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Opinion: Alaska Legislature goes virtual

Alaskans can be confident the public will still be able to visit and observe their Legislature.

  • Jan 21, 2021
  • By Win Gruening
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President Joe Biden signs his first executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)

President signals plans to halt oil activity in Arctic refuge

The plans were announced on a fact sheet by the new administration on Biden’s inauguration day.

President Joe Biden signs his first executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
The author's fiancee Abby navigates their boat in the fading afternoon light. Shortly after returning to the dock, an otter took up residence aboard. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went To the Woods: Dealing with an otter squatter

I assume it’s an otter because of shell fragments in the runny excretions left in the forward stowage

The author's fiancee Abby navigates their boat in the fading afternoon light. Shortly after returning to the dock, an otter took up residence aboard. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, as their children Ashley and Hunter watch.(AP Photo / Andrew Harnik, Pool)

Biden takes the helm as president: ‘Democracy has prevailed’

Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday.

  • Jan 20, 2021
  • By JONATHAN LEMIRE, ZEKE MILLER and ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press
  • National News
Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, as their children Ashley and Hunter watch.(AP Photo / Andrew Harnik, Pool)
Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire 
High school basketball games in Juneau will resume with empty bleachers on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 as local teams face off against Ketchikan.

Basketball teams get ready to rumble after shortened preseason

The audience will be at home, but basketball is basketball.

Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire 
High school basketball games in Juneau will resume with empty bleachers on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 as local teams face off against Ketchikan.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine caribou herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska.

Trump administration issues leases in Alaska’s Arctic refuge

Leases were issued for tracts for which it had received required paperwork.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine caribou herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska.
Members of the Recall Dunleavy group are close to achieving their goal for signatures, with only about 20,000 signatures remaining as of Jan. 19, 2021. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)

Recall Dunleavy group gathers steam for final push

The group has nearly reached its signature requirement.

Members of the Recall Dunleavy group are close to achieving their goal for signatures, with only about 20,000 signatures remaining as of Jan. 19, 2021. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)
Members of the Alaska House of Representatives take their oaths of office on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021 in the Alaska State Capitol at Juneau, Alaska. Members were allowed to remove their COVID-19 masks as they took the oath. (James Brooks/Anchorage Daily News, Pool)
Members of the Alaska House of Representatives take their oaths of office on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021 in the Alaska State Capitol at Juneau, Alaska. Members were allowed to remove their COVID-19 masks as they took the oath. (James Brooks/Anchorage Daily News, Pool)
Newly elected Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, speaks with Sen. David Wilson, R-Wasilla, after being unanimously elected to the position on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
Newly elected Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, speaks with Sen. David Wilson, R-Wasilla, after being unanimously elected to the position on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
House members await the start of the new session on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
House members await the start of the new session on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
Members of the Black Awareness Association of Juneau and other volunteers collect donations from Juneau residents from their Martin Luther King Jr. Day donation drive on Jan. 18, 2021. (Courtesy photo / Black Awareness Association of Juneau)
Members of the Black Awareness Association of Juneau and other volunteers collect donations from Juneau residents from their Martin Luther King Jr. Day donation drive on Jan. 18, 2021. (Courtesy photo / Black Awareness Association of Juneau)
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This Marbled Murrelet seabird was found in the waters of Auke Bay Friday looking "stunned." Volunteers took the bird to the Juneau Raptor Center where it was treated for likely head trauma and released back into the wild. (Courtesy Photo /  Juneau Raptor Center)

Juneau Raptor Center rescues first bird of 2021

A marbled murrelet was treated for head trauma and released

This Marbled Murrelet seabird was found in the waters of Auke Bay Friday looking "stunned." Volunteers took the bird to the Juneau Raptor Center where it was treated for likely head trauma and released back into the wild. (Courtesy Photo /  Juneau Raptor Center)
New signage at the Alaska State Capitol on Friday, Jan 15, 2020, reminds visitors of health mitigation strategies. Committees from the previous legislature had their final meetings Monday as the new session starts Tuesday. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

State will audit CARES Act funding

Public money, public information.

New signage at the Alaska State Capitol on Friday, Jan 15, 2020, reminds visitors of health mitigation strategies. Committees from the previous legislature had their final meetings Monday as the new session starts Tuesday. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
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Opinion: Refuge oil leases are a dose of harsh reality

To have the state step in the role of the private sector is clearly a move of desperation.

  • Jan 18, 2021
  • By Kate Troll
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FILE - In this May 18, 2020 file photo, a woman walks past the Alaska Capitol in Juneau. Alaska lawmakers are set to convene amid a near decade-long run of deficits and economic fallout from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Go-to reserve accounts are depleted, and tough decisions await on how to use the state's nest-egg oil-wealth fund. It's unclear who will lead those debates: neither the House nor the Senate has organized. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

Legislature to convene amid budget, virus concerns

Tough decisions are ahead.

FILE - In this May 18, 2020 file photo, a woman walks past the Alaska Capitol in Juneau. Alaska lawmakers are set to convene amid a near decade-long run of deficits and economic fallout from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Go-to reserve accounts are depleted, and tough decisions await on how to use the state's nest-egg oil-wealth fund. It's unclear who will lead those debates: neither the House nor the Senate has organized. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

Federal CARES Act money helped Southeast weather COVID

But most of the money has been spent, and local governments are still hurting.

The Juneau Police Department and other law enforcement agencies say they are prepared for the possibility of political violence at the Capitol building on the day of the presidential inauguration. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

No known threats of violence, but police say they’re prepared

“The Juneau Police Department and our partners have not received any specific threats,” the agency said.

The Juneau Police Department and other law enforcement agencies say they are prepared for the possibility of political violence at the Capitol building on the day of the presidential inauguration. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
Students re-entered Floyd Dryden Middle School on Monday with distancing strategies and mitigation protocols in place. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Back in class: Re-entry goes smoothly, says superintendent

More than a thousand students returned to schools this week. There are more to come.

Students re-entered Floyd Dryden Middle School on Monday with distancing strategies and mitigation protocols in place. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Increased collaboration between the University of Alaska Southeast, seen here in this October 2020 file photo, and UA Fairbanks had led to greater enrollment in the university system's fisheries programs, according to UA Interim President Pat Pitney. Making Juneau a fisheries hub was mentioned as a way of increasing enrollment and better serving the state at a UA Regents meeting Friday. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

University of Alaska looks to a post-pandemic future

After a chaotic year, stability seems to have returned, and leaders are optimistic.

Increased collaboration between the University of Alaska Southeast, seen here in this October 2020 file photo, and UA Fairbanks had led to greater enrollment in the university system's fisheries programs, according to UA Interim President Pat Pitney. Making Juneau a fisheries hub was mentioned as a way of increasing enrollment and better serving the state at a UA Regents meeting Friday. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)