A cruise ship emerges from a fog bank Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
CBJ- The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) invites the public to submit proposals for how proceeds from the 2026 Marine Passenger Fee (MPF) are used. Proposals can be made via webform from December 1 to December 31, 2025. This annual process ensures that all members of the community can have a say in how fees from the cruise ship industry are reinvested in local business and services.
Various fees and taxes make up a $13 total fee per cruise ship passenger. These fees are designated to fund projects directly related to the visitor industry which enhance the tourism experience in Juneau and offset community impacts created by the cruise ship industry.
The use of these fees is constitutionally restricted. CBJ and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) settled a lawsuit in 2019 with an agreement that governs how and where CBJ spends the fees. CBJ therefore encourages project proposals that benefit cruise ship passengers as well as Juneau residents. For a full description of project eligibility, please see CBJ 69.20.120.
Exciting examples of past projects funded in part through the MPF include the Downtown Seawalk project, growing pedestrian access to Juneau’s waterfront, and improvements to Juneau’s wastewater systems, increasing utility effectiveness and efficiency for all of Juneau’s residents and visitors. For more details, please see the full list of FY26 projects & associated funding totals.
After the proposal period has ended, the City Manager will develop a draft recommendation list followed by a 30-day comment period that can be found on the Marine Passenger Fee Program website. All materials will then be submitted to the Assembly Finance Committee for review, and then to the Assembly for consideration during the upcoming budget cycle.
Proposals must be submitted by December 31 on the webform or the City Manager’s Office, attention Alexandra Pierce, 155 Heritage Way, Juneau, Alaska 99801.
Alaska Airlines planes are shown parked at gates with Mount Rainier in the background on March 1, 2021, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
AP- Air travelers in the U.S. without a REAL ID will be charged a $45 fee beginning in February, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday.
The updated ID has been required since May, but passengers without it have so far been allowed to clear security with additional screening and a warning. The Department of Homeland Security says 94% of passengers are already compliant and that the new fee is intended to encourage travelers to obtain the ID.
REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that meets enhanced requirements mandated in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Obtaining the ID — indicated by a white star in a yellow circle in most states — means taking more documents to the motor vehicle agency than most states require for regular IDs. It was supposed to be rolled out in 2008 but the implementation had been repeatedly delayed.
Beginning Feb. 1, travelers 18 and older flying domestically without a REAL ID and who don’t have another accepted form of ID on them, such as a passport, will pay the non-refundable fee to verify their identity through TSA’s alternative “Confirm.ID” system.
TSA officials said that paying the fee does not guarantee verification, and travelers whose identities cannot be verified may be turned away. If approved, however, the verification covers a 10-day travel period.
The fee can be paid online before arriving at the airport. Travelers can also pay online at the airport before entering the security line, but officials said the process may take up to 30 minutes.
The TSA initially proposed an $18 charge for passengers without a REAL ID, but officials said Monday they raised it after realizing the alternative identification program would cost more than anticipated.
Other acceptable forms of ID include military IDs, permanent resident cards and photo IDs from federally recognized tribal nations. TSA also accepts digital IDs through platforms such as Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet at more than 250 airports in the U.S.
Photo of the Candy Cane Hunt video promotion, provided by Juneau Parks and Recreation
NOTN- As December arrives, Juneau’s Parks and Recreation Department has a busy schedule.
Newly appointed Parks and Recreation Director Marc Wheeler said he is excited to lead the department.
“I’ve always had a passion for Parks and Recreation. I think it’s a really wonderful thing for Juneau. It makes Juneau a great place to live and work and raise a family.” Said Wheeler, “I’m a power user of parks and recreation. I swim, I run on the trails. I love all our facilities and our programs, and it’s just great to be part of the team.”
The department oversees a vast array of operations, from local pools and indoor recreation to youth housing services and after-school programs.
Youth Services Manager Jordan Nigro said the city’s offerings for young people continue to grow, ranging from the nearly 80 year old Zach Gordon Youth Center to a youth shelter, transitional housing, rapid rehousing assistance, and after-school programs.
“The thing folks are most familiar with is Zach Gordon Youth Center, it’s been around for a long time, and it’s a pretty special place.” Said Nigro, “It’s got free drop in activities for youth of all ages. It’s a good reminder that the Holiday break is coming up, so come by over the break, we always have tons of things going on.”
