Mark Sabbatini

Cruise ship tourists watch floatplanes taxi out in Gastineau Channel on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Cruise industry giving opponents of Ship-Free Saturday a dominant campaign cash advantage

Three cruise companies, Goldbelt give $275,000 of more than $300,000 raised; supporters raise $380.

Cruise ship tourists watch floatplanes taxi out in Gastineau Channel on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Juneau Assembly and mayoral candidates discuss issues involving the community of Douglas during a forum Sept. 8 at the Douglas Public Library. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
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Local candidates agree on lots of big-picture issues, differ on details, at lots of forums

Housing, flooding, tourism among key issues so far; two more forums being broadcast this week.

Juneau Assembly and mayoral candidates discuss issues involving the community of Douglas during a forum Sept. 8 at the Douglas Public Library. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
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The Alaska Division of Election’s director’s office in Juneau on Nov. 22, 2022. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Elections office in Juneau among those in more than dozen states to be mailed suspicious packages

Package for Juneau intercepted before delivery, no hazardous materials reported in incidents.

The Alaska Division of Election’s director’s office in Juneau on Nov. 22, 2022. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Rainforest Recover Center, a high-intensity residential substance abuse treatment facility, is closing next Tuesday, according to an announcement by Bartlett Regional Hospital. (Bartlett Regional Hospital photo)

Rainforest Recovery Center closing next Tuesday, hospital announces, to surprise of local leaders

Assembly to reevaluate giving $500K to continue program; nonprofit says it will speed up takeover plans.

Rainforest Recover Center, a high-intensity residential substance abuse treatment facility, is closing next Tuesday, according to an announcement by Bartlett Regional Hospital. (Bartlett Regional Hospital photo)
Margaret Katzeek (right) offers public testimony about Suicide Basin flooding concerns while Renee Culp, who testified immediately before Katzeek, offers support during a Juneau Assembly meeting on Monday night. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

City leaders tell worried residents short- and long-term plans for Suicide Basin flooding are in progress

Basin now about half full, but should fill more slowly than earlier this year, city manager says.

Margaret Katzeek (right) offers public testimony about Suicide Basin flooding concerns while Renee Culp, who testified immediately before Katzeek, offers support during a Juneau Assembly meeting on Monday night. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Sonya Taton, center, listens to the verdict as she is found guilty on all five counts, including second-degree murder, during her trial in Superior Court in Juneau on Nov. 17, 2023. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire file photo)

Sonya Taton gets 50-year prison sentence for fatally stabbing one boyfriend and wounding another

Judge calls Taton “an enormously dangerous woman” after convictions for attacks in 2016 and 2019.

Sonya Taton, center, listens to the verdict as she is found guilty on all five counts, including second-degree murder, during her trial in Superior Court in Juneau on Nov. 17, 2023. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire file photo)
Students arrive at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Aug. 21. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Threat of school shooting posted widely, including in Juneau, does not appear credible, district says

Extra police at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Monday morning a precaution, according to notice.

Students arrive at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Aug. 21. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Boys start the 5K race at the State Preview 2024 meet at Bartlett High School in Anchorage on Saturday. (Photo by Kent Mearig)

JDHS varsity cross-country teams in top 4, Ida Meyer wins girls’ 5K at State Preview 2024 in Anchorage

Consolidated team splits up for three weekend events; next up is Capital City Invite this Saturday.

Boys start the 5K race at the State Preview 2024 meet at Bartlett High School in Anchorage on Saturday. (Photo by Kent Mearig)
West Anchorage High School’s Zephaniah Sailele (6) breaks through Juneau defenders during Saturday’s game at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Huskies come up short at home in 28-27 nailbiter against West Anchorage

Juneau jumps out to 19-0 lead on Eagles’ mistakes, but end up in battle until final few seconds

West Anchorage High School’s Zephaniah Sailele (6) breaks through Juneau defenders during Saturday’s game at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A memorial in the doorway on Front Street where Steven Kissack was sitting when he was approached by a police officer on July 15, resulting in a 16-minute encounter that ended with him being fatally shot, includes photos, written messages and a “food for friends” dropoff box on Saturday morning. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Some say minds not changed by bodycams of Steven Kissack’s death, but shooting has changed lives

Many suggest downtown confrontation could have been defused before police felt forced to shoot.

