KCAW: Recent Episodes
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Members of the Gary Paxton Industrial Park board, Sitka Assembly, and city staff pose for Daily Sentinel photographer James Poulson, at the future site of Sitka’s marine haulout. (KCAW/Woolsey)Members of the Sitka Assembly and the Gary Paxton Industrial Park board gathered on the afternoon of November 8 for a photo op with a golden shovel on the site of the former Northline barge ramp where the new facility is to be constructed.
Then the group moved into the former Northline building, which will be repurposed for use in Sitka’s future boatyard.
Garry White is the director of Sitka’s industrial park.
“I envision this will probably be the office area in the back,” said White. “We’ve got a large shop that can have multiple different uses. This will be a good addition, and it’s right in the center of our whole development here. And of course, the hall out piers will go right out here, and our wash down path will be right there. So yes, this has good synergies for the whole project.”
Despite the fact that the city was ceremonially breaking ground on the project, White was clearly frustrated with the lack of movement in obtaining the necessary government permits to develop in the intertidal area. Most of the $8.2 million dollars on hand for Phase I of the project involves placing fill for piers to accommodate a 150-ton travelift. The intent is to expand the project to eventually handle a 300-ton travelift, but – at least for the moment – White says the work is on hold.
“So now here we are, when we were supposed to start October 15, they’re telling us that we’re not going to be able to get their stuff down until at least November 26, so then it has to go through the Army Corps process,” said White.
Municipal engineer Michael Harmon is overseeing the project. He was confident that the facility would be ready by spring next year. Although there’s very little upland work involved in Phase I, Harmon said it would begin on schedule. The upland work includes the construction of a temporary washdown pad and wash-water pre-treatment facility. There is partial funding for a boat work and storage area.
Overall, with Phase I, Sitka is building a way to haul most of the local fleet out of the water for basic work and emergency repairs. A full-service boatyard with vendor space and other amenities is still millions of dollars away. A total projected budget is just under $30 million dollars, more than three times the available funding.
Read the Gary Paxton Industrial Park Marine Haulout and Ship Yard charter.
Assembly member Thor Christianson was encouraged by the groundbreaking, and said he planned to be on site when the first boat came out of the water next spring.
“That was the whole reason why we put it on the ballot two years ago, just over two years ago,” he said, “was to watch boats come out of the water and get worked on.”
Two-thirds of Sitka voters approved the sale of Sitka Community Hospital in 2021; a year later, a ballot question to allocate the $8.2 million in proceeds from that sale to the construction of a marine haul out was approved by 80-percent of voters.
The post Despite permitting delays, Sitka officials break ground on new marine haulout appeared first on KCAW.
(GSAC Photo) Sitka’s annual fall art walk is this Saturday, November 16 from 5-7 p.m. followed by Sitkans Can Dance at the Performing Arts Center. GSAC’s Melinda McAdams and Bette Gray joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss this weekend’s event, including the artists and music that will be featured. Listen here:
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Author John Straley is unapologetic for modeling a gritty biologist/detective on his wife, noted humpback whale authority Jan Straley. “She’s tougher than James Bond,” says Straley of the character, “but not as goofy.” (Soho Press image)Alaskan author John Straley has a new novel. Big Breath In is a departure from Straley’s usual terrain of small-town Alaska mystery, and is instead a story about the intersection of science and crime in the Pacific Northwest. The novel’s protagonist is based on his wife, Jan Straley, a prominent humpback whale biologist. In Big Breath In, Jan becomes a part-time, motorcycle-riding detective named Delphine, who cracks an illegal child adoption ring in the Seattle neighborhood where she’s receiving cancer treatment.
KCAW’s Robert Woolsey recently spoke with John Straley about Big Breath In, and his decision to draw characters based so closely on his own life.
Note: Big Breath In is published by SOHO Press, and will be available in bookstores this month. Straley will read from the novel 4 p.m. this Saturday, November 16, in the Sitka Public Library.
KCAW: John Straley, I read your novel Big Breath In and I want to know how in the world did you get Jan Straley to agree to this?
Straley: Well, she wasn’t all that excited about it at first, but I just kept pestering her. I told her about this idea I had for a novel about a whale biologist who was looking for the commonality between animals with big brains and the ability to move freely in their environment. And then she gets caught up in a crime story, and I wanted to use her background as the basis for the main character, because Jan has led a pretty extraordinary life. And you know, I can have all kinds of opinions about extraordinary women, but it would be better to just write from observation rather than some fat-headed opinion about women. So I just used used the details of her life, and finally she relented. But she wanted to make up her own name, and so she chose the name Delphine. And I also didn’t want to write about myself, so that’s why I decided to have myself killed off in the novel. I killed myself off because I didn’t want to write a goofy memoir, and have my own life story getting it in the way of this of the story about Jan.
KCAW: She (Delphine) frequently reminisces about John and the things that he would have told her in certain circumstances. Did Jan participate in your work to the degree that’s sort of suggested in the story?
Straley: Absolutely. Back in the late 80s, we ran a business called J. Straley Investigations, when we both did science investigations and criminal investigations. And Jan was a criminal defense investigator along with me, and I helped her with her scientific investigations. Mostly, I carried gas cans and kept the outboard running and that kind of stuff. But then, as I wrote in the book, we went to a marine mammal conference in San Francisco, and Jan’s work in Seymour Canal in the early 80s was causing quite a bit of fuss, because people didn’t know about these large groups of humpback whales that were in Seymour Canal and Pybus Bay and around there during the winter. Anyway, we went to the Marine Mammal Lab, and I’m walking around with my beautiful wife, and scientists would come up and ask her about this, and I would answer, which just angered her no end. And so that night, we split J. Straley investigations into the crime division and the science division.
KCAW: John, it’s no secret that your protagonist in this novel Big Breath In is terminally ill. Jan is not terminally ill, by the way, but Delphine is. Are you kind of hitting your forehead a little bit because you’ve created a really remarkable character in this genre? I mean, this sort of biologist/detective/motorcycle-riding in a turnout coat filled with medical supplies badass person. And I want to read more stories about Delphine, but I have a feeling this is it.
Straley: Well, I could go back from the point she dies in near contemporary time. I could write about her in the past. And there are plenty more cases that she could be doing. Jan has had Parkinson’s for almost 20 years now, and Parkinson’s is just, to me, a frustrating and horrible disease. I had plenty on my plate with this book about marine mammals, about sperm whales, about goofy crimes and crazy people in the Seattle area, and I didn’t really have the emotional bandwidth to deal with Parkinson’s, so I gave her cancer. Yeah.
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Mary Sheehan is an independent living advocate with Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL). She coordinates the Veterans’ Options for Independence, Choice, and Empowerment (VOICE) Program. SAIL works with the Veterans Administration to provide veterans with a budget for personal care services. The VOICE program allows veterans to be in charge of the care they are receiving. Find more information visit SAIL online, or download the VOICE flyer.
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CG6016 was salvaged following the crash on Read Island on November 13, 2023, and then shipped to North Carolina for examination. Its mission to aid the fishing vessel Lydia Marie was considered medium risk and high gain at the time of launch, however the boat was still floating the next morning. Air Station Sitka commander Rand Semke believes that finding fault with the crew for not turning back after learning that the Lydia Marie was out of immediate danger is “hindsight bias,” and that the crew was correct to proceed, as the Lydia Marie’s circumstances could rapidly change. “Real time risk is more art than science,” says Semke. (USCG photo)Note: The Coast Guard MII (Major Incident Investigation) report concluded that the November 23, 2023 crash was the result of “controlled flight into terrain.” Read the story.
Many remember the words of Logan Padgett, the skipper of the Lydia Marie, and his unusual role reversal: He and his brother rowed ashore on Read Island to help the members of the Coast Guard who had come to rescue them.
“It’s just people helping people at that point,” Padgett said.
The Coast Guard weighs every mission on risk versus gain. When it was thought that the Lydia Marie was sinking, and three lives at risk, the gain was clear, even on a stormy night in November.
Sitka Air Station commander Rand Semke, also a pilot, says this calculation is made prior to every flight.
“Every time we take off, we analyze the risk versus the gain of whatever it is we’re doing, whether that’s a local training flight here in Sitka, or a complex search and rescue mission,” said Semke. “And that’s really a whole crew discussion. Everybody’s dressed out, ready to go. We’re not running to the aircraft. We’re going to pause, even in the most urgent of cases, and talk about risk and gain for at least a few minutes.”
Coming to the aid of the Lydia Marie was determined to be medium risk, and high gain. But as Coast Guard helicopter 6016 flew toward Farragut Bay that night, that calculation changed.
“As this specific mission was unfolding, information was coming through that actually, the pumps are keeping up with the flooding,” said Semke. “When the crew received that piece of information, they did another risk assessment. Some of those during-mission risk assessment discussions are a little bit more conversational, a little bit less formal, because you’re in the mission. It really requires some maturity to take yourself outside of what is happening at that moment and think through ‘Okay, if we were back at Sitka in a warm and dry hanger, would we still be launching for this? But now we’re, we’re three quarters of the way there. Why don’t we just keep going anyway?’”
Semke says that CG6016 kept going, not because they were almost there anyway, but because the Lydia Marie’s circumstances could rapidly change. Cockpit voice recordings from CG6016 indicate that the crew had decided to lower a dewatering pump to the Lydia Marie as a precaution. Neither the Major Incident Investigation report or Cmdr. Semke faults the crew for continuing the mission.
“Real-time risk assessment is more of an art than a science,” he said. “As this crew, as the investigation notes, made it on scene, they observed that the Lydia Marie was still floating, and in their judgment, wasn’t in immediate danger of sinking. So this crew adjusted their mindset to, ‘Well, let’s try to just deliver a dewatering pump to the boat, which will help them keep up with the flooding.’ And that was ultimately what they were in the process of doing when the mishap occurred.”
The investigation determined that the four members of the CG6016 crew sustained their injuries “in the line of duty.” The pilots were able to walk away from the crash, one with a broken shoulder, the other with a concussion. The flight mechanic and rescue swimmer wore harnesses that allowed them to move about the cabin as they prepared to lower the pump to the Lydia Marie, but did nothing to protect them from the impact. Their litany of injuries was severe; broken vertebrae, broken femur, broken ribs, collapsed lung, and so on.
Cmdr. Semke says all are gradually returning to duty – even the pilots. Some incidents in the military are career-ending. Semke says this one wasn’t. It boiled down to a careful medical evaluation undergone by all military aviators.
“That’s a very careful and intentional process, for the aviation medicine enterprise to bless somebody for flying a $30 million public aircraft in some of the most challenging conditions,” said Semke. “So that process is ongoing. It was able to clear the pilots again to fly. The crew members are both miraculously having some really promising medical recoveries, and the doors are wide open for them too.”
The outcome for the crew could not be more different than the previous Air Station Sitka crash during a helicopter delivery flight in 2010 outside of La Push, Washington. In that incident, the pilot, flight mechanic, and rescue swimmer all died; the co-pilot survived and recovered, and was subject to military discipline that ended his career as a pilot.
Just as there was a lesson for Coast Guard aviators in that tragedy, there is a lesson in the loss of CG6016, and Semke says, a plan “to develop “actionable items to move forward.”
“We all know what happened,” said Semke. “We know that the aircraft hit the trees. We know that the Lydia Marie was floating the next morning. We know the outcome. So sometimes that hindsight bias when we’re analyzing an accident or a mishap can ultimately cloud our own judgment when we really want to put ourselves in the shoes of the mishap crew and figure out the reason why. Not just who was responsible, but why.”
Semke describes everyone involved in military aviation as high performing. The immediate consequence of the loss of CG6016 was to remind crews that high performing does not mean infallible. He believes transparency about this accident is beneficial, as is the humility that comes with it. In a 35-page incident report filled with data, Semke’s takeaway is “to make sure that we have protective factors in place for people when they do reach their limit, the person sitting next to them, … is ready to acknowledge that and back them up.”
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CG6016 came to rest inverted on the beach on Read Island, after striking the trees and falling approximately 75 feet, during a rescue mission on the night of November 13, 2023. An official MII (Major Incident Investigation) obtained by KCAW concluded that pilot “fixation” and “spatial disorientation” — rather than a mechanical or instrument failure — caused the accident. (USCG photo)Note: The Coast Guard MII (Major Incident Investigation) report found no fault with the crew of CG6016 for continuing the mission on November 13, 2023, even though the Lydia Marie was out of immediate danger. Read the story.
Often in Sitka, on the darkest, most dismal, stormy nights, the sound of the wind will seem to grow, and then begin to thrum with mechanical force. That audible shift from the power of nature, to the power of machine means a Jayhawk helicopter is launching from Air Station Sitka, on a medevac, search and rescue, or unbelievably, a training flight.
Practicing dangerous things until they become routine is the Coast Guard’s brand. On the night of November 13, 2023, a Jayhawk took off to assist a fishing boat, the Lydia Marie, which was taking on water in Farragut Bay, 22 miles northwest of Petersburg.
The helicopter, Coast Guard 6016, would not return. Cmdr. Rand Semke was the executive officer of Air Station Sitka at the time, and is now its commanding officer. He is also a pilot. He flew a second helicopter on a mission to locate the first. He says it was one of the most difficult he’s ever flown.
“It was incredibly dark night with high moisture environment,” said Semke, “and you just really cannot see much as you’re flying, even as you’re hovering low over the water.”
Semke found CG6016 inverted on the beach of Read Island. It had struck the trees on shore and plummeted about 75 feet. The crew of the Lydia Marie, which was no longer in danger, had rowed a skiff ashore to aid the helicopter crew, all four of whom were injured, two seriously.
Semke flew the injured to Petersburg for emergency treatment, and they were subsequently medevaced to Seattle for further care. The following day, the Lydia Marie was escorted back to Petersburg by a Coast Guard cutter.
All of these details were in the news at the time, but one detail was missing: What caused the crash? In the following months, the Coast Guard conducted an Major Incident Investigation (MII) which KCAW has since obtained. The investigator concluded that the crash was the result of “controlled flight into terrain.” There was no mechanical failure, no instrument glitch. There was also no warning. The cockpit audio reveals a crew going about the business of preparing to lower a dewatering pump to a distressed fishing vessel on a windy night with poor visibility. Then they hit the trees, and it’s game over.
How could a routine mission go so badly? It turns out that nothing about flying rescue helicopters is routine.
“Hovering a helicopter over water at night in bad weather when lives are on the line, is one of the most challenging things you can do in all of aviation,” Semke said.
Semke says that helicopters seem to defy the laws of physics, and that just keeping them airborne is a high workload for pilots. Even on nice days in daylight, when hovering over water, pilots perceive that the entire environment is moving. And then they have to lower a line, a pump, or a human to a moving target.
“The H60T helicopter puts out hurricane-force downdraft underneath of it – the rotor wash, we call it – which tends to move the vessels that you’re trying to deliver rescue devices to,” Semke said. “If a vessel is at anchor, they don’t move in a predictable manner. They’ll swing around their anchor when they’re impacted by the rotor wash. So now we’re putting it all together: We’ve got a helicopter hovering, which is challenging. Now it’s over water, more challenging. Now it’s at night, it’s even more challenging. A high wind environment, lots of precipitation in the air, which degrades your visual references. It was both snowing and raining north of Petersburg that night, and now you’re trying to deliver an item to a crowded deck on the Lydia Marie while they’re at anchor. There aren’t many more challenging situations.”
The investigation revealed that for 69 seconds, the pilots of CG6016 thought they were in one place, but they were actually moving. The helicopter was drifting right, and turning – or yawing – to the left, so the Lydia Marie was always visible over the dashboard.
Semke says having just a single reference point created an illusion broadly called “fixation” which then leads to “spatial disorientation.” The phenomenon comes in many different forms and affects other aircraft besides helicopters. Coast Guard pilots train intensively to avoid it. Semke himself has been flying for 17 years. That night he also experienced spatial disorientation, much as the crew of CG6016 had.
“And when we got on scene, at one point, I was flying and experienced something very similar, based on the the degraded visual environment, the heavy snow squalls, darkness, the somewhat disorienting light of the one fishing boat nearby, and at one point, I myself was drifting towards the island,” he said. “You would think we’d be hypersensitive to this.”
The MII (Major Incident Investigation) shows damage to the trees 65-75 feet above where CG6016 came to rest on the shore of Read Island. (USCG image)The remedy is teamwork, and trust in the aircraft’s instruments. We’ve all been relieved when flying commercially in Southeast Alaska when the jet drops out of the clouds and the runway lights are right there. For Coast Guard aviators on a rescue, there are no runway lights, nothing to see, even with night-vision goggles.
“We do have instrumentation that tells us if we’re drifting in a hover, our altitude in a hover,” said Semke. “But most of helicopter hovering is visual reference to the outside environment. So if you’re hovering next to something, you can maintain your relative position next to something, and you know that you’re not moving. Well when one of your primary references is a boat at anchor in a high wind environment, it’s moving. So if that’s your sole reference, then you’re going to be moving too, and you might not even realize it.”
The Major Incident Investigation (MII) doesn’t pronounce judgment on the crew of CG6016. In fact, as far as training hours and certifications go, everyone aboard was at the top of their game. To even become a rookie aviator in Alaska you have to be experienced elsewhere. No one died in this incident, thankfully, but that did not put every question to rest. Cmdr. Semke says the Coast Guard is invested in the nuanced human factors that contributed to the accident, and making corrections. “That is how we must operate,” he says, “even as technology is always seeking to take the human out of the equation.”
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(Screenshot from USCG rescue video) A Sitka Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued three fishermen who abandoned ship near Kayak Island in the Gulf of Alaska on Sunday (11-10-24).
The 58-foot longliner Tsiu called the Coast Guard for help shortly after 4 a.m. that morning after losing power following an electrical fire. In a press release, the Coast Guard said the boat had deployed its anchor but continued drifting and was at risk of running aground.
The helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka arrived on scene that afternoon, hoisted all three survivors from the water, and transported them to Yakutat where they were reported to be in stable condition.
The boat continued to drift, ultimately catching anchor east of Kayak Island. The owner is making arrangements to salvage the vessel.
On scene weather at the time was 29 MPH winds with 15-foot seas.
View the rescue footage here
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Cruise passengers lined up to return to their boat in July 2024 (KCAW Photo) The City of Sitka has its first agreement with the local, privately owned cruise dock. When the Sitka Assembly met last night, it approved a “Memorandum of Understanding” or MOU with the Sitka Dock Company.
The agreement between the city and the dock establishes Saturday as a “quiet day” with fewer than 1,250 passengers, and sets a 7,000 passenger ceiling for other days, based on lower berth capacity. The assembly first reviewed the MOU in late October, but postponed a vote to give the community more time to review the document. By signing the MOU, both the city and the cruise dock would agree to maintaining the 7,000 passenger ceiling, but the MOU focuses more heavily on what the city can do to limit cruise traffic to keep it under that threshold, like limiting ships at city-owned docks during the shoulder season. That’s why assembly member Thor Christianson continued to push back against the MOU.
“I could probably go with it if we said, ‘Okay, we’re going to keep the numbers, everybody, below 7000, but that’s not what it says. It says the city is going to give up everything. We’re going to give up all of our lightering fees,” Christianson said.
“And there’s no restrictions. There’s nothing in there that says they can’t put two super maxes at the same time,” Christianson added, referring to the cruise dock’s capacity to hold two of the larger neopanamax ships.
But Assembly member Kevin Mosher felt like the MOU was the logical next step following the recommendations of the city’s tourism task force and a commitment to what the city’s policy will be.
“If we don’t sign this right, or do this, it sends the entirely wrong message to the industry and to this community,” Mosher said. “It will bring uncertainty, and we don’t want uncertainty. The whole point of this has been to bring certainty.”
Assembly member JJ Carlson said she supported the policy, but not the document itself.
“This is all things that we will be doing and we will be communicating to Sitka about, and there’s no need to sign an agreement with a private entity to tell Sitka what our municipal infrastructure will be used for,” Carlson said. “We could, within a week, get this policy going, if the group decides to direct the our staff to do so, and it could be effective in the same amount time frame for the 2026 season, but under our control.”
Only two Sitkans spoke during public comment, one in favor of the MOU, and one against. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said they’d received a lot of emails on the MOU, many he said called for an “all or nothing” approach to cruise ships. Eisenbeisz felt like the MOU was a first step to help curb the highest numbers.
“I’m not going to disagree that this is a one-sided MOU. It’s showing the city’s intent to exercise the one lever that we have, and that’s our community-owned berthing facilities and lightering facilities,” Eisenbeisz said. “We can make those adjustments to make sure that there are no more 10,000 passenger days, which I think all of us are very desirous of. On the other hand, if we do nothing, we are guaranteed 10,000 passenger days this next year, and I’m not in favor of that. That’s a drastic overload.”
Ultimately though, Eisenbeisz felt the assembly should develop a docking policy to incorporate into city code. The assembly approved the MOU on a 4-3 vote with Eisenbeisz, Mosher, Chris Ystad and Tim Pike in favor and assembly members Christianson, Carlson, and Scott Saline opposed. The MOU goes into effect immediately, with a five year term.
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Sitka’s city finance director is stepping down. Finance Director Melissa Haley informed the city of her resignation in early October. When the Sitka Assembly met on Tuesday (11-12-24), it approved the promotion of her replacement, controller Brooke Volschenk.
Haley has served in the role since 2020, overseeing the city’s budget during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and the recent tourism boom that brought in an influx of tax dollars. Assembly member Chris Ystad lamented the loss of Haley and thanked her for her work.
“You’ve done a great job. You’ve made all the financial documents very easy to understand, and it’s been great working with you for all these years. So thank you,” Ystad said. “I love that we do have a great succession plan, and Brooke has been coming up under Melissa and learning from her, so I think Brooke’s going to do a great job.”
And assembly member JJ Carlson had one wish for Volschenk:
“I hope you never get tired of explaining the difference between the fiscal year and the calendar year for people,” she said.
Haley will continue as the city’s finance director until April of next year, when Volschenk will assume the role. Volschenk started working for the city in 2022 as the accounting manager before she was promoted to controller. She’s worked in the corporate world as controller, senior accountant, and served as finance director for the Sitka Sound Science Center. She has a Bachelor’s degree in accounting and business management from the University of Alaska Southeast.
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This winter, the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood in Sitka will host a new monthly indoor flea market. Robert Hattle joined KCAW for The Morning Interview to discuss the market and silent auction fundraiser to support ANB/ANS.
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Note: In-person tickets to the SeaBank Summit on November 13, 2024 in Sitka are sold out. The public is also welcome to attend via Zoom.
The premise of SeaBank is uncomplicated, and reflects a principle that is gaining traction globally: The value of a region is more than just the sum of its product.
Linda Behnken is the president of the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, which created SeaBank. She says the program got an auspicious start.
“SeaBank was the brainchild of Richard Nelson and Sam Skaggs, who believed that if people understood the incredible value of this rich Southeast ecosystem in terms of the economics, of what dividends the system pays to people who live here and to the planet as a whole, in fish and in tourism, as well as the ecosystem services, that we would take very good care of that natural capital, which is the forest and and the ocean that supports and produces these products,” said Behnken.
SeaBank is not an abstraction. The project has been generating an annual report since 2019, filled with hard data.
“The annual economic value of just commercial fishing and tourism to the people who live in our Southeast communities is $1 billion,” said Behnken, “and there are 16,500 jobs in commercial fishing and tourism that are provided by this Seabank that we all call home. But beyond that, there’s also 2.7 billion metric tons of carbon that sequestered in our forest that not only benefits the people that live here, but also helps buffer the whole planet against climate change.”
Dominick DellaSala is keynote for the summit. DellaSala is the chief scientist with Wild Heritage, and a coastal temperate rainforest expert. He got his start during the 1990s working on what were then called “bioblitzes,” where researchers deployed to threatened ecosystems to quickly catalog their biodiversity.
DellaSala says that work led to an interesting realization.
“Some of the most exciting discoveries that are happening in the last decade is the role that these ecosystems now play in buffering us from the most extreme consequences of climate change,” said DellaSala.
DellaSala points to the remarkable interconnectedness of Southeast Alaska’s ecosystem: Ocean-going salmon depend on the forest where they return to spawn; the forest – and just about everything in it – depends on the nutrients supplied by the dying salmon. Critical to it all is climate, and DellaSala says the forest plays a major role here as well.
“Southeast Alaska has more buffering properties than other rainforests around the planet, and certainly compared to points farther south and in the interior of Alaska that are going to feel more of the negative consequences of climate change,” he said. “But we can only get the region through the climate storm if we steward it better, and that means protecting the old-growth forest, making sure that these cool streams are available for salmon to run and do their thing. So that really is the backbone of the regional economy, the cultural connections that indigenous people have with that resource, and the ability of Southeast Alaska to get through this unprecedented climate change that we’re on track to experience.”
The annual SeaBank report puts this all in a format useful for a variety of advocacy. Linda Behnken advocates often for Alaska’s fisheries in Washington, D.C.
“I’ve done a presentation back there to Senate subcommittees, and we have used the values and comments that we’ve made on various decision-making, whether it’s with regards to the Tongass or to fisheries management,” said Behnken.
And because thick reports don’t work for everyone, SeaBank has its own podcast, called The SeaBank Chronicles, produced by Beth Short-Rhoads, which is decidedly un-report-like…
Excerpt from SeaBank Chronicles: “The SeaBank forest is among the rarest because it feeds – and is fed by – salmon, a wild and silvery nation, endlessly bound for home…”
New episodes of the SeaBank Chronicles drop every Friday.
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Bri Gabel is Sitka’s sustainability coordinator, Andrea Mott is a research engineer with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Sitkans will be able to view and comment on a new Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the community at the end of the month. Taking an inventory of how much fossil fuel Sitka uses is the first step in deciding where to begin a shift to renewables. Learn more about the Sitka Community Renewable Energy Strategy.
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Sonya Smith (l.) with granddaughter Maria and son Jonathan (r.). (Sonya Smith photo)Note: Candidate Statements on KCAW are not an endorsement of the candidate. All candidates have been offered an opportunity to publish a candidate statement. The Sitka Tribal Council election is Tuesday, November 12, 2024.
I am ‘Lingit and Haida, My ‘Lingit name is ShoolNik, my clan are the Kaach.adi people from Kake, also known as the Raven~Sockeye clan. My parents were Henry and Jada Smith, who lived here until the end of their lives in 2016 and 2017. My son also works in Sitka and provides for his family.
My value statement: overall I see alcoholism and other drugs have impacted Sitka’s service delivery programs for healthcare in the following ways: 1. mental health, 2. suicide, 3. family dysfunction and separation. As Tribal citizens we need to bridge this gap between healthcare and culture.
In my personal life I am dedicated to long-term sobriety of 32 years. This includes being a mother, grandmother, auntie and sister.
I worked directly with youth for the past nine years, mainly teens. I began as a Night-Awake staff and finished as the Cultural Specialist, then became self-employed as a Tribal artist.
One thing I believe the Tribe is doing well in serving Tribal citizens is through the Food Sovereignty and the Senior Citizen Program. It would be wonderful to see coffee-time with elders expanding to a fry bread and chowder lunch.
I would like to see change within the Tribal Council by having term-limits apply to everyone who has already served in the past.
I am motivated to help create change.
In closing I believe the Council serves in many capacities, if I’m elected into the Council I would like to make my contribution through the health care infrastructure. My goal would be to ultimately serve our Tribal citizens.
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Heleena Van Veen, Klaudia Leccese, and Sadie Maher are members of the New Archangel Dancers, the second-longest running all-women’s Russian Folk Dancing group, and one of Sitka’s most popular tourist venues. Recruitment is now open for new dancers, 7-9 p.m. on November 18 and 24, at the New Archangel Dance studio on Smith Street. No experience is necessary, but must be 18 years and older. For complete information, visit the New Archangel Dancers website.
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Barkada translates to “group of friends.” Senior Julia Nabua told the school board that the Barkadas formed “to celebrate and promote Filipino culture, heritage, and traditions within our school community.”Max Osborne is with general contractor Tremco Roofing, which is working with Portland-based architects Certa Building Solutions, to determine the condition of the building housing the Blatchley Pool.
Osborne told the board that cores taken of the walls and roof back in October showed that the building’s basic structure was still sound, however there was such significant condensation in the walls and eaves that his firm recommended a major rebuild.
“The pool is still very safe to use this winter,” said Osborne. “You do not have a structural concern as far as the metal structural depth. However, there is a very much need to replace these walls, to go all the way back down to the framing, original framing, taking off the eaves taking off that old metal, and coming back with a complete air and vapor barrier in a spray foam process, and building that back out.”
Osborne said that the work could be done from the outside, preferably in summertime, in order to not interfere with the pool’s operation. The board will consider how to proceed at a future meeting.
In other business, the Sitka School Board heard from a new organization in the high school – one that is probably long overdue.
Sitka High senior Julia Nabua made the introductions.
“I’m thrilled to announce the creation of the Filipino Culture club at Sitka High School,” said Nabua. “This club aims to celebrate and promote Filipino culture, heritage, and traditions within our school community. We have chosen to name our club ‘Barkadas,’ which translates from Tagalog to mean ‘group of friends.’ We are a group of culturally-inclusive Filipinos and allies.”
Nabua said that the Barkadas had held a successful Salo-Salo in celebration of Filipino American History Month in October, with over 100 people attending.
Sitka families hoping to place their children in the district’s new tuition-based preschool program will have to wait a bit longer. Superintendent Deidre Jenson told the board that the district had hired a certified teacher to run the program, and was paying her out of Ventures funding. The plan was to use the teacher first to redesign Ventures, the district’s afterschool program, and provide staff with professional development, and then transition her to run the district’s new pre-K classroom in January.
“It’s a good, clean time to start a program,” said Jenson. “If we were to go November 18 (as a start date), you got three weeks and school’s down. So this just gives us a little more time to kind of do that and start in January with that pre-K program.”
The district plans to accept 10 students in its all-day preschool, and charge tuition of $1,500 per month.
Board member Tom William’s questioned the district’s decision to absorb the indirect costs of the pre-K program in the overall operating budget. Later in the meeting, he also challenged a decision to compensate non-certified staff, like secretaries and paraprofessionals, whose work hours are cut short on early release days, such as Alaska Day or before other school holidays.
The district drafted a memo to the non-certified staff’s union, SESPA, saying that personnel who lose a full work day because of early release, would be compensated with eight hours of paid time off during Spring Break. The district only recently implemented a time clock for hourly staff; in the past everyone – including salaried teachers – just got paid for a full day, even if school was dismissed early.
Williams argued that “crimes of the past don’t justify crimes of the future.” The remark prompted a tense exchange between Williams and district business manager Kathrynn Hollis-Buchanan.
Hollis-Buchanan: So what this is trying to do is have everybody okay with clocking out, and let’s just give you that time at another date when you already don’t have time being paid. The option would be ‘okay, even though we’ve done this for 50 years, we’re not going to do it anymore, because we don’t value you. So clock out and leave.’”
Williams: “That’s not what I said.”
Hollis-Buchanan: No, I know, but that’s how they will see it, because it somehow…
Williams: (interrupting) “You’re making an assumption. And I don’t think that that was a very fair comment to put me in that position… . And 50 years, you’re throwing these things out there. It’s hyperbole.”
Hollis-Buchanan: “I’m sorry. The opinion is that it’s supposed to be a nice gesture for them to allow them to leave early and spend time with their families. That’s all.”
Board president Phil Burdick pointed out that the memo and the policy have no impact whatsoever on the budget. He thought maybe it should be incorporated into future contract negotiations. Williams said he objected to the move on principle, and found it disappointing.
The next regular meeting of the Sitka School Board is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, December 4. Burdick said he would try to keep it to an hour so that everyone could attend the Keet Gooshi Heen concert scheduled for later the same evening.
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Andrew Thoms is the director of the Sitka Conservation Society. SCS is holding its annual Wild Foods Potluck this 5 p.m. Sunday, November 10, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Food is one of the closest humans have to the natural environment. In addition, the Society will present on some of its work. The event is open to the public.
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Statewide, Donald Trump outpolled Kamala Harris on election night by 15 points – 55-percent to 40-percent – to win the presidency, but in Sitka the results were much closer.
See the complete unofficial election results from the Alaska Division of Elections.
Sitka’s two precincts actually split on the presidential election. Voters in precinct No. 1 favored the Trump/Vance ticket by 32 votes. In Sitka No. 2, the Harris/Walz ticket had a 70-vote edge.
Harris’s advantage was even greater in communities surrounding Sitka. In Angoon, voters favored Harris over Trump by a 3-to-1 margin. In Kake, it was 2-to-1 in favor of Harris. Likewise, voters in Tenakee Springs chose Harris by a 2-to-1 margin.
In Yakutat, the presidential race was a bit closer, with voters preferring Harris by only 26 votes.
In Pelican, Elfin Cove, and Port Alexander, the tables were turned with Trump picking up the win by a few votes in all three communities.
The story was a bit different in the race for US Congress. Incumbent Democrat Mary Peltola trailed Republican challenger Nick Begich by four points on election night, 49- to 45-percent. But in Sitka and surrounding communities Peltola did very well, outpolling Begich in both of Sitka’s two precincts by well over one-hundred votes in each.
In Angoon, voters preferred Peltola by a 4-to-1 margin. Kake chose Peltola by over a 2-to-1 margin; so did Port Alexander. Peltola won in Tenakee and in Yakutat by 3-to-1 margins.
Pelican and Elfin Cove were the outlier in the district – and perhaps in the whole state. Voters there gave zero votes to Mary Peltola, and 13 to Nick Begich – but the Republican probably won’t be holding a victory parade there since voters actually preferred dark horse Democrat Eric Hafner over Begich by a two-to-one margin.
The Legislative race in House District 2 was no contest. Rebecca Himschoot, an independent from Sitka, was unopposed in her bid for a second term, and she cleaned up 98-percent of the vote.
Sitka area voters were in agreement with the rest of the state on Ballot Measure #1, which raises the minimum wage to $15 by 2027. As of election night, the measure passed by a 13-point margin, 56-percent to 43-percent. Voters in Sitka stretched that winning margin even further, to roughly 70-30 in favor.
Other communities in the district voted with similar spreads.
Local voting did not track with state results on Ballot Measure #2, however. This measure will repeal Alaska’s open primary elections, and ranked-choice voting. Statewide on election night the “yes” votes favoring the repeal led the “no” votes by 2 points, 51- to 49-percent.
In Sitka, far more voters chose “no” by about 20 points, 60-40. Angoon, Kake, Yakutat, and Tenakee voters turned in similar results. In Pelican and Elfin Cove, Ballot Measure #2 split about 50-50, and in Port Alexander voters favored the repeal 60-40, with the simplest math of the night: 6 votes “yes,” and 4 votes “no.”
Lastly, there were no surprises in the judicial retention election. Voters in and around Sitka chose to retain all judges by wide margins.
Early voting was huge in Alaska this year, as well as in many other places in the country. All early ballots cast through October 31 were counted on Election Day in Alaska; all early ballots cast between November 1-4 have not yet been counted. That’s a total of 23,000 early ballots still to be counted, along with another 24,000 absentees still to count as well. Often, early voting and absentee voting are consistent with Election Day results – but not necessarily. Many early ballots are from Mary Peltola’s home turf in Western Alaska, and likely could affect the outcome of the congressional race, as well as some state house and senate races.
Also, election results in Alaska are unofficial for at least 15 days, to ensure that all eligible ballots are counted. Those include overseas absentee ballots for example. November 20 is also when the ranked-choice tabulation will take place, for any congressional or legislative race where the leading candidate has less than 50-percent of the vote. That seems likely for the race for the US House of Representatives, where Nick Begich has a slight lead over Mary Peltola, but doesn’t have 50-percent of the vote. In that case, the Division Election will begin to factor in voters’ second-place choices, until a winner finally tops 50-percent.
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Hítx’i Sáani (“Little Houses” in Lingít) Community will have 12 living units and a service building. The Sitka Homeless Coalition is contructing the project on Alaska Mental Health Trust land on Jarvis Street. Completion is set for late summer 2025. (SHC image)The Hítx’i Sáani Community was initially planned as twelve dry cabins and a service building on Alaska Mental Health Trust land on Jarvis Street in Sitka. Hítx’i Sáani means “little houses” in Lingít, and the idea was to create some very basic shelter for the Coalition’s supportive housing program.
The dry cabins have since been upgraded to more of a conventional multiplex design. Andrew Hinton is the executive director of the Coalition. He attributes the changes to “value engineering.”
“Some of the units will have shared walls,” said Hinton. “ That’s been a reality of in order to be able to provide all the components in each of the units that we want: a bathroom, individual bathrooms, electric heating, a kitchenette. In order to be able to distribute these utilities in a cost effective way, we needed to go to more of a multiplex model. But each of these units is still just that – housing. They’ll each have a bed, a bathroom, kitchenette, electric heating, everything that one needs to to make the place at home.”
Hinton says the progress this year has been exciting.
“In the summer, we went from an undeveloped site at the end of Jarvis Street to a site that’s capable of housing those 13 units,” Hinton said, “with the development of a pad with the connection to city water and sewage lines, and much of the completion of our underground utilities.”
The Hítx’i Sáani Community is expected to open in the late summer of 2025. The Sitka Homeless Coalition calls this project “supportive housing.” Clients won’t just live there; they’ll be connected to services to assist them in the transition out of homelessness.
The Coalition’s program director, Denise Shaffer, says the other critical component of Hítx’i Sáani isn’t a service, but a feeling. She works directly with clients, and says that a feeling of community – of belonging – can be powerful in the fight against homelessness.
“I think a lot of times our clients are seen as people that are vulnerable and marginalized, and they truly are,” said Shaffer. “They often face a feeling of being alone, and it’s incredible the sense of dignity that we can put into somebody just by saying, ‘I believe in you. I support you. I’m here for you.’”
The Sitka Homeless Coalition has built momentum in recent years. Both Hinton and Shaffer are employed full time, and they’ve been critical to developing some of the Coalition’s other programs, like the warming shelter in the basement of the Methodist Church on Kimsham St. which is going into its second winter.
Shaffer has just helped to place four people in housing this fall; she says the move has been transformational for them, in their confidence, and in their sense of gratitude for the community.
Hinton says it’s important for Sitka to continue to pursue solutions.
“We’re all much closer than we think to experiencing homelessness,” Hinton said. “We all understand how difficult that might be in Sitka, but for some folks, it’s not just a thought experiment, it’s a reality, and so that’s really the overarching work that we hope to do, to recognize those individuals in our community that need that, and to recognize them as as people, as community members.” The Sitka Homeless Coalition’s “Shelter Sitka” campaign has a $25,000 goal by the end of the year. The group plans two community walk-throughs of the Hítx’i Sáani construction site in November and December to introduce Sitka residents to the neighborhood, and to answer questions.
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Seven candidates are vying for four open seats on the Sitka Tribal Council (moderator Rachel Roy is at left). Also two candidates are challenging for the chairman’s seat. The group appeared in a candidate forum October 28, 2024, in Harrigan Centennial Hall. Election Day for Tribal Council is one week after the United States General Election, on Tuesday, November 12. (KCAW/Woolsey)Seven candidates are vying for the four open council seats, and two candidates are in the running for the chair, including the incumbent chair Lawrence “Woody” Widmark, and the incumbent vice-chair Yeidikook’áa Dionne Brady-Howard.
Unlike the divisive rhetoric of some national races, Widmark and Yeidikook’áa shared a common belief that the welfare of the Tribe’s 4,500 citizens was a top priority.
Widmark said that was achieved through building bridges.
“I think one of the things that that I’m really grateful this past year is building our relationships with our Native organizations, corporations, Sealaska, Shee Atiká,” said Widmark, “and challenging the Tribal Council to meet with them, and how we can work together instead of being adversaries for the past couple of years.”
Yeidikook’áa agreed, and saw another way forward through supporting education.
“I would really like to see more higher education and career and technical education support for students as well,” she said. “I think that we have a solid scholarship, but the scholarship in and of itself doesn’t do enough to help tribal citizens with their education when there’s so many hoops to jump through to be able to get that education.”
The seven candidates running for the four open seats on the council were a mix of incumbents, newcomers, and former council members coming back for more. Bob Sam is one of the latter. He’s well-known for his work restoring Sitka’s cemeteries, but he’s got a broader vision, and he’s eager to work on it.
“I got cataracts removed, and I have 2020 vision,” he said. “So my energy is coming back, and my energy really feels really good now. I’ve served on Council, Enrollment (Committee) and Historic Preservation (Committee). I decided to run this year to share my experience.”
Alana Peterson is one of three incumbents running for another two-year term on the Sitka Tribal Council. She’s the executive director of Spruce Root, a small-business development nonprofit. Peterson just turned 39, and supports opening council seats to citizens under 30, to keep the Tribe relevant and moving forward.
“You know, I really believe that the Sitka Tribe is doing such a great job in so many ways,” Peterson said, “but I also believe in continuous improvement. So I want to make sure we work to become a better employer with strong systems and structures in place to support all the really good work that staff are doing, and then also have the strong governance at the top. And the two things working really well together.”
Fellow incumbent Lillian Feldpausch also supported strong tribal governance, but as a means to support culture.
“Our Constitution, I feel is important as it helps guide us as we kind of move along governance,” she said. “I want to ensure that we sustain our rural status, our tribal sovereignty. A lot of this is our way of life, through culture, through language, through food.”
A third incumbent running for reelection, Louise Brady, was not present at the election forum.
Of the three candidates trying for a first term on the council, Blossom Teal-Olsen is a familiar face in local politics, having most recently served as president of the Sitka School Board. Teal-Olsen said it’s important for the Tribe – though sovereign – to remain involved at all levels in the community.
“I have an extensive history in public service, and I’d like to continue to sit at those tables to ensure that our tribal citizens do have a voice and we do have goals that we set out together and work towards,” said Teal-Olsen.
Candidate Sonya Smith would like to see more turnover on the Tribal Council, and is in support of term limits. Her top concerns involve the health and well-being of citizens, especially those struggling with alcoholism. If elected, she’d be new at the table, but she promises to be at the table.
“It’s pretty obvious that there’s a learning curve to it all I’m willing to learn, but I’m also motivated to admit that, as an artist, time is my greatest resource,” she said, “and I know what it’s like to make a commitment, to keep your word, to follow through and to show up.”
Candidate Steve Johnson has served three terms as president of the Southeast Alaska Cultural Center, but this is his first crack at elected office. He cited food security, housing, and economics as his top concerns, saying all three affected the quality of life of tribal citizens.
“If we have financial problems and problems feeding ourselves and feeding each other, then we don’t have time to perpetuate our culture,” he said, “and we don’t have time to do the things that we want to do as tribal citizens and do the things that we would love to do with our families: learn language, sing songs, have events, and so much of that I feel is in danger of being killed off by economics.”
Early voting for the Sitka Tribal Council is open now through November 11 at the Sitka Tribe of Alaska offices on Siginaka Way. Election Day is Tuesday, November 12, polls will be open 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Sheet’ka Kwaán Naa Kahidi, and 4-6 p.m. at Sea Mart.
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Local herring sold at the Otaru Fishing Co-Op will go to processors and restaurants around the region. Hokkaido herring stay exclusively in Japan (KCAW/Rose)It’s another fiercely cold March morning, and a dozen or so local fish processors are pacing back and forth in an icy, cavernous warehouse in Otaru. It’s Saturday, usually a day off for the folks who work at the Otaru Fishing Co-Op, but since it’s herring season they’re hosting an auction this morning. Every minute counts with herring, so they have to move these fish quickly.
The buyers circle each pallet stacked high with styrofoam boxes. One man lingers over a fish box, a cigarette dangling between his lips, trying to discern the quality. When the buyers are done looking, they go to a heated room next door with sofas and vending machines and wait.
At 7 a.m. a bell rings and the auction begins. The Otaru Fishing Co-Op doesn’t usually hold auctions on Saturdays, but during herring season they make exceptions. (KCAW/Rose)Right at 7 a.m. the auction begins. Auctioneers move from one stack of herring boxes to the next, selling off 1,600 boxes of herring in just a few minutes. Then the buyers bring in their forklifts and trucks.
By 7:30 the warehouse is empty. This herring will be processed to separate out the herring eggs mostly in nearby towns, then distributed to grocery stores and restaurants around the region. Hokkaido herring stays in Japan. Shigeo Yamamoto is a processor from Yoichi, a nearby city. He’s bought some herring here this morning, and he’s happy with the quality
“The herring is getting bigger and bigger, and on average the herring in size is like 300 grams [to] 330 grams for individual fish, and also spawning areas are getting larger and more expansive,” Yamamoto says. “When the herring stopped coming in from Togiak (Alaska), the local processors around here started buying more herring locally.”
For the last two years, the Togiak herring fishery in Bristol Bay hasn’t opened due to a lack of buyers. Meanwhile, these domestic herring eggs are steadily cornering more of the market, pushing Alaska’s herring eggs out. He says one reason for that is the exchange rate.
Once the herring are auctioned off, garage doors on the side of the building open, and processors bring in forklifts and trucks to quickly haul away the morning’s purchase. These herring are three- to five-times larger than wild herring caught in Alaska. Nevertheless, the Alaska “brand” remains strong, and the smaller egg skeins of Alaskan herring are preferred in sushi. (KCAW/Rose)“Now the Japanese yen is so weak, it’s just so difficult for us to buy herring from Alaska with their request of the minimum guaranteed price,” Yamamoto says. “Sorry for the people in Alaska, but for us, the local processors, it’s really helpful that the local herring is getting caught and recovering again.”
Japanese consumers prefer fish caught in Japan, according to Dr. Shingo Hamada, the anthropologist and herring researcher I’m traveling with. But among processors and industry folks, the allure of Alaska herring eggs is still strong.
“The name Alaska has already really established brand,” Hamada says. “Japanese people have the image of pristine nature, the wilderness, beautiful ocean, beautiful mountains, salmon, crab, herring, kazunoko. That’s also a really appealing brand.”
And the quality of herring eggs in Alaska is established. Hamada says many processors believe herring eggs from Alaska and Sitka are stickier than herring eggs from other places because they have to contend with rockier shores and rough waters.
“When Japanese people want to eat salted kazunoko…the stickier, the better,” he says. “And if Japanese processors try to make kazunoko skeins, herring skeins, using the Atlantic herring, the eggs are not as sticky as the Pacific herring eggs.”
These wood fire grilled herring only traveled a few miles from ocean to table — from the fishing boat, to the auction floor to the local restaurant in Otaru where they’re served whole (KCAW/Rose) And the reliability of domestic herring eggs is less certain.
“It is just recent years that the contemporary herring fishery in Japan started producing a decent amount of kazunoko. I think still the processors and the buyers [are] examining the actual quality of domestic Hokkaido kazunoko,” Hamada says. “This year the product coming from Hokkaido herring might be good, but next year we don’t know.”
One seller we spoke to in Tokyo said that the quality of Alaska herring eggs is higher, that they’re crisper than Hokkaido herring with more of a popping quality. Another said he buys Alaska herring eggs that are unbleached, which he thinks consumers will prefer. And a producer of dried herring products in nearby Yoichi prefers herring from North America over local herring, even though the local herring is more affordable.
At the auction in Otaru this morning, Shigeo Yamamoto told me that he is the only processor in Yoichi who buys Sitka herring. He says he’s been to Sitka several times, and smiles when he remembers Mt. Edgecumbe. He says he bought two boxes of Sitka herring last year. For one reason – size.
“Japanese consumers prefer to buy Japanese products, so if the package said it is a product of Hokkaido they might choose the product of Hokkaido over the product of the United States. But still there are certain processors who need to get the smaller size kazunoko, so those people will buy the Sitka herring,” Yamamoto says. “For sushi, the kazunoko has to be small. Kazunoko here is pretty big, it’s too big for sushi.”
With herring several times the size of Sitka’s, the skeins from Hokkaido herring are far too large to fit neatly over a small handful of sushi rice. Regardless of size, unlike some other buyers, he believes the quality of Hokkaido herring eggs is the same. And if the yen remains weak, it may force other buyers to take a second look at Hokkaido herring over Alaska’s.
Whole grilled male and female herring at a local restaurant in Otaru. (KCAW/Rose)This reporting was made possible with funding from the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism.
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Municipal election officials (left to right) Sara Peterson, Jess Earnshaw, and Holley Bayne tabulate votes on election night, October 1, 2024. This year roughly as many early votes were cast as in each of Sitka’s two precincts on Election Day. (KCAW/Woolsey)Sitka voters returned incumbent mayor Steven Eisenbeisz to his seat for another two years.
Eisenbeisz decisively outpolled political newcomer Leah Mason, by a 2-to-1 margin, 1,156 to 551.
Two other veteran assembly members were also returned to the table, Kevin Mosher and Scott Saline, who won 1,082 and 1,055 votes respectively. Mosher will serve his third three-year term. Saline, who was elected last year to a one-year seat, will get a full three-years this time around.
Political newcomer Robert Hattle came in a respectable third, with 779. Austin Cranford, in his second bid to win a seat on the assembly, came in a distant fourth with 373 votes.
There was no race for the two open seats on the Sitka School Board. Only one candidate, Amanda Williams, appeared on the ballot. Voters gave Williams the nod with 1,498 votes. There were no registered write-in candidates for the remaining seat.
Williams is a former Science teacher at Blatchley Middle School who lost her job last spring as a result of unprecedented cuts to education statewide by the governor. Williams is also the daughter-in-law of current school board member Tom Williams.
The Sitka School District has already begun advertising the appointment of the vacant fifth seat. Letters of interest will be accepted through October 16. Applicants will be interviewed at a special meeting on October 23, when one will be appointed to serve until the municipal election in the fall of 2025.
And lastly, two ballot propositions – both housekeeping measures concerning the Sitka Charter (deleting the reference to Sitka Community Hospital, and aligning recall procedures with state law) – passed by roughly 9-to-1 margins.
A possible 78 absentee ballots will be counted in Harrigan Centennial Hall beginning at 2 p.m. this Friday. Absentee counting will not affect the outcome of the election, however. The Sitka Assembly will certify the election results at its regular meeting next Tuesday, October 8.
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Gillnet boats back from a morning of herring fishing in Takashima Fishing Village. (KCAW/Rose)It’s a cold March morning in Takashima fishing village and everything’s blanketed in a fresh layer of snow. It’s a little after 10 a.m., a time when most people are just settling into the workday. But fishermen have already returned to unload the morning’s catch. Every morning for the last two months, fishermen have been on the water by sunrise, gillnetting for herring. They catch two or three tons on a good day, seven or eight tons on a really good day.
Hiroyuki and Satoko Narita weigh and pack herring from the morning’s catch. (KCAW/Rose)The floor in Hiroyuki Narita’s waterfront workshop glitters with silver scales. A television in the background plays game shows as he and his wife, Satoko, sit on plastic buckets, weighing and packing the herring by the dozen in styrofoam boxes. It’s a family operation: In the workshop next door, his brother and sister-in-law clean and fold the nets for tomorrow. Narita says the work never stops.
“We are very serious so we work every day,” he says. “We take a break on New Year’s Day, but other than that, you know, once we’re done with the herring fishing, the new fishing starts right after herring season, so there’s always something to catch and work every day.”
In the next workshop over, Yukari and Manabu Narita fold nets (KCAW/Rose) Like fishing families in Alaska, the Naritas have diversified their catch. They harvest seaweed, sea cucumbers, and so on. But he says lately, herring makes up a bigger share of their work.
“We have a variety of stuff to harvest here. We used to harvest seaweed and sea cucumbers,” he says. “But, nowadays, the herring is increasing, thanks to the Japanese technology.”
The technology he’s talking about is the Japanese herring hatchery program. Since the 1990s, they’ve been releasing millions of hatchery-raised herring fry into the ocean every year. He thinks it’s changing the landscape for herring. That wasn’t the case 15 years ago when herring anthropologist Dr. Shingo Hamada was doing his research here. He says then, fishermen were still skeptical of the hatchery, calling the herring “spoiled.”
“[Fishermen said] they don’t have to find the food by themselves. They’re being fed, then they’re released to the ocean,” Hamada explains. “And a lot of fishermen said they don’t think those juvenile hatchery herring survived in the wild,” Hamada says.
But, now, opinions are changing. Nearly 30 years after the program was established by the Japanese government, the herring population in Northern Japan has rebounded. And the herring are big — much bigger than Sitka herring, which in recent years have been considered ‘marketable’ at around 120 grams. Satoko Narita says these fish can weigh upwards of 500 grams.
To support the hatchery operations, fishermen reinvest 2-percent of their sales into the program. And the fishery’s recovery is boosting the local economy.
“Before [the] herring fishery recovered, during the winter time a lot of the fishermen needed to find another job. Like seasonal work [for] a construction company,” Hamada says. “But now, because of the return of the herring for the spawning season, they don’t have to get another job, you know, they can focus on the herring fishery.”
It’s a striking change from the last 50 years. Japan’s fisheries are catching up with North America, exceeding Canada’s catch of Pacific herring for the first time in decades in 2020 and 2021 (By the way, Russia catches more than anyone, but more on that later).