Nigro said the department is recruiting young people with lived experience in housing instability to join its Youth Action Board.
“It’s young people working on issues around housing and homelessness, and right now we are doing a push for more youth to be involved with that. So this is specifically young people who have lived experience with challenges with housing, and housing insecurity.” Said Nigro, “We want to have your voice involved in making changes at the local and state level. The Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness really helps with this so young people can get paid to be involved. It’s pretty great.”
Parks and Recreation is also offering “in-service day” camps when schools are closed, and registrations are open for youth basketball through Dec. 20.
Wheeler said community engagement is crucial as the department prepares for funding challenges.
“Our biggest constraints are funding with our budget. And the city is going to be looking at their budget really soon with the assembly, and it’s a great chance for people to get involved in that process. If you care about Parks and Rec, we would love to have your voice be heard.” Wheeler said.
The department’s annual Candy Cane Hunt is also starting today, and will run through Dec. 17. Participants can download a “Candy Cane Tracker” from the city website, then visit participating businesses to find candy canes displayed in their windows.
Completed trackers can be submitted online or dropped off at the Parks and Recreation office for entry into a prize drawing scheduled for Dec. 18.
“We started this during the pandemic, and a lot of downtown and businesses around town are participating. And you can see a candy cane in the window, you can go and get your candy cane, it’s super fun.” Wheeler said, “It’s super fun, there’ll be a lot of prizes with the drawing, and the prizes are good.”
Five giant candy canes placed around downtown CBJ facilities will offer entries for participants who snap selfies with each one.
Parks and Rec also has a deal on a Winter Pass.
“It’s a great bargain. For $200 you get unlimited access to the pools, to the Treadwell arena, to the Field house and the Mount Jumbo gym, and that’s free entry through March 31.” Wheeler said.
More information about programs and events is available on the department’s website and its social media pages.
Members of the Alaska Air and Army National Guard, Alaska Naval Militia, and Alaska State Defense Force work together to load plywood onto a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, in Bethel, Alaska, Nov. 2, 2025, bound for the villages of Napaskiak, Tuntutuliak, and Napakiak. The materials will help residents rebuild homes and restore community spaces damaged by past storms. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Ericka Gillespie)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has approved a U.S. Defense Department request for Alaska National Guard service members to assist the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Anchorage with “administrative support,” the guard office announced Tuesday.
The Alaska National Guard said five service members will assist with “administrative and logistical” duties at the Anchorage ICE office for up to a year.
“The Alaska National Guard members are administratively supporting the Enforcement & Removal Operations section and Homeland Security Investigations section, ensuring seamless operations at the Anchorage ICE office. Their mission includes a wide range of duties, from vehicle fleet management and safety compliance to office support and processing purchase orders,” the Guard statement said.
The announcement included a list of clerical duties, including data entry and creating reports, answering phones, managing fleet vehicles and checking fire extinguishers. Officials said the partnership is authorized by Title 32 Section 502(f) of the U.S. Code, which enables National Guard members to perform additional duties under the direction of the President or Secretary of Defense.
Grant Robinson, Dunleavy’s deputy press secretary, confirmed the governor approved the request.
“The Alaska National Guard members joined the guard to serve our nation. This support they are providing the Anchorage ICE office is in service of the nation,” he said by email Tuesday.
Grant did not say whether the National Guard would provide further assistance with immigration enforcement actions.
“Any future requests for administrative and logistical support will be considered on a case by case basis,” he said.
The Trump administration has continued to accelerate immigration enforcement operations, and officials have promised to “limit legal and illegal immigration,” after the shooting of two National Guard service members in Washington, D.C. last week. The Trump administration has also continued to roll back humanitarian programs for immigrants, including ending the temporary protected status of 330,000 nationals from Haiti last week.
While ICE has been conducting mass raids, court house arrests and large-scale detentions and deportation operations across the United States, in Alaska ICE has focused enforcement efforts on specific individuals identified through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or having interactions with law enforcement, according to the ACLU of Alaska.
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage is the co-chair of the Alaska Joint Armed Services Committee and has been outspoken about his concerns about the Alaska National Guard being deployed domestically for “civil disturbance operations.”
