Photo generously provided by Bartlett Regional Hospital and Ortega/Schroth family
BRH- Bartlett Regional Hospital welcomed a special delivery on January 3rd – the first baby born in 2026. Bjorn Schroth was born weighing 7 pounds, 15 ounces and is 20.5 inches long. Bjorn is the first child of Annie Ortega and Austin Schroth of Juneau.
“The nurses are great and have been super helpful to us as new parents,” said Annie. “Before Bjorn was born, a coworker commented that his name was fitting of a boat captain, so to receive this handmade boat is really special,” said Austin.
Bartlett Beginnings gifted the family a handmade wooden rocking boat filled with newborn items. The family is the ninth recipient of what has become a Bartlett Beginnings tradition for the first baby of the year. The boat was made by Dr. Lindy Jones, an Emergency Department Physician at Bartlett, and his wife, Colleen Jones. This year’s boat is made from Sitka Spruce donated by Icy Straits Lumber in Hoonah.
With nearly 300 babies born a year at Bartlett, Bjorn is the first of many special lives to be welcomed at the hospital in 2026. To learn more about Bartlett Beginnings, please visit bartletthospital.org/services/birth-center.
The record-breaking winter storm has created a dangerous and unprecedented situation for Fairweather Equestrian Center, where 17 horses remain confined indoors.
There are fears that the weight of heavy snow could cause the large barn roof to collapse.
Kristina Friend, who owns horses at Fairweather Stables off Industrial Boulevard, said the ongoing snowfall has left her and other caretakers facing risks they have never encountered before in decades of keeping horses in Juneau.
“I’ve had horses here since the 90s, and we’ve never seen a situation like this.” Friend said, “Usually, our large metal roof slides frequently on its own. But so far, it has not let loose.”
Because of the buildup of snow on the roof, all rear stall doors leading to outdoor paddocks have been locked. Friend said allowing the horses outside could put them directly beneath the roof if it suddenly sheds snow, not only that, Friend says that when snow slides happen, the horses can get spooked, meaning the current safest place remains inside in their stalls.
“We don’t live somewhere that has another facility to house 17 horses, so it’s not really an option to get them out of here and move them somewhere else.” Said Friend, “We’re not able to go into our paddocks to remove the snow because of how large of a building it is, if it was to let loose, it would bury us like an avalanche. So we’re not able to safely get below it to release it, because the barn is 170 feet long and almost just as wide.”
Attempts to address the problem have included flying guide wires over the roof with a drone in hopes of pulling snow loose, but the efforts have so far failed. Caretakers are now renting industrial heaters to try to warm the building enough to encourage snow to slide, though Friend said the barn’s size makes success uncertain.
Friend said there is still a lack of expertise and safety equipment to allow anyone onto the roof.
“We have no way of getting on the roof safely.” Friend Said, “We don’t have any type of equipment for tying anybody down or climbing equipment or anything like that. There’s no way to be up there.”
Friend said the barn’s community has come together to ensure the horses continue to receive care.
“We have a group chat going all the time,” she said. “Everybody pitches in to help with everybody’s horses. So we were making it through. It’s just the stress, it’s not just people that are trapped and not able to get out.”
Friend hopes the community understands the seriousness of the situation and that additional expertise or equipment may help prevent the worst case scenario.
“We’re very concerned the roof could collapse.” Friend said, “It’s so difficult to ask for help because everybody is so stretched thin. We are trying all the suggestions that have been given. We’re just really worried about the horse’s safety and the people for that matter.”
Tyler rental has supplied the Stable with a lift, to remove snow from the roof.
NOTN- Trail Mix, the nonprofit held its annual dinner and auction Nov. 22.
The fundraiser raised over $67,000 to aid in maintaining more than 250 miles of trails in the Juneau area.
The event, featured menu options from Breeze-In and a live auction hosted by Taylor Vidic, who also performed during the event.