Ikuo Wada leads the Ishikari Fishing Co-Op in nearby Ishikari Bay, one of 15 locally operated co-ops that manages the herring hatchery operation. In 2023, Wada says 20,000 tons of Pacific herring were caught in Japan, a 21st century record, and double Sitka’s catch that year. He says they’re starting to see it outpace imported herring from North America at the local level, at least.
Bags of herring eggs for sale at a grocery store in Otaru. (KCAW/Rose)“If we go to a general grocery store around here, in the past when we saw the kazunoko, it [was] the product of Canada or Alaska, but nowadays we see the domestic product, Hokkaido kazunoko, more and more,” Wada says. “So I think things are changing a bit.”
But the fishery can’t grow indefinitely. Japan’s fishing fleet is aging and shrinking. Fewer people are seeking out fishing jobs since it’s tough, messy work.“Unless we come up with a more labor-efficient way of harvesting herring than gillnet fishing, which requires lots of manual labor, not sure but maybe pound net and such, the population of herring fishing itself will be forced to shrink in the near future,” Wada says.
Back at Takashima fishing village, the herring is packed up and driven down the street to the local co-op to be auctioned off the following morning, to buyers eager to distribute herring to a regional market they hope is reacquiring a taste for Hokkaido herring
Manabu Narita packs up a truckload of herring to auction off in Otaru the following morning. (KCAW/Rose)This reporting was made possible with funding from the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism.
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Every March in Sitka, herring signal the arrival of spring. The cultural importance of herring to Lingít people cannot be overstated: Alaska Native people have been harvesting herring eggs as a traditional food for thousands of years. But in the last century, competition for access to the resource has grown.
For the last fifty years, a commercial fishery has shipped thousands of tons abroad every year. The commercial sac roe fishery is controversial. It’s had good years and bad years, and traditional harvesters have been protesting the fishery for decades.The Sitka Tribe of Alaska even sued the state in 2018 over its management. But the commercial fishery has been meeting an international demand for herring that, in years past, was strong.
Most of that fish has gone to Japan. This series is all about what happens once it gets there. Japan has long been the primary market for the fishery. But that market is changing. New regulations and evolving tastes have led to a dip in Japanese consumption of herring eggs, or kazunoko. So what does that mean for Sitka and Alaska’s other herring fisheries? In the first installment of KCAW’s five part series Phantom Fish: The return of Japan’s vanished herring industry, KCAW’s Katherine Rose went to Japan this spring to find out:
Toyosu Market in Tokyo is the largest wholesale fish market in the world (KCAW/Rose) Tokyo’s Toyosu Market is the biggest wholesale fish market in Japan. Every day, vast amounts of fish arrive at this warehouse from around the country and the world. I’m scrambling behind Dr. Shingo Hamada, trying not to slip on the wet stone floor, down row after row of fish stalls, dodging warehouse utility vehicles as they zip around with their loads of fish boxes.
Suddenly, Hamada stops– he’s found what we’re looking for. Among the tanks of live crab and piles of dried shrimp, Hamada points out a plastic tub full of yellow herring egg skeins and spawn on kelp from Bristol Bay and Canada. The skeins are ¥4,700 (yen) per kilo. The more highly valued spawn on kelp is almost double the price.
Warehouse utility vehicles move quickly on a main thoroughfare in Toyosu Market connecting dozens of aisles full of fish stalls. (KCAW/Rose)
Hamada is an anthropologist who has been studying Japan’s herring industry for years. In modern Japan, kazunoko is a staple of year-end gift giving and the traditional New Year’s meal. But Hamada says herring is more than just a New Year’s Day specialty food.
“In my opinion, herring is the foundation of the modernization of Japan,” Hamada says.
Fish meal fertilizer made from herring hundreds of years ago gave rise to the Japanese agricultural system. Herring eggs, or kazunoko, have been a traditional food in Japan dating back to the 14th century, and dried herring was a trade staple, though the industrialization of herring came with a history of exploitation and forced labor. Until the middle of the 20th century, that herring was caught in Northern Japan. Then the domestic fishery collapsed, due to a combination of overfishing and environmental change, and the herring became known as ‘phantom fish.’
A box of North American herring egg skeins in Toyosu Market in Tokyo, priced at ¥4,700 (yen) per kilo, or about $32 USD in 2024 (KCAW/Rose)“So after that [the] Japanese market started looking at the herring resources overseas,” Hamada says.
So they looked to Alaska, and the commercial sac roe fishery in Sitka was born. And it boomed…until it busted. Dr. Gunnar Knapp is a fisheries economist in Alaska.
“You go to the peak year, 1995, $82 million of herring exports just from Alaska…down to less than $5 million in 2023,” Knapp says. “Averaging…sort of in the $15 million range for most of the past decade, and that’s before adjusting for inflation. So it’s really been a dramatic decline.”
Data provided by Gunnar Knapp, source from NMFS.One reason for the decline: in the 1990s, the Japanese government banned gift-giving to public officials to prevent bribery, which cut the sale of the traditional herring egg gift boxes. This was a huge blow to the herring market at a time when Hamada says Japanese consumer tastes were also changing.
“Traditional salted kazunoko was kind of the traditional Japanese food, but [now] more Japanese people are accustomed to eating a Western diet,” Hamada says. “Eating the spaghetti, eating hamburgers, eating steak rather than the grilled salted fish or salted kazunoko.”
In the 1990s almost all of Alaska’s herring exports were going to Japan. Knapp says that’s not the case anymore.
“If you look in more recent years, China has become a much more important market,” Knapp says. “Almost on the same scale as Japan.”
In 2023, Alaska exported over three million tons of herring to China and around four-and-a-half to Japan. But, as we discover, some of the herring making it to Japan is passing through China first. As Hamada and I pace the aisles of Toyosu Market, we’ll occasionally see a handwritten sign signaling that a bucket of herring eggs is from Alaska. But closer inspection frequently reveals something else printed on the bucket’s label — it’s listed as a product of China. That’s because Japanese law requires the label to note the final stop, often the processing location, before the product enters Japan.
Shingo Hamada (right) views a stall full of herring eggs in Toyosu Market. (KCAW/Rose)Both Hamada and Knapp speculate that this could be because it’s cheaper to process herring in China, so herring are processed there, the eggs are sent to Japan and the rest of the fish is processed into fishmeal. This is somewhat corroborated by the data: In previous decades, Alaskan processors exported a variety of herring products: fresh, cured and frozen roe as well as whole frozen herring. But in 2023, Alaska only exported one product, whole frozen herring.
Perhaps more interesting is that much of the herring we see in Toyosu and other fish markets in Japan doesn’t say Alaska, Canada, or even China. It’s labeled Hokkaido. Could Northern Japan’s “phantom fish” be returning?
So I’m heading North to learn more about the revival of Japan’s domestic herring fishing industry and the role it plays in changing the landscape for Alaska’s herring fisheries.
This reporting was made possible with funding from the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism.
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Sitka Parks and Rec was awarded the 2023 Outstanding Organization Award by the Alaska Recreation and Parks Association in September. Parks and Rec staff joined KCAW for the morning interview to discuss upcoming events in October, including an event on October 11, introduce their new Aquatics Supervisor and plans for Blatchley Pool. Listen to the conversation here:
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The 50-year-old M/V Columbia tied up in Ketchikan on June 21, 2023. The vessel is scheduled to be the mainline ferry for Southeast Alaska for nearly a year, between Dec. 2024 and Nov. 2025. (Photo by Mikko Wilson/KTOO) Listen to the story:
This winter’s ferry schedule is again impacted by an old fleet needing maintenance. One ferry will be designated for Southeast’s main line route, stopping in eight communities from Skagway to Bellingham, Washington. The round trip takes about a week.
There will be no mainline service Dec. 1-11 when the Columbia replaces the Kennicott. The 50-year-old Columbia has been in maintenance all summer. The much younger Kennicott will go in for service to replace its generators.
The work will take nearly a year, according to Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Sam Dapcevich.
“When it goes offline, it goes into a federal project to replace its generators, which has to do with emissions and efficiency,” he said. So that’s going to be a long project. It’ll be out for about 11 months. So, the Columbia will be the mainliner all the way up until next winter.”
Communities off the main route, like Sitka, will see one ferry a week going either north or south. In other words, it would be a nine-day round trip from Sitka to Juneau.
That’s a far cry from how it used to be with twice-a-week service, according to Melissa Wileman who works for the City and Borough of Sitka.
“It’s our highway within Southeast Alaska, and that’s what folks aren’t understanding,” she said.
Residents used to ferry their vehicles to Costco in Juneau for supplies that Sitka doesn’t have, Wileman said.
“The highway is–was–the Alaska Marine Highway System for quite some time and ferrying back and forth between our little communities. And that opportunity is dwindling. . . and dwindled,” she said.
Sitka is one of Alaska’s larger communities, with a population of over 8,000. It’s on Baranof Island where Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium or SEARHC is building a new hospital. Wileman said the recent marine highway schedules restrict access to healthcare.
“With Sitka poised to become the SEARHC hub soon, there’s a clear opportunity for the ferry system to increase the ridership here and to help assist with those transportation needs for those folks from smaller communities to Sitka,” Wileman said.
One of those communities is Kake, located south of Sitka on another island. Kake can’t get to Sitka via ferry, at least not directly. Residents will see one round trip to Juneau per month this winter. Kake doesn’t have jet service, only small planes. However, resident Robin Ross said that tickets for small planes are more expensive than ferries, and they don’t run in bad weather.
“You know how the weather is in Southeast,” Ross said. “Sometimes the weather’s out for two, three days, from snow, fog, no planes, and we have people waiting for meds. “[They] miss their very important hospital appointments too because of the weather in the wintertime.”
Ross grew up in Kake and now works at the school. She said she sees students missing events because they can’t travel, which wasn’t a problem when she was in high school 20 years ago.
“We were able to go on all our trips, ferry to ferry, staying in the budget, and it was a lot cheaper,” said Ross. “Now it’s really hard to get out anywhere. Just to get our kids out for cross country, our high school for regionals, it’s going to cost us 12k.”
In past decades, two ports connected Alaska to the Lower 48 – Bellingham, Washington and Prince Rupert, British Columbia. However, the Prince Rupert port has been off-limits for five years because of disputes between Alaska and Canada.
Dapcevich said the state’s marine highway system plans to reconnect with Prince Rupert, but they don’t have a timeline yet. The dock needs to be fixed first, he said.
“There are international issues regarding how funding can be spent for those projects that have to be reconciled between the two countries,” Dapcevich said. “And it has to do with, whether we purchase U.S. steel for the project or Canadian steel, and it gets a little bit complicated there.”
The 60-year-old Tustumena will be offline for three months of maintenance beginning Jan. 1. So, there will be no service for Kodiak, Homer, and the Aleutians in southwest Alaska during that time. The LeConte goes offline Oct. 1 through April 1 for an overhaul and the Hubbard will cover the Northern Panhandle communities during that time.
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During the second year of the “Our Submerged Past” expedition, the team used the SUNFISH® autonomous underwater vehicle to explore submerged caves and rock shelters discovered during the first year of the project. (Image courtesy of Jill Heinerth, Stone Aerospace)Note: You can watch Dr. Monteleone’s entire presentation on the SHI YouTube Channel, and find learn more on the NOAA project page called “Our Submerged Past.”
Archaeology is an easily misunderstood science. Indiana Jones didn’t really do academia any favors.
Indy: This should be in a museum!
Sure. Artifacts are an important part of the human story, but there is an even bigger story that archeologists in the Americas are still teasing out. Humanity did not originate on this continent. Everyone came from somewhere else.
“When push comes to shove, the question I’m trying to answer is: How and when did people migrate to the Americas? When did this happen?” asks Dr. Kelly Monteleone, an archeologist and a professor at the University of Calgary. Like many in her field, she’s come to understand that the earliest attempts by researchers to put together a theory of migration to the Americas were incomplete, or just incorrect. It involved nomadic hunters coming from Asia, on foot, in pursuit of megafauna like wooly mammoths.
Eh… maybe, but probably not.
“And then I have a strange feeling most of you were taught about people walking across the Bering Land Bridge and down the ice free corridor when you were in school,” said Monteleone. “I’m hoping one day that that’s not a true statement, and that I can say to a room that you weren’t taught people walked through an ice-free corridor.”
Monteleone calls that ice-free corridor a “deglaciation corridor,” and the timing when it appeared doesn’t fit the latest models of the populating of the Americas.
Over the last three decades, the Coastal Migration theory has emerged to compete with the Bering Land Bridge. Even today, Alaska’s oldest cultures are maritime, and the coastal environment is hospitable to life of all kinds.
Monteleone thinks the answer to Coastal Migration is here.
“And that’s where Southeast Alaska becomes so important,” she said, “because we then become this perfect location to identify where people were walking or migrating using boats, vessels of some kind, along the coast.”
Southeast Alaska is the perfect location, but for one problem: The coastline has changed dramatically in many places, due to a combination of rising sea level and glacial rebound. A lot of what Monteleone hopes to find is underwater.
Beginning in 2021, Monteleone worked around the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, where other evidence of coastal migration has been found in the limestone caves prevalent in the region.
Monteleone mapped potential cave sites with an underwater ROV, or remotely-operated vehicle – and examined other archeological evidence of human activity.
One site in particular in Shakan Bay – which she first found in 2010 while working on her dissertation – she believes is a fish trap.
“You kind of see some stacked rocks in a semicircular structure,” she said, referring to a slide in her presentation. “This is 11,400 years old on the ocean floor at 52meters.”
Monteleone’s examination of these areas is far more than visual. Divers on her team take core samples of the sediments, and they’re typically rich in pollen from terrestrial plants like spruce and hemlock trees. The samples also turn up material known as “micro debitage.”
“So whenever you use a stone tool or you sharpen a stone tool, little flakes like break off, and they’re very small,” she explained. “II’m working with stuff that’s less than a millimeter or around a millimeter and smaller in size.”
Kelly Monteleone’s project was funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration. She’s applying for additional funding to continue her research, and to continue combing the sea floor in Southeast Alaska looking for evidence of the earliest human migration into North America.
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Susan Briles and Amy Catanzaro work in Patient Health Benefits at SEARHC. Together with financial planner Cindy Gibson they’ll be giving a presentation on Medicare beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday, October 9, in Harrigan Centennial Hall. A lunch will be provided, followed by a presentation on Social Security at 12:30 p.m. The program is free, however, registration is required by calling 966-2803. For additional questions about Medicare call the SEARHC Patient Health Benefits office at 966-8684.
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The assembly set aside $4 million last night (9-24-24) for the public infrastructure sinking fund– that’s money that will go toward future infrastructure projects.
City finance director Melissa Haley said to keep the fund steady, the assembly could transfer up to $7 million into the fund, but the city administrator suggested holding some money back, anticipating the costs of some current city projects may be creeping upwards.
“John [Leach] did have concerns that we might need some additional funding this year, particularly on some of our big, federally funded capital projects, we might need some additional funding to meet inflation costs. So we’ve had had, for example, our sea wall project. It’s it’s looking like those costs have increased,” Haley said.
Assembly member Kevin Mosher said the opportunity to transfer this money into reserves speaks to the economic activity that the community is experiencing as a result of increased cruise visitation.
“Sometimes it’s a real pain, downtown sometimes in summer, but it pays off,” Mosher said. “For me personally, I always want to try to do everything we can to make to meet the needs of the city without adding too much of a tax burden, keep the cost of government as low as possible. I see this as a way to do that.”
Assembly member Thor Christianson said while $4 million dollars sounds like a lot of money, it’s a small step when compared to the anticipated cost of future city projects.
“A lot of this is going to be used to leverage federal funding and a little bit of state funding and things like that,” Christianson said. “We’re making some progress, but we got a long ways to go, and it’s not unusual for us to have a surplus, you know, to but we definitely need to keep working away and kill a few alligators, figuratively.”
The assembly unanimously approved the $4 million transfer into the public infrastructure sinking fund. That money will be available for capital projects beginning in Fiscal Year 26.
In other business…
After months of searching, Sitka finally has a new municipal attorney. The Sitka Assembly approved the contract for Rachel Jones at its regular meeting last night.
Jones is a former Sitka magistrate. She attended the UC Berkeley School of Law, and has practiced law in Alaska and California. More recently she worked as the program manager for the Sitka Community Land Trust.
Human Resources director Josh Branthoover thanked the assembly for the role they played in the search for candidates.
After a nationwide search, we found our best candidate close to home, Rachel has been professional, courteous, timely and thorough at each step of the hiring process. As the CBS human resources director, I look forward to working with Rachel and supporting her as she takes on this vital role,” Branthoover said.
Jones’ salary will start at just over $162,000. The assembly approved Jones’ contract unanimously.
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Update 5 p.m. Wednesday 9-25-24:
Divers with the Sitka Fire Department found the body of 16-year old David Jackson in the outflow of Sawmill Creek in Silver Bay on Wednesday afternoon (9-25-24).
Jackson had been missing since Saturday night, when the car he was riding in rolled off Blue Lake Road and into a steep ravine.
Three other people involved in the accident were found by first responders late Saturday, and hospitalized with injuries.
An outpouring of support has appeared on social media on behalf of Jackson’s parents, Koren DeBell and TJ Jackson. Ceremonial dips were scheduled in both Juneau and Sitka Wednesday evening.
The car remains in Sawmill Creek, largely inaccessible by conventional salvage means. Paul Robbins, with the Tongass National Forest, says Sitka Ranger District personnel prioritized the search for Jackson over dealing with the car. He’s heard through incident command, however, that the vehicle is not posing an immediate environmental hazard.
“They have not seen any leaking of fuel so far – that’s not to say there isn’t any – just none has been witnessed so far,” said Robbins
Sawmill Creek is an important anadromous fish stream, adjacent to a hatchery operated by the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association. Robbins says that the Forest Service and the state will work together to plan the car’s removal.
Update 12 p.m. Tuesday 9-24-24):
A crew from Sitka Search and Rescue remained in the field Tuesday (9-24-24), searching for a 16-year old boy missing since a car he was in left Blue Lake Road Saturday evening, and tumbled into a deep ravine.
Three other passengers from the vehicle were found Saturday night, and transported to the Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center with injuries.
High water in Sawmill Creek has made searching difficult. Sitka Fire Chief Craig Warren says the ground search is continuing in the vicinity of the car, until the stream itself subsides after 72 hours of near-constant rainfall.
Warren told KCAW, “We have some fatigue issues. We’re taking this high water break to search Silver Bay.” Warren says searchers are using a side scan sonar in saltwater near the mouth of the creek. He’s not fully confident that the sonar can locate the victim, but it’s an available option when the fast-flowing creek is unsafe for divers.
A team from Juneau Search and Rescue which traveled to Sitka to support local crews over the weekend has since returned home.
Original Report:
A teenage boy remains missing after the vehicle he was in rolled into a steep ravine on Blue Lake Road over the weekend.
Shortly before 10:30 p.m. on Saturday (9-21-24) dispatchers received a 911 call reporting that a vehicle carrying four people drove off the edge of Blue Lake Road, and rolled down the slope and into the creek below. Police and fire first responders were on the scene in about 10 minutes. Fire Chief Craig Warren said the fire department sent five vehicles and 23 personnel to respond.
“Two of the vehicle occupants were found up on the road, and a third was found on the south side of Sawmill Creek and carried out by Search and Rescue and Fire Department personnel,” Warren told KCAW in an interview on Monday (9-23-24).
All three victims were transported to the hospital with injuries. Searchers were unable to locate the fourth victim, either on the brushy slope or in the creek bed. Warren says they searched the area until 4 a.m., and then resumed at 7:30 a.m.
“We had personnel with the Sitka Search and Rescue, or the fire department’s search and rescue team, technical ropes team and the dive team out first thing Sunday morning searching both the slope that the vehicle went down and the river to see if the missing person was in the river,” Warren said. “We have been searching both sides of the riverbed all the way to the mouth where Sawmill Creek enters the ocean at Silver Bay.”
An emergency response vessel did a shoreline search on Sunday afternoon through Silver Bay to Medvejie Hatchery. A storm system that moved in on Sunday brought additional challenges to the search effort. The team paused again on Sunday evening due to safety concerns around personnel fatigue, and called for backup from Juneau.
“This is not easy country, and basically our mission started at 10 p.m. the night before. Some people were fortunate enough to get a couple hours sleep on Sunday morning before coming back in and starting again,” Warren said. “We have brought in Juneau Mountain Rescue because of our fatigue, and they are going to do more wide area search patterns where the vehicle went down.”
Warren said they are in constant contact with law enforcement, as the scene is both an active accident investigation and a missing person investigation. Warren said they plan to continue searching Monday and possibly Tuesday to ensure they’ve left no stone unturned.
A press release from the Sitka Police Department confirmed that the missing person was a 16-year-old boy, but a spokesperson told KCAW that police have not released his name because it is an active investigation.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and may be updated.
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Saturday, October 5, will be the opening performance of the 30th season of the Sitka Monthly Grind. Producer Jeff Budd and Rick Fleischman joined KCAW for the morning interview to talk about this Sitka tradition.
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Over the next two months, the Sitka Community Renewable Energy Strategy, in partnership with REAP, will be joining KCAW for a series of interviews to discuss renewable energy in Sitka. CBS Sustainability Coordinator Bri Gabel, and Dan Smith and Keith Perkins from the United States Department of Agriculture joined KCAW for the morning interview to discuss how Sitka can use renewable energy to become improve its food security.
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Shelby Williams and Christian Litten are on the leadership team for the Ramshackle Cabaret. The group will be holding a “Role Call” 6 p.m. this Thursday, September 26 (Mean Queen dungeon), for everyone interested in helping with the season — not just prospective performers, but costumers, set designers, and all the people needed to put on three major events: Stardust Ball (October 26, in partnership with KCAW), a New Year’s Eve variety show, and then the “big show” on Valentine’s Day weekend February 14-15, 2025. This is the Cabaret’s eleventh season; over its lifetime the group has donated $125,000 to support reproductive health in Alaska. For additional details, please visit the Ramshackle Cabaret on Facebook.
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Amanda Roberts (center) smoked her last cigarette 15 years ago, and has been on the cessation journey ever since. (Amanda Roberts photo)Amanda Roberts is with SEARCH’s tobacco cessation program. Today is the anniversary of her own journey toward cessation. She discusses all the available resources for those interested in ending their tobacco habit. You can read her blog here.
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Two out-of-town visitors were treated for minor injuries after being struck by a vehicle in Sitka’s downtown intersection on Monday (8-19-24).
According to a Sitka Police Department spokesperson, a driver was attempting to complete a left turn at Lake and Lincoln streets, just as an oncoming tour bus was entering the intersection. The driver failed to notice two people in the crosswalk, and struck both.
Responders from the Sitka Firehall just a block away were on scene in minutes, and transported the victims – a couple visiting from Australia – to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center. They were later released with minor injuries.
Conditions at the time of the accident included steady rain and fog. Three cruise ships called in Sitka on Monday, carrying just over 7,000 passengers.
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A Sitka fisherman died on Monday (8-19-24), after an accident in the engine room of his boat.
Alaska State Troopers report that 75-year old Barry McKee was fishing aboard his troller Lisa Jean in the vicinity of Salisbury Sound, about 20 miles northwest of Sitka, when he became entangled in mechanical gear below decks and was killed.
McKee’s crewman was uninjured in the incident.
Sitka Fire Department personnel responded to the call and recovered McKee’s body. A good samaritan vessel towed the Lisa Jean into protected waters where troopers were able to investigate the accident.
A nearby sport charter boat returned the crewman to Sitka.
Because the Lisa Jean is a commercial vessel, the accident remains under investigation by the Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment.
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The Democratic National Convention is August 19-22, 2024, in Chicago, IL. KCAW will broadcast the last two nights of the DNC (Wednesday and Thursday) from 5-7 p.m. In the meantime, you can watch the live stream here.
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Nick Begich III, his wife Dharma, and son Nicholas. (Nick Begich for Alaska image)Nick Begich wants a return “normalcy” in Republican politics in the nation’s capitol, and a chance to fight for responsible resource development in Alaska.
Begich is one of the leading Republicans, along with Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, hoping to unseat Democrat Mary Peltola in the US House of Representatives.
Peltola swung through Sitka two weeks ago, but didn’t make time for local media. Begich didn’t visit in person, but he did reach out to KCAW and spoke with Robert Woolsey.
Note: The Alaska Congressional Primary is Tuesday, August 20. Polls are open throughout the state. In Sitka, polls are open until 8 p.m. at Harrigan Centennial Hall. It’s an open primary: Everyone, regardless of political party, votes the same ballot. The top four candidates will appear on the general election ballot in November. Because of its small population, Alaska elects only one member to the US House of Representatives. They will serve a two-year term.
There’s also a primary election for our local House district in the Alaska Legislature. In most of KCAW’s listening area, voters will see only one candidate on the ballot, incumbent Rebecca Himschoot, who is running unopposed for reelection.
Begich is one of the most familiar names in Alaskan politics. The first Nick Begich – the current Nick Begich’s grandfather – was Alaska’s congressman for two years, until his death in a plane crash in 1972. He was a Democrat. So are Nick Begich’s two uncles, Mark, who was a U.S. Senator, and Tom, who most recently was senate majority leader in the Alaska Legislature.
Nick Begich’s father, Nick Jr., wasn’t involved in politics, so this Nick Begich had a different sort of upbringing. After his parents separated, he grew up with his maternal grandparents.
“I was raised in a conservative household, and grew up with those values, grew up Republican,” he said. “So I have been a conservative from the start. We moved back to Alaska about 20 years ago, and have lived here ever since.”
Begich and his wife returned to Alaska from Detroit, Michigan, expecting to remain just a couple of years. But – like so many with this story – they decided to stay and make it permanent.
Now he’s picking up the Republican banner once carried by Rep. Don Young, who succeeded his grandfather in the US House and served 49 years until his death two years ago. Peltola took the seat back for Democrats, and now Begich wants it back for Republicans. But he also wants to get things done, and that means stepping away from the polarization and obstructionism that has recently dominated Republican politics. He thinks another Republican contender in the primary election, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, is on the same page.
“I think both candidates want to see sort of normalcy restored at the national level and get some of our excess government spending back under control,” said Begich.
Begich hits the expected Republican talking points – that inflation has hurt the country, that irresponsible government spending is to blame, but it’s unusual to hear a Republican confront the dysfunctional politics of late. I asked him to elaborate.
“The political environment has gotten so caustic that we’re forgetting that we’re all in the same boat together,” he said. “We’re all Americans. Yes, we’re not going to agree all the time, and that’s never been true. We’ve never agreed all the time. But what is different about yesterday versus today is that while we did disagree, we were able to go out afterward and have dinner together, have a drink together, and respect one another. And I think we need to get back to that kind of normalcy again.”
Normalcy for Begich also means a government that works in the background, and isn’t in the forefront of our daily lives.
Begich is 46 years old, a small business owner, who believes that his youth, relative to other Republican contenders, will give him a long “runway” in the US House, and a chance to build seniority and influence much like Don Young in his prime – to Alaska’s benefit. He thinks Mary Peltola, the incumbent Democrat, has to walk a tightrope to conform to the Democratic agenda, while still supporting resource development in Alaska. Begich, on the other hand, says he’ll be an “unapologetic evangelist” for the responsible development of Alaska’s resources – especially in the evolving global market.
“We’ve seen a large push nationally to move to things like electric vehicles and more electrification around the nation,” said Begich, “but the but the minerals and the inputs for so many of those technologies are coming straight out of Communist China. And for us to trade our domestic energy security, mineral security, even national security, for security that’s provided by a foreign adversary, I think is a strategic mistake. It’s not in our interest in the long run, and we know for a fact that we do a better job developing those resources in the United States. Why not re-establish those supply chains here at home, where we know that will be done responsibly and well?”
Begich has ideas and talking points about issues important to Southeast Alaska, like fisheries, tourism, and affordable housing, but we agreed to save those until after the August 20 primary – if he makes it through. There are 12 candidates vying for the chance to serve Alaska in the US House of Representatives, four of them will advance through the primary to the general election in November.
And if he’s one of those four, an actual campaign visit to Sitka is more likely. Like many, he’s a fan of the Nugget pie at the airport. “The strawberry-rhubarb is amazing,” he said.
The post Unhappy with ‘caustic’ politics, House candidate Begich seeks a return to normalcy appeared first on KCAW.
Mt. Verstovia on a clear day is especially inviting, but the summit (Arrowhead Peak) is steep and exposed. (KCAW/McKinstry) Sitka Search & Rescue and the US Coast Guard safely recovered a man who had become stranded on top of a local peak on Saturday afternoon.
Fire engineer Karl Muench says a 9-1-1 call came in just before 6 p.m. from a man who had summited Mt. Verstovia – known locally as Arrowhead Peak – and could not find the route down.
Given the late hour, Muench says 17 search and rescue volunteers mobilized on the possibility that the man would have to be brought down the peak. State troopers informed the Coast Guard of the situation, and Air Station Sitka subsequently launched a rescue helicopter with three Sitka SAR members on board.
Once on scene, the helicopter was unable to land, so a Coast Guard rescue swimmer was lowered to assist the man into a basket, and he was hoisted aboard for a ride back to the airport.
Muench says the circumstances of the rescue aren’t that unusual. Responders encourage everyone who uses mountain trails to carefully consider all conditions, and whether or not to climb in areas that may be unsafe – or impossible – to come down.
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Frannie Donohoe is the director of Sitka Cirque and Ben Hughey is a board member of the Cirque Noir committee. Cirque Noir is an adult dance party with “immersive art,” including aerial silks, cage dancers, projected art, and live music. There will also be an outdoor beer garden. Doors open 8 p.m. Saturday, August 24. Advance tickets $35 available online.
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Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust and Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association will hold a discussion on climate adaptation and resilience in fishing communities 3 p.m. Monday, August 19, at ALFA. Executive Director Linda Behnken joined KCAW for the morning interview to discuss the event. hoping to encourage community members to come and help us ground truth our assessment results as we look to build regionally-relevant fisheries adaptation plans.
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SESPA representative Twila Keaveny explains the terms of an agreement her union signed with interim superintendent Steve Bradshaw last year. (KCAW/Woolsey)The Sitka School Board has given non-certified staff in the district a pay raise.
On a unanimous vote, the board approved a 6-percent increase this year for paraprofessionals and other employees who are not teachers, and then 4-percent raises each of the next two years.
The increase comes on top of a one-percent increase that was agreed to in negotiations with the union – known as SESPA, or the Sitka Educational Support Professional Association – in 2022, and remains in place through 2025.
SESPA president Twila Keaveny explained that the deal came about after interim superintendent Steve Bradshaw negotiated similar terms with the union representing teachers – however, it would be contingent on the city’s taking over the school maintenance department.
She said the new agreement was signed when there was significant uncertainty about both the school district’s and city’s budgets and – if adopted by the school board – would effectively extend the old agreement for another two years.
“We understood that the offer of a 6-4-4 that was presented to us would be in addition to the already-ratified language for the ’24-25 salary schedule,” Keaveny said. “It would also mean that the collective bargaining agreement would carry forward through the school year 2027.”
Keaveny spoke as about 20 SESPA members in blue t-shirts stood arm-in-arm behind her. Another member, Aurora Losey (low-see), a para at Keet Gooshi Heen, came to the mic and made the argument for the raise less technical, and more personal.
“I’m a single mom,” said Losey. “I have a mortgage. It’s very difficult to stay here. I love it. My kids love it here. There are opportunities out there in the community that obviously allow us a lot more money. But I just need, I want to remind you guys, that all these people are so devoted to our children, which is our future, and I don’t believe there’s much more more important than that. And I really want you to consider the devastation that could happen if we don’t keep the people that are here, that are experienced, and we don’t have new people coming in, we’ve, we’ve, we’ve tried really hard to get new people in, and I know we’re trying to raise that rate, but please consider what we put into our kids and the love and the investment, and it’s priceless.”
The board went behind closed doors to consider the matter. When it returned, members unanimously adopted the proposed terms.
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Tristan Guevin takes the oath of office in June, 2022, when he was first appointed to the Sitka School Board. That fall, he would be elected to a two-year term. (KCAW/Woolsey)Sitka School Board president Tristan Guevin has resigned.
Guevin submitted his resignation to the board at its regular meeting on Wednesday (8-14-24).
In his letter, Guevin wrote that he had taken an English Language Arts teaching position at Pacific High which opened up with one week to go before students arrived.
Guevin was first appointed to the school board to fill a vacancy in June of 2022. He later ran for, and won, a seat on the board in the municipal election that fall. His term was due to expire in October of this year.
Guevin has also served previously on the Sitka Assembly. But he hinted that the last year of school board work – as members confronted a deep workforce reduction in the district – was tough. He wrote: “My time on the school board, while challenging, has been one of the most rewarding and fulfilling opportunities in my life.”
Fellow school board members had nothing but praise for Guevin, who chaired the group through some of the hardest decisions in recent memory.
Member Phil Burdick said Guevin had served the district in many capacities, and strengthened ties with the Sitka Tribe and the Alaska Association of School Boards. He also understood the role of the board.
“I learned a lot from him in the last year about about process, about what it means to be on a school board,” Burdick said. “Even though I have lots of experience in the school district, this is an entirely different beast, and I really appreciate his leadership, and I’m really sad that we are not going to be able to continue to work together. But I understand that life happens.”
Other board members offered lighter farewells. Tom Williams said he still expected weekly coffee with Guevin; Steve Morse got a laugh when he said he planned to vote “no” on accepting Guevin’s resignation.
Nevertheless, the board accepted Guevin’s departure, and directed staff to begin the appointment process to fill the seat, per board bylaws which require that a vacancy be filled within 30 days. Anyone interested in serving out the term should submit a letter of interest to the district office by 4 p.m. September 5. The board will hold a special meeting on September 12 to appoint a candidate.
Member Phil Burdick suggested that applicants consider the short service a “test drive” for a full board term, and then run for the seat as a write-in. There are two open seats on the board in this October’s municipal election, and so far only one candidate has filed to appear on the ballot.
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A permanent Sitka Tourism Commission came a step closer to reality Tuesday night, but it’s not expected to simply be a continuation of the recently-concluded tourism task force.
At its regular meeting last night, the four members of the Sitka Assembly present approved the creation of the new commission on first reading, but held off on finalizing its duties until all members were present.
The assembly established the tourism task force last year, and the group was tasked with helping the city develop its response to rapid growth in cruise tourism. After a year, the group presented the assembly with 32 recommendations, including establishing a permanent commission.
But as Assembly member JJ Carlson explained, the commission will not be an extension of the old task force. Its scope of work will be different- focused on the annual review cycle for the city’s tourism operations and management plan.
“The Tourism Commission [is] to annually look at in their duties, what the city can do with with funding, and kind of management of the entire visitors industry,” Carlson said. “So this is not a continuation of the task force. The task force was just for kind of day visitors, cruise travel-oriented.”
Only one of the seven seats on the commission is designated for a representative from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. The rest of the seats are “at-large.” Assembly member Thor Christianson said that’s a new approach, and it’s intentional.
“And in the past, we’ve often had to shoehorn people into into the various types we want for these commissions,” Christianson said. “It’s possible you could wind up with a stacked commission [but] I think this assembly and future assemblies will be very aware of that, and it will have the ability to try and maintain a balance and a representation of the community, and that’s the goal here.”
With several absent assembly members, Christianson said he expected the assembly to have a more robust discussion about the commission when it considered it on final reading.
The assembly approved the commission on a 4-0 vote. It will come before the assembly for a final reading at the next regular meeting on August 27.
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A helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka spent the weekend searching for a woman who reportedly fell off a fishing vessel in waters near Elfin Cove.
In an interview with KCAW, Chief Petty Officer Travis Magee said that the Coast Guard received a radio mayday call shortly before 8 p.m. on Saturday (8-10-24) from an individual aboard the fishing vessel Faithful, who believed a passenger on the boat had fallen overboard. The 38-year-old woman was suspected to have gone missing between Gull Island and Mud Bay, on the northern end of Chichagof Island near Elfin Cove. She was not wearing a lifejacket and dressed in black.
The Coast Guard issued an urgent marine information broadcast notifying other vessels in the area of the missing woman. At least 10 good samaritan vessels responded and assisted the Coast Guard in search efforts. The Coast Guard also deployed two cutters, the Pike and the Liberty, and a helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka responded within an hour to search the area.
Magee said over the next 24 hours, Coast Guard and good samaritans searched over 176 square nautical miles, but were unfortunately unable to locate the missing woman. They called off the search around 9 p.m. on Sunday.
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A humpback prepares to dive in lower Cook Inlet. The state wants to take the whales off the Endangered Species List. (Photo by DeWaine Tollefsrud/Creative Commons)Two deceased whales were discovered in the Icy Strait area in July in Southeast Alaska. Scientists believe at least one died after being struck by a vessel.
On July 3, NOAA Fisheries received a report of a floating yearling humpback whale, which later washed ashore near Elfin Cove. Mandy Keogh is NOAA’s marine mammal stranding coordinator in Alaska. She says they worked with their stranding partners to respond and perform a necropsy, or an animal autopsy, on the whale.
“A few days later, and that investigation found evidence of blunt force trauma, so there was bruising, there was some broken bones, and those are all indicative of a large blunt force trauma, which would really only be a vessel strike in that area,” Keogh said. “So we have determined that the cause of death for that yearling was of likely a vessel strike.”
She says the broken bones were larger which is consistent with the whale being struck by a larger vessel.
A second humpback whale was reported floating near Point Adolphus on July 22. The whale was identified as a 23-year-old female. While they found some bruising on the whale that may have suggested a vessel strike, due to the whale’s size and position they weren’t able to fully examine the bones to confirm the cause of death.
“We also confirmed in that autopsy or necropsy that she was actually pregnant at her time of death, and so we found fetal bones in her uterus, which was very sad to hear,” Keogh said. “This female hadn’t been seen with a calf before, that we know of. So it was also a hard finding because of that.”
Keogh says a large number of whales are active in the area and they’ve received a number of reported whale interactions from boaters. Cruise ships, ferries, and fishing boats all frequent Icy Strait. Keogh says the best thing boaters can do to prevent vessel strikes across Alaska’s waters is slow down.
“Just try and reduce your speed, especially if you’re in an area like Point Adolphus and Icy Strait area, where we know this summer we’ve had a lot of whales, to just slow down your boat speed,” Keogh said. “That allows you more time to observe a whale in the area. It also may help the whale not be surprised by vessels moving into the area, so that’s the safest thing you can do, and it’s also safer for the vessel operator.”
Alaska’s humpback whale approach regulations require that vessels stay over 100 yards away from humpback whales, not disrupt whale activity and operate vessels at slow, safe speeds when near whales. Boaters can report all dead, injured, or entangled marine mammals to NOAA’s 24-hour stranding hotline 1-877-925-7773
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When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (8-13-24) it will take up its first recommendation from the short-term tourism task force. It will consider, on first reading, whether to create a permanent tourism commission.
The assembly established the tourism task force last year, and the group was assigned the job of identifying a tourism management strategy in the middle of unprecedented growth in Sitka’s cruise tourism industry. After a year, the group came back with 32 recommendations, and establishing a permanent commission was one of them.
If approved, the commission will be made up of seven members appointed by the assembly. They’ll be tasked with advising the assembly on strategies to “enhance the social, economic, and environmental well-being of Sitka’s residents in relation to tourism.”
In other business, the assembly will consider the annual goals from the Health Needs and Human Services Commission. Topping the commission’s list this year are childcare, community transportation and elder services.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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“I’m not a politician, and I’m not one-hundred percent comfortable in the spotlight,” says candidate Amanda Williams, who is unchallenged for one of two open seats on the Sitka School Board. To others who still have the chance to write-in for the second seat she says, “Take that challenge. Dive in.” (KCAW/Woolsey) A former Sitka teacher who lost her job following steep budget cuts last spring is now trying for a seat on the Sitka School Board.
Amanda Williams taught eighth grade Science, and was one of 14 teachers subject to an unprecedented workforce reduction in the district, after Gov. Dunleavy vetoed the legislature’s education funding package.
But Williams says she doesn’t have an ax to grind. She realizes the school board – which includes her father-in-law Tom Williams – was forced to make the cuts. Rather, she says she has a professional interest in education, and she sees service on the board as a way to give back to the community.
She recently spoke about her decision to run with KCAW’s Robert Woolsey.
Note: Although she’s been active on committees over her career, this is Williams’ first time running for elected office. If elected, she will join her father-in-law, Tom Williams, on the board. Additionally, her husband, Jared, is the maintenance director for the district.
Williams: I am a teacher. I’ve been in the education industry for my whole life, really. I have been teaching in different communities throughout Alaska for 11 years, and I recently taught at Blatchley Middle School.
KCAW: What did you teach?
Williams: I taught eighth grade Science. With everything in life, there are silver linings. And so I do view everything as, you know, an opportunity to grow and develop. And I feel like that’s part of life, and part of the way things are. So I’m just looking at this as another opportunity to see what I can do next.
KCAW: What does that look like for you at this point?
Williams: I have talked to Mt. Edgecumbe High School, and I was offered a part-time position over there filling in, so I’m hoping that that will be something that develops more as well.
KCAW: Is it your goal to be back in the Sitka school district one day?
Williams: I feel like I want to do what’s best for kids, and maybe that role is in the classroom, and maybe that role is doing some other things. So, you know, and it’s part of why I decided to run for school board, is I feel like I have some fresh ideas and perspectives, so that I can throw those out there and see where I can go with that. We’ll see what the future holds when we get there, I guess.
KCAW: How long have you lived in Sitka?
Williams: This is my fourth year. So three full years in Sitka.
KCAW: Do you have kids in the school district?
Williams: I do. I have one kiddo in the school district now going on third grade, and another kiddo who graduated from Sitka high two years ago.
KCAW: Okay, that’s a big spread!
Williams: Yeah, 10 years.
KCAW: What prompted you to run for school board? Obviously, you have some time.
Williams: I see it as an opportunity to participate. I really do appreciate all individuals who serve on boards. I feel like it’s a meaningful way to contribute to the community and a meaningful way to contribute to society. In general, I really appreciate and have listened to board meetings and committee meetings and a few Assembly meetings. So my hat’s off to all the individuals that serve on boards. I feel like it’s a time consuming activity, and people give their heart to making tough decisions and facing challenges that will help the community.
KCAW: What do you see as the role of the school board, and what is your role going to be on the school board? How do you think you will dovetail into that group?
Williams: Well, one of the really interesting things that I hope to participate more in is the board does have a responsibility to review curriculum and to look at different curriculum options for teachers. So I hope to serve on curriculum committees where I can meet with teachers and look at different curriculum and just kind of see which type of curriculum would better suit the needs of the kids in Sitka. So I, I’ve been interested in curriculum development for a very long time, and with my education background, I have my Bachelor’s in science, but my Master’s in education – in teaching. And so that’s kind of what I’d hope to dive into.
KCAW: There are two open seats on the school board. You’re the only candidate who’s filed. What do you want to say to people who still have a chance to write in?
Williams: I would say I’m not a politician, and so I’m not one-hundred percent comfortable with being in the spotlight. But I am stepping out and challenging myself to try some new things. And that’s what I would say: Take that challenge. Dive in.
KCAW: Amanda, thanks for coming in.
Williams: You’re welcome.
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Sitka Tribe of Alaska will offer financial incentives of up to $8,000 for Tribal Citizen households in Sitka to install heat pumps. The pilot program, offered in partnership with nonprofit Alaska Heat Smart, is targeted to STA citizens living in Sitka that own their homes. STA Communications Director Robin Sherman and Alaska Heat Smart’s Executive Director Andy Romanoff to discuss the program. Listen here:
Program eligibility information and the online application are available at https://akheatsmart.org/financial-assistance/. A paper copy of the application is available at the STA Social Services Department at 204 Siginaka Way. Households that need assistance
with the application may contact the STA Social Services office at 907-747-7293.
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The Sitka Assembly is still considering options for the vacant municipal attorney position. On Thursday (8-8-24) the assembly interviewed its first applicant in several months, but also made plans to interview two new applicants later in August.
Rachel Jones is a former Sitka magistrate. She studied law at the University of California, Berkeley, and is licensed to practice law in California and Alaska. Jones interviewed for the municipal attorney job in 2016 when the assembly hired Brian Hanson. Hanson retired this summer, and the assembly has been struggling to find a replacement with few applicants for the position since they began recruiting in April.
The assembly spent just over an hour interviewing Jones. When asked what makes her a good fit for the role, alongside her legal qualifications and experience, she noted her Sitka experience as an asset that couldn’t be learned in the classroom or the courtroom.
“It just takes time living here to get that sense of the real web of town, and then as a public figure [or] semi-public figure, to comport yourself within it,” Jones said. “Learning how to comport yourself as a public person in a fish bowl just can only be done by experience, and I’ve been through that ringer.”
After interviewing Jones, the assembly spent around half an hour behind closed doors in executive session, discussing Jones’s qualifications. When they returned, Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said they would “be moving forward with the process.”
During public comment, assembly candidate Austin Cranford asked that the assembly investigate Jones’ Alaska Bar certificate because he said he had contacted the bar association and learned she was suspended. KCAW reached out to the Alaska Bar Association and confirmed that Jones, listed under her maiden name, is an active member and in good standing.
The assembly will interview two other candidates for the attorney job the week of August 19. The names of those candidates have not yet been released.
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The Sitka Fire Department responded to a small boat fire by Sitka Sound Seafoods early Friday morning (8-9-24).
Around 1:45 a.m. a dock worker observed a fire on a tender, and called 911. A fire engine and four personnel responded. Before they could arrive, the crew managed to put out the blaze with water and an extinguisher. The call was canceled en-route.
In an interview with KCAW, Assistant Fire Chief David Johnson said it’s likely the exhaust area of the boat had overheated, catching some nearby wood on fire. He recommended that boaters keep combustible materials away from exhaust.
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Researcher Haleigh Yang stands next to two trash cans containing sand lance, a forage fish abundant in Southeast Alaska. The containers are plumbed to keep seawater flowing through them. Yang is hoping to understand how changing ocean conditions might affect sand lance populations. (Redick/KCAW)Researcher Haleigh Yang is studying sand lance, a forage fish abundant in Southeast Alaska, to understand how changing ocean conditions might affect populations. KCAW’s Meredith Redick sat down with Yang at the Sitka Sound Science Center to learn more about her research. Listen to the full interview below:
Yang is a second-year graduate student at the University of California – Santa Cruz. She is conducting research this summer at the Sitka Sound Science Center.
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The troller Sallie enters Eliason Harbor in Sitka in 2023. (KCAW/Wilber)There will be no summer coho closure for Southeast trollers this season.
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game announced on Tuesday (8-6-24) that the summer troll season will continue without the usual mid-August break to allow coho to move into their home rivers and streams to spawn.
The return of salmon to natal rivers – known as “escapement” – has been sufficient, according to area troll management biologist Grant Hagerman. In a news release, Hagerman wrote that based on early-season escapement data “the department has determined that a troll closure is not necessary at this time for coho salmon conservation or allocation.”
Commercial trolling for king salmon, meanwhile, will remain closed. ADF&G now estimates that 82,000 so-called “treaty chinook” were landed by trollers during the first summer opening between July 1 and July 8. “Treaty chinook” refers to the number of kings allocated to trollers under an international agreement with Canada – the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Commercial trollers have around 15,000 treaty kings left in their annual allocation, and ordinarily would be given a second opportunity to catch them this summer. However, the Southeast Alaska sport fishery has exceeded its allocation of kings by almost the same amount – 14,000 fish – and under current rules those fish are deducted from the troll allocation.
The situation has prompted a strong response from the Alaska Trollers’ Association, who attribute much of the sport overharvest to the Southeast guided sport industry.
More news on the developing king salmon allocation conflict will be coming from KCAW in the next few days.
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Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola (right) speaks with Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association director Linda Behnken during a meet-and-greet at Harbor Mt. Brewery in Sitka on Monday, August 5. (KCAW/Woolsey)Rep. Mary Peltola, on the campaign trail for a second full term as Alaska’s lone member of the US House of Representatives, met with about 100 Sitkans during a whistlestop tour of Southeast this week (8-5-24). Peltola has been elected twice to the US House of Representatives — first in a special election to serve out the term of longtime Rep. Don Young who died unexpectedly in 2022, and again in that year’s regular election for a full term of her own. Peltola is a Democrat, but has broken with her party’s caucus on several high profile issues, including support for drilling in the Arctic, and opposition to some gun control measures (becoming the first Democrat in the House to win an endorsement from the National Rifle Association since 2020).
Eleven other candidates are seeking the seat: Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, is running under the Republican banner with an endorsement from former President Donald Trump; Nick Begich, also a Republican (from a family of noteworthy Democrats), is returning to challenge Peltola. The congressional primary election is August 20, with early voting open through August 19 (see your community’s early voting location below). The top four candidates will advance to the Alaska general election on November 5, 2024, when voters will also choose the next President of the United States.
— With help from James Brooks of the Alaska Beacon.
Early voting locations (2024 Congressional Primary) in the KCAW listening area:
Sitka
Harrigan Centennial Hall
Monday-Friday, August 5-19, 10 am – 4 pm
Angoon
Angoon City Clerk’s Office
Monday-Friday, August 5-19, 9 am – 4 pm
Kake
Kake City Clerk’s Office
Monday-Friday, August 5-19, 9 am – 5 pm
Port Alexander
Port Alexander City Clerk’s Office
Mondays, August 5-19, 9 am – 2 pm
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, August 5-19, Noon – 1 pm
Pelican
Pelican City Clerk’s Office
Monday-Friday, August 5-19, 8 am – 4:30 pm
Tenakee Springs
Tenakee City Clerk’s Office
Monday-Wednesday, August 5-19, 10 am – 1 pm
Yakutat
Yakutat Borough Clerk’s Office
Monday-Friday, August 5-19, 9 am – 5 pm (closed Noon – 1 pm)
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Longtime Blatchley Middle School music teacher Ginny Packer (center) and students (Photo provided)Junior High can be a lonely time. But when Ginny Packer taught at Blatchley Middle School, there was at least one classroom where students felt seen. Susan Brandt-Ferguson was one of Packer’s students.
“When you were part of the music program at Blatchley, in the time that Ginny was there, you weren’t just taking a class,” she said. “You really felt like you were part of something bigger than that.”
Packer taught at the school from the mid-70s to the mid-90s. Brandt-Ferguson says Packer built the program into something elementary students aspired to, and middle school students departed more confidently to take high school head-on.
“It was absolutely the strength of the whole system,” Brandt-Ferguson said. “There’s so many music teachers and professional musicians that came out of that program, and I attribute a lot of it to her.”
Brandt-Ferguson remembers the day she realized she didn’t want to be a cheerleader anymore. She told Mrs. Packer about her conundrum. And she saw in that moment how much Packer genuinely cared about her students. “She didn’t talk about the fact that it was out of character that I was one in the first place,” Brandt-Ferguson said. “This is the funniest part. I remember saying, ‘Well, I don’t think I’ll ever be a professional cheerleader, and I really want to spend my time on things that matter. But she took that conversation so seriously.”
“She made us think think hard about, about what our futures held,” Brandt-Ferguson added.
A few years later, she told Packer that she wanted to be a music teacher.
“She just looked at me and she said, ‘Really? Well, why?’ And it amazed me that she didn’t understand that it was because of her.”
Brandt-Ferguson made that dream a reality. And she’s not the only Packer alum who was inspired to teach. On a recent episode of The Happy Hour on KCAW, former students discussed Packer’s legacy.
Roger Schmidt, who now leads the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, said Packer was fearless.
“When I think of Ginny Packer, I think of a person that absolutely had no fear that their purpose on the planet, as an educator, was to change people’s lives in the most dramatic way possible,” he said.
High school teacher Mike Vieira leads the local teachers union, and sometimes they hold their meetings in the music room at Blatchley.
“Unlike any other place in any other building, like there’s a visceral feeling of magic that hits me whenever I walk in that room,” Vieira said. “It’s overwhelming when I walk in there…it was such a unique, transformational place in that room.”
Teachers like Viera and Brandt-Ferguson have been working to recreate that transformational experience for students in Sitka today.
“I may have said this many times, but I’ve been teaching now for 30 years, teaching music, and I don’t think there’s been a single day when I haven’t thought about Ginny Packer, and when she hasn’t impacted my classroom in a positive way,” Brandt-Ferguson said.
Ginny Packer passed away in January. She was 81 years old. She was honored by the Alaska Legislature with a citation this spring for her “tremendous contributions to advance music education and performance in Sitka.”
View a copy of the citation here
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| Luke De Carlo-McCann is a visiting scientist at the Sitka Sound Science Center. De Carlo-McCann joined KCAW to discuss his work studying the impacts of ocean acidification on California mussel and blue mussel shell structure. Listen to the conversation here: |
Visit De Carlo-McCann’s professor’s lab website here
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Swimmers wade into the water at Halibut Point Recreation Area for a practice swim the day before the race. (Redick/KCAW)It’s 6:45 a.m. on a Saturday, and 30 or so swimmers are standing in various stages of undress under a shelter at Halibut Point Recreation Area. Some are clipping inflatable neon buoys to their swimsuits, and others are spraying silicone lubricant on wetsuit zippers. Today is their last practice swim before the big race, where they’ll swim anywhere between one and 10 kilometers around Sitka Sound.