“I see it’s a long list of boring, banal administrative tasks that are in no way controversial or concerning in and of themselves,” he said of the National Guard announcement. “What’s concerning is that Alaska ICE is requesting additional support, and the assumption that I make is that it’s because Alaska ICE intends to be doing more detainments, and intends to be doing more field operations in which they’re going to need this administrative support behind them. So that’s my concern.”
Gray was reached by phone Tuesday leaving a meeting with U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan in Washington, D.C. Gray said he expressed his concerns at the meeting about the leadership of U.S. Department of Defense, which the Trump administration has renamed the “Department of War,” and Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Gray said he’s also concerned about a wider chilling effect of ICE activity and increased immigration enforcement in Alaska.
“It’s going to increase fear, not only in the undocumented folks that might be in Anchorage and the rest of Alaska, but also fear in people who are here legally, and even U.S. citizens who might be mistaken for someone who might be undocumented,” he said.
An October investigation by ProPublica found that more than 170 U.S. citizens were detained by ICE in raids and at protests, and the government does not track how many citizens are held by immigration agents.
Dunleavy’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the concern around ICE overreaching its authority, and arresting and detaining U.S. citizens.
“It seems that Alaska’s notorious SNAP backlog caused by a lack of workforce doing many of the tasks in this memo would be much better use of our Guard,” Gray added. “Why not deploy Guard members to feed Alaskans instead of deploying them to earn brownie points with the Trump administration?”
Cindy Woods, senior staff attorney on immigration rights with the ACLU of Alaska, said they have tracked at least 70 ICE arrests this year, as reported in the custody of the Alaska Department of Corrections. That’s an almost 500% increase from last year.
“We have been seeing a growing ICE presence in the state and a growing trend of ICE enforcement,” she said. The ICE activity has been largely in Anchorage, she said.
“We are very concerned about what this signals in relation to our state government’s willingness to cooperate with federal law enforcement, specifically in relation to ICE enforcement operations,” she said of the National Guard announcement. “I think it can’t be overstated the negative impact that increased enforcement has had across the country and Alaska, unfortunately, is not immune to that.”
An estimated 7.7% of the population, or more than 57,000 people, in Alaska are foreign-born, Woods pointed out, and the Trump administration’s continued restrictions on paths to legal immigration and citizenship, as well as humanitarian and refugee resettlement programs are impacting Alaskans.
“It’s kind of an assault from both sides, and so we’re really concerned about that as well,” she said.
Woods said the ACLU is not aware of any U.S. citizens being detained by ICE in Alaska, but there is heightened scrutiny.
“One case that we have heard of recently is of a longtime Anchorage resident who has been happily married and was going to their interview for their green card based on that marriage, and being arrested with basically accusations of marriage fraud,” she said. “And so we’re seeing folks who are in affirmative applications, who are not in any sort of civil enforcement proceedings, who are also being subject to heightened scrutiny and enforcement actions.”
AP- Costco is joining other companies that aren’t waiting to see whether the Supreme Court strikes down President Donald Trump’s most sweeping import taxes. They’re going to court to demand refunds on the tariffs they’ve paid.
The U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled earlier this year that Trump’s biggest and boldest import taxes are illegal. The case is now before the Supreme Court. In a Nov. 5 hearing, several of the high court’s justices expressed doubts that the president had sweeping power to declare national emergencies to impose tariffs on goods from almost every country on earth.
If the court strikes down the tariffs, importers may be entitled to refunds on the levies they’ve paid. “It’s uncertain whether refunds will be granted and, if so, how much,” said Brent Skorup, a legal fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute. ”But the possibility has prompted many companies — including Costco — to file actions in the U.S. Court of International Trade to get in line, so to speak, for potential refunds.”
In a complaint filed last week with the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, Costco said it is demanding the money back now “to ensure that its right to a complete refund is not jeopardized.″ The operator of warehouse-sized stores expressed concern that it could not get a refund once the tariff bills have have gone through liquidation by Customs and Border Protection, a process Costco says will start Dec. 15.
Revlon and canned seafood and chicken producer Bumble Bee Foods have made similar arguments in the trade court.
