Juneau

Juneau's flood protection should be everyone's bill, three members say

Juneau's flood protection should be paid for by everyone, not just the people on the river, three Assembly members say. The bond vote slipped to 2027.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Juneau's flood fix could top $600 million, and the city has $11 million

Juneau needs more than $600 million to hold back the glacial flood. It has $11 million so far, and no plan for where its share comes from.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 31

Juneau staff recommend banning electric dirt bikes on all public property

Juneau staff recommend banning electric dirt bikes from all public property, citing safety concerns and comparing high-powered models to unlicensed motorcycles.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Juneau committee sends an unrequested $6 million state grant to the downtown Seawalk

Juneau got $6 million from the state it never asked for and is putting it toward the downtown Seawalk, enough to build the first phase without borrowing.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 31

Juneau committee to weigh 10% tax on rental cars staged near cruise docks

Juneau is weighing a 10% excise tax on rental cars picked up near the cruise docks, which would push the total on some rentals to 24 percent.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Juneau's hatchery waters reopen six weeks ahead of schedule

Fishing reopens near Juneau's Macaulay hatchery six weeks early, six coho a day. The closure traced back to fish lost in a landslide in 2020.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Follows: Juneau loses two months of fishing to a 2020 landslide

Juneau taxpayers at large would carry $4.7 million of the Mendenhall barrier bill as a quarter of the district objects

Juneau Assembly appropriated about $1 million in tribal and FEMA grants for additional phases of Mendenhall River flood barriers and 2024 flood response after an August 2024 glacial outburst flood damaged roughly 290 residences.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Juneau would shift $4.5 million from barrier construction to repairs and debt

Fish board committee to review Traditional Knowledge report process Sept. 25

Fish board members will review how Traditional Knowledge reports are handled Sept. 25. The notice proposes no change to Traditional Knowledge's place in regulation.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Air taxi operators said they overpaid. Juneau is redoing its fees.

Juneau's airport would cut fuel fees by two-thirds and raise landing fees, after air taxi operators said a 2019 error had them overpaying for years.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Former Ketchikan church elder pleads guilty to federal child sexual abuse material charge

A 74-year-old former Ketchikan church elder pleaded guilty to possessing over 1,000 images of child sexual abuse material and faces at least 10 years in federal prison

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Juneau commission to weigh second tenant on Clinton Drive Domino's lot with no added parking

A second business wants into the Domino's building on Clinton Drive with no new parking, and the neighbors who fought the 2024 permit are back.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Suicide Basin levels drop, signaling a possible new release above Mendenhall

Suicide Basin's water level dropped sharply Tuesday, possibly signaling another release. Nothing is flooding, and secondary releases run far smaller.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Juneau's city-owned ski area has carried EPA's most urgent water violation for six months

Juneau's city-owned Eaglecrest Ski Area has carried the EPA's most urgent drinking water violation for six months, with no record of it being resolved.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Juneau youth board reviews $3,605 in travel requests from two teen athletes

Two Juneau teenagers earned spots at competitions Outside and are asking the city for airfare. The fund they are asking from ended last year with $1,237 left.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Two Juneau kids qualified, and the youth board's fund is nearly empty

Juneau Assembly votes 6-2 to table nonprofit sales tax ordinance indefinitely

Juneau Assembly voted 6-2 Monday to table a nonprofit sales tax ordinance indefinitely, blocking a measure that would have narrowed tax exemptions starting January 2027.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Follows: Juneau weighs taxing nonprofit sales to help close its budget gap

Juneau aging commission chair asks Assembly to fix or cancel paratransit contract

Juneau seniors and wheelchair riders are missing paratransit pickups under Ground Transportation Solutions. The aging commission chair asked the Assembly to fix or cancel the contract before winter.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

A dam licensed near Juneau 10 years ago still isn't built, and its deadline just passed

A dam licensed near Juneau a decade ago was never built, its construction deadline just expired, and the local utility says the town doesn't need the power.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 8

Follows: Juneau Hydropower asks FERC for two more years to start Sweetheart Lake dam

Alaska's new ethics law names the wrong person in a complaint

Alaska's new ethics law tells the committee to meet with the wrong person in a complaint. The ethics committee voted to ask for a fix.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Alaska proposes a new payment formula for its 24-hour behavioral health clinics

Alaska wants to change how it pays two clinics providing 24-hour behavioral health care, setting rates in advance. Public comment is open through Oct. 30.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

