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Snow falls on the Alaska Capitol and the statue of William Henry Seward on Monday, April 1, 2024. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Capitol may begin screening all visitors in 2025, according to draft security proposal

An airport-style security screening checkpoint could be coming to the Alaska State Capitol, ending decades of open public access. In a public notice published Oct.… Continue reading

Snow falls on the Alaska Capitol and the statue of William Henry Seward on Monday, April 1, 2024. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
People dance to music by The Muskeg Collective during KTOO’s 50-Fest on Saturday night at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

KTOO packs a half century of programming into a six-hour 50-Fest anniversary celebration

Ten mini-concerts, plus interviews, theater and tributes showcase public broadcasting outlet’s history.

People dance to music by The Muskeg Collective during KTOO’s 50-Fest on Saturday night at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Dan Kirkwood (left), pictured performing with Tommy Siegel and Steve Perkins, is among the musicians who will be featured during KTOO’s 50-Fest on Saturday. (Photo by Charlie E. Lederer)
Capital City Weekly

KTOO’s 50-Fest celebrates golden anniversary with six-hour evening of local performers

20 artists representing five decades of Juneau’s music scene scheduled for Saturday’s celebration

Dan Kirkwood (left), pictured performing with Tommy Siegel and Steve Perkins, is among the musicians who will be featured during KTOO’s 50-Fest on Saturday. (Photo by Charlie E. Lederer)
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Leila Cooper, June Troxel and Braith Dihle dive for the ball during their 25-19, 25-16, 25-15 victory over Ketchikan High School at the Clarke Cochrane Gymnasium on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. (Christopher Mullen/ Ketchikan Daily News)

Crimson Bears volleyball team sweeps Kings at Kayhi

Wins ensure JDHS will be the Southeast Conference regular-season champions going into postseason.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Leila Cooper, June Troxel and Braith Dihle dive for the ball during their 25-19, 25-16, 25-15 victory over Ketchikan High School at the Clarke Cochrane Gymnasium on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. (Christopher Mullen/ Ketchikan Daily News)
Juneau Huskies senior Jayden Johnson (4), senior Hayden Aube (2) and junior Ricky Tupou (77) try to bring down West Anchorage senior Zephaniah Sailele (6) during the Huskies 20-13 loss to the Eagles in the 2024 ASAA State Football Playoffs on Saturday at West Anchorage’s Nest on Hillcrest. (Klas Stolpe/Juneau Empire)

Huskies give Eagles a game, Eagles give Huskies respect in 20-13 playoff loss to end Juneau’s season

Sixth-seed Juneau takes third-seed West Anchorage to the wire in showdown of teams’ big playmakers.

Juneau Huskies senior Jayden Johnson (4), senior Hayden Aube (2) and junior Ricky Tupou (77) try to bring down West Anchorage senior Zephaniah Sailele (6) during the Huskies 20-13 loss to the Eagles in the 2024 ASAA State Football Playoffs on Saturday at West Anchorage’s Nest on Hillcrest. (Klas Stolpe/Juneau Empire)
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Alex Rehfeldt and senior Milina Mazon play a ball during their mixed doubles match for the 2024 ASAA Tennis Championship on Saturday at Anchorage’s Alaska Club. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Crimson Bears ‘mix it up’ for tennis state championship

JDHS seniors Mazon and Rehfeldt champs, junior Welch third.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Alex Rehfeldt and senior Milina Mazon play a ball during their mixed doubles match for the 2024 ASAA Tennis Championship on Saturday at Anchorage’s Alaska Club. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Commercial fishing boats are lined up at the dock at Seward’s harbor on June 22. Numerous economic forces combined last year to create a $1.8 billion loss for the Alaska seafood industry, and related losses affected other states, according to a new report. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska’s seafood industry lost $1.8 billion last year, NOAA report says

A variety of market forces combined with fishery collapses occurring in a rapidly changing environment caused Alaska’s seafood industry to lose $1.8 billion from 2022… Continue reading

Commercial fishing boats are lined up at the dock at Seward’s harbor on June 22. Numerous economic forces combined last year to create a $1.8 billion loss for the Alaska seafood industry, and related losses affected other states, according to a new report. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Students eat lunch Thursday, March 31, 2022, in the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé cafeteria. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

School district faces $738K deficit in food service and activity funds, but now has money to cover

Board members asked to fix shortfall so it’s not included in audit, but some uneasy without more review.

