
Chum catch down during second day of DIPAC fishery
Fishing slowed down for the eighty-five boats that participated in yesterday’s purse seine fishery in the Amalga Harbor special harvest area.

Will a marine shipping merger pit David against Goliath?
A state antitrust lawyer says a proposed merger may pit the commercial shipping equivalents of David against Goliath in Southeast Alaska. The plan, announced in April, involves three shipping companies: Seattle-based Alaska Marine Lines, Seattle-based Northland Services, and Sitka-based Samson Tug and Barge. AML’s parent company, Lynden Inc., wants to buy AML competitor Northland Services.…

Update: Union files class action grievance over office space
The Alaska State Employees Association has filed a class action grievance over the state’s new Universal Space Standards policy.

Inter-Island Ferry budget woes shrink
The financial picture is improving for the Inter-Island Ferry Authority, which connects Prince of Wales Island and Ketchikan. But the southern Southeast system still needs more money to maintain a full schedule all year.

Low voter turnout renews interest in elections by mail
Chances are, if you’re registered to vote in Juneau, you didn’t the last time school board seats, candidates for the Assembly, municipal debt or sales tax extensions were on the ballot. In the last municipal election in October, less than a third of the people registered to vote in Juneau actually cast a ballot, and…

Airport seeks public input on concession program
The Juneau Airport is conducting an online survey to find out what food, beverage, and retail services Juneau residents want.

Update: 9 Rescued After Boat Runs Aground Near Auke Bay
The 36-foot motor vessel Islander ran aground at Shelter Island just outside Auke Bay.

Redistricting separates Juneau and Petersburg, pairs Lynn Canal with downtown
A new redistricting plan keeps Ketchikan with Wrangell. Petersburg is in with Sitka and Craig. Downtown Juneau is with Haines and Skagway. The Mendenhall Valley remains its own district.

“200-year-old fish” is actually only 64
The rockfish caught near Sitka last month was not 200 years old, but a different fish caught near Ketchikan was over 100 years old. The Department of Fish and Game lab in Juneau received two otoliths from two different fish. An otolith is a bone found within a fish’s ear that contains annuli, similar to…

Astronomar: Rising star returns to Juneau
Imagine Woodstock, except on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with neon light sculptures the size of buildings and three-hundred thousand of your peers screaming and dancing to the new sound of Electronic Dance Music. This is what Juneau native Marlon Lumba, known as Astronomar was performing three weeks ago at the Electric Daisy Carnival.…

Anchorage resident wins Mt. Robert’s Tram Run
An Anchorage resident, a JDHS high school student, and a novice runner from Juneau were the three fastest in Saturday’s Mt. Robert’s Tram Run. Forty-eight race participants took off from the Mt Roberts Tram building at 9 a.m. They continued up Franklin Street, took a right at 6th Street, a left onto Gold, followed Basin…

Signature drive for oil tax cut repeal winding down
Signature gatherers for the effort to repeal Senate Bill 21, the oil and gas tax cut bill meant to spur new production and economic growth, are wrapping up their drive in Juneau.

State seeks input on road, ferry, trail improvement list
A bike path in Saxman, a bridge replacement in Juneau and trail improvements in Sitka are on the list of federally-funded transportation projects for Southeast Alaska.

Forest Service to speed up Tongass transition plan
Both loggers and environmentalists are frustrated by the Forest Service’s shift, which is expected to take 10 to 15 years.

Juneau comes together to celebrate the Fourth of July
It’s too much fun for just one day, so Juneau celebrates for just a little longer than most.

July 4th seine fishery at Amalga targets DIPAC chum
The Department of Fish and Game is holding a purse seine opening in the Amalga Harbor special harvest area on July 4th for returning DIPAC chum salmon.

Southeast has its say on redistricting
Haines and Skagway should be in the same election district as Juneau. The Capital City’s Mendenhall Valley wants to stay on its own. Petersburg doesn’t want to be split up. And the whole redistricting process has been a boondoggle.

Assembly gets a first look at comprehensive plan update
During last night’s committee of the whole meeting, Community Development Director Hal Hart introduced the new update, which has been in the works since 2011.

Sealaska sells off share in plastics venture
Southeast’s regional Native corporation is out of the plastics business. Sealaska sold its share of factories in Alabama, Iowa and Guadalajara, Mexico, on Monday.

Organizers to start collecting signatures for Alaska minimum wage initiative
A statewide initiative to increase the minimum wage will launch informally on the Fourth of July in Juneau.