Opinion

Opinion: Is new city debt necessary now?

Opinion: Is new city debt necessary now?

It’s fair to ask why Juneau residents should vote to add new debt now

  • Sep 3, 2020
  • By Win Gruening
Opinion: Is new city debt necessary now?
Opinion: Ballot initiative is based on hate and greed

Opinion: Ballot initiative is based on hate and greed

This is far from the first time such a destructive tax change has been proposed.

  • Sep 1, 2020
  • Murray R. Walsh
Opinion: Ballot initiative is based on hate and greed
Opinion: Complicated tax policy should not be decided at the ballot box

Opinion: Complicated tax policy should not be decided at the ballot box

The legislative process isn’t pretty, but it is the system in place for such matters.

  • Aug 31, 2020
  • By Michael Geraghty
Opinion: Complicated tax policy should not be decided at the ballot box
This photo shows the Alaska State Capitol. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: The GOP doesn’t speak for most Alaskans

Legislators aren’t elected to be a rubber stamp for whatever the governor wants.

  • Aug 29, 2020
  • By Rich Moniak
This photo shows the Alaska State Capitol. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)
In this file photo, the Alaska Marine Highway System ferries LeConte, left, Malaspina and Tazlina, hidden from view, are tied up at the Auke Bay Terminal on Thursday, July 25, 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Coronavirus adds to Alaska Marine Highway System’s challenges

Ferries are facing a pandemic-caused shortfall of almost $45 million.

  • Aug 27, 2020
  • By John MacKinnon
In this file photo, the Alaska Marine Highway System ferries LeConte, left, Malaspina and Tazlina, hidden from view, are tied up at the Auke Bay Terminal on Thursday, July 25, 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: Initiative 1 and a boom and bust economy

Opinion: Initiative 1 and a boom and bust economy

Will the initiative be the last straw on backs of the oil industry and Alaska’s economy?

  • Aug 27, 2020
  • Andy Hughes
Opinion: Initiative 1 and a boom and bust economy
Robin O. Brena is a lifelong Alaska who grew up in Skagway and is an original sponsor of Ballot Measure 1, Chair of the Oil and Gas Transition Committee for the Walker administration and founder of Brena, Bell and Walker, a longtime Alaskan law firm. (Courtesy Photo / Robin O. Brena)

Opinion: Major oil companies can afford to pay a fair share.

This is called standing up for Alaska.

  • Aug 27, 2020
  • By Robin O. Brena
Robin O. Brena is a lifelong Alaska who grew up in Skagway and is an original sponsor of Ballot Measure 1, Chair of the Oil and Gas Transition Committee for the Walker administration and founder of Brena, Bell and Walker, a longtime Alaskan law firm. (Courtesy Photo / Robin O. Brena)
Opinion: Big business, Wall Street are the true socialists

Opinion: Big business, Wall Street are the true socialists

The system has been rigged for the wealthiest.

  • Aug 26, 2020
  • By Anselm Staack
Opinion: Big business, Wall Street are the true socialists
Kate Troll (Courtesy Photo / Kate Troll)

Opinion: Even on military matters, Sullivan toes the line for Trump

We need an independent, strong voice that will stand up for what’s right.

  • Aug 25, 2020
  • By Kate Troll
Kate Troll (Courtesy Photo / Kate Troll)
The Tongass National Forest sign seen en route to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Removing the Roadless Rule would hurt Alaska

Removing the Roadless Rule from the Tongass would exacerbate impact of climate change.

  • Aug 24, 2020
The Tongass National Forest sign seen en route to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Alexander B. Dolitsky

Opinion: Marxism and its relevance to ‘white privilege’ doctrine

“Today, in America, opportunity is available to nearly everyone.”

  • Aug 24, 2020
  • By Alexander B. Dolitsky
Alexander B. Dolitsky
Opinion: An update from the Alaska Marine Highway System Reshaping Work Group

Opinion: An update from the Alaska Marine Highway System Reshaping Work Group

We have heard that reliable, predictable service is a fundamental need.

  • Aug 21, 2020
  • By Tom Barrett
Opinion: An update from the Alaska Marine Highway System Reshaping Work Group
Supporters of the opposition flash victory signs as a police patrol walks by warning people that the protest is not authorized and asking them to leave in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. Belarus’ authorities have detained a leader of striking factory workers and threatened protesters with criminal charges in a bid to stem massive protests challenging the extension of the 26-year rule of the country’s authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, who accused the U.S. of fomenting the unrest and vowed to see a quick end to protests. (AP Photo / Sergei Grits)

Opinion: Recent criticism of white privilege misses the mark

“White privilege” is not a slogan or a doctrine.

  • Aug 21, 2020
  • Eric Kueffner
Supporters of the opposition flash victory signs as a police patrol walks by warning people that the protest is not authorized and asking them to leave in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. Belarus’ authorities have detained a leader of striking factory workers and threatened protesters with criminal charges in a bid to stem massive protests challenging the extension of the 26-year rule of the country’s authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, who accused the U.S. of fomenting the unrest and vowed to see a quick end to protests. (AP Photo / Sergei Grits)
Health and education experts, including Juneau School District Superintendent Bridget Weiss, gave testimony to lawmakers Thursday on the challenges facing schools as they try and reopen in the pandemic (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Why schools aren’t reopening

Examining the cause of reopening fears.

  • Aug 21, 2020
  • By Rich Moniak
Health and education experts, including Juneau School District Superintendent Bridget Weiss, gave testimony to lawmakers Thursday on the challenges facing schools as they try and reopen in the pandemic (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: Republican or Trumper?

Opinion: Republican or Trumper?

There is a difference.

  • Aug 20, 2020
  • By Deborah Craig
Opinion: Republican or Trumper?
Opinion: Open primaries would reflect Alaskans’ true independence

Opinion: Open primaries would reflect Alaskans’ true independence

The price of allowing these partisan elections to continue is too high for Alaskans.

  • Aug 20, 2020
  • By Penny Gage and Alana Peterson
Opinion: Open primaries would reflect Alaskans’ true independence
Opinion: Attacking systemic racism or adding systemic bureaucracy?

Opinion: Attacking systemic racism or adding systemic bureaucracy?

How much change is warranted and what is the best way to accomplish it?

  • Aug 20, 2020
  • By Win Gruening
Opinion: Attacking systemic racism or adding systemic bureaucracy?
Opinion: An outside the box schools solution

Opinion: An outside the box schools solution

Let us look to what we already have.

  • Aug 19, 2020
  • By Kali Hofman
Opinion: An outside the box schools solution
Opnion: The time to speak up for USPS is now

Opnion: The time to speak up for USPS is now

I am hopeful that all of us will stand up to efforts to undermine the effectiveness the USPS.

  • Aug 19, 2020
Opnion: The time to speak up for USPS is now
Judy Cavanaugh stands with others at a rally against the Pebble Mine in front of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s Juneau office on Tuesday, June 25, 2019. (Michae Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Why risk the crown jewel of Alaska’s fisheries?

It’s time to Veto Pebble Mine.

  • Aug 19, 2020
Judy Cavanaugh stands with others at a rally against the Pebble Mine in front of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s Juneau office on Tuesday, June 25, 2019. (Michae Penn / Juneau Empire File)