A free Juneau talk on how a manuscript becomes a book

Two editors from the press that publishes the University of Alaska's books will explain how a manuscript becomes a book, at a free Juneau talk Saturday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Alaska could lose $80 million in school money over a two-point miss

Alaska could lose $80 million in federal school money over a funding-equity failure it missed by less than two points, and partly triggered itself.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Juneau's Fourth of July parade committee disbands after free-speech flap

Juneau's July 4th parade has no organizer for 2027 — the committee disbanded weeks after barring a veteran's anti-war banner. The record doesn't say why.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The Permanent Fund earned a record $8.2 billion the Legislature can appropriate

The Permanent Fund earned a record $8.2 billion that lawmakers can spend. Nothing has been appropriated for inflation-proofing in three years.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 3

Test flash flood warning to air in Juneau Sept. 23 for Salmon Creek Dam

Juneau's weather radios and broadcasts will sound a "Flash Flood Warning" on Sept. 23 — but it's only a test of the Salmon Creek Dam alert system.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The Permanent Fund's budget is up $5.3 million, and most of it goes to managers

The fund that pays for most of Alaska's government is raising its own budget $5.3 million. Most of that is fees to outside money managers.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 3

Southeast king crab quota rests on a figure the state's own report gives two ways

The assessment gives two rates for unsurveyed water. One clears the opening threshold; the other does not, and the report does not explain which was intended.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Follows: Southeast Alaska's king crab fishery will open, barely clearing the bar

Fairbanks would require union labor agreements on big borough projects

Fairbanks wants union-negotiated labor agreements on borough projects over $3.5 million, using an ordinance copied almost word for word from Anchorage.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's August was warmer than its July, for the fourth time in a century

August was warmer than July in Alaska this year, which has happened four times since 1924. July was the coldest since 2008 and kept the fires down.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's labor board needs a public member, a job of 15 to 20 days a year

Alaska's labor relations board is accepting applications to fill one vacant public seat, requiring labor relations background and about two hours monthly.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Frost advisory covers Juneau, Yakutat, Hoonah and Gustavus through Friday

A frost advisory covers Juneau, Yakutat and nearby areas early Friday, with temperatures near 35 that could kill uncovered plants.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Juneau aging commission to vote Sept. 15 on demanding paratransit fix or new contractor

Juneau's paratransit riders have gone ten months without service that meets the contract, the chair of the city's aging commission says.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Juneau's proposed Statter Harbor fee would more than triple operators' costs

Juneau wants Statter Harbor's charter operators to pay about $1.8 million a year, more than triple last year — and they say they can't pass it on.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 19

Juneau water and sewer bills go up 5 percent a year through 2030

Juneau's water and sewer bills go up 5 percent a year through 2030. The utility runs on ratepayers alone, and voters rejected a bond to share the load.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read

Southcentral is 3 Bcf short this winter, and producers told lawmakers the gas runs out in 2029

Southcentral Alaska faces a natural gas shortage by winter 2029 unless it imports liquefied natural gas or taps North Slope supplies, Hilcorp and Chugach told lawmakers Thursday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Juneau driver, 33, dies in Hyer Road crash in Palmer

A Juneau driver died Thursday morning after his vehicle became airborne over the Hyer underpass in Palmer and struck a concrete support.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

SEARHC is hiring for 21 Juneau-area jobs, half of them in dentistry

SEARHC is hiring for 21 jobs in the Juneau area this week, nearly half of them in dentistry, with signing bonuses on some clinical roles.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Oil above $101 puts Alaska's budget on a war in the Persian Gulf

Every dollar oil moves is worth about $35 million to Alaska's treasury. Brent closed above $101 Wednesday, up more than half from a year ago.

by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read

Dense fog advisories end across Southeast Alaska after quarter-mile visibility

Fog cut visibility to a quarter mile or less across parts of Southeast early Thursday, thickest along the road to Juneau's airport. It has since lifted.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Pile driving at a Juneau fuel dock could damage seals' hearing

Federal regulators estimate a Juneau fuel dock rebuild could expose marine mammals to pile driving noise 1,660 times, 852 of them at injuring levels.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Juneau's wastewater permit would be renewed despite a record of violations

Juneau's permit to discharge treated wastewater into Gastineau Channel would be renewed, though the plant has broken its limits in 12 of the last 13 quarters.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read