A memorial in the doorway on Front Street where Steven Kissack was sitting when he was approached by a police officer on July 15, resulting in a 16-minute encounter that ended with him being fatally shot, includes photos, written messages and a “food for friends” dropoff box on Saturday morning. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Abby Dolan (wearing green) tries to take down Sofia Contreras during a Juneau Youth Wrestling Club camp Sept. 1 at the Juneau Wrestling Center. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Youths try to get a leg up — and opponents down — with help from pros at wrestling camps

With participation by girls rising and school teams getting bigger, every tip helps

Abby Dolan (wearing green) tries to take down Sofia Contreras during a Juneau Youth Wrestling Club camp Sept. 1 at the Juneau Wrestling Center. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
William Steadman, a Juneau resident, is suspected producing child pornography, according to law enforcement officials. (Photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice)

Juneau man arrested on federal charge of producing child pornography

William Steadman, 34, has previous related conviction; officials say current case may have more victims.

William Steadman, a Juneau resident, is suspected producing child pornography, according to law enforcement officials. (Photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice)
An overhead view of the overflowing portion of the glacier-dammed lake at Suicide Basin. (Christian Kienholz / Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center)

Spending $3M to fund half of a Suicide Basin protection study gets Assembly consideration Monday

Meeting will also consider $700,000 in short-term flooding measures, plus help for hospital programs.

An overhead view of the overflowing portion of the glacier-dammed lake at Suicide Basin. (Christian Kienholz / Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center)
Students arrive at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Aug. 15, 2024, the first day of class for the current school year. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo)

Consolidated schools during first month of classes are great, awful or illegal, depending on who’s asked

Superintendent offers praise; teachers fret about class sizes; TMMS students forced to repeat classes.

Students arrive at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Aug. 15, 2024, the first day of class for the current school year. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo)
The front page of the Juneau Empire on Sept. 14, 1994. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The front page of the Juneau Empire on Sept. 14, 1994. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Steven Kissack (left) is seen holding a knife in this July 15 bodycam footage from Juneau Police Department Officer Terry Allen a few seconds before Kissack runs toward Allen. Two other officers at the scene said they shot Kissack because Allen was holding a non-lethal bean bag launcher that had fired off all of its rounds. (Screenshot from JPD bodycam video)

State report: Officers who shot Steven Kissack say he ran at officer who was holding an unloaded weapon

24-page letter from attorney general includes interviews, autopsy and other tests, and legal findings.

Steven Kissack (left) is seen holding a knife in this July 15 bodycam footage from Juneau Police Department Officer Terry Allen a few seconds before Kissack runs toward Allen. Two other officers at the scene said they shot Kissack because Allen was holding a non-lethal bean bag launcher that had fired off all of its rounds. (Screenshot from JPD bodycam video)
Joe Wanner (center), chief financial officer at Bartlett Regional Hospital, fills in to give the CEO report to the hospital’s board of directors during an Aug. 27 meeting. The appointment of Wanner as Bartlett’s new permanent CEO was announced Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Joe Wanner, chief financial officer at Bartlett Regional Hospital, will be its new CEO

Unanimous board vote, effective Sept. 29, will make him first permanent CEO in more than a year.

Joe Wanner (center), chief financial officer at Bartlett Regional Hospital, fills in to give the CEO report to the hospital’s board of directors during an Aug. 27 meeting. The appointment of Wanner as Bartlett’s new permanent CEO was announced Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
More than 100 local police, firefighters, military personnel and other people gather Wednesday morning at the September 11th Memorial at Riverside Rotary Park to observe the 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed 2,996 people. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

An ‘invitation to remember’ on 9/11 for those who haven’t had a chance to ‘never forget’

More than 100 people attend Juneau anniversary ceremony where lessons for a new generation are shared.

More than 100 local police, firefighters, military personnel and other people gather Wednesday morning at the September 11th Memorial at Riverside Rotary Park to observe the 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed 2,996 people. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Steven Kissack, sitting in a covered entryway on Front Street, is approached by Juneau Police Department officer Lee Phelps at about 1:10 p.m. July 15. (Screenshot from Phelps’s bodycam video)

The bodycam of the first officer to approach Steven Kissack is 17 minutes long. Here’s what it shows.

A calm beginning, a sudden escalation and a friend trying to help is told “call my sister if they kill me.”

Steven Kissack, sitting in a covered entryway on Front Street, is approached by Juneau Police Department officer Lee Phelps at about 1:10 p.m. July 15. (Screenshot from Phelps’s bodycam video)
Steven Kissack is seen holding a knife seconds before he is fatally shot July 15 by officers in this screenshot from bodycam footage from Juneau Police Department officer Lee Phelps that was made public Tuesday. (Screenshot from JPD bodycam footage)

State: Officers ‘legally justified in their use of deadly force’ in shooting of Steven Kissack

Bodycam footage from four JPD officers, plus a rooftop cellphone video, released to public.

Steven Kissack is seen holding a knife seconds before he is fatally shot July 15 by officers in this screenshot from bodycam footage from Juneau Police Department officer Lee Phelps that was made public Tuesday. (Screenshot from JPD bodycam footage)