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This Sept. 7, 2007, file photo shows Royal Caribbean’s “Radiance of the Seas” docked in Seward, Alaska. Gov. Mike Dunleavy during a press conference Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, proposed $5 million in new funding for Alaska’s tourism industry with money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. (AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz, File)

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State seeks to give tourism boost with federal funds

The funds, from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, will be included in the governor’s fiscal year 2023…

(Black Press File)

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Alternatives sought for tobacco-related school suspensions

Tobacco policy violations accounted for more than 1,800 days lost from school in Alaska in the 2018-2019 school…

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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Alaska reports its 1st omicron case

The case was reported in an Anchorage resident who had tested positive for the virus after traveling internationally.

A student pets Wilson, a therapy dog, in a hallway at French Middle School, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, in Topeka, Kan. The dog is one of the tools designed to relieve stresses faced by students as they return to classrooms amid the ongoing pandemic. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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Health officials: Youth mental health issues, suicides worsened by pandemic

Anxiety and depression.

Dorothy Thomson stands while giving a thumbs down as Gov. Mike Dunleavy gives his State of Alaska Address during the 2019 Alaska Federation of Natives Convention Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. The 2019 convention was the last in-person convention as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the meeting to go digital for the second year in a row. (Eric Engman/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner via AP)

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‘Relationships are key’: AFN Convention brings leaders to the table

This year’s convention will look back on 50 years of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer is seen on the floor of the Alaska House on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019, in Juneau, Alaska. Meyer, a Republican who oversees elections in Alaska, in November 2020, announced plans for a hand-count review of votes cast on a successful ballot initiative, which would change how elections in Alaska are conducted, casting the review as a way to calm questions that had been raised about the validity of election results. The Associated Press received emails on Nov. 30, 2021, hat were received by Meyer’s office with complaints or concerns about the election, more than a year after they were requested. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

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Email complaints scarce before ballot review

The hand count cost around $55,750.

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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Cases down statewide; uncertainty over omicron looms

On Friday, the state reported 453 new COVID cases, for a seven-day cumulative rolling average of 195 cases…

Central Peninsula Hospital Pharmacy Technician Jessica Hulet rolls a cart carrying doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine into Central Peninsula Hospital on Wednesday, Dec. 16 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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1 year after vaccine, push against virus continues

A Toyota Sienna minivan delivered the peninsula’s first COVID shots to Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna on Dec.…

Gov. Mike Dunleavy spoke with reporters at the Alaska Governor's Mansion on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, before greeting guests for the traditional Christmas open house. The event was suspended last year due to COVID-19 but was back this year with limited health mitigation rules in place. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Juneauites fill Governor’s Mansion as annual open house returns

Kids more interested in cookies than governor.

Astronaut Candidate Deniz Burnham, of ASCAN Class of 2021, poses for an official photo on Dec. 3, 2021. (Robert Markowitz / NASA)

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‘Find a passion and stay the course’: Burnham joins newest group of astronauts

From the Last Frontier to the Final Frontier.

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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441 COVID cases, 3 deaths reported Wednesday

Peninsula reported 10 cases

Alaska State Troopers logo.

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Missing hunter found dead in Whittier

The man and a companion were hunting deer and seals on Esther Island in Prince William Sound, troopers…

A joint investigation between the FBI and Canadian law enforcement agencies resulted in the arrest of a Canadian man for cybercrimes on Nov. 30, 2021. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

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Canadian man indicted in international cybercrime case

His attacks targeted State of Alaska computers as well as Canadian ones.

Cheryl Fellman checks her watch before attempting an Ice Mile. An Ice Mile is a type of endurance swim that tasks swimmers with covering a mile in water that is 41 degrees or colder. Fellman swam a mile in just under 35 minutes on Saturday at Auke Recreation Area. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

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Juneau woman completes a mile in near-freezing water

The 49-year-old mother of two and longtime Juneau resident swam Saturday for more than half an hour.

This February 2020 file photo shows the Alaska state flag on the bow of the MV Matanuska at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal. The infrastructure bill recently passed by Congress includes significant funding for the ferry system, but coastal communities are still feeling the pinch of reduced service. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

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Infrastructure act will boost ferries, but winter service still sparse

New funds, old problems.

This 2010 photo shows the soon-to-be-replaced Tustumena come into Homer after spending the day in Seldovia. Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced on Saturday the state would be replacing the ferry. The replacement vessel has not yet been named, and a statewide contest will be held to name the new vessel, Dunleavy said. (Homer News File)

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State moves ahead with replacement of Tustumena

The state has other plans for updating the marine highway.

A sign urging COVID-19 mitigation measures hangs at a free vaccination clinic at the Y intersection of the Kenai Spur and Sterling highways, on Tuesday, Nov. 30 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Clarion file)

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Omicron variant spurs travel restrictions locally, nationally

It’s still unclear if the omicron strain is more dangerous than other COVID variants.

Nick Begich III, seen here in this undated photo, is challenging Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives saying Alaska needs new energy in Washington D.C. (Courtesy photo / Alaskans for Nick Begich)

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Nick Begich III touts fiscal conservatism in US House race

GOP candidate challenges Young’s record

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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State officials urge vaccination as omicron spreads in US

Omicron was first identified as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization on Nov. 26.

A man missing for more than 40 years was identified by the Alaska Bureau of Investigation as a Chugiak resident who was last seen in 1979. The man’s body was discovered on an island near Anchorage in 1989. (Courtesy photo/Alaska Department of Public Safety)

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Body found in 1980s ID’d through DNA analysis

The body, found in 1989, had been unidentified until now.