The tariffs facing the court challenged have raised around $90 billion so far. Trump warned back in August that the loss of his tariffs would destroy that American economy and lead to “1929 all over again, a GREAT DEPRESSION!”
Downtown Skagway, with snow dusting its streets, is seen in this undated photo. (Photo by C. Anderson/National Park Service)
This article was reported and published in collaboration between the Chilkat Valley News and the Alaska Beacon.
Skagway’s former paramedic is alleging wrongdoing by the Southeast Alaska town, saying in a newly filed lawsuit that she was illegally fired after submitting a grievance against the city’s fire chief and deputy fire chief.
In a lawsuit filed Nov. 20 at Juneau Superior Court, Samantha Philemon — the town’s lone licensed paramedic for much of her employment since 2023 — alleges she was fired due to disputes over recordkeeping and the department’s decision to purchase an all-terrain vehicle known as an Argo.
According to Philemon’s complaint, at the time of her firing, Skagway officials said she was being let go due to violations of HIPAA, the federal medical-privacy law. Philemon’s attorney says in the complaint that the accusation “was a sham.”
Philemon filed a formal complaint against the chief and deputy and was fired by Skagway’s deputy borough administrator the day after the complaint was resolved.
“We’re excited to have our day in court, so to speak, and we think that a jury who hears Sam’s story is going to do the right thing and understand what happened here, and we’re just looking for this to never happen again,” said her attorney, Miye D’Oench of the Anchorage-based Northern Justice Project.
Philemon said her firing has left Skagway, a town of roughly 1,100 year-round residents, without a trained paramedic.
“There are firefighters with EMT 1 and EMT 2 and some (EMT) 3 training, but there are no paramedics, and that harms the community because paramedics are trained and licensed to do things that EMTs are not,” she said.
Neither Fire Chief Emily Rauscher nor Borough Manager Emily Deach responded to requests for an interview that would allow them to respond to Philemon’s complaint.
The borough denied a public records request by the Chilkat Valley News. Robert Blasco, the city’s hired attorney, did not return messages left at his office on Friday and Monday.
Philemon moved from Mississippi to Skagway in 2023, she said, and enjoyed working with the department at first.
“I wanted to be between the mountains and the ocean,” she said.
According to the complaint, she encouraged a friend to work for the department this past summer, but when he arrived, he was told his position had funding for only one week. Philemon believed that was because the department had recently purchased an Argo.
When she raised the issue, according to the complaint, “Rauscher and Mead then turned on Ms. Philemon,” and “began silencing and excluding her from department business.” There were additional disputes about medical procedures performed by the fire department and accounting at the department..
Philemon submitted a formal grievance to the borough manager in July. The manager, Emily Deach, said in an August memo that Skagway “will take action to address the behavior and prevent reoccurrence” as well as take steps toward formalizing fire department training.
“The actions of the department supervisors do not require termination of those supervisors, as
you requested verbally,” Deach wrote to Philemon.
Philemon, who had been placed on administrative leave while the grievance was investigated, was ordered to return to work under a separate plan. She objected, concerned that she would be returning to work under the same supervisors and conditions as before, and appealed to a committee that included the Skagway Mayor.
The committee upheld Deach’s work on Sept. 10. Philemon planned to return to work, but the deputy borough manager fired her the following day.
Philemon said she’s been looking for work since then but hasn’t found success.
“I’m looking for a new job after being fired from a job that I never wanted to leave. I’m devastated because I love my job, and I love Skagway,” Philemon said.
Online court records show the case has been referred to Judge Amy Welch. No additional proceedings have yet been scheduled.
John Crowther, center, listens during a Nov. 13, 2025, panel discussion at the annual Resource Development Council for Alaska conference in Anchorage. At the time, Crowther was the acting commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. At left is Kara Moriarity, senior adviser for Alaska Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior, and at right is Kevin Pendergast, Alaska state director for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has selected Crowther to lead the department on a permanent basis. (Photo by John Whipple/State of Alaska)
John Crowther, who stepped in as acting commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources last month after John Boyle, the previous commissioner, resigned abruptly, is the governor’s choice for the more permanent position.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Friday he will ask the Legislature to confirm Crowther as the commissioner once the 2026 session gets underway.
