The best pictures of 2018 by staff photographer Michael Penn.
• Contact staff photographer Michael Penn at 523-2262 and mpenn@juneauempire.com. Follow our Instagram at @Juneau.Life to see more photos.
The annual Polar Bear Dip at Auke Recreation beach on Monday, Jan. 1, 2018.
Juneau residents react to the 37 degree water temperature during the annual Polar Bear Dip at Auke Recreation beach on Monday, Jan. 1, 2018.
Marvin Pena steels himself for the annual Polar Bear Dip at Auke Recreation beach on Monday, Jan. 1, 2018.
Thunder Mountain’s Vaipuna Toutaiolepo dives for a loose ball against Juneau-Douglas’ Cooper Kriegmont during their game at TMHS on Friday, Jan. 5, 2017. TMHS won 50-45.
William James Musser V holds his daughter, Annabelle Rose, 4, as they attend a candlelight vigil with about 40 other people at Northern Light United Church on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. The Juneau Reentry Coalition sponsored the event as part of a statewide collaboration remembering people lost to addiction.
Second-degree karate black belt Marella Gungob talks about her upcoming eight-day trip to Japan during an interview at the Juneau Shotokan dojo on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. Gungob will participate in Kakehashi Project under the sponsorships of the Consulate of Japan in Anchorage. This Project is to foster a greater understanding of Japanese politics, society, history and foreign policy via persona exchange by inviting promising future leaders from North America to Japan.
Juneau-Douglas’ Kiana Potter, right, battles for a loose ball against Lathrop’s Ella Roberts at JDHS on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. JDHS won 57-53.
Juneau-Douglas’ Cully Corrigan scores on North Pole’s goalie Moses Halbert as his helmet is knocked away by North Pole’s Jeff Doty at Treadwell Arena on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018.
About 100 people attend the Rally for Life 2018 during a snow squall in front of the Capitol on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. The event was sponsored by Alaskans for Life.
A surfers make use of the waves at the Lena Beach Recreation Area on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018. Tuesday looks to continue being good for surfing with mostly clear skies and northeast wind 25 to 30 mph. High near 23.
Icicles hang from the front of the Mendenhall Glacier on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018.
Thunder Mountain’s Kyaye Garcia, left, dives for a loose ball against Juneau-Douglas’ Kiana Potter, bottom left, Caitlin Pusich and Alyxn Bohulano, right, at JDHS on Friday, March 3, 2018. JDHS won 53-33.
Caven Pfeiffer, of Sitka, waves signs at the corner of Egan Drive and 10th Street on Monday, April 2, 2018, to bring attention to him selling halibut off his fishing boat, Sword, at the Don Statter Memorial Boat Harbor in Auke Bay. He is selling his fish for $9.50 per pound. Pfeiffer said, “ We have a — poor price this year. We got a 15 percent cut in our quota and then our price is about 30 percent less. That’s why I am working so hard.” One side of his sign reads “We don’t do Stormy Daniels.” The other side reads “We do Stormy Seas.” Pfeiffer said he just wanted to have a little fun while selling his fish.
Juneau Capital City Fire/Rescue firefighters work a building fire at North Franklin and Second Street on Monday, April 16, 2017.
Thunder Mountain’s goalkeeper Alan Plosay, left, and teammate Kieran Kollar, center, knock the ball away from Kenai’s Nathaniel Beiser at THMS on Friday, April 20, 2018.
