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Melina Meyer and Laine Rinehart laugh while weaving the bottom fringe of the Chilkat Pride robe on Saturday. The robe will be exhibited and danced in for the first time during this year’s Celebration. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

Celebration 2024 mixes decades of tradition with new events

Thousands gather in Juneau for four-day Indigenous dance-and-culture festival starting Wednesday.

Melina Meyer and Laine Rinehart laugh while weaving the bottom fringe of the Chilkat Pride robe on Saturday. The robe will be exhibited and danced in for the first time during this year’s Celebration. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
This Woodworm Grease Bowl by artist Patrizia (Patty) Fiorella is among the works accepted into Sealaska Heritage Institute’s 2024 Juried Art Show and Competition as part of First Friday and Celebration. (Brian Wallace / Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute)

Here’s what happening for First Friday in June

Art events affiliated with Celebration, skateboarding and pro-choice activism among activities.

This Woodworm Grease Bowl by artist Patrizia (Patty) Fiorella is among the works accepted into Sealaska Heritage Institute’s 2024 Juried Art Show and Competition as part of First Friday and Celebration. (Brian Wallace / Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute)
Marie Mead performs a traditional dance during the Inuit-soul musical group Pamyua’s performance as part of the final night of the Áak’w Rock music festival at Centennial Hall on Sept. 23, 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Áak’w Rock bringing another ‘Side Stage’ to accompany this week’s Celebration

10 Indigenous performers scheduled Friday and Saturday at various venues downtown.

Marie Mead performs a traditional dance during the Inuit-soul musical group Pamyua’s performance as part of the final night of the Áak’w Rock music festival at Centennial Hall on Sept. 23, 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
Juneau’s Nate Fick leaps to make a catch while another Eagle River run scores during the opening game Thursday of the Division I Alaska School Activities Association Baseball State Championships. (Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report)

Crimson Bears finish sixth at state baseball tournament, coach calls season promising for young team

JDHS loses to Chugiak in consolation finale; scenarios for next season expand due to TMHS merger.

Juneau’s Nate Fick leaps to make a catch while another Eagle River run scores during the opening game Thursday of the Division I Alaska School Activities Association Baseball State Championships. (Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report)
City of Juneau Pipe Band members Sue Behnert and Scott Mornon lead participants along the downtown Juneau waterfront to Bill Overstreet Park during the annual Celebration of Life Walk on Sunday, June 2, which is National Cancer Survivors Day. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Cancer survivors offer a ringing tribute to overcoming challenges during Celebration of Life Walk

Dancers, bagpipes and a bell symbolizing healing mark annual National Cancer Survivors Day event.

City of Juneau Pipe Band members Sue Behnert and Scott Mornon lead participants along the downtown Juneau waterfront to Bill Overstreet Park during the annual Celebration of Life Walk on Sunday, June 2, which is National Cancer Survivors Day. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Spruce tips emerging on May 25 beside a Juneau trail. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)

Brewing survival: How spruce tip beer helped 1790s ‘Voyage of Discovery’ navigate scurvy and survey

Health value of tips now forming on Juneau’s trees known to Natives, European explorers for centuries

Spruce tips emerging on May 25 beside a Juneau trail. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
Members of the Thunder Mountain High School softball team pose for a shot following their 18-0 victory against North Pole High School on Friday during the Division II Alaska School Activities Association Softball State Championships in Fairbanks. (Thunder Mountain Softball photo)

Final flight of the TMHS Falcons ends with 6-4 loss on final day of state softball tournament

“It’s been a fun ride,” coach says as team wins conference title, goes 29-12 during its final season.

Members of the Thunder Mountain High School softball team pose for a shot following their 18-0 victory against North Pole High School on Friday during the Division II Alaska School Activities Association Softball State Championships in Fairbanks. (Thunder Mountain Softball photo)
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Landon Simonson is greeted at home after hitting a grand slam on Friday during the Division I Alaska School Activities Association Baseball State Championships in Anchorage. (Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report)

JDHS baseball, TMHS softball teams make it to final day of state tournaments

Crimson Bears play for consolation title after grand slam win Friday; Falcons still in title hunt

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Landon Simonson is greeted at home after hitting a grand slam on Friday during the Division I Alaska School Activities Association Baseball State Championships in Anchorage. (Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report)
The trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are seen during a quarterly meeting Feb. 16. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Permanent Fund leaders vote to hire law firm to investigate leaker and themselves

Third-party investigator will examine six years of contacts between staff and the board of trustees.

The trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are seen during a quarterly meeting Feb. 16. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The offices of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are seen Monday, June 6, 2022 in Juneau. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Permanent Fund bosses vote to defy Alaska Legislature, keep Anchorage office

One dissenting member of board of trustees warns vote could cause “a fight” with the Legislature.

