NOTN- With food insecurity surging and federal food assistance programs in limbo after November, Resurrection Lutheran Church is hosting the first-ever Juneau Hunger Jam today to raise funds and awareness for the Southeast Alaska Food Bank, along with their own meal programs.
The event will be a live-streamed telethon on the church’s YouTube channel and will feature performances from more than a dozen local musicians, including community choirs and High Cost of Living. Organizers say all proceeds will go directly to support the food bank, which supplies groceries to pantries and meal programs across Southeast Alaska.
“The food banks have been hit hard. They lost federal programs that were benefiting them and us, that got them food. As an example. We’re being hit really hard right now.” said Bradley Perkins, event organizer and church representative. “Our food pantries open on Tuesdays from noon to 4:30 and we are pretty much, running out of food by 2:30 or 3:00, and we have huge numbers of people coming in, not just those who we normally see that experience food scarcity, we’re seeing federal workers, we’re seeing teachers, and we’re seeing just all kinds of people, and our meal service program is also just gone off the charts.”
The food bank’s supplies have been strained since the recent federal freeze on SNAP benefits and other food distribution programs.
“When things happen like the cutting off of SNAP and federal workers being furloughed, we wanted to raise some money for them so that they can have a buffer to handle these blips that hit in the system.”Said Karen Lawfer, “We want to make sure that they have food security to handle all of these ups and downs. So how else to do that, but by having a lot of fun and raising money? So that’s when we came up with the Juneau Hunger Jam.”
The telethon will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church. The event will include live performances, a silent auction, and an in-person studio audience. Food donations, particularly shelf-stable items will also be accepted at the church during the event.
A sign in a convenience store along Barlowe Road in Hyattsville, Maryland, on Oct. 28, 2025, advertises that it accepts SNAP benefits. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will reduce the largest monthly food assistance payments by about 35% in November, a smaller decrease than the department initially estimated, according to a court filing late Wednesday.
That means the maximum monthly benefit likely would be roughly two-thirds of the usual benefit flowing to recipients, rather than the half initially projected.
USDA miscalculated how to adjust benefit payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to account for a lack of full funding during the government shutdown, a department official said in a filing to the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island.
The formula the government initially used and sent to states Tuesday would have resulted in about a 50% cut to the maximum monthly benefits, and left some households without benefits.
SNAP pays benefits on a sliding scale depending on the size of a household, the household’s income and other expenses such as housing. By cutting the maximum benefit by one-half, the department would have spent about $3 billion from a SNAP contingency fund instead of the full $4.65 billion in the fund, which is what the court ordered it to spend.
The error was first reported to U.S. District Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. by the coalition of cities and nonprofit organizations that sued to force the government to pay SNAP benefits this month.
An analysis submitted by Sharon Parrott, a former White House budget officer who now leads the left-leaning think tank Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, showed that the table the department submitted to the court and sent to states on Tuesday would fall short of the court’s order to spend the entire contingency fund.
The groups said the department’s error was another reason the court should compel the government to transfer funds to pay out full benefits for November.
“Defendants’ approach means that only around $3 billion—out of the $4.65 billion Defendants have said is available—will be spent on SNAP benefits in November, leaving more than $1.5 billion in contingency funds unspent,” they wrote in a Wednesday brief. “Defendants opted for partial (and delayed) SNAP payments, but even then, did not manage to do that correctly.”
The department said in its filing later Wednesday that it independently discovered its miscalculation and worked to fix it before Parrott’s declaration hit the court docket.
“Defendants realized this error and worked to issue new guidance and tables as soon as it was discovered, not in response to Plaintiffs’ notice filed earlier this evening,” USDA’s brief said.
The parties are scheduled to argue before McConnell again Thursday afternoon.
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.
WASHINGTON — Following major Democratic wins in local and state elections across the country on Election Day, top Democratic congressional leaders pushed for a meeting with the president to end the federal government shutdown, which on Wednesday became the longest in U.S. history at day 36.