Taylor Vidic preforms “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” Photo courtesy of Trail Mix
“We wrapped up another really incredible season on October 2. We employed over 23 people throughout the season to work on Juneau’s trails. We created an entirely new trail this summer, the Jumbo Reroute. So now you can head up Jumbo Mountain, all starting from Sandy Beach Park.” Said Meghan Tabacek, executive director of Trail Mix in an interview last month, “We were all over the place this summer. There was a lot of stuff to do on the trails, and we had a wonderful season with our crew, and also around 3000 volunteer hours. So really, really great community effort to keep our trails in shape.”
Trail Mix finished other major projects including repairs and upgrades near the Eagle Valley Center in preparation for a cabin installation next summer, and work on popular routes such as Amalga and Montana Creek.
As winter approaches, Trail Mix staff have been racing to finish trail assessments and preparations for next year’s season. While the bulk of their workforce is seasonal, two trail coordinators operate year-round, handling repairs and planning.
This year’s auction focused on expanding tools and equipment for the nonprofit’s volunteer program.
“Our big pitch this year at our auction is that our volunteer program has grown so much. We did 3000 volunteer hours, so we are fundraising to purchase a trailer and a set of tools that goes specifically out to our volunteer program.” Tabacek said.
Trail Mix’s work and volunteer sign-ups can be found at trailmixinc.org.
Rascal and Aja, photo courtesy of Juneau Animal Rescue
Two dogs once adored by longtime Southeast Alaska journalist and former news director of News of the North Pete Carran, are now waiting for a new home at Juneau Animal Rescue, where staff say the bonded pair has drawn community attention but no adoption applications.
Rascal and Aja were brought to the shelter shortly after Carran’s passing, Executive Director Rick Driscoll said in an interview.
“They’re great dogs.” Said Driscoll, “Usually, dogs come to the shelter, and they all have their quirks and their personalities, but these two are great. They love to go on walks, they seem to get along pretty well with all the other dogs that are here at the shelter, it’s really clear that they’re a bonded pair.”
The pair, well known around Juneau, has received steady foot traffic from residents eager to check on them. But the challenge of adopting two dogs together has left them without a permanent home.
“They’ve been getting a lot of exercise while they’ve been here, lots of people come in to take them for walks.” Driscoll said, “For example, someone wants to take Rascal for a walk, but maybe they don’t feel comfortable taking two dogs for a walk, Aja will kind of lose her mind a little bit because she wants to go along for the walk as well. And vice versa, someone takes Aja for a walk, and Rascal doesn’t get to go. There’s some separation anxiety that is pretty obvious, because I think they’ve spent a lot of time together.”
While interest in seeing the dogs has been high, Driscoll said no one has yet started the adoption process, something he says is likely about the commitment required to take home two medium-sized dogs at once.
If the wait stretches much longer, staff may face a difficult decision.
“We don’t want to split them up, because they’re certainly a bonded pair, but at some point we will have to have a discussion as a team, about whether it’s better for them to go to different homes and get out of the Shelter.” Said Driscoll, “The shelter, while our staff here are awesome and loving and care for them exceedingly well, animal shelters, by nature, are not places where dogs thrive. is it better for their mental health to keep them here and try and keep them together, or is it better for them and their mental health to get out of here and go to loving homes rather than stay here?”
Still, he remains optimistic.
“My gut says they’re going to get adopted soon,” he said. “it’s hard if anybody comes down and visits with these dogs and sees them interact together and takes them for a walk, it’s hard not to fall in love with them.”
FILE – In this undated photo provided by the United States Geological Survey, permafrost forms a grid-like pattern in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, managed by the Bureau of Land Management on Alaska’s North Slope. (David W. Houseknecht/United States Geological Survey via AP, File)
AP- Congress has passed a measure to overturn a plan enacted during the Biden administration that put off limits to oil and gas leasing nearly half a vast petroleum reserve in Alaska. Critics see the vote as political meddling that creates confusion over the future management of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
Tuesday’s House vote followed passage by the Senate during the government shutdown of the resolution disapproving a management plan for the reserve that was finalized in 2022 under then-President Joe Biden. The offices of Alaska’s Republican congressional delegation members have said the resolution “fulfills the objectives” of an Alaska-specific executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year. The executive order called for reinstating a plan dating to the first Trump administration that sought to make available for leasing about 80% of the reserve.
