenue. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

City forecasts record-breaking bed tax revenues — again

Assembly discusses reallocating some of the funds for affordable housing.

Travel Juneau President Liz Perry (left) and board member McHugh Pierre (right) discuss it’s budget at the Assembly’s Finance Committee Meeting last Wednesday. According to City Finance Director Jeff Rogers, the largest portion of the organization’s annual budget (around 80%) comes from the city’s hotel bed tax revenue. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
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 April 30

Here’s what to expect the third week of the season.

  • May 1, 2023
The Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore docks in Juneau in October, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Captain Joe Emerson catches a salmon aboard his boat the TommyL II using a line-caught method, also known as trolling for his co-owned Southeast business Shoreline Wild Salmon. Shoreline was recently recognized by Good Housekeeping Institute Nutrition Lab as one of the best seafood delivery services currently in business. (Courtesy Photo / Joe Emerson)

Southeast salmon business hooks national attention

Shoreline Wild Salmon delivery service feted by Good Housekeeping.

Captain Joe Emerson catches a salmon aboard his boat the TommyL II using a line-caught method, also known as trolling for his co-owned Southeast business Shoreline Wild Salmon. Shoreline was recently recognized by Good Housekeeping Institute Nutrition Lab as one of the best seafood delivery services currently in business. (Courtesy Photo / Joe Emerson)
This photo provided by Fort Wainwright Public Affairs Office shows a recently installed sign at the main entry point to U.S. Army Garrison Alaska Fort Wainwright on April 5, 2023, in Fairbanks, Alaska. The mother of Warrant Officer 1 Stewart Duane Wayment, one of the three soldiers killed last week when two U.S. Army helicopters at Fort Wainwright collided as they were returning from training in a remote part of Alaska, said her son loved his country and his family and lifted others up. An investigative team flew to the crash site Monday, May 1. (Eve Baker / Fort Wainwright Public Affairs Office)

For soldier killed in Alaska crash ‘family was everything’

Mother said her son loved his country and his family and lifted others up.

This photo provided by Fort Wainwright Public Affairs Office shows a recently installed sign at the main entry point to U.S. Army Garrison Alaska Fort Wainwright on April 5, 2023, in Fairbanks, Alaska. The mother of Warrant Officer 1 Stewart Duane Wayment, one of the three soldiers killed last week when two U.S. Army helicopters at Fort Wainwright collided as they were returning from training in a remote part of Alaska, said her son loved his country and his family and lifted others up. An investigative team flew to the crash site Monday, May 1. (Eve Baker / Fort Wainwright Public Affairs Office)
Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire State Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, speaks in opposition to a bill allocating 75% of spendable Permanent Fund earnings to state programs and 25% to dividends during Monday’s floor session.

Senate passes $1,300 PFD bill despite dissension

Four majority members vote no on “75-25” bill, making it vulnerable to veto or other politicking.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire State Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, speaks in opposition to a bill allocating 75% of spendable Permanent Fund earnings to state programs and 25% to dividends during Monday’s floor session.
House Speaker Cathy Tilton, a Wasilla Republican, listens Monday morning to amendments to a bill she sponsored that seeks to bar the state and local governments in Alaska from mandating restrictions or closures to firearms and retailers in the event of a disaster. (Clarise Larson/ Juneau Empire)

Bill disallowing firearm restrictions during emergencies moves toward third reading

It’s expected to have its final reading Wednesday.

House Speaker Cathy Tilton, a Wasilla Republican, listens Monday morning to amendments to a bill she sponsored that seeks to bar the state and local governments in Alaska from mandating restrictions or closures to firearms and retailers in the event of a disaster. (Clarise Larson/ Juneau Empire)
JPD Chief Ed Mercer, Officer Kevin Fermin and Deputy Chief David Campbell pose for a group photo on Friday during Fermin’s retirement ceremony at the Juneau Police Department. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

JPD officer retires from department after 25 years

Over the course of a 25-year career with the Juneau Police Department, Officer Kevin Fermin touched lives inside and outside the department, and those contributions… Continue reading

JPD Chief Ed Mercer, Officer Kevin Fermin and Deputy Chief David Campbell pose for a group photo on Friday during Fermin’s retirement ceremony at the Juneau Police Department. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
President Joe Biden greets people after speaking about health care and prescription drug costs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo / John Locher)

Biden’s diverse coalition of support risks fraying in 2024

WASHINGTON — Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat-turned-Independent long known for his centrist views, voted for Joe Biden in 2020. But as Biden’s reelection… Continue reading

  • May 1, 2023
  • By Steve Peoples and Zeke Miller Associated Press
  • Nation-World
President Joe Biden greets people after speaking about health care and prescription drug costs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo / John Locher)
Nevin Overmiller, 78, walks a KFC food delivery to a customer’s door while delivering for Uber Eats, Wednesday, Jan 5, 2021, in Palm Harbor, Fla. Attacks which occurred in Florida last month sent ripples of fear among some app-based drivers, who have long demanded better protection from companies whose safety policies they say are bettered geared toward customers than workers. (Douglas R. Clifford / Tampa Bay Times)

Attacks on delivery drivers add fears among gig workers

Recent attacks sent new ripples of fear among some app-based drivers.