“The election results ought to send a much-needed bolt of lightning to Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis, his shutdown,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “It’s time to hold a bipartisan meeting. The takeaway from last night was simply unmistakable.”
Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New York Democrats, sent a Wednesday letter to President Donald Trump, calling for a bipartisan meeting at the White House to end the government shutdown and to address the spike in individual health care premiums.
“Last night, Republicans felt political repercussions,” Schumer said after Tuesday’s Election Day wins for Democrats. They included passage of a redistricting measure in California to offset partisan gerrymandering by GOP states, governorships in New Jersey and Virginia and local races across the country.
For more than a month, Democrats have voted against approving the House-passed GOP stopgap spending measure over concerns that health care tax subsidies will expire at the end of the year. As open enrollment begins, people who buy their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace are seeing a drastic increase in premium costs.
Sanders pushes back on dealmaking
Schumer did not detail what kind of deal Democrats would accept, but said any negotiation “must address the health care needs of the American people.”
However, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said that Democrats should not accept any agreement with the GOP unless there is a commitment from House Speaker Mike Johnson and the president to pass legislation to extend those tax credits.
“Bottom line is, we need to be successful in protecting the health care of the American people, and if it’s just a piece of legislation that passes the Senate … so what? Where does it go? Then it becomes just a meaningless gesture,” Sanders said.
Republicans have maintained that they will only have a discussion on health care after Democrats agree to resume government funding.
Lawmakers have acknowledged that a new stopgap spending bill will need to be extended past the Nov. 21 deadline, but have not come to an agreement on a new deadline.
Thune plays down Democratic victories
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Wednesday that he was skeptical the government shutdown played into major wins for Democrats across the country.
“The shutdown doesn’t benefit anyone,” he said.
The South Dakota Republican noted the shutdown may have played a role in suburban Virginia, where a large share of federal workers live and are furloughed due to the government shutdown.
“In Northern Virginia, that has a lot of federal workers, so it certainly could have been a factor in the elections,” Thune said. “But I think it’s hard to draw conclusions.”
But Thune said he’s focused on ending the government shutdown, and hopes progress can continue to be made before senators are scheduled to be out next week for recess due to the Veterans Day holiday.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy this week warned that if the shutdown continues into next week, it could lead to certain airspace needing to be closed due to a shortage of air traffic controllers who have continued to work amid the shutdown.
Trump, in a social media post, blamed two factors for Republicans not performing well on Tuesday: his absence from the ballot, and the government shutdown.
“I think if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans, and that was a big factor, and they say that I wasn’t on the ballot was the biggest factor,” Trump said during a Wednesday press conference.
Withholding SNAP benefits
As the government shutdown has continued, the Trump administration has tried to get Senate Democrats to agree to the stopgap spending measure by directing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to not tap into its contingency fund to provide food assistance to 42 million people.
Two federal courts found that the Trump administration acted unlawfully in holding back those Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits, and USDA agreed that it would partially release SNAP benefits.
Trump earlier this week wrote on his social media platform that SNAP benefits would only be released when Democrats vote to reopen the government, a move that would likely violate the two court orders.
“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!,” he wrote.
However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt seemed to walk back that statement on Tuesday, arguing that the president’s social media post did not refer to the court order, but to future SNAP payments.
“The president doesn’t want to tap into this (contingency) fund in the future and that’s what he was referring to,” Leavitt said.
NOTN- The Juneau Assembly is considering new ways to manage the city’s visitor industry, which saw an increase this summer, including the possibility of formal passenger limits on cruise ship arrivals.
At Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, officials discussed formalizing mooring agreements for docks and potentially advancing caps on visitor numbers, moving beyond current memorandums of agreement with the industry and making it official legislation.
“We will be looking at supporting the community’s ability to assess and manage growth.” Mayor Beth Weldon said Monday morning.
Mayor Weldon also said the Assembly introduced a new Visitor Industry Task Force that will pick up where the previous group left off.
