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The children’s book “You Are Home With Me,” illustrated by Mitchell Thomas Watley, is shown at a bookstore in Portland, Ore. in this April 5, 2023 photo. Publisher Sasquatch books, owned by Penguin Random House, said Wednesday, April 5, 2023, it has ended its publishing relationship with Watley after he was arrested on allegations of leaving violent, transphobic notes in stores around Juneau, Alaska. Watley told police he was motivated by fear following a deadly school shooting in Nashville that sparked online backlash about the shooter’s gender identity, court records show. (AP Photo/Claire Rush)

News

Publisher drops children’s illustrator for anti-trans notes

The text on the notes read: “Feeling Cute Might Shoot Some Children.”

State Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, inquires about election legislation during a committee hearing Tuesday at the Alaska State Capitol. Carpenter, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, is sponsoring bills to decrease business taxes and implement a 2% statewide sales tax that were heard. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Opinion

Opinion: Proposal is a fiscal plan, but not a good one

The numbers don’t add up.

A map shows the location of the Willow oil field project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, where more than 200 drills are scheduled to be drilled during a 30-year period if approved. (The Associated Press)

News

Oil plan foes lose 1st fight over Willow project

The court’s decision means ConocoPhillips Alaska can forge ahead with cold-weather construction work

Alex Koplin is a founding member of Kenai Peninsula Votes. (courtesy photo)

Opinion

Voices of the Peninsula: Let’s work to understand each other better

It is hard for me to understand why our governor would want to create a bill that marginalizes…

(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion

Opinion: Dunleavy is punting tax hikes to his successor

The only promise he hasn’t broken is not raising taxes.

Students and teachers gather with pinwheels in hand in front of snow painted blue at The Study in Soldotna, Alaska, as they commemorate Go Blue Day on Friday, March 31, 2023, to kick off Child Abuse Prevention Month. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Opinion

Voices of the Peninsula: Building a positive path forward for Alaska’s kids

Many of Alaska’s children do not have those positive experiences surrounding them

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks in support of an agreement between the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and Goldbelt Inc. to pursue engineering and design services to determine whether it’s feasible to build a new ferry terminal facility in Juneau at Cascade Point. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion

State, labor and utilities are aligned on modernizing the Railbelt grid

Today, Alaska has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to capture federal infrastructure dollars and stabilize Alaska’s aging Railbelt electrical grid,…

Opinion

No to 67%

Recently, the Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission voted to raise the pay of legislators by 67%. Although that…

Expert skateboarder Di’Orr Greenwood, an artist born and raised in the Navajo Nation in Arizona and whose work is featured on the new U.S. stamps, rides her skateboard next to her artworks in the Venice Beach neighborhood in Los Angeles Monday, March 20, 2023. On Friday, March 24, the U.S. Postal Service is debuting the “Art of the Skateboard,” four stamps that will be the first to pay tribute to skateboarding. The stamps underscore how prevalent skateboarding has become, especially in Indian Country, where the demand for designated skate spots has only grown in recent years. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

News

Indigenous artists help skateboarding earn stamp of approval

The postal agency ceremoniously unveiled the “Art of the Skateboard” stamps in a Phoenix skate park

Alaska state Sen. Bert Stedman, center, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, listens to a presentation on the major North Slope oil project known as the Willow project on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The committee heard an update on the project from the state Department of Natural Resources and the state Department of Revenue. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

News

Official: Willow oil project holds promise, faces obstacles

State tax officials on Thursday provided lawmakers an analysis of potential revenue impacts and benefits from the project

This image available under the Creative Commons license shows the outline of the state of Alaska filled with the pattern of the state flag.

Opinion

Opinion: Old models of development are not sustainable for Alaska

Sustainability means investing in keeping Alaska as healthy as possible.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveils proposals to offer public school teachers annual retention bonuses and enact policies restricting discussion of sex and gender in education during a news conference in Anchorage. (Screenshot)

Opinion

Opinion: As a father and a grandfather, I believe the governor’s proposed laws are anti-family

Now, the discrimination sword is pointing to our gay and transgender friends and families.

The Homer Spit and the Kenai Mountains are photographed of Monday, May 17, 2021, as seen from West Hill in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

News

Magnitude 5.4 earthquake strikes west of Homer

The earthquake occurred just after 7 a.m.

Kenai Peninsula Education Association President Nathan Erfurth works in his office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Opinion

Voices of the Peninsula: Now is the time to invest in Kenai Peninsula students

Parents, educators and community members addressed the potential budget cuts with a clear message.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: An accurate portrayal of parental rights isn’t controversial

Affirming and defining parental rights is a matter of respect for the relationship between parent and child

This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. (ConocoPhillips via AP)

News

Willow oil project approval intensifies Alaska Natives’ rift

Two lawsuits filed almost immediately by environmentalists and one Alaska Native group are likely to exacerbate tensions

This photo provided by the Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey shows the Tanaga Volcano near Adak, Alaska, on May 23, 2021. Diminished earthquake activity led authorities Thursday, March 16, 2023, to reduce the warning level at two volcanoes, including the Tanaga Volcano, on an uninhabited island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain because of the decreased potential for eruptions. (Matt Loewen/Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey via AP, File)

News

Alaska volcanoes now pose lower threat, after quakes slow

The Alaska Volcano Observatory lowered the warning level to “Advisory” status from “Watch”

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Opinion

Opinion: When the state values bigotry over the lives of queer kids

It has been a long, difficult week for queer and trans Alaskans like me.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland gestures while addressing reporters during a news conference, April 21, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. Haaland on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, withdrew a 2019 exchange agreement finalized during the Trump administration that has been the subject of ongoing litigation, citing a lack of public participation and environmental review. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

News

Haaland wades into thorny Izembek land exchange fight

On Tuesday, she withdrew a 2019 agreement finalized during the Trump administration

This 2019 photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. The Biden administration’s approval of the massive oil development in northern Alaska on Monday, March 13, 2023, commits the U.S. to yet another decades-long crude project even as scientists urgently warn that only a halt to more fossil fuel emissions can stem climate change. ConocoPhillips’ Willow project was approved Monday and would result in at least 263 million tons of planet-warming gases over 30 years. (ConocoPhillips via AP)

News

Willow approval adds yet another climate concern

ConocoPhillips’ Willow project would produce 180,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak