Home

Amos Andreassen, 6, hands a piece of debris to his grandmother, Peggy Tutu, on a beach in North Douglas during a community cleanup Sunday following last weekend’s record flooding of the Mendenhall River. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Cleaning up the flood’s remaining bits and big pieces

Participants in community cleanup walk the shores where items washed up a week after the disaster

Amos Andreassen, 6, hands a piece of debris to his grandmother, Peggy Tutu, on a beach in North Douglas during a community cleanup Sunday following last weekend’s record flooding of the Mendenhall River. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Players collide during the second quarter of the Juneau Huskies’ season opener against East Anchorage Saturday afternoon at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Players collide during the second quarter of the Juneau Huskies’ season opener against East Anchorage Saturday afternoon at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
An American Red Cross worker (in orange) advises people evacuating belongings from a house on Nelson Street following a small landslide Saturday evening. City officials ordered the evacuation of homes near the slide, and issued a notice asking people to stay away from the landslide area and for people in high-slope areas to be aware of landslide risks due to heavy rain. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

‘Small’ landslide occurs downtown; one home impacted, no injuries reported

Officials evacuate nearby homes, caution residents in high-slope areas.

An American Red Cross worker (in orange) advises people evacuating belongings from a house on Nelson Street following a small landslide Saturday evening. City officials ordered the evacuation of homes near the slide, and issued a notice asking people to stay away from the landslide area and for people in high-slope areas to be aware of landslide risks due to heavy rain. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Three Alaska Marine Highway System ferries are docked at its headquarters in Ketchikan as the Columbia arrives on July 16. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire)

Fixing the ferry’s future: Alaska Marine Highway steers fleet toward three replacements

Part two of a two-part series about the tricky navigation facing the Alaska Marine Highway System.

Three Alaska Marine Highway System ferries are docked at its headquarters in Ketchikan as the Columbia arrives on July 16. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire)
Workers load cars aboard the Columbia ferry during a stop in mid-July. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire)

Fixing the ferry’s future: The cost of maintaining an aging fleet

Master plan seeks to replace existing ships that are inefficient and expensive to operate

Workers load cars aboard the Columbia ferry during a stop in mid-July. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire)
Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire
Members of the deck department of the Columbia state ferry get ready to dock the vessel in Petersburg on July 17. A change in the accounting department is expected to lessen the number of payroll complaints among Alaska Marine Highway System employees.

A fix is in for ferry payroll issues

The change addresses longstanding issues with AMHS employees getting paid late or the wrong amounts.

Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire
Members of the deck department of the Columbia state ferry get ready to dock the vessel in Petersburg on July 17. A change in the accounting department is expected to lessen the number of payroll complaints among Alaska Marine Highway System employees.
Alaska Marine Highway System vessels in dock at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal. (Alaska Marine Highway System)

Fixing the ferry’s future: Meet the nine ships in the Alaska Marine Highway fleet

Three are currently out of service due to repairs and crew shortages

Alaska Marine Highway System vessels in dock at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal. (Alaska Marine Highway System)
The Odess Theater is seen on May 22, 2019, on the campus of the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, which operates the former home of Sheldon Jackson College. (Photo by Flickr user Jasperdo/Creative Commons)

Sitka Fine Arts Camp withdraws immigration lawsuit after feds reconsider issue

A key employee for one of Alaska’s major arts organizations has received a federal immigration visa, ending a lawsuit over the case. Sitka Fine Arts… Continue reading

The Odess Theater is seen on May 22, 2019, on the campus of the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, which operates the former home of Sheldon Jackson College. (Photo by Flickr user Jasperdo/Creative Commons)
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (left) views the Mendenhall River on Tuesday as Juneau Assembly member Wade Bryson explains changes that occurred to the riverbank due to record flooding from Suicide Basin last Saturday. Juneau state representatives Sara Hannan and Andi Story were among the other officials taking part in the trip. (Tom Mattice / City and Borough Of Juneau)

Flood cleanup, fundraising events planned this weekend

As state and federal officials consider large-scale actions, residents can offer immediate help.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (left) views the Mendenhall River on Tuesday as Juneau Assembly member Wade Bryson explains changes that occurred to the riverbank due to record flooding from Suicide Basin last Saturday. Juneau state representatives Sara Hannan and Andi Story were among the other officials taking part in the trip. (Tom Mattice / City and Borough Of Juneau)
A team photo of the 2023 Juneau Huskies, who kick off their season with a home game against East Anchorage at 3 p.m. Saturday. (Courtesy of Juneau Huskies Football)

Juneau Huskies start another title prowl

After losing state title game last year, there’s only one way to go up as season starts Saturday

A team photo of the 2023 Juneau Huskies, who kick off their season with a home game against East Anchorage at 3 p.m. Saturday. (Courtesy of Juneau Huskies Football)
The offices of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are seen Monday, June 6, 2022 in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. plans to open Anchorage office by year’s end

It’s the first time the corporation has opened a satellite office outside its Juneau headquarters.

