(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Lawmakers must step up and increase school funding

There’s no excuse for depriving the funding needed to ensure our students’ learning.

  • Apr 6, 2023
  • By Luann McVey
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
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: Proposal is a fiscal plan, but not a good one

The numbers don’t add up.

  • Apr 5, 2023
  • By Larry Persily
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)
Alex Koplin is a founding member of Kenai Peninsula Votes. (courtesy photo)

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 some Alaskans

  • Apr 3, 2023
  • By Alex Koplin
Alex Koplin is a founding member of Kenai Peninsula Votes. (courtesy photo)
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)

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

  • Apr 1, 2023
  • By Abby Struffert
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)
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Dunleavy is punting tax hikes to his successor

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

  • Apr 1, 2023
  • By Rich Moniak
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
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)

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, bringing it up to modern standards. If… Continue reading

  • Mar 29, 2023
  • By Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Doug Tansy
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)

No to 67%

Recently, the Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission voted to raise the pay of legislators by 67%. Although that is a simple sentence, what transpired was… Continue reading

  • Mar 29, 2023
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: Old models of development are not sustainable for Alaska

Sustainability means investing in keeping Alaska as healthy as possible.

  • Mar 23, 2023
  • Adeline Raboff
This image available under the Creative Commons license shows the outline of the state of Alaska filled with the pattern of the state flag.
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: 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.

  • Mar 21, 2023
  • By Rick Bierman
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)
Kenai Peninsula Education Association President Nathan Erfurth works in his office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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.

  • Mar 20, 2023
  • By Nathan Erfurth
Kenai Peninsula Education Association President Nathan Erfurth works in his office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Juneau Empire file photo)

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

  • Mar 18, 2023
  • By Gov. Mike Dunleavy
Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Dr. Sarah Spencer. (Photo by Maureen Todd and courtesy of Dr. Sarah Spencer)

Voices of the Peninsula: Let’s bring opioid addiction treatment to the Alaskans who need it most

This incredibly effective and safe medication has the potential to dramatically increase access to treatment

  • Mar 15, 2023
  • By Sarah Spencer
Dr. Sarah Spencer. (Photo by Maureen Todd and courtesy of Dr. Sarah Spencer)
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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.

  • Mar 15, 2023
  • By Amelia Hanrahan
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Unsplash / Louis Velazquez

Opinion: Fish, family and freedom… from Big Oil

“Ultimate investment in the status quo” is not what I voted for.

  • Mar 14, 2023
  • Zach Brown
Unsplash / Louis Velazquez
An orphaned moose calf reared by the author is seen in 1970. (Stephen F. Stringham/courtesy photo)

Voices of the Peninsula: Maximizing moose productivity on the Kenai Peninsula

Maximum isn’t necessarily optimum, as cattle ranchers learned long ago.

  • Mar 13, 2023
  • By Stephen F. Stringham
An orphaned moose calf reared by the author is seen in 1970. (Stephen F. Stringham/courtesy photo)
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: The time has come to stop Eastman’s willful and wanton damage

God in the Bible makes it clear that we are to care for the vulnerable among us.

  • Mar 10, 2023
(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Caribou graze on the greening tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska in June, 2001. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: AIDEA’s $20 million-and-growing investment looks like a bad bet

Not producing in ANWR could probably generate a lot of money for Alaska.

  • Mar 8, 2023
  • By Larry Persily
Caribou graze on the greening tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska in June, 2001. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
A fisher holds a reel on the Kenai River near Soldotna on June 30, 2021. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Voices of the Peninsula: King salmon closures long overdue

Returns have progressively gone downhill since the early run was closed in June 2012

A fisher holds a reel on the Kenai River near Soldotna on June 30, 2021. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
(Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Fixing legislative salaries and per diem

The state Senate was right to unanimously reject giving a 20% pay raise to Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Not because he’s failed to deliver a sustainable… Continue reading

  • Mar 3, 2023
  • By Rich Moniak
(Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Alaska First Lady Rose Dunleavy. (Photo courtesy of Office of the Governor)

Opinion: Volunteerism is a key pillar of Alaska history, future

I am happy to continue the First Lady’s Volunteer Awards

  • Feb 28, 2023
  • By Rose Dunleavy
Alaska First Lady Rose Dunleavy. (Photo courtesy of Office of the Governor)