Jordan Iverson will race without a wetsuit. She’s gotten used to that – Iverson is one of three Triple Crown swimmers participating this year. That means she has completed three marathon swimming challenges without a wetsuit – swimming across the English Channel, around Catalina Island, and around Manhattan. She earned the title in June, after swimming the 20.5 miles of the English Channel. Iverson has been swimming in the Change Your Latitude race every year since 2017.
“Every year it seems like we know more and more faces, and we feel like we’re part of the community,” Iverson said.
The race itself is just one part of the experience. In the days leading up to the event, swimmers participate in optional adventure swims around Sitka. This year, Iverson had the chance to swim in a new spot – No Thorofare Bay, an area known for its rich marine life.
“It was a route that we had never done before and it was really fun,” she said. “It was pretty shallow at the start and so we could see a lot of different wildlife underneath the water and going through like the ripple section was cool — having the current just really push you through.”
This year, a record 79 swimmers registered for the race. Organizer Kevin Knox attributes the recent growth to word-of-mouth from swimmers like Iverson, who enjoy the sense of community and the adventure swims.
“They love talking about this race and about their experience here, and they love coming to Sitka,” Knox said. “And that’s what we like to be able to share too. It’s just like, what this place is about — sharing our favorite swimming holes, whether it’s raining or sunny. You know, it’s just a really fun thing to be able to share with others, whether you’re in state or out of state.”
And while the adventure swims are partly intended to acclimate swimmers to Sitka’s waters, for many swimmers, they’re also just that – an adventure.
Melissa Kegler is one of them. She is bringing a GoPro on today’s swim to take videos of marine life.
Melissa Kegler waves to onlookers as she prepares for her last practice swim before the 2024 race. She has a snorkel, an inflatable buoy, and a Go Pro with her. (Redick/KCAW)“When I describe this event, I always tell people everything is Jurassic Park-type oversized where the plants are bigger, the starfish is bigger,” Kegler said. “It’s just so cool every time I come up here. It’s a fantastic place to be.”
She wades into the shallows, sporting a bright pink swim cap and a snorkel tucked into her bikini. Today, the water temperature is likely in the high 50’s. Kegler, who is a renowned ice swimmer as well as a Triple Crown swimmer, calls this warm. She submerges herself in the water and calls out to Knox.
“So great. Like if you can guarantee this temperature tomorrow? It’s wonderful.”
She glides off to join the other swimmers, until she becomes a neon speck in the distance.
You can see the full results from the race here.
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Traffic in downtown Sitka on a busy cruise ship day in June. (KCAW/Sharp)Sitka’s summer tourism season is in full swing with numbers expected to be close to last year’s record-breaking 585,000 cruise visitors. On a handful of days the number of visitors will exceed Sitka’s own population of about 8000.
On a busy day in June, the scale of the phenomenon was on full display. Lincoln Street was closed, people streamed up and down the steps of St. Michael’s Cathedral, buses rumbled in and out of the parking lot at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
In front of the library, Daina Bauman of Minneapolis tied a bag of salmon onto the back of her rented e-bike in preparation for the ride back out to the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal. She was feeling good about her family’s decision to book e-bikes online before arriving in Sitka.
“I just think it’s awesome we didn’t have to sit on the bus and wait in line,” Bauman said. “They said, ‘Go early because there’s going to be another cruise ship with some 4,000 people showing up.’ We got in and out, we’ll just zip back and we’re done.”
Bauman was traveling with her daughter Lexi and mother Rita Skurupijs.
“Thank heavens for the bike path,” Skurupijs said, as she contemplated the six-mile ride back out to the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal in an unprotected bike lane. “But of course when the big buses pass it’s a little nervy.”
A couple blocks away Sitka resident Rachel Jones was leaving Highliner Coffee, shepherding three kids on regular bikes.
“I’m certainly not opposed to the tourism industry at all, but it definitely does impact how we structure our day when the cruise ships are in town,” Jones said.
She and her family live downtown near Crescent Harbor. When it’s quiet the kids can ride around by themselves but on heavy cruise ship days she accompanies them. It’s a lot to navigate: scooters, pedestrians, buses, stop lights.
“The number of things your brain needs to juggle feels much more like trying to ride bikes in a city,” Jones said.
Jones sees tourism as a major economic engine, noting that she herself benefits as the owner of an Airbnb unit. She likes the fact that cruise ship visitors show up in the morning and leave in the afternoon, making Sitka feel very livable the rest of the time.
Not everyone is so optimistic. Klaudia Leccese grew up in Sitka and has fond memories of waterskiing around cruise ships and learning to drive a skiff in their wake. But what’s happening now is a different scale, with more crowds, buses, e-bikes, noise, pollution. Leccese is president of the advocacy group Small Town Soul, which wants to cap the number of cruise ship visitors at 300,000 a year. That’s about half what Sitka will experience this year.
“Everyone in the Small Town Soul group supports cruise tourism,” Leccese said. “We just feel like there needs to be a limit.”
So far the group has tried three times, unsuccessfully, to get a limit before Sitka voters. From Leccese’s house you get a sense of what she’s trying to protect. The window of her living room looks out on Sitka Sound and Mt. Edgecumbe. She treasures everything about the landscape.
Klaudia Leccese of Small Town Soul at her home on Cascade Creek Road. (KCAW/Sharp)“The quietness, the wildness, I’ve been raised subsistence hunting and fishing and gathering so there’s something for every season,” Leccese said. “I really treasure being alone in bays and on trails.”
Leccese can feel the pressure on those quiet places these days, whether she’s stuck in traffic or out running on the Cross Trail or fishing along the coast. There are more people and vehicles and boats wherever she goes.
Out at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal there’s no denying the hubbub. On a busy day the facility is alive with ships, visitors, vehicles, retail, food. The enticing aroma of roast nuts greets you as you enter. Chris McGraw is the owner and general manager and the main force behind the explosion in cruise ship numbers in Sitka. After the city voted down a public deep water dock his family business built a private one.
“It’s been a work in progress since 2011,” McGraw said. “The more ships we’ve gotten, you learn to adjust, learn things you need to add, learn to expand.”
A lot of McGraw’s challenge is logistics: moving people smoothly around town.
“Wednesday we had 6200 people here,” McGraw said. “How do you deal with 6200 people that come in at 8 o’clock and leave at 5 o’clock and get them to do what they want for the day. How do you do that without impacting the average local who wants to drive to work and go to lunch and come home. And how do you minimize that impact?”
A visitor relaxes at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal. (KCAW/Sharp)McGraw sat on Sitka’s tourism task force so he’s familiar with the problems people cite. He’s working on various fixes: dispersing visitors, a cleaner bus fleet, a berthing policy of no more than one large ship and one medium ship on any one day. But he doesn’t want strict limits on visitor numbers.
“I’m opposed to any hard caps,” McGraw said.
McGraw’s interest is obvious but he argues the economic benefits go far beyond his own business. You can see that in the startups across the street from the terminal where the Sitka Tribe of Alaska houses an economic development center. There’s office space, a commercial kitchen, a bike-and-hike business, scuba diving, e-bike rentals, jet ski rentals, a four-wheeling venture, a warehouse for merchants at the cruise ship terminal.
“This is a hustling, bustling little place,” Sitka Tribe of Alaska Economic Development Director Camille Ferguson said.
Ferguson’s assessment is that Sitka is still gearing up to handle the influx of visitors.
“There’s a lot of tired people out there,” Ferguson said. “A lot of people putting in long hours and trying to keep up. That’s kind of what I feel. And I know that I’m not the only one that feels that way. We are super busy and we look forward to the days when we can have a day off.”
Amy Ainslee, director of planning and community development for the City and Borough of Sitka, sees this moment as the transition between reacting to tourism and managing tourism.
“I think about what does Sitka look like for the next couple years, and what does tourism look in Sitka for the next five to 10 years,” Ainslee said. “Because we’re in some ways kind of at this tipping point.”
The Sitka Assembly is now working on the recommendations of its tourism task force. That includes figuring out to regulate e-bikes and what areas or activities require special permits and how permits and locations should be doled out for Sitka’s burgeoning food truck scene. Another big action item is to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with the cruise industry over visitor numbers.
“I think there’s been a lot of earnest effort to hear from the community and to try to find the balance point that works for everybody,” Ainslee said. “But I don’t think it’s ever going to feel that way because it’s a really polarized issue.”
As the search for that balance point continues, Sitkans like Rachel Jones are adjusting to the new normal.
“You know I think you just have to adapt,” Jones said. “It’s going to be happening for a while. I got to town right when the discussion about whether the town should put in a deep water dock was happening and I understand why that didn’t happen, but if you don’t do it in a way that’s got public control then you don’t have public control. I think it’s just an ongoing conversation.”
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(STA Photo/Brooke Painter) This summer, Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the Sitka Conservation Society hosted a camp for youth in the community to learn about the locally available edible plants. STA Intern and reporter-at-large Karl Cranston-Simmons attended the Wild Edibles Camp, and brought back an audio postcard. Listen here:
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Brian Coleman (center) rehearses for SFAC’s summer musical, Newsies. Coleman plays Crutchie in the production (SFAC/Pearl Spurlock)
Sitka Fine Arts Camp’s Musical Theater Camp presents Disney’s “Newsies!” 7 p.m. Friday, August 2 , and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, August 3, at Sitka Performing Arts Center. Theater Arts Director Zeke Blackwell and performers Brian Coleman and Hilary Hanson joined KCAW to discuss the production. Listen to their conversation here:
Tickets are available at fineartscamp.org/shows and the door. For more information call 907-747-3085.
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Crews excavate a steep section of the Katlian Bay Road in 2021. (KCAW/Katherine Rose)One man was transported to the hospital after a car crash on a newly-opened section of road in Sitka Sunday night.
At about 10:45 p.m., dispatchers received a call of a single-vehicle crash on a stretch of Katlian Bay Road. The winding gravel road opened in early July, extending Halibut Point Road two miles along a cliffside.
Fourteen emergency personnel responded to the incident in three vehicles, along with police. Police Department spokesperson KaJena Pfeiffer said that the 25-year-old driver was the only person in the vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee, when it crashed.
Sitka Fire Department Chief Craig Warren said that the patient was transported by ambulance to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center. He could not comment on the extent of the driver’s injuries.
Police are investigating the cause of the crash. Further details about the driver’s condition or factors contributing to the crash were not immediately available.
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Rose “Rosie” Miller stands behind the bar in Pelican. She ran the bar for 42 years. (Photo provided by Lillian Rodie Young.)Rose’s World-Famous Bar and Grill has been an institution in Pelican since Rose Miller opened it in 1973. At the time, the remote Chichagof Island community had a population of a little under 200 people.
“She had a party every holiday for everyone in town — she had wedding parties, divorce parties, welcome parties, and good riddance parties.”
Jessie Natkong is one of Miller’s 11 children. She said the whole town looked forward to her mom’s “Third of July” parties, where Miller would slow-roast meat for days over a spit, and to the softball game the next day.
“The adults would have the softball game, and she would put a case of beer and a bottle of tequila on every base,” Natkong said. “And when the tide came in, it’d be up past almost our knees, and we’d still be running in the water, playing softball.”
Every Easter, Miller hosted an Easter egg hunt for the children – and later, one for the adults.
“The adults in the bar would go outside, and we’d close the blinds, hide eggs all over the yard that would say hug the bartender, kiss the bartender, hug your neighbor, kiss your neighbor, ring the bell,” Natkong said.
Miller kept the bar open seven days a week, including Christmas Day – a special feat in a community where even the grocery store cut its hours in winter. And it served as a haven for residents and visitors, including fishermen who stopped in Pelican to sell fish to the local processor. In a 2008 interview with KCAW, Miller said she often hosted dinners for fishermen down on their luck.
“There’s so many people that can’t afford to go to the bars, and during the fishing season, I had a big dinner party for all the fishermen that didn’t do so good — they lost their gear, or they didn’t catch anything, or Fish & Game confiscated their fish or whatever,” Miller said.
Miller served on the school board and with the volunteer fire department. Natkong said she also hosted Sunday School – and drew in people of all ages.
“It used to be just the little ones that came, and then they were all coming in, and the older kids wanted to see what was going on at Rosie’s house, so they all started coming,” Natkong said. “And then the high school kids started coming and the parents were like, what are all those kids doing at Rosie’s house? So the parents started coming down.”
Rhoda Jensen grew up alongside Miller’s children. She remembered feeling inspired watching Rose run a successful business while raising her children.
“I don’t think it was very common to have women truly own businesses, and so that was kind of neat to see,” Jensen said. “And not only that, they were Native women.”
In 2008, Rose’s Bar and Grill won the Alaska Small Business of the Year award, aided by letters from supporters like Senator Ted Stevens. Miller ran the bar until 2015, when she sold it and moved to Juneau. The bar still operates, under new owners. But in 42 years behind the bar, Jensen said Miller provided a safe space – for children, unlucky fishermen, and everyone in between.
“She gave us all space to just be,” Jensen said. “When you go to Pelican, once you walk through into her area, we’re all the same.”
Miller passed away on June 23, 2024 in Juneau.
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Earlier this week (7-22-24), former assembly candidate Austin Cranford filed to run again for a seat on the Sitka Assembly. KCAW spoke with Cranford to learn more about his decision to run, and some of his priorities if he’s elected.
Cranford is one of three candidates to file for two open seats on the Sitka Assembly, both three year terms. The mayor’s chair is also open this year, a two year term, along with two seats on the school board, both three year terms. The filing period to run for a seat is open until 5 p.m. on August 2. Sitka’s municipal election is Tuesday, October 1.
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Swimmers start the 1K race for Change your Latitude, flanked by rescue kayakers. (Photo provided by Change your Latitude.)The annual Change Your Latitude race takes place this weekend. Kevin Knox, Melissa Kegler, Chris Calvin, and Zayne Miller joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the open-ocean race and how they’re preparing. Listen to the full interview here:
The event includes 10K, 6K, 3K, and 1K races. The first race starts at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 28 outside of the Sitka Sound Science Center. The event will be followed by an awards ceremony.
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The City and Borough of Sitka is struggling to fill a large number of open positions. At the Sitka Assembly meeting on Tuesday (7-23-24), Municipal Administrator John Leach said there are currently 42 vacant city jobs.
“I always hate to say that we’re not the only ones going through this, but we aren’t the only ones going through this,” Leach said.
The problem is so widespread that at this summer’s Alaska Municipal League conference, Leach said he was asked to sit on a panel with other city leaders to discuss “managing through large vacancies.”
In recent months, the city has ramped up its recruitment efforts, even working with a headhunting firm to find applicants for some positions.
“We’ve gone on nationwide searches,” Leach said. “Direct mailings and hitting everything we can find, and getting sometimes 1,2,3 applicants.”
Leach said a lot of the jobs have specific qualifications that make them harder to fill, like a master’s degree or certificates for planning or engineering. And Sitka’s police department has struggled to fill a number of vacancies off-and-on for the last few years. Leach said that lines up with national trends. He recounted a recent conversation with a police chief from a city in the lower-48.
“I saw him this weekend and had a chat, and I asked if they were going through the same issues and he chuckled and said they’re going out the door as quick as they’re coming in the door,” leach said. “And it’s just a challenging role to fill right now.”
Nevertheless, the city is making some hiring progress. At the same meeting, the assembly approved a hiring offer for a new human resources director after being without one for nearly a year. And it offered a first-round job interview to a candidate for the vacant city attorney position.
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The Sitka Assembly will interview a former Sitka Superior Court magistrate for the open city attorney job.
At its regular meeting last night (7-23-24) the assembly agreed to interview Sitka attorney and former magistrate Rachel Jones, one of two applicants for the position. The assembly declined to offer the second applicant an interview.
The assembly has been on the search for a municipal attorney since the former city attorney Brian Hanson announced he would be retiring at the end of June. They interviewed two candidates this spring, and advanced an attorney from Fairbanks to two follow-up interviews, but she pulled out of the running shortly after she was invited to come to Sitka for a meet-and-greet. Without any more candidates in the pool, the assembly pivoted to hiring an Anchorage law firm to cover legal services for the city on a contract basis until they’re able to hire a full-time attorney.
The assembly agreed to set up a special meeting to interview Jones tentatively scheduled for Thursday, August 8 at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
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Tonight (7-23-24), the Sitka Assembly will consider on final reading, whether to put two ballot propositions out to voters this fall. If approved in the October 1 municipal election, both would make small changes to city code.
Both code updates have were described by city staff as “housekeeping” measures. The first would eliminate language referencing the former Sitka Community Hospital and a requirement for an accounting system for the hospital. The second would update the city code on recalling an elected official to align with state law. A third ballot proposition that would have removed a requirement for tobacco tax funds to be spent on the Sitka Community Hospital was rejected by the assembly at the last regular meeting.
In other business, the assembly will hear a legislative update from Representative Rebecca Himschoot. It will consider, on final reading, a supplemental funding package for Visit Sitka. And it will discuss drafting a “request for proposals” for a community garden on Jarvis Street.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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Robert Hattle filed to run for a seat on the Sitka Assembly last week (7-18-24). KCAW spoke with Hattle about why he’s throwing his hat in the ring, and what issues he’ll focus on, should he win a seat in the October 1 municipal election.
Hattle is the second to file for two open seats on the Sitka Assembly, both three year terms. The mayor’s chair is also up for reelection this year, a two-year term, and there are two open seats on the Sitka School Board up for grabs, both three-year terms.
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An excavator stands at the edge of the Jarvis Street lot, where construction of 12 studio-style apartments is expected to begin later this month. (Sitka Homeless Coalition/2024).Three years ago, the lot at the end of Jarvis Street in Sitka was fully wooded. Now, it’s cleared, graded, and buzzing with construction activity. Contractors are expanding a parking pad and preparing to pour concrete foundations.
“Next week, we’ll be working on utilities installations, so we’re very much full steam ahead.”
Andrew Hinton is the executive director of Sitka Homeless Coalition. He said the Hítx’i Sáani, or “Little Houses,” project, has been in the works since 2020. The project is intended to provide permanent supportive housing to people experiencing homelessness in Sitka.
That housing is desperately needed. According to Sitka’s 2024 Point-in-Time Count, Sitka has between 19 and 22 people experiencing homelessness. With no transitional housing or year-round shelter serving the general public — Sitkans Against Family Violence provides shelter to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault– there are few options for people who need a roof over their heads.
The original plan for Hítx’i Sáani was to build 12 freestanding cabins with a central service building – hence the name “Little Houses.”
“When this project began, these were envisioned as cabins,” Hinton said. “And what we’ve really leaned into, and what we understand as an organization, is the need for housing.”
Hinton said as the project progressed, it became clear that a single building with multiple units would be more efficient.
“It would be difficult for us to have, like, a heat pump in each one, but if we have one heat pump, that can spread over three or four units, with different heads,” he said.
The complex will have 12 studio-style apartments, each with a bathroom and kitchenette. Units will be assigned on a case-by-case basis, but Hinton said they’ll focus on people who have experienced homelessness for at least a year, and who frequently use emergency services.
A mock-up shows what the apartments in the Hítx’i Sáani community might look like from the outside. (Sitka Homeless Coalition/2024)After the units are constructed, the coalition also hopes to build a central building with a commercial kitchen and space for partner organizations to offer support services. Programs director Denise Shaffer said that space will serve another goal – to provide a sense of belonging for a population that often faces social isolation.
“So many people who experience homelessness also experience social poverty,” Shaffer said. “So they lack connections, any sort of social network that allows for them to, you know, whenever we go through a hard time, we often lean on the people who are closest to us, and whenever you’re experiencing homelessness, it’s hard to find a close person that you can trust.”
She envisions the Hítx’i Sáani as a place that not only provides housing, but meaningful community.
“What is going to make the biggest difference in people experiencing chronic homelessness is just having somebody who cares about them, being a part of a neighborhood, being a part of a group of people,” Shaffer said.
There’s still a long way to go on the project, but Shaffer said it feels like they’re turning a corner.
“We’re going to start having vertical construction here by the end of the summer, and it’s just going to be so much more real than I think it has ever felt in our community,” she said.
Utilities will be installed starting the week of July 22, and then contractors will start pouring concrete foundations. With any luck, 12 Sitkans will call the Hítx’i Sáani community home by spring 2025.
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Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz filed to run for reelection last week (7-17-24). KCAW spoke with Eisenbeisz about his decision to run for a third term as Sitka’s mayor, maintaining city projects and managing the city’s economic growth, and why he thinks tourism is “the question of our generation.”
Eisenbeisz is the first candidate to file for the mayor’s chair, a two-year term. Two assembly seats and two school board seats are also up for grabs in this year’s municipal election , all three-year terms. So far two Sitkans have filed to run for the assembly seats, Robert Hattle and current assembly member Kevin Mosher.
The candidate filing period closes on Friday, August 2 at 5 p.m. Those interested in running for office can pick up a packet from the municipal clerk’s office on the third floor of city hall.
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“Das letzte Taxi” by zak mc is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.Municipal Administrator John Leach joined KCAW for the morning interview to explain the process to get a permit, discuss why Sitka doesn’t have rideshare options, and point toward a new initiative to update the city’s taxi code. Listen to the conversation here:
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Pink salmon gather at the mouth of Starrigavan Creek in Sitka. in some markets, the roe of this species can be more valuable than the flesh. (KCAW photo/Rich McClear) Listen to the story:
Peter Westley grew up fishing for salmon in Prince William Sound.
“Some of my fondest memories are actually spending time fishing in front of Wally Noerenberg Hatchery and other things, ” Westley said. “So, I’ve been tied to hatcheries in one way or another for a really long time.”
Now, Westley is a salmon researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks looking at how hatchery and wild fish interact. He’s one of a dozen authors of a study focusing on years of data on pink salmon hatcheries in Prince William Sound. It was funded through universities in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon through the Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies (CICOES) and supported by hatchery operators, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and nonprofit science groups. They all want to know more about salmon. So, Westley and the other researchers combined their data and their questions.
“What are some of the potential trade-offs regarding the use of hatchery fish as a part of the fabric of Alaska’s fisheries?” Westley said.
Salmon hatcheries are a huge part of Alaska’s fishing economy. Over two dozen of them provide harvests for thousands of commercial fishermen and are worth over half a billion dollars each year. The state owns some of the hatcheries, which are mostly managed by private nonprofits. They carefully rear salmon from eggs and then release the fry at specific sites along the coast. Their hatchery stocks originally came from wild local fish runs.
But what happens when the hatchery fish join the wild stocks? They’re known as “strays”.
“Individuals that are showing up to the wild population, interbreeding with those wild fish,” explained Samuel May, another author of the study.
May is a research geneticist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and worked with the University of Alaska Fairbanks on modeling for the study. He and the other researchers found that some hatchery salmon are straying from their groups and mixing with wild stocks. They’re traveling with the wild salmon to spawning grounds and creating a larger overall population but at the same time, potentially changing the traits of the wild fish.
May said there aren’t many stray hatchery pinks – roughly 1-5% of the population — but that could still make a difference, especially in streams with just a small run of wild fish.
And that’s because of run timing, a trait that’s deeply ingrained in the salmons’ genetics.
“Pink salmon, in particular, probably [have] the strictest timing of all of the different salmon species,” May said. “They have this really strict two-year life cycle and they actually return to the stream in which they were born within just a few days generally of when their parents returned.”
Hatcheries release juvenile salmon at different times and locations than nearby wild runs to keep the stocks separate. But some still mix, May said. This can cause wild populations to increase, which could be a good thing for harvesters, but the hatchery fish can also cause the wild stocks to change the timing of their routine. And timing is everything. Wild salmon have evolved to return during the best temperatures and food availability for their juveniles when they hatch.
“[Strays] can end up pulling the wild population off of that optimum and changing the dynamics of the wild system,” May said. “And the fear is that this is going to reduce the populations productivity or resilience to future changes.”
Conditions change from stream to stream. And specific salmon runs have adapted to them for thousands of years.
“So, if that timing changes just a little bit, then the population as a whole could be at risk of kind of missing the ideal optimal, or the ideal environmental conditions that they need in order to go on and produce that next generation,” May said.
As for why salmon occasionally stray? That’s unknown and would take more research. Yet, Westley said what they’ve learned from this study is still important – that some hatchery and wild salmon mix and create larger populations, which can be a good thing, but it can also potentially change those wild stocks – forever.
“It is a blessing and a curse, double-edged sword, whatever you want to call it,” Westley said.
The authors say this hatchery pinks study doesn’t end here. The methods can also be used for hatchery chum salmon in Southeast, which is another multi-million dollar industry in Alaska’s fisheries.
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The filing period opened earlier this week to run for local office in Sitka. On Tuesday, Assembly Member Kevin Mosher filed to run for reelection. KCAW spoke with Mosher about his last two terms and what his goals are, should he be re-elected for a third. Listen to their conversation here:
Mosher is the first candidate to file for one of two open seats on the Sitka Assembly, both three-year terms. The mayor’s chair is also up for grabs this year– a two-year term, along with two seats on the Sitka School Board, both three-year terms. The candidate filing period closes on Friday, August 2 at 5 p.m. Those interested in running for office can pick up a packet from the municipal clerk’s office on the third floor of city hall.
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A biannual community dance event is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Sitkans Can Dance is a community showcase, where locals can get on stage and share their talent with others. All dance genres are welcome. Melinda McAdams, Kristina Rear, and Eva Miller joined KCAW’s Andrew Hames to encourage would-be performers to start preparing for the November event. Listen to the full interview here:
Sitkans can Dance takes place Saturday, November 16. You can email sitkastudioofdance@gmail.com with questions.
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(KCAW photo/Wilber)Listen to KCAW’s full interview with Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson here
The filing period for Sitka’s municipal election opens today (7-15-24).
Several seats are opening up on the Sitka Assembly this fall. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz’s two-year term is up, and assembly members Scott Saline and Kevin Mosher are finishing their terms, leaving two three-year seats up for grabs. On the Sitka School Board, Tristan Guevin and Todd Gebler’s terms are expiring this year, both three-year terms.
In an interview with KCAW, Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson said anyone who is interested in running for local office can stop by her office to pick up a packet of filing paperwork.
Some folks will ask me, ‘Should I really be doing this? Is this a good idea?’ Peterson said. “There are challenging times but there’s also a lot of good that happens.”
“I always tell folks that, at the end of their term…they’re going to look back and say that it was worth their time,” Peterson said.
The filing period is open for three weeks. Then the ballot is quickly prepared and printed. Early voting begins on Monday September 16 at Harrigan Centennial Hall, and Sitkans can also vote by fax, mail or personal representative. But Peterson is excited- they’ve added a new voting option in response to community feedback about weekday voting.
“The something new we’re adding this year is early voting on Saturday mornings. So office staff will be there from 9-12, September 21 and September 28,” Peterson said. “We received some feedback the last couple of years, and so I wanted to try and extend another opportunity for voters to to exercise the right to vote.”
Sitka’s municipal election is Tuesday, October 1. For more information on how to file, call the municipal clerk’s office at 907-747-1811.
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The Sitka Community Renewable Energy Strategy is hosting public outreach events this week to engage community members in a vision for Sitka’s energy future. Haleigh Reed and Bri Gabel joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to talk about upcoming events and how Sitkans can get involved. Listen to the full interview here:
You can join Reed and Gabel Thursday, July 10 at Harbor Mountain Brewery to learn more about Sitka’s renewable energy plans. On Friday, July 11, Blatchley Middle School students will host a showcase of sustainable tiny home models from 5-7 p.m. You can find the updated Community Renewable Energy Strategy here.
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ScreenshotVance Balovich (Parks & Rec) and three AmeriCorps members: Laura Cebulski, Alan Doulphus and Emilie Vidrine joined KCAW to discuss their experience with the national volunteer organization and their work with the Parks and Recreation summer programs this year. Listen to their conversation here:
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A bed in the former Sitka Community Hospital (KCAW/Kwong)Nearly two decades ago (2005) Sitka voters approved a tax on cigarettes and tobacco products to fund Sitka Community Hospital. The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium purchased the city-owned hospital in 2019, but the hospital fund still exists today. At the Sitka Assembly meeting on July 9, Finance director Melissa Haley said that money is still covering some outstanding retirement liabilities from the hospital, leaving the fund in the red every year, but she expects that will soon change.
“Of course, our existing liabilities are always going to come first. Right now that fund is still in the red. Each year, it gets marginally healthier,” Haley said. “I don’t have a crystal ball…But in the next few years, four years, five years, there will probably be a surplus of funding in that fund after we meet our annual purchase commitment.”
When that happens, the city will have no way to spend that money, because the tax and fund is tied to the Sitka Community Hospital in the city’s charter. Haley recommended the assembly approve the ballot proposition asking voters whether to remove the requirement from the charter, and suggested they figure out where they’d like to direct that tax money in the future and draft an ordinance, for voter consideration.
During public comment, Austin Cranford said that the tax was meant to fund the hospital, that’s why the voters approved it. If the hospital does not exist, the tax should go away.
“I’m not arguing against this ballot, I think it should go on the ballot only for the voters to go and vote it down and kill it,” Cranford said. “Because the tax should be used to pay off the liabilities, and then the tax should be sunsetted.”
Assembly member Thor Christianson said the ballot proposition gave him “heartburn” when he saw it on the agenda.
“This went before the voters specifically for the hospital, you know, to try and save the hospital. It didn’t work. But it was a nice try,” Christianson said. “One of the things that people accuse us of…anybody in government–once a tax get started, you always want to keep it. And they wouldn’t be right this time,” he added. “This should go away.”
Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said they had a couple of paths forward to a public vote on the future of the tobacco tax, with pros and cons to either approach.
“I think I’ll vote yes, tonight on this, because this is one of the two methods that’s in front of us. But I think it deserves some consideration of the method that goes forward,” Eisenbeisz said. “The nice thing for me tonight is that sounds as if we have four to five years before the liabilities will be extinguished, so we do have a slight bit of time on this one if this isn’t the direction that the assembly feels that the voters would like to to consider.”
But assembly member Tim Pike said they were having the conversation too soon, and should revisit it in a few years, once the hospital fund is closer to being in the black. Then they could put the question out to voters about whether the tobacco tax should support another cause or go away.
“I can see this is going to be a much bigger conversation about where this funding needs to go, I think anyone who’s listening was probably already plotting and planning about how to repurpose the tobacco tax right now,” Pike said. “Leave it alone for now, and when the problem arrives, then let’s deal with it.”
Ultimately, the assembly rejected the proposal 1-6, with Mayor Eisenbeisz the lone vote in favor.
Two ballot propositions relating to the city’s charter passed unanimously. The first would remove a requirement for an accounting system for the former Sitka Community Hospital. The second would update city code on recalling elected officials to align with state law. If the two propositions are approved on final reading at the July 23 meeting, they’ll be up for voter consideration on October 1.
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One rendering from the new airport design. View other renderings and design plans for the expanded airport here (City of Sitka)Sitka’s airport improvement project is slightly ahead of schedule and on budget. That’s according to airport terminal manager Joseph Bea, who shared an update on the project with the Sitka Assembly on July 9. Bea said they’ve spent around $4 million so far, around one third of the money needed to complete the first phase of the project. That includes the purchase of Sitka’s only escalator.
“Our escalator just arrived on site and that’s a $400,000 piece of equipment, and we’re preparing to install that,” Bea said. “We’ve got a lot of equipment stored on site, and that’s why it’s leaning a little bit towards ahead of schedule.”
Bea said most of the underground utility installation is complete. Soon, the construction team will decommission the jet bridge, which means airline passengers will board airplanes from the ground for the better part of the next year.
“So please wear appropriate footwear, because you will be walking out of the terminal building, across the airfield and on the plane,” Bea said.
New construction includes an additional two-story building with expanded departure lounge, a skybridge connecting the new building to the original terminal building which will be remodeled with a new baggage claim system. While Sitka won’t keep its yellow jet bridge, Mayor Eisenbeisz asked if the community could keep another aspect of the old airport terminal, for nostalgia’s sake.
“We don’t want to completely get rid of all of our old airport are we gonna keep that massively loud and awkward baggage alarm?” Eisenbeisz asked. “Because I think we have to, you know, the old yellow jet bridge is one thing, but we’ve got to keep that alarm.”
Bea said he’d see if they could hold onto the buzzer.
The city and state are partnering on the project, since the state owns Sitka’s airport, but the city owns the terminal building. The airport terminal project is expected to cost around $40 million dollars, largely funded through federal grants. Bea said if they stay on schedule, the new departures building will be operational by next May. Then they’ll begin remodeling the existing building, with plans to wrap up the second phase by the spring of 2026.
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North Pacific sablefish exhibit panmixia, or random mating, meaning that a sablefish born in Bering Sea is just as likely to mate with a Southeast sablefish as with a fish from up north. (NOAA Fisheries)Some species, like salmon, spend most of their lives in the ocean and return to their birthplace to spawn.
“A salmon will go out of its stream and then it’ll go in the middle and mix with a bunch of different populations, so it would be like the one that would go to New York for college and then come back home.”
Wes Larson is the genetics program manager at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center and co-author of a paper published last month on sablefish genetics.
Larson said that sablefish, or black cod, don’t return home to spawn. In this analogy, if salmon move back home to settle down, black cod tend to meet someone abroad and start a family.
“The sablefish, it’s doing its thing, it’s eating, it’s swimming around finding food, and then we think basically, it just sort of spawns close-ish to where it’s at,” Larson said.
That tendency to mate randomly is called panmixia, and it means that Alaska doesn’t have genetically distinct populations of sablefish. A sablefish born in the Bering Sea is just as likely to mate with a Southeast sablefish as with a fish from up north.
Larson said there are limits on that mixing.
“It’s not equally probable that a fish from Mexico will come up to Alaska compared to, like, a fish from northern B.C., but the panmixia means that there’s enough exchange across the whole range.”
Larson said that understanding that kind of genetic variation is important in fisheries management.
“When you’re setting quotas and things like that, it’s important to know whether you’re fishing on a stock that exchanges with other stocks or a stock that doesn’t, because if you don’t know that information, and let’s say it’s structured, you can really fish down a certain area,” he said. “If they don’t exchange with other areas, then you can basically fish that out, essentially.”
Larson and other researchers did a deep dive into Alaska’s sablefish populations, using advanced techniques to map and compare the entire genetic footprints of juvenile and adult sablefish across Alaska and Washington.
Although previous studies have shown evidence of panmixia, a 2023 study by Mexican researchers suggested that Alaska sablefish might actually have distinct populations. Larson said that’s part of the reason that he and other researchers wanted to publish new data.
“If management took that microsatellite paper, that would sort of change the management paradigm,” Larson said. “Which, if it’s real, is important, but we didn’t think it was real.”
Larson said the new data, which used millionsof genetic markers, provides a much higher-resolution picture of the population – and confirms that fisheries managers are using an appropriate framework to manage Alaska sablefish.
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When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (7-9-24), it will discuss an action plan to enact recent recommendations from its tourism task force.
The Assembly created the tourism task force last year, in response to a tourism boom following the expansion of Sitka’s privately owned cruise dock. The task force spent last winter gathering community feedback on how the city should respond to rapid growth in cruise tourism.
The action plan ranks the recommendations from the task force from high to low priority. Top priorities include pursuing an agreement with the cruise industry, establishing a permanent tourism commission and regulating e-bikes. The assembly was going to consider the action items at its last regular meeting, but the item was postponed to give the city’s contract attorney more time to review the issue.
Looking ahead to the October 1 municipal election, the assembly will consider several possible propositions that could end up on the ballot. Described in a memo from the city’s finance director Melissa Haley and clerk Sara Peterson as “housekeeping ordinances,” one would remove a section requiring money from the Sitka Community Hospital Dedicated Fund only be spent on operating, capital, and debt service needs for the former hospital. Haley and Peterson write that while the money is currently being used to cover some former hospital employees’ retirement expenses, they expect there will be money available in the fund for other purposes in the foreseeable future. The other two items deal with removing another reference to Sitka Community Hospital from the charter, and updating the city’s process on recalling elected officials to align with state law.
And finally, the assembly will hear an update on the airport terminal improvement project from the airport manager.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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Sitka Fire Department carried out two back-to-back rescues over the weekend.
Around 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 6, the department received a call from an injured hiker on Harbor Mountain. Assistant Fire Chief David Johnson said the woman fell and hurt her leg, and was having difficulty walking. Over 20 first responders hiked in to help her, and carried her down the mountain in a litter.
Around 8 p.m., shortly after the ambulance returned to the fire hall from the first rescue, the fire department received a call from a second hiker in the Indian River area who was experiencing a medical emergency. Around a dozen search and rescue volunteers and EMS personnel responded to the call, treated the hiker and brought her back to the trailhead in a litter.
Both hikers were transported to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center with minor injuries. Johnson said while having two back-to-back rescues is uncommon, it was a beautiful weekend and people were out enjoying the weather. Both hikers called 911 from their cell phones. Before taking a hike, Johnson recommended having a plan to communicate in the event of an emergency.
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Tell us what you really think! Raven Radio is running a media survey to learn more about how you listen to us, what’s most important to you about community radio, and how you find your other news and entertainment.
The survey takes about 15 to 20 minutes, so grab a cup of coffee or tea and help us get the information we need to build the best station we can, for you. Thank you so much – your participation is really valuable to us. The survey is open from July 8th through July 15th, so don’t delay!
Click here to participate in the Jacobs Media survey or scan the QR code below:
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Visitors from the Crown Princess line up to reembark Tuesday afternoon (7-2-24). A third proposed ballot initiative to limit cruise traffic in Sitka was denied by the city on Tuesday (7-2-24).
Organizers from the group Small Town SOUL submitted an application in June to put a cruise limit question out to voters in this year’s municipal election. The group wanted to set an annual limit of 300,000 cruise visitors, with a daily limit of 4500 passengers.
The city clerk’s office had ten working days to review the document and respond. It was also reviewed by attorneys from Jermain Dunnagan Owens law firm in Anchorage. The city is currently contracting with JDO to provide legal services in the absence of a full-time municipal attorney.
In a memo on July 2, attorneys Michael Gatti and Taylor McMahon said the ballot initiative is legally unenforceable for two reasons– it has “misleading, confusing and incomplete” terms, and the section requiring permits for cruise ships violates the “tonnage clause” of the United States Constitution, which prohibits charging vessels fees for using navigable waterways. Gatti writes that states and cities can only charge fees if they’re providing a service to a vessel. On those grounds, the municipal clerk’s office denied Small Town Soul’s application.
JDO’s legal opinion also references several letters from attorneys representing cruise lines– The Sitka Dock Company, Royal Caribbean, and Allen Marine each submitted letters to the city opposing the application. Several argue that the initiative violates federal law, including the right to travel and the “commerce clause” in the US Constitution. Gatti says it’s premature to consider those arguments at this stage.
The letters also call into question how many times organizers have submitted petitions to limit cruise traffic. City code states that when a petition is denied for any reason other than the signature count, the petitioners must wait a full year to resubmit the same petition. But so far, all attempts to generate a ballot initiative to limit cruise traffic have been denied at the application phase. Gatti writes that the one year rule only applies to the petition itself, not the application for a petition.
KCAW has reached out to petition organizers for comment.
Read the full decision here
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and may be updated.
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Sitka High School principal Sondra Lundvick resigned last week, just six weeks before the start of the school year.
In an email announcing her resignation to staff on July 1, Lundvick thanked employees and said she would “always cherish” her time in Sitka and at Sitka High School.
Lundvick has been a Sitka High School administrator for the past decade. She took over the role of principal in 2020.
Ariel Starbuck teaches Spanish at Sitka High. She said Lundvick has been a strong advocate for staff and students, especially in guiding the school through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You know, she came into being the principal during COVID and really stepped up into that leadership role,” Starbuck said. “We were able to keep school sort of functioning normally when a lot of schools around the state weren’t, and I think that is one of her big landmarks that she’ll leave with us.”
Starbuck said that the principal fills many roles at the school, and that Lundvick will be hard to replace.
“I think the high school principal is one of the difficult jobs in our school district,” she said. “As far as time commitment, you know, I think she was there around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. every morning, and then probably never left earlier than 4 p.m. She shielded us from a lot of things so that we could keep doing our jobs.”
The school district posted an opening for the position on July 1 with a start date of August 7. Neither Lundvick nor district superintendent Deirdre Jenson could be reached for comment.
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Brave Heart Volunteers annual bowls fundraiser is 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 6, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. 300 hand-crafted ceramic bowls and Ruth Culp’s cookies are available for a suggested donation along with a free cup of soup and bread to go. Michele Friedman and Liz Zacher joined KCAW on the Morning Interview to discuss the event. Listen to their conversation here
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The Alaska Marine Highway System ferry LeConte sails north in Scow Bay near Petersburg Monday, June 15, 2020. (Joe Viechnicki/KFSK)
The Alaska Marine Highway System’s proposed winter ferry schedule has just one ferry serving Southeast Alaska’s main route – sailing north to south once a week through the inner channels from Skagway to Bellingham, Washington. It’s a similar schedule to last year’s and it leaves some communities out.
Listen to the story:
Kake’s 550 residents live on the northwest side of Kupreanof Island. The proposed winter ferry schedule would have a ferry stop in Kake just once a month.
“It’s the same as what it has been for several years for us. No service to Kake, basically,” said Llyod Davis, mayor of Kake.
Davis was speaking at a June 26 virtual meeting for the state’s Department of Transportation about the proposed schedule.
“For our elders that struggle to get up climb on and off a plane, sometimes they just, they miss their appointments,” said Davis. “They miss these trips and whatnot because they’re gonna wait for that ferry because they can’t get on and off on those planes and the high costs we pay to fly around out of Kake.”
Southeast Alaska residents relied on ferries for transportation for decades. Throughout the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s multiple mainline ferries sailed the region. But the service has been dramatically scaled back with an aging, high-maintenance fleet and short staffing. And flying isn’t an easy alternative.
“Flights to and from our community are very expensive,” said Anji Gallanos, Kake’s superintendent and principal.
Ferries used to be the first choice to transport students to and from regional events. But Gallanos testified that the school district had to budget $130,000 next year for travel by plane, even in tight budget times.
“We rely on the ferry system to help our students and encourage our students to participate in sports and student activities which are critical for their development and for their learning,” Gallanos said. “So, we’re just advocating and imploring the ferry service to please include more than a one-time monthly service to Kake.”
Sitka is also off the beaten path when it comes to ferry service. Located on the outer shores of Baranof Island, it’s scheduled to get one ferry stop per week, either north or south.
Melissa Wileman is with Sitka’s municipal government. In the past, Sitkans used ferries to bring bulk items back from Juneau. Now, she said she feels like a broken record, constantly advocating for more service.
“I’m really frustrated this year with the lack of ferries northbound,” Wileman said. “It’s pretty devastating to our community, not being able to, you know, get to Juneau the expenses here and Sitka, are astronomical, and it’s really hurting our community.”
In the northern part of the region, Yakutat hasn’t had enough ferries in recent years, according to Police Chief John Waldron. That trend is expected to continue – Yakutat is not on the schedule this coming winter. With limited local options, Waldron said they need ferries to get their vehicles serviced – barging a truck costs upwards of $5,000 one way.
“I just would love to see the Kennicott, even if it’s once a month, stopping in Yakutat on the northbound and then the opposite month coming down and stopping in southbound,” Waldron said. “Even if it’s you know, once or twice, it gives us some ability to get some vehicles in and out.”
Some Southeast residents who testified at the public hearing proposed changes to the ferry schedule, like adding additional stops in Kake, Sitka and Yakutat. State ferry representatives say they are considering those comments and plan to have a completed winter schedule by the end of July.
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Amateur and aspiring filmmakers ages 12 and up are invited to participate in an annual film trailer challenge sponsored by the Sitka Film Society and the Coliseum Theater. Shannon Haugland and Rob Poulson joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the event. Listen to the full interview here:
Challenge entries submitted by July 6 will be screened on July 10 at 5 p.m. at the Coliseum Theater, and will be followed by a screening of the short documentary film Safe Enough. Tickets are available at Old Harbor Books or at the door.
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One person was rescued by emergency personnel after flipping a kayak at Sitka’s Blue Lake on Saturday. Dispatchers received a call about the incident at about 5:30 p.m. Nineteen Sitka Search and Rescue and EMS personnel and three vehicles responded.
In an interview with KCAW, assistant fire chief David Johnson said that the kayaker, who is a Sitka resident, was transported to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center by ambulance with possible hypothermia. Neither the age of the kayaker nor the severity of his injuries was disclosed.
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Raven Radio’s outgoing Co-General Managers Rich and Suzi McClear pass the torch (and the nameplate) to Mariana Robertson (KCAW Photo) Raven Radio’s new general manager, Mariana Robertson, assumed her role at the station today (7-1-24). Outgoing General Manager Rich McClear (who came out of retirement last year to co-manage the station with Suzi McClear) interviewed Mariana on the Good Day Radio Show to introduce listeners to a voice that’s sure to become familiar in the coming years. Listen to their conversation here:
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Without a local haulout, many Sitka fishermen have traveled to facilities in Hoonah, pictured here, or other communities to work on their vessels. (PND Engineers)Federal funding may be coming down the pike for Sitka’s marine haulout project.
In an interview with KCAW, municipal administrator John Leach said that Senator Lisa Murkowski and Representative Mary Peltola have earmarked $5.77 million to help complete the first stage of the project, which is slated to cost $15 million.
Leach said there’s still a long way to go before that funding is secured.
“It’s headed to the Appropriations Committee next week, and if it passes there, then it’ll go to Congress sometime in July,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll hear a confident answer on that probably until the end of the calendar year.”
If the funding does come through, Leach said the first phase of the project will be fully funded. That will get Sitka a bare-bones haulout. It won’t include restrooms, electrical infrastructure, or a large boatyard. Leach said that staff are continuing to look for grant opportunities to fund phase two, but that he hopes a stripped-down facility can serve Sitkans in the meantime.
“Even if it’s just the the baseline work they can do, if the boat can come out of the water, if they can get washed and painted and put back in the water, that’s a lot more than what we can do now,” he said.
Sitka has been without a marine haulout since 2022 when the privately owned haulout closed, forcing the fishing fleet to travel to other communities. Later that year, voters approved an initial $8 million dollar appropriation to construct a haulout with funds from the sale of the Sitka Community Hospital building.
Phase one is scheduled to be complete by spring 2025.
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Pacific blue mussels are ubiquitous on Sitka’s shorelines. They’re also a useful species to monitor the presence of paralytic shellfish toxins, or PSTs, in Sitka’s waters. (KCAW/Redick)A popular clam digging spot in Sitka is showing sky-high levels of the toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning.
The Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Research Lab tested samples of blue mussels collected from Sitka’s Starrigavan North beach on June 10 and 18. Both samples had levels of toxins far above the regulatory limit, according to data released by the lab. The most recent sample, collected June 18, had toxin levels about 4.5 times the regulatory limit. In a press release on June 24, the Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research consortium advised sport and subsistence harvesters to exercise caution and noted that other local beaches may have high levels of toxins as well.
Paralytic shellfish poisoning is caused by blooms of marine algae, which tend to be more prolific in summer months. While the toxins don’t harm the shellfish, they can cause serious illness and death in humans.
If you doharvest shellfish, you can bring a sample to the lab for free testing. You can learn more and schedule testing at seator.org.
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The Sitka Performing Arts Center opened in 2008. Built at a cost of $18 million dollars, architect Sergio Fisher called it “the best high school theater we’ve ever designed.” (SFAC image)Alaska Arts Southeast, the nonprofit arm of the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, will now receive an annual fee for managing the Sitka Performing Arts Center. In a special meeting Tuesday, the Sitka School Board awarded the local nonprofit a one-year contract to manage the center, with four optional extension years.
The Sitka Fine Arts Camp has been managing the PAC since 2019. They collected revenue from rentals, but they didn’t charge for management. In March of this year, they requested an annual fee to defray some of the costs of managing the facility.
Sitka Fine Arts Camp brought forth the only bid in a formal request for proposals, asking for $125,000 annually with a three percent increase each year.
Board president Tristan Guevin said he was grateful for the organization’s management so far.
“The level of expertise to manage that is one that we as a district don’t have, and you all do have, so we just really appreciate that,” he said. “You know, it benefits our students and our families, so we appreciate everything you all do.”
The school board unanimously approved that bid on Tuesday. The district will work with the city and Alaska Arts Southeast to develop a contract.
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(Angela Denning/KFSK)Last year, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) adopted a policy to tie halibut trawl bycatch limits in the Bering Sea to abundance, rather than a flat number. In December, an organization representing groundfish trawlers sued NMFS in US District Court.
While the Bering Sea is far from Sitka, trawl bycatch of halibut impacts Sitka’s fisheries since halibut born in the Bering sea migrate to Southeast waters. Sitka’s assembly has already approved a resolution in support of the new policy. But at its regular meeting on June 25, it considered taking that support further by signing onto an amicus brief to support NMFS and other defendants in the federal court case.
Lauren Howard with the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association urged them to take that step.
“This issue hits really hard for a lot of us, I think, in this community. Our fisheries are a constant threat from many things, and trawl bycatch is definitely one of them,” Howards said. “If you think that the halibut resource is important for the community, then it’s important that we make the statement now.”
The amicus brief in question was prepared pro-bono by an attorney in Homer for the assembly’s consideration. The city’s contract attorney, Michael Gatti said he’d read it, and it was a good brief. He told the assembly they had three options- sign it as is, stick with the resolution they already passed, or have his firm develop a separate brief for Sitka, which he said could be costly and time consuming. Gatti felt the assembly’s resolution had the same strength and political impact as signing onto an amicus brief.
Assembly member Thor Christianson supported signing on to the amicus brief.
“I think it’s the strongest statement we can make,” Christianson said. “It’s not just the courts that I think we’re talking to. We’re talking to everybody, every fisherman in town who fishes… both longlining and salmon. I mean, bycatch is not just halibut.”
Assembly member Scott Saline also supported signing onto the amicus brief drafted by the Homer attorney that was ready to go.
“We’re all in the same boat, same ocean,” Saline said. “If Kodiak is gambling on it, and Cordova, that’s good enough for me.”
Assembly member Kevin Mosher felt more comfortable working with the city’s contracted attorney rather than a pro bono attorney. And while he believed in supporting the halibut bycatch limit (he co-sponsored the initiative) he worried about the city’s capacity to tackle extra legal issues at a time when it is without a dedicated municipal attorney.
“If we sign on to an amicus, every time there’s input or changes, he’s [Gatti] going to have to have himself or his people billing us hours to look over something that isn’t really much of a difference than if we just have the resolution,” Mosher said. “I think we should save our resources for the pressing legal matters at hand.”
And assembly member JJ Carlson felt more comfortable sticking with the resolution the assembly had already approved. With a tight deadline for filing the brief, which had been updated as recently as the day of the assembly meeting, the process felt rushed.
“This is a hard one because are we supporting an idea, or are we voting on a plan, on a document?” Carlson asked. “If we were tonight, right now, voting on an idea? Absolutely. Yes, with an exclamation point from me. But I don’t think that’s what we’re voting on. We’re voting on signing a piece of paper and the words on that piece of paper matter, and having reviewed those words matter.”
Ultimately a motion to join the amicus brief failed 3-4 with assembly members Carlson, Tim Pike, Kevin Mosher and Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz opposed.
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Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary was one of the schools affected by layoffs this year. (Ed Ronco KCAW/2012)Margaret Hart had a circuitous route to her first full-time teaching job. She thought she wanted to teach music at the secondary level but a few years into her studies realized her passion was for elementary school. She had to stop her studies at one point for financial reasons. She also started a family.
“Working, going to school with two kids takes a little bit longer but I finally finished, finally student-taught and last year I got hired just 10 days before school started,” Hart said. “I got a 4th grade position. I got my classroom all ready and it was just a magical wonderful time for it finally to all come together.”
Hart knew she had landed in the right place.
“The school district in general, but especially Keet Gooshi Heen is just a wildly supportive school. I feel like my first year teaching went really well. I had a great group of kids.”
And then came budget season and layoffs. The Sitka School District had to cut 16 positions.
“There is always a bit of uncertainty and always a little bit of worry but it’s always this idea of well we figure it out every year and this year probably around the end of April, early May, it really started feeling like this year was going to be different.”
When the chips fell Hart was among 14 staff whose contracts were not renewed.
Sitka teacher Margaret Hart (Margaret Hart/2024)“It’s devastating to so many families but at the same time it is what we deal with and something that is a yearly cycle,” Hart said. “We go into it with our eyes wide open. It doesn’t make it any less difficult.”
Longtime Sitka teacher Stephanie Peterson said the layoffs are disheartening. “For everybody. I know it’s not what the board wants, it’s not what the administration wants. It’s not what anybody in town wants.”
