Wire Service

Opinion: When will we reach the tipping point?

Opinion: When will we reach the tipping point?

What will it take for Congress and other elected officials to stand up to Trump?

Opinion: When will we reach the tipping point?
Alaska Voices: What a terrible time to increase oil production taxes

Alaska Voices: What a terrible time to increase oil production taxes

People say this is an oil company issue. It’s not. It’s an Alaska issue.

Alaska Voices: What a terrible time to increase oil production taxes
COVID-19. (CDC)

Peninsula gains more than a dozen COVID-19 cases over weekend

The state announced 11 new resident cases Friday, and 12 new cases Saturday across Alaska.

COVID-19. (CDC)
Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)

Life in the Pedestrian Lane: It’s all in the game

It’s amazing what a deck of cards or a set of dice can teach a young person.

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)
With a grim financial picture ahead, the University of Alaska Southeast, seen here on Monday, May 25, 2020, could be merged with one of the other two schools in the system. (Peter Segall | Juneau Empire)

Opinion: Save Alaska’s universities

The University of Alaska Board of Regents should preserve Alaska’s three universities. Reasons for doing so are many, but four seem most important. First, a… Continue reading

With a grim financial picture ahead, the University of Alaska Southeast, seen here on Monday, May 25, 2020, could be merged with one of the other two schools in the system. (Peter Segall | Juneau Empire)
Jill Schaefer and her husband are small business owners raising their family in Soldotna. (Courtesy photo)

Voices of the Peninsula: Small businesses rely on oil, gas investments

I think most Alaskans would agree now is the worst time to substantially raise taxes on any industry

Jill Schaefer and her husband are small business owners raising their family in Soldotna. (Courtesy photo)
Homer Police Chief Mark Robl, third from left, stands with some of the Homer Police Department officers and jail officers at groundbreaking ceremonies on May 24, 2019, for the new police station in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Point of View: Conduct of Minneapolis officer is counter to HPD values

The police department is saddened and dismayed by the horrible conduct of a police officer in Minnesota last week which has left our country torn… Continue reading

Homer Police Chief Mark Robl, third from left, stands with some of the Homer Police Department officers and jail officers at groundbreaking ceremonies on May 24, 2019, for the new police station in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
(Edward Kimmel | Creative Commons)

Opinion: There is police violence in Alaska

There are many things Alaska could do better.

(Edward Kimmel | Creative Commons)
In this March 19, 2020, file photo Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, talks with reporters following a Republican policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington. Murkowski acknowledged Thursday, June 4, that she’s “struggling” over whether she can support President Donald Trump given his handling of the virus and race crises shaking the United States. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Mattis emboldens GOPers to criticize Trump

Murkowski on Thursday called the rebuke by Trump’s first Pentagon chief “necessary and overdue.”

In this March 19, 2020, file photo Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, talks with reporters following a Republican policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington. Murkowski acknowledged Thursday, June 4, that she’s “struggling” over whether she can support President Donald Trump given his handling of the virus and race crises shaking the United States. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Refuge Notebook: Aleutian Islands oddities can win bets

Refuge Notebook: Aleutian Islands oddities can win bets

Want to win a beer bet? Ask someone the location of the most southerly point in Alaska. The answer isn’t in Southeast, near Ketchikan. Rather,… Continue reading

Refuge Notebook: Aleutian Islands oddities can win bets
Larry Persily (File)

A permit without a prospect

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the Alaska LNG application at its May 21 meeting.

Larry Persily (File)
With a grim financial picture ahead, the University of Alaska Southeast, seen here on Monday, May 25, 2020, could be merged with one of the other two schools in the system. (Peter Segall | Juneau Empire)

Opinion: University Board of Regents will face tough choices in June

Like the virus, this budget challenge is real, painful and demands that we take swift action.

With a grim financial picture ahead, the University of Alaska Southeast, seen here on Monday, May 25, 2020, could be merged with one of the other two schools in the system. (Peter Segall | Juneau Empire)
Sen. Peter Micciche (courtesy photo)

Voices of the Peninsula: Get back to the drawing board on 911 system

Micciche: 911 centralization plan laced with wasteful redundancy, inefficiencies.

Sen. Peter Micciche (courtesy photo)
(Photo provided)

Tangled Up in Blue: Blunt cuts

I cut my own hair last night. After months of new coronavirus isolation and then a few too many, “Oh wow, Kat! Your hair is… Continue reading

(Photo provided)
Refuge Notebook: The roles of morels

Refuge Notebook: The roles of morels

While people have been taking advantage of the abundance of morels following last year’s Swan Lake Fire, I have been asked many questions about them.… Continue reading

Refuge Notebook: The roles of morels
Willy Dunne is a member of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. (Courtesy photo)

Vote by mail is safe, fiscally responsible

All registered borough voters would receive a ballot in the mail a few weeks ahead of election day.

Willy Dunne is a member of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. (Courtesy photo)
It’s time for a real living wage

It’s time for a real living wage

The federal minimum wage was last increased in 2009.

It’s time for a real living wage
Residents line the Sterling Highway, in front of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office to oppose Pebble mine on Wednesday, June 26, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen | Peninsula Clarion File)

Pebble Mine opponents say new federal change favors project

Oppositions groups are angry about a preferred route for metals leaving the proposed mine.

Residents line the Sterling Highway, in front of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office to oppose Pebble mine on Wednesday, June 26, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen | Peninsula Clarion File)
A sign on the door of the state labor department office in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday, May 22, 2020, shows the office is closed to the public through the end of May. A report released by the department Friday showed the number of jobs in Alaska in April was down sharply compared to April 2019 amid coronavirus concerns. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Alaska’s April job numbers are down sharply

Alaska had 42,200 fewer jobs in April than a year earlier.

A sign on the door of the state labor department office in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday, May 22, 2020, shows the office is closed to the public through the end of May. A report released by the department Friday showed the number of jobs in Alaska in April was down sharply compared to April 2019 amid coronavirus concerns. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Refuge Notebook: Spruce beetles 2020

Refuge Notebook: Spruce beetles 2020

Spruce beetles are at it again. I am sad to see large trees in Soldotna with patches of missing bark that indicate woodpeckers are finding… Continue reading

Refuge Notebook: Spruce beetles 2020