Recent commentary about Telephone Hill has focused on an 1881 Navy reservation and the reported placement of a Gatling gun overlooking Juneau and the Aak’w village for a couple years. That fact belongs to the historical record. It is not disputed.

There’s a difference between a slogan and a standard. When a city calls itself a “Human Rights City,” it may sound like branding, but it’s something much deeper.

Community isn’t something we simply talk about in Juneau, it’s something we build. We can see it in the way neighbors shovel each other’s driveways, keep watch over a friend’s boat, or share the bounty of a good fishing day. And, perhaps most beautifully, we can see it in something as humble and enduring as a neatly stacked pile of firewood.