The measure next goes to Trump for consideration.
There has been outsized attention on Alaska since Trump’s return to office, with moves to expand development of oil and gas and other resources cheered by state political leaders who had considered the Biden administration overly restrictive in its approach.
The votes are among the latest taken under the Congressional Review Act that are aimed at nullifying land management plans adopted under Biden. A statement from the congressional delegation last month said the review act provides an expedited way to overturn certain federal rules and forbids an agency from issuing another substantially similar rule unless it’s authorized by law.
But Alex Cohen, director of government affairs for the Alaska Wilderness League, called use of the act a “super, super blunt instrument.” Regulatory policy instead requires “very careful, considered stakeholder engagement, scientific analysis,” he said.
The approach taken by Congress also raises questions about what constitutes a substantially similar rule, Cohen said, adding there is a lack of clarity around what happens when a plan is overturned.
A bill passed earlier this year calls for oil and gas lease sales in the petroleum reserve, for which the last sale was held in 2019, and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Major companies sat out the first two lease sales held for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; the first was at the end of Trump’s first term and the second near the end of Biden’s.
NOTN- City Officials said the next Juneau Assembly meeting on Monday featured lively discussion on ranked choice voting, a proposal that has drawn significant public comment.
The ordinance was discussed back in August and residents have been vocal about the topic.
Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference rather than selecting just one. “If your top choice doesn’t win, your vote still counts for your second choice,” said Deputy City Manager Robert Barr, “That’s the argument for ranked choice voting.”
Mayor Beth Weldon said Tuesday that the city will not move forward with adopting ranked-choice voting for municipal elections, following significant public testimony and a divided response from residents.
Although last night’s agenda was relatively light, Weldon said the proposed voting change drew the most attention.
“Ultimately, Ms. Atkinson tabled this indefinitely, which in one sense kind of kills it for a while,” Weldon said. “There are reasons for and against in in our emails that we got, there’s definitely people on both sides.”
Residents opposed to adopting ranked-choice voting cited concerns about cost, delays in results, and a desire to maintain what they described as a simpler system. Those who supported the change argued that it encourages more candidates to run and reduces fears of splitting the vote.
Juneau will continue using its current municipal voting system, while Alaska’s statewide ranked-choice system remains in effect, though repeal efforts are ongoing.
AP- States administering a federal food aid program serving about 42 million Americans faced uncertainty Monday over whether they can — and should — provide full monthly benefits during an ongoing legal battle involving the U.S. government shutdown.
President Donald Trump’s administration over the weekend demanded that states “undo” full benefits that were paid under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during a one-day window between when a federal judge ordered full funding and a Supreme Court justice put a temporary pause on that order.
A federal appeals court in Boston left the full benefits order in place late on Sunday, though the Supreme Court order ensures the government won’t have to pay out for at least 48 hours.
“The record here shows that the government sat on its hands for nearly a month, unprepared to make partial payments, while people who rely on SNAP received no benefits a week into November and counting,” Judge Julie Rikleman of the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals wrote.
The Supreme Court gave the Trump administration until 11 a.m. EST Monday to say whether it wanted to keep the full payments on hold. The pause the court imposed last week will expire Tuesday night without further court action. Congress is considering whether to fund SNAP as part of a proposal to end the government shutdown.
Some states are warning of “catastrophic operational disruptions” if the Trump administration does not reimburse them for those SNAP benefits they already authorized. Meanwhile, other states are providing partial monthly SNAP benefits with federal money or using their own funds to load electronic benefit cards for SNAP recipients.
Millions receive aid while others wait
Trump’s administration initially said SNAP benefits would not be available in November because of the government shutdown. After some states and nonprofit groups sued, judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island each ruled the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely.
The administration then said it would use an emergency reserve fund to provide 65% of the maximum monthly benefit. On Thursday, Rhode Island-based U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell said that wasn’t good enough, and ordered full funding for SNAP benefits by Friday.
