News

Survey: Lawmakers predict what session will bring

Everyone wants to know what the second session of the 29th Alaska Legislature will bring, but no one knows the answer. Well, no one outside… Continue reading

Juneau observes MLK holiday

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a state and federal holiday.While government offices are closed and there will be no mail delivery, the Black… Continue reading

Convicted Tenakee murderer wins an appeal

A man convicted in 2005 of raping and murdering a woman in Tenakee has won an appeal for post-conviction relief, the Alaska Court of Appeals… Continue reading

Artist Marianne Manning, right, works with seventh-graders Amanda Lamburt, center, Amy Budke and eighth-grader Claire Schumacker, left, on a three by eight-foot glass mosaic based on a painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh at Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School on Wednesday. Manning is spending two weeks working with the middle school students on producing two glass mosaic panels as part of the Artist in the Schools Program.

Photos: Glass mosaic

Artist Marianne Manning, right, works with seventh-graders Amanda Lamburt, center, Amy Budke and eighth-grader Claire Schumacker, left, on a three by eight-foot glass mosaic based… Continue reading

Artist Marianne Manning, right, works with seventh-graders Amanda Lamburt, center, Amy Budke and eighth-grader Claire Schumacker, left, on a three by eight-foot glass mosaic based on a painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh at Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School on Wednesday. Manning is spending two weeks working with the middle school students on producing two glass mosaic panels as part of the Artist in the Schools Program.
In this Jan. 6 photo, Lathrop High School Principal Bob Meade poses for photos at the school in Fairbanks. Meade has been teaching in Alaska for 20 years.

Fairbanks principal reflects on 20 years teaching in Alaska

FAIRBANKS — In 2014, Robert Meade moved from the North Slope to Fairbanks to take over as principal at Lathrop High School.To the students at… Continue reading

In this Jan. 6 photo, Lathrop High School Principal Bob Meade poses for photos at the school in Fairbanks. Meade has been teaching in Alaska for 20 years.
This Jan. 6 photo shows the Ketchikan High School auto shop, which has sat empty since mid-December when the school closed for the Christmas season. After shop teacher Jeff Shelton's death in a vehicle collision during the break, the school is now moving students back into the shop. They were being taught by substitute teacher Theresa Wong in the Kayhi library.

Auto shop set to reopen after death

KETCHIKAN — Students are just now returning to Ketchikan High School’s auto shop after the death of Kayhi shop teacher Jeff Shelton.Shelton was killed in… Continue reading

This Jan. 6 photo shows the Ketchikan High School auto shop, which has sat empty since mid-December when the school closed for the Christmas season. After shop teacher Jeff Shelton's death in a vehicle collision during the break, the school is now moving students back into the shop. They were being taught by substitute teacher Theresa Wong in the Kayhi library.

Colorado wildfire team heads to Alaska

DURANGO, Colo. — A team of wildland firefighters is headed from the Durango area to the rugged terrain of Alaska this year because of their… Continue reading

Anchorage public school student earns perfect SAT score

ANCHORAGE — An Anchorage public school student with a perfect SAT score is looking toward colleges where he can explore his interests in science, technology,… Continue reading

Around Town for Jan. 18

Introduction to Microsoft Excel, 9-11 a.m., The Learning Connection, 210 Ferry Way. Learn to use Excel to organize and calculate data in the workplace. Free.… Continue reading

Zinc mine sues municipality over new severance tax

ANCHORAGE — The company that manages one of the world’s largest zinc mines is suing an Alaska municipality over a new tax.Teck Alaska Inc. says… Continue reading

Rio de Janeiro Olympics facing deep cuts unseen in decades

RIO DE JANEIRO — Cuts, cuts and more cuts.That’s the situation facing international sports federations, with just over six months to go before the Olympics… Continue reading