Peterson feels for Hart and her colleagues. “Most of them obviously haven’t been teaching for very long; they’re not tenured. And I’m pretty sure most of the community has no idea how hard those first year and second year teachers work and how many hundreds of unpaid hours they put in. And when you start teaching, you know, the first year is so exciting, but it’s so difficult. And you work so hard.”
Peterson knows from experience how early-career teachers start looking ahead to the following school year, thinking about what they want to improve and change.
“Next year I’m going to try this, and I learned this, and next year I want do this, and then all of a sudden, through these circumstances, it’s taken away,” Peterson said.
There are also financial realities.
“When you get a new job like that you might buy a house or you might have insurance,” Peterson said. “You know a lot of these teachers, their spouses work in the charter industry or the fishing industry or a small construction company. They don’t have insurance, so economically of course it’s really frightening. “
Margaret Hart is fortunate to have a partner with a steady job and benefits. But she knows that’s not the case for everyone.
“We’re going to stick around for this year and keep our fingers crossed that things equal out,” Hart said. “In the future, if it doesn’t, you know, I want to stay in this field. I want to stay in education. So we’ll probably look at other places, at least for short period stints.”
Hart’s biggest takeaway is just how much uncertainty permeates the education system right now.
“It affects more than just me, you know, not having a job, it affects, you know, my child who’s in the school district, there’s uncertainty of what grades people will be teaching, there’s uncertainty of how many teachers at each grade level, how many kids are going to be in each class. So it’s just uncertainty across the board.”
Both teachers worry about the impact of these layoffs on kids and class sizes and opportunities. Peterson shakes her head at Alaska’s lack of a dedicated source of revenue for education. Hart urges people to stay tuned in and involved. Meantime she’s looking forward to getting back into the classroom as soon as she can.
“Even with all the uncertainty. I would do this uncertainty again year after year if I had to. Because this is something I really care about and I love doing.”
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Last month, the Sitka Assembly adopted a list of recommendations from the Tourism Task Force. When the assembly meets tonight (6-25-24), it will discuss how to move forward in tackling some of those items.
The assembly established the tourism task force in 2023, after the community started seeing unprecedented growth in tourism following the expansion of Halibut Point Cruise Terminal, Sitka’s privately owned cruise dock. The task force was asked to gather community input on acceptable levels of tourism and how the city should respond.
The assembly will review a draft “action plan” that ranks the recommendations from the task force. Right now, some recommendations listed as ‘high’ priority include pursuing a mutual agreement with the cruise industry, establishing a permanent tourism commission, and regulating E-Bikes.
In other business, the assembly will consider whether to sign onto an amicus brief supporting a new policy to limit halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea. The assembly passed a resolution in favor of the policy in May, but the amicus brief would be in support of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is being sued by Groundfish Forum Incorporated for implementing the new policy.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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This weekend’s Jazz on the Waterfront will feature a 20-piece big band and local and visiting performers. The event, which includes dinner and dessert, is a fundraiser for Sitka Fine Arts Camp. Percussionist Ed Littlefield and keyboardist Bob Athayde joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss this year’s line-up. Listen to the full interview here:
Tickets are available at fineartscamp.org.
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The M/V Kennicott travels south in the Wrangell Narrows near Petersburg on April 15, 2024. (Photo by Angela Denning/CoastAlaska)The state has released its draft winter ferry schedule, which covers October 1 through April 30. Residents might find the schedule familiar.
“It’s pretty similar to last year’s winter schedule,” said Sam Dapcevich, spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation. “We’re dealing with the same fleet and the same crewing situation.”
As in recent years, there will be one ferry serving the main route through Southeast Alaska from Skagway to Bellingham, Washington. That means most communities will see one ferry stop going north and south each week. Sitka, however, will see only one ferry going in one direction each week. Dapcevich said it might be north or south throughout the summer.
“There’s a little bit of variability there,” he said, “but it always stops in Sitka in one direction or the other.”
The Kennicott will be sailing through Southeast in October and then the Columbia will run November through April.
The Homer and Kodiak region will have no ferry service from January through March when the Aurora is docked for maintenance. And there will be no service for Prince William Sound, including Cordova and Valdez, from October through December. That’s when the 60-year-old Tustumena will be getting annual maintenance.
“When that ship is in its annual overhaul, it’s inspected by the Coast Guard or by the American Bureau of Shipping,” Dapcevich said. “They go over that vessel with a fine toothcomb. These vessels are very closely looked at.”
The state plans to replace the Tustumena in 2027 with a hybrid diesel-electric ship that’s larger and faster. It’s expected to cost at least $300 million.
The Tustumena is just one of the state’s old ferries. Four others are nearly 50 years or older and their age means more maintenance. The Matanuska has remained in overhaul status for expensive repairs since January of last year. Dapcevich said deciding whether to fix that vessel or any of the aging fleet isn’t easy.
“They’re tough decisions,” he said. “Like, how many more years do you get? The Matanuska is 60 years old – if you plug $40 million into it, will it be a stopgap vessel? Will it keep you going? Or are you going to continue to fight with other issues?”
For the long-term outlook, Dapcevich said next year should see a similar schedule. But they’ll start adding crew quarters to the Tazlina, which would bring another vessel to potentially fill service gaps to the Southwest region in 2027.
As for ferries connecting to Prince Rupert, BC like they used to, that service has stopped.
The public can send in written comments by the end of the day on Tuesday. DOT will be holding two Zoom meetings on Wednesday when the public can also comment. The meeting for the Southeast region is at 10 a.m. and it’s at 1 p.m. for the Prince William Sound and Southwest regions.
Comments may be emailed to dot.amhs.comments@alaska.gov, or faxed to 907-228-6873.
Zoom virtual meeting for Southeast Alaska:When: June 26, 2024 10:00 AM AKDT
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89091551528
By phone: (253) 215-8782
Webinar ID: 890 9155 1528
International numbers available: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kdIogA0i7f
Zoom virtual meeting for Southwest and Southcentral Alaska (PWS):When: June 26, 2024 01:00 PM AKDT
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84466431382
By phone: (253) 215-8782
Webinar ID: 844 6643 1382
International numbers available: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kdIogA0i7f
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Charles Bingham and Debe Brincefield joined KCAW to discuss the 2024 Sitka Farmers Market, opening for the first time this weekend. Listen to their conversation here:
Sitka Farmers Markets are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays June 29, July 13 and 27, August 10 and 24 and September 7 and 21 at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall.
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(SMF Photo) Pianist Jasmine Arakawa and violinist Helen Kim joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss upcoming concerts at the Sitka Music Festival this weekend. Listen to their conversation here:
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A brown bear tackles a fortified trash can at Bear Awareness Day at Fortress of the Bear (G&H Photograph/2024)Authorities had to kill four bears in Sitka earlier this month in defense of life and property, so Bear Awareness Day on June 15 felt especially timely this year. The event took place at Fortress of the Bear in collaboration with The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Defenders of Wildlife, Sitka National Historical Park and the U.S. Forest Service.
The bear-resistant trash can demonstration is the highlight of the now-annual event. The bears tried to break into a variety of trash cans filled with food, struggling with the bear-resistant models but dispensing easily with the regular trash can.
“You can see how easy it is for the bears to get into that and find food really quickly,” bear curator Claire Turner told the assembled crowd. “Whereas these other two cans are really giving them a run for their money.”
Turner is in charge of bear care at Fortress of the Bear which looks after orphaned bears in an educational environment. As dozens of visitors watched from the facility’s overhead walkway, a trio of resident brown bears pushed the trash cans around, clawed at them, tried to bite into the thick layers of plastic, and jumped up and down on them.
“We’re really fortunate our bears are willing to be testers and ambassadors for their species. This is great enrichment for them. It’s really good and physical for them in terms of exercise; it’s engaging mentally. You can see them trying to figure out the ways things might work,” Turner said.
After the bears had spent a while trying to break into the fortified cans, Turner asked the crowd to think about the real world implications.
“One of these cans that’s taking our bears in excess of 5, 10, 15 minutes to get into, it’s unlikely that wild bears would spend that kind of time without it getting any kind of reward. This is the kind of can we need all over town,” she said. ” It does help them learn that this is not a viable food source for them.”
Wildlife biologist Steve Bethune of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game drove home the same message.
“As you can see the cans are taking a beating and they’re not having any success,” Bethune said. “It’s a great argument for the City of Sitka someday going to a system with these cans.”
Switching all of Sitka’s trash cans to state-of-the-art bear resistant ones would cost an estimated 1.5 million dollars. But Claire Turner made the case for starting small.
“We’d love to see, even if we were not to try and replace all 3000 cans in town immediately, maybe we just buy a few and we test out in those areas that get higher bear traffic and see what kind of difference it makes.”
Even without bear resistant trash cans, the experts at Bear Awareness Day reiterated how important it is to stay vigilant about items that could attract bears. They suggested keeping trash inside until pick up day and even freezing it if need be.
“With no salmon quite yet or very few it’s a really important time of year to help teach bears an urban area is not a place to find a meal,” Fish and Game Education and Outreach Specialist Abby McAllister said. “They’re opportunistic, they’re omnivores; this time of year food is scarce and they’ll find a meal wherever they can find it. If they can’t find it in town they’ll find it elsewhere.”
The day also included presentations on bear spray, electric fencing and other information on how to prevent, avoid and survive encounters with bears.
“Everyone here is passionate about trying to keep bears safe,” Turner said. “If it keeps wild bears safe, it keeps us safe too; it keeps local dogs safe; it keeps kids safe.”
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Last fall, a group of Sitkans tried twice to get an ordinance to limit cruise traffic to 240,000 visitors annually before voters. Both failed to make it beyond the city’s legal review process. Since then the group has organized into a nonprofit, Small Town SOUL. On June 18, they submitted their thirdpetition with a higher cruise visitor limit –300,000 passengers annually, with a daily limit of 4500 passengers, starting in the 2025 cruise season.
In an interview with KCAW, SOUL president Klaudia Leccese says 300,000 was the number that came up most often in community surveys conducted by the city’s tourism task force.
“We heard from the task force meetings, and just generally, that 300,000 would be kind of a more acceptable number,” Leccese said. “So we’re trying to listen to the what we’ve heard from the public.”
Sitka’s assembly-appointed tourism task force spent the winter researching the ‘right-size’ for cruise tourism in Sitka. They gathered data through surveys and town halls, then spent months reviewing that data. The group presented their final report and recommendations to the assembly in May, but they didn’t land on a “magic number” for cruise visitors. Instead, among its 32 findings, the group recommended pursuing a formal agreement with the cruise industry, leveling off the growth, shortening the length of the season and reducing peak days. But Leccese says she and other community members weren’t satisfied.
“Personally, I just don’t see…their recommendation as being representative of what the community really feels,” Leccese said. “I don’t think they had their finger on the pulse of the community.”
Leccese and fellow SOUL member Devon Calvin say they want a voice in deciding the future of tourism:
“As a young person, I’m really wanting to have some sort of say in the unfolding of tourism here in town, and making sure that it’s not completely out of my hands,” Calvin said. “I don’t want this place to be overwhelmed or, a lot of people say, ‘Disney-fied.’ I’d like to just steer it in a direction that is kind of in keeping with some of the place-based values that I care about. And a lot of that is revolving around local food security and sharing food, celebrating food, being outside, and being part of this really great place.”
Larry Edwards wrote the first two initiatives, which were peer reviewed by other community members but weren’t drafted with an attorney’s help- this one was. He’s hoping that will help ensure the petition advances.
“Legal advice is definitely very helpful in this, and I think we have a very clean product now that we think the city should just adopt,” Edwards said. “Why even put it on the ballot.”
The initiative also includes a letter from the group’s attorney, pointing to a section of Sitka general code that says the Sitka Assembly may direct the city attorney to help with the wording of a petition.
“And we hope that the assembly will take immediate action to authorize the attorney to do that during the period when the city clerk is looking at certifying or denying the application,” Edwards said. “So we’re just trying to smooth the process and make it easy for the city and easy for us to try to get it all done in one go.”
KCAW reached out to the municipal administrator who declined to comment on the new initiative. In a statement shared with KCAW, cruise terminal owner Chris McGraw said cruise tourism doesn’t have to be at odds with community well-being. Imposing rigid caps through ballot measures, he wrote, “not only risks dividing our community and complicating the pursuit of effective long-term solutions, but also causes significant economic disruption to the entire community.”
The city has two weeks to verify the petition signatures and review the proposed ordinance language. If it passes legal review, the organizers have a short window to gather signatures if they want to see the question on the ballot in the October municipal election. Otherwise it will go to a special election.
Read the proposed ballot initiative here
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Members of the Sitka School Board and Sitka School District superintendent Deidre Jenson (left) discuss staffing cuts during the June 19, 2024 school board meeting. (Redick/KCAW)In May, the Sitka school board adopted a bare-bones budget that eliminated 16 teaching positions. As staff and families reckon with the changes, the loss of Sitka High’s librarian is hitting particularly hard.
Last year, the district had about 2.5 full-time library positions, spread out between Keet Gooshi Heen, Xóots Elementary, and Sitka High School. This year, the budget has no paid library positions. Instead, the district will be hiring what they call “media specialists and interventionists” – but exactly how many positions, and their job descriptions, remains unclear.
When the Sitka school board met on June 19, parents and community members showed up to ask the board to reconsider eliminating the Sitka High librarian position. Bridget Hitchcock, who has two school-aged children, said that a library is an essential part of the school.
“The library serves a need that isn’t always talked about,” Hitchcock said. “You know, we think about science and math, and we think about all these main core topics and the main electives. But the library I think is, in some ways, kind of the heart of the institution. And I think to pull somebody who’s so passionate about it and good at it would be a disservice to a lot of students.”
And Beth Short-Rhoads said that librarian Beau Hedrick has gone above and beyond in his role, filling gaps by providing tech support and acting as a substitute.
“He’s almost like a superhero that has all of these different things that he can do under just one salary,” Short-Rhoads said. “So it’s like paying one person to do five different jobs, and it seems like having him at the high school is is just a really good value.”
Right now the budget assumes a $500 increase in the base student allocation, or per-student funding, from the state. That could end up being a little higher – $680 per student – if Governor Dunleavy approves the increase. He vetoed an increase last year, but said in May that he was open to the increase this year. Short-Rhoads and several other community members asked that the school board consider reinstating the librarian position if that extra funding comes through.
“it’s my understanding that there may be a little tiny bit of, quote, extra money coming in if the BSA is raised to $680 versus the $500 that was budgeted, and I would ask that some of those funds are used to retain Mr. Hedrick,” she said.
In an interview with KCAW, school board president Tristan Guevin said that the board will ask for public input if more funding comes through. But, he said, it’s hard to say whether Hedrick’s position, or any others, would be reinstated in that case. He said the district has to think about other essential areas, like technology and reading intervention.
“So that’s another thing we have to consider,” he said. “Do we, you know, put back in a classroom teacher or librarian or reading specialists that we’ve seen have, you know, a significant impact on where students are in terms of their reading?”
And even with a one-time BSA increase, without a permanent funding boost from the state, he said Sitka’s schools will continue to face cuts.
In other news, the board voted to renew the school district’s food service contract, approved a six-year capital improvement plan that includes requests for funding to replace the Blatchley Middle School roof, and voted to transfer maintenance of school district buildings to the city. They postponed a vote to award the Sitka Fine Arts Camp a contract to manage the Sitka Performing Arts Center.
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Sitka Sound Science Center Research Director Lauren Bell and visiting scientists Matt Bracken and Cascade Sorte joined to discuss their work studying intertidal species and their reaction to climate change. Bracken will host a beach walk and talk this Friday morning. The talk is free and open to the public. Listen to their conversation here:
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Mayo will be bringing a new plasma-cutter, a gift from a welding manufacturer, with her to school. (Redick/2024)The first time that seventeen-year-old Autumn Mayo tried arc welding, she felt invincible.
“Holding my own clamp and arc welding myself, I felt like powerful like Zeus,” Mayo said. “Like I’m holding lightning. It was crazy.”
Mayo, who graduated from Sitka High School this spring, started welding less than two years ago, when she signed up for a metalworking elective with teacher Tim Pike. When they started the welding portion, something just clicked.
“I liked the rhythm you needed, like, the hand-eye coordination, and the almost Zen state,” Mayo said.
Going to college had never felt like quite the right path for Mayo – but for a long time, she wasn’t sure what was the right path.
“I knew that I wanted to go to some sort of education after high school, but I wasn’t sure what yet,” she said. “Even through all of my high school career, I was between options and jobs, but I wasn’t quite motivated for any of them. I didn’t have the drive.”
With welding, she could see a future.
“I just started welding, not even considering it as a possible career until I realized how much I enjoyed it,” she said. “And that I was good at it, and it could be a career, and it’s something that I’d want to really focus on and get better at and improve. So it was like a crazy surprise.”
Autumn Mayo practices welding during a Sitka High School metalworking class. Mayo is pursuing a career in welding. (Mayo/2024)This fall, Mayo is headed to Universal Technical Institute in Arizona for a one-year vocational training program. There, she’ll learn four different types of welding.
And she’ll join the ranks of a small but growing category: women in welding. Women make up only 5.8 percent of welders, according to the most recent survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a rural, Alaska Native woman, Mayo is in an even smaller category. She says she didn’t think much about that when she applied to school, and that she doesn’t feel limited by her gender.
“I’m very girly,” she said, laughing. “You know, I love pink. I love makeup and dressing up. And I love welding.”
So much so that when she was penning invitations to her graduation this spring, a welding manufacturer, Hypertherm, made the short list.
“I wrote them a grad announcement, just detailing a little bit that I’m graduating and going to UTI, and they’re invited if they want to come, and I drew a little picture of a guy welding or girl welding,” she said. “And then I didn’t really think much of it.”
Hypertherm didn’t attend her graduation, but they did send her a surprise: a professional-grade plasma-cutter, which can cut and gouge metal, that retails for over $2,000. Mayo says as an entry-level welder, a new plasma-cutter would have otherwise been out of reach.
“I probably would have gotten something secondhand, you know, still starting out right out of trade school,” she said. “So just to have that already under the belt is a blessing. I’m so thankful. It’s so nice.”
Mayo leaves for school in August. She says after training, she wants to work welding boats.
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Members of Aangóon Yátx’i, Angoon’s youth dance group, perform during a celebration to launch the Thayer Creek hydroelectric project in the elementary school gym. (Mary Catharine Martin/2024)It’s taken 44 years, but a hydroelectric project in Angoon finally has all of the funding, and most of the permits, to launch. And while construction on the Thayer Creek Project is still a few months out, organizers say they’re ready to celebrate.
Angoon mayor Peter Duncan remembers first hearing about a proposal to develop Thayer Creek when Jimmy Carter was president.
“When I first heard about all this, I was still in high school — back in 1980, but it could have been earlier than that, that they were talking about it,” Duncan said. “But back in 1980, I know for a fact. So for sure that was the serious talks with the corporation and everybody about the possibility of a hydro.”
The hydroelectric project on Thayer Creek will include a hydroelectric facility, barge landing, service road, and underground cable system. (Photo provided by Jon Wunrow.)In December 1980, Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and established the Admiralty Island National Monument on the ancestral lands of the Angoon Lingít. In the process, Angoon’s village corporation, Kootznoowoo, negotiated the right to develop hydroelectric resources in the area.
But, those rights didn’t come with funding. Jon Wunrow, director of tourism and natural resources for Kootznoowoo, said that stopped the project from ever getting off the ground.
“We’ve had lots and lots and lots of attempts at getting funding in a community the size of about 400 people, in rural remote Alaska, where everybody has needs,” Wunrow said.
For the past four decades, residents of Angoon have relied on diesel to heat their homes, power their freezers, and keep their lights on. And that fuel gets expensive – up to 8 times the national average.
A few years ago, spurred by rising fuel prices, Kootznoowoo decided to move forward without federal funding, using a seven million dollar grant from the Alaska Energy Authority. They started designing a run-of-river hydroelectric facility on Thayer Creek, a few miles north of town. The project they envisioned would generate more than enough electricity for the community of Angoon – if they could find another 30 million or so dollars.
Earlier this year, Wunrow was ready to give up.
“Several of us were about ready to just sort of toss in the towel there,” he said. “We just had had one funding denial after another, after another, after another.”
Then, this February, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan announced that Angoon would receive 27 million dollars in federal funding to develop the Thayer Creek Project as part of a bipartisan federal infrastructure bill that funneled 125 million dollars to clean energy projects in Alaska. Combined with smaller grants, that means the 34-million dollar project is fully funded.
Although they’re still waiting on some final reports, Wunrow considers the project fully permitted – another hard-fought success.
“Not only is it federal land, it’s National Monument land,” Wunrow said. “And so it’s a tough place to get permission to build, even though Thayer was granted, the right to develop Thayer, to the community and to Kootznoowoo 40 years ago through legislation, that doesn’t mean that it was an easy project.”
There are a couple more boxes to check off before construction begins. A Forest Service team is drafting a report to confirm that the project won’t damage historic or cultural artifacts. And a team of engineers will bore down into the seafloor, where the underground cable will sit, to make sure the rock composition is suitable.
Once construction begins in spring 2025, Wunrow estimates that it will take three years to complete the hydroelectric facility, plus a barge landing, service road, and underground cable system. When the project is complete, it is expected to stabilize or reduce electric costs for residents for at least 50 years – and provide a lot of extra power.
“Probably up to 70 percent of the hydro will be excess,” he said. “So we’re looking to be able to work to establish reduced rates for that excess hydro to incentivize heat pumps in homes, someday maybe electric vehicles, electric boat motors, and attracting business to the community that maybe isn’t here in part because of the high cost of energy.”
Mayor Duncan said that collaboration between the city, Tribe, and village corporation helped make this project a reality. And he said the hydroelectric project is just one way that Angoon is moving into the future.
“This is the result of working together,” he said. “Good things can happen. And that’s what we’re seeing right now today is, you know, everybody working together to make something happen. And I haven’t seen something like this for Angoon in quite some time, so we’re all excited.”
The community held a celebration to officially launch the project – and to look back on its 44-year history – on Friday afternoon (6-14-24) in the elementary school gym. The agenda included speeches from local leaders, as well as stories of Angoon elders testifying in front of Congress and adopting President Carter into a clan.
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A dive team investigated the site of a sunken wooden vessel in Herring Cove on Friday (6-14-24) (KCAW/Rose) On Sunday June 9, a mariner fouled his anchor in Herring Cove. Every time he tried to move the anchor, a little oil sheen and debris would pop up.
“He called us to check and make sure that there wasn’t any known debris in the area, and to try to see if there was a known snag,” said Petty Officer First Class Heather Darce in an interview with KCAW. Darce is a marine science technician with the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Detachment in Sitka.
“We were able to check local charts, [and] there was nothing down there that was charted,” Darce said.
Darce says the mariner then hired a local diver to help retrieve his anchor. In doing so, the diver discovered a sunken boat, an 80 foot wooden vessel, attached to a smaller boat. The boat’s sinking hadn’t been reported to the Coast Guard. But they were able to find its vessel number and name.
“So the Dragon Lady is the last name that she held, but the boat was actually built in the ’40s and went through a bunch of different iterations,” Darce said.
The Coast Guard immediately hired a marine salvage crew to contain the oil and figure out if it was purging any more oil– and it wasn’t. So Darce says they began to research the boat to figure out where its fuel tanks might be so they could dive down and remove the fuel safely. They found the builder, Wheeler, in Brooklyn, New York, and requested diagrams of the boat.
“They didn’t have anything that old, but they did go ahead and let us know that that hull number corresponded to a vessel that was built by them in 1943 for use by the United States Coast Guard,” Darce said.
“That sort of changed…things on a little bit of an emotional level for us, knowing that, as Coasties, that this was a Coast Guard Cutter.”
Wheeler built over 230 patrol boats for the Coast Guard during World War 2. According to the Wheeler Yacht Company, 48 of them were at Omaha Beach on D-Day. Before the Dragon Lady got her name, Darce said she was Coast Guard Cutter 83482.
“The military was basically pumping out equipment to get it to the frontlines as fast as possible,” Darce said. “And none of the 238 cutters that were built by Wheeler during those years were actually named, they were given a hull number.”
Darce said they dove deeper into the history of the cutter, and discovered the vessel was delivered to Guam in 1943.
“Her delivery would have taken place prior to the Battle of Guam, which happened in summer of 1944,” Darce said. “So she very well have maintained on that service during the Battle of Guam.”
Coast Guard cutter 83482 being delivered to Guam in 1943. (USCG Photo) After the War was over, Coast Guard Cutter 83482 was decommissioned and turned into a private craft. She was in Portland for a while, was used as a fishing vessel and brought to Alaska, sold again to become the Dragon Lady, a charter yacht, and eventually became a liveaboard toward the end of her life.
It’s unclear exactly when the Dragon Lady sank- it had been anchored in Herring Cove for a while. Darce said they were able to contact the boat’s owner who wasn’t in the area when it began taking on water, but the owner has been cooperating with the Coast Guard. But salvaging the boat isn’t in the cards.
“Even if somebody really wanted to bring up the Dragon Lady, she’s a wooden hulled vessel built in the ’40s. She’s been underwater for a significant period of time, and she’s 80 years old,” Darce said. “So even if for some reason we could not get to the tanks, in her case she’s not necessarily a good candidate even to try to move or roll, especially with her size.”
Darce doesn’t believe there’s much fuel on the boat, but a dive team has been diligently working to remove any remaining fuel to prevent future environmental risk. Once they’ve emptied the vessel and sealed up vents, Darce said they’ll update charts to show Herring Cove as the resting place for the Dragon Lady.
The most recent known photo of the F/V Dragon Lady (Coast Guard) The post Sunken vessel in Sitka reveals surprising history appeared first on KCAW.
Blue Lake Dam provides about two-thirds of the energy needed to power Sitka. (KCAW/2015)Municipal administrator John Leach joined KCAW’s Andrew Hames to share updates on new sources of energy funding for the city and rehabilitation of the Green Lake project. Leach also shared data on how Sitka’s electricity use compares to national averages. Listen to the full interview here:
You can find infographics and other information at cityofsitka.com/scres.
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(Rich McClear/2023) The July 4th older and unique car parade is 10 a.m. Thursday, July 4. Organizer Jeff Budd joined KCAW to discuss the event and how to get involved. Listen here:
On July 4, the route leaves Whale Park at 10 a.m., ending at the high school parking lot. Those with questions can call Jeff at 907-747-4821, text 907-738-9417 or email jbudd3500@gmail.com.
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(KCAW Photo/Adam Litten) The Sitka Assembly has postponed a decision on whether to provide $275,000 in additional funding for Visit Sitka, the contractor that provides the city’s visitor services, until its next meeting.
The city pays the Sitka Chamber of Commerce around $575,000 a year – about half of that is “supplemental funding.” This year, the assembly initially withheld the supplemental money, as it discussed putting the contract out to bid in a “request for proposals’ or RFP.
When the Sitka Assembly met on Tuesday (6-11-24), Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz suggested they provide the supplemental money through the end of the calendar year to free Visit Sitka from budget uncertainty, while the group continues to consider how to update the contract.
“I feel like in order to support our business community, in order to keep things going as is right now, until the business community blows up our doors saying that Visit Sitka isn’t working for them, I would support the full funding amount through December,” Eisenbeisz said. “And if the assembly is unwilling or unable to do an RFP in the short amount of time, then the full funding, the $575,000 that they had asked for.”
Assembly member JJ Carlson said she still supported the assembly drafting a new contract and soliciting bids for providing the city’s visitors services.
“A lot has changed and transpired in the visitor industry over the last 10 to 15 years when we took a deep dive at this contract,” Carlson said. “When we discussed it a couple of months ago, we were seemingly an agreement as a group to continue to look into it, and I think now is the time for for us to reach a decision on them that point.”
Assembly member Chris Ystad said he wanted to hold off on a contract deep dive until the city hires a tourism manager- a brand new city staff position this summer. At that time, he thought roles might be redefined, which would help them shape a new contract.
“I’m not like, unhappy with Visit Sitka and the way they’re performing,” Ystad said. “They produce a lot of really great stuff that helps out, and they’re doing what we want them to do. So I’m not unhappy by any means. [But] I think things might be redefined here shortly with taking on a new tourism manager internally.”
With two assembly members absent, the group decided to continue the discussion at the next meeting when it will consider a funding appropriation to provide Visit Sitka with supplemental funding through the end of the calendar year.
In other business…
The Sitka Assembly awarded several fisheries enhancement grants at its regular meeting last night, splitting the available funds evenly between the three organizations that applied.
The Fisheries Enhancement Fund was established in 2006. Since then, a percent of fish box tax revenue collected from charter fishing customers is reserved to fund projects that are intended to bolster local fisheries. This year, the city had just under $48,000 available from the fund to disburse.
The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association requested $20,000 for the Young Fishermen’s Initiative, a mentor program for aspiring commercial fishermen. The Sitka Sound Science Center requested just under $28,000 to support its hatchery operations. And the Sitka Tribe of Alaska requested $24,000 to support continued operation of the Redoubt Lake sockeye salmon weir.
Since the three requests, in total, exceeded the available money, assembly member Kevin Mosher suggested they split the funding evenly. The assembly unanimously approved the funding plan on first reading, awarding just under $16,000 each to ALFA, the science center, and Sitka Tribe of Alaska.
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Randy Bollinger works on one of the sidewalls at the front of the Church, resetting stones. (Sharp/2024)If you stop by St. Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church on Lincoln Street this month you might catch stonemason Randy Bollinger working outside. He is restoring some of the stonework on the exterior of the 125-year-old building.
“I identify as a craftsman,” Bollinger said on a recent morning as he reset stones on one of the sidewalls on the front steps. “I like imagining, creating, restoring old things, building new things, just for the joy of the materials you’re working with.”
Bollinger is based in Pennsylvania but travels to do restoration work.
“The issue here is the salt air, salt water gets absorbed into the old mortar and corrodes it,” Bollinger said. “Rots it. Makes it soft. And then the stones just get loose. So we’re tearing all this loose stone out and replacing it, putting new mortar in and they’ll have to do it again in 125 years.”
Bollinger is salvaging some of the old stone but also adding new stone. The new material comes from a local quarry that was blasted with dynamite so he has to check carefully for fractures. The mortar he’s using contains lime which has been processed the same way it would have been 150 years ago. He also got permission to add a glue-like bonding agent that will help ward off water damage.
So why bring someone all the way from Pennsylvania to do this work? It turns out Bollinger is a gifted stonemason with deep experience. He grew up around craftspeople who found joy in making things. His dad had a woodshop; his uncle built beautiful furniture.
“And growing up in south central Pennsylvania, stone walls are everywhere,” he said. “Stone structures, buildings, farm buildings. So it’s as common as breathing to look at and see some pretty incredible things.”
In his early 20s Bollinger became an apprentice to a craftsman with a woodshop whose wife also had a pottery studio.
“They lived in a 300-year-old mill, a stone mill. Three stories of just immaculate stonework. As as a young person I hired on with him and we cut through walls to make doorways and windows. And it felt very, very comfortable.”
Since then Bollinger has built whole houses out of stone and restored other historical properties throughout New England. He’s expert in stone but has made a point of working in a variety of construction trades.
“The more you know about someone else’s trade the more you can work with them,” he said. “I feel like I’ve created a niche where I work for people who are very interested in doing exceptional work. And the more you know about each other the better you can work together.”
Bollinger was an old friend of the late artist Eric Bealer, whose Sea Pony Farm Property near Pelican is now run by the Sitka Conservation Society as a retreat and field station. Bollinger did a residency there last year and is thrilled to be back in Sitka this summer working on the church.
“I like the challenge. I like the ability to enhance a situation. The place needed help.”
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The Sitka Assembly will hold a special meeting tonight (6-12-24) to determine its next steps as it searches for a new municipal attorney.
The assembly is responsible for hiring two city staff positions– the municipal attorney and the administrator. So far, the assembly has interviewed two candidates for the attorney job. A lawyer from Fairbanks advanced to subsequent interviews, but pulled out of the running last month.
The city’s current attorney, Brian Hanson, is retiring this summer, after nearly a decade with the city. Before he was hired in 2016, he spent 25 years working in private practice.
The Sitka Assembly will meet at 6 p.m. tonight to discuss the city attorney job at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
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The 2024 Sitka High School softball team took home the state title last month (Sitka High School Facebook Page) Sitka Sentinel sports reporter Garland Kennedy joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to share the Sitka High School’s sports highlights from May. Listen here:
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The Sitka Assembly has a short agenda for its regular meeting tonight (6-11-24). The only item of unfinished business in front of them is whether to approve a change to city code that would allow multiple structures on a single property to share water service.
Current city code requires a separate water line for every building with no exceptions, but the updated code would allow exceptions in certain cases. A memo from Public Works Director Ron Vinson says the change would help in several ways. Sharing a water service line would simplify the building process on some properties, save property owners time and money, and reduce the environmental impact.
The assembly will also consider several proposals for available money in the fisheries enhancement fund. Three organizations applied for fisheries enhancement fund grants. The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association requested $20,000 for the Young Fishermen Initiative. The Sitka Sound Science Center requested just under 28,000 to support its hatchery. And the Sitka Tribe of Alaska requested $24,000 for continued operation of the Redoubt Lake sockeye salmon weir
The requests total just under $72,000, but the city has just under $48,000 from the fisheries enhancement fund available to disburse.
In other business, the assembly will consider reappointing Roby Littlefield to a seat on the Historic Preservation Commission, and liquor license renewals for the Bayview Pub and the Sitka Hotel. And it will consider supplemental funding for Visit Sitka.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include additional agenda items that were not included in the original report.
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A brown bear grazing in 2017 (Meredith Redick) Wildlife authorities in Sitka shot and killed three brown bears that entered a garage last Friday (6-7-24) in the Jamestown Drive area.
Shortly before 1 p.m. on June 7, Martha Greba was returning home from a puppy training class with her two dogs – her twelve year old Australian Shepherd Gracie and Sailor, a six month old puppy who had given Greba a scare several days before when she ran off.
“The trainer said you have to be very careful with Sailor because she doesn’t have that fear, and she doesn’t have a good enough recall to let her off leash,” Greba said. “And we thought okay, we’re gonna do that.”
Greba and her husband Keith pulled into their driveway, and her husband got out of the car with Sailor on a leash. Gracie jumped out of the car and made her way to the waterfall near their house to get a drink. On the other side of the creek where Gracie was drinking stood a sow and two yearling bear cubs, about 20 feet away.
“When I look over, they’re on a pile of garbage, and they look at me, and one of them starts down the bank,” Greba said. “And Gracie’s a bit deaf, and I start screaming at her, and she’s oblivious, because she’s going down to get her drink. And I’m deathly afraid of bears, and I don’t even know how I responded, but I was able to get her, and get her in the garage, and Keith was able to get the puppy inside and get his gun.”
By that time, the bears were in their front yard next to their firepit.
“Keith fired a shot in the air because…she’s got to go away, and she’s not backing down at all,” Greba said of the sow. “She’s just fearless and keeps staring at us.”
After a few minutes, the bears headed back down toward the creek, off of Greba’s property and back to the garbage pile, and Greba was able to contact law enforcement. A state wildlife trooper and a local police officer responded, and found the two cubs and sow at a neighboring home. According to the trooper report, the bears had entered the attached garage through an open door and ransacked the space to access the garbage inside. Because they entered a residence and were behaving aggressively, the bears were deemed a risk to public safety.
Fish and Game Biologist Steve Bethune says these bears may have behaved aggressively toward Greba’s dog because they were protecting the nearby garage as a food source.
“We’ve had previous issues with a homeowner’s garbage handling practices in that neighborhood that may have led to the bears being attracted to this neighborhood,” Bethune said. “We also had a bear in prior years that broke into a garage that we were never able to locate. So whether it’s the same bear or not is impossible to tell, but it’s certainly in the back of my mind.”
Greba says she hopes her harrowing experience will encourage Sitkans to be vigilant and attentive of their surroundings.
“I truly was not even thinking ‘there ‘bear’ today after the other bear was killed,” she said. “I thought okay, that was a problem bear [that’s] gone,” Greba said. “We just need to be bear aware, and keep our garbage up and keep our dogs and pets safe, and just be aware.”
Four bears have been put down by law enforcement in Sitka this summer. The first bear was shot on Guertin Island on June 5 after killing two dogs.
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Mina Brooks-Schmidt performs at her 2023 concert in Sitka, “Mina Sings!” Brooks-Schmidt will be performing again in Sitka this Thursday. (Sitka Community TV/2023)Mina Brooks-Schmidt, a soprano studying vocal performance at Carnegie Mellon University, will be performing this Thursday (6-13-24) with pianist Susan Reed and collaborators Brian Neal and Rhiannon Guevin. The show will highlight music that Brooks-Schmidt has added to her repertoire this year and will feature pieces in English, German, and Italian. Brooks-Schmidt joined KCAW’s Andrew Hames to share more about the upcoming recital. Listen to the full interview here:
The show is free and takes place Thursday, June 13 at 7 p.m. at Odess Theater.
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Sitka Music Festival Executive Director Alex Serio joined KCAW for the morning interview to discuss this week’s upcoming concerts. Listen here:
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A bear near Shotgun Alley headed toward Guertin Island on May 22. (Jessica G. Perkins/2024)The Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Alaska Wildlife Troopers killed a young male brown bear on Guertin Island in Sitka Wednesday afternoon after it was found guarding the remains of a large dog it had just killed. Fish and Game wildlife biologist Steve Bethune is confident it is the same bear that killed a different dog in the 2800 block of Sawmill Creek Road on Sunday.
“I’m pretty sure yeah, I’d say 99.99% it’s the same bear that we’ve been getting pictures of,” he said. “Members of the public have been sending me pictures of it.”
Bethune says he got a call from the Troopers about 1 p.m. Wednesday that a second dog had been killed, and the bear was still guarding the carcass. He said the bear was easy to find and kill because of its location.
“It was kind of a remote site and actually a good site for doing this kind of work, “he said. “Had a good downhill angle on the bear, the woods were fairly open, no houses or anything like that in the background. So a really safe place to do it and the bear went down quickly and we didn’t have to do any tracking.”
The bear hide, skull, and claws were salvaged and surrendered to Fish and Game. Bethune said the hide will be sent to Anchorage for sale in the annual Fur Rendezvous Auction. Any proceeds will go to the state.
“Hopefully by killing this bear, we’re saving somebody else’s dog and potentially keeping some people from getting hurt.”
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Arleigh Reynolds stepped into the role of Executive Director of the Sitka Sound Science Center after former director Lisa Busch retired in April. He says he looks forward to expanding partnerships, especially with Indigenous-run organizations in Sitka. (Redick/KCAW) When Lisa Busch announced she was retiring this April after 14 years as Executive Director of the Sitka Sound Science Center, Fairbanks-based veterinarian Arleigh Reynolds says he was ready to hop on a southbound flight. Reynolds, who most recently served as the director of the University of Alaska – Fairbanks Center for One Health Research, says he has been collaborating with the science center and other Sitka organizations for the past decade. And now that he’s been hired as Busch’s successor, he says he’s eager to get to work. Reynolds sat down with KCAW’s Meredith Redick to talk about his first few weeks on the job, and how he hopes to grow the organization.
REYNOLDS: When Lisa Busch, the former executive director of the Science Center went on sabbatical a couple years ago, she asked me to sit in as the Interim Executive Director. I’d never worked for a nonprofit before, but it was great – really great people, wonderful community, I just really loved it. And I thought, you know, I’d love to do this before I retire. I mean, I never thought Lisa would be retiring this early. She’s very young, and she’s done such an incredible job getting the science center up and going. But she did this year, and so I was fortunate enough to be chosen as the new Executive Director.
REPORTER: So this is your first time really manning the helm at a nonprofit. That must be a big transition.
REYNOLDS: It is a big transition in a way. But what I really love about this job is, first of all, I have great people to work with, and I like the way that we are really integrated in the community. And I love working with different groups within the community on issues that are really important to them. I’ve done that my whole time at UAF. So this One Health program that I ran, for those that don’t know what One Health is, it’s the concept that our health as humans is really interdependent with the health of the environment we live in and the animals and plants that we live with and depend on. And for any of those to be healthy, they really all have to be healthy. We often consider big issues from only our perspective when we really need to be considering all of those perspectives and how they integrate. And the Science Center has already been doing that for a long time. The Tribe has done that since millennia. This is really an Indigenous concept. And so, coming to the Science Center is a fairly natural progression.
REPORTER: I’m curious, and it’s okay if you don’t have an answer to this, but do you have any ideas about what that kind of work could look like in Sitka?
REYNOLDS: That’s a great question. I think the first thing I want to do is listen – because I’m relatively new to the community, and people who’ve lived here a long time know a heck of a lot more about it than I do. And I’d love to hear what people here are concerned about in terms of, you know, what’s going on with fisheries, what’s going on in the marine environment, and even the terrestrial environment and what’s going on with issues like food security and food sovereignty. And once I get a better understanding of that, to work with them to help get funding and build some programs that they’re interested in. It’s not so much me coming to them saying, “Hey, I want to do this, would you help me?” It’s kind of the opposite.
REPORTER: So Lisa Busch is retiring from this role, and you’ve already spoken about this a little bit, but how do you envision making this role your own?
REYNOLDS: To start with, I do want to say a huge thanks to Lisa because she built an incredible organization. You know, it’s really nice to take over the helm of a ship that’s incredibly well-built and running well, right? No big leaks, no problems with the motor. It’s good. It’s running great, and I’m super grateful to her for that. You know, it’s not like I want to change a lot of things. There are a lot of things that are just fabulous about the science center, and there are some areas that I think I can bring some new insight in. And you know, for me, One Health is something that’s always been part of Indigenous worldviews, and we now have a Western way of trying to describe it. But it’s so many levels of complexity that Indigenous people, I think, understand to such a degree. I’d really like to build and expand on partnerships with the Indigenous community and learn from them and work together with them on some of these really pressing issues that we have here. You know, and please understand, I don’t think it’s gloom and doom. I think this place is remarkable. But you want it to stay remarkable, and there are some issues, like ocean acidification and what’s going on with some of our fisheries and, you know, some of the risk of invasive species that we really do want to stay ahead of.
REPORTER: What else do you want people to know about you?
REYNOLDS: Well, you know, it’s always been my wife, Donna’s, and my dream to end up here. Since the first time we came here, we just fell in love with this community, and it’s taken us 10 years to figure out a way to do it. And we’re super grateful to be here and just really looking forward to meeting folks and learning more about the community and fitting into our place in this community. Sitka has a sense of community like no place I’ve ever been before, and I’m really grateful for that.
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The dog’s owner Mike Mayo photographed the bear believed responsible for the attack after his dog disappeared Sunday.In the first major incident of its kind this year, a bear attacked and killed a dog Sunday in the 2800 block of Sawmill Creek Road, near the Thimbleberry Creek Trailhead. Steve Bethune, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, went to investigate with Alaska Wildlife Troopers after receiving a call about the incident Monday.
“We found blood and hair in the driveway and did a quick search of the woods, in the immediate vicinity of the house in the direction the bear went, to confirm that the dog had been killed and consumed,” Bethune said.
The attack had occurred about 24 hours earlier but it took a while to figure out what happened because the dog’s owner, Mike Mayo, did not witness the attack. He remembers hearing the dog bark and then yelp but it was a while before he realized the dog was actually missing. Later in the day, the bear that is believed to have attacked the dog ambled across the property. Mayo was able to take a photograph from inside the house. Authorities were not able to locate the bear Monday but intend to keep searching.
“Pets are dear to people everywhere so we have a general policy that we don’t tolerate bears killing pets,” Bethune said.
Mayo’s dog was a 12-year old Jack Russell and Chihuahua mix named Dodo.
“He was a lovable little dog,” Mayo said. “Very personable and loved to be held. Never bit anyone. He liked to be around people.”
Bethune pointed out that it’s dangerous for people as well as pets if bears associate pets with food. He said bear activity has been relatively low in Sitka for the past two years but the two years before that set a record with officials having to kill 21 bears over two seasons. He said the department has received other calls recently from the same vicinity reporting bears active during daylight hours and not showing fear of people.
“So that’s a little bit disconcerting,” he said. “But we haven’t had any reports of bears actually acting aggressively toward people, but we would encourage people, at least in this area, if they see a bear to give us a call.”
Bethune reiterated some basic bear safety tips: keep garbage inside until pickup day, don’t leave food out for pets, bring bird feeders inside during the summer, and be mindful of grills and fish smokers as items that could attract bears. He also noted the upcoming Community Bear Awareness Day scheduled for Saturday June 15th at the Fortress of the Bear. Safety presentations will include bear-proof trash can and campsite demos.
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Sitka Parks and Recreation holds a Senior Recreation Planning Meeting next Thursday, June 6 at 1:00pm at the Pioneer Home Manager’s House. Caroline Fenton and Barb Morse joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss the meeting, and a survey that gathered feedback from local senior citizens on what types of programming they’re interested in. Listen here:
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A worker examines the damage to an apartment building at the corner of Peterson Ave and Halibut Point Road after a pickup truck crashed into the building early this morning (6-4-24). An adult man inside the building sustained a head injury. (Redick/KCAW)One person was hospitalized after a truck crashed into an apartment building early this morning (6-4-24).
In an interview with KCAW, Sitka Police Department spokesperson Serena Wild said shortly after 5 a.m. this morning, an on-duty officer observed a white pickup truck traveling 30 miles over the speed limit in the 1900 block of Halibut Point Road. When the officer activated emergency lights, the truck accelerated and attempted to turn left onto Peterson Avenue. The driver allegedly crashed the truck into an apartment building, caving in the wall of a bedroom and hitting an adult male in bed.
Wild said that the victim was transported to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center with a head injury. The driver, identified as a 16-year-old male, was not injured. The driver’s name has not yet been released, but he was charged with four counts, including felony assault and driving under the influence.
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Kids Fishing Day 2023 (Rich McClear) Sitka Rotary Club, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and U.S. Forest Service invite kids from 4 to 12 to participate in the annual free Swan Lake Kids’ Fishing Day. Sharon Bergman and Jay Stillwell joined KCAW to discuss the event. Listen here:
Kid’s Fishing Day is this Saturday, June 8, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Prizes will be awarded. Children must be accompanied by parents and can fish from shore or boat and flotation jackets are required for boaters.
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The Arianna String Quartet performs on opening night of the 2024 Sitka Music Festival. (Sitka Music Festival/2024).The Sitka Music Festival kicked off its 53rd summer season last week. The annual month-long festival features a variety of ticketed and free events. Artistic director Zuill Bailey joined KCAW’s Darryl Rehkopf to talk about the festival and what audiences can expect to hear this summer. Listen to the full interview below:
More information and tickets are available here.
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Pride Month kicks off on June 1, and this year there are ample opportunities to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community in Sitka. Organizers Elle Campbell and Mel Beadle joined KCAW to discuss the month full of events, ranging from middle school camp to movie nights and stand-up comedy. Listen here:
Learn more about the events and organizers by visiting the Sitka Pride Facebook page here or email sitkapride.ak@gmail.com for more information.
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Sitka administrator John Leach says the shortage of journeyman linemen is not limited to Sitka. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)Municipal administrator John Leach discusses the staffing shortage in the Sitka Electric Department: two journeyman lineman jobs, and two leadership jobs. He says pay is among the best in the region, but a per diem provision in union contracts is creating an incentive for workers to stay in temporary positions. Additionally, a widespread problem with utility bills has resulted in the city’s investment in radio-frequency meter readings that reduce the chance for human error.
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“halibut 03” by SqueakyMarmot is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.The Sitka Assembly is backing a change to fisheries policy that would limit trawl halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea. The move comes after a policy change last year at the national level led to a lawsuit filed against the National Marine Fishery Service.
Linda Behnken leads the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association. She said a change to fishery management policy in 2015 to bring down the caps on halibut bycatch by 25 percent was a big win. Advocates then started to push the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to tie bycatch caps to the abundance of halibut, rather than a flat number.
“When the caps were set, there was a whole lot more halibut out there, and we reduced our directed fisheries,” Behnken said. “Everybody who targets halibut is conserved, but those bycatch caps stayed disproportionately high, to the extent that over the last decade, there was about 38 million pounds of halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea by this one sector that’s the biggest offender there.”
Behnken said in 2021, after six years of work, the National Marine Fisheries Service adopted an amendment tying trawl bycatch to abundance. Then lawyers got involved.
“After that amendment was implemented by the National Marine Fishery Service, the trawl sector filed a lawsuit against it,” Behnken said. “A group of us have moved to intervene on behalf of the federal government, to be part of the lawsuit so we can present our side of this case.”
While the Bering Sea is far from Southeast, Alaska, she said resolutions from Sitka and other communities would help demonstrate to the courts how important this action is to Alaska’s fishing communities.
Assembly member Chris Ystad, who co-sponsored the resolution, agreed.
“As a Southeast fisherman, an Alaskan and someone who enjoys halibut, I thought this was absolutely wonderful and necessary for the future of the resource, not just for commercial fishermen like myself, but for everyone who utilizes the resource,” Ystad said. “This is something that we’ve been needing in the fishery. It’s something that we’re slowly, slowly working towards is a little more accountability for all of our users.”
With little discussion, the assembly passed the resolution unanimously.
Read the resolution here
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The five justices of the Alaska Supreme Court review the “Hoverboard Dentist” case in February, 2024. Justice Pate (at right), from Sitka, climbed from law student, to public defender, to superior court judge, to justice — a path the Alaska Bar Association hopes to open to a diverse range of people both from within, and from outside, the state. (Alaska Beacon photo/James Brooks)Before his visit to Sitka in May, Alaska Bar Association president Jeff Robinson attended the swearing-in ceremony last February for eight of the 19 newest Alaskan lawyers.
In Alaska – as in most states – you can’t practice law until you’re admitted to the Bar, and that means passing an infamously difficult exam (although the passing score recently has been lowered by 10 points, from 280 to 270).
But for Robinson, watching US federal judge Sharon Gleason administer the oath was more than seeing a kind of graduation. He was seeing the future, and he was hopeful.
“And it struck me how many of those new members of the bar were not born in Alaska, but come up here for a clerkship for one year or two years, and then end up making connections, deciding it’s a great state, a great community to raise your family,” Robinson said. “Judge Gleason, who’s a federal judge, gave this speech to the members who were being sworn in. What she said really resonated with me, which is, (Alaska) is a very small community, but you still have to up your game when you’re practicing before Justice Pate or some of the other judges on our courts. And it’s nice to have those relationships, but we still have a very high expectation of practice.”
Justice Jude Pate came to Sitka as a law student, passed the bar, became a public defender, superior court judge, and last year was named to Alaska’s highest court by Gov. Dunleavy.
That kind of career track remains possible, but the pandemic really strained the state’s court system – and everyone who works in it, including the lawyers. Robinson says the Alaska Bar is committed to supporting its members as the system recovers.
“I think it’s really challenging for young district attorneys, young assistant public defenders, to navigate a caseload without proper training and supervision,” said Robinson. “And so again, what we’re looking for is to increase the number of people who come here, increase the diversity of our Bar, increase the access to justice that people have in the courts, so that people can get quality representation. And so that the public, including the jurors that sit on these trials, or sit on grand jury, can trust in the confidence of the system.”
Anyone who’s ever been a party to a court case knows that the paperwork – motions, briefs, filings of all kinds – pile up. Robinson is aware of the temptation to use Artificial Intelligence, not just in legal work, but in any profession that relies on the written word. He says AI will not replace attorneys, but it could help them.
“We would like to think of law as a very sort of flexible field,” said Robinson. “On the other hand, we have tradition, right? We have stare decisis (the legal doctrine of aligning with previous court decisions in similar cases), and we have case law precedent. And I would like to think in terms of the filings that our lawyers are making, the way that the lawyers in the Alaska Bar are representing themselves before the court, that they are conscientious – that you just can’t plug something into an AI-generated chat machine, and produce a result that will not be fact-checked by actual human beings. So I’d like to think that, as of now the human being is still smarter than the computer, but we’re mindful of the speed in which AI is increasing in our field.”
In addition to providing a board of governors for the legal profession, and making disciplinary recommendations to the Alaska Supreme Court for attorneys who may have violated ethics rules – or even violated laws – the Alaska Bar Association provides direct service to consumers. Pro bono Bar director Krista Scully says bar volunteers answer up to three legal questions a year for income-qualified residents (who are not currently incarcerated), on civil or criminal matters – with complete confidentiality.
The free service is conducted over email – and it’s popular, especially in landlord-tenant disputes.
“We have a volunteer that has answered 300-plus questions over the course of a couple of years,” Scully said. “And I see this as a really important tool, especially for people who don’t live in urban areas who can’t walk directly into an office to get help.”
Among their outreach in Sitka, Bar Association members visited Sitka High’s Mock Trial team, a perennial champion in the state competition. Both Scully and Robinson were hopeful that there were future lawyers and judges on the team. “One of our broader goals,” said Robinson, “is to make the judges who hear the cases to be more reflective of the population (the court) serves.”
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Shuttle vans must now park in a designated area at Sitka’s airport instead of picking up passengers directly in front of the airport.