Some states acted quickly to direct their EBT vendors to disburse full monthly benefits to SNAP recipients. Millions of people in those states received funds to buy groceries before Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson put McConnell’s order on hold Friday night, pending further deliberation by an appeals court.
Millions more people still have not received SNAP payments for November, because their states were waiting on further guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP.
“Continued delays deepen suffering for children, seniors, and working families, and force nonprofits to shoulder an even heavier burden,” Diane Yentel, President and CEO, National Council of Nonprofits, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said in a statement Monday. “If basic decency and humanity don’t compel the administration to assure food security for all Americans, then multiple federal court judges finding its actions unlawful must.”
Trump’s administration has argued that the judicial order to provide full benefits violates the Constitution by infringing on the spending power of the legislative and executive branches.
States are fighting attempt to freeze SNAP benefits
On Sunday, the Trump administration said states had moved too quickly and erroneously released full SNAP benefits after last week’s rulings.
“States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary of Agriculture, wrote to state SNAP directors. He warned that states could face penalties if they did not comply.
Wisconsin, which was among the first to load full benefits after McConnell’s order, had its federal reimbursement frozen. As a result, the state’s SNAP account could be depleted as soon as Monday, leaving no money to reimburse stores that sell food to SNAP recipients, according to a court filing submitted by those that had sued.
Some Democratic governors vowed to challenge any federal attempt to claw back money.
In Connecticut, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said “those who received their benefits should not worry about losing them.”
“No, Connecticut does not need to take back SNAP benefits already sent to the 360,000 people who depend on them for food and who should have never been caught in the middle of this political fight,” Lamont said. “We have their back.”
Maureen Hall and Jennifer Skinner of St. Vincent de Paul
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, St. Vincent de Paul is gearing up for an anticipated community tradition, the annual Thanksgiving Basket Program, which provides full holiday meals to hundreds of local families in need.
Jennifer Skinner and Maureen Hall of St. Vincent de Paul spoke about the effort Monday noting that the organization expects higher demand this year due to recent cuts and delays in federal food assistance programs.
“We’ve been providing meals at Thanksgiving time for families in Juneau for a few decades now,” Skinner said. “We definitely see the need and meet the need for our neighbors here in Juneau. We anticipate, about 400 Thanksgiving baskets a year, but this year, given the current climate in our area, we are certain we’re going to see higher numbers than that.”
Families can register to receive baskets by visiting svdpjuneau.org and clicking on the events page, by calling 907-789-5535, or by scanning QR codes posted around town.
The baskets include all the fixings for a traditional Thanksgiving meal turkey, stuffing, canned yams, cranberry sauce, gravy, and more.
“So the items we’re looking for donation as well are, you know, the stuffing mix, canned yams, instant mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy mix, pies, butter, turkeys, and anything that goes into your own personal Thanksgiving meal prep is stuff we try to provide for our families.” said Skinner.
Volunteers play a crucial role in the program. Skinner said many Juneau residents make the annual basket delivery a personal tradition.
“We have a couple of folks that return every year as a day date to go and deliver Thanksgiving baskets. And they just really get a kick out of spending that time together and helping neighbors in need.”
Deliveries will take place on November 22, a pre-covid addition to the Holiday tradition that Hall said was inspired by a local man in town.
“I remember one year seeing an elderly gentleman come all the way from Douglas on the city bus, having to walk the extra couple blocks to where we were handing them out, he had a roller suitcase with him, and I thought, My gosh, we need to expand how we do the deliveries.” Hall said, “Instead of having people, often with disabilities or lack of transportation come to us, we continue to go to people’s homes and do all the deliveries that way.”
Skinner said local businesses and organizations are also encouraged to contribute food or monetary donations. “There’s always a way to give,” she said.
Nearly 2,000 Juneau families rely on SNAP, she said, and with the federal government shutdown surpassing records and funding running dry, those numbers could make this year’s Thanksgiving distribution one of the most critical yet.
United Way of Southeast Alaska has published an updated list of local food resources, including food pantries, meal programs, and emergency support services, to help residents access food assistance.