Juneau-Douglas’ Jacob Dale slides to steal home and score as Petersburg’s Sawyer Bryner misses the throw at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park on Friday, April 27, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Sculpture artist R.T. “Skip” Wallen and patineur Bart Latta, of the Parks Bronze foundry in Enterprise, Oregon, work to give Wallen’s bronze bear sculpture, Windfall Fisherman, a 30-year cleanup on Main Street on Thursday, May 10, 2018. Wallen and Latta were etching details that have worn off since it was installed in 1988. Wallen said the work is “making a friendlier bear out of it. That’s part of the expression that has bothered me for 30 years.” (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Canoes from around Southeast Alaska and Canada arrive at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor to participate in a Welcoming Ashore ceremony on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. The event, sponsored by the One People Canoe Society, is the unofficial start of Celebration 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Members of the Mount Saint Elias Dancers of Yakutat parade in the Grand Entrance for Celebration 2018 along Willoughby Avenue on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Morgan Fawcett of Woosh.ji.een of Juneau dances in the Grand Entrance for Celebration 2018 along Willoughby Avenue on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Marvin Kadake, right, of the Keex’ Kwaan Dancers (People of Kake) shakes hands with Ed Kunz during the Grand Entrance for Celebration 2018 along Willoughby Avenue on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. Kadake is a Medal of Honor veteran who served in Korea with the Marines. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Members of the Yanyeidi clan dance around the Yanyeidi Wolf totem pole after its raising at Savikko Park on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Yanyeidi Clan member Ben Coronell spends a moment with the the Yanyeidi Wolf totem pole before its raising at Savikko Park on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Wayne Smallwood lines up with the Southeast Alaska Native Veterans honor guard to lead dance groups parade through downtown Juneau on Saturday, June 9, 2018, the last day of Celebration 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Donna Jim, of the Taku Kwaan Dancers, of Atlin, BC, dances through downtown Juneau on Saturday, June 9, 2018, the last day of Celebration 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Juneau residents listen to the music of Papertrails and enjoy the beach during a solstice party at the North Douglas Boat Launch on Wednesday, June 20, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Bald eagles fight over salmon on the outgoing tide near the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery on Tuesday, July 17, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Bald eagles fight over salmon on the outgoing tide near the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery on Tuesday, July 17, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Tourists watch as one of two cubs belonging to an 18-year-old sow black bear crosses the path between groups of tourists visiting the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on Wednesday, July 18, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Jessica Keeler and her daughter, Lilly, 3, pick fireweed petals at Kaxdigoowu Héen Dei Park to make jelly on Monday, July 23, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Greg Albricht takes advantage of a steady breeze to windsurf downtown on Monday, July 30, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
A Wings Airways floatplane takes off from Juneau’s downtown harbor as the Norwegian Bliss leaves it port of call on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of The Art of Living Foundation visits the Walter Soboleff Center on Tuesday, July 31, 2018, as part of his West Coast Tour that also includes San Francisco and Seattle. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
A male black bear chases spawning sockeye salmon in Steep Creek at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on Thursday, August 16, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Three 2-year-old black bear cubs look hunt spawning sockeye salmon in Steep Creek at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on Thursday, August 16, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Tesla Cox, left, and Deanne Fuller on the Lil’ Mermaid show their silver salmon during the 72nd Annual Golden North Salmon Derby on Friday, August 17, 2018, sponsored by the Territorial Sportsmen. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Juneau Community Charter School second-grader Elianna Amati, left, carries her class’s flowers with third-grader Rebecca Frank after a ceremony at Evergreen Cemetery on the first of the school year on Monday, Aug. 20, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Tsimshian artist David R. Boxley, left, Tlingit artist Stephen Jackson, center, and Haida artist TJ Young, stand by their bronze house posts during an unveiling ceremony in front of the Walter Soboleff Center by Sealaska Heritage Institute on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Former state Senate Mike Dunleavy, left, Gov. Bill Walker, center, and former U.S. Senator Mark Begich shake hands after a debate at a Juneau Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Centennial Hall on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Children attending Fiddleheads Preschool line up along the fence at Cope Park to watch an excavator dredge Gold Creek on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
The Holland America Line cruise ship Westerdam slips out of Juneau’s downtown harbor just before 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. The Norwegian Pearl also visited Tuesday, the last day of the season. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Sonia Nagorski, assistant professor of Geology Arts and Sciences at the University of Alaska Southeast, investigates the broken oxbow along the Mendenhall River on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. The river cut through the meander bend just north of the Brotherhood Bridge last this summer. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
A pedestrian crosses the bridge at Auke Lake on Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. The National Weather Service forecasts clear skies through Wednesday with highs in the upper 30s. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Maisi MacCabe exits a voting booth at Aldersgate United Methodist Church on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Tlingit elders David Katzeek, right, and Paul Marks, left, watch as Tyler Frisby, a member of the Tlingit Culture Language and Literacy Dance Group from Harborview Elementary School dance exits during the Voices of Our Ancestors Language Summit at Centennial Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Members of The Voices of Alaska, directed by Missouri Smyth, sing Christmas carols at the annual Douglas Christmas Tree lighting at the Douglas Community United Methodist Church on Friday, Nov. 23, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
A Ward Air floatplane motors across the floatplane pond at the Juneau International Airport on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
The setting sun catches on the Mendenhall Towers on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Rev. Steven F. McGuigan, Rector of the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, performs a Festal Vespers service to celebrate on the eve of Saint Nicholas Day on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary hosted a recepton for the congregation in St. Ann’s Parish Hall after the service. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Thunder Mountain’s Mary Neal Garcia falls and is called for a foul against North Pole’s Laura Donovan at TMHS on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. TMHS won 57-39. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Thunder Mountain’s Iayanah Brewer, left, and teammate Tasi Fenumiai, right, battle for the ball against North Pole’s Alex Hodal, front, and Claire Richmond at TMHS on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. TMHS won 57-39. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
The Bust of Dr. Jose P. Rizal at Manila Square sports shutter shades and a fresh coat of snow in downtown Juneau on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Snow-coated trees are reflected in the open waters of Auke Lake on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018. The National Weather Service forecasts colder weather through Christmas with little to no snow accumulation. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