John Crowther, formerly serving as the deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, was tapped by Gov. Mike Dunleavy as acting head in October and commissioner-designee on Nov. 28, 2025. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources)
“John Crowther brings a deep understanding of Alaska’s natural resources and a proven commitment to responsible stewardship. His balanced approach to development and conservation makes him an exceptional choice to lead the Department of Natural Resources and serve the long-term interests of Alaskans,” Dunleavy said in a statement.
Crowther is a department veteran, having joined DNR in 2012. Prior to being named acting commissioner, he served as deputy commissioner managing the department’s oil and gas project permitting and geological survey divisions.
After his first years working for DNR, Crowther served from late 2017 to January 2019 as Alaska’s director of state and federal relations under then-Gov. Bill Walker, according to his professional biography. From January 2019 to January 2021, he served as a U.S. Senate Natural Resources Committee aide to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. After that, he returned to DNR, the governor’s statement said.
“The Department’s constitutional mission to develop, conserve and maximize the use of Alaska’s natural resources is critical to our state,” Crowther said in the governor’s statement. “I will continue working as hard as I can to advance this mission and improve Alaska’s future through stewardship and responsible use of our resources. I am honored and humbled to accept the Governor’s designation and enthusiastic to lead the dedicated professionals of DNR.”
Crowther is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Georgetown University Law School.
Photo of typical smorgasbord with breaded ham, meatballs, sausage, pickled herring and side dishes.
AP- A recent survey finds 81% of Americans show love for family and friends by preparing holiday dishes, but there’s always one dish at Christmas that tests how polite your family is. Someone’s one forkful away from blessing the cook’s heart, but nobody dares to leave that recipe off the menu. It might be a wobbly mold of aspic with floating shrimp, a salad that doesn’t contain a single leaf of lettuce or a fruitcake packed with neon cherries and nuts so dense it could double as a doorstop.
It’s probably not as bad as Aunt Bethany’s crispy cat food congealed salad from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” but it still gets a few side-eyes and maybe even a small gag from the kids who have to take a bite.
No one is entirely sure who started the tradition, but it stuck. Christmas wouldn’t feel complete without it. The dish may not win any awards, but it earns its place through sheer persistence. It outlasts trendy desserts, fancy sides and every attempt to modernize the holiday spread.
What makes a recipe weird
A weird Christmas recipe isn’t always outrageous. Sometimes it’s just a dish that doesn’t quite fit. It might be sweet when everything else is savory or built from ingredients that shouldn’t go together. These recipes often come from old cookbooks and church potlucks: lime Jell-O with cottage cheese, cranberry molds shaped like wreaths or even a tomato soup cake. Dishes that were once modern and exciting now sit somewhere between nostalgic and highly questionable.
In the 1950s and 1960s, home cooks embraced new products like canned fruit, instant pudding, gelatin and every version of cream-of-whatever soup. These products represented convenience and creativity. A pie made with saltine crackers or a casserole bound by condensed soup was considered inventive at the time.
Aspic, a savory gelatin made with meat stock, was once considered elegant enough for dinner parties. Cookbooks from the early 20th century featured versions with chicken, eggs, seafood and vegetables suspended in translucent layers. What once signaled sophistication now makes people cringe, yet a few families still set it out every December because it’s what they’ve always done.
“The holidays always include spaghetti in my family, but with a secret ingredient,” says Ashley Wali of Wanderlux. “We add grape jelly to the tomato sauce, and while it sounds crazy, you just get the sweetness and no fruit flavor. My cousin asked for the recipe just the other day!”
Why it stays on the menu
Some recipes are harder to get rid of than tinsel. They show up every Christmas, no matter what’s on the menu. Someone hangs the ornaments while Dad curses the tangled lights, and someone else digs through old recipe cards, trying to remember which casserole dish belongs to which story.
Michelle Price of Honest and Truly says, “We have salad for every Christmas dinner, except it’s a marshmallow salad. We call it Marguerite salad for my grandmother, who instituted the tradition, and anyone who comes to Christmas dinner who didn’t grow up with it always looks at it askance. But Christmas dinner wouldn’t be complete without this sitting on the plate next to our mashed potatoes and ham and green beans. Of course, marshmallows and pineapple and maraschino cherries pair perfectly with that!”
