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Faith Myers stands at the doors of API. (Courtesy Photo)

Opinion: Alaska’s reckoning with the past could improve care for psychiatric patients

There are a lot of similarities between the federally funded Indian boarding schools and locked psychiatric facilities of the early 1900s. The best examples: the… Continue reading

  • Jun 24, 2023
  • By Faith J. Myers
  • Opinion
Faith Myers stands at the doors of API. (Courtesy Photo)
Washboard roads form on dry, unpaved road surfaces, of which there are many in Alaska. (Illustration by Liza McElroy)

Alaska Science Forum: The ups and downs of washboard roads

While driving Alaska’s graveled highways, people sometimes wonder how an unpaved road can turn into a bed of corduroy. Keith Mather had the same question… Continue reading

Washboard roads form on dry, unpaved road surfaces, of which there are many in Alaska. (Illustration by Liza McElroy)
The current Juneau City Hall, which municipal leaders say is outdated and costly to rent. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

My Turn: Glory Hall or new City Hall, that is the question

The relentless drumbeat of the outgoing city manager may leave the CBJ in financial ruin because he has pressed forward with the FY24 budget with… Continue reading

The current Juneau City Hall, which municipal leaders say is outdated and costly to rent. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Daniel Ellsberg, speaking at a press conference in New York City in 1972. (Public domain photo by Bernard Gotfryd)

Opinion: Ellsberg’s leaking of Pentagon Papers is still a model for truth in the digital age

Daniel Ellsberg, known for leaking a secret study about the Vietnam war to the news media, died last week at the age of 92. The… Continue reading

Daniel Ellsberg, speaking at a press conference in New York City in 1972. (Public domain photo by Bernard Gotfryd)
The author’s backyard overlooking a forested ridge. (Photo by Peggy Barnhill)

Gimme a Smile: Welcome to my backyard

KINY is running a photo contest of pictures of your backyard to win a backyard BBQ set. Here’s a word picture of my backyard. After… Continue reading

The author’s backyard overlooking a forested ridge. (Photo by Peggy Barnhill)
(Associated Press)

Opinion: Time for Xs, Ys and Zs to quit whining and get into voting booths

I am a Baby Boomer. I was born in 1953, pretty much smack in the middle of a half-century long period during which Democrats and… Continue reading

(Associated Press)
Alaska U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, left, and Dan Sullivan attend a U.S. Coast Guard ceremony in Juneau on June 9. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Comments about Trump by Alaska leaders reflect their level of respect for voters

The comments by Alaska’s top elected leaders to former President Donald Trump’s indictment say a lot about what they think of the public. Two out… Continue reading

  • Jun 21, 2023
  • By Larry Persily
  • Opinion
Alaska U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, left, and Dan Sullivan attend a U.S. Coast Guard ceremony in Juneau on June 9. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
The author and his wife stand on a ridge near Denali National Park earlier in June. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: Timing doesn’t always matter

The bobber bobbed and I set. The trashing was immediate as I lifted the fly rod. In this moment, one can get a good idea… Continue reading

The author and his wife stand on a ridge near Denali National Park earlier in June. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
Tourists take shelter at Marine Park during a heavy rain shower on Aug. 14, 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Living And Growing: Counting rainy blessings

As we come out of these wet and cooler months of April, May and June, that are usually our drier sunny months here in Juneau… Continue reading

  • Jun 21, 2023
  • By Donna Leigh Member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • ColumnsReligion
Tourists take shelter at Marine Park during a heavy rain shower on Aug. 14, 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
Juneau’s current City Hall is outdated, according to local municipal leaders who are hoping voters will approve funding to help pay for a new building. A bond providing such funding was rejected last year. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

My Turn: Local leaders’ chatter about diversity and sustainability rings hollow

If you pay attention to the workings of the City and Borough of Juneau, one hears a great deal about sustainability and diversity. This is… Continue reading

  • Jun 19, 2023
  • By Joe Geldhof
Juneau’s current City Hall is outdated, according to local municipal leaders who are hoping voters will approve funding to help pay for a new building. A bond providing such funding was rejected last year. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) hovering over a possible snack at Mendenhall Lake on June 13. (Courtesy Photo / Kenneth Gill, gillfoto)

Wild Shots

Reader-submitted photos of Mother Nature in Southeast Alaska.

