News

Investigator Markus Bressler, defendant John Stapleton, and public defender Eric Hedland sit in court on Jan. 13, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)

Man says 2018 stabbing death was accidental

With both prosecution and defense done bringing witnesses, the trial is entering its final stages.

Investigator Markus Bressler, defendant John Stapleton, and public defender Eric Hedland sit in court on Jan. 13, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)
Juneau’s first electric bus, parked in the Capital Transit garage on April 8, 2021. The bus has experienced some mechanical and battery problems since entering service last spring. (Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire File)

Plugging along: Electric bus faces mechanical issues

City remains committed to electrifying its fleet.

Juneau’s first electric bus, parked in the Capital Transit garage on April 8, 2021. The bus has experienced some mechanical and battery problems since entering service last spring. (Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire File)
Deborah Moody, an administrative clerk at the Alaska Division of Elections office in Anchorage, Alaska, looks at an oversized booklet explaining election changes in the state on Jan. 21, 2022. Alaska elections will be held for the first time this year under a voter-backed system that scraps party primaries and sends the top four vote-getters regardless of party to the general election, where ranked choice voting will be used to determine a winner. No other state conducts its elections with that same combination. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen)

How Alaska’s unique new election system works

Here is a closer look at what’s happening in Alaska.

Deborah Moody, an administrative clerk at the Alaska Division of Elections office in Anchorage, Alaska, looks at an oversized booklet explaining election changes in the state on Jan. 21, 2022. Alaska elections will be held for the first time this year under a voter-backed system that scraps party primaries and sends the top four vote-getters regardless of party to the general election, where ranked choice voting will be used to determine a winner. No other state conducts its elections with that same combination. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen)
Killdeer chicks have just one black breast band at first, but soon get the characteristic two bands.(Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
Video

On the Tails: Shorebirds in winter

Sightings are no “shore” thing.

Killdeer chicks have just one black breast band at first, but soon get the characteristic two bands.(Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
Video
Screenshot / City and Borough of Juneau Concept drawings of a potential new City Hall building for the City and Borough of Juneau show what a new building atop the downtown transit center parking garage might look like. The city is considering several options for a new City Hall, and on Wednesday will take public testimony on proposals.

Have thoughts on a new City Hall? Your chance to weigh in is coming up

Wednesday, 6 p.m.

Screenshot / City and Borough of Juneau Concept drawings of a potential new City Hall building for the City and Borough of Juneau show what a new building atop the downtown transit center parking garage might look like. The city is considering several options for a new City Hall, and on Wednesday will take public testimony on proposals.
It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)

Police calls for Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022

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

  • Jan 25, 2022
  • Juneau Empire
  • Crime
It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)
Police arrested a 20-year-old for a variety of charges stemming from a string of incidents where he shot passersby and other vehicles from a car with a BB gun. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Man arrested following BB gun attacks

He allegedly shot both passersby and other vehicles on the road.

Police arrested a 20-year-old for a variety of charges stemming from a string of incidents where he shot passersby and other vehicles from a car with a BB gun. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML

COVID at a Glance for Monday, Jan. 24

Numbers come from reports from the City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Operations Center and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, as well… Continue reading

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML
Public defender Eric Hedland, left, and District Attorney Angie Kemp consult with Superior Court Judge Amy Mead on Jan. 24, 2022 during a trial of a man accused of killing another man in Yakutat in 2018. (Screenshot)

State rests after prosecution’s final witness in trial for killing

The defense will now bring forth its witnesses.

Public defender Eric Hedland, left, and District Attorney Angie Kemp consult with Superior Court Judge Amy Mead on Jan. 24, 2022 during a trial of a man accused of killing another man in Yakutat in 2018. (Screenshot)
An avalanche above Basin Road covered the Gold Creek Flume Trail on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, but didn’t affect any structures. Heavy rains over the weekend set records in Juneau and caused several small avalanches in the region. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Weekend weather sets records, causes power disruptions

Considerable avalanche danger.

An avalanche above Basin Road covered the Gold Creek Flume Trail on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, but didn’t affect any structures. Heavy rains over the weekend set records in Juneau and caused several small avalanches in the region. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
The Thunder Mountain High School boys basketball team stand on the Arctic Ocean. (Courtesy Photo)

Falcons come up just shy of tournament win

Close game in the far north.