  • Jan 18, 2016
  • By STEPHEN WADE
This Monday, Jan. 11, 2016 photo shows Ibrahim Mahmoud standing in Baharka refugee camp in Iraq's northern Kurdish region. At the age of 9, during the 1948 Israeli-Arab war he fled his native Haifa with his family to Iraq and he hasn't left ever since. The now 76 year-old never got rid of the refugee status. The last city he lived in was Mosul, until it got taken by the Islamic State group. Ibrahim and his family fled again, this time to the Northern Kurdish region of Iraq. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)

Palestinian refugee driven into new exile

BAHARKA REFUGEE CAMP, Iraq — As a nine-year-old boy, Ibrahim Mahmoud fled his hometown of Haifa on the back of a truck during the 1948… Continue reading

This Monday, Jan. 11, 2016 photo shows Ibrahim Mahmoud standing in Baharka refugee camp in Iraq's northern Kurdish region. At the age of 9, during the 1948 Israeli-Arab war he fled his native Haifa with his family to Iraq and he hasn't left ever since. The now 76 year-old never got rid of the refugee status. The last city he lived in was Mosul, until it got taken by the Islamic State group. Ibrahim and his family fled again, this time to the Northern Kurdish region of Iraq. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)

ATV riders challenge longtime bans on use of public roads

DES MOINES, Iowa — When she crashed on an all-terrain vehicle, Megan Cratsley was hurt so badly that doctors had to amputate much of her… Continue reading

FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2016 file-pool photo, Vice President Joe Biden points at President Barack Obama during the president's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. Harking back to America's triumphant race into space, the Obama administration is launching what it calls a "moonshot" effort to cure cancer. Don't expect miracles in the president's last months, but there has been striking progress in recent years. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)

Biden sees politics of cancer world as obstacle to a cure

WASHINGTON — Four weeks after announcing he wouldn’t run for president, Joe Biden returned to the world-renowned cancer center in Texas where doctors had tried… Continue reading

FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2016 file-pool photo, Vice President Joe Biden points at President Barack Obama during the president's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. Harking back to America's triumphant race into space, the Obama administration is launching what it calls a "moonshot" effort to cure cancer. Don't expect miracles in the president's last months, but there has been striking progress in recent years. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, JAN. 18, 2015 AND THEREAFTER - In this Jan. 4, 2016 photo, Gwen Easter testifies before an Omaha Public Schools board meeting in Omaha, Neb. Easter, who runs a community center and preschool program, assailed the proposals to teach acceptance and understanding of gay and transgender youth. "That's the real agenda _ the same-sex stuff," she declared during remarks that drew cheers from her allies in the crowd. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

In Omaha, and much of US, debate over sex ed rages on

OMAHA, Nebraska — Rival factions yelling at one another amid angry pushing. Tirades about condoms, and claims of misinformation. A parent declaring that children are… Continue reading

ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, JAN. 18, 2015 AND THEREAFTER - In this Jan. 4, 2016 photo, Gwen Easter testifies before an Omaha Public Schools board meeting in Omaha, Neb. Easter, who runs a community center and preschool program, assailed the proposals to teach acceptance and understanding of gay and transgender youth. "That's the real agenda _ the same-sex stuff," she declared during remarks that drew cheers from her allies in the crowd. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Fort Wainwright rejecting IDs from 5 states, American Samoa

FAIRBANKS — Some visitors to Fort Wainwright are no longer able to enter using just their driver’s license to identify themselves.Fort Wainwright garrison spokesman Allen… Continue reading

Bethel City Council temporarily stops marijuana applications

BETHEL — Bethel will not be processing any applications related to marijuana businesses for the next six months.KYUK-AM reports that the City Council on Tuesday… Continue reading

Anchorage police name officers involved in shooting of man

ANCHORAGE — Anchorage police have released the names of two officers who fatally shot a man they said was charging at them with a large… Continue reading

Police & Fire for Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016

This report contains public information available to the Empire from law enforcement agencies. This report includes arrest and citation information, not conviction information. Anyone listed… Continue reading

Around Town for Jan. 17

Knights of Columbus Bishop Kenny Council brunch, 10 a.m.-noon, St. Paul’s Catholic Church. $10 for a family and $4 for an individual.Open trap shooting, 10… Continue reading