“The task force will basically take up where the last one dropped off, and also continue to look at managing community impacts with infrastructure. And if that’s working well or not.” she said, noting that whale-watching will be a particular focus.
More than 1.7 million cruise visitors arrived in Juneau this season, according to city data.
The State Office Building in Juneau is seen on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The State Office Building in Juneau is seen on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
NOTN-Alaskans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps, did not receive their November benefits as scheduled Saturday.
In a social media post Friday afternoon, President Trump said he would ask the courts for additional guidance before releasing SNAP funds to states.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy issued a state disaster to ensure food security, this 30 day declaration will allow the state to work with the federal contractor that manages SNAP benefits, loading funds onto EBT cards weekly instead of monthly so families can continue to buy food.
The Department of Health will also coordinate with food banks to fill any gaps in aid. The full declaration can be found below.
November 3, 2025 (Anchorage, AK) — Governor Mike Dunleavy has issued a state disaster declaration to deal with the food security issue as a result of inaction on the federal budget in Washington D.C. The Governor will declare a 30 day disaster declaration that ensures food security in two ways for the thousands of Alaskan households that utilize Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The Dunleavy Administration will work with the federal contractor responsible for loading EBT cards to deposit benefits on a weekly schedule. This ensures Alaskans will not struggle to put food on the table during the shutdown The Alaska Department of Health will begin discussions with food banks and work with them to ensure the resources are available to assist Alaskans that may otherwise fall between the cracks The Governor has been meeting with Speaker Edgmon and President Stevens to ensure the process for Legislative concurrence is expedited. Those discussions have gone well and demonstrate that the executive and legislative branches work well when Alaskans are in need. “I want to thank Speaker Bryce Edgmon and President Gary Stevens for working with me the past few days to craft an approach to deal with this issue,“ said Governor Mike Dunleavy. “I’m grateful and deeply relieved that help will reach Alaskans in need without further delay,” said House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (I-Dillingham). “I want to thank the Governor and Senate President for acting swiftly and working together to make this happen.” “Alaskans shouldn’t have to worry about how they’ll feed their families because of a federal stalemate,” said President Gary Stevens (R-Kodiak). “I appreciate and support the Governor’s declaration to ensure that Alaskans are not left behind because of inaction in Washington, D.C. Congress must reconcile their differences and act quickly so Alaskans, and all Americans, can continue to have the support and stability to care for their families.” The disaster declaration will last no longer than 30 days or as soon as the federal government reopens. Click here for a copy of the disaster declaration and the legislative notification.
Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, speaks Friday, April 12, 2024, on Senate Bill 187, the capital budget. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Senate Minority Leader Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, will resign from the Alaska Senate on Monday, according to a resignation letter submitted to Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak.
The resignation was expected. Shower was named the lieutenant governor candidate for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson in September, and he said he would resign from his seat early.
Shower did not immediately respond to a phone call and text messages seeking comment on Thursday afternoon.
Under Alaska law and Republican Party rules, party officials in Shower’s district will nominate possible replacements to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who will select the replacement.
It’s a process Dunleavy will be familiar with: Before being elected governor in 2018, Dunleavy served in the Senate and resigned early to focus on his election. Then-Gov. Bill Walker nominated Mike Shower to fill Dunleavy’s seat and Shower went on to win the next election in his own right.
Shower’s possible replacements must be Republicans, because Shower is a Republican, and otherwise meet the Alaska Constitution’s requirements for office.
The governor’s selection must be confirmed by the Senate’s other Republicans before being seated. That includes the other five Republicans in the Senate’s six-person minority caucus, as well as the five Republicans in the bipartisan Senate majority caucus.
Confirmation isn’t guaranteed: In 2018, Republican senators rejected Walker’s first choice to replace Dunleavy. Walker’s second choice withdrew his name from consideration.
In 2019, Republicans rejected Dunleavy’s first choice to replace Anchorage Republican Sen. Chris Birch, who died in office.