The offices of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are seen Monday, June 6, 2022 in Juneau. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Thunder Mountain High School’s Ashlyn Gates, seen here pitching against Sitka High School during the Region V softball conference tournament last Saturday in Juneau, was named player of the game in an 8-0 win over Delta Junction High School to open the state softball title tournament on Thursday in Fairbanks. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)

TMHS wins state softball tournament openers 8-0, 16-1; JDHS falls short in baseball title quest

Falcons face Kodiak High School on Friday, Crimson Bears play consolation game against Colony.

Thunder Mountain High School’s Ashlyn Gates, seen here pitching against Sitka High School during the Region V softball conference tournament last Saturday in Juneau, was named player of the game in an 8-0 win over Delta Junction High School to open the state softball title tournament on Thursday in Fairbanks. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Nick Hanson of the NBC show “American Ninja Warrior” kicks off the blanket toss at the 2020 Traditional Games in Juneau. (Lyndsey Brollini / Sealaska Heritage Institute)

Neighbors: Celebration begins Wednesday with mix of traditional and new events

Nearly 1,600 dancers from 36 dance groups scheduled to participate in four-day gathering.

Nick Hanson of the NBC show “American Ninja Warrior” kicks off the blanket toss at the 2020 Traditional Games in Juneau. (Lyndsey Brollini / Sealaska Heritage Institute)
Abi Spofford, a Juneau resident who said she suffered a mental health crisis that resulted in her seeking treatment at Bartlett Regional Hospital nine months ago, testifies during a joint meeting of the hospital’s board of directors and the Juneau Assembly on Wednesday night where cuts to such programs were considered. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Bartlett seeking help from Assembly and public as program cuts considered to halt huge losses

Hospital losing $1M a month; comments sought on proposed “non-core” program cuts during coming weeks

Abi Spofford, a Juneau resident who said she suffered a mental health crisis that resulted in her seeking treatment at Bartlett Regional Hospital nine months ago, testifies during a joint meeting of the hospital’s board of directors and the Juneau Assembly on Wednesday night where cuts to such programs were considered. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A crane unloads a car from a used gondola after its arrival in Juneau in 2022. Eaglecrest Ski Area officials say they are hoping the gondola will be operational by the 2025-26 winter ski season. (Photo courtesy of Eaglecrest Ski Area)

Petition expresses concerns about future of Eaglecrest’s operations following general manager’s ouster

Group questions if ski resort will be ready for coming ski season, projects such as gondola delayed.

A crane unloads a car from a used gondola after its arrival in Juneau in 2022. Eaglecrest Ski Area officials say they are hoping the gondola will be operational by the 2025-26 winter ski season. (Photo courtesy of Eaglecrest Ski Area)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in court for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday in New York City. (Photo by Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images)

Trump conviction doesn’t dampen Alaska Republican congressional candidates’ support

The three Republicans vying to become Alaska’s next member of the U.S. House of Representatives issued statements of support for Donald Trump on Thursday after… Continue reading

Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in court for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday in New York City. (Photo by Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images)
The front page of the Juneau Empire on May 26, 1994. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The front page of the Juneau Empire on May 26, 1994. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Former Thunder Mountain High School JV basketball coach Kylie Ibias, and former TMHS JV basketball and volleyball coach Arnold Ibias sit in the TMHS gymnasium during an interview for a soon-to-be released documentary. (Photo courtesy of Sonny Hunt-Mauricio)
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16 years of Thunder Mountain High School commemorated through two documentaries

Three Falcons alumni release their project before school’s final graduation; another coming in June.

Former Thunder Mountain High School JV basketball coach Kylie Ibias, and former TMHS JV basketball and volleyball coach Arnold Ibias sit in the TMHS gymnasium during an interview for a soon-to-be released documentary. (Photo courtesy of Sonny Hunt-Mauricio)
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Juneau Symphony members rehearse Thursday for this weekend’s “BOOM” pops concerts at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Auditorium. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Juneau Symphony ends its season with things that go ‘BOOM’ in the night

Ensemble will feature popular film scores, solo by Dallas Brass trumpet player this weekend at JDHS.

Juneau Symphony members rehearse Thursday for this weekend’s “BOOM” pops concerts at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Auditorium. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The student band performs at Thunder Mountain High School. (Screenshot from student film “Digging a Hole in the School Budget”)

Thunder Mountain High School graduates win film festival award

Documentary by Jade Hicks, Hayden Loggy-Smith portrays human impacts of school consolidation plan.

The student band performs at Thunder Mountain High School. (Screenshot from student film “Digging a Hole in the School Budget”)
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower after he was found guilty of all counts in his criminal trial in New York, on Thursday. Trump has been convicted of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his ascent to the White House in 2016, part of a scheme that prosecutors described as a fraud on the American people. He is the first American president to be declared a felon. (Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times)

Trump guilty on all 34 counts in hush-money case

First U.S. president to be declared a felon after trial for falsifying records involving sex scandal

  • May 30, 2024
  • By Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times
  • Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower after he was found guilty of all counts in his criminal trial in New York, on Thursday. Trump has been convicted of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his ascent to the White House in 2016, part of a scheme that prosecutors described as a fraud on the American people. He is the first American president to be declared a felon. (Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times)