Sam Dapcevich is a Public Information Officer for the Alaska Department of Transportation. He said part of the goal is to relieve pressure on the crowded active loading zone.
“The active loading and unloading lane is getting a bit clogged up,” Dapcevich said. “Vehicles are trying to use the adjacent turn lane for loading and unloading.”
He said the change will make the area safer and help keep the airport in line with federal regulations.
“We’re required to follow federal regulations and we can’t allow cars to to back up in that area,” he said. “It’s also dangerous for pedestrians trying to get to and from the parking area.”
Dapcevich said if the designated shuttle zone is full, drivers should still avoid the active loading zone.
“If that area does run out of space, we would expect the shuttle drivers to look for a spot in short term parking,” he said.
The change is effective today (5-29-24) and applies only to van shuttles, not buses. You can read more about Sitka’s airport parking here.
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When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (5-28-24), it will consider approving next fiscal year’s general and enterprise fund budgets on final reading.
The city’s budget has grown by 14 percent this year, with spending increasing along with growing sales tax revenue, due, in large part to increased tourism and inflation. The budget includes funding the Sitka School District to the cap, the maximum allowed by state law, along with a plan to take over management of the Blatchley Middle School swimming pool, and funding for a contractor to manage the Performing Arts Center.
Rates will increase for most of the city’s enterprise funds this year as well. Water, solid waste and moorage rates will rise by 4 percent. The wastewater rate will jump by just over 8 percent, and the base customer fee for electric utilities will increase, though the rate won’t rise.
In other business, the assembly will consider a resolution supporting an amendment to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s fishery management plan to cut trawl halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea, by changing the cap from a static number to one that fluctuates with the halibut population. While the amendment doesn’t deal with Sitka fisheries, a memo from assembly members Kevin Mosher and Chris Ystad says that the amendment protects the local fleet’s access to halibut in the future. They say conservation efforts in the Bering Sea will impact Sitka’s fisheries, because as halibut fry grow, they migrate throughout the Gulf of Alaska, many of them making it to Sitka waters.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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Air Station Sitka conducts a “non-maritime medevac” of an injured ATV rider at Appleton Cove. The victim’s brother activated an SOS using his InReach device. (USCG image capture)A Sitka man was rescued Sunday, after badly injuring his leg in an ATV accident in Appleton Cove, about 30 miles north of Sitka.
In a news release, the Coast Guard says it received a phone call from a man reporting that his 21-year old son was injured while on an ATV trip with his brother.
The brothers activated an SOS using their InReach device, which allowed Air Station Sitka to launch a helicopter and fly directly to the site of the accident. The crew lowered a rescue swimmer through the forest canopy to aid the victim, who was loaded into a litter that was then hoisted aboard the helicopter.
The man was returned to Sitka and transferred to EMS personnel, who transported him to the Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center for treatment.
On Saturday, the Coast Guard assisted five people on a disabled fishing vessel near Sitka. District headquarters in Juneau relayed a report from Sitka Dispatch that the 35-foot fishing vessel Kari Ann was disabled, unable to drop anchor, and drifting toward rocks in Western Channel. A Coast Guard small-crew response vessel and marine safety team, currently assigned to Sitka from Seattle, responded to assist the Kari Ann, and towed it to Allen Marine.
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Ron Davis leads after the first weekend of fishing in the 69th Sitka Salmon Derby. (Sitka Sportsmans Association photo)It looks like adults are back on top in the 69th Sitka Salmon Derby. But just barely.
After the first three days of fishing over the Memorial Day weekend, Ron Davis is in the lead with a 39.5 pound king. Although his age is not given, it’s clear from his photo on the Derby barge that he has several decades on last year’s winner, Caleb Gray, who took the 2023 prize as a ten-year old.
Gray, now at the ripe age of eleven, is in third place in this year’s derby with a 28.5-pound king. And Gray also leads in overall poundage, with 128.5 pounds of fish turned in over the first three days, versus Davis’s 103.6 pounds.
Other anglers in the running in this year’s Sitka Salmon Derby include Jackson McGraw with a 36.5 pound king that has put him in second place. Ella Culliver is fourth with a 28-pounder, and Kathy Miller fifth at 27.3 pounds.
First weekend standings: 2024 Sitka Salmon Derby
Leader Board
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Ron Davis – 39.5 lbs
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Jackson McGraw – 36.5 lbs
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Caleb Gray – 28.5 lbs
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Ella Culliver 28 lbs
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Kathy Miller – 27.3 lbs
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Karen Haley – 26 lbs
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Wes Bowen – 25.1 lbs
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Terry Korthuis – 25 lbs
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Rose Smith – 24.5 lbs
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Jack Haley – 23.8 lbs
Total Pounds Leaders
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Caleb Gray – 128.5 lbs
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Ron Davis – 103.6 lbs
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Schuyler Mace – 98.1 lbs
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Riley Bernhardt – 88.5 lbs
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Thomas Anderson – 82.2 lbs
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Victor Littlefield – 77.7 lbs
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Jeramiah Johnsons – 75.8 lbs
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Brian Bellows – 72 lbs
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Kathy Miller – 69.9 lbs
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Patrick Bean – 69.8 lbs
Schulyler Mace holds third place in total poundage with 98.1 pounds; former winner Riley Bernhardt fourth with 88.5 pounds, and Thomas Anderson fifth with 82.2 pounds.
A total of 117 people entered the derby in its first weekend, landing 292 fish. Derby officials note that the average size is up slightly over last year.
The Sitka Salmon Derby continues next Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2. In addition to prizes for the largest fish and most poundage over the entire event, there are prizes for the largest fish of the day, as well as hidden weight prizes.
The event is a fundraiser for the Sitka Sportsmans Association, which provides scholarships, and operates an indoor shooting range, outdoor trap shooting range, and an RV park.
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Sitka Music Festival executive director Alex Serio joins KCAW’s Robert Woolsey to share details of the 53rd season of the Sitka Music Festival, which opens Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at the Mean Queen, and features the Arianna String Quartet ($10 cover, advance tickets available online). The regular concert series (Friday & Saturday nights through June) begins Friday, June 1. More information online at the Sitka Music Festival website.
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Rep. Rebecca Himschoot says HB230 is a step toward addressing Alaska’s education crisis, but it’s not the fix. “It is one part of the many things we need to do to improve education in the state,” she said. (APM/Eric Stone)Sitka, Petersburg, and other communities in Southeast Alaska are reducing staff or laying off teachers next year, but that’s not the case everywhere.
“Well in Sitka jobs are going away,” said Rebecca Himschoot, who represents House District 2, “and that’s been a really hard part of coming home and seeing sort of the fallout of our situation here in Sitka. But across the state, the increase in first-day vacancies has been something like 300% in the last five years. So there are lots of districts who haven’t had fully staffed schools for quite some time.”
House Bill 230 removes the limit on the number of years of experience teachers moving to the state can bring with them (six for a Bachelor’s Degree, eight for a Master’s Degree), when they enter the state’s Teachers’ Retirement System.
Himschoot says the limit is an artifact of outdated policy.
“That (the limits) made sense when we had a defined benefit system,” she said, “if you had a lot of 18-, 19-, 20-year educators coming in and you plunk them down on your salary schedule, it is going to be really expensive for our pension system. So this law probably should have been repealed when pensions were repealed back in 2006.”
But doing away with pensions also suddenly made an attractive retirement for teachers an outdated concept. Rather than a lifelong pension and medical benefits, teachers now have to save cash for retirement, because that’s all they’ll get. Unbelievably, Alaska’s teachers are disqualified from receiving Social Security.
Himschoot, a teacher herself in the Sitka School District for many years, says something has to change, and this bill moves the needle – but only slightly.
“This is not going to open floodgates of any sorts,” she said. “So this is not, this is not the fix. I think there are other tools out there that are going to be more impactful. But in combination with the other things that got placed into the bill, House Bill 230, it packs a punch. It’s not going to be the thing that changes the education landscape, but it is one part of the many things we need to do to improve education in the state.”
Two other teacher-legislators have joined Himschoot on HB230. Nikiski Sen. Jesse Bjorkman and Fairbanks Rep. Maxine Dibert added provisions that make it more attractive for retired teachers to return to the classroom, and incentivize national board-certified teachers.
Himschoot believes this is good policy, and good for students, but it’s cold comfort for younger educators who just can’t make it work in Alaska over the long term, when the prospects are significantly better elsewhere.
“When you have young teachers either produced here in Alaska, which tend to stick a little bit better, or young teachers who come from out of state, and you invite them in – a young teacher is a good teacher, but they’re not generally always a great teacher,” said Himschoot. “It takes time. It just takes time to find your way, to navigate your way into classroom success. So they spend that time here in Alaska, and then there’s nothing really holding them here. So they can go anywhere else they want to teach. Other states all offer something in the way of a pension or a hybrid plan or something more enticing than Alaska’s utter lack of retirement and no access to Social Security.”
The question on many minds in education right now is whether Gov. Dunleavy will sign off on a one-time appropriation of $680 per student next year, that could restore a few teaching positions in districts that have had layoffs. Himschoot is optimistic, having heard the governor make a “soft commitment” during a recent press conference. But that’s one-time money. Himschoot, just finishing her first term in the legislature, hopes to win reelection and take up education again in the new legislature in 2025. “The needs of the state are great,” she says, “and it’s a real honor to get to go there and try to solve problems.”
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Sitka Tribe of Alaska will host Diné bluesman Levi Platero and his family band for “Choose Your Medicine Wisely,” a sober night of Indigenous music on Friday, May 24 from 7 – 9pm at the Sheet’ká Kwáan Naa Kahídi. Platero and bandmates joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer for an interview ahead of the concert. Listen here:
Information on preventing opioid use and promoting recovery will be available at the event. Free tickets may be picked up at the STA Social Services office at 204 Siginaka Way during regular business hours.
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Coast Guard helicopter pilot Tim Keily (right) with Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings. Keily will compete in his first Jeopardy! show on Monday (5-27-24) Alaska’s state tree is this alliterative spruce that shares its name with an Alaskan City. What is Sitka?
Questions about Sitka pop up from time to time on Jeopardy!, but contestants aren’t as common. Now, for possibly the first time, a Sitkan will compete on the long-running game show.
Tim Keily is a Coast Guard helicopter pilot at Air Station Sitka. He grew up in Connecticut, watching Jeopardy! with his mom, but didn’t become a diehard viewer until recently.
“In the last five or six years, I think my wife and I have watched every single episode,” Keily said. “We usually have it on delay on a DVR, but we always catch up.”
They’re trivia lovers, though Keily definitely has his category preferences.
“I’m always excited when there’s a sports category, history, things like that,” Keily said. “When you start going into Shakespeare and heavy literature stuff, or there’s an opera category, that’s gonna scare me away pretty quick.”
Trivia aficionados have to jump through a fewhoops to try their hands at the blue Jeopardy! board, starting with an online test that can be taken once a year. Keily took his first test in 2016, and never heard back. So he took it again. And again. Two years ago, a few months after he’d taken the test another time, he got an email with an invitation to take another test, this one filmed. Then a few months later he was invited to an interview. Then another seven or eight months went by…until all of a sudden it was go time.
“And then back in March, I get the call and it was only about a month before taping,” Keily said. “It’s a lot of waiting, and then a lot of excitement at the very end.”
So he flew to Culver City, California to tape his first show.
“You know, when you first get the call, you think ‘Oh, man, I must be pretty smart.’ And you get there, and you realize everybody is really smart, and then you go through the game you’ve played a million times at home in your brain, but playing it live is way different,” Keily said.
He says the buzzer speed is what really separates the players. On Jeopardy!, you can’t buzz in and cut off the host before they’ve finished asking the question, and there’s a penalty if a player jumps the gun.
“If you ring in before that…everyone else gets a chance to buzz in before you. And if you if you wait too long to buzz in, somebody else knows the answer to that question on the stage with you probably,” Keily said. “And then there’s times where no one really buzzes in right away. That should be a clue for you to not buzz in either. That’s probably a really difficult question.”
Then on the other side of the podium, a Jeopardy legend Ken Jennings is asking the questions (or delivering the answers, rather). Jennings holds the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy!.
“He, personally, is one of the best players of all time, probably, at least among the very best Jeopardy! players of all time,” Keily said. “So you know, you’re meeting your idol as well as playing a game with him as the host.”
How he did on his first show is kept under wraps until it airs- no spoilers here. But Keily will be back in Sitka next Monday to relive the highs and lows with fellow helicopter pilots at the air station.
“If you get a single question right, for that moment, you feel pretty darn good about yourself, you feel like you’re the smartest person in the country for a minute,” Keily said. “And then if you get one wrong, you feel the opposite pretty quickly, too. But, you know, don’t put too much stock in any one question,” Keily said.
“It was really just fun to be there,” he added. “A great experience.”
Sitkans who want to watch Kiley’s first Jeopardy! show can tune in to ABC at 6 p.m. on Monday, May 27.
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Bill Foster on his 2,750 mile ride to Cuba in 1959. Bike touring was in its infancy at the time — and so was Cuba’s Marxist Revolution! (Bob Miller photo)Brian McNitt with the Salty Spoke Bike Co-op and KCAW’s Robert Woolsey describe the backstory behind this Sunday’s Bill Foster Tribute Ride (beginning 11 a.m. Sunday, May 26, and the Salty Spoke behind Raven Radio, and concluding at Harbor Mt. Brewing Co.). The event will feature both a bike ride to Medvejie Hatchery (all or part optional!) followed by a slideshow at the Brewery of Bill’s 1959 bike ride from Hannibal, Missouri, to Havana, Cuba, a few months after Fidel Castro seized power.
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What was originally the Chandera Trilogy is now – after two years of nonstop writing – the five-part Wilkes Chronicles. And the arc has evolved as well, from sword & sorcery into galactic science fiction. Gilbert is marketing the stories both online and directly to schools with significant indigenous populations, including Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka.
“I knew there were going to be a lot of fans, and there are now, all over the country,” said Gilbert. “I made phone calls all winter to mostly Native American schools. And my hunch was correct: They were all wow, really, really curious. Really, really interested. I’m probably going to get a big check this fall because five schools have already ordered class sets.”
Gilbert is by no means the only Indigenous science fiction/fantasy writer, but he’s the first to propel a Gwich’in protagonist across the galaxy far into the future, in a genre that’s now called “Indigenous Futurism.”
Gilbert realized that he had to finish the story, and settle his heroes back at home in village Alaska. But in fiction things don’t always go as planned. Gilbert says he heeded the advice of suspense novelist Stephen King and kept writing.
“He said, if an idea is sticking around and not leaving you alone, then write it,” said Gilbert. “He said it needs to be written, you know. And so that’s what happened with this villain. And book five was like an evil version of Max, and that was a perfect ending, too.”
By the fifth book, The Last Gron War, Maxwell Wilkes is studying to be a medical doctor, and raising a family with his co-protagonist Alexandra Parks. But the author has given the pair one final antagonist to vanquish. He’s Darkeen Staggon, who is also of Indigenous heritage – and a sociopath. Gilbert says many Native Americans have an inherent duality, a conflict between a desire to live peacefully, to work and raise families like everyone else, which is sometimes balanced against anger and bitterness over colonization and genocide. Even 300 years in the future, cultural trauma fuels Staggon’s desire for revenge – on the entire planet.
“For the last story I thought I’d tackle that duality,” said Gilbert, “so that’s how I made Darkeen Staggon the evil villain, like an evil version of Max, who wants to obliterate the Earth to avenge Native American people. And his dad was killed by Federation officials when they raided his farm, so I carefully constructed Max’s villain’s, character, Darkeen, and he has Max’s competency as a military leader. However, he’s using it for evil.”
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Gilbert says the hero’s journey has been recounted thousands of times since Homer brought Odysseus back to Ithaca after twenty years. Even modern-day epics like Star Wars are rooted in Homeric sensibilities. Gilbert’s stories don’t stray far from these ideas, but his heroes use a much different lens – one that is pointed squarely at Native culture.
“They’re tired themes, but they could be quickly reawakened from the perspective of a Native American person,” Gilbert said, “because we have our own attitudes based on our unique spirituality, the way we approach everything, and the way we do everything – it’s a little different, you know. We have nuances that aren’t really seen.”
Gilbert has pitched his ideas to publishers and to Hollywood, but frequently hears that an Indigenous lead is just too risky. His biggest bite yet was for a screenplay of a buddy film starring a pair of Native American policewomen, but the pandemic put the production company out of business.
So, Maxwell Wilkes’ last battle is also Gilbert’s. The 44-year old has published several non-fiction books on climate change and Gwich’in culture, in addition to the self-published Wilkes Chronicles. The writing has been rewarding in all ways but monetary. He says it’s time to move on creatively. In addition to being an author, Gilbert is a musician, photographer, and filmmaker, and hopes to build a career that capitalizes on his talents. “I will always be an artist at heart,” he says. Matt Gilbert’s Wilkes Chronicles are available on Amazon. His sci-fi pen name is Wolf Golan.
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Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman co-chairs the Senate Finance Committee, and delivered a balanced operating budget to the governor this spring. However, he was unable to put any money into the state capital budget for either Sitka’s Katlian Bay Road, or Petersburg’s new hospital. “The appropriation is too large,” he said. (APM/Eric Stone)Alaska’s legislature adjourned last week (5-16-24) after passing a $4.1 billion-dollar capital budget.
But the massive spending package included no money whatsoever for two important projects in the district represented by Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman: Sitka’s Katlian Bay Road and the new Petersburg Hospital.
In a conversation with KFSK’s Shelby Herbert, Stedman was clearly frustrated by the situation. Millions from a state transportation bond have already been spent on the Katlian project – which remains far from completion – while the Petersburg Hospital is still in the planning stages.
KFSK: Is there funding to complete the Katlian Bay Road in either the capital or operating budgets?
Stedman: No. The appropriation is too large. They’re about $20 (million) short and another $7 (million) for bridges. No, not a dime. There is leftover bond appropriation money from projects up north that have been federalized that they can redirect, if DOT (the Alaska Department of Transportation) decides to do that. And the governor decides to do that. But I couldn’t put any money in that project. I want to say it’s three quarters of the way done. It’s all connected. It just got to do the bridges and some other stuff. But no, there’s not 10 cents in the budget.
KFSK: Do you think it’s a worthy project?
Stedman: Well, there’s no doubt about that. There hasn’t been a road expansion in Sitka in 60 or 70 years or so. Probably 60 years. And it gets into an area that can be developed in Katlian Bay – so that’s not a challenge. In that regard, the challenge is getting the funds to finish it. If they would have done the project back in 2012-13, when the money was available, the bond proceeds and stuff, and built a road down on the waterfront instead of up on hillside, it would have been done years ago and cost probably a quarter of what they’re spending on it.
So unfortunately, neither one of those big projects – one’s three quarters of the way done and this one here (the Petersburg hospital) is just doing some dirt work. Neither one got 10 cents and I don’t see the ability to do big appropriations for projects around Southeast outside of energy coming at us. But another differentiation between Katlian and the hospitals is that hospitals are municipal. Katlian Bay’s a state highway. So there’s a little difference between those two projects, but neither one of them got 10 cents.
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Sitka Porch Fest, May 18, 2024 (KCAW/Woolsey)Dancers step out to the music of Sitka contra band Fishing for Cats, during Porch Fest 2024. This year’s Porch Fest morphed from a lawn party behind KCAW, to a full-fledged street festival with food, music, and art all day long on May 18. That evening, three bands performed on the festival “main stage” at the Crescent Harbor net shed: Anel Y Los, Los Castaways, and Hank Moore & Friends.
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Morgan Robidou poses with the Awakin in October, 2022. Coast Guard investigators believe Robidou was one of the first swept overboard when a wave broke and flooded the boat near Low Island in Sitka Sound on May 28, 2023. In the ensuing chaos and loss of control, the Awakin was quickly capsized, leading to the loss of Robidou and his four passengers. (FB image) The Awakin was a very typical charter boat for Sitka: 31-feet long, aluminum hull, twin 250-horsepower outboards, eight years old, and fully equipped with radar, radios, and other electronics for the kind of day fishing it was designed to do.
This type of boat is common in Alaska’s charter industry. Called a “well deck,” it has a big central cabin, and tall sides that allow passengers to safely walk all around the perimeter of the boat when fishing.
While the well deck makes for great fishing, it proved to be a conspicuous liability in the tragedy that struck the Awakin on May 28, 2023, at exactly 2:43 in the afternoon.
“We determined, based on all the evidence before us and an analysis, that the initiating event of the Awakin’s casualty was a sudden flooding of Awakin’s well deck by a large swell,” said Cmdr. Nate Menefee, who led the Coast Guard’s investigative team.
He told the standing-room only crowd in Harrigan Centennial Hall that the Coast Guard’s forensics lab was able to recover the data from the laptop on board the Awakin used for navigation. Investigators could determine position, speed, and depth of the water under the Awakin from the moment it departed Sitka’s Crescent Harbor at 6 a.m. until the moment it stopped recording at 2:43 p.m., when the Awakin was on a slow drift south of Low Island, its passengers jigging for rockfish at the end of a long day of trolling for salmon and halibut fishing.
The Coast Guard Investigative Team began its Casualty Report with a solemn recognition of those who lost their lives in the incident on May 28, 2023:
Morgan Robidou, 32, master;
Brandi Tyau, 56, and her partner Robert Solis, 61, of Canoga Park, California;
Danielle Agcaoili, 53, and her husband Maury Agcaolli, 57, of Waipahu, Hawaii.
On a good day, the shore of Low Island can be treacherous. The bottom is irregular – formed by lava from the Mt. Edgecumbe volcano thousands of years ago – and ocean swells can suddenly heave and break, especially at low tide.
Menefee said the Awakin, its captain busy assisting clients, was likely taken by surprise by a breaking swell that first flooded the boat, and then rolled it.
“The loss of vessel control may have prevented the master from making a radio distress call,” he said. “The loss of control could have been due to electrical or mechanical issues, or the chaotic situation that would likely ensue following the swamping of the vessel’s well deck.”
The Awakin’s owner and captain, Morgan Robidou, was young and in his first season operating a charter boat, but he knew his business. He grew up in Sitka and had logged over 800 service days on the ocean toward earning his 50-ton masters license. Also, he had taken this same route 19 times in just the previous five days.
Safety aboard a charter boat – officially called an uninspected passenger vessel, and unofficially known as a six-pack – is heavily dependent on the master. The Awakin was well-equipped with safety gear, including two “digital selective calling” radios that would have sent an SOS and the boat’s position, if only someone had known to push the button. (And if someone had received it. The DSC system, called the “Alaska 21 Rescue System” is relatively new and has “reliability issues. On May 28, 2023, there was no DSC coverage in Sitka Sound from a Coast Guard shore station, although a message could have been relayed – had one been sent).
Unfortunately, Robidou himself was likely among the first two swept overboard.
“it’s very probable that anybody standing on the back of the well deck may have gone overboard including the master,” said Menefee.
With no captain and no other boats nearby, the remaining passengers on the Awakin were in dire straits. Uninspected passenger vessels in the US are not required to carry a life raft or an EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon), a device which automatically releases from a submerged boat and sends an emergency signal. The investigators say this type of hull – again a well deck – lacks adequate drainage if a lot of water suddenly floods over its tall bulwarks. Once swamped, it did not take much for the boat to roll and capsize. In perhaps the most tragic detail of the investigation, a passenger remained alive in the submerged cabin of the Awakin for at least a half-hour and sent several texts asking the recipient to call 9-1-1. Then the person, known as Passenger One, tried calling Sitka Dispatch.
Prerecorded voice of slide narrator: “There were five outgoing calls to 911 on passenger one’s phone made between 15:01 and 15:12. Data showed all five attempts to call 911 as not answered.”
The Sitka Dispatch records show no calls were received during that time. Although there is spotty cell service in Sitka Sound, investigators believe that it was impossible for Passenger One to obtain a signal while trapped in a submerged aluminum boat.
Factors which the Team concluded played no role in the loss of the Awakin or its passengers:
— Although one full and one partially-full bottle of rum were found on board, Morgan Robidou’s blood alcohol level was consistent with the natural post-mortem process between his death on May 28 and his autopsy on June 9, and not from consumption of alcohol. Charter guests often gave Robidou bottles of “Captain Morgan”-brand rum as gifts.
— Awakin’s anchor was found fouled on the bottom near Low island, but investigators concluded that it slipped from the bow roller after the boat capsized.
— Flare sightings reported in Sitka Sound during the search were not related to the incident. The Awakin’s flare kit was recovered intact and unopened.
— Although winds were expected to increase offshore to small-craft level later in the afternoon of May 28, they were not yet high at the time of the incident. The Awakin was under control until the moment it was lost.
— Discrepancies at Low Island between raster charts and the Time Zero vector charts in use on the Awakin’s navigation laptop (although the Team notified Time Zero of this issue).
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The Awakin was due back in port at 4 p.m. When it failed to arrive, fellow charter operators began calling the Awakin on VHF radio. Others began looking, and at least one boat went all the way out to Cape Edgecumbe following the Awakin’s usual route. It wasn’t until almost 5:30 p.m. that the owner of Kingfisher Lodge notified the Coast Guard of an overdue vessel. Typically, once the Coast Guard decides to initiate a search, a helicopter can be airborne in a half-hour. On May 28, a half-fueled helicopter was ready at Air Station Sitka, but the pilot, expecting a long search flight, ordered a full tank. The pit crew encountered some problems, however, and it was 58 minutes before the helicopter took off.
Air Station Sitka commander Cpt. Vincent Jansen supported his pilot’s decision, although looking back it was clear that the fueling issues weighed heavily on him.
“I’ve been flying for 20 years, the fuel tanks and the fuel pit we have right here in Sitka is the best I’ve ever seen,” said Jansen. “And it’s also the most well-maintained. We had two malfunctions that day with that fueling system. It’s Murphy’s Law. Everything else was by the book but it couldn’t happen at a worst time. And I own that.”
The 58-minute delay likely didn’t matter. By the time the Coast Guard was notified that the Awakin was overdue, the five people aboard had been in the water two-and-a-half hours without floatation, or trapped in the sunken vessel’s cabin, and almost certainly no longer alive.
The investigators made a handful of recommendations to the Coast Guard Commandant to prevent similar tragedies, including requiring uninspected passenger vessels to carry life rafts and EPIRBS – much like the commercial fishing fleet – and to have significantly more drainage on deck. It’s not clear whether anything will change, however. As Menefee said, regarding the life rafts and EPIRBs, “We’ve made these recommendations before.”
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After a year of work, Sitka’s tourism task force unveiled its recommendations for the assembly– 32 of them to be exact. The Sitka Assembly accepted the recommendations at a special meeting on Thursday (5-16-24).
Among the directives, the commission asks that the city pursue an agreement with the cruise industry through a “Memorandum of Understanding,” or MOU, advocate to reduce peak days, and establish a permanent tourism commission.
The list did not include an annual limit for cruise traffic– an issue hotly debated in Sitka over the last couple of years. In that time the city has seen its cruise passenger numbers triple, but limiting cruise ships is both controversial and legally complicated since Sitka’s cruise dock is privately owned.
Task force Chair Jim Michener said the task force was divided on the issue, but ultimately homed in on what’s within the city’s control.
“Under this directive, we weren’t able to say, ‘Here’s the number we should go for.’ It just was really too much to hammer down. The one thing I can say, going through this process, was that an annual limit is kind of just a non-starter. There’s a bunch of reasons why that’s problematic,” Michener said. “And if we do look towards making some sort of numerical limit on large ship travel and large ship visitors, daily seems to be the best way to go about it. We have more control over it, and it avoids a lot of pitfalls that come up with an annual limit that could be problematic.”
The task force instead recommends that the city advocate to keep the daily limit between 5,000 and 7,000 passengers, and limit the large neopanamax ships to one per day. It also recommends the city implement a lightering policy to limit ships using the city’s lightering facility on days with 5,000 or more passengers.
City Administrator John Leach said that it may be challenging to get every cruise line to sign off on one agreement, and suggested another avenue.
“Given our circumstance here, it may be a consideration to develop our MOU with the private dock owner who has the ability to do his own scheduling at at his facility, and then use of our own facility, our lightering facility, I think can be controlled without an MOU since, again, we do have control of that of that,” Leach said. “So perhaps just a negotiated agreement with the dock owner might be the path of least resistance.”
Larry Edwards, who has organized two ballot initiatives to limit cruise passenger numbers, asked the assembly to remove the recommendations on the level of cruise traffic from the list before approving it. While he said he appreciated the commission’s work on the other issues, he said they hadn’t devoted enough time to this section and was backing it up with unreliable data.
“Because of all the problems, they they were not well-considered, not well-deliberated, and for the most part, lack a foundation of reliable data. Put simply, the dog ate the task force directive one homework,” Edwards said. “The body should have admitted that it should not have included directive one in his report to you. To express these facts saddens me greatly.”
The assembly had little criticism of the document, however. Tim Pike thanked the task force for work he said was fairly comprehensive.
“Shining through this report really is a desire on the part of everyone in Sitka to come to an answer on this., and it doesn’t have to look like anybody else’s model. It’s our model, and I like to see that,” Pike said. “I don’t see any desire to shift to not not try and deal with the problems in front of us, and try to come up with some real solutions that fit us as a community.”
The assembly unanimously approved the tourism task force’s recommendations and directed the administrator to develop an action plan based on them. That plan will be presented to the assembly at the June 25 meeting.
View the full list of recommendations here
Editor’s Note: KCAW General Manager Rich McClear is a member of the tourism task force.
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Mike Nares is the outdoor program officer with Freedom Alliance. He joined KCAW to talk about their program to bring veterans on three day fishing trips in Sitka. Listen here:
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The sole finalist for the Sitka’s municipal attorney position has pulled out of the running.
Annmarie Billingsley has been a practicing attorney in Alaska for 14 years. Six of them she spent as an attorney for the Fairbanks Northstar Borough. She now works in private practice.
Billingsley was one of two candidates the assembly initially interviewed for the position. After advancing her to a second virtual interview on May 9, the assembly invited Billingsley to Sitka for an in-person “meet and greet” and interview at the end of the month. But at a special meeting on Thursday (5-16-24), Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz announced that that meeting wouldn’t happen after all.
“She talked with her family and ultimately reached a conclusion that a move to Sitka right now was not in her favor. So she was unable to continue forward in our recruitment process,” Eisenbeisz said. “So we’re kind of back to the drawing board at this point, and we’ll continue to recruit for a municipal attorney.”
Billingsley was the only candidate currently vying for the municipal attorney position. Attorney Brian Hanson is retiring this summer.
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The City and Borough of Sitka is out over $60,000 after a cyber scammer intercepted a payment intended for a contractor.
Last fall, a city contractor was targeted in a cyber attack. According to a press release issued today by the city, the scammer submitted a request for the city to change the contractor’s banking information. The request appeared legitimate, so CBS staff approved the change, and submitted a $62,795 payment to the account. Once the incident was discovered, the city informed the bank and made efforts to recover the funds, but so far only $4000 has been retrieved.
In an email, Government Relations Director Melissa Wileman told KCAW that, after consultation with the city’s attorney and assembly, staff decided against filing an insurance claim to avoid jeopardizing its deductible. The contractor has since been paid for their services.
In response to the attack, the city will add new security protocols to reduce its vulnerability to future cyber attacks. According to the release, payment to vendors will likely become more complicated in the future as a result of the additional steps.
Sitka wasn’t the only Southeast city that fell victim to the same scam. Earlier this month, $625,000 was stolen from the Ketchikan Gateway Borough after funds for the contractor that recently completed turfing for Dudley Field were wired to a fake vendor account instead.
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The Sitka Tourism Task Force has worked for the past year to develop a plan of Tourism Best Practices for Sitka. (KCAW photo)Municipal administrator John Leach joins us to discuss tonight’s joint meeting of the Sitka Assembly and the Sitka Tourism Task Force (6 p.m. Thursday, May 16, Harrigan Centennial Hall main auditorium), which has prepared a list of 32 recommendations on managing the community’s rapid growth in cruise tourism. Also, Leach shares plans to include a new tourism manager position in next year’s municipal budget.
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What is affordable housing and why doesn’t Sitka have more of it? At Tuesday night’s assembly meeting (5-14-24), Sitka Tribe of Alaska Communications Director Robin Sherman and Planning Director Amy Ainsley presented a report on affordable housing, with information gathered from a recent housing summit, that attempted to answer those questions and explore possible approaches the city could take to addressing the problem.
Sherman said the average price of a home in Sitka is now over half a million dollars, which is out of reach for Sitka’s median income earners.
“A Sitka household earning that median income of about $95,000 is going to struggle with the monthly cost to own this house, especially if it needed repairs. Without paying more than 30% of your income toward housing costs, you’d need a household of income of about $140,000 a year to afford that average price home in Sitka,” Sherman said. “And that’s assuming you’re eligible for the state homeownership subsidy program, which starts to phase out around that level of household income, depending on household size.”
Sherman said a $342,000 dollar house would be more in-reach for someone making the median income–but houses in that range are tough to come by or build in Sitka. Ainslie said that’s due to a few things: lack of infrastructure, lack of available land, and the high cost of development.
“We live in a very high cost environment,” Ainslie said. “We’re an island community, everything that comes in has to be flown in or barged in…Cost of living is high, which also means the cost of labor is high, and so that high cost environment sort of begets itself and creates more and more of that high cost environment for itself.”
Sherman and Ainslie noted that several organizations in Sitka are trying to find solutions to the affordable housing crisis. The Sitka Community Land Trust is working on the second group of cottages in its first affordable housing community, and has won grant funding to build a fourplex. The Baranof Island Housing Authority is constructing an eight plex and extending Herb Didrickson Street to open up new lots for Tribal Citizens, and the Sitka Homeless Coalition in building a tiny home community for unhoused Sitkans. The city has also commissioned a study of city-owned land to identify opportunities for housing development.
“So we do have some new subsidized housing in the pipeline as well as some other development. Believe it or not, Sitka is actually building more housing than any other region of the state, with the exception of the Mat Su,” Sherman said, citing data from a 2021 report from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce development.
Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz thanked them for the work they’d done so far to break down a challenging problem.
“In a way, it’s a good thing that it’s not just a Sitka issue, but it’s a hard thing that it’s not just a Sitka issue, I kind of wish it was, because then there would be some way we could solve this. However, when the nation is going through the exact same things, it makes it a little bit harder,” he said. “So thank you for looking into the keys of Sitka, and maybe we can unlock one of these doors to to help provide our citizens housing.”
Sherman said the Sitka Tribe of Alaska will focus on affordable housing in a June work session with BIHA. The first meeting of the Sitka Housing Network will convene later this year.
View the Sitka Housing Summit report here
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The Julie Hughes Triathlon is this weekend. In February 1985, Julie lost her battle with cancer at the age of 15. During her treatment and through a period of remission she talked with her swim coach, Siouxha Tokman, and said one day she wanted to do a triathlon. The triathlon is a tribute to Julie, and proceeds from the event are donated to the Sitka Cancer Survivors Network.
Organizer Kevin Knox and participants Zachary Martens, Taryn Fleming and Ben Lihou joined KCAW to discuss the event. Listen here:
Register for the race here
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Porch Fest is all-day community festival of music, dance, and the arts which is entering its fourth year this Saturday, May 18. Lincoln St. will be blocked off 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. for food, vendors, and music events, with performances on the PorchFest main stage at the Crescent Harbor net shed until 9 p.m. Sponsored by the Greater Sitka Arts Council. Organizer Dixon Elegant shares the details.
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When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (5-14-24), it will consider approving the city’s general fund and enterprise fund budgets for next fiscal year.
For the last few months, the assembly held regular budget meetings, reviewing budget proposals from different city departments and giving the city’s finance director and municipal administrator direction for the budget process. The final product of those discussions is what’s before the assembly for consideration tonight.
Over the last few years, sales tax revenue has risen steadily, driven by an increase in tourism. Next year, the city is expecting that growth to level off a bit, but expenditures are up over 14 %. In a memo to the assembly, municipal Finance Director Melissa Haley writes that inflation, more tourism activity, and increased operations costs have contributed to the bump, as well as staffing vacancies. As written, the general fund budget pencils out with a small surplus of just over $40,000.
Most enterprise funds will see increases this year. Water, solid waste and moorage rates are set to rise by 4 percent, while wastewater is expected to increase by 8.25 percent. The steeper increase for wastewater is due in part to updated EPA rules that required the city to invest in a new disinfection system at the wastewater treatment plant. Electric rates aren’t expected to rise, though there will be an increase to the base customer fee.
The assembly has decided again this year to fund schools to the “cap”– the maximum allowable contribution by state law. But the state funding level for schools next year remains uncertain, which has led the district to cut 16 teaching positions next year. To help the district with its budget woes, the city’s own budget includes a plan to take over management of the Blatchley Middle School swimming pool, and $125,000 for a contract to manage the Performing Arts Center.
If the assembly approves the draft budget tonight on first reading, it will review it again on final reading at the last meeting in May. Fiscal Year 25 begins on July 1.
In other business, the assembly will hear a synopsis of the Sitka Housing Summit Report, a study on housing affordability in Sitka, commissioned by the Baranof Island Housing Authority and Sitka Tribe of Alaska. And it will consider a 20 year historic preservation covenant between the State of Alaska Historic Preservation Office and the City and Borough of Sitka for the Japonski Island Boathouse.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live following Alaska News Nightly.
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The Sitka High School Theater Department presents ‘I Hate Hamlet’ this week at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. A love letter to the theatre and to the Bard himself, “I Hate Hamlet” is for everyone that loves (and hates) Shakespeare. Actors Eliot Holloway, Ben Hedrick, and director Christian Litten joined KCAW to discuss the show. Listen here:
See “I Hate Hamlet” May 16-18, 7 p.m. at the PAC. Tickets are available at www.fineartscamp.org
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(City of Sitka Youtube) Sitka doesn’t have a new municipal attorney yet, but after the second round of interviews the city is inviting one job candidate to visit for a community ‘meet and greet.’
Annmarie Billingsley is a graduate of the Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. She has practiced law in Alaska for 14 years, six of them as an attorney for the Fairbanks Northstar Borough. She’s also worked in private practice, and as a pro bono attorney for the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
Billingsley was one of two candidates who initially interviewed for the job in late April, following the announcement that municipal attorney Brian Hanson will retire at the end of June. The assembly decided to invite Billingsley back for a second interview on Zoom, which happened in a special meeting on Thursday (5-10-24). Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz started the meeting by saying the questions this time would dive deeper.
“So we have some interview questions that were submitted by department heads. This is not something we’ve done in the past,” Eisenbeisz said. “But after reading them, I found it to be a great exercise, because this is the areas of concern for these department heads…and you know, they may be reaching out to legal with some of these questions.”
Questions for Billingsley covered a wide area- ranging from risk management, to police and public safety, and education funding – issues they’d expect Sitka’s attorney to deal with in the future. They discussed areas of law Billingsley said she had quite a bit of experience with, like union negotiations and contract writing.
Billingsley also touched on the possibility of future ballot initiatives to limit cruise traffic, and whether that could lead to litigation for the city. She said that was an area of law that she’s not familiar with but it’s not unique, and she’s prepared to learn about it.
“The issues that you’re having are not unique to Sitka,” Billingsley said, referring to Juneau’s recent efforts to limit cruise traffic. “I know a number of the municipal attorneys that are practicing up in Juneau, so easy enough for me to pick up the phone and say, ‘What are you guys doing? How are you dealing with this, and is there a way to get me up to speed?'”
After about an hour of questions, the assembly convened in executive session. When they returned the message from assembly was abbreviated but clear- Billingsley wasn’t hired yet, but she would be advancing to the next round.
“I’m very pleased with her candidacy and I look forward to meeting her in person,” Mosher said.
The assembly unanimously voted to invite Billingsley to Sitka for a community ‘meet and greet’ and in-person interview at the end of this month. The time and place has yet to be announced.
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Megan Pasternak and Janine Holzman of Ocean Wave Quilters join us to discuss their organization’s annual show, which opens Friday, May 10, 5-8 pm and then daily through May 19. And, special Mother’s Day Tea on Sunday, May 12 at noon.
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Girls on the Run and its new sister program, Heart and Sole, will host a 5k fun run this weekend with an “under the sea” theme. Coordinator Katie Niedermeyer and students Maddie and Natalie joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to talk about why they participate in the program and how they’re feeling about the upcoming fun run. Listen to the full interview below:
The fun run takes place Saturday, May 11 and is open to the community. Registration opens at 9:30 a.m., and the run begins at 10 a.m. For questions or to volunteer, contact schools@safv.org.
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Sitka Trail Works is gearing up for fun summer of hiking and volunteer events. Executive director Ben Hughey joined KCAW to discuss events the nonprofit has planned for the long days of the summer months. Listen here:
Visit Sitkatrailworks.org to learn more. View Sitka Trail Works summer hike calendar here
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NSRAA assumed management of the Little Port Walter chinook program when NOAA stopped collecting eggs in 2020. But eggs had to be shuttled to NSRAA’s Hidden Falls Hatchery, and then returned as fry. Receiving a hatchery permit for LPW chinook will put an end to the commute for kings, and allow NSRAA to build chinook program. In the photo, king fry hatched at Hidden Falls are transferred for release at Little Port Walter. (NSRAA photo)NSRAA has been keeping the chinook program going at Little Port Walter since 2020 when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stopped collecting eggs at the site. NSRAA general manager Scott Wagner says that his organization stepped in to help by using its Hidden Falls Hatchery permit, and shuttling eggs and fry the 64 miles between the two locations.
The broodstock for Little Port Walter come from the Keta River and were being reared experimentally in a joint effort between NOAA’s Auke Bay Laboratory and the state. Wagner says NSRAA was interested in further developing Keta River chinook, and integrating them into their overall program.
“Fish & Game and NOAA started that program, maybe a decade ago, and it was just starting to show good signs of progress,” Wagner said. “And then that (Keta River) stock also tends to be an inside-rearing king salmon stock. So those will be harvested more in the winter troll fisheries. And additionally (Keta) tends to be a larger bodied stock, so slightly larger per-fish pounds that the fisherman receive when they harvest those.”.
NSRAA has applied for an “Aquatic Resources” permit to manage the Little Port Walter chinook program on site, saving time and money transporting eggs and fry between that location and Hidden Falls. The permit application won unanimous approval of the Southeast Regional Planning Team at its April meeting in Sitka. It will have to go to the Commissioner of Fish & Game for final approval.
Aquaculture section chief for ADF&G, Garold “Flip” Pryor, says the application was largely unopposed, and met the basic criteria for the commissioner’s approval – namely, the location of Little Port Walter on the southern tip of Baranof Island puts it far enough away from Southeast’s mainland rivers, which can be more sensitive to comingling of hatchery stocks.
“So we tend to be a little bit more lenient on issuing permits in a non sensitive zone than a sensitive zone,” said Pryor. “If it’s (the proposed hatchery program is) in a sensitive zone, then one of the requirements is to use the closest broodstock available. And so in this case, at the south end of Baranof Island there’s not a lot of spawning of chinook salmon near there. I think the Farragut River is the nearest and it’s over 50 miles away.”
At that range, Pryor says, the documented “straying” of hatchery-produced kings is significantly reduced.
The minutes of the Southeast Regional Planning Team did note one concern over potential straying. Chris Guggenbickler, the gillnet representative on the board of the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, contended that fish from both Little Port Walter and Hidden Falls Hatchery had been identified in the Stikine and Taku rivers. He wrote, “Maybe this fall I can have someone tell me what an acceptable level of straying is, whether it comes from a sensitive zone or a non-sensitive zone.” Guggenbickler urged ADF&G to take a close look at the possibility of straying.
If its permit wins approval, the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association is hoping to increase chinook releases at Little Port Walter, and improve the availability of king salmon during the winter and spring troll fisheries.
Unlike its other projects, under an Aquatic Resources permit NSRAA will not be allowed to harvest and sell fish itself – a process known as cost recovery. Any kings that make it back to the hatchery and are not recovered for broodstock will unfortunately be wasted. NSRAA manager Wagner says this could potentially run to thousands of fish. In lieu of cost recovery, NSRAA has received some federal Pacific Salmon Treaty mitigation funding to pay for the program.
For Wagner and the NSRAA board, saving Little Port Walter was really a matter of not losing a chinook program, in an area where chinook have been important historically. He believes people have been working with kings in the Little Port Walter area since the 1930s. He said, “It would be a shame to see that all go away.”
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From left: Harper Glazer and Courtney Love. May is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Awareness Month (MMIR). The MMIR movement calls attention to the disproportionate impact of violence on Indigenous Peoples, and seeks to find solutions. This week, to provide the community with cultural knowledge and resources, the Sitka Tribe of Alaska is hosting a two-day summit on trauma recovery.
The workshop will be led by Christina Love, a Juneau-based advocate for domestic violence survivors and incarcerated women. She was recently appointed by President Biden to the US Advisory Council on Human Trafficking.
“You will equally feel devastated by the absolute atrocities that are happening, and also, I hope, empowered and liberated and knowledgeable and equipped with action,” Love says of the participants that attend the workshop this Wednesday and Thursday.
“The title of the training is ‘Moving from trauma to healing,'” she continues. “And so we really hope to put a lot of emphasis on action, so people can walk away with tangible things to do.”
Love says participants at the two-day workshop will spend the time in storytelling sessions and panels, exploring everything from the science of trauma to the stigma of substance use and the role it can play for survivors.
“So really, a big point that we’re going to drive home again and again is that when people experience harm, that they will end their pain and suffering in any way that they can,” Love says. “So we want to move away from deficit, and look at how some of the worst parts of addiction lead to trafficking, some of the worst parts of addiction, that shame and that stigma, comes from people not really knowing what to do. So pushing family members away, kicking people out of shelters or programs, because they don’t know what else to do.”
Harper Glazer is the transitional housing manager for Sitka Tribe of Alaska. She says the workshop is possible through funding from the US Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women. And she says while tribal citizens are disproportionately affected by violence, it affects the community as a whole.
“Sitka Tribe of Alaska is looking to not only provide direct service, but also being able to provide learning opportunities and workshops for providers in the community, so that we can build our response services that we offer to the whole community,” Glazer says.
Love says one thing she hopes people will walk away with is this – recovery is possible both for victims and for people perpetrating harm. “For me, and a lot of the people that I work with, there’s no shame on either side there. We know that…healing isn’t possible along with shame, and so I don’t want people to feel that.” Love says. “Most people who have perpetrated harm were victims themselves. So that false dichotomy, I just want people to know that healing is possible.”
The workshop will be held Wednesday May 8 from 10:30am to 4:30pm and Thursday, May 9 from 9am – 3:30pm at the Sitka Tribe of Alaska offices at 204 Siginaka Way. For more information, or to register, call Harper Glazer at 907-747-7152 or email harper.glazer@sitkatribe-nsn.gov. Learn more about MMIR here.
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Students Leon Barclay (left) and Damien Wright explain their research on forest restructuring to a visitor on April 30. (KCAW/Redick)Indigenous knowledge doesn’t often end up on science fair posters. But for students in one Sitka High School class, traditional ecological knowledge is the center of their work. They recently shared their research in a regional science fair through the American Indian Science and Engineering Society — and two Sitka High teams took home prizes for their projects on yellow cedar trees.
Students in the Sitka High class, which is funded through a grant from Sealaska Heritage Institute, have been researching yellow cedar trees for months. Caitlin Woolsey, who teaches the class, said yellow cedar was a natural choice for research because it’s both culturally and ecologically important to Sitka.
“It’s a really important species to the forest and to our community,” Woolsey said. “It’s got huge cultural significance, and it’s dying off due to climate change, so it’s an opportunity to to learn about our forests, about climate change, and about our community.”
Woolsey’s students recently presented their conclusions to the public in the lobby of the Sitka Performing Arts Center. To kick off their research, students met first with local cultural leaders and looked at the Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Climate Action Plan to understand community concerns and gaps in the research.
Each team worked with a mentor from the Sitka Sound Science Center, where they learned how to collect data in the field. Mentor Sarah Tobey said part of the goal was to introduce technology and tools for environmental monitoring to students.
“We get to bring that kind of piece into it and support the students and be mentors for the individual projects, which is really fun,” Tobey said. “And I think it’s helpful as they each take on a different question and kind of get to dive deeper into it with one person kind of helping them and guiding them along the way.
For student Sophia Kibby, it was the environment around yellow cedar trees that drew her attention.
“My question that I wanted to research was how do environments differ in understories between the two sites, and how is it affecting yellow cedar trees?” Kibby said.
Student Sophia Kibby stands next to her science fair poster on April 30. Her project focused on understories, or vegetation underneath the forest canopy, and how that could affect the health of yellow cedar trees. (KCAW/Redick)She compared trees in a high-elevation, exposed area on Sitka’s Harbor Mountain to trees in a shady grove at sea level. She hypothesized that the mountain trees would be less healthy than those at sea level.
“Yellow cedar trees have been dying because the snow has been melting, and it’s not good for the snow to melt during the wintertime,” she said. “Or for the roots, which can’t even be exposed to 20 degrees. It’s not good for it, it’ll die.”
She says she learned a lot through the field work – but it wasn’t all fun.
“I don’t like getting dirty,” she said, laughing. “I was wearing my clothes right here, and I got dirty.”
Kibby took home a prize for her project. Students Lily Mayo and Ben Hedrick took home the first place prize for their project on cedar bark removal, earning them an invitation to the national conference next year.
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The Raven Radio Board of Directors is announcing that Mariana Robertson will be joining KCAW as the General Manager starting July 1.
She has so much talent and energy to bring to KCAW and Sitka, and we are really grateful to welcome her here.
When asked about her favorite, small delight about community radio, she says:
“I know it sounds strange, but the thing I love most about community radio are the silences – knowing that I’m hearing someone live figuring out what to say or play next. It’s such a feeling of connection to be in a moment of pause like that with someone whose voice I’ve come to know and appreciate. I also think those moments represent all the unheard work that goes into a station, which I’m really excited to be a part of. I can’t wait to be part of the amazing Raven Radio team in moments of joyful sound and in the silences too!”
Mariana will be joining KCAW Raven Radio as the General Manager. In her most recent role, she served as a Program Manager at Impact Justice, managing a portfolio of projects that aimed to reduce the harm caused by the criminal legal system and open pathways to alternative approaches, as well as projects focused on Impact Justice’s organizational culture. Prior to joining Impact Justice, she worked at Payomet, a nonprofit performing arts center, where she curated a series of humanities conversations and helped to reinvent the organization’s community programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is also a proud service industry alum and has built her career on the foundations of hard work and grace under pressure gained in many years of restaurant experience. Mariana graduated from Barnard College cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English and spent time studying abroad in Dakar, Senegal. Outside of work, she enjoys taking on overambitious craft projects, hiking, and not being able to put down a good book.
We as the KCAW Board want to take a moment to say our sincerest thanks to Rich and Suzi McClear for their leadership of the station over this past year. The skillset and wisdom that they have built in the world of community radio has been a gift to KCAW. Thank you for saying ‘yes’ to this work, investing whole-heartedly in the station, and always bringing the art and fun of radio to the forefront of our work. All you have brought to KCAW has the deepest appreciation from us as a Board, and from our entire Sitka community.
Warmly,
The KCAW Board
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Former district business manager Dave Arp has returned to work for Sitka Schools as an interim. “This picture is a heartbreaker for a finance person,” he said, pointing to a spreadsheet showing district reserves at nearly zero next year. “So you better be good at what you do.” (KCAW/Woolsey)The decision by the Sitka School Board to move ahead with a major staff cut came just hours after some relatively good news from Juneau. The Senate Finance Committee – co-chaired by Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman – had drafted a balanced state budget for next year that included a one-time $680 increase in per-pupil funding for K-12 education, and the budget had won approval from the full Senate.
Gov. Dunleavy in March vetoed an education bill with a permanent increase of $680 in per pupil funding, and last year he vetoed half of a one-time appropriation, and sent public schools an extra $340.
During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Dunleavy told reporters he’d let the full $680 stand this time around.
“I’ve told people I’m open to an increase in one-time funding, especially to help with the inflationary issues, yes,” said Gov. Dunleavy.
“Does your number match their (the legislature’s) number?” asked Becky Bohrer, with the Associated Press.
“I don’t have a pencil on me here,” responded Dunleavy, “but if it’s close to the $680-something, yes.”
The Sitka School Board, however, chose to stick with a budget carefully built around only a $500 increase, as a way to hedge its bets. Board member Phil Burdick explained why.
“So we’re going to have to go based on this $500,” said Burdick. “Or decide we want to do a $680 budget, trusting the governor. (Laughter in audience.) That was not a joke.”
Definitely not a joke. The Sitka School District has been faced with budget cuts and potential staff reductions in the past, but those have almost always been managed through retirements, or teachers leaving voluntarily for work elsewhere. This time, however, 16 teachers are getting laid off. The remaining staff will be reshuffled among the five schools, but the direct loss in positions will be:
3.5 fewer positions at Sitka High,
.5 fewer positions at Pacific High,
3.5 fewer positions at Blatchley Middle School,
5 fewer positions at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary,
and 3 fewer position at Xóots Elementary.