It’s a habit, but it’s also comforting. And it’s good for a laugh. Every family has a running joke or two, and the weird recipe gives you something to talk about between the standing rib roast and the chocolate fudge pie. There’s always one relative who takes a second helping, one who politely avoids it and one who swears it tastes better this year.
Anyone who marries into the family learns quickly that this dish is a rite of passage. You take a scoop, smile bravely and pretend it’s delicious. It’s a kind of holiday hazing everyone endures once before earning the right to roll their eyes next year like the rest of the family.
Regional quirks
Three out of four Americans prefer traditional holiday dishes. It’s no wonder a few strange ones have stuck around. Once a recipe becomes part of the family, it’s hard to cross it off the list. Every time someone suggests replacing it, another person declares, “We can’t have Christmas without that.”
In the South, there’s pear salad made from canned pear halves topped with mayonnaise, shredded cheddar and a cherry in the middle. In the Midwest, cookie salad blurs the line between dessert and side dish with pudding, whipped topping and crushed cookies. Some New England tables feature molded cranberry salad with nuts, while parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio favor ham loaf baked in a sticky, sweet glaze.
The stories that stick
Every odd Christmas recipe has a story. Some were pulled from a magazine decades ago and somehow became permanent. Others came from a church cookbook or a neighbor’s potluck dish that everyone pretended to like, and the tradition just stuck.
Most of the time, the recipe is tied to a person more than to taste. It might have been your grandmother’s creation or your dad’s yearly experiment. Before long, it’s not really about the food at all. It’s about remembering where it came from and who brought it to the table in the first place.
That’s how these dishes last. They hang on through the stories that go with them. They remind us of the people who came before and the meals that felt the same, no matter how much else changed. That small connection matters more than the recipe itself.
Keeping the weird stuff on the table
What to do when it’s your turn to host and you want to make changes to that weird family recipe? Go ahead and swap in fresh fruit or ditch the gelatin if you want, but don’t try to fancy it up too much. Half the charm is that it’s a little ridiculous, and everyone knows it. You don’t want to miss an opportunity for someone to say, “Is that Great Aunt Edith’s chicken cherry Jell-O salad?”
Set it out proudly and tell the story. Let people laugh and take pictures. Someone will take a spoonful, and someone else will ask for the recipe, even if they don’t really want it. That old recipe may never be your favorite, but it’s part of your family’s Christmas. It has survived generations of teasing and still shows up every year. That alone is reason enough to keep it.
Lucy Brewer is a professional writer and fourth-generation Southern cook who founded Southern Food and Fun. She’s passionate about preserving classic Southern recipes while creating easy, crowd-pleasing dishes for the modern home cook. Lucy currently lives in Augusta, Ga.
NOTN- The Salvation Army in Juneau is gearing up for a busy holiday season that includes Christmas food boxes, and the annual Angel Tree and Red Kettle programs.
Major Peter Janousek said the organization is continuing its Angel Tree program, which provides gifts to children from families who may be struggling this holiday season.
“The Angel Tree program is designed for families with low income or those who struggle to get gifts for their children.” Said Janousek.
Parents can apply online at saangeltree.org. Community members can pick up anonymous gift tags at Fred Meyer, Western Auto Marine, First Bank’s valley branch and the Mendenhall Mall, then return purchased items to the drop sites.
Those gifts will be distributed Dec. 20.
Holiday food boxes will also be available, containing a full Christmas dinner including ham or turkey.
“Fair to say that I’m not American. We came from the Czech Republic, so our traditional dinner is absolutely different.” Said Janousek, ” It is in partnership with Women of the Moose Club, it’s a thing which has been done many years. And last year, when I saw it for the first time, I was amazed. It’s like very well oiled machine. The distribution day is amazing, when people come, and they can collect all those things, and they are thankful, it’s great.”
The Salvation Army is also seeking volunteers for its Red Kettle bell-ringing campaign, which runs starting today until December 24, at stores throughout Juneau, including Foodland, Safeway, Fred Meyer and Super Bear.
“People can register to ring at the web page, which is registertoring.com, and they just need to put Juneau, and then they will see the schedule for all those places, and they can find an empty spot. Sign up for 2,4,6, or 8, hour shifts if they want to, and we will do all the rest.” Janousek said.
