Site Logo
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

Ryan Redington mushes down Front Street to win the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Nome, Alaska. Redington, 40, is the grandson of Joe Redington Sr., who helped co-found the arduous race across Alaska that was first held in 1973 and is known as the “Father of the Iditarod.” (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

News

Ryan Redington wins Iditarod

He’s the grandson of Iditarod co-founder

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

News

COVID-19: Cases and hospitalizations drop

The state reported no new resident deaths from COVID-19 this week

President Joe Biden waves before boarding Air Force One for a trip to San Diego to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Monday, March 13, 2023, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

News

Biden OKs Willow project, draws ire of environmentalists

The announcement came a day after the administration said it would bar or limit drilling in some other…

Defending champion Brent Sass, wearing bib No. 14, waves to the crowd during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race’s ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 4, 2023. Sass withdrew from this year’s race, Saturday, March 11, 2023, citing concerns for his health. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

News

Defending champion leaves Iditarod race over health concerns

The Iditarod said all 11 dogs on Sass’ team were in good health

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire State Rep. Cliff Groh, D-Anchorage, testifies about his proposed constitutional amendment that would change how Permanent Fund earnings are allocated during a House Ways and Means Committee meeting Saturday morning at the Alaska State Capitol. The committee spent two hours taking testimony almost entirely by phone from residents statewide about five proposals related to the Permanent Fund and dividends, which continued the long historical pattern of strongly divided feelings about how much money to use for dividends vs. state government programs.

News

PFD proposals discussed at weekend hearing

The hearing addressed five specific legislative proposals

Glen Trombley, a Kenai River personal use guide, testifies to the Alaska Board of Fisheries during the 2023 Statewide Finfish Meeting on March 10, 2023 at the Egan Civic & Convention Center in Anchorage Alaska. (Screenshot)

News

Board of Fisheries approves regulation changes

Changes include simplified registration and new invasive species

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File The sun beams down on a clock and nearby melting snow. A bill that calls for Alaska to choose to remain in Daylight Saving Time for the entirety of the year and say farewell to the switch to Standard Time has been reintroduced to the Alaska Legislature this session.

News

Alaska lawmakers push to make daylight saving permanent

A bill calls for Alaska to choose to remain in daylight saving time for the entirety of the…

This photo provided by the Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey shows the east flank of Takawangha Volcano near Adak, Alaska, on June 10, 2021. Not one but two volcanoes on the same island in Alaska are showing signs of unrest. A swarm of earthquakes occurring since late February 2023 has intensified, a possible indication of an impending eruption. (Matt Loewen/Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

News

Quake swarms at neighboring Alaska volcanoes raise concerns

Elevated earthquake activity was reported at both Tanaga and Takawangha volcanoes

Glen Trombley, a Kenai River personal use guide, testifies to the Alaska Board of Fisheries during the 2023 Statewide Finfish Meeting on March 10, 2023 at the Egan Civic & Convention Center in Anchorage Alaska. (Screenshot)

News

Locals weigh in on proposals at fisheries board meeting

Several anglers from the Kenai Peninsula testified against Proposals 163-167

ConocoPhillips via AP, File 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.

News

Willow approval expected next week, Bloomberg and CNN reports

The project will allow ConocoPhillips to drill at three locations

The lead dogs for musher Bailey Vitello of Milan, New Hampshire, run down Fourth Avenue during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race’s ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

News

Heat takes toll as Iditarod mushers trek across Alaska

Many communities in the nation’s largest state hit record highs this week,

In this photo provided by the Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey is the Tanaga Volcano near Adak, Alaska, on May 23, 2021. A swarm of earthquakes occurring over the past few weeks has intensified at a remote Alaska volcano dormant for over a century, a possible indication of an impending eruption. The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the alert level to advisory status for Tanaga Volcano late Tuesday, March 7, 2023, after the quakes became very vigorous. (Matt Loewen/Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

News

Swarm of quakes at Alaska volcano could mean eruption coming

The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the alert level to advisory status for Tanaga Volcano late Tuesday

Pressure is building on the social media platform TikTok to urge President Joe Biden to reject an oil development project on Alaska’s North Slope from young voters concerned about climate change.

News

TikTok push targets Biden on Willow oil plan

The .StopWillow campaign has garnered more than 50 million views and counting

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire State Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, reads an announcement during the Senate floor session Wednesday. Tobin, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, emerged as a potential road block to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s “parental rights” bill by declaring it would not get a hearing if referred to her committee. The bill was subsequently referred to two other committees, with Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, stating it will get a public hearing.

News

Bill limiting sex, gender discussion in education will get public hearing, senate president says

However, lawmakers say it will not be a main focus.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveils proposals to offer public school teachers annual retention bonuses and enact policies similar so-called “don’t say gay” laws in states such as Florida during a press conference in Anchorage on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (Screenshot from official livestream)

News

Governor proposes ‘don’t say gay’-style law, year-end teacher bonuses

Dunleavy says bill is “pro-parent,” not anti-LGBTQ+.

Information about SNAP benefit amounts is posted on a wall at the Alaska Division of Public Assistance’s Kenai office on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Food bank sees demand jump amid SNAP benefit backlog

About 9.5% of the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s roughly 22,800 households received SNAP benefits in 2021

Defending champion Brent Sass mushes his dog team down Fourth Avenue during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race’s ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

News

Iditarod kicks off

This is the 51st running of the Iditarod, but its 33 mushers are the smallest field ever to…

Dipnetters can be seen here fishing in the Kenai River on July 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)

News

Board of Fisheries to meet

March 10 through March 13, the board will meet at the Egan Civic Convention Center to discuss 19…

Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File “I voted” stickers await voters on Election Day 2022. That election was the first regular general election in Alaska to include ranked choice voting, which was narrowly approved by voters in 2020. Bills to do away with ranked choice voting have been introduced in the Legislature and a petition to put the matter before voters is circulating. However, a pro-ranked choice petition has been launched to show support for the state’s current elections system, which also includes open primaries.

News

Pro-ranked choice petition launched

Signatures sought to persuade Legislature not to overturn RCV and open primaries.