Course offerings will also be limited. There will be nine fewer electives offered at Sitka High, and 18 fewer electives at Blatchley. Pupil-to-Teacher ratios in elementary classrooms – or PTRs – will increase, to 18 at Xóots and 24 at Keet Gooshi Heen.
PTRs will also go up at Blatchley and Sitka High, but those classes are structured differently than at the elementary level, so they average lower. Nevertheless, high school Biology teacher Stacy Golden offered some insight into what it will look like.
“So I just want to give you an idea of how my life has changed this week, to give you an idea of what it’s like,” said Golden. “So I currently have about 128 students. Next year, I will have at least 150 students. And I’ll do it, and I’ll make it work. And in my higher elective classes that thrive at those numbers of 15, because I’m the Biology teacher. So it’s all place-based and tons of outside and tons of field trips. I run into the same dynamic that any other teacher would: when I’ve got 25 kids, it’s a whole lot harder to deal with them in these more remote environments than it is for 15. Again, I’ll make it work.”
If the governor approves the operating budget with the one-time increase of $680 per pupil, it will save four teaching jobs in Sitka – for next year. The year after, if the governor continues to resist increasing funding for schools, Superintendent Deidre Jenson said things would be worse, and the district would likely have to close and consolidate schools, as has been done this year in Juneau, Fairbanks, and Anchorage.
The budget decisions made by the Sitka board this spring have been driven by the numbers, and how many jobs may be lost. Board member Phil Burdick wondered what else was being lost.
“We have a strategic plan that talks a lot about equity. We have a strategic plan that talks about closing learning gaps, opportunity gaps, achievement gaps,” Burdick said, “and I get that it is complex at the secondary level. But those numbers don’t make sense to me. I can’t get into the weeds about how staff manage their buildings. And I’m going to trust that they know what’s best for their buildings. But from what I see, I still see higher butts in seats at the lower level than I do at the upper level.”
The school board has a statutory obligation to pass a budget by May 1, so that is what it did (4-0 with Steve Morse absent and excused). But non-retention notices don’t have to go out to teachers until May 13. Board president Tristan Guevin said the district should consider this a placeholder budget until more information came in about the state operating budget, and other variables like insurance premiums, and federal “Secure Rural Schools” funding. He called for a special meeting on May 9, to give the administration more time to adjust the numbers and plan for next year in a way that would help the district recover its momentum. Even with the possibility of saving four teaching jobs, that is a tall order. “In my time in Sitka,” said Guevin, “I’ve never come close to seeing reductions like this.”
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Sitka’s Lincoln Street on June 21, 2023, when over 10,000 visitors made their way downtown. Sitka’s Tourism Task Force will recommend reducing these “peak days” in a report to the Sitka Assembly. (KCAW/Rich McClear)A little over a year after it was created, Sitka’s Tourism Task Force has completed its work, without settling on a “magic number” of annual cruise passengers. Instead, the assembly-appointed group adopted recommendations including reducing “peak days,” engaging with the visitor industry, and establishing a permanent commission to take its place.
Sitka’s cruise ship numbers have nearly tripled since 2019, with some days – such as May 2 – pushing the number of visitors above 9,000. Task force member Jeremy Plank supported reducing those “peak days,” or days with more than one large ship, saying it was a common problem in an otherwise polarizing discussion.
“The one thing that I find resounding through everybody that I’ve talked to is that the peak days were the problem that we had,” Plank said. “And I think that looking forward, if we can stabilize that, and other initiatives that we’re talking about here tonight, I think that that gives Sitka the best chance to move forward.”
The task force recommended reducing peak days and suggested that the city, which manages lightering facilities at Crescent Harbor, support that by limiting the size of ships that use those facilities.
Another recommendation on the table was whether the city should pursue agreements with the cruise industry. Some members said that the city needed more data before entering into those conversations. Task force member Camille Ferguson said she felt torn.
“I don’t know if the word agreement is the right word, or understanding with the industry, some sort of something,” Ferguson said. “We should be communicating with the industry and our community so that we understand each other, that there is an issue and we have to come together to address these issues.”
Task force member Jim Michener said conversations with the industry now could help prevent future problems, like the unexpected visit from the cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam on May 2.
“You know, if there are life-threatening emergencies, of course, you may come into town, etcetera,” Michener said. “But if all of a sudden Ketchikan doesn’t have a dock, that doesn’t mean we need to be willing to accept 50 more ships. I think that’s the value of the MOA and MOU that maybe isn’t being talked about — that we can prescribe those things ahead of time to avoid a further pitfall.”
Ultimately, the task force voted to recommend that the city pursue a nonbinding agreement with the industry. They also voted on four other directives, including establishing a permanent tourism commission, regulating e-bikes and downtown smoking areas, and maintaining regional tourism collaborations.
The task force will present their recommendations to the Assembly at their May 16 meeting. You can read the full list of recommendations here.
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Pacific High School garden coordinator Andrea Fraga rinses off vegetables with student Jeremiah Ward. (Credit: Ḵaa Yahaayí Shkalneegi Muriel Reid)Pacific High’s annual plant sale is Friday 2-5 pm, and Saturday 10-4 pm in the school’s new greenhouse. Garden coordinator Andrea Fraga and two of her students discuss their experiences working in the program, and growing food to use in the school’s lunch program.
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Sitka began closing Lincoln Street to traffic in 2022, when 383,000 passengers visited the town. 2024 brought Sitka’s first 10,000-passenger day, which many agreed was not optimal. (KCAW/Kimmell)The two governments in Sitka get together for a meal and an informal meeting a couple of times a year. Most recently, two days before the community will be swarmed by cruise passengers.
Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz apologized for what is likely to be a wild start to the visitor season.
“So the goal going forward is to not have 9,000,” said Eisenbeisz. “A week ago, it wasn’t. This port call was added very late in the agenda. So Thursday will be busy. What a way to kick off the season.”
There will be three ships in port on Thursday in Sitka – rather than two – with a total passenger capacity of 9,300. The late-comer is the Nieuw Amsterdam, which notified Sitka’s port director about a week ago that it was making an unscheduled call. Combined, the three ships have several thousand crew, many of whom catch a shuttle for the seven-mile ride into town, and can raise the actual number of visitors into five figures.
Sitka officials at the meeting were wary of a possible citizen initiative that would limit summertime cruise visitation to less than half of last year’s record season. The mayor cautioned the Tribal Council that recent efforts by city hall to establish a Parks & Recreation program, assume responsibility for maintenance of the schools and the Performing Arts Center, and to take over management of the school swimming pool, would all be jeopardized by limiting cruise ship calls.
Mayor Eisenbeisz described a simple trade-off: increased tourism or local amenities.
“I think that’s a choice that community can make,” he said. “The other side of not having buses on your streets, is not having a parks & rec program too.”
Tribal Council member Lillian Feldpausch, however, thought the argument was overstated.
“What is it going to take to be able to run at minimum some of these programs?” she asked. “Because that’s kind of like holding people hostage to say, ‘You don’t have these, you know, we don’t get the funding for these, say goodbye.’
Mayor Eisenbeisz said it was not his intention to hold anyone hostage, and that more work needed to be done on tourism. Rather than impose a season limit, he believed Sitka could better manage a daily limit, and one day a week with no ships at all.
Municipal administrator John Leach said the city was investigating a regional strategy to manage cruise traffic, because if Sitka enforced a day with no ships, the cruise lines would go to other towns, and possibly increase congestion there. He wanted a solution that didn’t involve the courts or a ballot initiative.
“Because when it goes to the ballot box, there’s, there’s legal implications on either side pro or against,” he said, ” and it’s going to affect another community.”
As for the cruise passengers, no one disputes that their arrival will be both an economic and culinary boost. A new food truck offering Hawaiian Doughnuts is parked downtown, along with another specializing in Cuban food. “Welcome back to all the food trucks as well,” the mayor said. “I’m pretty excited about that.”
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Berett Wilber’s photo series of Sitka Trollers took third place for Best Multimedia Presentation, in the All Media category, which includes newspapers, websites, television, and radio stations. in this photo, Richie Davis takes a break from work aboard his troller West Bank for a cold beverage at the Pioneer Bar. (KCAW/Wilber)KCAW News and the Sitka Sentinel have proved again that small-market newsrooms can hold their own in Alaska’s media industry. Raven News and the Sentinel combined to take eleven awards at the annual meeting of the Alaska Press Club, April 18-20, 2024, in Anchorage. KCAW’s sister stations across the CoastAlaska Network pulled in another 20 honors.
Awards won by KCAW News:
All Media
First Place, Best Headline Writing: Robert Woolsey
Third Place, Best Multimedia Presentation: Berett Wilber and Robert Woolsey “Portrait of a fishery: Sitka trollers gear up for an unexpected season”
Radio
First Place, Best Profile: Katherine Rose “Not with cars, but with cubes, Sitka teen satisfies the need for speed”
Third Place, Best Arts Reporting: Meredith Redick “Alaska-raised musician makes melodies from the sounds of nature”Third Place,
Third Place, Best Sports Reporting: Katherine Rose “Sitka Rocket Wolves soar to new heights, nabbing first ESports title with rocket-powered cars”
Awards won by the Daily Sitka Sentinel:
Print-Small
First Place, Best Short Feature: Garland Kennedy and James Poulson, “Family Dog Stella Comes in from the Cold”
Second Place, Best Profile: Garland Kennedy “Skipper Recalls Life on Fishing Grounds”
All Media
First Place, Best Scenic Photo: James Poulson “Northern Light Show”
Second Place, Best Outdoor Feature: Garland Kennedy “Lessons Learned: Close Encounters of the Bear Kind”
Second Place, Best Feature Photo: James Poulson “Goosing Swan”
Third Place, Best News Photo: James Poulson “High Wind Victim”
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Sitka Community Orchestra will present its spring concert this Saturday, featuring a diverse repertoire that ranges from Strauss to Looney Tunes. Special guests from the Juneau Youth Orchestra will also perform. Orchestra director Drew Larson and musician Drew Sherman joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the evolution of the orchestra and the upcoming concert. Listen to the full interview here:
The orchestra performs this Saturday, May 4 at 7 p.m. at the Sitka Performing Arts center. A donation of five dollars is suggested. For more information, contact Sitka Parks and Recreation at 907-747-4031.
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Sitka’s “Indian Village” was once home to over forty Lingít clan houses. Today, only eight of those are still standing, and even fewer serve as active clan houses. Now, the area has been recognized as one of 11 endangered historic places in the US. Organizers are hoping that the attention will inspire efforts to creatively conserve – and rebuild – a cultural hub that has fallen into disrepair.
Katlian Street stretches along the waterfront just north of downtown Sitka. Today, it’s a bustling commercial hub. Workers unload fish totes at the seafood processor, and cars whiz by on their way to the harbors. Dotted between the shops and restaurants are houses – some standing, others collapsed – that tell the story of this street’s past.
“Just this short little walk, there’s multiple clan houses here,” says Chuck Miller, gesturing to lots now occupied by metal shops and parking lots. He’s pointing out sites that once served as cultural centers for Lingít people – places where members of a clan gathered for meetings, ceremonies, and even wakes.
“I remember there were a few here by this parking lot,” Miller says. “The Whale House, the Sea Lion house used to stand here, and a few more Kaagwaantaan houses here.”
Miller is the caretaker for the Kayaash ka hít, or Porch House, one of the few standing clan houses in Sitka. He inherited that responsibility in the 90’s from his late maternal uncle. Under traditional law, that’s how clan houses are passed down. Under the western legal system, though, properties often go to a spouse or children, who aren’t in the same clan. In other cases, multiple clan members are on the deed, making it hard to rebuild or demolish.
“You have to have everybody’s signature on it,” Miller says. “So you can’t demolish something without having everybody’s permission. Sometimes people die, and then you can’t track down the descendants or they didn’t have any. So that’s the debacle we run into nowadays. That’s the clash of the worlds — you have the Western world law, and you have our traditional law.”
In the case of the Point House, a Kiks.ádi clan house that fell out of clan ownership when it was transferred in a will, the house was eventually demolished. Jerrick Hope-Lang, a member of the Kiks.ádi clan, worked with the legal owners torepatriate the land in 2022. He’s been the caretaker since then – and now he’s eager to tackle what he sees as a broader problem.
“We see the collapsed houses, and we see things falling into disrepair, so I wanted to shed light on what’s happening next to me, too,” Hope-Lang says. “Because it’s not just problematic for me, it’s problematic for other people.”
Sitka Indian Village pictured circa 1878. (Photo provided by Alaska State Library Historical Collections.)That’s why he asked the National Trust for Historic Preservation to recognize Sitka’s Indian Village as an endangered historic place.He worked with Sitka historian and adopted Kiks.ádi clan member James Poulson to submit the nomination.
“This nomination, although it’s about Sitka’s Indian Village and clan houses, isn’t situational to only Sitka,” Hope-Lang says. “Broadly speaking, Klukwan, Haines, Angoon, all of them are having similar issues.”
The National Trust recognizes 11 endangered historic places each year, prioritizing sites that highlight unique or underrepresented parts of American history. Sitka’s Odess Theater, formerly Richard Allen Memorial Hall, on the Sheldon-Jackson campus, made the 1999 list. In a statement announcing Sitka Indian Village on the 2024 list, National Trust president Carol Quillen said, “the Sitka Tlingit Clan Houses are a critically important part of both the history and the future of Tlingit culture. We hope that broader recognition of their significance will encourage rehabilitation and return of the houses to clan ownership.”
While the nomination doesn’t come with funding, it does come with a lot of publicity. Hope-Lang is hoping that attention will draw support for the neighborhood’s preservation.
“We don’t know what the implications of this nomination will give us but attention,” Hope-Lang says. “And how do we utilize that attention now?”
Figuring out what preservation looks like, though, will require creativity. Outside of tangled questions of ownership, Hope-Lang says that clan houses don’t fit neatly into western historic preservation systems, like the National Parks Service’s National Register of Historic Places.
“The Secretary of Interior has standards for preservation, and they’re often trying to preserve a section in time,” Hope-Lang says. “But those standards don’t really align with Indigenous standards. You know, clan houses can be rebuilt.”
In this case, he says, the actual structure of the house isn’t the most important part.
“It goes beyond just the structure of the building,” he says. “We’re saying, first of all, the land underneath is sacred. The Point House exists whether the building does or not.”
And because most clan houses are privately-owned, he says, it’s harder to get funding to maintain or rebuild them. Hope-Lang says he’s working to start a nonprofit to bypass those challenges and streamline ownership.
“We’re looking at legal structures of how to leave this plot in a way that is for more public-based use, not an individual landowner,” he says. “So sharing those mechanisms of success with other clans and other tribes, we’re navigating Western constructs.”
Those aren’t problems that can be easily solved, but Hope-Lang says the National Trust nomination makes an important statement.
“Our history is worth saving, you know, and that part of town is intrinsically valuable to us. We need to figure out a way to preserve it.”
In the meantime, both Miller and Hope-Lang are working to provide space that reflects what their clans need today. Miller often hosts events for other clans who don’t have active clan houses, and he hopes one of his nephews will become the caretaker someday.
“I’m very proud to take on the role of caretaker as I did,” Miller says. “I did it out of respect and honor for my uncles, you know, and one of these days, hopefully one of my nephews will take up that honor, take the torch up and keep this house going.”
Hope-Lang is working with a Lingít architect to design a 21st-century clan house on the Point House site. He wants it to be a space that not only preserves history, but that allows the clan to flourish today.
“We’re trying to preserve this cultural lifestyle for perpetuity, so this is an opportunity to do so,” Hope-Lang says.
He hopes that with innovative thinking and collaboration, clan houses around the region can flourish as centers for Lingít identity, ceremony, and tradition.
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In a news release, AIr Station Sitka commander Capt. Vincent Jansen writes, “Coast Guard Air Station Sitka often works alongside other Coast Guard units, as well as local, federal, and international partners to execute demanding rescues in both maritime and inland areas, often during periods of harsh weather.” (USCG photo)Sitkans will see more Coast Guard activity in the area for the next couple of days.
Air Station Sitka, the cutter Bailey Barco, and teams from several Air Force rescue squadrons – along with Sitka Mountain Rescue – will be conducting exercises through May 2.
According to a news release, sharp-eyed observers will see a variant of the Coast Guard’s HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter involved in flight operations over the sound.
The exercises are scheduled to include demonstrations of basic rescue techniques, scenarios for employing specific search-and-rescue skills, and a joint mass casualty response exercise. Air Station Sitka commander Capt. Vincent Jansen said, “We’re excited to host our partners for a week of training. Exercises such as these allow crews to learn best practices from each other, practice integrating efforts, and strengthen organizational partnerships.”
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“As much as we would like to be, we’re not superheroes,” Keet Gooshi Heen music teacher Susan Brant-Ferguson told the Sitka School Board following a statewide education protest on April 24. “The lack of funding will affect the quality of programs.” (KCAW/Woolsey)Note: The Sitka School Board will hold a public budget hearing 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday, April 27, in the district office board room. Final adoption of the Fiscal Year 2025 budget is scheduled for the board’s regular meeting 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, in Harrigan Centennial Hall. May 15 is the deadline to notify staff of non-retention.
Ryan Myers is a non-tenured Math teacher, whose job could well disappear next year. He told the board he would rather have the bad news sooner than later.
“I’ve obviously been looking at jobs, and every week the number of available jobs everywhere just goes down, down, down, because everyone’s looking,” said Myers. “I mean, the longer I wait, the fewer jobs I’ve got to choose from, and I’m trying to make choices about whether I’m going to leave my son here to finish school and have to go live somewhere else. And these are choices I would like to get on with.”
The school board is considering two no-win scenarios, even if the legislature and the governor come to an agreement before the end of the legislative session in May. The first assumes that the state will come to the rescue with a one-time increase of $500 to the BSA, which would still mean a loss of 18 staff positions in the Sitka School District. (A third scenario – a $680 increase to the BSA – is considered unlikely because the governor vetoed it last year.) Incoming superintendent Deidre Jenson advocated for the $500 assumption, because the other alternative – a one-time increase of only $340 to the BSA – was both painful to contemplate, and would force the elimination of programs that might never come back. 22 teachers would be fired under this scenario, there would be far fewer classes in the middle and upper grades, and those classes would be larger. Jenson did not mince words.
“The cuts are going to be hard no matter what,” she said. “It’s, it’s going to hurt deep, and our kids are going to pay.”
Jenson argued that it would be preferable to plan a reasonable schedule next year, and cut back only if forced to. Elementary school music teacher Susan Brant-Ferguson, however, believed it was time to inform the public about what was on the line, under either the $500 or $340 BSA scenario.
“The lack of funding will compromise the quality of our programs,” Brant-Ferguson said emphatically. “Because as much as we would like to be superheroes, we’re not. And there’s a point at which, when you take on more students, when you take on more classes, when you take on more this or that – it does compromise the quality of our programs. So I know it’s not you doing that, but there’s only so much we can do.”
The board itself was split on which BSA scenario to build next year’s budget on, with Steve Morse leaning toward $500, and Todd Gebler and Tristan Guevin more comfortable with $340. The board hasn’t made a decision yet, because they haven’t had to, and some variables – such as next year’s health insurance premiums – remain unsettled. But time is running out for the board to choose a number, and for over a dozen Sitka teachers – even under the most optimistic scenario – to pack up their classrooms.
From the board’s April 16 hearing: The community “needs a chance to react” to the dramatic cuts likely next year
The legislature’s failure – by one vote – to override Gov. Dunleavy’s veto of the education bill has left the Sitka School District financially high and dry. In past years, an eleventh-hour push in the capitol has rescued schools, but that’s not likely this time. The help that’s expected to pass in Juneau – $340 per student – is about as good as no help at all, and schools are going to have to slash positions, as many as 24 in Sitka.
Bottom line is we have been operating off of a low pupil:teacher ratio for a long time,” said incoming superintendent Deidre Jenson. “And it’s going to have to increase. So that’s that.”
Jenson and interim superintendent Steve Bradshaw, who’s already returned to his home in Montana, are jointly running the district administration. Neither has shown their hand about how they’ll close a $2.6 million budget gap next year. As a result, the April 16 work session with the Sitka School Board was a combination of hand-wringing and spitballing about pupil:teacher ratios and the food service contract, and gathering ideas from a small audience comprised mostly of educators.
Board member Phil Burdick felt the room was sidestepping the issue.
“At some point we’re going to have to say, we can’t be everything to everyone,” said Burdick. “So what Lane are we going to choose? And this is where I would like to see some community input. What do you want in your school? Where do you want to see us go because we only have one lane anymore. We’ve been driving down the super freeway for a while, and it is narrowing.”
At the top of board members Todd Gebler’s and Tom Williams’s minds was continued frustration over the precipice that schools had been brought to by political gamesmanship in Juneau. Board member Steve Morse wanted to explore early retirement incentives for the district. Burdick pressed for more involvement from the public in what could be a radical change in local education next year.
“You know, we’ve talked a lot about community input and no shine on people who are here, but you’re all intimately involved in education,” Burdick said. “Is there a way that we’re going to get public input? That is, parents, families, students? I know it’s capacity and time, but is there a way for buildings to ask your people what it is that they’re really concerned about?”
Board president Tristan Guevin suggested surveying the public, but expressed reservations about the very short timeline before the board’s budget had to be completed. (Well-versed in the politics of the situation in Juneau, Guevin said that “any budget the board submitted could be considered an interim budget,” until final action in the legislature.)
Sarah Ferrency, interim education director for the Sitka Tribe, suggested that diverse communities had already been consulted through strategic planning. She thought a survey would return a narrow response from anyone with the interest, aptitude, and technology to take it.
“Nobody wants to make these changes,” she said, “like, nobody does. We walked in this room, and I thought I was coming to a funeral.”
Nevertheless, the district’s strategic plan wasn’t written with the seismic changes possible next year in Sitka’s schools. Mike Vieira is the president of the Sitka Education Association, the union representing teachers. He said most residents were expecting cuts of 10-12 teaching positions, and not the 20-24 now on the table.
“I think you just need to give the community a chance to react to that change in reality, and not get bogged down in the semantics of what the survey is going to be,” Vieira said. “Just give us a chance to have some feedback on the change of those numbers. Because they haven’t those numbers yet. It’s a remaking of the entire district.”
Board president Guevin recommended an additional work session in May, prior to the board’s next meeting. Incoming superintendent Jenson said that she and the building principals were developing plans to specifically address cuts next year, and that a community-wide hearing could help inform the board about what programs and positions should go.
The post Following statewide protest, Sitka teachers ask board for specifics on staff and program cuts appeared first on KCAW.
Even at the time of its construction in 2018, there were concerns that the deepwater dock at Sitka’s Gary Paxton Industrial Park would evolve into a cruise passenger facility. (SEDA photo)The Gary Paxton Industrial Park board met on April 22 and agreed that the $1 per head tariff charged last year for use of the GPIP floating dock was too low, and out of line with fees at Sitka’s other public facilities. Executive director Garry White said the city was examining rates charged in other Southeast cities, with the goal of establishing a consistent rate in Sitka.
“There’s a City & Borough’s in a study right now to do basically benchmarking,” he said, “looking at all of the different ports around Southeast to come up with some rates. And the goal is to get the harbor system and GPIP on the same field where we’re not competing against one another, where it’s a standard rate across.”
The board had previously considered bumping the per-passenger fee to $5 for use of the dock. Adventure Sitka, a local excursion company, is a major customer at the dock. Co-owner Chris McGraw said that his company had already cut deals with the cruise lines, and a fivefold increase in the tariff was not factored into their rate structure.
McGraw urged the board to hold the increase to $2 for this year, while the city resolved the broader tariff question.
“Ultimately, I feel if we could get to some standard tariff rate that is community-wide,” he said, “whether you come here to Crescent, or you go out there, it’s the same for our type of shore excursion service versus actual ship that’s coming in letting off passengers.”
Sitka opened the 250-foot deepwater dock at the industrial park in 2018. It’s seen growing use by the fishing fleet, and increasing demand from small cruise lines for moorage. Adventure Sitka uses a finger float connected to the dock to board roughly 10,000 passengers per summer for its excursion in Silver Bay. Jeremy Serka works in the marine trades at the park. He suggested that Adventure Sitka was not only getting a good deal, it was also limiting the ability of industrial users to access the dock.
“Not only are you getting that (moorage), you’re getting access with your buses all day long coming through there, too, which prohibits anybody from getting down to the dock,” Serka said. “So next year at this time hopefully that haulout is complete, and we’re going to have to look at what are we going to do if there’s a ship in town, or if somebody wants to lay up for a little bit to look at their engine.”
Board member Casey Campell agreed, but didn’t want to start that conversation on the eve of the summer tour and fishing seasons. He proposed taking up the user issue again in the fall.
“I think there’s a lot of long term concerns which are valid and that we’re going to need to address here sooner than later,” said Campbell, “with what GPIP looks like, you know, down the road with industrial activity, the haulout and, you know, tourism activity that is continuing to maybe grow out there.”
The Gary Paxton Industrial Park board voted unanimously to recommend raising the tariff for use of the deepwater dock to $2 for the 2024 season, and to $5 for 2025.
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Seafood Producers Cooperative is spending $200,000 to upgrade its energy, half of which will be rebated by the US Department of Agriculture’s REAP program. “And when you’re at half the payback on a project, man, that gets really good,” he told the Sitka Chamber of Commerce. (KCAW/Woolsey)Seafood Producer’s Cooperative in Sitka is upgrading its energy systems, with financial help from the federal government.
Stephen Rhoads is the vice-president of sales for SPC. He said problems with old, diesel-fired equipment at the plant came to a head last winter.
“Our heating system was built with the plant,” Rhoads said. “ And it is a diesel boiler on one end of the plant, and my office is on the opposite side of the plant. And it’s been getting less and less effective. And this winter, I had enough space heaters in my office that when I hit print on my printer, I would blow the breaker to the office. So I stopped printing.”
Rhoads outlined SPC’s energy strategy during a presentation to the Sitka Chamber of Commerce on April 16. He said SPC is the nation’s oldest and largest fisherman-owned cooperative in the country. It met the criteria for a grant from the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program – or REAP. The first step involved an extensive energy audit by the agency, and then a lengthy application.
But Rhoads said it has been worth it.
“The first year, we went for a project of a hair under $200,000,” he said, “and they’re gonna reimburse us $100,000. We’re ripping out our diesel boilers, and we’re putting in heat pumps in all of the office and break rooms. It’s a big project – we’ve been talking about it for years – we were going to have to replace our diesel system anyways. And we’re going to upgrade to heat pumps, and be into it. And when you’re at half the payback on a project, man that gets really good.”
Rhoads encouraged other businesses – both nonprofit and for-profit – to look into REAP. He said many fishing vessel owners were put off at first, because there is no funding for energy improvements for propulsion – or, new engines. However, there are plenty of other systems that qualify for funding.
“On commercial fishing vessels, they have done generators, they’ve done heat pumps, so people can offset the diesel cost of heating their boats in winter,” said Rhoads. “They put variable frequency drives on circulation pumps, replaced entire freezer systems, fixed the shore power connection to be compliant with the city utilities, batteries, LED lights. But there’s a lot of flexibility on what can be done.”
Rhoads said that another challenge in Sitka was finding a contractor qualified to perform energy improvements. But once that hurdle was down, he said the project could be completed well within the USDA’s two-year requirement.
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Sitka High Mock Trial teams finished 1st, 3rd, and 6th ahead of Diamond High [two teams], West Anchorage [2 teams], South Anchorage/Steller High, and West Valley High School at the state tournament earlier this month. Zoe Trafton joined KCAW’s Meredith Redick for the Morning Interview to discuss the competition.
Championship team
Felix Myers, Isabelle Schmetzer, Francis Myers – Attorneys
Zoe Trafton, Ben Hedrick*, Enzo Germano – Witnesses
Third Place
Angela Bahna*, Sarah Todd, Reagan Wingard – Attorneys
Danica Majeski, Kylie Orlando, Sally Everson – Witnesses
Sixth Place
Kaupo Piir, Liam Laybourn, Nadine Fikrah – Attorneys
Elbek Marshrapov, Matthew Pepper*, Will Riley – Witnesses
*Best attorney/witness in round Award
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A piano duo known for their arrangements of video game and film soundtracks will be performing in Sitka this weekend. Oskar Yao and Wesley Chu, known as the “Super Piano Brothers,” have played classical and popular music around the world. Yao, Chu, and Sitka Fine Arts Camp’s Kenley Jackson sat down with KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to talk about the upcoming show. Listen to the full interview here:
The show is Saturday, April 27 at 7 p.m. at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available here.
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Youth Advocates of Sitka (YAS) will likely get a property tax exemption for a duplex the nonprofit owns on Halibut Point Road, but only for one year, to give the organization time to establish a new program for teens.
YAS purchased the house last year after the nonprofit scored a grant to develop a residential treatment program for unhoused teens. Developing the program has taken time though. Last fall, neighbors pushed back on the proposed location, and the planning commission denied the permit application. The assembly overturned the planning commission’s denial, giving YAS the greenlight to move forward. YAS executive director Heather Meuret said a neighbor’s appeal of the assembly’s decision slowed down the process further.
“This appeal was in place since we purchased the building and then was recently dismissed by the state in February. So since then, which is only two months, we immediately began seeking bids for quotes for the interior modifications of the house,” Meuret said. “These modifications are required to be completed before we can move youth in the house and begin our new program.”
But some assembly members, like Chris Ystad, had concerns about offering a permanent property tax exemption when the program still hasn’t been fully established.
“We had an organization here not too terribly long ago that gave us their business plan, and told us the way they would operate, and we made choices on those assumptions. And a short time later, things changed, and we took a lot of heat for it,” Ystad said. “I don’t think that that is going to happen here. But as of right now, we don’t know that this facility will be operated as planned.”
Ystad said he’d prefer to leave the property tax exemption on the table as an incentive for when YAS begins operating the program. Assembly member Tim Pike suggested an amendment as a compromise–a tax exemption that sunsets after one year, allowing some time for YAS to get the program off the ground. But Kevin Mosher felt they needed to reexamine how the city approaches tax exemptions on a larger scale before making changes to agreements with individual nonprofits.
“I would not be in favor of an amendment to sunset this, only because I think I think the Mayor brings up a good point that we have to have some sort of comprehensive look at the code in total, and we need to come up with a plan,” Mosher said. “Probably a code change, probably a policy change, with a little more fine tuned guidance, and that would need a public process.”
The assembly amended the ordinance to trim the tax exemption down to 1 year on A 5-1 vote with Mosher opposed. The full ordinance to give YAS the exemption, however, passed unanimously. It will come before the assembly for a final reading at a meeting in May.
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Austin Cranford, pictured here shortly after he filed to run for a seat on the Sitka Assembly in 2023, was denied a seat on the police and fire commission by the assembly on Tuesday. Sitkan Austin Cranford works as a technology specialist for the University of Alaska Southeast. In his application to serve on the city’s police and fire commission, Cranford told the assembly that he was applying due to the, “constant issues that plague the city and its administration.”
Cranford tried to uncover allegations of corruption and nepotism against the city earlier this year in two very broad public records requests. Both were denied by the city and upheld by the assembly in an appeal. Cranford is also a former assembly candidate and the son of Gary Cranford, a former Sitka Police officer who sued the city last October alleging unfair demotion and breach of his union contract.
Former assembly member Valorie Nelson said she hoped that history wouldn’t exclude Cranford from the commission.
“If somebody comes and says things that you disagree with, it doesn’t give us any less credence,” Nelson said. “I think that he would be an asset, because we do have problems in our police department, whether you’re ready to admit it or not.”
But assembly member Kevin Mosher said while he believed that diverse perspectives should be represented on commissions, Cranford’s approach on the commission might be counterproductive.
“Mr. Cranford has come up time and time again, and it’s great that he’s speaking his mind, but…I believe he has an axe to grind against the police department,” Mosher said. “And I don’t think that’s a good mindset to go in. I think we need to go in with an open mind.”
JJ Carlson agreed, referencing the ‘duties of a police and fire commissioner’ section of city code.
“Through the comments that the applicant has made in the past, I don’t think ‘Duty B- Aid in the public relations effort of each department,’ is something in alignment with his mission for joining this body,” Carlson said. “So I don’t see that these duties are something that he could fulfill.”
But assembly member Scott Saline wasn’t concerned about the axe other assembly members felt Cranford was grinding.
‘I’m voting for him just for that reason,” Saline said, in response to Kevin Mosher’s comments.
Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz called Cranford up to ask questions. He asked Cranford how he’d work with municipal staff, should he be appointed. Cranford said he wouldn’t have problems working with city staff.
“I don’t have an issue with any municipal staff, I have issues with some of the policy that the city has taken. But the municipal staff themselves are only doing the jobs that the city or the administration has laid down before them,” Cranford said.
“Okay, that’s a that’s a really important one to me, because I have voted against people who have put in applications when I don’t feel that they are able to work with city staff in a harmonious way,” Eisenbeisz responded. “Now, I’m not saying you have to agree with city staff. But I’m not saying that city staff can be belittled and put down in their position either.”
Eisenbeisz also asked Cranford who he would “work for” as a commission member. Cranford said he’d serve the assembly. Eisenbeisz said he felt Cranford had answered the questions well. But it wasn’t enough to sway other assembly members. The group voted against appointing Cranford on a 2-5 vote with Saline and Eisenbeisz voting in favor of his appointment.
“Personally, I do not have an ax to grind with anybody within the city or with any city department,” Cranford told the assembly at the end of the meeting. “I simply want the city to function both legally and ethically. A city can operate legally but not ethically. A city can also operate ethically, but not legally. We would prefer that the city do both, and if the city can prove that they are doing both, then I would be more than happy to step aside.”
Cranford said that if the assembly felt his skills would be better fit for another commission, he’d apply.
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“Medicare” by 401(K) 2013 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.SEARHC patient benefits coordinator Susan Briles and financial planner Cyndi Gibson joined KCAW for the morning interview to preview their Medicare presentation scheduled for this Friday.
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Sitka Counseling’s HOPE Coalition is co-hosting a fentanyl town hall this week. A tiny amount of fentanyl can be lethal. (Wikimedia Commons)
This week, Sitka Counseling’s HOPE Coalition and the Sitka Police Department are joining forces to share information about the dangers of fentanyl overdose. In collaboration with the Alaska Fentanyl Response Project, they will hold a community town hall this Thursday. Loyd Platson and Sandy Snodgrass joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to talk about fentanyl awareness and what Sitkans can do. Listen to the full interview here:
The town hall is 6 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in the assembly room of Harrigan Centennial Hall. National Drug Take-Back Day is Saturday, April 27; Sitkans can drop unused or expired prescription medications at the Sitka Public Library between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. For more information, email lplatson@scpsak.org or call 907-747-3636.
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Sitka’s annual Porch Fest returns for summer 2024 and will feature music, crafts, and local food vendors. Organizer Rain Van Den Berg joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the line-up for this summer’s event.
Porch Fest 2024 will take place May 18, 2024 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. in downtown Sitka. You can learn more here. To get involved, sign up here.
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Sitka Trail Works and the US Forest Service are partnering to host a volunteer work party for National Public Lands Day this Saturday, September 16.
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Sitka Schools superintendent Steve Bradshaw is reportedly in stable condition at a Seattle hospital, after being medevaced last week. Asst. superintendent Deidre Jenson says Bradshaw is recovering from injuries sustained in a fall, and is planning to return to Sitka to complete his interim year.
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The Catalyst Quartet will be joined by Sitka Music Festival artistic director Zuill Bailey for a performance Tuesday night in Sitka that spans chamber music from Haydn to 20th Century composers. 7 p.m. Tuesday, September 12, Harrigan Centennial Hall.
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Should a community garden group get the green light to lease a plot of city-owned land? That’s a question the Sitka Assembly will consider when it meets tonight (9-12-23).
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“I don't foresee realistically a bear spending 10 minutes on one trash can trying to get into it," said ADF&G Wildlife Biologist Stephen Bethune. "They usually just knock over the can, it spills open, and they grab a bag that falls out and run off with it into the woods. So even a very resistant can is going to not provide that immediate food resource and the bear’s eventually going to learn that coming into town isn't paying off for him. It's too big of a risk.”
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Advocates say an update to the "National Standards" could overhaul outdated guidance for the management of Alaska's federal fisheries, and introduce climate change, equity, and environmental justice into harvest policies -- and drastically reduce bycatch.
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Deanna Nash, is a post doctoral atmospheric researcher at the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps. She joined KCAW's Brooke Schafer to talk about her work and plans while in Sitka. Listen here:
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Sitka High principal Sondra Lundvick told the school board that activities were in full swing at her school — with money leftover from last year’s fundraising. She was still waiting for a $132,000 city appropriation that was never deposited into the activities account last year. (SHS image)In addition to classes, sports and activities are underway at Sitka High School – using funds raised by the students last year.
The expected allocation of district money that kicks off sports like Swimming and Cross Country, and activities like Debate and Drama, didn’t happen last year for reasons that remain unclear. And at its regular meeting Wednesday night (9-6-23) the Sitka School Board postponed making an allocation this year – until members could be sure there were funds to cover it.
This was the question that dogged the final weeks of former superintendent Frank Hauser’s tenure in Sitka: Why wasn’t an appropriation from the Sitka Assembly to help defray the costs of student activities deposited into the activities account?
Current interim superintendent Steve Bradshaw listened in to the tense board meeting last June when his predecessor was put on the ropes by concerned parents and coaches.
He attributed the missing money to a change in district accounting practices, rather than to any malfeasance.
“For my perception, it sounded a little bit like somebody was questioning where the funds went, when the funds were always there,” said Bradshaw. “And I don’t blame the former superintendent, and I don’t blame the board for wanting to be cautious with how they spend that money, because of the fear of cutting teachers out of the classrooms. That has been a priority on this board for quite a few years now.
“That money” is $132,000 which is distributed at the beginning of the school year to all student activities, in chunks of $6,000. Bradshaw proposed that the board authorize a transfer of the money from the general fund to the activities account, and put the controversy to bed. But he wanted members to realize that it wasn’t just loose change: $132,000 is approximately the cost of a full-time teacher.
In any case, the money for a transfer simply may not be there.
“I’m not necessarily opposed to it,” said Tristan Guevin. “I just think, as a board member, I need to do my due diligence and my fiduciary responsibility and be able to answer that question: Do we have the money to do this?”
Member Tristan Guevin was on the board last spring when it adopted a bare-bones budget that just about drained the district savings account. By his math, a $132,000 transfer – though needed – would put the district in the red.
And he was also concerned that the proposed transfer would benefit high school students exclusively.
“I think we need to have a broader conversation,” he said. “And this gets back to transparency and to our role engaging students and parents and families and the community and all of our stakeholders. I want to have a discussion. I want to know how student activity money is allocated across all of the Sitka School District.”
Guevin didn’t think the conversation could move forward until the books had been closed on the last fiscal year – which they weren’t. He motioned to table the transfer until the next meeting, when the board would have a better grasp on its finances.
High School principal Sondra Lundvick urged the board to not wait too long to act. Student programs were in full swing, using unspent money that they had raised last year.
“By October, we already have activities going on,” Lundvick said. “We have Cross Country, Volleyball, Swimming. We hosted swimming this past weekend; Volleyball is going on right now. These guys have already begun, they didn’t get their allocation last year, and while the city has promised that $132,000 for this year, they still haven’t seen that.”
Lundvick said she felt some of the hope for the student activities budget surrounding Sitka voters’ passage of the marijuana tax (“Prop 3”) last year was “crumbling,” after the State Department of Education this summer cracked down on the Juneau School District for supplementing its budget with local money in excess of state law – so-called “outside the cap” funding. That decision could have major ramifications for Sitka’s schools, which have depended on “outside the cap” funding for student activities for decades.
Board member Tristan Guevin recognized the need for haste; he just didn’t want to spend money the district didn’t have.
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A dead humpback whale was spotted floating in the water about 30 miles south of Sitka on September 6. Now researchers are hoping it will wash ashore so they can examine it.
Mandy Keough is a marine mammal stranding coordinator with NOAA Fisheries in Juneau. She says they received word from the Coast Guard that the whale was floating near Whale Bay and fairly decomposed.
“It’s not completely uncommon to have humpback whales stranded or floating in the water,” Keough says of the Sitka area and Southeast. “But we do try to collect as much information around those events, and then try to examine the carcass if we can.”
In late August, NOAA opened an investigation after a humpback whale calf was found dead near Juneau of an apparent vessel strike. Keough says without a post-mortem examination, she can’t speculate the cause of this whale’s death, but initial video footage has given researchers a bit of information.
“It looks to be intact, floating belly up. Sometimes, from photos and videos, we can tell whether or not it’s killer whale predation, they seem to target certain areas of the whale, like the tongue in the jaw, that part looked intact, but I couldn’t see the full animal,” Keough says.
She says right now the floating whale is inaccessible to researchers, but local whale biologist Dr. Lauren Wild is on the case, and if the whale washes up on shore in an accessible area, she’ll perform a necropsy. Keough hopes that if any boaters see the whale or any stranded marine mammals, they’ll call NOAA’s 24 hour hotline, 877-925-7773.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and may be updated.
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Volunteers form an assembly line to load bags full of debris onto a boat to be transported back to Sitka. (KCAW/2023)Whether in Sitka Sound or the Bering Sea, a beach cleanup is a major undertaking. So much debris washes ashore on Alaska’s coastline that collecting all of it would be impossible — but that doesn’t mean it’s not a problem worth trying to solve. Recently, the Ocean Conservancy and the Sitka Sound Science Center took an unusual group of people on a beach cleanup near Sitka to wrap their hands around some marine debris — and wrap their minds around what to do about it.
The original destination for the cleanup is a cove on Biorka Island, outside of Sitka. But that beach has too much kelp for the boat to safely offload passengers, so the captain reroutes. To get off on the beach at the second destination, on the eastern side of Kruzof Island, means waiting an hour until the tide comes in.
“I will say that it’s never gone exactly how I thought it would when I was doing the planning,” says Kristina Tirman, who coordinates the Arctic Marine Debris program for the Ocean Conservancy. She is all too familiar with the challenges of marine debris cleanup in Alaska.
“It’s hard,” Tirman says. “It’s hard to do cleanups here, and it’s hard to get to the beaches that need the most help, because those beaches are often the ones that are the most exposed. So you can imagine that the reason that they’re covered in driftwood and garbage is because there are waves that are crashing, and all these other factors that, you know, lead to marine debris being there also lead to those beaches being difficult to access.”
Volunteers carry used grain bags from the local brewery to collect debris as they walk through beach grass on Kruzof Island. (KCAW/2023)After waiting for the tide to turn, the group of 40 – including volunteers, Coast Guard commanders, and congressional staffers from Senator Dan Sullivan’s office – disembarks on the black sand beach. The scene looks a little like an Easter egg hunt, with debris seekers peering under rocks and behind tufts of beach grass for trash. One volunteer dislodges two mismatched shoes from an embankment, and another teases threads of neon nylon rope out from a tangle of roots. A third group has found the motherlode.
“Trawl web! Lots of plastic water bottles. And we found part of a Korean hagfish trap.”
Linda Behnken, who runs the Alaska Longline Fisherman’s Association in Sitka, helps to heave part of a brightly-colored fishing net out from under a driftwood log. It’s so heavy that a dozen people are enlisted to carry the pieces back to the boat.
Tirman says this net, and much of the debris that washes up on Alaska shores, can be traced to sources many miles away.
“You know, we saw after the 2011 tsunami in Japan that a lot of tsunami debris came over this way,” Tirman says. “And so a lot of the debris just comes from all over.”
Three volunteers carry a piece of trawl net across the beach. (KCAW/2023)One of Alaska’s debris hotspots is around St. Paul Island, 1,300 miles from Sitka in the Bering Sea. Lauren Divine runs the Ecosystem Conservation Office for the Aleut Community of St. Paul. She’s here with her 18-month-old daughter Amelia, who is squatting in tiny XtraTufs, hunting for treasures in the sand. In St. Paul, Divine says that debris has a major impact on the island’s fur seal population.
“So what we get is packing bands, or pieces of trawl net or fishing line that are wrapped around the seals,” Divine says. “And it usually happens when they’re really young and they go into the water for the first time, or over their first winter. And then they try to swim through something, they get it stuck around their neck, and then they grow.”
A staff member from the Ocean Conservancy accepts a small piece of debris from 18-month-old Amelia, the youngest volunteer on the cleanup. (KCAW/2023)In remote Alaska, the challenge doesn’t end when beaches are clean. Disposal is also a huge problem. She spent part of the summer working on repackaging debris from a previous cleanup. She says the sacks full of garbage sat out so long that the bags themselves started to degrade.
“It’s like over 300 Super Sacks that have never been able to get backhauled,” Divine says. “So they were sitting out in the environment, and they basically grew back into the landscape and started degrading and putting the debris back out in the environment.”
18-month-old Amelia watches as volunteers load mossy Styrofoam and other debris onto the boat. (KCAW/2023)Marine debris is not only dangerous for wildlife – it can also be a hazard to human health and safety. Shellfish in Sitka, which are an importance subsistence food, have been found to contain microplastics. Ghost fishing, where abandoned fishing gear continues to catch and kill fish, is another side effect. Behnken says it can even be perilous to fishermen.
“Just last month, we had the one day king salmon opening one day,” Behnken says. “And we had a member who was starting off really well in the morning. He was catching kings and then he got tangled in a huge piece of trawl web. It took out two of his whole lines, and it was tangled in the stabilizer.”
As they walk along the beach, researchers from the Ocean Conservancy are cataloging the types of debris with clipboards and pencils. Part of their goal is to collect data on what is washing up and where. That could help guide lawmakers to advocate for policies to help prevent marine debris from accumulating.
Back at Sitka’s Crescent Harbor, volunteers load two full truckloads of debris, which will be sorted for recycling or hauled to the waste transfer station. With that, today’s cleanup is over, and one small piece of Alaska’s coastline is a little bit cleaner. Tirman says that even though there’s still work to do, building awareness of the problem – by hosting cleanups, and by sharing photos and data from the events – is a big first step.
Volunteers load a net into a truck for transport to Sitka’s transfer station. (KCAW/2023)“I think a lot of people picture the Alaskan wilderness and ecosystems as being really, you know, clean and not impacted by garbage because our population is so low,” Tirman says. “But I think when people see photos of the beaches here, and just how impacted they are by marine debris, it’s really eye-opening.”
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Sitka Fine Arts Camp will be hosting an open house and offering free entry on Saturday (9-9-2023) at the Hames Center to reveal new locker rooms, including private changing rooms and new sauna space. Roger Schmidt and Paige Craig joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to talk about the multi-year renovation process and what guests can expect on Saturday. Listen to the full interview here:
From 9 am to 2 pm on Saturday, visitors can take a free exercise class, sign up with a membership discount, and tour the new facilities. For more information, email info@hamescenter.org.
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Although summer is winding down, Sitka’s cruise season is still going strong. On September 5, over 9,000 passengers – and still more crew members – packed the main downtown thoroughfare, which was closed to traffic for the day.
For better or worse, this scene is not likely to change in the near future. On September 6, Sitka’s cruise terminal operator told the Sitka Chamber of Commerce that he expects another huge season next year. And although he’s working on a plan to distribute more passengers to activities closer to the terminal, and to reduce the volume of bus traffic, he says he has no plans to turn away any ships.
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Boys Run I toowú klatseen is a ten-week program consisting of running, discussion, and cultural activities for 3rd through 5th grade boys. The program seeks to teach participants the skills they need to build healthy relationships and create a community of respect for self and others. Alec Duncan is the youth programs manager for Sitka Tribe of Alaska and coach Cassie Guiley joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the program.
Learn more about Boys Run here
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A Sitka grand jury indicted a commercial fisherman in August, after he was charged with several counts of assault and misconduct involving a weapon.
According to a police affidavit, 36-year-old Jeb Phillips allegedly shot a gun at another fisherman following an altercation in Pelican’s harbor on August 3.
Around 1 a.m. that morning, Phillips was backing his fishing vessel, the Magnus Martin, out of its slip while still tied to the dock, when he collided with another boat. According to statements from the victim and a witness, the owner of the boat that Phillips hit yelled at him. The two argued, and then the other boat owner began throwing dirty dishes at Phillips’ boat. At that point, Phillips allegedly pulled out a rifle and shot it. No one was injured, and the victim called police later that morning.
The Alaska State Troopers opened an investigation and soon issued a warrant for Phillips, who was working a commercial fishery near Cross Sound. On August 24, Phillips was indicted on three counts of felony assault in the third degree and one count of misconduct involving weapons.
Two others were indicted by a Sitka Grand Jury in August. 32-year-old Anthony Blake Beck Campbell was charged with felony DUI after Sitka police arrested him twice in one day for driving while intoxicated.
According to court documents, Campbell was pulled over on the morning of August 5 on Lake Street and arrested for a DUI. He was released by police about an hour later and advised no to drive. Around 1 p.m. he was arrested again after an officer pulled him over on Katlian Street, and observed an open beer and a bag of cannabis in his passenger seat.
On August 10, Campbell was indicted on two counts of felony DUI and for refusing a breathalyzer test.
A Sitka Grand Jury also indicted Joseph John Finn on August 24 on one count of misconduct involving a controlled substance. Finn was arrested after a bottle of fentanyl pills were allegedly discovered at his home during a routine probation and parole check.
Trial dates in all three cases are pending.
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(Photo by viviandnguyen_/Creative Commons) Sitka’s Sustainability Commission has scored $300,000 in federal assistance for the next year to develop a renewable energy strategy, and now they’re looking for community feedback on the project.
The commission is partnering with the National Renewable Energy Lab on the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project, which means they’ll have access to energy experts as they develop the plan. Sustainability Coordinator Bri Gabel and Commission Chair Katie Riley joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer for the morning interview to discuss the plan:
Gabel says they’re using data the city’s electric department gathered in a study last year funded by the Department of Energy.
“The great thing about Sitka is because our utility is municipally owned, we’re in a pretty unique position to where we can kind of engage pretty quickly, in a way that other places might not have the opportunity to, because many utilities in the country are privately owned,” Gabel says. “Because of that unique combination, and having almost two years of really robust data of what we can do, to kind of give us a direction of you know, ‘Where do we even want to go?’ Because generation for the sake of generation isn’t very helpful. So what do we actually want to see in our community?”
They’re kicking off the scoping process for the plan at a meeting on September 5. Commission Chair Katie Riley says it’s the first of many opportunities for the community to get involved and ask questions.
“I think a common [question] that I hear is, ‘We just expanded the dam not that long ago. We have a lot of excess power. Why are we talking about additional generation? Right? Why are we talking about energy planning?’ And so this is an educational opportunity for folks to kind of learn about why these discussions are happening, why we are talking about additional generation capacity and why we might need that, but then also, for them to say, what do we want to use that for?” Riley says.
In 2020, a temporary climate task force laid the groundwork for the permanent Sustainability Commission, which was established last year. While developing an energy strategy is a top priority for the commission, it’s also looking into ways to divert Sitka’s waste stream and shift the city’s fleet of vehicles to electric.
The commission meets at Harrigan Centennial Hall at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, September 5.
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The UAS welding program received a grant to buy new welders for the fall 2023 term. (UAS/2023). The University of Alaska Southeast welding program is growing. Assistant Professor of Welding Luke Gibes joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss new equipment, welding competitions, and how students can sign up for fall 2023 courses. Listen to the full interview here:
Classes start September 12, 2023 and run until mid-December. Interested students can email lagibes@alaska.edu for more information.
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Some of the 2,000 (on average) butts collected during a recent clean-up of Sitka’s Crescent Park strip and downtown. (Photo Amanda Roberts)As Sitka heads toward a record cruise season, with over half-a-million visitors, some obvious things are up, like sales tax revenue and traffic.
But some less obvious metrics are on the rise, too. Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium health educator Amanda Roberts saw one change in particular coming as far back as 2018, when Alaska passed its smoke-free workplace law.
“I went and engaged with these businesses that were going to be going smoke-free, and talked to concerns: What were some worries that were coming down the line with this change, which was going to be a big change for the community?” said Roberts. “And one of the things that was expressed was concerns of increased cigarette butt litter.”
Roberts decided to be proactive over concerns about cigarette butts, and organized a monthly cleanup focused on downtown Sitka. Since 2018, what started as a community service, has become a legitimate scientific study.
Roberts says the record cruise season correlates to a staggering increase in cigarette litter.
“And it’s prevalent, I just want to say,” Roberts said. “Typically on average, depending upon how many folks we have cleaning up… we can have within an hour-and-a-half to two-hour span over 2,000 cigarette butts. We count every single cigarette butt. We track this data.”
Roberts is a former smoker, about to celebrate her fourteenth anniversary since quitting. And while she’s professionally motivated to help others quit for the sake of their good health, Roberts is continuing the butt cleanup for the sake of everyone else.
“Cigarette butts are the number-one littered item in the world,” Roberts said. “And they are not biodegradable. They are extremely toxic for the environment and anything that picks them up or touches them. So we definitely don’t use our hands. But there are concerns about having these things littered on the ground, and in the waterways in the environment.”
