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Chloey Cavanaugh, owner of Black and White Raven Co., folds a shirt at her downtown studio Monday morning. Cavanaugh’s company is an LGBTQ+ and Indigenous small business based in Juneau. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Features

Faces of Pride: Chloey Cavanaugh

“I feel really lucky to be so supported by the community.”

Chloey Cavanaugh, owner of Black and White Raven Co., folds a shirt at her downtown studio Monday morning. Cavanaugh’s company is an LGBTQ+ and Indigenous small business based in Juneau. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Volunteers reset a gravel pile during the men’s hand mucking event of Juneau Gold Rush Days in Savikko Park on June 18, 2022. This year’s events are scheduled Saturday and Sunday. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)
Capital City Weekly

New look and sound for Juneau Gold Rush Days

Weekend of traditional mining and logging events will also feature new band, bouncy house

Volunteers reset a gravel pile during the men’s hand mucking event of Juneau Gold Rush Days in Savikko Park on June 18, 2022. This year’s events are scheduled Saturday and Sunday. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)
Bartlett Regional Hospital Board President Kenny Solomon-Gross cuts a ribbon in front of the doors to the hospital’s new Aurora Behavioral Health Center unveiled Wednesday evening. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Hospital unveils $18M behavioral health and crisis stabilization center

Services scheduled to open this fall, interim executive director says.

Bartlett Regional Hospital Board President Kenny Solomon-Gross cuts a ribbon in front of the doors to the hospital’s new Aurora Behavioral Health Center unveiled Wednesday evening. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Demonstrators stand outside of the U.S. Supreme Court, as the court hears arguments over the Indian Child Welfare Act, Nov. 9, 2022, in Washington. The Supreme Court on Thursday preserved the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, which gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children, rejecting a broad attack from Republican-led states and white families who argued it is based on race. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

Supreme Court preserves law that aims to keep Native American children with tribal families

Law passed due to Alaska Native and other Indigenous children were taken from their homes

  • Jun 15, 2023
  • By Mark Sherman Associated Press
Demonstrators stand outside of the U.S. Supreme Court, as the court hears arguments over the Indian Child Welfare Act, Nov. 9, 2022, in Washington. The Supreme Court on Thursday preserved the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, which gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children, rejecting a broad attack from Republican-led states and white families who argued it is based on race. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
South Franklin Street with the three-story Senate Apartments on the right, circa 1945. In the 1980s, Bruce Denton and the late Larry Spencer purchased the apartments, and gutted the building to remake it into retail and office space, renaming it the Senate Mall. (Photo credit Alaska State Library Historical Collections, Juneau Area Views, Franklin St. 01-2831)

Rooted In Community: The Senate Building and The Denton Family

Buying an aging historic property in downtown Juneau and running the Iditarod have two big things in common: confidence and ability. South Franklin Street’s Senate… Continue reading

  • Jun 15, 2023
  • By Laurie Craig For the Downtown Business Association
South Franklin Street with the three-story Senate Apartments on the right, circa 1945. In the 1980s, Bruce Denton and the late Larry Spencer purchased the apartments, and gutted the building to remake it into retail and office space, renaming it the Senate Mall. (Photo credit Alaska State Library Historical Collections, Juneau Area Views, Franklin St. 01-2831)
Picking spruce tips in Wrangell. (Photo by Vivian Faith Prescott)
Features

Planet Alaska: The best day ever

“This is the best day ever,” Grandson Timothy exclaimed to me once after swimming in the ocean on a kingfisher blue day, then eating potato… Continue reading

Picking spruce tips in Wrangell. (Photo by Vivian Faith Prescott)
The application period for the City and Borough of Juneau’s search for a new city manager is coming to a close June 22. So far the city has seen more than 10 applicants, officials say. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

City receives more than 10 manager applicants ahead of deadline

The position has a starting salary of $175,000, according to the city website.

The application period for the City and Borough of Juneau’s search for a new city manager is coming to a close June 22. So far the city has seen more than 10 applicants, officials say. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park is set to get new artificial turf despite its link to PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), according to city officials. The project will be designed over the winter, with construction likely beginning in the summer of 2024. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

City moves forward with Adair-Kennedy artificial turf despite PFAS concerns

The project will be designed over the winter, with construction likely beginning in summer of 2024.

Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park is set to get new artificial turf despite its link to PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), according to city officials. The project will be designed over the winter, with construction likely beginning in the summer of 2024. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
A clock ticks away the seconds at Thunder Mountain High School on Tuesday night, where the Juneau Board of Education voted to table a proposal to shorten the school day for students by 30 minutes once a week to free up time for teachers to participate in training and other professional development activities. Some district officials opposed to the delay said it will in effect kill the proposal because the school board’s next scheduled meeting is in August, which will be too late to implement specific policy changes before the school year starts. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Shorter days for students tabled by school board

Proposal would cut 30 minutes once a week to allow teachers time for training and other activities

A clock ticks away the seconds at Thunder Mountain High School on Tuesday night, where the Juneau Board of Education voted to table a proposal to shorten the school day for students by 30 minutes once a week to free up time for teachers to participate in training and other professional development activities. Some district officials opposed to the delay said it will in effect kill the proposal because the school board’s next scheduled meeting is in August, which will be too late to implement specific policy changes before the school year starts. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
This is an aerial picture of the Hecla Greens Creek Mine taken in May 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Hecla Greens Creek Mine agrees to $143K fine after 2019 EPA violations

Mine official say violations have been addressed.