The offices of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are seen Monday, June 6, 2022 in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File
The Dusky Rock sits at Aurora Harbor on the morning of Saturday, June 3. The vessel was towed there from Sandy Beach on the evening of Friday, June 2, after three people died within a three-day period aboard the vessel while anchored offshore.

Medical examiner: Carbon monoxide poisoning, drug intoxication cause of three boat deaths

The bodies were discovered in a three-day period, all while aboard a boat earlier this summer.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File
The Dusky Rock sits at Aurora Harbor on the morning of Saturday, June 3. The vessel was towed there from Sandy Beach on the evening of Friday, June 2, after three people died within a three-day period aboard the vessel while anchored offshore.
Drag queen Gigi Monroe performs an opening song during a Drag Storytime at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library on Saturday, Aug. 5. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Drag queen Gigi Monroe performs an opening song during a Drag Storytime at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library on Saturday, Aug. 5. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
New University of Alaska Chancellor Aparna Palmer speaks to the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon Thursday afternoon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

New UAS chancellor talks student access, visibility ahead of semester start

Aparna Palmer shared her goals with the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce.

New University of Alaska Chancellor Aparna Palmer speaks to the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon Thursday afternoon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
A map shows gale-force winds are likely throughout Southeast Alaska during a storm this weekend that is also expected to result in two to three inches of rain in Juneau, according to the National Weather Service. (Map by the National Weather Service)

Weekend storm with gale-force winds may pose risks for flooded riverbank, salmon derby

Storm is expected to peak Saturday, officials warn trees along Mendenhall River may come loose.

A map shows gale-force winds are likely throughout Southeast Alaska during a storm this weekend that is also expected to result in two to three inches of rain in Juneau, according to the National Weather Service. (Map by the National Weather Service)
Steve Vick delivers a speech at Auke Village Recreation Area after completing his nine-day, 92-mile swim from Skagway on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Vick swam to call attention to the proposed Juneau to Skagway road. (Brian Wallace / Juneau Empire Archives)
Steve Vick delivers a speech at Auke Village Recreation Area after completing his nine-day, 92-mile swim from Skagway on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Vick swam to call attention to the proposed Juneau to Skagway road. (Brian Wallace / Juneau Empire Archives)
A wildfire burns in Kihei, Hawaii late Wednesday. Thousands of residents raced to escape homes on Maui as blazes swept across the island, destroying parts of a centuries-old town in one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in recent years. (AP Photo/Ty O’Neil)

Wildfire devastates Hawaii’s historic Lahaina; dozens killed, mass evacuation of area

Hawaii officials have launched a mass evacuation effort for visitors and residents stranded north of a historic Maui town that was largely destroyed by wildfire.… Continue reading

  • Aug 10, 2023
  • By Rebecca Boone Associated Press
A wildfire burns in Kihei, Hawaii late Wednesday. Thousands of residents raced to escape homes on Maui as blazes swept across the island, destroying parts of a centuries-old town in one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in recent years. (AP Photo/Ty O’Neil)
Steve Bradford (left) and Mark Kissel, both vice presidents of the Riverside Condominiums Homeowners Association, discuss repairs to two of the complex’s buildings on Wednesday as a bulldozer places rock fill under a corner of one building exposed by erosion during record flooding of the Mendenhall River last Saturday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Efforts underway to save two condominium buildings exposed by flood

Property managers hopeful tons of rock fill can allow people in 12 units to return home

Steve Bradford (left) and Mark Kissel, both vice presidents of the Riverside Condominiums Homeowners Association, discuss repairs to two of the complex’s buildings on Wednesday as a bulldozer places rock fill under a corner of one building exposed by erosion during record flooding of the Mendenhall River last Saturday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
People attend a candlelit vigil that was held at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center to honor Paul Rodriguez Jr., pictured, who drowned while kayaking on Mendenhall Lake in July. The search for his body has been called off following the record flooding from Suicide Basin during the weekend, officials say. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Search for body of missing kayaker will not resume following flood

It will remain suspended unless new leads are discovered, trooper says.

People attend a candlelit vigil that was held at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center to honor Paul Rodriguez Jr., pictured, who drowned while kayaking on Mendenhall Lake in July. The search for his body has been called off following the record flooding from Suicide Basin during the weekend, officials say. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
This photo taken in Juneau on Monday is of the Ghaanka Yéil S’áaxhw (Raven of the Roof, Hat) from the L’uknaxh.ádi clan in Sitka. The item from repatriated from the University of Pennsylvania. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Tlingit and Haida to receive $143K in grants toward repatriation projects

The funding was awarded under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

This photo taken in Juneau on Monday is of the Ghaanka Yéil S’áaxhw (Raven of the Roof, Hat) from the L’uknaxh.ádi clan in Sitka. The item from repatriated from the University of Pennsylvania. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)