Students eat lunch Thursday, March 31, 2022, in the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé cafeteria. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
(Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Suspect in swastika graffiti spray painted at library and other Mendenhall Valley locations arrested

A man suspected of spray painting swastika symbols at multiple locations in the Mendenhall Valley earlier this month has been arrested, the Juneau Police Department… Continue reading

(Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Boys dive in for a 100-meter freestyle race during a regional meet Saturday at Dimond Park Aquatic Center. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Crimson Bears sweep up wins in the pool, both in and above the water

Juneau wins 29 of 48 events and combined team titles while hosting Southeast swim meet.

Boys dive in for a 100-meter freestyle race during a regional meet Saturday at Dimond Park Aquatic Center. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A city election work handles envelopes from the 2023 municipal election at the City and Borough of Juneau Ballot Processing Center. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

No changes in local election as updated results show second-highest turnout since 2010

38.35% rate so far is highest since 42.73% in 2020; final certification scheduled next Tuesday

A city election work handles envelopes from the 2023 municipal election at the City and Borough of Juneau Ballot Processing Center. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
The ranked choice outcome for Alaska’s U.S. Senate race is shown during an Alaska Public Media broadcast on Nov. 24, 2022. (Alaska Division of Elections)

What Alaska voters should know as they consider a repeal of open primaries and ranked choice voting

State would revert to primaries controlled by political parties, general elections that pick one candidate.

The ranked choice outcome for Alaska’s U.S. Senate race is shown during an Alaska Public Media broadcast on Nov. 24, 2022. (Alaska Division of Elections)
Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich, left, and Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska (right) remove their microphones after a televised debate Thursday night, Oct. 10, 2024, in Anchorage. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Debate: Peltola declines to endorse Harris, Begich questions 2020 election legitimacy

Televised TV and radio debate offers rare insight into U.S. House candidates’ views on social issues.

Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich, left, and Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska (right) remove their microphones after a televised debate Thursday night, Oct. 10, 2024, in Anchorage. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)

Signaling Alaska: By land, by sea and by air

KTOO’s 50th anniversary celebration has much longer historical ties to Klondike, military.

The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
A graph shows Suicide Basin’s water level rising Thursday afternoon following a drop in the morning. (National Weather Service Juneau)

Update: Suicide Basin rising again after brief water level drop Thursday morning

Maximum crest of river from full release would be 11 ft., well below peak of record August flood

A graph shows Suicide Basin’s water level rising Thursday afternoon following a drop in the morning. (National Weather Service Juneau)
The front page of the Juneau Empire on Oct. 8, 2004. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Capital City Weekly

Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week ending Oct. 12

Three decades of capital city coverage.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on Oct. 8, 2004. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pins supporting the repeal of ranked choice voting are seen on April 20, 2024, at the Republican state convention in Anchorage. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska ranked choice voting repeal effort outraised a hundredfold, campaign finance filings show

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Lesil McGuire’s name and note that campaign finance disclosures are made to the Alaska Public… Continue reading

Pins supporting the repeal of ranked choice voting are seen on April 20, 2024, at the Republican state convention in Anchorage. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Produce is on display at a Juneau market on Wednesday. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska again lags in processing food stamp applications, new court filings show

Alaska’s Department of Health is again slipping into a backlog of food stamp applications. The news comes from state data included in a filing from… Continue reading

Produce is on display at a Juneau market on Wednesday. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
The Rocky Broad River flows into Lake Lure and overflows the town with debris from Chimney Rock, North Carolina after heavy rains from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 28, 2024, in Lake Lure, North Carolina. Approximately six feet of debris piled on the bridge from Lake Lure to Chimney Rock, blocking access. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

Alaska sends National Guard, other help to hurricane-hit states in the Lower 48

The state of Alaska is sending 50 National Guardsmen to Florida to help that state recover from hurricanes Helene and Milton. The latter hurricane is… Continue reading

The Rocky Broad River flows into Lake Lure and overflows the town with debris from Chimney Rock, North Carolina after heavy rains from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 28, 2024, in Lake Lure, North Carolina. Approximately six feet of debris piled on the bridge from Lake Lure to Chimney Rock, blocking access. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
Jackie Bryant, director of the city’s cold-weather emergency shelter during its first season, inspects cots after people staying there depart on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Cold-weather shelter in Thane to open for second year Tuesday with indoor bathrooms and other changes

Shelter officials, surrounding businesses plan more active monitoring to safeguard against problems.

Jackie Bryant, director of the city’s cold-weather emergency shelter during its first season, inspects cots after people staying there depart on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)