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Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas pulls into Icy Point Strait in Hoonah, on Thursday, July 22, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file photo)

Douglas cruise port intentionally announced after election, officials say; downtown businesses worry about income loss

Strategy raises questions about citywide cruise tourism economic impacts cited by Ship-Free Saturday opponents.

Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas pulls into Icy Point Strait in Hoonah, on Thursday, July 22, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file photo)
A steady procession of vehicles and students arrives at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé before the start of the new school year on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Reported surge of student fights — some filmed and luring kids from other schools — alarm parents and officials

Fights taking place on and off JDHS campus, students say; questions about discipline policy raised.

A steady procession of vehicles and students arrives at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé before the start of the new school year on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
The lower Stikine River is seen in British Columbia, Canada, in an undated photo. (Photo by Marek Stefunko/Getty Images Plus)

Above Stikine River, Canadian government boosts huge mining project you’ve probably never heard of

Road goes along a major salmon bearing river that flows into Southeast Alaska near Wrangell.

The lower Stikine River is seen in British Columbia, Canada, in an undated photo. (Photo by Marek Stefunko/Getty Images Plus)
Celebrity Cruises President Laura Hodges Bethge discusses current and future plans for parent company Royal Caribbean Group during a keynote speech Tuesday at the Alaska Travel Industry Association convention at Centennial Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Royal Caribbean tries to appease angry city leaders with apology after surprise Douglas cruise port announcement

Tensions revived after cruise line president touts project in speech; email apology sent soon after.

Celebrity Cruises President Laura Hodges Bethge discusses current and future plans for parent company Royal Caribbean Group during a keynote speech Tuesday at the Alaska Travel Industry Association convention at Centennial Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
An empty classroom at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé in Juneau on July 20, 2022. (Lisa Phu/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Native scholars propose statewide reading standards for the state’s Indigenous languages

Sealaska Heritage Institute working with specialists to develop proposed curriculum.

An empty classroom at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé in Juneau on July 20, 2022. (Lisa Phu/Alaska Beacon)
Workers install Hesco Barriers along the Los Angeles River to protect against El Niño flooding in 2016. Similar barriers along the Mendenhall River are being considered by Juneau city leaders. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo)

$2M for Hesco barriers OK’d by Assembly, but proposed flood-prevention project far from firmly set

Concerns raised about impacts on properties — and if homeowners will be forced to pay some costs.

Workers install Hesco Barriers along the Los Angeles River to protect against El Niño flooding in 2016. Similar barriers along the Mendenhall River are being considered by Juneau city leaders. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo)
President Joe Biden honors the 10 winners of the 2023 National Humanities Medal, including Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl, during a ceremony Monday at The White House. (Screenshot from official video by The White House)
Video

SHI President Rosita Worl among 10 people receiving National Humanities Medal from President Biden

Ceremony at White House livestreamed online at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

President Joe Biden honors the 10 winners of the 2023 National Humanities Medal, including Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl, during a ceremony Monday at The White House. (Screenshot from official video by The White House)
Video
Municipal Attorney Emily Wright (left) swears in newly elected Juneau Assembly members Neil Steininger and Maureen Hall as newly reelected Mayor Beth Weldon takes a photo during an Assembly meeting Monday night at City Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Hall and Steininger get sworn in to Juneau Assembly; Hale and Blake get poems as they depart

Newly reelected Mayor Beth Weldon offers tributes; Greg Smith chosen as new deputy mayor

Municipal Attorney Emily Wright (left) swears in newly elected Juneau Assembly members Neil Steininger and Maureen Hall as newly reelected Mayor Beth Weldon takes a photo during an Assembly meeting Monday night at City Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
These materials are mailed to Alaska voters who request absentee ballots. Clockwise, from the top left: The envelope from the Alaska Division of Elections, the return envelope, the ballot and instructions. (Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska’s first votes appear to show disproportionately high Democratic interest

Early voting locations opened Monday across Alaska for registered voters to cast ballots in the Nov. 5 general election. The lone exception was in Fairbanks,… Continue reading

These materials are mailed to Alaska voters who request absentee ballots. Clockwise, from the top left: The envelope from the Alaska Division of Elections, the return envelope, the ballot and instructions. (Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon)
Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon and Assembly member Greg Smith (left) read a formal apology to members of the Douglas Indian Association during an Assembly meeting Monday night, acknowledging the City and Borough of Juneau’s role in the burning of the Douglas Indian Village in 1962. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Juneau offers formal apology for 1962 burning of the Douglas Indian Village

Apology called long overdue, but tribal leader says full story of destruction still needs to be shared.

Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon and Assembly member Greg Smith (left) read a formal apology to members of the Douglas Indian Association during an Assembly meeting Monday night, acknowledging the City and Borough of Juneau’s role in the burning of the Douglas Indian Village in 1962. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich speaks to an audience at the Alaska Chamber of Commerce’s U.S. House debate on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Fairbanks. At left is incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska. The two candidates again participated in a forum on Monday. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

As early voting opens, Peltola and Begich meet for last face-to-face forum before Election Day

Two leading candidates in U.S. House election appear at a forum hosted by the Anchorage Chamber.

Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich speaks to an audience at the Alaska Chamber of Commerce’s U.S. House debate on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Fairbanks. At left is incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska. The two candidates again participated in a forum on Monday. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
A chart shows the level of the Mendenhall River dropping steadily after reaching a peak from a glacial outburst flood from Suicide Basin at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday. (National Weather Service Juneau)

Mendenhall River crests at 10.77 feet at 11:30 p.m. Sunday — lower and earlier than expected

Water from Suicide Basin glacial outburst flood retreats rapidly, leaving ice behind after record cold.

A chart shows the level of the Mendenhall River dropping steadily after reaching a peak from a glacial outburst flood from Suicide Basin at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday. (National Weather Service Juneau)
Debris left behind from a 2022 landslide, on Gastineau Avenue in Juneau on Sept. 26, 2024. Deadly landslides are increasing around the world, but in parts of Alaska, maps of the hazards remain controversial. (Christopher Miller/The New York Times)

Scientists are mapping landslide risk in Alaska. Some homeowners don’t want to know.

Maps of the hazards remain controversial in some parts of the state, including Juneau.

  • Oct 21, 2024
  • By Austyn Gaffney ©2024 The New York Times Company
  • landslide
Debris left behind from a 2022 landslide, on Gastineau Avenue in Juneau on Sept. 26, 2024. Deadly landslides are increasing around the world, but in parts of Alaska, maps of the hazards remain controversial. (Christopher Miller/The New York Times)
A campsite is seen on Oct. 18 in the woods along the Campbell Creek Trail in Midtown Anchorage. Unsheltered people face a much higher risk of cold-exposure injuries than do housed people, state data shows. But the rate of such injuries among the homeless is not clear because the homeless population is difficult to define and identify. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Trauma records show high risks of cold-exposure injuries for Alaska’s homeless

Unhoused people accounted for nearly a quarter of the Alaskans who were hospitalized with cold-related injuries like frostbite and hypothermia from 2012 to 2021, according… Continue reading

A campsite is seen on Oct. 18 in the woods along the Campbell Creek Trail in Midtown Anchorage. Unsheltered people face a much higher risk of cold-exposure injuries than do housed people, state data shows. But the rate of such injuries among the homeless is not clear because the homeless population is difficult to define and identify. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Police calls for Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
The swollen Mendenhall River flows past a condominium and other residences Sunday evening during a glacial outburst flood from Suicide Basin that crested well below the riverbanks that were reinforced with rock fill in many places following then-record flooding in August of 2023. The city is now considering installing up to four miles of Hesco barriers along one side of the river as a semi-permanent levee. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

October’s flood doesn’t mean risk of one next year is lower, expert says, as protective efforts continue

Multiple factors in Suicide Basin’s water level makes predicting odds of release dangerous, official says

The swollen Mendenhall River flows past a condominium and other residences Sunday evening during a glacial outburst flood from Suicide Basin that crested well below the riverbanks that were reinforced with rock fill in many places following then-record flooding in August of 2023. The city is now considering installing up to four miles of Hesco barriers along one side of the river as a semi-permanent levee. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Police calls for Friday, Oct. 18, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Police calls for Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Tom Mattice, Juneau’s emergency programs manager, uses a loader to help residents fill sandbags at Melvin Park on Sunday afternoon. The city is distributing 75,000 sandbags for free, with sand available at the park and the Thunder Mountain Middle School parking lot. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Residents spend their hours before peak of flood preparing for worst-case scenario in various ways

Generators, sandbags, hotel stays, backyard river watching keep people active as water rises Sunday.

Tom Mattice, Juneau’s emergency programs manager, uses a loader to help residents fill sandbags at Melvin Park on Sunday afternoon. The city is distributing 75,000 sandbags for free, with sand available at the park and the Thunder Mountain Middle School parking lot. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A sign at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center warns people Sunday about flooding on trails due to a glacial outburst flood from Suicide Basin expected to peak early Monday morning. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)

Mendenhall River flooding expected to peak at 11.31 feet during 20° cold between 1 and 4 a.m. Monday

People warned to avoid river area due to icy conditions; water-level rise slowing as of 11:30 p.m.

A sign at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center warns people Sunday about flooding on trails due to a glacial outburst flood from Suicide Basin expected to peak early Monday morning. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)