The Thunder Mountain High School boys basketball team stand on the Arctic Ocean. (Courtesy Photo)
Students from Riverbend Elementary School arrive for their first day of classes at Chapel By the Lake on Jan. 24. The church offered its education wing to the Juneau School District after a burst pipe shuttered the Riverbend school building. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

Amen! School is back in session for Riverbend students

Riverbend students start school at Chapel by the Lake

Students from Riverbend Elementary School arrive for their first day of classes at Chapel By the Lake on Jan. 24. The church offered its education wing to the Juneau School District after a burst pipe shuttered the Riverbend school building. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)
Then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin speaks at a rally in Montgomery, Ala., in 2017. Palin is on the verge of making new headlines in a legal battle with The New York Times. A defamation lawsuit against the Times, brought by the brash former Alaska governor in 2017, is set to go to trial starting Monday, Jan. 24, 2022 in federal court in Manhattan. (AP Photo / Brynn Anderson)

Palin COVID-19 tests delay libel trial against NY Times

Sarah Palin on Monday tested positive for COVID-19.

Then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin speaks at a rally in Montgomery, Ala., in 2017. Palin is on the verge of making new headlines in a legal battle with The New York Times. A defamation lawsuit against the Times, brought by the brash former Alaska governor in 2017, is set to go to trial starting Monday, Jan. 24, 2022 in federal court in Manhattan. (AP Photo / Brynn Anderson)
This National Weather Service map shows hazards around Southeast Alaska. An atmospheric river in the area has produced record-setting rain and flood watches throughout the region. (Screenshot)

Heavy rain prompts flood advisories, avalanche concerns, road closures

A hard rain is gonna (continue to) fall.

This National Weather Service map shows hazards around Southeast Alaska. An atmospheric river in the area has produced record-setting rain and flood watches throughout the region. (Screenshot)
It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)

Police calls for Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022

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

  • Jan 23, 2022
  • Juneau Empire
  • Crime
It's a police car until you look closely and see the details don't quite match. (Juneau Empire File / Michael Penn)
Peter Segall/Juneau Empire One of the last cruise ships of the 2021 season docks in Juneau on Oct. 20, 2021. Local operators say it’s too early to know how the upcoming cruise season will unfold, but they’re cautiously optimistic.

Smooth sailing for the 2022 season?

Cautious optimism reigns, but operators say it’s too early to tell.

Peter Segall/Juneau Empire One of the last cruise ships of the 2021 season docks in Juneau on Oct. 20, 2021. Local operators say it’s too early to know how the upcoming cruise season will unfold, but they’re cautiously optimistic.
FILE - Participants wave signs as they walk back to Orlando City Hall during the March for Abortion Access on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. State-by-state battles over the future of abortion in the U.S. are setting up across the country as lawmakers in Republican-led states propose new restrictions modeled on laws passed in Texas and Mississippi even as some Democratic-controlled states work to preserve access. (Chasity Maynard/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)

With Roe in doubt, states act on abortion limits, expansions

“This could be a really, really dramatic year…”

  • Jan 22, 2022
  • By Lindsay Whitehurst Associated Press
  • Nation-World
FILE - Participants wave signs as they walk back to Orlando City Hall during the March for Abortion Access on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. State-by-state battles over the future of abortion in the U.S. are setting up across the country as lawmakers in Republican-led states propose new restrictions modeled on laws passed in Texas and Mississippi even as some Democratic-controlled states work to preserve access. (Chasity Maynard/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)
This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML

COVID at a Glance for Friday, Jan. 21

Numbers come from reports from the City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Operations Center and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, as well… Continue reading

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML
The Alaska Redistricting Board’s decision to pair District 21 (teal) and District 22 (purple) into one senate district is the subject of a lawsuit from East Anchorage residents of District 21. An Anchorage Superior Court heard the first arguments in that case on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, part of several lawsuits against the Redistricting Board that have been consolidated into a single case. (Screenshot / Alaska Redistricting Board)

First arguments heard in Redistricting Board lawsuits

Arguments resume Monday.

The Alaska Redistricting Board’s decision to pair District 21 (teal) and District 22 (purple) into one senate district is the subject of a lawsuit from East Anchorage residents of District 21. An Anchorage Superior Court heard the first arguments in that case on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, part of several lawsuits against the Redistricting Board that have been consolidated into a single case. (Screenshot / Alaska Redistricting Board)
Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce is photographed at the Kenai Peninsula Clarion office in Kenai, Alaska, on Sept. 25, 2020. (Peninsula Clarion file)

Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor joins race for governor

The borough mayor notified local officials in an email Thursday

Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce is photographed at the Kenai Peninsula Clarion office in Kenai, Alaska, on Sept. 25, 2020. (Peninsula Clarion file)