Opinion

Google Maps screenshot
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc.

Opinion: An open letter to Cascade Point ferry terminal proponents

To: Governor Dunleavy, DOT Directors, and Cascade Point ferry terminal project consultants, Building a ferry terminal at Cascade Point would represent government at its most… Continue reading

  • Dec 3, 2025
  • By Gershon Cohen

 

My Turn: Supreme Court decision treat Alaskans with mental illness worse than criminals

A criminal in Alaska who’s in custody must be presented with charges in court within 48 hours or be freed. It’s a constitutional due process… Continue reading

  • Dec 3, 2025
  • By Val Van Brocklin

 

Win Gruening (courtesy)

Gratitude for our libraries, museums and historians

The thanksgiving weekend is a chance to recognize those who preserve local history

  • Nov 28, 2025
  • By Win Gruening

 

Google Maps screenshot 
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc.

My Turn: Cascade Point terminal would not be efficient

I have enjoyed traveling on the Alaska State Ferries over the years and hope we can continue them in an efficient and reliable manner. The… Continue reading

Google Maps screenshot 
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc.
photo by Peter W. Stevenson / The Washington Post 
President Donald Trump on Oct. 24.

Opinion: ‘Hang them,’ Trump said

A president’s threat against Congress and the duty of Alaska’s delegation.

photo by Peter W. Stevenson / The Washington Post 
President Donald Trump on Oct. 24.
Telephone Hill as seen from above. (photo courtesy of City and Borough of Juneau)

My Turn: Telephone Hill Concept C vs Concept D – could we see Pro Forma?

It is standard that before a municipality undertakes a construction project for housing that a pro forma is done for the project that shows the… Continue reading

Telephone Hill as seen from above. (photo courtesy of City and Borough of Juneau)
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on March 7 in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Opinion: Senator Sullivan supports $500,000 Grift

A hidden clause in Congress’s spending bill turns public service into personal profit.

  • Nov 19, 2025
  • Van Abbott
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on March 7 in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Win Gruening (courtesy)

Opinion: Sen. Dan Sullivan – promises made, promises kept

The senator has promised and delivered on red-tape slashing solutions

Win Gruening (courtesy)
U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, addresses a joint session of the Alaska Legislature. (Mark Sabbatini file photo)

My Turn: Sullivan and Begich Will Lose in 2026

Supporting Trump’s Agenda Is Highly Unpopular… Even in Alaska

  • Nov 12, 2025
  • By Van Abbott
U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, addresses a joint session of the Alaska Legislature. (Mark Sabbatini file photo)
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc. (Google Maps screenshot)

My Turn: The case against Cascade Point Ferry Terminal

I am writing to say that I think the State of Alaska’s Cascade Point Terminal is a bad idea. But first I want to tell… Continue reading

  • Nov 12, 2025
  • By William Tonsgard Jr.
The star shows the approximate location of the proposed Cascade Point Ferry terminal by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc. (Google Maps screenshot)
File photo, Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
The marble statue depicting “The Authority of Law” is visible outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025.

My Turn: The Supreme Court is creating dictatorship in the shadows

Van Abbott weighs in on quiet power of the judiciary branch.

  • Nov 8, 2025
  • By Van Abbott
File photo, Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
The marble statue depicting “The Authority of Law” is visible outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025.
Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion: Governor’s early Christmas spirit is misplaced

“I told the president, it’s like Christmas every morning,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said at last week’s staged event in Washington, D.C., where the Department of… Continue reading

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Faith Myers stands at the doors of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage. (File, courtesy photo)

Opinion: Court rulings on mistreatment of psychiatric patients need more state follow-up

Faith Myers weighs in on the legacy of “Myers v API.”

  • Nov 5, 2025
  • By Faith Myers
Faith Myers stands at the doors of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage. (File, courtesy photo)
President Donald Trump announces that he is assuming control of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department and deploying the National Guard in the nation’s capital, citing high crime rates at the White House on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

My Turn: How Trump’s “best people” became America’s worst problem

With the aid of Murkowski and Sullivan.

  • Oct 31, 2025
  • By Van Abbott
President Donald Trump announces that he is assuming control of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department and deploying the National Guard in the nation’s capital, citing high crime rates at the White House on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
Win Gruening (courtesy)

Opinion: The vote is over, but the budget battle is just beginning

Win Gruening weighs in on Monday’s Assembly Reorganization Meeting.

Win Gruening (courtesy)
Typewriter for My Turn (web only)

My Turn: The big lie no one believes

Senator Dan Sullivan says Dems want to fund health care for illegal immigrants

Typewriter for My Turn (web only)
Alaska U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan attend a U.S. Coast Guard ceremony in Juneau in June 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Bankrupting America’s future

Van Abbott condemns Trump’s reckless spending and Alaska’s silent partners

  • Oct 25, 2025
  • By Van Abbott
Alaska U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan attend a U.S. Coast Guard ceremony in Juneau in June 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Ellie Ruel / Juneau Empire File
Participants grab placards, flowers and hearts at Marine Park before the Cancer Survivors Day walk on June 8, 2025.

Opinion: Cancer doesn’t wait. We shouldn’t either.

Wayne DeVore weighs in on the importance of cancer screening

  • Oct 25, 2025
  • By Wayne DeVore
Ellie Ruel / Juneau Empire File
Participants grab placards, flowers and hearts at Marine Park before the Cancer Survivors Day walk on June 8, 2025.
Former President Donald Trump reacts as he walking back into the courtroom after a break during closing arguments in his hush money trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)

Opinion: The Weaponization of Racism

Alaska’s Congressional Delegation Enables a White Christian Nationalist Agenda

  • Oct 22, 2025
  • By Van Abbott
Former President Donald Trump reacts as he walking back into the courtroom after a break during closing arguments in his hush money trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)
Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, June 24, 2025. Hawley is one of the sponsors of the Faster Labor Contracts Act.

Opinion: A place government doesn’t need to stick its nose

Dennis DeWitt weighs in on the Faster Labor Contracts Act

  • Oct 18, 2025
  • By Dennis DeWitt
Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, June 24, 2025. Hawley is one of the sponsors of the Faster Labor Contracts Act.