Each of Alaska’s state senate districts consists of two House districts. Reps. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, and Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, respectively represent each of the House districts within Shower’s Senate district, and both men said they will be putting their names forward for consideration.
Rauscher had already announced his intention to seek Shower’s seat in the 2026 election.
It was not immediately clear on Thursday if additional candidates would be proposed for consideration by party officials.
If either Rauscher or McCabe are chosen, it would set off a domino effect: Dunleavy would then be able to select a new House representative to replace the person who moved to the Senate.
Sen. Robert Myers, R-North Pole, said he believes Shower has been talking to Dunleavy about possible options.
“I think the expectation at this point is Rep. Rauscher, but I don’t want to weigh in any further than that,” Myers said of his preference.
Myers said the resignation makes sense.
“Honestly, it makes some relationships a little bit awkward if you’re still in the Legislature while running for a statewide seat like that. It could have potentially complicated next year’s session a little bit,” he said. “I wish him well on what he embarks on for the future, whether that’s politically or personally.”
While the Senate minority caucus will now need to pick a new leader, Myers said he doesn’t expect the next legislative year will have other significant changes because there’s someone new in Shower’s seat.
“The (senate) majority has already laid out what their priorities are,” he said. “I don’t see votes changing, numbers changing, majority-minority votes on major bills, or anything like that.”
At least one more Senate resignation is expected soon. Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, is running for governor and has said she will resign in time for a replacement to be selected before the legislative session begins in January.
“I typically put in about 40 hours of work, even during the interim, 40 hours or more. And so, juggling that along with the governor electoral campaign is tricky, but there’s certain things I want to finish up and make sure I’m leaving things in good order as I pass out of the district,” she said.
At the same time, she wants to leave time for Dunleavy to pick both her replacement and a replacement for a House member if he selects either Reps. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, or DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, to replace her.
Tilton has already filed to run for Senate in 2026.
Hughes said that regardless of the replacement, she doesn’t think the Senate will change significantly. She also said that she’s going to stay out of the discussion of who will replace Shower as Senate Minority Leader.
“That’s up to that group to decide,” she said. “I’m not going to be one of them. I’m not going to meddle and try to tell them who should or should not be Senate Minority Leader.”
A federal judge in Boston ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s plan to pause a food assistance program for 42 million people was illegal — but gave the Trump administration until Monday to respond to her finding before she decides on a motion to force the benefits be paid despite the ongoing government shutdown.
At nearly the same time Friday, a Rhode Island federal judge in a similar case brought by cities and nonprofit groups ordered USDA to continue payments and granted a request for a temporary restraining order.
In Massachusetts, in a Friday afternoon order, District Court of Massachusetts Judge Indira Talwani said she would continue to take “under advisement” a coalition of Democratic states’ request to force the release of funds from a contingency account holding about $6 billion.
Her ruling came a day before a cutoff of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits to low-income households.
Because Congress is locked in a stalemate over a stopgap spending bill and did not appropriate money for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, administration officials say the program cannot provide federal funds beginning Saturday. In states, SNAP benefits are loaded onto cards on varying dates, but the cutoff would be effective for November benefits.
Talwani, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, called the administration’s conclusion it can’t provide SNAP funding “erroneous,” and said the reserve fund was sufficient for SNAP benefits to flow to states and the vendors that add money to debit-like cards issued to the program’s beneficiaries that are used to purchase groceries.
The law creating the program mandated that benefits continue, she said.
“Defendants are statutorily mandated to use the previously appropriated SNAP contingency reserve when necessary and also have discretion to use other previously appropriated funds,” Talwani wrote.
Talwani ordered the administration to say by Monday whether it would provide at least partial benefits for November.
The 25 states that sued were Massachusetts, California, Arizona, Minnesota, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, Wisconsin Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The District of Columbia also sued.
In Rhode Island, where the judge granted a temporary restraining order, the advocacy group Democracy Forward, which was among those bringing the suit, praised the move.
