On Saturday afternoon, after Alaska lawmakers voted to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of $50.6 million in public school funding, the leaders of the House and Senate’s majority caucuses gathered in the Senate President’s office and cheered. For the 10 members of the House and Senate minority caucuses who were crucial to that override, there […]
Posted inEnvironment, Gatherer's Notebook
Cold, wet season sends plants for a loop
The Chilkat Valley has seen months of out-of-sorts weather: with heavy rainfall and unseasonable cold, before a recent dry spell. With the tail end of the growing season approaching, gardeners say the unpredictability has brought changes to the harvest. The odd weather began in earnest towards the end of April and into May, which together […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Letter to the Editor: Thank you for successful camp season
Southeast Alaska Independent Living and Takshanuk Watershed Council thank all the amazing women who made the Sea to Summit Girls’ Adventure Camp a success. We are grateful to Shelby Flemming from ADFG for teaching the girls about bear safety and how to properly use bear spray. Thank you, Amelia Nash, for teaching latch-hook fiber art […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted: “I’ll never wear another hat,” Girl Scouts, Costumes, and Bingo
After eight years of trying to score a Stump Company baseball cap, Garrett Montgomery finally got his wish on Saturday in the beer garden at the Southeast Alaska State Fair. Company owner Scott Rossman ran into Montgomery and, upon hearing the younger man’s years-long dream, Rossman lifted the greasy, sawdust-coated hat from his own head […]
Posted inHaines Herring
Tourists In Awe of Nature Basically Wearing Plastic Bags
On Tuesday, during typically rainy and windy Southeast weather, cruise ship passengers Irma and Bill Budgit waxed poetic about the scenery and wildlife they were witnessing, while wearing large plastic bags with holes cut in the middle for hoods. “Look at those murrelets, Bill! The gulls and the seabirds on their great unknowable migrations. The […]
Posted inSoutheast News, Salmon
Nonresident anglers allowed kings again in Southeast
King salmon fishing is back on for nonresident sport anglers in Southeast Alaska, effective Monday, Aug. 4, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has announced. Chinook retention has been closed since July 7 for nonresidents fishing in Southeast. Fish and Game said at the beginning of July that it would be putting an indefinite […]
Posted inGovernment & Elections
Murkowski’s standing with Alaskans slips after her vote on reconciliation bill
Alaska’s senior U.S. senator has acknowledged that she disappointed key supporters when she cast a decisive vote a month ago in favor of the budget reconciliation measure known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” In an Anchorage news conference on Monday, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she had not been thinking about political popularity back […]
Posted inSoutheast News, Tourism
Skybikes, treehouses, more features of Goldbelt’s private cruise ship dock detailed in permit application
Goldbelt Inc. is aiming high with its proposed private cruise port on Douglas Island with facilities that include skybikes and treehouses, and docks capable of handling the increasingly large ships arriving in Juneau. Those details and many more for the project — named Goldbelt Aaní – are specified in an 82-page public notice of a […]
Posted inLocal News
Local DMV office closed indefinitely until state finds new staff
Teresa Albecker worked quietly late Friday afternoon in the Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles’ Main Street office. It was her last day in the office after 10 years. She’d hung a sign on the door. The sign notes she’d retired, the DMV is looking for her replacement, and instructions on applying for the job. The […]
Posted inAlaska Legislature
Alaska lawmakers override governor’s veto of public school funding, restoring services and teachers
The Alaska Legislature, meeting in special session, has overridden Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of more than $50 million in public school funding. The vote was 45-14. At least 45 of 60 legislators are needed to override an Alaska governor’s budget veto. The override eliminates a 5.6% year-over-year cut to public school funding, leaving districts with […]