  • Jun 16, 2023
Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) hovering over a possible snack at Mendenhall Lake on June 13. (Courtesy Photo / Kenneth Gill, gillfoto)
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, discusses the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump during a U.S. Coast Guard ceremony in Juneau on Friday, June 9. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Opinion: Sen. Sullivan’s non-defense of Trump

Referring the unsealed indictment of former President Donald Trump, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said “the charges in this case are quite serious and cannot be casually… Continue reading

  • Jun 16, 2023
  • By Rich Moniak
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, discusses the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump during a U.S. Coast Guard ceremony in Juneau on Friday, June 9. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
R.L. Phillips pauses with his “mosquito-proofed” horse Sparkplug on a gravel bar of the Tatonduk River, a tributary of the Yukon River, on June 17, 1930. (From the J.B. Mertie Collection of photos, U.S. Geological Survey Denver Library Photographic Collection, public domain)

Alaska Science Forum: Pound for pound, Alaska mosquitoes pack punch

Researcher calculates combined weight of Alaska’s yearly mosquito “crop” is 96 million pounds.

  • Jun 15, 2023
  • By Ned Rozell
R.L. Phillips pauses with his “mosquito-proofed” horse Sparkplug on a gravel bar of the Tatonduk River, a tributary of the Yukon River, on June 17, 1930. (From the J.B. Mertie Collection of photos, U.S. Geological Survey Denver Library Photographic Collection, public domain)
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)
At the base of elderberry leaves there are extrafloral nectaries that may be part of the plant’s defense against insect herbivores. (Bob Armstrong photo)

On the Trails: Deciduous trees in Southeast — a perspective

The dark foliage of conifer trees dominates much of our landscape. It gets to be a bit overwhelming at times, so I’m always glad when… Continue reading

  • Jun 13, 2023
  • By Mary F. Willson
At the base of elderberry leaves there are extrafloral nectaries that may be part of the plant’s defense against insect herbivores. (Bob Armstrong photo)
Stellar’s Jays kissing in a tree May 3 in the North Tee Harbor area. (Courtesy Photo / Glenn Ramsey)

Wild Shots

Reader-submitted photos of Mother Nature in Southeast Alaska.

  • Jun 12, 2023
Stellar’s Jays kissing in a tree May 3 in the North Tee Harbor area. (Courtesy Photo / Glenn Ramsey)
Cinnamon-colored Juneau black bear watching cars drive by out the road at the 20 mile marker on Friday, June 2. (Courtesy Photo / Virginia Kelly)

Wild Shots

Reader-submitted photos of Mother Nature in Southeast Alaska.

  • Jun 10, 2023
Cinnamon-colored Juneau black bear watching cars drive by out the road at the 20 mile marker on Friday, June 2. (Courtesy Photo / Virginia Kelly)
The author’s wife hikes down the ridge of a still snow-covered mountain. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: The summer bod

It’s summer bod time. Not in a show it off at the beach sort of way, but a maximize quality use variety. The last two… Continue reading

The author’s wife hikes down the ridge of a still snow-covered mountain. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
Hazel Sutton, 13, pauses at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge at the end of her shift monitoring tree swallow nest-boxes. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: A new teenager and her unusual bird

Hazel Sutton was eating lunch on an island at Tanana Lakes Recreation Area in Fairbanks with her family recently when a bird caught her eye.… Continue reading

Hazel Sutton, 13, pauses at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge at the end of her shift monitoring tree swallow nest-boxes. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)