Wire Service

Lindsey Bloom of Salmon State gives a speech at the “No Pebble Mine” rally. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Deadline for Pebble draft EIS comments nears

The Corps will take comments until July 1, and use them to incorporate changes into a final EIS

Lindsey Bloom of Salmon State gives a speech at the “No Pebble Mine” rally. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Pioneer Potluck: About homestead living

Pioneer Potluck: About homestead living

Broccoli with cheese sauce, moosemeat meat loaf, baked vegetables

Pioneer Potluck: About homestead living
This June 14 file photo shows Gov. Mike Dunleavy leading state and local officials out of Wasilla Middle School in Wasilla to a news conference. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

Alaska lawmakers reject Wasilla as site for special session

Some lawmakers saw the pick as a means of intimidation or cited security or logistical concerns

This June 14 file photo shows Gov. Mike Dunleavy leading state and local officials out of Wasilla Middle School in Wasilla to a news conference. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen in 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen in 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
Oilers top Chinooks, snap skid

Oilers top Chinooks, snap skid

The Peninsula Oilers snapped a four-game losing skid Saturday night with a tight 6-5 Alaska Baseball League victory over the Chugiak/Eagle River Chinooks at Chugiak’s… Continue reading

Oilers top Chinooks, snap skid
It is what it is: It’s not easy eating green

It is what it is: It’s not easy eating green

The only thing green I had eaten in five days was mint chip ice cream.

It is what it is: It’s not easy eating green
This June 14, 2019, photo shows a Wasilla sign on the outskirts of Wasilla, Alaska. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has called lawmakers into special session in Wasilla beginning July 8, but some lawmakers have expressed concerns over security and logistics with the location more than 500 miles from the state capital of Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Agency estimates $1.3M 30-day Wasilla special session cost

Dunleavy called lawmakers into a special session July 8 in Wasilla to finalize this year’s PFD payout

This June 14, 2019, photo shows a Wasilla sign on the outskirts of Wasilla, Alaska. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has called lawmakers into special session in Wasilla beginning July 8, but some lawmakers have expressed concerns over security and logistics with the location more than 500 miles from the state capital of Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Minister’s Message: Lots of light!

Minister’s Message: Lots of light!

When Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world,” it was spiritual light he was emphasizing.

Minister’s Message: Lots of light!
This June 14, 2019, photo shows Jeremy Price, a deputy chief of staff to Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, showing reporters the cafeteria at Wasilla Middle School in Wasilla, Alaska, that would be available to lawmakers. Dunleavy has called lawmakers into special session in Wasilla beginning July 8, but some lawmakers have expressed concerns over security and logistics with the location more than 500 miles from the state capital of Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Dunleavy pitches hometown Wasilla for special session. Here’s why some are concerned.

It would be the first time an Alaska special session has convened outside the capital.

This June 14, 2019, photo shows Jeremy Price, a deputy chief of staff to Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, showing reporters the cafeteria at Wasilla Middle School in Wasilla, Alaska, that would be available to lawmakers. Dunleavy has called lawmakers into special session in Wasilla beginning July 8, but some lawmakers have expressed concerns over security and logistics with the location more than 500 miles from the state capital of Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
A black bear sow with two cubs leave a barbed-wire exclosure designed to snag their hair. (Photo provided by Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge notebook: Where do black and brown bears occur?

Science is more than the five-step method we learn about in grade school — science is a philosophy of questions. As a budding graduate student… Continue reading

A black bear sow with two cubs leave a barbed-wire exclosure designed to snag their hair. (Photo provided by Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Voices of the Peninsula: Don’t believe the panic over gravel pits

My home is located across the street from a 19-acre gravel pit in Nikiski.

Pioneer Potluck: A tribute to our dad, John. M. McClure Sr.

Pioneer Potluck: A tribute to our dad, John. M. McClure Sr.

Halibut enchiladas, halibut honey mustard fingers, angel food pineapple dessert

Pioneer Potluck: A tribute to our dad, John. M. McClure Sr.
Several homes and businesses in the neighborhood near the proposed Beachcomber LLC gravel pit posted signs opposing excavation in the area, on May 2, 2019, in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Voices of the Peninsula: Borough should rethink land use rules

The existing borough code to grant permits for gravel pits is woefully inadequate.

Several homes and businesses in the neighborhood near the proposed Beachcomber LLC gravel pit posted signs opposing excavation in the area, on May 2, 2019, in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
In this July 4, 2013, file photo, a brown bear walks to a sandbar to eat a salmon it had just caught at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. The National Park Service has completed a project to relieve an Alaska traffic jam. A new elevated bridge and boardwalk across the Brooks River in Katmai National Park and Preserve is expected to halt heart-stopping encounters between human pedestrians and brown bears both using the old bridge. (AP File Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

New Katmai bridge aimed at limiting bear encounters

The replacement for the old floating bridge was more than a decade in the making.

In this July 4, 2013, file photo, a brown bear walks to a sandbar to eat a salmon it had just caught at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. The National Park Service has completed a project to relieve an Alaska traffic jam. A new elevated bridge and boardwalk across the Brooks River in Katmai National Park and Preserve is expected to halt heart-stopping encounters between human pedestrians and brown bears both using the old bridge. (AP File Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
Nick Varney

Unhinged Alaska: The conundrum

My fishing buds religiously turn on the guy who gets a bite and misses it or, dare I say, loses it.

Nick Varney
Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Alaska legislators face pressure for PFD decision

A governor can call a special session, but legislators don’t have to act on any of the agenda items.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Opinion: Working towards private sector solutions for Alaska’s health care woes

Government does not have the capacity to lower health care costs the way the private sector does

Minister’s Message: Cleansing our lives

Minister’s Message: Cleansing our lives

Is our life honoring to God’s holiness, or are we sullying God’s holiness?

Minister’s Message: Cleansing our lives
This June 5, 2009 file photo released by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows an adult ringed seal in Kotzebue, Alaska. An environmental group is suing the federal government for failing to designate critical habitat for two ice seals on the threatened species list. The Center for Biological Diversity sued the National Marine Fisheries Service on Thursday, June 13, 2019, for not designating critical habitat for ringed and bearded seals. (Mike Cameron/NOAA via AP, File)

Environmental group sues over ice seal habitat decision

Designation of critical habitat for a threatened species is required a year after a listing.

This June 5, 2009 file photo released by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows an adult ringed seal in Kotzebue, Alaska. An environmental group is suing the federal government for failing to designate critical habitat for two ice seals on the threatened species list. The Center for Biological Diversity sued the National Marine Fisheries Service on Thursday, June 13, 2019, for not designating critical habitat for ringed and bearded seals. (Mike Cameron/NOAA via AP, File)
In this Wednesday, May 8, 2019, photo, Anchorage Police Officer T. Scott Masten works a shift in Anchorage, Alaska, equipped with a wireless hotspot device on his patrol car laptop. Anchorage police are among public safety agencies across the country that are tapped into FirstNet, a new national wireless network dedicated to first responders. (AP Photo/Rachel D’Oro)

New network for first responders raises concern among media

The network is secure, encrypted and off limits to the public.

In this Wednesday, May 8, 2019, photo, Anchorage Police Officer T. Scott Masten works a shift in Anchorage, Alaska, equipped with a wireless hotspot device on his patrol car laptop. Anchorage police are among public safety agencies across the country that are tapped into FirstNet, a new national wireless network dedicated to first responders. (AP Photo/Rachel D’Oro)