This is an aerial picture of the Hecla Greens Creek Mine taken in May 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
The two blocks of South Seward Street between Front Street and Marine Way will be renamed to Heritage Way by November after the City and Borough of Juneau Planning Commission unanimously OK’d the change Tuesday evening. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

South Seward Street to be renamed Heritage Way by November

Planning Commission OKs change Tuesday evening.

The two blocks of South Seward Street between Front Street and Marine Way will be renamed to Heritage Way by November after the City and Borough of Juneau Planning Commission unanimously OK’d the change Tuesday evening. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
An Alaska Airlines plane flies by a cellular tower. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Why did Alaskans statewide get an Amber Alert on Tuesday?

On Tuesday afternoon, cellphones across the state beeped with emergency tones as the Alaska State Troopers attempted to find two-year-old Karma Brown, who briefly went… Continue reading

An Alaska Airlines plane flies by a cellular tower. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
A voter joins a line of voters waiting to cast their ballots on Aug. 15, 2022, at the state Division of Elections office in Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

New ballot measure seeks to restrict spending on Alaska elections

A group that brought ranked-choice voting to Alaska is now seeking to restrict big money campaign donations after a federal appeals court erased the state’s… Continue reading

A voter joins a line of voters waiting to cast their ballots on Aug. 15, 2022, at the state Division of Elections office in Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Weaver and textile artist Lily Hope shows a group of students how to forage for horsetails Saturday near the Alaska State Museum in Juneau. They boiled the plants to make a natural dye. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska State Museum lesson weaves together art, science and culture

Six pots full of natural dye bubbled on the back patio at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau — deep red beet, yellow wolf lichen,… Continue reading

Weaver and textile artist Lily Hope shows a group of students how to forage for horsetails Saturday near the Alaska State Museum in Juneau. They boiled the plants to make a natural dye. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
One person was killed and four medevaced out of Juneau following a two-vehicle collision on Egan Drive near Fred Meyer on Saturday afternoon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

3 people now in stable condition after two-vehicle collision; man killed in crash identified

Police say fault in crash still being determined

One person was killed and four medevaced out of Juneau following a two-vehicle collision on Egan Drive near Fred Meyer on Saturday afternoon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Klas Stolpe / for the Juneau Empire Bob Barger tips his cap after being honored Saturday, June 3, at the 2023 Alaska School Activities Association Baseball State Championships on Sitka’s Moller Field for his lifetime of sports broadcasting in Alaska.

Bob ‘The Voice’ Barger retires

Announcer of Alaska high school sports ices vocal chords

  • Jun 13, 2023
  • By Klas Stolpe For The Juneau Empire
Klas Stolpe / for the Juneau Empire Bob Barger tips his cap after being honored Saturday, June 3, at the 2023 Alaska School Activities Association Baseball State Championships on Sitka’s Moller Field for his lifetime of sports broadcasting in Alaska.
Assembly members Maria Gladziszewski, Michelle Bonnet Hale and Greg Smith listen as the City and Borough of Juneau budget for the 2024 fiscal year is finalized and approved after a more than three-hour-long meeting Monday night. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

City approves budget with lower property tax rate and $10M to City Hall

“I don’t think that you can have both…we add to our ongoing costs and we also lower the mill rate.”

Assembly members Maria Gladziszewski, Michelle Bonnet Hale and Greg Smith listen as the City and Borough of Juneau budget for the 2024 fiscal year is finalized and approved after a more than three-hour-long meeting Monday night. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Runners begin the Ben Blackgoat Memorial Run on Basin Road in 2018. This year’s run will be the first where the Juneau Trail and Road Runners club has an official nonbinary category and registration will be free to nonbinary participants. (Nolin Ainsworth / Juneau Empire File)

Local running club adds nonbinary category

Juneau Trail and Road Runners to celebrate change during Ben Blackgoat Memorial Race on Saturday.

Runners begin the Ben Blackgoat Memorial Run on Basin Road in 2018. This year’s run will be the first where the Juneau Trail and Road Runners club has an official nonbinary category and registration will be free to nonbinary participants. (Nolin Ainsworth / Juneau Empire File)
On Monday the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly moved an ordinance back to the Committee of the Whole that would require all short-term rentals to be registered with the city. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

City stalls registration requirement for short-term rentals after public opposition

Nearly 20 residents gave testimony on the topic, many advocating for more industry input.

On Monday the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly moved an ordinance back to the Committee of the Whole that would require all short-term rentals to be registered with the city. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
A police vehicle blocks the left turn lane from Egan Drive into Yandukin Drive on Saturday after a two-vehicle collision killed one person and seriously injured four others. Changes intended to improve drivers’ line of sight when making left turns on both sides of Egan Drive are scheduled to be complete by October. But state officials said Monday more significant changes recommended in a 2021 study, including a traffic signal and an alternative detour lane, are still on hold and will likely take a long time to get through the regulatory process. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Limited safety changes planned soon at Fred Meyer intersection

Traffic light and detour route not part of upcoming work as fatal crash revives call for action

A police vehicle blocks the left turn lane from Egan Drive into Yandukin Drive on Saturday after a two-vehicle collision killed one person and seriously injured four others. Changes intended to improve drivers’ line of sight when making left turns on both sides of Egan Drive are scheduled to be complete by October. But state officials said Monday more significant changes recommended in a 2021 study, including a traffic signal and an alternative detour lane, are still on hold and will likely take a long time to get through the regulatory process. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)