“A federal court today granted a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful effort to halt the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the ongoing government shutdown,” the group said. “The decision ensures that millions of children, seniors, veterans, and families will continue to receive essential food assistance while the case proceeds.”
The judge in that case, John James McConnell Jr., said the administration’s actions violated a key federal administrative law against arbitrary and capricious executive action and federal spending laws “by disregarding Congress’s direction that SNAP must continue operating,” Democracy Forward said.
CBJ- Several Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) mitigation topics will be presented by local experts and federal agencies during a Special GLOF Assembly Committee of the Whole Meeting on Thursday, Oct. 30.
The special meeting agenda includes presentations on recent key studies and understanding of the science of Suicide Basin from University of Alaska Southeast and the National Weather Service. Representatives from two branches within the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will be present to walk through next steps for their respective programs, including both short-term mitigation and progress toward identification of an enduring solution.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will present on the Emergency Watershed Protection Program and the potential buyout program for View Drive.
Thursday’s meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in City Hall Assembly Chambers and online at the link below. As is standard with Committee of the Whole meetings, public testimony is not included in the agenda, however, members of the public are invited to share questions and comments on the topic at boroughassembly@juneau.gov and emergencyresponse@juneau.gov.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an executive order signing.
WASHINGTON — More than 200 Democratic lawmakers and one Republican are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down President Donald Trump’s sweeping global emergency tariffs.
The 207 members of the U.S. House and Senate argued in an amicus brief late Friday that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize the president to unilaterally impose tariffs. The lawmakers urged the justices to agree with a lower court finding that Trump’s wide reaching import taxes triggered under IEEPA violate the Constitution, which grants duty powers to Congress.
“IEEPA contains none of the hallmarks of legislation delegating tariff power to the executive, such as limitations tied to specific products or countries, caps on the amount of tariff increases, procedural safeguards, public input, collaboration with Congress, or time limitations,” the lawmakers wrote.
“In the five decades since IEEPA’s enactment, no President from either party, until now, has ever invoked IEEPA to impose tariffs.”
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., ranking members of the Senate committees on Foreign Relations and Finance, led the signatures of 36 members of the upper chamber. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, was the single GOP co-signer on the brief. A majority of House Democrats, 171 in total, also joined.
The lawmakers filed the friend-of-the-court brief ahead of oral arguments scheduled before the Supreme Court next week on the question of whether Trump’s emergency tariffs are legal.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in late August upheld a lower court ruling striking down the administration’s IEEPA tariffs.
The Senate is expected to vote on three bills this week that aim to terminate Trump’s import taxes on products from Canada, Brazil and any other country subject to emergency duties.
Fentanyl, trade deficits as emergencies
Trump began imposing tariffs under IEEPA in February and March on China, Canada and Mexico, declaring these countries responsible for illegal fentanyl smuggling into the U.S.
The president escalated the emergency tariffs over the following months on goods from around the globe, declaring trade deficits a national emergency. A trade deficit means the U.S. imports more goods from a country than that nation purchases from U.S. suppliers.
Domestic businesses and purchasers now pay the U.S. government anywhere from 10% to 50% in tariffs on most imported products. The government had collected $195 billion this year in customs duties at the end of September, according to a U.S. Treasury monthly statement.
State AGs and businesses launched court challenge
Several private businesses and a dozen states sued Trump over the use of the emergency statute to trigger the steep import taxes.
Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon were among states, led by Democratic state attorneys general, that brought the suit.
Businesses that sued the Trump administration include the lead plaintiff, V.O.S. Selections, a New York-based company that imports wine and spirits from 16 countries, according to its website.
Other plaintiffs include a Utah-based plastics producer, a Virginia-based children’s electricity learning kit maker, a Pennsylvania-based fishing gear company, and a Vermont-based women’s cycling apparel company.
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Trump’s tariffs under IEEPA illegal in late May.