Stryder Greenhalgh, 17, serves a latte he made on Oct. 9, 2025. Greenhalgh works at Black Cup, a coffee shop in Midtown Anchorage. The population of Alaskans of prime working age has diminished; teens and seniors now account for bigger percentages of the state’s workforce. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
As Alaska’s population of working-age adults shrinks, according to economists, other demographic groups have become bigger segments of the labor force: seniors and teenagers.
Residents who are 65 and older made up 6.2% of the Alaska worker population in 2023 after steadily increasing over two decades, according to an analysis by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. In 2003, that age group made up just 1.8% of all working Alaskans, according to the data.
For teenagers, the two-decade trend has been different. In 2003, teenagers 14 to 17 years old made up 4.4% of Alaska’s resident workers, but that percentage dropped in subsequent years – reflecting national trends — until it bottomed out at 2.7% during the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020. Since then, the percentage of teens in Alaska’s workforce rebounded, and it hit 3.7% in 2023.
The information is detailed in a pair of articles in the current issue of Alaska Economic Trends, the department’s monthly magazine published by the department’s research section.
The analysis of senior workers was written by state labor economist Karinne Wiebold; labor economist Rob Kreiger reported on the labor trends among teenagers.
A big difference between older and younger workers is the degree of the male-female pay gap, Wiebold’s analysis showed.
For workers 65 and older, the gap is wide. Men in that age group had average annual earnings of $54,835, compared to average earnings of$38,797 for women 65 and older.
In dollar terms, older women in Alaska earned 71 cents for every $1 earned by men 65 and older.
The gap widens with age, the analysis found. The gap existed even in the highest-paid job category, the analysis found. Top male executives who were at least 65 years old earned $112,799 a year on average in 2024, while top female executives in the same age group earned an average of $87,514.
Statewide, across all age groups, women earn 73 cents for every $1 earned by men, her article said.
Wiebold said numerous factors contribute to the wage gap and the way it widens with age. Those might include historic discrimination, but other factors are work experience, training, education, hours worked, job and industry choice and time out of the workforce for reasons like childcare and elder care, she said.
“All of these choices and conditions are amplified with age,” she said by email.
In contrast, the male-female pay gap among teens aged 14 to 17 was very small, Kreiger’s analysis showed. On average, girls in that age group earned 96 cents for every $1 earned by boys in 2023, the statistics showed.
For the most part, teenaged boys and girls worked in similar jobs. Accommodation and food-service jobs accounted for more than a third of employment, while retail jobs accounted for 18.4%.
By working mostly in similar industries and at similarly entry-level positions, the teens “haven’t had time for other factors to influence the wage gap,” Weibold said.
There are multiple and interplaying causes, said Dan Robinson, research chief for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Part of the reason is net outmigration – with more people moving away from Alaska than moving to the state. Another factor is the aging of Alaska’s population, he said.
There are also numerous responses to the loss of Alaskans of prime working age residents. One has been more employment of nonresident workers, he said.
Nonresident hire hit a new record in 2023, the department said earlier this year.
Increased workforce participation by teens and seniors is part of the multifaceted picture, he said.
“For teens, it’s because a higher percentage of them have been working since the pandemic, and for seniors there are simply more of them,” Robinson said by email. “It could be that seniors are postponing retirement as a result of the worker shortage, and for teens they are likely lured into the labor force by recent wage growth in low wage jobs,”
State officials and employers have also taken actions to entice more seniors and teens into the workforce.
Last month, the state marked an official “Employ Older Workers Week,” with a Sept. 21 gubernatorial proclamation noting that “older workers play an increasingly important role in maintaining Alaska’s economy and leadership in the global marketplace, adding depth in perspective, social networks, and talent.”
The proclamation mentioned the Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Mature Alaskans Seeking Skills Training program, which trains people 55 and older who might have encountered barriers to employment in the past, such as disabilities.
