Opinion

Brown bears at the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary. (Alaska Department of Fish and Game photo)

Opinion: Let’s make sure the Mulchatna massacre never happens again

I join the many Alaskans appalled by the revelation that state officials in planes and helicopters recently killed 94 brown bears (including 11 cubs), five… Continue reading

Brown bears at the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary. (Alaska Department of Fish and Game photo)
Juneau’s current City Hall is seen on July 13. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Assembly’s transparency deficit disorder

Controversies surrounding CBJ Assembly actions regarding property tax assessments and millage rates, efforts to build expensive public buildings rejected by voters, and spending tax money… Continue reading

Juneau’s current City Hall is seen on July 13. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Voters in the City and Borough of Juneau municipal election will decide this fall whether to approve $27 million in bond debt to fund the majority of the construction cost for a new City Hall. A similar $35 million measure was rejected last year. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Debating a new City Hall again

This week, the CBJ Assembly decided to ask voters to approve a $27 million bond obligation for a new City Hall. Last month, they approved… Continue reading

Voters in the City and Borough of Juneau municipal election will decide this fall whether to approve $27 million in bond debt to fund the majority of the construction cost for a new City Hall. A similar $35 million measure was rejected last year. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
(Juneau Empire File)

Letter: Why the urgency in appointing Loren Jones to the Assembly?

At the end of the July 10 Assembly meeting (specifically at 10:17 p.m.), after the Assembly honored departing member Carole Triem who resigned, Mayor Beth… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire File)
Larry Persily

My Turn: Pistachio donuts, saddle shoes and the Law of Bladders

There are many joys of aging, such as discounts at stores and services, using it as a convenient excuse for being forgetful, and smiling that… Continue reading

Larry Persily
Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File Tents and various items are scattered across the Mill Campground in August of 2022.

My Turn: Alaska Legislature should play a major role in addressing the root causes of homelessness

The government’s solution to solving the homeless crisis in America, including in Alaska, could be compared to someone with a leaky roof adding more pans… Continue reading

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File Tents and various items are scattered across the Mill Campground in August of 2022.
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: The question of term limits

If passed by voters, a proposed ballot initiative would limit all state legislators to serving 12 consecutive years and impose a lifetime maximum of 20… Continue reading

(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
(Juneau Empire File)

Letter: Clean up after setting off fireworks at Outer Point

Dear Fourth of July Outer Point fireworks revelers: Please know that this is not an anti-fireworks denunciation. I am all for having fun with pyrotechnic… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire File)
(Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Juneau Assembly attempts ‘end run’ around voters

“Information is one thing, but weighing in on an election is another.” – Assembly member Michelle Bonnet Hale, Aug. 1, 2022 During a specially held… Continue reading

(Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
A totem stands outside the former Hospice and Home Care of Juneau on Oct 14, 2022. The facility shut down days later after providing services for about 20 years. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

My Turn: Ongoing lack of hospice care complicates matters of life and death

“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone?” - Joni Mitchell Last September Juneau’s Hospice and Home… Continue reading

A totem stands outside the former Hospice and Home Care of Juneau on Oct 14, 2022. The facility shut down days later after providing services for about 20 years. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities employees met at Discover Eaglecrest Day on Sept. 17, 2022, to field questions regarding the Juneau Douglas North Crossing Planning and Environmental Linkages Study. This photo shows a map of potential locations proposed so far for the construction of the bridge if it comes to fruition. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire File)

Letter: Second Juneau-Douglas crossing won’t fix low- and middle-income housing woes

The article on the second crossing in the Empire on June 28 dredges up the old statement that “if developed, the crossing would open nearly… Continue reading

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities employees met at Discover Eaglecrest Day on Sept. 17, 2022, to field questions regarding the Juneau Douglas North Crossing Planning and Environmental Linkages Study. This photo shows a map of potential locations proposed so far for the construction of the bridge if it comes to fruition. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire File)
Author standing at the Sitka terminal ramp May 22 waiting to board the Columbia to Haines. (Photo courtesy of Regina Discenza)