The transect Robert’s team follows on its cleanup begins at Sitka’s community playground, follows the Seawalk along the Crescent Harbor park strip, and then moves into downtown which, on busy days, is made into a traffic-free pedestrian mall. Roberts hopes that one day Sitka would consider a policy to make the park and playground areas tobacco-free. She believes it would significantly help the effort to keep kids from taking up smoking.
“One thing we’re super-focused on in the work that I do is reducing youth initiation to these products,” she said, “and I think the more we create those environments, the more we’re creating the kind of that norm where tobacco use is not even visible.”
And fewer smokers, Roberts believes, is the key to reducing cigarette litter. Roberts says any Alaskan resident is eligible to enroll in a free cessation program, the Alaska Quit Line, which is still available at its phone number 1-800-QUIT-NOW, or online at alaskaquitline.com.
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Only consumer prices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Kodiak factor into the equation to determine Alaska’s national ranking for cost-of-living. The Department of Defense, however, uses its own data to adjust pay within the state for military personnel. The cost-of-living in remote Alaska — as economic data — is too high to be useful. (Flickr photo/Jellaluna)Although residents pay a premium for food and fuel, and especially housing – Sitka is far from the most expensive place to live in Alaska, and in fact lands somewhere in the middle.
But this is cold comfort for Sitkans – and residents of other communities – as Alaska remains near the top of the list of expensive places to live in the country as a whole.
If you spend any time on social media, you’ve probably seen lists of the best places to live, or the best places to retire, and the metrics those surveys use probably differ from those of the Alaska Department of Labor, which relies on cold, hard numbers.
Economically speaking, Alaska is just not that attractive.
The June issue of Alaska Economic Trends, published by the Alaska Department of Labor, reports that Alaska is the fifth-most costly state in the US to live in, behind New York, California, Massachusetts, and Hawaii.
Food, fuel, and transportation are the main culprits, although in Fairbanks the biggest burn – literally – is heating fuel, which is over 100-percent higher than the national average.
Paying $100 for a large bag of groceries is becoming more common in urban Alaska. In Kodiak, almost a twin of Sitka’s across the Gulf, groceries are 53-percent more expensive than the national average.
Kodiak, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Anchorage are the only cities in the state whose data on consumer prices are compiled by the national Council for Community and Economic Research. Folding in data from some of Alaska’s rural areas would skew the graph so far as to make it unusable. A gallon of gas in Galena, for example, was selling for just over $10 this spring.
To learn how the rest of the state stands up, economists turn to a list generated by the Department of Defense, which adjusts military salaries according to the cost of living in communities where personnel are stationed. Wasilla is at the bottom of the list, although it’s still 28-percent more expensive to live there than the national average. Bethel and Cordova are tied at the top, at 46-percent more expensive than the rest of the country. Homer, Kenai, King Salmon, and Valdez are tied for second, at 44-percent more expensive. Sitka, Petersburg, Juneau, Nome, and Wainwright are in third place, at 38-percent more expensive than the rest of the country.
And interestingly, when you subtract the high housing and utility costs, the military – which subsidizes housing – puts Fairbanks near the bottom, at 34-percent above the rest of the nation.
The good news is that inflation is cooling off in Alaska, and some prices are even coming down off their high last year – like meat, poultry, and eggs at the grocery store, and used cars and trucks. Housing is not coming down, though. The average price of a home in Alaska is now over $380,000, an 8-percent jump from last year. In Juneau, that figure is now over $500,000. Sitka’s prices are in that ballpark, although the market is too small to say with any precision. The state does track rents, however, and puts the median cost for a two-bedroom apartment in Sitka at $1,400 – just below Juneau, and above Chugach.
What the state doesn’t measure, though, is the burden created by high housing costs. In April, McKinley Research reported that almost a quarter of Sitka’s homeowners, and half of its renters, pay a third or more of their income on housing costs – and cost-burdening is not unique to Sitka.
So until someone starts factoring in the state’s relatively low taxes, and its superabundance of natural beauty and wild country, Alaska is not going to be topping those lists of desirable places to live on social media. And most residents can probably live with that.
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Commercial fishing and dance may seem like an unlikely combination, but for Sitka-raised artist Sarah Campen, it just makes sense. Campen has released a short film that she describes as a “window in the life and livelihood of commercial salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska.”
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The passing of legendary music producer Chris Strachwitz this spring was an invitation for Sitkan Suzanne Portello to make a pilgrimage to the former home of Arhoolie Records in El Cerrito, California.
The post Audio Postcard: A Sentimental Journey to Arhoolie Records appeared first on KCAW.
Books, DVDs, and more. Now, Sitkans can check out something new from the Sitka Public Library – board games. The library has acquired a collection of 21 board games that adult Services Librarian Margot O’Connell says they hope to expand in the future.
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The Sheldon Jackson Museum is pleased to announce the second artist-in-residence of 2023, David John Angaiak, a contemporary Alaskan Native visual artist who creates functional Yup’ik Story Masks and Dance Fans.
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The Sitka Assembly may be getting a pay raise. When the assembly met last night (8-22-23) , it approved on first reading a measure that would increase their compensation for the first time in over 20 years.
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SAIL's Annual Summer Picnic returns this Friday, August 25, 4:30-7:30 p.m. at Swan Lake Park. Burgers, hot dogs, and sides are on the menu. Attendees can learn about SAIL's many free programs for seniors and adults with disabilities, and its youth programs like Kayaking Camp.
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NOAA Fisheries has received a settlement of $1.3 million from the National Pollution Funds Center for restoration of herring habitat and shellfish monitoring in the aftermath of the 2017 sinking of the tugboat Powhatan in Starrigavan Bay.
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The Brave Heart Buoy and Art Fundraiser starts today.
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Responders searched for a juvenile hiker reported missing near Herring Cove in Sitka for about five hours Monday night (8-21-23), only to learn that the person was located miles away, in town.
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Two bicyclists sustained injuries after a car accident Monday (8-21-23) afternoon outside of Sitka Bottling on Halibut Point Road.
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There’s a new bluegrass outfit in town. They call themselves Tumbleweed Stew, and they’re bringing twangy tunes to Sitka’s downtown.
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Should Sitka assembly members get a pay raise? They haven’t in over two decades, and tonight the assembly will consider whether to adjust their own pay.
The post August 22, 2023: What’s on the agenda when the Sitka Assembly meets tonight? appeared first on KCAW.
The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) is closing its home health department in Sitka at the end of September. While the organization maintains that the closure is largely an administrative move, and that outpatient services – and in-home care – should be unaffected, some Sitkans are concerned that both the expense and quality of end-of-life care will change dramatically.
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UC Santa Cruz researcher Taylor White is wrapping up her dissertation on abalone. White plans to pair local and Indigenous knowledge with data collected on otter and abalone populations, to better understand trends for current and future abalone resource management. She joined KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss the project and how community members can get involved. Listen here:
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The Sitka Tribe of Alaska awarded four child care providers in Sitka with over $200,000 in federal funding this week.
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Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman says Alaskans will keep receiving dividend checks, despite a worrisome report from the AK Perm Fund Corp. that the earnings reserve account will be exhausted in four years. "We could skip inflation-proofing for a year or two," he says, "but what you can't do is start over-drawing the Permanent Fund."
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Alaska has no shortage of marine predators – from orcas, to Steller sea lions, to salmon sharks. Over the past few years, researchers have identified a new, lesser-known predator that may play a key role in keeping Alaska’s kelp forests healthy.
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While the amount of garbage Sitka ships out of town won’t be getting smaller anytime soon, the amount of space it takes up will be shrinking. The city installed a new solid waste compactor earlier this summer, and the $3 million dollar machine is finally up and running. The huge machine is eerily reminiscent of a famous movie compactor, and might be a new hope for putting the squeeze on Sitka’s high garbage bills.
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One person is dead and three have survived after a skiff overturned near Yakutat on Sunday (8-14-23).
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Starting August 20, local and visiting musicians will be hosting a series of jazz concerts, musician interviews, and workshops for students of all ages as part of the new Sitka Jazz Week.
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Record-breaking rainfall over the weekend caused at least one landslide near Sitka.
The post Record rainfall bumped Sitka’s landslide risk level to ‘medium’ on Saturday appeared first on KCAW.
Tom Williams is the only candidate to have filed for one of three open seats on the Sitka School Board. A former city administrator in Gustavus, Williams says he has the skills and the interest (his son is a district employee; his daughter-in-law a teacher) to "lend a hand."
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AFS exchange students for the 2023-2024 school year have arrived in Sitka. Amira Seel, Nadine Fikrah, and Elbek Mashrapov joined KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss the program. Listen here:
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Sitka's interim school superintendent is no stranger to the district. Steve Bradshaw held the top job from 2001-2014. In the intervening nine years, he's seen the state fall behind in funding schools, and he'd like to change that. "If politeness doesn't do it, then we'll pound on doors," he told the school board at his first regular meeting on Wednesday (8-9-23).
The post Sitka’s interim superintendent ready to ‘pound on doors’ to level up state education funding appeared first on KCAW.
Scott Saline filed late Friday to run for one of three open seats on the Sitka Assembly. Saline is a refrigeration entrepreneur and owner of Seadaddy, a drop-in seafood grill on Katlian Street. KCAW spoke with Saline about his decision to run for public office.
The post Scott Saline fourth and final candidate to file for Sitka Assembly appeared first on KCAW.
The UAS Sitka Campus is home to the university's Health Information Management program. Graduates earn a 2-year degree in Applied Science, and can look forward to a career in healthcare -- without ever coming face-to-face with a patient.
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German university student Tessa Schindler is on course for a career in international relations, thanks in part to the year she spent as an exchange student in Sitka.
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Visit Sitka has a new mobile app that tourists can use to navigate the community, online or off.
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The 2023 Change Your Latitude – 57⁰ North Open Water Challenge will be held Sunday August 13th, with pre-race events held through out the week before starting today (8-9-23). Race director Kevin Knox and longtime swimmers Dean Orbison and Chris Calvin joined KCAW's Brooke Schafer in the studio to discuss the race.
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A new hydroelectric project on Admiralty Island has gotten a green light from the Forest Service -- forty years after it was authorized by Congress. The Thayer Creek project could revolutionize electrical generation in Angoon.
The post A long-awaited hydro project in Angoon has the go-ahead, if money can be found to build it appeared first on KCAW.
A policy change may be coming for how the cruise passenger “head tax” is administered in Sitka.
The post August 8, 2023: What’s on the agenda when the Sitka Assembly meets tonight? appeared first on KCAW.
A troller is estimated to have sustained around $100,000 in damage after it caught fire in Sitka’s Eliason Harbor on Sunday afternoon. In a separate incident, another fishing boat near Yakutat burned to the waterline over the weekend.
The post Fire departments in Yakutat, Sitka respond to boat fires over weekend appeared first on KCAW.
On Wednesday afternoon (8-2-23), assembly member JJ Carlson filed her paperwork to run as a candidate in this year’s municipal election.
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Drivers in downtown Sitka can expect a few changes to traffic patterns in the coming weeks. Several two way streets will soon become one-way streets.
The post Several downtown Sitka streets will convert to one-way this month appeared first on KCAW.
Two men were indicted in Sitka in July in drug cases– both for possession of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
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On Monday morning (7-31-23), assembly member Tim Pike filed to run for re-election. Pike was appointed to fill a vacancy on the assembly following the resignation of Dave Miller last fall. KCAW spoke with Pike about his decision to pursue a full three-year term.
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Each year, the Portland-based nonprofit Ecotrust honors Indigenous leaders from around the Pacific Northwest. This year, two people from Southeast Alaska were among the eight honorees. KCAW spoke with Kh’asheechtlaa (Louise Brady), who was honored for her work with the Herring Protectors.
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Sitka Parks and Recreation is seeking feedback from the community from those who took part in its summer programming. Andrew Roseman joined KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss the survey.
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Austin Wayne Cranford is the first candidate to file for one of three open seats on the Sitka Assembly this fall. Cranford has lived in Sitka for the last decade. He’s a veteran and currently works for the University of Alaska Southeast in information technology. He spoke with KCAW’s Katherine Rose about his decision to run for public office:
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Southeast trollers landed 85,000 kings during the summer's first opening, July 1-12. Only 500 boats fished during the opener, the lowest on record. Managers think a number of factors -- including a lengthy court battle -- may have chilled effort.
The post Fish plentiful, but fishermen scarce for Southeast Alaska’s first summer king opening appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Fine Arts Camp will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend with a variety of events, including performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘Cinderella’. Director Zeke Blackwell and performers Kayson and Dora joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the rehearsal … more
The post Updated ‘Cinderella’ promises classic charm, modern message appeared first on KCAW.
Patrick J. O'Brien has pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree in the 2021 death of his father, James O'Brien, Jr. Following an altercation on Kasiana Island, the elder O'Brien was medevaced to Harborview Medical Center with severe head injuries. He died about a week later.
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Sitkans will weigh in on two ballot propositions that, if approved, would impact Sitka School District finances, and possibly its board.
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Sitka has officially adopted a plan for construction of a new marine haul out at its industrial park. The Sitka Assembly on Tuesday (7-25-23) approved the $14-million project – despite being far short of the full amount. Officials nevertheless hope that getting started with the bare bones will both support Sitka’s marine industry, and attract future funding to complete the job.
The post Assembly adopts haulout plan with hopes to complete construction by January 2025 appeared first on KCAW.
A seafood donation program spawned in Sitka during the Covid crisis, is transforming into a regional Seafood Distribution Network. This June, the program connected subsistence sockeye harvested in Bristol Bay, with communities on the Yukon and Chignik rivers.
The post Sitka’s seafood donation network connects abundance with scarcity in Western Alaska appeared first on KCAW.
This is Ocean Commotion-- a seven part series about the effects of global change on Southeast Alaska. From whale migration to sea star disease, Sitka is one 'shell' of a place, and we are sure you will love this podcast as much as we love being here.
The post Ocean Commotion: UC Santa Cruz students explore effects of climate change on Southeast appeared first on KCAW.
ALFA's Seafood Donation Program has expanded and morphed into the Seafood Distribution Network. This June, 5,000 pounds of subsistence-caught sockeye were sent to families on the Yukon and Chignik whose traditional salmon runs had crashed.
The post ALFA’s Seafood Donation Program extends to Western Alaska appeared first on KCAW.
The final plan for Sitka’s long-awaited marine haulout will come before the Sitka Assembly tonight (7-25-23) for approval.
The post July 25, 2023: What’s on the agenda when the Sitka Assembly meets tonight? appeared first on KCAW.
An infestation of western blackheaded budworm that began in Southeast Alaska in 2020 is on the decline. Although 685,000 acres were affected, not all the damage may be permanent.
The post Tongass Forest rebound possible, as budworm infestation winds down appeared first on KCAW.
The wheels of a large tour bus caught fire Friday (7-21-23) in downtown Sitka. Fire officials suspect the vehicle’s brakes had seized and overheated.
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Daily Sitka Sentinel Sports editor Garland Kennedy joins KCAW's Robert Woolsey to share his experiences during last weekend's 30th Annual Alpine Adventure Run in Sitka.
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Supporters of a Community Garden in Sitka hope to address local food insecurity from the ground up, literally, by building gardens and renting out plots to green thumbs who want to grow their own food. But there are many challenges ahead for the project, including some neighborhood opposition.
The post Community Garden proposal will advance to assembly table appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka School Board appointed Tom Williams to serve the remaining two-and-a-half months of Blossom Teal-Olsen's term. Williams was the only applicant for the seat; he says he'll run for a full term in October.
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Sitkans weighed in on possible changes to taxi, tour, and shuttle regulations at a town hall meeting on Tuesday (7-18-23).
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Sitka’s municipal and tribal governments are celebrating a quarter-century of official cooperation.
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Sitkans who are on the fence about whether to run for public office have just under three weeks to decide. The filing period to run for local office opened Monday morning (7-17-23).
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After around a year without one, Sitka has a new animal control officer. Sam Pointer took on the job in June, and brings optimism and a community-driven approach to a role that can be as challenging as it is rewarding.
The post Filling a job vacant for a year, Sitka’s new animal control officer puts his pet and people skills to work appeared first on KCAW.
The Lack Family Band is in Sitka this weekend, on their way to Haines to headline the Southeast Alaska State Fair for the 11th consecutive year.
The post Lack Family Band stops in Sitka for weekend of concerts ahead of state fair appeared first on KCAW.
Managers of both the state and federal subsistence fisheries at Redoubt Lake have liberalized harvest limits for sockeye, hoping to put the brakes on a run that could exceed the lake's capacity.
The post Concerned over Redoubt Lake’s capacity, Forest Service liberalizes subsistence sockeye harvest appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka is thinking about capitalizing on the rebound in cruise tourism to help maintain its schools. A ballot proposition that would impose a dedicated one-percent seasonal sales tax passed the local assembly this week (Tuesday 7-11-23), and is likely to appear before voters this fall.
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The Board of Directors of KCAW Raven Radio is delighted to announce that Rich and Suzi McClear are taking the reins as co-General Managers of the station. They will be actively assuming their position at the end of August.
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The Sitka Fine Arts Camp is suing in federal court to obtain a visa for its technical theater director. US Customs and Immigration denied the visa application on grounds that running the Sitka Performing Arts Center is not a "specialty occupation."
The post With no ‘specialty occupation,’ Sitka’s theater director was denied a visa. The Fine Arts Camp is suing the feds to get him back. appeared first on KCAW.
Voters may get to weigh in on two ballot propositions in this year’s municipal election. When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight it will consider a proposition that, if approved by voters, would retain the 1-percent seasonal sales tax increase, and to use the revenue to replace aging school infrastructure.
The post July 11, 2023: What’s on the agenda when the Sitka Assembly meets tonight? appeared first on KCAW.
Salmonberries are ripe and ready, and the promise of huckleberry and blueberry season is on the horizon in Sitka. But with warming temperatures, scientists say climate change could make berry picking more challenging in the future. And there’s a gap in knowledge about how berries are changing in Southeast Alaska, specifically. A new study in Sitka is underway to close that gap.
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Sitka Community Gardens organizer Joel Hanson joined KCAW to discuss tonight's town hall, which will be facilitated by the city's planning department. Listen here:
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Nearly 700 sites along Tongass National Forest streams could obstruct fish from migrating. That’s according to a new report from the U.S. Forest Service. But there is a plan to deal with the old roads and culverts causing the problems.
The post Migrating fish need to migrate: Forest Service identifies nearly 700 stream crossings to be fixed in the Tongass National Forest appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka's airport was last remodeled in the 1990s, and it shows. A $40 million renovation scheduled to begin this fall will address the cramped, undersized boarding lounge, cross-traffic between arriving and departing passengers, and the small baggage claim.
The post Sitka’s airport expansion set for takeoff this fall appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Fine Arts Camp’s high school camp wraps up at the end of this week, and campers won’t just be taking memories home with them. Each one will be bringing home a brand new guitar. It’s possible through a new partnership with Free Guitars for Kids. Ben Dudley is the executive director of the nonprofit.
The post Strum and get it: fine arts campers score free guitars appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Sound Science Center is holding a ribbon-cutting on the restored Mill Building and hatchery on July 7. Executive Director Lisa Busch and board member Michael Mausbach joined KCAW's Brooke Schafer for the morning interview to share details.
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Remember that cutting board you made in shop class? Or that wobbly nightstand? Computer-controlled tools have blown open the creative possibilities for students in Career & Technical Education programs like Sitka's.
The post Sitka student builds a telecaster, shredding our old ideas about high school shop class appeared first on KCAW.
A Grand Jury indicted three Sitkans last month, on charges ranging from assault and burglary to driving a boat under the influence.
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This summer, Sitkans are invited to unleash their creativity with a movie trailer challenge. Shannon Haugland Rob Poulson joined KCAW's Andrew Hames to discuss the upcoming event, sponsored by the Sitka Film Society in partnership with the Coliseum Theater.
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Jeff Budd and Dan Jones are calling on other old car owners to join them at Whale Park Tuesday morning (7-4-23) for a drive through town in celebration of the Fourth of July. The drive begins at 10:30 a.m. sharp.
The post Old cars/unique cars rev up Sitka’s July 4th Celebration appeared first on KCAW.
Two males were transported to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center early Thursday (6-29-23) after their vehicle rolled over in the overflow parking lot of the Old Sitka Boat Launch. Police are investigating.
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Photojournalist Berett Wilber grew up trolling in Sitka (aboard the Alexa K). She recently visited the docks to photograph and speak with trollers as they prepare to head out on their much hoped-for, yet completely unexpected, summer king salmon season.
The post Portraits of a fishery: Sitka trollers gear up for an unexpected season appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Maritime Heritage Society board member Bruce Gazaway, and new executive director Keith Nyitray, share details about the society's annual Fourth of July WWII & Wildlife cruise (departs Crescent Harbor 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 4, $65 adults, $40 children 12 and under).
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Nearly 10,000 cruise visitors in one day is "far too many," Sitka's mayor said at Tuesday's assembly meeting (6-27-23). An informal poll of downtown businesses indicated that June 21 was more bust than bonanza, as resources were strained across the community.
The post More bust than bonanza, Sitka’s 10,000-passenger day was ‘far too many’ says mayor appeared first on KCAW.
Three hundred handmade ceramic bowls will be available at the Brave Heart Bowls fundraiser this Saturday (7-1-23). Sitkans who donate will receive a bowl and a cup of soup to go from a local restaurant.
The post Soup and ceramics featured at Braveheart Bowls fundraiser appeared first on KCAW.
The first Sitka Farmers Market of the summer is this Saturday, July 1 at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall. Market Manager Anastasia Stefanowicz and board president Charles Bingham joined KCAW's Brooke Schafer to talk about this summer's Farmers Market schedule
The post Kale yes! Farmers market slated to start July 1 appeared first on KCAW.
A Sitka physician with a long career in sports medicine, Don Lehmann has lately turned his attention to a relatively recent field: Performing Arts Medicine.
The post A Sitka doctor uses sports medicine to help musician-athletes perform their best appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka's industrial park board has approved a "preferred alternative" that falls short of the ideal marine haulout and boatyard residents envision. But plans are in place to expand if additional funding is found.
The post ‘Preferred alternative’ for Sitka haulout falls short of perfect, but has potential for expansion appeared first on KCAW.
Gov. Dunleavy's education veto amounts to a loss of $287,000 for the Sitka School District. The local school board will have to revise its budget sometime over the summer.
The post Governor’s veto a quarter-million dollar hit to Sitka Schools appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka School Board president Blossom Teal-Olsen resigned her seat a few months before her term expires, citing the need to devote more energy to her three school-aged children.
The post Choosing family, school board president Teal-Olsen steps down appeared first on KCAW.
Firefighters were able to knock down the blaze in about 10 minutes Tuesday afternoon, but the fire had consumed the roof of the 414 Marine St. home.
The post Fire destroys roof of Marine Street home appeared first on KCAW.
Big band music from the James Bond films and other cinematic and television icons, plus a five-course Moroccan dinner, are all on the menu of this year's "Jazz on the Waterfront."
The post Spies and spice: Bond music, Moroccan food energize ‘Jazz on the Waterfront’ appeared first on KCAW.
Southeast trollers will fish for king salmon this summer after all. The 9th Circuit Court on Wednesday (6-21-23) ordered a stay of a lower court ruling which would have blocked the fishery.
The post Ninth Circuit Court grants stay in Southeast troll lawsuit, chinook season to open July 1 appeared first on KCAW.
Tele Aadsen grew up trolling in summers in Southeast Alaska. Her new collection of essays, "What Water Holds," is a memoir of her life trolling for salmon, and a celebration of the environment that makes fishing possible.
The post Aadsen’s ‘What Water Holds’ a celebration of the marine ecosystem that makes salmon fishing possible appeared first on KCAW.
The Coast Guard suspended its search for an overdue boater near Kake on Saturday evening (6-17-23).
The post Coast Guard suspends search for missing Kake boater appeared first on KCAW.
High concentrations of carbon dioxide gas and warm surface temperatures are two clues that geophysicists use to assess volcanic activity. A team from UAF recently tested Sitka's Mt. Edgecumbe volcano for both.
The post UAF Geophysical team looks for clues to Mt. Edgecumbe’s next eruption appeared first on KCAW.
For the first time ever, the assembly has officially declared June “Pride Month” in Sitka, affirming “the rights of all members of the LGBTQIA+ community to live their authentic lives.”
The post Assembly approves resolution affirming June as Pride Month in Sitka appeared first on KCAW.
Miscommunication and an out-of-date navigational chart were both found to be factors when a Royal Caribbean cruise ship slammed into the dock at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal last summer. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a 14-page report on the incident late last month.
The post NTSB points to navigation, communication in Sitka cruise ship mishap appeared first on KCAW.
After a couple of setbacks, Youth Advocates of Sitka can now move forward with plans to create a residential treatment program for teens and young adults experiencing homelessness in Sitka. Earlier this year, the group had applied for a permit to convert a duplex into the facility, but was initially denied by the local planning commission. The nonprofit successfully appealed that decision before the Sitka Assembly on Tuesday (6-13-23
The post Residential treatment facility for unhoused teens greenlit after assembly overturns permit denial appeared first on KCAW.
ANS Camp No. 4 will host its Annual Summer Bazaar, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Friday, June 30, at the ANB Founders Hall. Vendor tables remain available!
The post Vendors sought for ANS Camp No. 4 Annual Summer Bazaar appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Music Festival Foundation is working to raise a $100,000 match to build the Festival's endowment this summer. Foundation board members Charlie Morgan and Rich McClear joined KCAW's Peter Apathy to discuss the foundation's work and goals for this summer.
The post Festival foundation to build endowment with matching grant appeared first on KCAW.
Earlier this year, Governor Mike Dunleavy appointed Sitka Superior Court Judge Jude Pate to the Alaska Supreme Court. He’s the first justice from Sitka to serve on the state’s highest court, and the first to come directly from a rural community in decades. He was sworn in last week in Sitka.
The post Sitka Judge Jude Pate becomes 27th Alaska Supreme Court Justice appeared first on KCAW.
In April, the Planning Commission denied a permit application for Youth Advocates of Sitka, or Y-A-S, to turn a duplex on Halibut Point Road into a residential shelter for teens and young adults experiencing homelessness and trafficking. In April, the Planning Commission denied a permit application for Youth Advocates of Sitka, or Y-A-S, to turn a duplex on Halibut Point Road into a residential shelter for teens and young adults experiencing homelessness and trafficking. Y-A-S will appeal that decision at the assembly meeting tonight (6-13-23).
The post June 13, 2023: What’s on the agenda when the Sitka Assembly meets tonight? appeared first on KCAW.
The 52nd Sitka Music Festival is in full swing. Artistic Director Zuill Bailey and violist Martin Sher joined KCAW's Andrew Hames to discuss this week's slate of classical concerts and other events.
The post Concertos and crab on the menu this week for music festival appeared first on KCAW.
A small group of Sitkans joined in a worldwide celebration of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny's birthday on June 4. Navalny is serving a 9-year prison term for speaking out against the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The post Sitkans join worldwide demonstration in support of Russian political prisoner appeared first on KCAW.
Without giving too much away, NOAA Fisheries Alaska region administrator Jon Kurland told trollers in Sitka that his agency was working full-tilt to comply with a US District Court order, allowing the fleet to target king salmon -- if not in July as usual -- then perhaps in August.
The post NOAA to trollers: A revised environmental analysis could allow king fishing by August appeared first on KCAW.
Rescue divers have recovered a fourth body from the scene of a charter fishing accident that happened over Memorial Day Weekend.
The post Body of charter captain recovered from scene of boating accident appeared first on KCAW.
Local author Debbie Miller joined KCAW's Andrew Hames to discuss her latest children's book, Glaciers Are Alive, about the world of tidewater glaciers. This is the twelfth book Miller has written in collaboration with artist Jon Van Zyle.
The post Local author’s newest book a window into world of tidewater glaciers appeared first on KCAW.
A 50-year old woman has been medevaced, after a Sitka driver hit her on Sawmill Creek Road.
The post Pedestrian medevaced after being hit by truck on bike path appeared first on KCAW.
In its third year, the Skipper Science Partnership app allows fisherman to contribute info their observations on the water to a database that aids in the monitoring of changing ocean conditions throughout Alaska. Heather Bauscher joined KCAW's Robert Woolsey to discuss the program.
The post Growing citizen scientist program to host ‘lunch and learn’ Friday appeared first on KCAW.
"Subject matter experts" in the marine trades recently met in Sitka to consider four concepts for a marine haulout and boatyard. Even with $8.2 million on hand, it will take more funding to create a yard to meet Sitka's needs now and into the future.
The post ‘Subject matter experts’ convene to study what Sitka wants in a boatyard — and what it can afford appeared first on KCAW.
High interest rates are affecting the affordability of homes in Alaska -- but many homes were unaffordable for one wage-earner even when interest rates were rock-bottom. The May issue of "Trends" from the AK Dept. Labor weighs affordability versus income for average wage-earners.
The post Many Alaska homes were unaffordable when interest rates were rock-bottom. New data show the problem is growing worse appeared first on KCAW.
Pianist Alfredo Oyágüez and violinist Alex Gonzalez joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss the week ahead, full of concerts and events with the Sitka Music Festival. Listen to their conversation here:
The post Festival musicians give glimpse of what’s to come this week appeared first on KCAW.
A nine-year old, an 11-year old, and a 15-year old were the top winners in the Sitka Salmon Derby, claiming over $20,000 in cash and prizes between them. Was it beginners' luck? Not likely.
The post Kids land big fish — and even bigger prizes — in Sitka’s 52nd Annual Salmon Derby appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Music Festival kicked off its 2023 season with an informal concert last Wednesday. Artistic Director Zuill Bailey, joined by members of Miami’s New World Symphony, played pieces ranging from Mozart to Frederick Tillis for an audience at a local pizza joint.
The post Sitka Music Festival kicks off 52nd season with long ‘Liszt’ of hits appeared first on KCAW.
Ron Dick (with grandson Taan) drove his “Other Power Driven Mobility Device” (or OPDMD) in the 2019 4th of July Parade in Sitka. He wasn’t allowed to operate the vehicle in the 2022 parade. Dick is suing the Sitka Police Department for violating the Americans With Disabilities Act. In separate legal action, Baranoff Taxi & Tours is suing Police Chief Robert Baty for arbitrarily interpreting municipal code. (Patty Dick photo)Two new lawsuits were filed against the Sitka Police Department this spring, both alleging that the department arbitrarily applied enforcement powers that it does not have under federal law, in one case, and under municipal code in another.
KCAW’s Robert Woolsey recently met with retired attorney Galen Paine to discuss Baranoff Taxi vs. Police Chief Robert Baty, which was filed in Sitka Superior Court in April, and Ron Dick vs. City of Sitka and the Sitka Police Department, which was filed in US District Court in Anchorage in March.
They began by talking about why a Sitka resident would sue his local police in federal court.
Paine: “I’m just gonna say that they chose to take it into federal court and talk about the Americans for Disability Act. I mean, the facts relate to the fact that Ron Dick, who is bringing the suit, had a specially made-out golf cart because he’s a Vietnam vet. He’s old, and he’s very disabled. He had it imported into Sitka, according to the complaint, and he has been running it (according to the complaint) on Sitka streets for three years. What happened is that he was at a medical appointment at SEARHC and was stopped by a police officer. Mr. Dick explained that he had permission from the Department of Transportation and the troopers that he could run this vehicle on the road. And he could drive it in Sitka. He was told by the police officers that he was not allowed to do that. And the officer stated that he was ‘following orders.’ And he was not allowed to drive it home and was threatened with arrest. He is, according to the complaint, severely disabled enough so that if he were arrested he might suffer additional disability.”
KCAW: “And so this relates to the Baranoff Taxi case, somewhat, because it’s also a matter of interpretation as well.”
Paine: “Actually, yes. And in fact, this is in state court, and the complaint there Baranoff Taxi & Tours vs. Robert Baty. So he’s being sued individually here.”
KCAW: “That’s our police chief.”
Paine: “What happened is, they had been running a taxicab service for a while and a tour business. But Police Chief Baty said that they couldn’t provide both taxi and tour services, and that she was going to be required to produce seven different kinds of requested items, which she did. And Chief Baty refused to issue the renewal and listed 14 more items that she had to provide. But in any case, under the Sitka ordinances, there is no requirement that these items — these many items — be provided. The problem with the ordinance is that the police chief may require basically any information he wants, quote ‘information as the police chief may require.’ That’s a very, very open-ended part of the ordinance. And it doesn’t tell the average person what they’re going to have to produce. I would like to caution people that I’ve not seen the (city’s response), and I’m sure the city is going to come back with some some good reasons why this is incorrect. But I mean, there’s always two sides to a story. But also there’s nothing in the ordinances that distinguishes the fact between a cab company and a tour company. And I mean, they’re questioning why they need special equipment for a tour company versus a taxi cab company.”
KCAW: “Galen, just sort of knitting it up. In both these cases, Ron Dick vs. City of Sitka and Baranoff Taxi vs. Police Chief Robert Baty, there’s this idea that the police department is exercising discretion that it may not have. In the one case with Ron Dick, it’s an alleged violation of the Americans with Disability Act. And in the case of Baranoff Taxi, they’re just alleging that Chief Baty is making up rules on the fly. Is court a good place to resolve these kinds of things in general?”
Paine: “Actually, yes, because they both involve interpretations of local law. And particularly in with respect to the taxi, they’re alleging that the ordinances are not clear. And that would be a local issue with respect to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). There are jurisdictions, for example, that allow these golf carts — these these nice golf carts — on the streets. And so that’s probably not the issue federally. The issue, of course, is when you have somebody who is disabled and can’t get easily to places normal people can get to — that’s when maybe a look at the city ordinances might be useful.”
That was retired attorney Galen Paine has worked as a lawyer all over Alaska. She lives in Sitka now, and serves on the board of KCAW.
Plaintiffs in both cases are represented by the Northern Justice Project, which has brought suit against the Sitka Police Department on three different occasions since 2018, and won over $800,000 in settlements for its clients.
Ron Dick vs. City & Borough of Sitka and Sitka Police Department.
Baranoff Taxi & Tours vs. Robert M. Baty (Sitka Police Chief).
The post A pair of court cases will test Sitka Police and their discretion to interpret municipal and federal law appeared first on KCAW.
Scallop fisherman and owner of Merrick Shellfish Evan O’Brien stands next to his boat, the F/V Sinbad in Eliason Harbor. (KCAW/Ezra Dan) There aren’t many scallop fisheries in Alaska. While the mollusks are plentiful in Southeast waters, harvesting them is resource and time intensive. KCAW’s Ezra Dan spoke with a local scallop fisherman who is bringing the delicacy to dinner tables in Sitka and Southeast, with sustainability in mind.
On days when Evan O’Brien isn’t diving for pink swimming scallops or harvesting gooseneck barnacles off steep rock faces at low tide you can find him in a slip at Thomsen Harbor, working on the new diving boat he purchased from Oxnard, California earlier this year. The F/V Sinbad was purchased by O’Brien for his company, Merrick Shellfish, from a sea urchin diver, so the boat is equipped with everything he needs for a dive.
So what does a typical dive for these scallops look like?
“You’ll swim up to a boulder or something that’s covered with them,” O’Brien explains. “And in the winter like this, maybe, I don’t know, 10 to 20% of them will take off, start swimming,” he continues. “I just leave those, and I harvest the ones that stay, because they’re kind of dormant and they’re sort of hibernating, so they’re easier to harvest.”
But they aren’t so sleepy in the summertime.
“There’s more light, and the water is starting to warm up a little bit, and they’re getting more active,” O’Brien says. “You’ll swim up to that same boulder that’s covered, and maybe 80% of them will take off. And then you’re just trying to pick them out of the air, it’s like you’re trying to catch butterflies or something with the net. And that gets much harder.”
A dive video captured by O’Brien shows swimming scallops in action. O’Brien isn’t new to this type of work. Before diving for scallops, he spent a few seasons diving for sea cucumbers and geoducks, another bivalve shellfish industry that thrives in Southeast Alaska. Choosing to switch to pacific swimming scallops, also known as singing scallops because of the sound they make when they propel through water, the only current Alaska scallop fishery besides Kodiak’s weathervane scallop fishery, wasn’t easy for O’Brien and his company. That’s because gathering the data necessary to open the fishery is a heavy load.
The long established geoduck fishery has an inexpensive method of collecting water samples to test biotoxin levels. The SE AK Regional Dive Fisheries Association, a local organization, buys one boat to collect all biotoxin water samples for geoduck harvesting. Merrick Shellfish doesn’t have the same luxury. As a ‘pilot fishery’ for the scallops and gooseneck barnacles he harvests, O’Brien has to ensure sustainability by collecting a year’s worth of data and sending harvest quota amounts to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation when he finds a new harvest area.
“The way it works is I get these different areas open with the DEC, which like I said, is a slow process. It takes at least a year to get a new area open, and they’re relatively small areas. I mean, we’re talking about a single inlet kind of thing,” O’Brien says. “Then I request a specific amount of quota from, say, 1,000 pounds from this particular inlet, and Fish & Game will look at that request, and if they think it’s reasonable, they’ll approve that amount of quota.”
Once he harvests the 1,000 pounds, he’s done for that area.
“And my goal is to keep expanding, getting new areas open with the DEC,” O’Brien says. “I’m looking at areas that aren’t even open for harvest right now to get a sense of the abundance, and then I have to send in a year’s worth of water samples, and then a bunch of biotoxin samples, and then that area will open.”
O’Brien’s plan is to get enough of these areas open for harvest so he can manage the fishery like geoduck and sea cucumber dive operations, where each area is rotated on a three year break between harvests. However, government fishery regulations haven’t been the only obstacle O’Brien has faced.
When selling to local grocery stores and restaurants during his first year of operation, O’Brien got complaints about how dirty the shellfish were. So O’Brien built his own special washer– it’s basically a garbage can full of brushes aided by a flowing water hose and after the scallops tumble through as he rotates it, they’re clean. The washer is also equipped with two inch holes so scallops smaller than regulation size can escape. And it works– he’s able to deliver his product to local businesses with less grit and grime– though the extra step also means extra time.
O’Brien demonstrates how his homemade scallop washing machine works. “It’s a pretty janky system right now. As you can see, it’s just a garbage can on its side. But I got a bunch of brushes and abrasive stuff inside, and I just hook this hose up to the washdown pump on the boat, and you fill this up with 10 pounds of scallops, and you just rotate it,” he says. “The abrasiveness of the scallops rubbing against each other cleans them up really well.” (KCAW/Ezra Dan) “You know, the real kind of high volume fishery, where you would just harvest thousands of pounds, [and] deliver them to a tender? That’s not what this product is,” O’Brien says. “I mean, each batch, every 10 pounds, needs to be treated, really carefully washed, and just handled with care.”
O’Brien’s season starts with scallop diving in the mid-winter months and is now harvesting gooseneck barnacles to sell. Some of his clients include Wildfish Cannery based out of Klawock, E-Fish, a national seafood delivery service, and Beak Restaurant in Sitka. Although O’Brien sometimes has his younger brother assist as a deckhand, Merrick Shellfish is largely a one-man business. But that’s okay with him. He says his goal for the fisheries has always been high value, low volume- to have a lower impact on the environment and stocks, while also introducing people to new and unusual seafoods.
“It’s great to just see, even in relatively small quantities, see those products in the community and people in town enjoying them because it’s something that probably a lot of people have seen if they get the chance to be out on the water and have seen it and maybe notice it but never considered eating it,” O’Brien says. “Particularly the gooseneck barnacles because they’re so weird looking.”
Gooseneck barnacles are a delicacy in Spain and Portugal and many compare the taste to crab or shrimp. If you can get past the scaly appearance similar to a dragon’s toenails, they’re a real treat for seafood lovers. To eat them, diners must pinch the foot between thumb and forefinger, pull the meat out of its case, remove their claw and enjoy.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Merrick Shellfish (@merrickshellfish)
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Morgan Robidou poses with his boat in October, 2022. Robidou and one of his passengers, 61-year old Robert Solis, still remain missing following Sunday’s (5-28-23) accident. (FB image) Alaska State Troopers on Wednesday (5-31-23) recovered the bodies of two of the five victims of last Sunday’s charter boat sinking in Sitka.
One passenger and the boat’s captain have yet to be found.
The victims identified by troopers on Wednesday evening are 53-year old Danielle Agcaoili and her sister, 56-year old Brandi Tyau.
Their bodies have been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s office in Anchorage to confirm their identities.
The body of Danielle Agcaoili’s husband, 57-year old Maury Agcaoili, was recovered on Monday (5-29-23) offshore of Low Island, not far from the partially-submerged charter fishing vessel in which the group had been traveling.
A fourth passenger, 61-year old Robert Solis, as well as the boat’s captain, 32-year old Morgan Robidou of Sitka, have not been found, despite an extensive search on Monday that covered over 800 square miles.
Solis and Tyau were visiting Sitka together from California. The Agcaoili’s were visiting from Waipahu, a community on the island of Oahu.
Hawaii News Now carried news of the tragedy back to that state.
“…An outpouring of condolences from the community: Pearl City High School’s band director shared the news with parents, who wrote that the Agcaoilis were active volunteers and their children, Jarek and Jessica had been members of the band. Other members are hosting a meal rotation to help the children. Danielle worked at First Hawaiian Bank. CEO Bob Harrison extended condolences to the family and friends saying in a statement that she was a beloved member of the First Hawaiian Bank Ohana.”
Large swell and heavy surf on the shore of Low Island have impaired efforts to salvage the 30-foot aluminum charter vessel. Sitka-based Hanson Maritime is leading recovery efforts.
The post Victims identified in Sitka charter boat sinking appeared first on KCAW.
Three Sitkans were indicted in May for charges ranging from misconduct involving a weapon to sexual assault.
On the night of November 26, then 50-year-old Donovan Kintz pulled his fishing boat into a bay at Middle Island. According to a sworn police affidavit, the owner of the cabin saw that Kintz was pulling in, and believing he was planning to tie up for the night, walked down his dock to inform Kintz that it was private property. Kintz allegedly responded by shooting a gun at the man four times. The man ducked behind one of the dock pillars and called for help.
Sitka Police and Alaska State Troopers responded to a 911 call, and found Kintz anchored in the bay. Police obtained a search warrant, and seized Kintz’s rifle and shell casings. According to court records, Kintz admitted to shooting his rifle, “Because it was new and [he] wanted to shoot it.”
A Sitka Grand Jury on May 25 indicted Kintz on misconduct involving weapons in the fourth degree, a Class A misdemeanor. Two other felony charges against Kintz were dropped.
The same jury also indicted 36-year-old Michael Charles Miyasato on one count each of assault in the first degree and burglary in the first degree, both Class A felonies.
On May 21, Miyasato allegedly forced his way into a neighbor’s apartment and physically assaulted him, punching him repeatedly in the head. According to court documents, when police arrived, they found Miyasato fleeing the scene on a bicycle.
The neighbor was transported to the hospital, where doctors found he had suffered a brain bleed from the assault. During the investigation, Miyasato admitted to drinking half a fifth of vodka before the assault took place. A trial in Miyasato’s case has not yet been scheduled. He remains in custody at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau, pending $25,000 bail.
Earlier in the month, on May 11, a Sitka Grand Jury indicted 18-year-old Emilio Partido on two felony counts of sexual assault in the first degree. Partido’s trial is set to happen in July. He also remains in custody at Lemon Creek pending $50,000 bail.
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(Photo courtesy of Sitka Music Festival) Each week in June, musicians from the Sitka Music Festival will join us to discuss upcoming concerts. On Wednesday (5-31-23) the festival’s artistic director and Grammy award winning cellist Zuill Bailey joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss performances set for this weekend, featuring the works of Mahler, Piazzolla, Schumann, and a Rachmaninoff retrospective. Listen to their conversation here:
Find the full schedule of Sitka Music Festival events here. Tickets available here.
The post Sitka Music Festival celebrates ‘Rachmaninoff at 150’ appeared first on KCAW.
Riley Bernhardt is once again photographed at the derby barge with a couple of enormous kings. Her dad Gary has been posing with her like this for at least the last six years. (SSA/Marsha Lysons)The loss of a charter fishing boat on Sunday (5-28-23) came during the middle of the first weekend of the 68th Annual Sitka Salmon Derby.
The contest continued, while many boats helped in the search and everyone hoped for positive news.
The extensive search effort was evident to anyone in Sitka Sound on Memorial Day Monday (5-29-23), with both a Coast Guard C-130 search plane and an Air Station Sitka helicopter airborne for much of the day, along with many Good Samaritan and official watercraft, including the fast-response cutter Douglas Denman.
Derby officials say that a number of participants diverted to assist with the search as the news spread, and one told KCAW that “I know it was on everyone’s mind as we all waited hoping to hear that they’d been found.”
Sitka, along with much of Southeast Alaska, experienced unseasonably warm temperatures and calm weather in the first half of May, but conditions had changed significantly by the holiday weekend, with strong southerly winds and temperatures dipping as low as 40 degrees.
Despite the dire news and the bad weather, 94 people entered a total of 276 fish in the Sitka derby. Caleb Gray turned in a 32-and-a-half pound king to take the top spot on the leaderboard. Adding in his other five fish for the weekend, Gray also leads in total pounds at just under 126.
Caleb Gray, at left, waits while his king is weighed on the Sitka Salmon Derby barge. On the right, he learns that he’s the leader. (SSA/Marsha Lysons) In second place in both categories is Riley Bernhardt – no stranger to the leaderboard – with a 29-and-a-half pound king and 115 total pounds for her six fish.
In third place is Kenny Gray, with a 28-and-a-half pound king and just over 100 total pounds.
The Sitka Salmon Derby continues over next weekend, June 3 and 4. All results are unofficial until the awards banquet on June 15.
Prize money in this year’s derby has gone up: The winner will take home $10,000 cash and two round-trip tickets on Alaska Airlines. Second place will win $5,000 cash, and third place will receive an electric pot hauler worth almost $2,000.
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The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for four missing people who were last seen boating near Sitka on Sunday afternoon (5-28-23).
According to a Coast Guard press release, on Sunday evening Kingfisher Charters reported an overdue charter vessel with five people on board.
The boat had last been seen underway near Cape Edgecumbe in Sitka Sound. It was found shortly after 7 p.m. on Sunday, partially submerged near Low Island, about one mile east of Shoals Point, on the southern tip of Kruzof Island.
The Coast Guard recovered one deceased person from the wreckage. As of press time on Monday afternoon, the search for the four missing individuals was ongoing, with several coast guard crews, the Sitka Fire Department and good samaritan vessels aiding in the rescue efforts. Names of the deceased person and the four missing were not released.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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(KCAW/ROSE) The United States Department of Justice will appeal a federal court order forcing the closure of the commercial king salmon troll fishery in Southeast Alaska.
In early May, Washington US District Court Judge Richard Jones upheld an earlier recommendation that the Southeast summer and winter king fisheries were catching too much of the food source of a dwindling population of Southern Resident Killer Whales in Puget Sound in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Judge Jones’s order required the fishery closures and required the National Marine Fisheries Service to vacate and rewrite the rules that allow for the fisheries to happen.
The DOJ’s notice to appeal was submitted on May 23, on behalf of the Department of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The defendant intervenors in the case, the Alaska Trollers Association and the State of Alaska filed motions earlier this month calling for a “partial stay” of the order, pending an appeal to allow the fisheries to proceed. The state argued that the court order had failed to account for the economic cultural and social harm to the troll fleet and Southeast Alaska.
The lawsuit was originally filed by the Wild Fish Conservancy, to protect an endangered population of Southern Resident Killer Whales in Puget Sound. The Washington-based nonprofit also appealed, and asked for an injunction vacating a prey increase program intended to mitigate the effects of the Southeast troll harvest by rearing king salmon in hatcheries. They argued that the hatchery program doesn’t go far enough to mitigate the risks to both wild king salmon and killer whales.
On May 26, both requests for stays from the state and the Wild Fish Conservancy were denied. Judge Jones wrote that the court extensively reviewed the economic concerns raised by the state and the trollers, but found that the consequences QUOTE “did not overcome the seriousness of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s violations.” And in his rejection of the Wild Fish Conservancy’s request, Jones wrote that vacating the “prey increase program” would have “cascading impacts” to commercial and recreational fisheries in Washington that aren’t involved in the lawsuit.
In response to the ruling, late Friday, the State of Alaska filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court, requesting the court issue a decision by June 23.
Read further reporting on the lawsuit here
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The Sitka High School track team dominated at regionals last weekend, and both the baseball and softball teams are fighting for a shot at state in regional tournaments this weekend. Sitka Sentinel sports editor Garland Kennedy joined KCAW’s Katherine Rose (pinch hitting for News Director Robert Woolsey) to talk all things summer sports. Listen here:
The post Grab your peanuts and Cracker Jacks, summer is here and Sentinel Sports is back! appeared first on KCAW.
Next year’s city budget now has a seal of approval from the Sitka Assembly, with a $17,000 surplus.
When the assembly met on Tuesday (5-23-23), it unanimously approved a $42 million dollar general fund budget for FY’24. The budget process is months long, so by the time it came to a final vote, there was little discussion, and only one comment from the public.
City Administrator John Leach said he did take public feedback into account throughout the budgeting process, and thanked Sitkans for using the open finance tool on the city’s website to make recommendations. Leach said the process was different for staff this year too.
“We did do a true zero-based budget, and we started from there and all the department heads were required to submit what’s called a ‘resource proposal form'” Leach said. “So they had to basically explain to me why that resource was necessary, how it aligned with our guiding documents, our code, our charter, our strategic plan.”
General fund expenditures will be about 14% higher next fiscal year. City staff say some of that increase in spending can be attributed to inflation. The same is true for the city’s enterprise funds. The electric, water, wastewater, solid waste and harbor budgets will each include rate increases next year.
That didn’t sit well with some assembly members, including Chris Ystad, but he thought it was unavoidable. He said he’d worked on other budgets this year, including a couple of local nonprofits and his own business, that were facing similar challenges with inflation.
“These rate increases are right in line with what all these other organizations are incurring, especially with what these enterprise funds deal with, and that’s raw material for the most part, copper, steel and just other raw goods,” Ystad said. “And then the wastewater [fund] getting this new treatment plant thrown on top of it that, it’s just really put us in a bind. So as much as I don’t want to see the rates increase, I think, in order to stay on top of these enterprise funds, it’s something that we’re having to do.”
While the general fund budget ended up with a surplus, some of the enterprise funds are taking on some additional debt this year, including a $7 million dollar loan for the wastewater plant to install a disinfection system that meets new requirements from the EPA.
Ultimately, the assembly approved the enterprise fund budgets on a 6-0 vote. The new fiscal year begins on July 1, and budgets will likely be amended throughout the year.
View the full general fund budget here
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This Yak Timber logging at Humpback Creek is controversial because the site is culturally and historically significant, according to the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, and Sealaska Corporation. (Photo/Defend Yakutat)A timber company owned by Yakutat’s village corporation has filed for bankruptcy this month after a bank sued the corporation over $13 million in outstanding debts. It’s the latest chapter in the story of a contentious logging operation that many of the corporation’s shareholders didn’t support.
Listen to the audio story below.
Yak Timber filed for bankruptcy on May 11. In a letter to shareholders the next day, the village corporation, Yak-Tat Kwaan, said they filed “only after exhausting all efforts to negotiate a resolution” with the bank.
Yakutat’s tribal government, Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, says the lawsuit is further dividing a town that was already stressed — many residents didn’t agree with the logging operation in the first place. Andrew Gildersleeve is the Tribe’s executive director. He says above all, there is grief.
“The matter itself is almost like a broken piece of glass, with so many edges it’s impossible to pick up without getting cut,” Gildersleeve said. “There’s a shock of what’s happened to tribal lands and disbelief that there could be a claim of the size against an organization that is ultimately run by our friends, family and neighbors.”
Washington bank vs. Yak-Tat Kwaan
The lawsuit, brought by AgWestFarm Credit, alleges that Yak Timber owes the Washington-based bank about $13.3 million in unpaid loans. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle on March 31.
“Where did all that money that they borrowed go?” asks shareholder Cindy Bremner. She’s also the former CEO of the corporation and Yakutat’s current mayor. She says shareholders have a lot of questions the corporation won’t answer. It’s straining relationships in the small town of 600.
“We live in a small town — we’re all related,” she said, “and it’s caused quite a divide between those on that board, and then pretty much the rest of the shareholders.”
The suit says the corporation hasn’t made payments since the middle of 2022. The bank is seeking repayment, interest, and attorney’s fees. It lists equipment along with timber, proceeds, and property as collateral.
In a letter to shareholders on April 7, corporation leadership said their board “is united in every possible effort to address the allegations.”
Shari Jensen, the corporation’s CEO said in a written statement that they had no comment for this story. But as recently as October, Jensen told CoastAlaska that paying back the loans wouldn’t be a problem after they sell Yak Timber’s logging equipment.
“Banks don’t lend money to broke companies, they just don’t,” Jensen said. “And, you know, we had a business plan. And they bought into it.”