Nevin Overmiller, 78, walks a KFC food delivery to a customer’s door while delivering for Uber Eats, Wednesday, Jan 5, 2021, in Palm Harbor, Fla. Attacks which occurred in Florida last month sent ripples of fear among some app-based drivers, who have long demanded better protection from companies whose safety policies they say are bettered geared toward customers than workers. (Douglas R. Clifford / Tampa Bay Times)
Blueberry flowers provide early-season food for bumblebees. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Setting the seasonal clocks

Our spring is slow in coming.

Blueberry flowers provide early-season food for bumblebees. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
The tide was out at Eagle Beach with three snow geese feeding on seaweed. (Courtesy Photo / Kenneth Gill, gillfoto)

Wild Shots

Reader-submitted photos of Mother Nature in Southeast Alaska.

The tide was out at Eagle Beach with three snow geese feeding on seaweed. (Courtesy Photo / Kenneth Gill, gillfoto)
The Tagaban family, Jacob, Jessielea, Joseph and Ed, pose with Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation. (Courtesy photo / Ed Tagaban)

‘Test yourself and you’ll eventually make it’: Petersburg teen takes NBA All-Star’s advice into fight with cancer

“It just really shows me how precious time is.”

The Tagaban family, Jacob, Jessielea, Joseph and Ed, pose with Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation. (Courtesy photo / Ed Tagaban)
This image, which uses a photo by Alyssa Patrick, shows the cover of "Sonus," a new album from Sean Patrick of Gustavus. The album was made available on streaming on Wednesday, April 20, and can be ordered on CD. (Courtesy Photo / Alyssa Patrick)
Capital City Weekly

Big sound from a small town: Gustavus man releases hard-rocking album

Play it loud.

This image, which uses a photo by Alyssa Patrick, shows the cover of "Sonus," a new album from Sean Patrick of Gustavus. The album was made available on streaming on Wednesday, April 20, and can be ordered on CD. (Courtesy Photo / Alyssa Patrick)
Children sit in a dugout canoe Wednesday in the Southeast Alaska village of Angoon. The dugout was dedicated to mark the 140th anniversary of the bombardment of Angoon. In 1882, the U.S. Navy opened fire on Angoon, burning the village and destroying all but one in its fleet of canoes. The new dugout was carved by Tlingit master carver Wayne Price and students in the Chatham School District. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

‘Once again, Angoon has a dugout’: Village residents welcome dugout canoe 140 years after bombardment

It’s the first dugout canoe in Angoon since the U.S. destroyed the village’s fleet in 1882.

Children sit in a dugout canoe Wednesday in the Southeast Alaska village of Angoon. The dugout was dedicated to mark the 140th anniversary of the bombardment of Angoon. In 1882, the U.S. Navy opened fire on Angoon, burning the village and destroying all but one in its fleet of canoes. The new dugout was carved by Tlingit master carver Wayne Price and students in the Chatham School District. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Frank Hughes pulls a tote filled with Alaska Native artifacts at the Juneau International Airport Thursday afternoon. Hughes is apart of the repatriation effort to retrieve the artifacts back to the Organized Village of Kake from George Fox University in Oregon.

Kake to welcome artifacts — some over 200 years old — back home

‘When I looked at them it was like looking at my past and my elders’

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Frank Hughes pulls a tote filled with Alaska Native artifacts at the Juneau International Airport Thursday afternoon. Hughes is apart of the repatriation effort to retrieve the artifacts back to the Organized Village of Kake from George Fox University in Oregon.
The Juneau School District’s recently announced the new principal for Juneau Community Charter School who is set to start in their position this summer. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Charter school has a new principal

There’s a new Weiss in town.

The Juneau School District’s recently announced the new principal for Juneau Community Charter School who is set to start in their position this summer. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Alaska State Troopers logo.

Troopers: Seward correctional officer provided illegal drugs to inmate

KENAI — An officer at Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward was arrested Thursday on allegations that he delivered illegal drugs to an inmate. According… Continue reading

Alaska State Troopers logo.
The Juneau Empire’s printing press prints pages for the last time Friday evening after 36 years of service on Channel Drive. The Empire will now print the newspaper in Washington, shipping them up to Juneau on a twice-weekly basis. ( Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Empire prints its last paper in Juneau

The Juneau-based printing press retired after 36 years of service.

The Juneau Empire’s printing press prints pages for the last time Friday evening after 36 years of service on Channel Drive. The Empire will now print the newspaper in Washington, shipping them up to Juneau on a twice-weekly basis. ( Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)