My Turn: My costly experience with the Alaska Marine Highway System

Last year during the summer of 2022 I wanted to visit a few small towns in Alaska with the ferry. Air service to Gustavus was… Continue reading

Author standing at the Sitka terminal ramp May 22 waiting to board the Columbia to Haines. (Photo courtesy of Regina Discenza)
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. building in Juneau, seen here Sept. 28, 2022, is where most the corporation’s estimated 70 employees work. APFC leaders are considering options to move some operations and staff to Anchorage during the next year. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)

My Turn: Capital creep — a way to weaken state government

I just read that the Permanent Fund Corp. has been considering a move to Anchorage since 2019. I was stunned. An essential part of the… Continue reading

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. building in Juneau, seen here Sept. 28, 2022, is where most the corporation’s estimated 70 employees work. APFC leaders are considering options to move some operations and staff to Anchorage during the next year. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)
In this October 2018 photo, Bjorn Dihle inspects the acid mine drainage flowing into the Tulsequah River from a containment pond filled by effluent from the Tulsequah Chief Mine in British Columbia, Canada. (Courtesy Photo | Chris Miller)

My turn: Cleaning up Tulsequah Chief Mine is a way to protect salmon as habitats face other threats

King salmon runs along our coast are in trouble. Most scientists think changing ocean conditions are the problem. Since fixing these conditions is unlikely, at… Continue reading

In this October 2018 photo, Bjorn Dihle inspects the acid mine drainage flowing into the Tulsequah River from a containment pond filled by effluent from the Tulsequah Chief Mine in British Columbia, Canada. (Courtesy Photo | Chris Miller)
Faith Myers stands at the doors of API. (Courtesy Photo)

Opinion: Alaska’s reckoning with the past could improve care for psychiatric patients

There are a lot of similarities between the federally funded Indian boarding schools and locked psychiatric facilities of the early 1900s. The best examples: the… Continue reading

Faith Myers stands at the doors of API. (Courtesy Photo)
The current Juneau City Hall, which municipal leaders say is outdated and costly to rent. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

My Turn: Glory Hall or new City Hall, that is the question

The relentless drumbeat of the outgoing city manager may leave the CBJ in financial ruin because he has pressed forward with the FY24 budget with… Continue reading

The current Juneau City Hall, which municipal leaders say is outdated and costly to rent. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Daniel Ellsberg, speaking at a press conference in New York City in 1972. (Public domain photo by Bernard Gotfryd)

Opinion: Ellsberg’s leaking of Pentagon Papers is still a model for truth in the digital age

Daniel Ellsberg, known for leaking a secret study about the Vietnam war to the news media, died last week at the age of 92. The… Continue reading

Daniel Ellsberg, speaking at a press conference in New York City in 1972. (Public domain photo by Bernard Gotfryd)
Fireworks burst over Juneau on July 4, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Juneau’s July 4 celebrates what is good about America

Growing up in Juneau, and later when raising our own children, our family attended countless Fourth of July parades, patriotic celebrations, and picnics. The holiday… Continue reading

Fireworks burst over Juneau on July 4, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
(Associated Press)

Opinion: Time for Xs, Ys and Zs to quit whining and get into voting booths

I am a Baby Boomer. I was born in 1953, pretty much smack in the middle of a half-century long period during which Democrats and… Continue reading

(Associated Press)
Alaska U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, left, and Dan Sullivan attend a U.S. Coast Guard ceremony in Juneau on June 9. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Comments about Trump by Alaska leaders reflect their level of respect for voters

The comments by Alaska’s top elected leaders to former President Donald Trump’s indictment say a lot about what they think of the public. Two out… Continue reading

Alaska U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, left, and Dan Sullivan attend a U.S. Coast Guard ceremony in Juneau on June 9. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)