Michael S. Lockett

Students show off their new backpacks at Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s annual backpack distribution at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on July 23, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Back to school: Tlingit and Haida holds annual backpack distribution

Hundreds of backpacks were distributed, with hundreds still to go out.

Students show off their new backpacks at Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s annual backpack distribution at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on July 23, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Capital City Fire/Rescue personnel triage a casualty during an exercise simulating a plane crash at Juneau International Airport on July 23, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

(Simulated) great balls of fire: Airport carries out emergency plan exercise

Dozens of volunteers took part, simulating the variously wounded survivors of a plane crash.

Capital City Fire/Rescue personnel triage a casualty during an exercise simulating a plane crash at Juneau International Airport on July 23, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Chris Cotton, in black, and Matthew Wetherholt measure off distance in a house they and other members of Team Rubicon, a disaster-recovery nonprofit, are helping to restore following the Haines landslide of 2020. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Haines recovery continues with help from within and without

Dozens of landslides struck the town, destroying homes and requiring extensive rebuilding.

Chris Cotton, in black, and Matthew Wetherholt measure off distance in a house they and other members of Team Rubicon, a disaster-recovery nonprofit, are helping to restore following the Haines landslide of 2020. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discontinued a program of monitoring the COVID levels aboard cruise ships operating in the United States on Tuesday. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

CDC coronavirus-status program for cruise ships discontinued

Politicians and industry officials lauded the move.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discontinued a program of monitoring the COVID levels aboard cruise ships operating in the United States on Tuesday. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter pilot watches as the aircrew assists overdue boaters, July 18, 2022. (Lt. Scott Kellerman / U.S. Coast Guard)

USCG conducts multiple rescues around state

Coast Guard aircrews stayed busy on Monday from the Southeast to western Alaska.

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter pilot watches as the aircrew assists overdue boaters, July 18, 2022. (Lt. Scott Kellerman / U.S. Coast Guard)
Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire 
Local, state and federal agencies will participate in a major exercise at Juneau International Airport on Saturday.

Airport to stage major drill Saturday

It’s an exercise held every three years.

Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire 
Local, state and federal agencies will participate in a major exercise at Juneau International Airport on Saturday.
Juneau local Joseph Monsef will be among the first volunteers to head out as the Peace Corps sends its volunteers forth once more. (Courtesy photo / Peace Corps)

Juneau student among first of new wave of Peace Corps members

He’s wheels-up for Uganda within weeks.

Juneau local Joseph Monsef will be among the first volunteers to head out as the Peace Corps sends its volunteers forth once more. (Courtesy photo / Peace Corps)
Construction on Glacier Highway in the Lemon Creek area is scheduled to finish on schedule, said a Department of Transportation and Public Facilities spokesperson. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Lemon Creek, Valley road projects on track for scheduled finish

Some small projects are also slated for finishes this summer, and others for next year.

Construction on Glacier Highway in the Lemon Creek area is scheduled to finish on schedule, said a Department of Transportation and Public Facilities spokesperson. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Tourists walk the piers downtown on July 14, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Mid-season passenger numbers at roughly two-thirds capacity

There’s about the same number of hulls, but less passengers aboard than pre-pandemic.

Tourists walk the piers downtown on July 14, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Beginning Saturday, dialing 9-8-8 will connect callers to a mental heal crisis call center nationwide, based on the caller’s area code. It’s an expansion of extant Careline programs. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Nation stands up mental health crisis hotline

Three-digit number will connect callers not with police or fire, but with a mental crisis lifeline.

Beginning Saturday, dialing 9-8-8 will connect callers to a mental heal crisis call center nationwide, based on the caller’s area code. It’s an expansion of extant Careline programs. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
The Juneau Suicide Prevention Coalition has a variety of surveys and programs surging forward to increase Juneau’s resilience. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

‘Mental health is not just in a clinic. It’s everywhere’: Juneau Suicide Prevention Coalition works with communitywide scope

Much of the work JPSC is doing is to reach out to groups to help teach and strengthen them.

The Juneau Suicide Prevention Coalition has a variety of surveys and programs surging forward to increase Juneau’s resilience. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
A man sought by the police after his family reported him missing turned himself in and was detained on Wednesday morning. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)

Missing man found, arrested

He contacted police early Wednesday morning.

A man sought by the police after his family reported him missing turned himself in and was detained on Wednesday morning. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)
Rusted oil barrels are visible on the riverbank of the Eagle River as erosion exposes more debris from roadbuilding infrastructure buried decades. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Erosion reveals old oil drums near Eagle Beach

The situation is noncritical, said state and federal agencies working on a removal solution.

Rusted oil barrels are visible on the riverbank of the Eagle River as erosion exposes more debris from roadbuilding infrastructure buried decades. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf returns home to California following a nearly three-month patrol monitoring for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing on Nov. 1, 2021. (Chief Petty Officer Matt Masaschi / U.S. Coast Guard)

Coast Guard announces penalties against fishing vessels

The annual patrol to monitor illegal fishing is set to begin soon.

Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf returns home to California following a nearly three-month patrol monitoring for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing on Nov. 1, 2021. (Chief Petty Officer Matt Masaschi / U.S. Coast Guard)
The Juneau Police Department are investigating a string of serious or fatal vehicle crashes occurring over the last several weeks. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)

Police release name of woman killed in crash

Investigations into multiple serious motor vehicle crashes are ongoing.

The Juneau Police Department are investigating a string of serious or fatal vehicle crashes occurring over the last several weeks. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)
Courtesy photo / JPD 
Police are seeking information on Lucas Canton Schneider, 43, after he failed to return from a camping trip to Echo Cove in late June.

Police seeking information on man missing near Echo Cove

He went camping out the road in late June and hasn’t been seen since.

Courtesy photo / JPD 
Police are seeking information on Lucas Canton Schneider, 43, after he failed to return from a camping trip to Echo Cove in late June.
Components for Eaglecrest’s recently purchased gondola system sit packed up as they’re prepared for the voyage to Alaska from Austria. (Courtesy photo / Dave Scanlan)

Some assembly required: Shipping process for new Eaglecrest gondola is underway

Once they’re crated up, they’ve got a sea voyage of more than 10,000 miles ahead.

Components for Eaglecrest’s recently purchased gondola system sit packed up as they’re prepared for the voyage to Alaska from Austria. (Courtesy photo / Dave Scanlan)
This undated electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows rabies virions, dark and bullet-shaped, within an infected tissue sample. (F. A. Murphy/CDC via AP)

Overall rabies risk in Southeast minimal, says wildlife biologist

Bats are the main carriers in the Southeast, and as ever there the odds are extremely low.

This undated electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows rabies virions, dark and bullet-shaped, within an infected tissue sample. (F. A. Murphy/CDC via AP)
A 13-year-old girl was medevaced after being struck by a vehicle near the crosswalk across Egan Drive by Gold Creek on June 27, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire file)

Injured teen in good condition as crash investigation continues

She was struck on Egan Drive near the Gold Creek crosswalk.

A 13-year-old girl was medevaced after being struck by a vehicle near the crosswalk across Egan Drive by Gold Creek on June 27, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire file)
A P-18 Super Cub aircraft and two people on shore at Montague Island, Alaska, after the plane crashed July 6, 2022. (U.S. Coast Guard / Lt. Cmdr. Josh Wofford)

Coast Guard performs multiple rescues around holiday weekend

Alaskans might have relaxed for the holiday, but the Coast Guard didn’t.

A P-18 Super Cub aircraft and two people on shore at Montague Island, Alaska, after the plane crashed July 6, 2022. (U.S. Coast Guard / Lt. Cmdr. Josh Wofford)