As for the young Alaskans, the Legislature this spring passed a bill allowing workers as young as 18 to serve alcohol at restaurants. Key support for the bill came from the Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant, and Retailers Association, which cited a labor shortage as one of the significant challenges facing its members.
However, that labor shortage might not continue.
“There are early signs that the labor shortage is easing and we’re returning to a more normal balance between job openings and job seekers, but we’re still gathering and thinking about that data,” Robinson said.
Alaska pollock, shown here from a harvest, make up the nation’s top-volume single-species commercial seafood catch. Alaska pollock, harvested mostly in the Bering Sea but also in the Gulf of Alaska, are processed into fish sticks, fish burgers, imitation crab meat and other common fish products. (Photo provided by NOAA)
For the organization that oversees commercial fisheries in federal waters off Alaska, the most significant impact of the federal government shutdown might materialize in December.
That is when the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is scheduled to issue harvest limits for Alaska pollock – the nation’s top-volume commercial harvested species – and other types of groundfish harvested in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, such as Pacific cod and sablefish.
The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska pollock harvests start in January.
To set the groundfish harvest levels, the council relies on federal scientists’ analysis of fish stocks in the ocean, work that is based in large part on scientific surveys conducted over the summer.
But during the shutdown, most National Marine Fisheries Service employees, including the scientists who analyze survey data to assess the conditions of commercially targeted fish stocks, are furloughed.
On Wednesday, the last day of the council’s October meeting, the members considered how to deal with scientific uncertainty if the government shutdown prevents completion of the detailed analysis that is usually provided in time for the December meeting.
Council member Nicole Kimball referred to a warning issued eight days prior by Bob Foy, director of the NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the organization that does the stock assessments. Foy said then that a shutdown lasting more than five days would compromise the ability to complete stock assessments and that a shutdown beyond 15 working days would “dramatically impact” those assessments.
The 15-day threshold is not too far away, Kimball said.
“How does the council and the public understand what to expect in December, in between the October and December meeting, relative to stock assessments?” she asked.
Diana Evans, the council’s deputy director, said impacts are yet to be determined, but the public will be notified of them as soon as possible.
“We don’t think we can answer that until we have a better sense of exactly where we land and how many days of work are remaining between the time that government workers are back and able to resume that work and the meeting,” she said.
Advocates with environmental organizations said they worry about shutdown effects on scientific information needed for harvest decisions, which would add to the effects of mass firings and retirements at NMFS and other agencies.
“I’m terrified at the prospect of flying blind into the next fishing season, especially as the Trump administration has decimated the ranks of scientists who monitor the health of our oceans,” Cooper Freeman, Alaska director of the Center for Biological DIversity, said by email. “I’m especially worried about fisheries like the massive pollock trawl fleet that has been harvesting millions of tons annually at the expense of the larger ecosystem.”
“The first challenge with this shutdown is the instant level of uncertainty it creates. Normal processes face delays that can easily impact or inhibit active fisheries. Potential staff losses will exacerbate that,” Michelle Stratton, executive director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, said by email.
“But beyond the concern for continuing day to day services, are those major efforts — like stock assessments and (total allowable catch) setting — that rely on substantial NMFS staff input, data processing and expert analysis. If this continues to the point where we are unable to set catch limits for the start of the 2026 seasons, we’ll be in seriously uncharted territory, and could well see massive economic impacts to our fishing communities and fleets,” she said.
The shutdown forced the council to rearrange its October meeting because federal representatives were unavailable to present information.
One major agenda item was postponed: review of a work plan for assessing essential fish habitat. Other items on the agenda were abbreviated.
The shutdown has already affected fishery management operations to some degree, said council member Jon Kurland. As Alaska regional director for NMFS, Kurland is one of a small group of agency employees remaining at work during the shutdown.
Kurland, in comments last week at the start of the meeting, said some services have been unavailable during the shutdown, such as the processing of harvest quota transfers.
NMFS is still doing basic management of ongoing fisheries, monitoring and closing them as needed, and is supported by contractors, he said. But that level of work has its limits, he said.
“If there are significant unforeseen problems, we will have limited ability to address those. Fingers crossed,” he said then.