The organization emphasized that these initiatives rely on the generosity and volunteerism of the local Juneau community to make the holidays brighter for everyone.
Shoppers browse through stores at Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
AP- Despite wider economic uncertainty hovering above this year’s holiday season, shoppers turned out in big numbers for Black Friday — spending billions of dollars both in stores and online.
Adobe Analytics, which tracks e-commerce, said U.S. consumers spent a record $11.8 billion online Friday, marking a 9.1% jump from last year. Traffic particularly piled up between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time nationwide, when $12.5 million passed through online shopping carts every minute.
Consumers also spent a record $6.4 billion online on Thanksgiving Day, per Adobe. Top categories that saw an uptick in sales across both days included video game consoles, electronics and home appliances. Shopping services powered by artificial intelligence and social media advertising have also particularly influenced what consumers choose to buy, the firm said.
Meanwhile, software company Salesforce — which tracks digital spending from a range of retailers, including grocers — estimated that Black Friday online sales totaled $18 billion in the U.S. and $79 billion globally. And e-commerce platform Shopify said its merchants raked in a record $6.2 billion in sales worldwide on Black Friday. At its peak, sales reached $5.1 million per minute — with top categories including cosmetics and clothing, according to the Canadian company.
Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks in-person and online spending, reported that overall Black Friday sales excluding automotive rose 4.1% from a year ago. The retail sales indicator, which is not adjusted for inflation, showed online sales jumped by double digits (10.4%), while in-store purchases inched up 1.7%.
Michelle Meyer, chief economist at the Mastercard Economics Institute, said consumers are “navigating an uncertain environment” this holiday season “by shopping early, leveraging promotions, and investing in wish-list items.”
Black Friday is far from the sales event that created midnight mall crowds or doorbuster mayhem just decades ago. More and more consumers have instead turned to online deals to make post-Thanksgiving purchases from the comfort of their own homes — or opt to stretch out spending across longer promotions now offered by retailers.
In-store traffic has dwindled over the years. Initial data from RetailNext, which measures real-time foot traffic in physical stores, found that U.S. Black Friday traffic fell 3.6% compared to 2024. Still, the firm noted that was “notably better” than a sharper 6.2% decline it saw in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.
Sensormatic Solutions, which also tracks store traffic, found that in-store retail visits dipped 2.1% — but said that was in line with expectations and trends already seen this year. Traffic over the week of Black Friday was up nearly 57% compared to the week prior, per Sensormatic.
“Black Friday has really turned into like a full week event, or even further,” said Grant Gustafson, head of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic Solutions. And “Black Friday is really the start of just a really and critical stretch for retailers,” he added — noting that the weekend following Thanksgiving, as well as the days leading up to Christmas next month, will also be some of the busiest in terms of in-store traffic.
Meanwhile, in terms of e-commerce, Adobe expects U.S. shoppers to spend another $5.5 billion Saturday and $5.9 billion on Sunday — before reaching an estimated $14.2 billion peak on Cyber Monday, which would mark yet another record.
Still, rising prices could be contributing to some of those numbers. U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs on foreign imports have strained businesses and households alike over the last year. And despite spending more overall, Salesforce found U.S. shoppers purchased fewer items at checkout on Black Friday (down 2% from last year). Order volumes also slipped 1%, the firm noted, as average selling prices climbed 7%.
This year’s holiday spending rush arrives amid heightened economic uncertainty for consumers. Beyond tariffs, workers across public and private sectors are also struggling with anxieties over job security — amid both corporate layoffs and the after-effects of the 43-day government shutdown.
An uptick in budget-conscious behavior can also be seen in store traffic. While Sensormatic doesn’t track spending, “we do track consumer footsteps,” Gustafson notes — and “consumers are thinking a little bit harder about their purchases” this year, he explains, “to make sure that they’re getting their very best deals.”
For the November-December holiday season overall, the National Retail Federation estimates U.S. shoppers will spend more than $1 trillion for the first time this year. But the rate of growth is slowing — with an anticipated increase of 3.7% to 4.2% year over year, compared to 4.3% in 2024’s holiday season.
