News

Geoff and Mary Larson hold up their Citizen of the Year Award from the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce. (Courtesy photo / Alaskan Brewing Company)

Chamber names Alaskan Brewing’s Larsons Citizens of the Year

Awards presented via Zoom.

Geoff and Mary Larson hold up their Citizen of the Year Award from the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce. (Courtesy photo / Alaskan Brewing Company)
MV LeConte docks at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal with the MV Tazlina in the background on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Leconte adds November and December sailings

Sailings are from Juneau to Hoonah and Gustavus.

MV LeConte docks at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal with the MV Tazlina in the background on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
Work on Aurora Harbor is just part of City and Borough of Juneau’s Docks and Harbors’ ongoing slate of projects, including work on Don. D Statter Harbor and basin clearing at Harris Harbor. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Docks and Harbors readies for winter

Construction is going forward unabated.

Work on Aurora Harbor is just part of City and Borough of Juneau’s Docks and Harbors’ ongoing slate of projects, including work on Don. D Statter Harbor and basin clearing at Harris Harbor. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Emergency worker Melanie Chavez takes a COVID-19 test sample at the Juneau International Airport screening site on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. Bartlett Regional Hospital staff are hoping to have a testing machine operational early next year that will allow the city to process its own COVID-19 samples. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Testing machine timeline starts to take shape

More uses outside of COVID.

Emergency worker Melanie Chavez takes a COVID-19 test sample at the Juneau International Airport screening site on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. Bartlett Regional Hospital staff are hoping to have a testing machine operational early next year that will allow the city to process its own COVID-19 samples. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

COVID at a glance

The most recent state and local numbers.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
Coast Guard personnel from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka rescued a 70-year-old man from the water near Union Bay on Nov. 1, 2020. (Screenshot / U.S. Coast Guard)

Coast Guard rescues man from water Sunday evening

Weather at the scene was 57-mph winds and 10 foot seas.

Coast Guard personnel from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka rescued a 70-year-old man from the water near Union Bay on Nov. 1, 2020. (Screenshot / U.S. Coast Guard)
This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

COVID at a glance

The most recent state and local numbers.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

COVID at a glance

The most recent state and local numbers.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

COVID at a glance

The most recent state and local numbers.

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)
A City and Borough of Juneau worker clears the road in a downtown neighborhood on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

‘Somewhere between mashed potatoes and wet concrete’: Heavy snow causes havoc

Not quite a wonderland.

A City and Borough of Juneau worker clears the road in a downtown neighborhood on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Michael S. Lockett / Junerau Empire Capital City Fire/Rescue fire marshal Dan Jager demonstrates the proper stance for use of a fire extinguisher. CCFR recommends that all Juneau residents replace the batteries for their smoke alarms this weekend, and also have a fire extinguisher.

Day life saving time: Make sure batteries work while turning back clocks

Many organizations recommend checking smoke alarm batteries when clocks change.

Michael S. Lockett / Junerau Empire Capital City Fire/Rescue fire marshal Dan Jager demonstrates the proper stance for use of a fire extinguisher. CCFR recommends that all Juneau residents replace the batteries for their smoke alarms this weekend, and also have a fire extinguisher.
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB-10) is in the fast Ice Jan. 2, 2020, approximately 20 miles north of McMurdo Station, Antarctica. (Senior Chief Petty Officer NyxoLyno Cangemi / USCG)

Coast Guard heavy icebreaker retasked for Arctic deployment

The ship typically spends these months breaking trail to McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB-10) is in the fast Ice Jan. 2, 2020, approximately 20 miles north of McMurdo Station, Antarctica. (Senior Chief Petty Officer NyxoLyno Cangemi / USCG)
The Juneau Police Department, March 20, 2020. (Michael S. Lockett | Juneau Empire)

Police to allow beards, purple hair for child cancer awareness

The fundraiser will last for two months.

The Juneau Police Department, March 20, 2020. (Michael S. Lockett | Juneau Empire)
The Tailing Treatment Facility and Upper Slate Lake at the Kensington Mine on Monday, Oct. 14, 2019. Coeur Alaska wants to expand the life of the mine which will require expanding this lake which holds processed material from the mine. The lake has its own water treatment plant which continually processes wastewater. The company says it follows the strictest environmental precautions. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Comment period opens for proposed mine operations extension

Begins Oct. 30, ends Dec. 14 for Kensington Gold Mine.

The Tailing Treatment Facility and Upper Slate Lake at the Kensington Mine on Monday, Oct. 14, 2019. Coeur Alaska wants to expand the life of the mine which will require expanding this lake which holds processed material from the mine. The lake has its own water treatment plant which continually processes wastewater. The company says it follows the strictest environmental precautions. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
Capital City Fire/Rescue and the Juneau Police Department are investigating a fire that occurred near an apartment on Willoughby Avenue on Oct. 25, 2020 as arson. (Courtesy photo / CCFR)

Authorities investigate probable downtown arson

Video footage shows an unidentified man stuffing newspaper into a butt can and lighting it.

Capital City Fire/Rescue and the Juneau Police Department are investigating a fire that occurred near an apartment on Willoughby Avenue on Oct. 25, 2020 as arson. (Courtesy photo / CCFR)
This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 particle isolated from a patient, in a laboratory in Fort Detrick, Md. Coronaviruses, including the newest one, are named for the spikes that cover their outer surface like a crown, or corona in Latin. Using those club-shaped spikes, the virus latches on to the outer wall of a human cell, invades it and replicates, creating viruses to hijack more cells. (NIAID / NIH)

CBJ reports 26 new COVID-19 cases

None are in the homeless population.

This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 particle isolated from a patient, in a laboratory in Fort Detrick, Md. Coronaviruses, including the newest one, are named for the spikes that cover their outer surface like a crown, or corona in Latin. Using those club-shaped spikes, the virus latches on to the outer wall of a human cell, invades it and replicates, creating viruses to hijack more cells. (NIAID / NIH)
First Student employees load meals on school buses so the meals can be distributed to Juneau youths. (Courtesy Photo / Juneau School District)

School district updates meal pickup schedules

The break and holiday meal schedule is coming.

First Student employees load meals on school buses so the meals can be distributed to Juneau youths. (Courtesy Photo / Juneau School District)
Foodstuffs sit on tables at St. Vincent de Paul on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2019, to be bagged to feed up to 200 families for Thanksgiving. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Charities prepare for a pandemic-conscious Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving meal will go on, albeit in very modified form.

Foodstuffs sit on tables at St. Vincent de Paul on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2019, to be bagged to feed up to 200 families for Thanksgiving. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
The site of the future Glory Hall at the corner of Teal Street and Alpine Avenue in the Mendenhall Valley. Co-located will be the Southeast Community Services Center, forming and integrated campus, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Trust donates $150K to Juneau community services center

The structure will be a hub for many of Juneau’s community-oriented nonprofits.

The site of the future Glory Hall at the corner of Teal Street and Alpine Avenue in the Mendenhall Valley. Co-located will be the Southeast Community Services Center, forming and integrated campus, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire Downtown Juneau will soon have improved signage and maps like this one at Mayor Bill Overstreet Park for tourists as part of the Wayfinding Project on Oct. 10, 2020.

Update to downtown signage on track for 2021 completion

Technical concerns delayed aspects of the project.

Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire Downtown Juneau will soon have improved signage and maps like this one at Mayor Bill Overstreet Park for tourists as part of the Wayfinding Project on Oct. 10, 2020.