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Nick Varney

Community

Unhinged Alaska: A butthead named Baster

Time now for the Baster saga that took place a few years ago

The Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage. (Alaska Department of Family and Community Services photo)

Opinion

Point of View: Small wins make big impacts at Alaska Psychiatric Institute

The Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API), an 80-bed psychiatric hospital located in Anchorage, is operated by the Department of…

Rosa Parks, whose civil rights legacy has recent been subject to revision in class curriculums. (Public domain photo from the National Archives and Records Administration Records)

Opinion

Point of View: Proud to be ‘woke’

Wokeness: the quality of being alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination: “will this new era…

State Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, left, confers with Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, and other members during an April 24, 2024 floor session. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: This could be Alaska’s last shot at bipartisan good

The next two years may be Alaska’s last chance for productive, bipartisan legislative action.

Opinion

Opinion: The Democratic Party’s failure of imagination

Aside from not being a lifelong Republican like Peter Wehner, the sentiment he expressed in The Atlantic a…

Nick Varney

Community

Unhinged Alaska: The Beast

We first noticed what looked to be trouble brewing in the far hinterlands of the Bering Sea while…

tease

Sports

Out of the Office: Bitter patience for sweet fruit

The last time I wrote for this column, I was digging raspberry plants out of my friend’s backyard.

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. board members, staff and advisors meet Oct. 30, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: The concerns of reasonable Alaskans isn’t ‘noise’

During a legislative hearing on Monday, CEO Deven Mitchell referred to controversy it’s created as “noise.”

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo
Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom addresses the crowd during an inaugural celebration for her and Gov. Mike Dunleavy at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Jan. 20, 2023.

Opinion

Opinion: The many truths Dahlstrom will deny

Real conservatives wouldn’t be trashing the rule of law

Nick Varney. Photo provided

Sports

Reeling ‘Em In: Fishing picks up with the tide

So, let’s start this week’s column with some cool news.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo
A Celebrity Cruises ship docks in Juneau on July 15, 2023.

Opinion

My Turn: It is possible to be pro-tourism and believe Juneau is oversaturated with cruise ships

I originally came to town as a visitor over 30 years ago. I found a vibrant town and…

Apayauq Reitan, the first transgender woman to participate in the Iditarod, tells the House Education Committee on March 30, 2023, why she opposes a bill restricting transgender rights. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: The imaginary transgender sports crisis

House Bill 183 is a right-wing solution to a problem that doesn’t exist now and never will

Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion file photo
Mount Redoubt can be seen across Cook Inlet from North Kenai Beach on Thursday, July 2, 2022.

Opinion

Opinion: Alaska might as well embrace the past

One proposal to solve the impending energy shortage for Alaska’s population centers is to go back in time.…