Opinion

A sign designates a vote center during the recent municipal election. The center offered a spot for voters to drop off ballots or fill a ballot out in person. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Opinion: Another reason to return to in-person voting

Why are we continuing to do mail-in elections?

  • Jan 5, 2022
  • Rick Currier
A sign designates a vote center during the recent municipal election. The center offered a spot for voters to drop off ballots or fill a ballot out in person. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Hope, prayer, and mRNA vaccines

Every elected leader should be asking Americans to do their patriotic duty —get vaccinated.

  • Jan 5, 2022
  • By Kimberly Metcalfe
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Alexander B. Dolitsky

Opinion: Russian Old Believers in modern Alaska

America is the sunrise for the Russian Old Believers in Alaska.

  • Jan 4, 2022
  • By Alexander B. Dolitsky
Alexander B. Dolitsky
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Thank you for promoting mental health in Juneau

Here’s how it’s helped.

  • Jan 3, 2022
  • By Debbie Fagnant
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(Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Southeast hatcheries are criticial to Southeast’s economy

Every Alaskan in our region is impacted by our salmon hatchery program.

  • Dec 31, 2021
  • By Robert Venables
(Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire File)
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Opinion: Your teen is hurting

It’s time for change, and it’s happening right now.

  • Dec 28, 2021
  • Jenelle L. Nelson
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Opinion: Love, empathy and respect should be taught

Here’s what we need to teach in school

  • Dec 28, 2021
  • By LilyBelle Maher
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After Christmas, exchange ideas

Unhealthy sterotypes pose a new existential risk.

  • Dec 23, 2021
  • By Rich Moniak
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Opinion: The Grinch that stole Christmas

President Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci are vying for the title of the most insufferable Grinch.

  • Dec 23, 2021
  • By Win Gruening
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This July 2020 photo shows Arsenio “Pastor” Credo during an interview in the Empire offices. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Washington needs more principled people like Bob Dole

“U.S. Sen. Robert J. Dole, R-Kansas, was a man of principle…”

  • Dec 21, 2021
  • By Arsenio “Pastor” Credo
This July 2020 photo shows Arsenio “Pastor” Credo during an interview in the Empire offices. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Copies of the Alaska State Constitution were available outside the Lt. Governor’s office on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Opinion: A constitutional convention is fraught with danger for Juneau, Southeast and Alaska as a whole

Please follow the constitutional convention issue as it works its way through the political process.

  • Dec 20, 2021
  • By Bill Corbus
Copies of the Alaska State Constitution were available outside the Lt. Governor’s office on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
Alexander B. Dolitsky

Opinion: Ethnic minorities and religious freedom in America and Alaska

Opinion on preservation of core cultural values.

  • Dec 17, 2021
  • By Alexander B. Dolitsky
Alexander B. Dolitsky
A sign lets visitors know they're in the Tongass National Forest on Thursday, July 15, 2021, the same day the Biden administration announced yet another reversal of policy over the forest. Debates about the 2001 Roadless Rule are familiar in Southeast Alaska, and Thursday's announcement prompted familiar reactions in the state. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Opinion: The Roadless Rule is a distraction

Flipping the Roadless Rule isn’t an act of cooperation.

  • Dec 17, 2021
  • Rich Moniak
A sign lets visitors know they're in the Tongass National Forest on Thursday, July 15, 2021, the same day the Biden administration announced yet another reversal of policy over the forest. Debates about the 2001 Roadless Rule are familiar in Southeast Alaska, and Thursday's announcement prompted familiar reactions in the state. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

We’re all richer thanks to nature’s dividend

By Sam Skaggs If you live in Southeast Alaska, you know that Southeast is a rich place abundant with natural, renewable capital. That natural capital… Continue reading

  • Dec 16, 2021
  • By Sam Skaggs
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building in October 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

Opinion: Letting politics influence Permanent Fund decisions creates possibilities for misery

An impartial board of trustees is the only vaccine against politicizing the fund.

  • Dec 16, 2021
  • By Larry Persily
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building in October 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
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Opinion: Broadband should be accessible everywhere in Alaska

Broadband will dissolve the divide between rural and urban.

  • Dec 15, 2021
  • By Larry Johansen
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Opinion: Now’s the time for our funds to divest from fossil fuels

It appears that some of the fund’s decisions have been political for some time. Let me explain…

  • Dec 14, 2021
  • By Mike Tobin
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Opinion: Be respectful and mask up around others who do the same

Iit would be great if we could all just be polite and respect each other.

  • Dec 13, 2021
  • Susan Patterson
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Opinion: COP 26 aftermath and outcomes for Alaska

Climate change stands out as a majorly important and urgent issue.

  • Dec 10, 2021
  • By John Seymour and Charles Thorpe
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(Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: CBJ Assembly underserves and overspends

The Assembly has blithely approved funding for extraneous projects costing millions of dollars.

  • Dec 9, 2021
  • By Win Gruening
(Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)