A large barge is one of the assets the bank AgWestFarm Credit is seeking in its lawsuit against Yak Timber. (Photo/Defend Yakutat)History — Yak-Tat Kwaan becomes a corporation
The Yak-Tat Kwaan corporation was formed in the early 70s after the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act took effect. The federal law exchanged Indigenous land rights for money, divvying up the remaining land among a few hundred village corporations. Those corporations are charged with making a profit for their shareholders.
The Kwaan created its timber subsidiary in 2018 to harvest 21 million board feet of timber on its land. It logged about three-quarters of that, shipping nearly 4,000 log trucks worth of wood to China.
As Yak Timber pursued different logging projects, opposition grew among shareholders. Some wanted the corporation to seek other resource revenue such as carbon credits. Eventually, Yak Timber announced last fall that it would sell off its assets.
But the company continued to harvest timber at a place called Humpback Creek, which the local and regional tribal governments say is culturally and historically significant.
They, along with the regional corporation Sealaska, have requested Yak Timber stop logging there.
Shareholders take action in court
The corporation faces a lawsuit from shareholders as well. Some are worried that their land could be lost as collateral for their debt. Amanda Bremner is a cousin to the mayor.
“I am incredibly concerned not just for the risk to existing land, but for what this means for the future of our company and all of our shareholders,” she said.
Amanda Bremner and another shareholder, Jay Stevens, co-chair the Yaakwdáat Latínx’i Coalition that is seeking a change. Their lawsuit, filed on May 9 in Anchorage Superior Court, asks the court step in and force the corporation to hold an election for all nine seats on the board. Yak-Tat Kwaan hasn’t held an election in a couple of years, which led to a state fine.
Yak-Tat Kwaan shareholder, Amanda Bremner poses with her son. She and another shareholder, Jay Stevens, co-chair the Yaakwdáat Latínx’i Coalition, which is seeking a change. They are taking the corporation to court, demanding a board election. (Photo courtesy of Amanda Bremner)Amanda Bremner says taking the corporation to court was a difficult decision, but many shareholders share her goals.
“To see our corporation flourish and thrive and be successful and ethical and rooted in Indigenous value and to have business practices reflect that,” she said.
The loaning bank will not comment. Seattle-based law firm CAIRNCROSS HEMPELMANN is representing the bank. In an email, they said their client did not want to comment.
In a separate court filing, April 7, the bank seeks to repossess a tug and barge they loaned Yak Timber for $3.3 million in January of 2022. Later, on May 5, they asked the court to ban the corporation from moving the barge, saying it was uninsured. The corporation has disputed this and filed its own motions.
Yak Timber has its own lawsuit playing out. It filed a suit November 18 accusing Bethel Environmental Solutions, an Alaska Native-owned environmental consulting firm, of owing them $443,912 for charter services.
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The Sitka Music Festival is gearing up for performances starting May 31 and continuing through the month of June. Sitka Music Festival Executive Director Alexander Serio joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss this summer’s line-up. Listen to the full interview here:
The festival kicks off Wednesday, May 31 at the Mean Queen. Tickets for all events are available at sitkamusicfestival.org/
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When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (5-23-23), it will consider, on final reading, whether to approve the city’s budget for FY’24.
The budget takes months to prepare. The assembly began meeting in January to review and agree on different parts of the budget, like school funding and enterprise funds. And the city’s bottom line has grown. Sales tax revenue increased last year, and more growth is projected as the tourism industry rebounds.
But costs have increased too. According to a memo from Finance Director Melissa Haley, next year’s budget will include an estimated 14% increase in spending. Haley attributes that increase mostly to inflation, increased tourism and “maintaining momentum on improvements to municipal operations.” The assembly also budgeted more money for infrastructure improvements and repairs, after cutting back during the pandemic. Even with increased spending, the general fund budget will end up with a surplus of just over $17,000.
The enterprise fund budgets are also being considered tonight on final reading. Electric, water, wastewater, solid waste and moorage will see rate increases this year– again to keep up with inflation and the increased costs of capital projects. The city is also taking on some new debt, including a $7 million loan to fund a new disinfection system for the wastewater treatment plant to meet new federal requirements.
In other business, the assembly will also consider updating the city code to require permits for all entertainers in public spaces, not just musicians. It will consider authorizing leases for the Marine Service Center to two seafood companies – Seafood Producers Cooperative and North Pacific Seafoods. And it will consider the yearly goals for the Health Needs and Human Services Commission, which gathers data and makes policy recommendations to improve the overall health of Sitka.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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A gray whale surfaces while feeding near Shoal’s Point, west of Sitka. Photo by Blain Anderson, 2023.While reports of gray whale strandings along the Pacific coast have jumped since 2019, there’s at least one place where these whales seem to be thriving. Hundreds of gray whales migrating from Mexico to their Arctic feeding grounds are stopping in Sitka along their route.
Sitka has always been home to charismatic megafauna like humpbacks and Steller’s sea lions, but over the past few years, a new marine all-star has emerged.
“We were just going to sit down there to go to shore and go walk the beach, and these two gray whales came right up to us.”
That’s Blain Anderson, captain of the sailboat Bob, describing an encounter with a gray whale just west of Sitka.
Gray whales have often visited Sitka, but over the past few years, boaters and biologists have seen an unusual increase in gray whale activity.
“I was just talking to somebody up in the parking lot who said at one point last year, he estimated over 700 whales – gray whales,” Anderson said.
Seven hundred might be on the high end, but whale biologist Lauren Wild says the number of gray whales in Sitka Sound used to hover around 10 or 20. Since 2019, it’s been closer to 150. As Wild put it, “it’s whale soup out here.”
Most of the news about gray whales in recent years has been pretty dismal. In May 2019, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared an ongoing “unusual mortality event” due to elevated strandings of West-coast gray whales. Before that, a 2015-2016 marine heat wave, sometimes referred to as “the blob,” devastated Pacific-coast fauna from whales, to seabirds.
In Sitka, though?
“If people have been seeing them, they’re seeing whales rolling around and playing with each other,” Wild said. “They’re seeing a lot of feeding behavior, a lot of social behavior. Some people are seeing what looks like mating behavior.”
Like humpbacks, which are commonly seen in Sitka Sound, gray whales use baleen to feed. Unlike humpbacks, gray whales feed in the shallows, filtering silt and sand to get to tiny critters, like shrimp. Gray whales are smaller and often covered in parasitic barnacles and long scars from rolling around on the rocks.
Wild usually studies humpbacks and sperm whales, but the gray whale influx has piqued her interest. While it’s not entirely clear what is bringing this barnacle-covered baleen bonanza to the waters of Sitka Sound, Wild has a few ideas.
“We sort of wondered if the marine heatwave maybe disrupted some of the the reliability of food in the Bering Sea and Chukchi seas in the summer,” Wild said. “And if that possibly, sort of prompted these whales to be looking for more opportunistic places to forage along their migration routes, so they weren’t relying so much on those food sources.”
The food source? Likely herring eggs along the outer coast of Kruzof island.
“If you look at a map, the tip of Cape Edgecumbe is right along the outer coast,” Wild said. “If whales are migrating by and they just happen to be there at the right time, they might sort of start seeing more of that herring spawn, and it might pique their attention.”
Pacific herring spawn each spring in the waters around Sitka, and these fish – and their eggs – are an important food source for marine organisms and humans alike. Herring roe in Sitka is already a hotly contested resource, and now these motivated mysticetes may have joined the competition.
Wild said that the timing and location of gray whale sightings correspond to areas of herring spawn. She also pointed to observations from Alaska Department of Fish and Game spawn surveys:
“They’ll be diving and see gray whales around their dive boat and stuff,” Wild said. “So they’re certainly in the same area that those eggs are. And then they’ve seen a few times, you know, kelp beds that look sort of shredded like, and they’re imagining that is probably gray whales coming through and sucking up eggs off the kelp and rolling around in it.”
Wild hopes to confirm exactly these whales are eating – even if the fieldwork gets messy.
“Obviously you don’t know when they’re going to defecate,” Wild said. “So you kind of have to be at the right place at the right time. And we’ll use a little skim, almost like a fish pond net, that’s fine mesh, to just sort of scoop it up. You can also scoop it up with water in a Nalgene or something.”
Understanding what these whales eat is one part of the puzzle. Wild is also hoping to start building a catalog to identify and track individual whales to figure out which whales are coming to Sitka, and where else they’re going along their migration route.
A gray whale shows flukes as it dives. Photo by Blain Anderson, 2023.In the meantime, both Wild and Anderson urge boaters to be cautious around gray whales, which may be more likely to approach humans than the average Sitka humpback. In Mexico, boaters can legally approach – and interact with – gray whales.
“They get chin scratches,” Anderson said. “And you know, I’ve seen pictures of people kissing them. And it’s something that perhaps they’ve gotten used to.”
The whales may ignore political borders, but Alaska boaters are still required to follow the Marine Mammal Protection Act – to avoid harassing whales, NOAA encourages boaters to stay 100 yards away and put engines into neutral if a whale approaches.
We don’t know what will happen in the future with these new visitors, or what the implications are for the West-Coast gray whale population as a whole, but for now, it seems that this struggling population has found a haven in Sitka feeding, socializing, and even – as Anderson has observed a few times – mating.
As Anderson noted, “It was all supposed to happen down to Mexico, but it does seem like they’re continuing their frisky ways up in – as we call it – romantic Sitka Sound.”
To report a stranded, injured, entangled, or dead marine mammal, call the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Statewide 24-hour Stranding Hotline: (877) 925-7773.
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Last year, Pride Month in Sitka was celebrated with the community’s first ever Pride parade. This year, that tradition will continue, accompanied by a brunch cruise, drag shows, and storytelling and youth-focused events happening throughout the month. Sitka Pride Month volunteer and coordinator Michael Mausbach joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss plans for the month ahead. Listen here:
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Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy Forestry Management workshops and listening sessions are coming to Sitka May 19 & 20. Ashley Bolwerk and Cody Mosley are with the US Forest Service, Sitka Ranger District. They joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer for the morning interview to discuss the event. Listen here:
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Bears are active in Sitka most of the year, from the time the herring spawn in March, through November (and often later). An electric fence is a proven deterrent in most cases. (ADF&G/Bethune)Isabel Grant with Defenders of Wildlife, discusses her organization’s incentive program for electric fences. The “Coexistence Program,”Defenders will reimburse 50-percent of the cost of an approved electric fence (up to $500) for Alaskans in Southeast and the Kenai Peninsula who want to secure their garbage, chicken coops, beehives, smokehouses or other qualifying bear attractants. Learn more at the Defenders of Wildlife website.
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Sitka troller Eric Jordan helped found the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, and was on the board of directors of the Sitka Conservation Society for twenty years. He’s incensed that the Washington-state based Wild Fish Conservancy has singled out the Southeast Alaskan troll harvest of king salmon in its federal lawsuit to protect endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales in Puget Sound. “Trollers have been the allies of conservationists for decades… We are the greatest allies of people who want to conserve king salmon and other salmon species. And for us to be vilified and attacked is just plain wrong.” (Sitka Conservation Society/Bethany Goodrich)Barring a stay, or a successful appeal, or other eleventh-hour legal action, there will be no troll fishery for king salmon in Southeast Alaska either this summer or winter.
The fisheries have been canceled by order of the US District Court of Western Washington on largely procedural grounds, stemming from a violation of the Endangered Species Act, and the failure of the National Marine Fisheries Service to fully address the impact of Alaska’s king salmon trollers on an endangered population of orcas in Puget Sound called Southern Resident Killer Whales.
No other salmon species or commercial gear group or sport fishery – anywhere on the entire Pacific Northwest Coast – is affected by the order, just commercial trolling for king salmon in Southeast Alaska.
Heading out every July 1 in search of Alaska’s most valuable salmon – also called Chinook – has been an annual ritual across the region since before statehood.
Shortly after the court order came down, KCAW’s Robert Woolsey met with trollers Eric Jordan, Jacquie Foss, and Jim Moore to discuss what no king salmon season will mean for them, personally and professionally. This is their conversation, in three parts.
Part 1: The practical implications of a summer without ChinookFoss: The cost of a boat exists whether or not the king salmon fishery happens or not. You have to pull it out of the water, you have to maintain your zincs. There’s work that you have to have just to make sure your boat stays fishing. And so that’s still happening for us. How we’re gonna pay for it is less certain.
Moore: I’m confident that we’re going to have a season. I’m confident that the king salmon season is going to open July first. I feel that we have so much support. Our congressional delegation is working behind the scenes. The State of Alaska is throwing its full weight into the fight. The Alaska Trollers Association are [intervenors and] co-defendants with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the State of Alaska. And everybody’s working pretty hard to make sure that we’re out on the water this summer. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to happen. It’s a legal court case. And so different parties hold their cards close. But I’m confident we’re gonna go ahead. So I’m planning on going ahead.
Foss: I always appreciate sitting next to Jim and his optimism, because I don’t always go there. The decision last week (May 3, 2023) was a gut punch. And fishing is how I can afford to raise my family in Sitka. So it’s really affected me in sort of a more existential way: Who are we if we’re not fishermen? Who are we if we’re not catching king salmon on our boat?
Jordan: It’s already affected boat values. I just had a survey on my boat, on what I would say as a very optimistic estimate. Even though I’ve made improvements since the last survey, [my boat] has lost about 20% of its value. Right away. People can’t sell their boats. I spent a whole week before this latest [court] decision preparing to sell gear at the Fisherman’s Flea Market because I’m getting ready to retire and I have thousands of dollars of really good surplus gear that’s basically worthless right now, except for the chum troll and coho gear. But thousands of dollars of king salmon plugs and spoons are just basically worthless.
Emotionally, I have to call my crew and tell them the situation. Some of them just love fishing king salmon. We do really well chum trolling, and Jim [Moore] and I helped pioneer that, but I’ve had crew members cry when I’ve told them that we’re gonna go chum fishing instead of king salmon fishing.
Foss: You know, it’s more of a spiritual problem than a financial one. Because fishermen are scrappy people. We will always figure out how to make expenses somehow. It’s just…we’d be broken in some way doing that, if that makes sense?
You know, not catching king salmon has a huge, huge impact to our financial bottom line: 40% of our income. And so there’s the argument, ‘Well, you can find the other 40%.’ That 40% allows us to make the other 60%. So it’s not like you can just make up that amount of income somewhere else on the water or in some other fishery. It’s really holistic.
Jordan: There’s a miraculous, wondrous thing about catching king salmon and pursuing them all over the coast, from Dixon Entrance – like Jim’s fished – from Forrester Island to Cape Suckling. And the chum troll fishing is not going to save us. It’s gonna help.
Moore: Having fished a long time, I’ve seen a lot of changes in the fishery. And I have to say that when I bought my first boat, people said, “There’s no future in it. It’s over. It’s had its heyday and it’s going down.” But I’ve seen this cycle of boom and bust, optimism and pessimism several times. And that’s one reason why, you know, if we’re looking at grief over this court case, I’m in the first stage: denial.
Part 2: The importance of king salmon to the identity of trollersJacquie Foss trolls with her family aboard the Axel. Fishing for kings is a core part of her family’s identity: “Our whole life is centered around that July 1 opener. And the anticipation starts in my house about June 20.” Like many trollers, Foss is critical of the Wild Fish Conservancy’s lawsuit which singles out an Alaskan fishery to protect killer whales in Puget Sound. “It’s really easy to look at a problem and decide that someone else should pay for it. It’s really, really hard to look internally to see what you’re doing and how you’re contributing to that problem. And I really feel like that’s what’s happening here.” (KCAW/Erin McKinstry)Jim Moore bought his troller in 1970. This summer will mark his fifty-third year as a professional salmon fisherman. Eric Jordan wasn’t born on a troller, but when he was still an infant, his parents rigged a bunk for him in the cabin of their boat, a 32-foot double-ender named “Salty,” and he could watch them fish for king salmon through a porthole. Having fished every year since, Jordan is about to turn 73 years old.
Jacquie Foss doesn’t yet have that kind of seniority, but she might one day. She and her husband fish as a family, with their 8- and 10-year old children on board.
These three Sitka-based trollers are typical of the Southeast Alaska fleet: They have exceptional longevity in a difficult profession, and a multi-generational investment in their businesses.
Foss: Every year the fish – it’s exactly the same and nothing alike. You’re in the water, you’re dragging hooks. But are they going to hit the herring this year? Or is it going to be this spoon? Or is it gonna be the spoon that you have buried in there that worked 10 years ago that might work now? It’s about the puzzle. And it’s about the fact that our entire year really starts July 1. That’s our New Year: our whole life is centered around that July 1 opener.
Moore: I’m just so blessed to have found a livelihood doing something so interesting and creative. Every single day is different. And it presents a whole new set of problems to solve. “You know, I think I’ll try that green thing that I used 15 years ago,” and then have them hit it – that’s a tremendous feeling: success.
Foss: And it’s just this anticipation and joy, and just the puzzle of king salmon, because they could be where they’ve always been, they could not be there, you could have a 10 fish day, you could have a 300 fish day. That’s 300-fish day is a feat. 100 is a lot – just your arms are tired, but you’re not tired. It’s hard to come up with the words.
Jordan: What I said in my deposition on this Wild Fish Conservancy suit: because we handle each fish individually, our connection with them is strong. And we care about them, we respect them. And that comes from my friend Amy Gulick’s book captures, The Salmon Way in Alaska from the indigenous origins 1,000s of years ago, right to the present. We honored these creatures, and in trolling, especially those that offer themselves to us, for us to sustain our bodies with the finest food on Earth. But we also sustain them by fighting to protect their spawning grounds, their passageways, their lives. And that’s what breaks our heart because we are fighting for them. And now we’re being excluded from their harvest.
Foss: It’s hard to not develop a connection, when you are intimately involved with ending a creature’s life. And it’s not something that anyone takes lightly. And you’re right… you’re right there. And it’s not easy, but it’s good. Because you know that you’re taking care of the creature quickly, as painlessly as you can. If you’re going to take life and you’re going to extract a resource and you’re going to eat meat, it’s really important to do that as respectfully to the creature that you’re taking it from as possible.
Jordan: Let me tell you, there’s a lot of grief in the troll fleet. A lot of grief, and families and people need help. So not only do we have to think about making financial arrangements so people can make or delay their payments with the state or CFAB [Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank] or whoever else. Banks. We also need to think about mental health counseling for people who are devastated and don’t know how they’re going to feed their families – literally.
Moore: You know, I’m proud of the product that we produce. This whole battle, this court battle with Wild Fish Conservancy trying to shut down a food-producing industry, without considering: there’s 300 million people right now – not killer whales – 300 million people are starving to death. There are 2 billion people that are ‘food insecure,’ as they say. And I just feel sick about all of the energy being spent, all the resources being spent, just to try to be able to continue to produce food for people.
Part 3: Trollers and conservationJim Moore slips by Pt. Amelia in his troller Aljac. “It sounds kind of crazy. But I love — and I’m a part of — this wonderful dance. We’re sometimes portrayed as raping and pillaging, and extracting heartlessly. No, this fishery — trolling — began as a king salmon fishery. That’s our identity.” (Eric Jordan photo)In a state where fish landings are most often measured in the millions of pounds and millions of fish, the Southeast Alaska troll catch of king salmon is a small fraction of the overall harvest. This coming season – if there is a season – Southeast trollers will take just 149,000 Chinook.
Those fish are mixed into a salmon pie that is shared by Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Canada – a pie that is sliced by an international agreement called the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Over the past couple of decades, Southeast trollers have accepted smaller slices of the pie to preserve the health of salmon stocks covered by the treaty, and they’ve even accepted deep cuts in the harvest of kings which originate in Alaska’s rivers – and aren’t subject to the treaty – to make sure that those stocks thrive.
In short, Southeast trollers have nothing to gain and everything to lose if king salmon don’t survive. They are conservationists, whether or not they use the label.
Foss: I want to make it very clear that trolling is 100-year old fishery, and if it was not sustainable for a long period of time, it would be evident. And I have not ever seen another resource extraction group begrudgingly-but-willingly not go fishing to ensure the longevity of the species. Is that the right thing to do? Absolutely. When it became apparent that we were going to take a hit on king salmon in the last (Pacific Salmon) treaty cycle for political and conservation purposes, we could weather it because the emphasis is making sure there’s fish in the future.
Jordan: Trollers have been the allies of conservationists for decades. Salmon fishermen all over this state fight things like Pebble Mine, things like the borax mine in Misty Fjords. Trollers have worked to protect the salmon habitat throughout the region from mines in British Columbia. I’ve written op-ed editorials on those mines, working with Salmon State and others. We are the greatest allies of people who want to conserve king salmon and other salmon species. And for us to be vilified and attacked is just plain wrong.
Foss: It’s really easy to look at a problem and decide that someone else should pay for it. It’s really, really hard to look internally to see what you’re doing and how you’re contributing to that problem. And I really feel like that’s what’s happening here [with the Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit].
Moore: This fishery is the poster child for sustainability. There’s never been – that I know of – any run of salmon that’s been wiped out by a hook-and-line fishery. When I first started fishing, there was the criticism that it’s too inefficient. Well, we’re not hearing that much anymore (laughs). But anyway, we’re hearing these narratives that are just outright lies. Like ‘the increase in greedy corporate fishing.’ My kids grew up on the back deck of the boat, you know, this is ‘greedy corporate fishing,’ you know. They learned that they could work hard and produce something tangible. And your success depends on being able to understand and connect with something you can’t see directly. From that standpoint, it’s like science. I can’t decide whether it’s more like art or like science. It’s both.
Jordan: And one of the things that happens, as both Jim and Jackie have mentioned, is the connection you develop with these places, the ocean, the ecology, the fish that you’re pursuing. It’s really a love affair.
Foss: You just love it. You love everything about it.
Moore: You know, I love the killer whale. I’m connected with the killer whale. This is not about saving the killer whale, this battle. It’s about destroying this industry. That’s the stated agenda: the Wild Fish Conservancy, they want to eliminate ocean fishing, mixed-stock fishing, and they want to eliminate the hatchery program. That’s a small minority viewpoint – a very small minority viewpoint. They had an opportunity to move their agenda, and they took it. But it’s an immoral decision. It makes me sick.
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The Ocean Wave Quilters annual quilt show opens this Friday, May 12, at Fraser Hall on the historic Sheldon Jackson Campus. The theme for the show is “Ruby” which is incredibly appropriate, as it’s also the 40th anniversary of the event. Sarah Jordan and Megan Pasternak joined KCAW’s Darryl Rehkopf to discuss the event. Listen here:
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Runners in the 2013 fun run take a warm-down lap following the 5k. (Photo provided by Sitkans Against Family Violence.)After a full season of practice, participants in Sitka’s Girls on the Run program will close out the season with a 5k fun run next weekend. Fourth-graders Ila Kaminsky and Addison Graham, coordinator Katie Niedermeyer, and coach Anastasia Stefanowicz joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the upcoming animal party-themed fun run. Listen to the full interview here:
This year’s fun run will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 13. The event will begin and end at Rasmuson Center on the Sitka Fine Arts campus, which is a change from previous years. Registration opens at 9:30 a.m. For more information or to volunteer, email schools@safv.org.
Girls on the Run is coordinated by members of the Pathways Coalition, Keet Gooshi Heen, Sitka Conservation Society, Sitka Counseling, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Sitkans Against Family Violence, and Youth Advocates of Sitka.
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Gilbert’s “Chandera” trilogy is actually a five-parter: He’s working on two more books. An Indigenous Alaskan author is hoping to breakthrough into popular fiction. Matt Gilbert already has a pair of significant nonfiction books under his belt, but he wouldn’t mind crossing over into film work or novels set in a galaxy far, far away – in a genre that might be known one day as Gwich’in Sci-Fi.
Note: Matt Gilbert’s science fiction is available under his pen name “Wolf Golan” online at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. His nonfiction books can be obtained both online and from bookstores everywhere.
Matt Gilbert has written the serious stuff. The 2005 graduate of the University of Alaska in English Literature just published The Gwich’in Climate Report (University of Colorado Press, 2023), a compilation of his interviews with Athabaskan community members, hunters, and trappers on regional adaptation to climate change. An earlier book, Sitting at Their Feet, a memoir of his coming-of-age during a time of cultural transition, was published in 2021 by the Epicenter Press.
Gilbert was featured in this 2008 report on Arctic climate change from National Public Radio.
Listening to elders is something we all should spend more time doing, but for Gilbert – even growing up in Arctic Village – there was something else.
“I was a big, big, big, huge sci-fi nerd,” said Gilbert. “Totally, a Star Wars fan all the way, a Star Trek fan all the way. Lord of the Rings fan, Willow fan, and as a kid, I would grow up and love these movies. But I always wondered: What about us?”
Star Trek is still celebrated for bringing racial and ethnic diversity to space. For Gilbert, it wasn’t necessarily about the racial makeup of the actors, but their worldviews. He was raised in a culture of storytelling that just wasn’t making its way into contemporary science fiction of any kind.
“As a kid, I was really disappointed, you know, really disappointed,” he said. “A little kid in front of the TV and a bookworm early on. Where’s our stories? You know, where’s the modern native stories, with sci-fi or fantasy, or with anything? And I waited. And so when I was 15 years old, I was in high school and still nobody – no Native American person wrote anything like it and I got tired of waiting. I was like, ‘Okay, if no Native writers can write the stories I want to hear, I’ll write them, and that’s what I did.”
He did, but not as Matthew Gilbert. You can find his first trilogy under the name Wolf Golan. “Wolf” for his first dog, and “Golan” a tribute to his grandmother’s family name. The series is called Chandera, and Gilbert began writing it in high school. It’s set 300 years in the future, and its protagonist is Maxwell Wilkes, a Gwich’in Athabaskan.
For the novels to work, Gilbert had to project not only the future of civilization as a whole, but the future of his culture. He was pleased to learn that many of his peers believed that people will still identify as Gwich’in three centuries from now.
“When I was writing it, I spoke to Native American people, even to young people like 20-year olds,” he said. “And I asked them, “In 300 years, how do you think we’d be? And they’d be like, ‘Oh, we’d be heavily westernized, our old culture would be gone. Yes, we’d have probably still have a connection, but it would be distant,’ and so I put that in there. They’re still trying to be Gwich’in, but it’s been so long since they were connected to the real culture 300 or 400 years ago.”
Gilbert says he’s been criticized for creating a character who tips too far into western standards of heroism, but he argues that the differences are subtle: In the first book of the Chandera series, for example, Max Wilkes rides into battle quietly, in contrast to Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo and other “Western guys… yelling stuff.” In another nod both cultural and autobiographical, Gilbert says his hero sleeps late.
Since Gilbert first started creating the world of the Chandera trilogy as a high school student, he’s pleased that Native American science fiction is seeing a renaissance, through the works of authors like Rebecca Roanhorse, and scholars like Grace Dillon, a professor at Portland State University whom he considers a mentor. And there are new characters, too, who are pushing the Native American worldview into space. A favorite of Gilbert’s is Camina Drummer, a pivotal figure in the huge sci-fi hit The Expanse.
Gilbert self-published the Chandera series, but he’s hoping a publisher might take the trilogy to the next level, into the world of trade fiction. In the meantime to pay the bills, he and a colleague run a management company, and he works occasionally in construction.
He vividly remembers finishing his English Literature degree, and looking around the university at friends studying to become engineers and other professionals. Eighteen years on, he’s still content with his choice to pursue writing.
“If I could go back and do it all over again, I don’t think I would change anything,” Gilbert said. “I I like being a writer. I like telling stories, you know. But I do actually want to do different things from this time onward.”
Gilbert is hoping to expand his creative range, and possibly move into music. Whatever is ahead, it’s unlikely to be a “normal” job. “I tried to get a normal job and be normal,” he said, “it (writing) just wouldn’t leave me alone.”
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Just over a year since an earthquake “swarm” was detected, Mt. Edgecumbe is still experiencing seismic activity — but very far below the surface. (USGS-AVO/Max Kaufman)Michelle Coombs is the Scientist-in-Charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, former Sitkan Cheryl Cameron is the chief of the Section of Volcanology for the State of Alaska. The pair report that “something is still going on over there (at Mt. Edgecumbe), but it’s very deep down.” Coombs and geologist Kristi Wallace will speak 6 p.m. this Saturday (5-6-23) at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi. On Sunday 10:30-12:30 p.m. the pair will join an interpretive walk with SAIL on the Cross Trail, to observe the late Pleistocene ash deposits. On Monday at 7 p.m. Coombs and Wallace will give the Natural History Seminar in Room 229 at UAS Sitka Campus. On Tuesday, they’ll join the Sprouts group 10:30 a.m. for a volcano lesson at the Sitka Sound Science Center. Later that evening, 6-8 p.m., they’ll attend a free screening of the National Geographic Film Fire of Love, followed by a volcanology Q&A.
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Deputy Mayor Kevin Mosher exchanges plaques with Juan Caravanti, captain of the Brilliance of the Seas. Caravanti hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Hotel director Colin Clarke looks on. (KCAW/Woolsey) A delegation of municipal and Tribal officials formally greeted the arrival of the Brilliance of the Seas on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, and exchanged plaques. It was the second visit to Sitka of the season for the Brilliance which, with its capacity of 2,400 passengers and 800 crew members, is considered a “mid-sized” vessel in the Royal Carribean fleet. Steady rain did not deter most of the ship’s passengers from stepping ashore to see Sitka. Shuttle buses operated steadily from noon throughout the afternoon.
Captain Caravanti was formally welcomed by , representing Sitka Tribal Enterprises. (KCAW/Woolsey)The Windjammer Dining Room aboard the Brilliance occupies 2 decks. (KCAW/Woolsey)The Brilliance has 12 decks, 2 swimming pools, a 1,000 seat theater, and a smaller cinema which continuously runs popular films. Although lavishly decorated, the ship is a floating art gallery: Works by prominent contemporary artists are hung in every stairwell. (KCAW/Woolsey)With a capacity of only 2,400 passengers and 800 crew, the Brilliance is considered a “mid-size” cruise ship. Marketing literature boasts about the ship’s ability to navigate in waterways inaccessible to larger, neopanamax ships. (KCAW/Woolsey)The post Sitka officials welcome a ‘Brilliant’ inaugural port call appeared first on KCAW.
Fireweed Dance Guild will hold Beatles-inspired recitals this Saturday, May 6; dancers of all ages will perform in genres ranging from hip-hop to ballet. Director Melinda McAdams and seventh-graders Wren Flowers and Morgan Hames joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to talk about the upcoming shows. Listen to the full interview here:
Performances are scheduled by age group for 11am, 3pm, and 7pm on Saturday, May 6 at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available online at fineartscamp.org or at the door.
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Mt. Edgecumbe High School senior Colton Paul competes in the 2023 Native Youth Olympics. (Photo provided by Sitka Sentinel.) Mt. Edgecumbe High School senior Colton Paul broke a world record and took home seven medals at this year’s Native Youth Olympics. Daily Sitka Sentinel Sports editor Garland Kennedy joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer discuss Paul’s performance. Listen to the full interview here:
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Plant starts cover tables outside of Pacific High School at the 2022 plant sale. (Photo from Pacific High School.) Students and staff at Pacific High School have been working hard to prepare for the school’s annual plant sale this weekend. Available plants will include tomatoes, basil, kale, flowers, and more.
Principal Mandy Summer, staff gardener Andrea Fraga, and students Donny Arntzen and Raven Richards joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the upcoming event and new developments in the school’s gardens. Listen to the full interview here:
The plant sale will be held 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, May 5, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 6, or until sold out at the Southeast Alaska Career Center. Contact Andrea Fraga at 907-738-2183 for information.
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Under a pending plea deal, Horner-Raffaele will serve a year in prison for his role in the March 19 robbery. (KCAW/Woolsey)A Sitka man could spend a year in prison for the robbery of a downtown bar this spring. The crime was committed with a bb-gun, and the net proceeds were about $7.
The Sitka Grand Jury last month indicted 20-year old John Horner-Raffaele on one count of Robbery in the First Degree, and one count of Assault in the Third Degree, for standing by while an accomplice entered Ernie’s Bar through the back door just before midnight on March 13, smashed the DJ’s tip jar, and fled with its contents.
According to the criminal complaint, Horner-Raffaele is alleged to have waited in the alley with a handgun, while his 17-year old accomplice, wearing a ski mask and hoodie, stole the cash.
Two bar patrons attempted to stop the robbery, but the 17-year old escaped and joined Horner-Raffaele. After a short foot chase up American Street, the patrons caught up to the pair and demanded the return of the money. Horner-Raffaele allegedly pulled the gun from his waistband and pointed it at the head of one of the patrons, who, fearing for their lives, gave up the chase.
Sitka Police quickly apprehended the 17-year old near the Baranof Elementary School playground. About an hour later, a search warrant was issued for his home on Flume Circle, where police recovered some torn bills in a backpack, and other evidence from the crime.
The bartender at Ernie’s confirmed that they often placed torn, unusable cash in the tip jar, as seed money.
Other occupants of the home said that Horner-Raffaele had come by shortly before the arrival of police, but then left.
Police issued an all-points bulletin for Horner-Raffaele on social media, and a call came in at 10:30 the following morning that he was in the vicinity of the library. Horner-Raffaele was apprehended and taken to the police station, where he admitted brandishing the gun – which was a bb-gun – and purchasing a mocha and a bag of chips with the stolen cash, which amounted to no more than $7 in usable money.
Horner-Raffaele was charged with Robbery in the First Degree and taken into custody and arraigned on $100,000 bail. In a plea deal with the state entered on April 25, that charge was reduced to Theft in the Second Degree. A charge of Assault in the Third Degree was reduced to Assault in the Fourth Degree.
The deal stipulates 1 year of prison time for the crime. A May 1 hearing on the agreement was postponed until the Public Defender could discuss the terms with the defendant.
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The 150-ton travelift and pier in Hoonah. Note the washdown pad just above the pier. Sitka wants to start with a pier that could be expanded to accommodate a 300-ton lift, and build washdown pads off to the side. Future plans also include an office and restroom. (PND Engineers)Sitka has selected a site for a new marine haulout, but the proposed timetable for the publicly-funded project is not sitting well with some in the industry. They remain concerned about the ongoing loss of boat repair and maintenance business to other communities.
Sitka has over $8 million to spend on a marine haulout. Voters last October overwhelmingly approved withdrawing the money from the city’s permanent fund to build a pier and to buy a large travelift to pluck boats from the water.
The only thing slower than a 150-ton travelift, however, is the process of designing, engineering, permitting, and actually building a place to use it.
Juneau-based PND Engineering is doing preliminary planning for the project. At a recent meeting (4-26-23) of the Gary Paxton Industrial Park board of directors, PND representatives rolled out a timetable that aims for a 35-percent preliminary design by this fall, final design by the summer of 2024, and operations sometime in early 2025.
Local shipwright Mike Nurco thought the timeline was excessive.
“We’ve missed the ‘23 season completely,” Nurco said. “Boats are just flying to Wrangell, they’re flying to Hoonah, the (Sitka harbor) grid’s, swamped. And now we’re talking about missing ‘24. And we’re talking about missing the year ‘25. For all of these boats – that’s four harbors chock-full of boats – I would encourage everybody to somehow pick up the slack and make this happen quicker.”
There hasn’t been a commercial haulout in Sitka since early last year, when Halibut Point Marine closed. Nurco said the run to the nearest full-service haulout in Wrangell was 28 hours for a typical fishing vessel. Hoonah, which has a haulout, but limited services, he said was around 16 or 17 hours.
Industrial park board member Chad Goeden sympathized, but stressed the importance of investing time now, which prompted a swift rebuttal from Nurco.
“I completely understand your concern,” said Goeden. “But everybody in this room has an idea of what ‘right’ is in their mind. And if we don’t take the time to get that ‘right’ from everybody, then we have regrets about having moved too quickly. And that’s my concern, because when we’re done, it’s permanent. And there’s gonna be a lot of things that we can’t go back and fix.”
“That’s right,” said Nurco, returning to the testimony table. “But that’s why we pay these guys (PND Engineering) with all their experience to do something quicker than three years away. And so there’s got to be a place in the middle. Nobody wants to rush you. But you know what, this is not rocket science…. So I do hear what you’re saying. I think that’s wise. But I think there’s a middle ground.”
That middle ground was not identified during the meeting.
The board did resolve a separate issue, however. The haulout project won’t include a public use ramp to launch smaller boats. The existing 60-foot wide gravel ramp was constructed by Northline Seafoods several years ago to haul out barges, and convert them into floating fish processors. Northline has since moved that part of its operations to Washington State, and the ramp is seeing only occasional use now. PND proposed – as one of three options – building the pier for the travelift on the site of the ramp, since the same characteristics that made it ideal for hauling out barges also favored hauling out fishing vessels: Plenty of room for adjacent washdown pads, and a relatively short run to the area where vessels will be serviced.
Board members for the Gary Paxton Industrial Park preferred Option 2 for the location of the new haulout. Although a gravel ramp is currently located there, members felt the haulout was a higher priority, and the ramp could be relocated. (PND Engineering)Retaining the ramp, if possible, was included in the instructions – or the “charter” – given to PND Engineers, but the location is too attractive to ignore. Park director Garry White suggested that the ramp – which was free to begin with – could be relocated to another site. Municipal administrator John Leach agreed, and urged the board to focus on the core mission.
“The ramp, in my mind, although I personally would like to preserve it, that’s starting to become an add on to the project,” Leach said. “Because right now there is no public use ramp. And if we start talking about what can we do to maintain a public use ramp, that’s not in the scope of what we were doing in the first place. So I just wanted to draw everybody back to the haulout right now.”
Board member Lauren Mitchell was the most reluctant to give up the ramp, and – prior to the vote – asked other members to explain their reasons for parting with it. Chair Scott Wagner said that he saw it as the best, central location for the haulout, and the ramp could be moved.
When it finally came to the vote Mitchell, after a pause, said “I’ll let it go,” and joined the others in selecting the ramp as the preferred location for the new haulout.
PND plans five other public meetings on the project. The next will be sometime in May, when engineers present an initial concept design.
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Sitka’s public works director has been reassigned to a position as municipal engineer.
Michael Harmon has been serving as public works director for 14 years. Municipal administrator John Leach told Sitka Assembly members on Tuesday (4-25-23) that relieving Harmon was intended to shore up staffing in capital projects, following the retirement of the current project manager this Friday.
Leach praised Harmon’s contributions to the department during his long tenure.
“Michael’s and extremely valued and respected engineer, and a loyal and hard-working member of our team,” said Leach. “His skills will be critical to ensuring our capital projects portfolio, valued over $150 million, stays on track and our projects are seen through to completion. With current and upcoming vacancies, our capital program was at risk of becoming more of an ancillary thought, rather than a primary mission within the department. There’s simply too much at risk for our capital projects to not be the focus of a highly-qualified engineer and project manager, which is why Mr. Harmon and I mutually agreed on this path being the most beneficial to the city.”
The change will become effective on May 1. Harmon will be the only engineer working on capital projects for the time being.
Leach named Ron Vincent as interim public works director, during the search for a permanent replacement for Harmon.
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Firefighters from all over Alaska gathered in Sitka last week for the Alaska Association of Fire and Arson Investigators conference and training. But in order to learn how to put out a fire or investigate its source, someone has to start one. This time, it was the arson investigators themselves.
Listen to the audio version of this story that aired on 4-28-23 or read the extended version below. A fire engine idles in the middle of a mostly empty gravel lot. It’s parked next to what looks like a freshly constructed “tiny home,” except the sides of the house have been removed revealing the contents of each petite room, just like a dollhouse; a recliner in one room, a television and sofa in another, and a pink dog bed on the floor.
A small fire starts to crackle behind the recliner. The blaze grows, and soon the house is engulfed in flames. And the people standing around it, including quite a few firefighters, won’t put it out right away. They want this house to burn.
This is called a “burn cell” exercise. It’s part of a recertification and training course for fire and arson investigators across the state of Alaska. They came to Sitka in mid-April for their annual meeting, and to learn about all of the hottest topics in fire today.
“A lot of times when you watch the movies, you’ll see the guy throw the cigarette down, and the whole thing goes up in flames. That’s not accurate. Go figure,” says Dawn Dodsworth. She’s a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and she’s one of the leading arson investigators in the country.
Dodsworth oversees arson and explosives for much of the West Coast, including Alaska. She and her colleagues are the specialists local fire departments can call in if they need help with a complex fire investigation. Throughout the week, they trained attendees on a variety of topics, including a thorough look at what can actually be ignited by a cigarette.
“When you’re looking at the fire cause, you as an investigator want to formulate a bunch of different hypotheses as to how the fire could have started,” Dodsworth says. “And sometimes that is smoking materials. So the students have been learning what types of substrates the cigarettes can actually ignite versus not, because there’s a lot of myths out there, especially in the movies. People see it and they think that’s gospel truth.”
Dodsworth has a PhD in forensic science, but she started her journey in a fire hall, like most of the training participants.
“I was a firefighter in New Jersey for 10 years. I did 10 years of structural firefighting and then 15 years of wildland firefighting,” she says. “And while I was going to college for my undergraduate degree, I was an intern for ATF in New Jersey, and I interned with the certified fire investigator there.”
“And as a young kid going through college trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, which sometimes I still feel like I’m trying to figure that out, I actually was like, this is the best of both worlds,” she adds.
She comes to conferences like this one to provide guidance and training, but also to meet the people she could be working with in the event of an emergency in the region.
“The arson explosives groups would not exist if it wasn’t for our state locals calling us and requesting our assistance,” Dodsworth says. “I mean, these guys really drive everything that we do. So I think as a fire investigator, it’s critical for me not only to go out and meet my state and locals because I don’t want to meet them for the first time at the scene of a tragedy, I want to have a prior existing relationship with them.”
Throughout the conference, investigators spent hours on topics like how to approach fires with fatalities, to the challenges lithium ion batteries present in an arson investigation.
“That’s really a hot topic nowadays. Just because as you see on the news all the time, there’s all kinds of battery fires related to scooters and vehicles and laptops and cell phones. And we’ve had planes that have had to be diverted and emergency landing because of these lithium ion batteries,” Dodsworth says. “So it’s a hazard for the fire investigators and the firefighters, but it’s also a large hazard for the public.”
Sitka Fire Chief Craig Warren says that battery fires are a growing area of concern for his department, because a fire started by a large lithium battery can’t be put out easily with water. They’ve responded to a couple in recent years- an equipment fire on the UAS campus, and an apartment fire started by a vape pen. What they learn at this conference helps Warren set local fire policy–and based on the training this week, Warren says they’ll approach a lithium ion battery fire differently in the future.“When a car catches fire, and it’s an EV, an electric vehicle, we’re going to sit back and not be firefighters. We’re going to be traffic control. Because even if we can cool it enough to stop all of the other cells from going off, they may not stop going off. They could go off up to a month later,” Warren says.
“And where do you charge your car? In the garage attached to your house,” he adds. “So now I’ve got added complications for the firefighters…We’re going to throw a tow chain through the back windshield of the car. I’m going to drive backwards and yank it out of the building and let it burn off to the side, so that I can maybe save your house.”
The firefighters aren’t just learning how to stop fires. They’re learning how to pick up on subtle details after a fire has occurred, to determine the cause. That’s what the “burn cell” exercise was all about– setting the scene for investigative training.
They had to start with a building that was as realistic as possible. Warren says Dodsworth’s team sent them the plans for the structure ahead of time, and the assistant fire chief spent two weeks building it. Then they collected furniture donations from the community.
“We try to make the compartment, or the the room, look like a functional room in your house with similar materials. If we were using couches from 1970, we wouldn’t have the burning that we have nowadays, because we didn’t have the plastics back then,” Warren says. “House fires didn’t go up near as fast as they do now.”
The instructors then set each “cell” on fire separately, using a different method for each one, like a cigarette in a wastepaper basket or a Molotov cocktail.
The work they do is far from easy, and it often goes hand-in-hand with tragedy. But tonight, at the Granite Creek pit, the mood is lighthearted. The investigators laugh and revel a bit in the process of lighting each flame, and the firefighting that’s about to happen in a safe, contained environment.
“They do this all the time, and they’re still like kids,” someone laughs.
As the fire intensifies, cell phone cameras come out. One firefighter smiles and takes a selfie.
After a few minutes of burning, firefighters douse the blaze, and a black cloud billows forth out of the cell. Their colleagues cheer them on.
Days later in the training, fire investigators will return to the site of the “burn cell,” to examine the charred rooms, and try to determine whether the fires were started by a piece of paper stuffed inside a toaster, or a sparking laptop battery. But not likely a cigarette tossed into a tub of gasoline. That only works in the movies.
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The Sitka Tourism Task Force will consider Sitka’s capacity for cruise tourism, but it will have other challenges in the coming year: Land use and development, tourism best practices, and deciding if it should disband and reforganize as a permanent Tourism Commission. (Pictured: the Serenade of the Seas at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal in 2021, KCAW Tash Kimmell)Sitka has created a task force to make recommendations on the long-term impact of increased tourism in the community.
The Tourism Task Force will face many challenges in the coming year. The first, which was tackled by the Sitka Assembly, was deciding whom to put on the panel, in order to represent the widest-possible interests in the community.
Note: The first meeting of the Sitka Tourism Task Force will be a joint work session with the Sitka Assembly, 6 p.m. Thursday, April 27, in Harrigan Centennial Hall.
It’s not often that municipal commissions have more applicants than seats in Sitka, but that was the case with the Tourism Task Force, which had 16 residents apply for nine seats.
Several seats are weighted toward cruise industry interests, and there wasn’t any debate over filling the Tribal, Cruise Terminal, and Tours Attractions seats. A couple of other seats, representing the Port and Harbors Commission and Sitka’s Sustainability Commissission, only had one applicant each.
The General Business Seat, however, was more contested. Three applicants wanted the slot, including Cambria Holmes, who owns Campfire Kitchen. Holmes said her views on cruise tourism were shaped by living in Haines, and seeing what was going on in nearby Skagway.
“I would look over there and want to cry because everything’s owned by the cruise ships,” said Holmes. “It was just polar opposites. And I felt like when I moved to Sitka, it had a really nice balance to it. And I want to find a good balance where Sitka benefits, money can come and it can stay, and we can not be destroyed by turning into Skagway part two.”
Holmes won an appointment to the task force.
Showing up and speaking did not guarantee a spot. Shirley Robards was one of two applicants for the Downtown Business Corridor seat. Her business, Stereo North, is celebrating its 40th anniversary soon. Robards discussed her history, and her good relationship with other downtown businesses, but the assembly opted instead to appoint Jim Michener, the co-owner of Alaska Pure Sea Salt Company.
The most highly-contested seats were for Community-at-Large, which had six applicants for two positions.
During public testimony, former assembly member Richard Wein suggested that the commission needed better balancing, and would benefit from more at-large members.
“If I were you, there are six on there, I would nominate them all and let them all sit and give their opinions,” said Wein.
Wein’s view was seconded by Eric Jordan, a long-time outspoken community advocate in Sitka.
The assembly, however, didn’t have the freedom to amend the ordinance creating the tourism task force. Instead, they chose applicants with broad constituencies.
Former assembly member, and 40-year resident Phyllis Hackett was picked for the eighth seat.
“I also have a really deep sense of the importance of Sitka as a community and a lifestyle here for the residents,” said Hackett. “And I know that the summer is very important to the residents that live here year round. And I really believe we need to find a good balance. I’ve watched Juneau, and I’ve watched Ketchikan, I’ve watched Skagway, I’ve watched all these communities over the years go through their changes with tourism, and I’m concerned – I’m concerned for Sitka.”
The ninth seat went to Rich McClear, a former employee of KCAW and current volunteer at the station, who has both a long record of community service, as well as a passion for cruising fostered by his grandfather, who came to America working as a ship’s steward.
McClear has become an avid world traveler in retirement, and is a student of the cruise industry.
“And recently I’ve been following what other communities are doing to try and look at the tourism situation,” McClear said. “I’ve looked at the memorandums of understanding that Bar Harbor, Maine, and Juneau have come up with. I’ve looked at the ordinances that Bar Harbor and Portland and Key West have tried to pass. I’ve looked at some of the controversies in Cobh, Ireland and Bora Bora. All these communities are facing the same issue: How do we preserve the essential nature of our community while having business flourish?”
The Sitka Tourism Task Force will have a year to do its work, in five major areas ranging from determining an appropriate level of tourism in the community to land use regulations. Its final task will be to determine whether – a year from now – it should be dissolved, and replaced by a permanent Sitka Tourism Commission.
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From the Archive: Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Anne Zink gives a status report on the novel coronavirus to legislators at the Terry Miller Building in Juneau on February 4, 2020. (Photo by Skip Gray/KTOO)Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, is visiting Sitka this week. She’ll be giving a talk on Thursday (4-27-23), “Beyond Covid Pandemic Preparedness in the Circumpolar North,” which she’ll deliver at 4 p.m. in the Sheet’ka Ḵwaán Naa Kahidi Community House. She joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss her work. Listen here:
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A Sitka woman has been sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter. 37-year-old Triska See has been awaiting trial for the last three years, and this winter agreed to a plea deal for her involvement in a 2019 car accident at the Sitka Ferry Terminal that claimed one man’s life. Her sentencing was held Monday (4-24-23) in Juneau.
In February of 2020, Triska See was indicted on murder and manslaughter charges following a drunk driving accident at the Sitka Ferry Terminal three months earlier. 59-year-old Thomas Fuller died in the accident– he was unable to escape from the vehicle after it plunged down an embankment and into the water in Starrigavan Bay.
See was allegedly in the driver’s seat, but initially there was some uncertainty around the circumstances that led to the car ending up in the water, and conflicting information from statements. COVID also slowed the legal proceedings, with multiple hearings rescheduled in 2021, and a witness who was also in the vehicle when it crashed, passed away before the case could go to trial.
In December of last year, prosecution dismissed the murder and assault charges against See, and she pleaded guilty to manslaughter, DUI and possession. She agreed to a 14 year sentence with seven years suspended, seven to serve, and probation.
State prosecutor Amy Fenske felt the terms of the plea deal were fair.
“There were contradictory statements, essentially, as to whether this was simply Ms. See got out of the vehicle to smoke marijuana. Again, she’s operating a vehicle, [and] was extremely intoxicated…should not have been doing that. None of them should have been out at the ferry terminal,” Fenske said. “Whether she simply forgot to put the car in park, or whether it was something more nefarious, I think the evidence and weight of the evidence is that this is more of a manslaughter situation than a murder situation. And I think this resolution is absolutely appropriate.”
Two of Thomas Fuller’s family members spoke at the hearing. His sister Bridget Fuller described him as the ‘baby of the family’ – a commercial fisherman with a fun-loving and sunny disposition. His daughter Karly described him as her ‘best friend’ and said she’d felt robbed of a future with him.
“I’ll never be able to ask him questions, to ask him for advice. He’ll never walk me down the aisle. I just feel robbed of many years of life and memories,” Fuller said. “It doesn’t matter what kind of sentence you give her…It can’t replace the life, the loved one that we lost.”
See attended the sentencing hearing remotely from Hiland Mountain Correctional Center. After the Fullers spoke, she read a short statement apologizing to the victims and their families.
“I would like to sincerely apologize to Tom Fuller and Tracy Green for that unfortunate incident. I’m taking full responsibility and accountability to the best of my knowledge,” See said. “I would also like to apologize to the family of my victims. I’m standing here today asking for your forgiveness.”
Judge Trevor Stephens lamented what he called a ‘horrible situation’ and said that regardless of whether See had been charged with murder or manslaughter, no amount of time served would be commensurate with the loss of Thomas Fuller’s life.
“The family is going to have lifelong consequences because of the loss of their loved one. And I’m pretty sure that Mr. Fuller is not going to be far from your mind the rest of your life too,” Stephens said to See. “And it sounds like he was a friend of yours, and you’ll have the opportunity, hopefully for the next several decades, to show him, and to show your family in that community that you’ve learned from this.”
Judge Stephens also recommended See participate in a substance abuse treatment program while serving out the remainder of her sentence.
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A Sitka man who was charged with evidence tampering after his daughter killed a cyclist in a hit-and-run won’t stand trial. The state’s case against Richard Mulligan was dismissed earlier this month after a Superior Court judge threw out improperly collected evidence against him.
In March of 2021, his daughter Brooke Mulligan was driving on Halibut Point Road, when she struck a bicyclist, 20-year-old Terry Carlson Jr., with her car. Carlson later died of his injuries. Brooke Mulligan was indicted on manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges, and her father Richard was indicted for allegedly attempting to cover up his daughter’s crimes.
Brooke Mulligan pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and was sentenced to four years in prison in March. A civil case against her is pending.
On April 10, Judge Trevor Stephens issued a court order which found that Sitka Police violated Richard Mulligan’s right to remain silent while executing a search warrant on March 10 of 2021. Judge Stephens wrote that because police continued to interrogate Mulligan after he invoked his Miranda Rights, the information they gathered during their questioning, including some evidence they collected, should be suppressed. On April 14, in light of Stephens’ order, state prosecutors dropped all charges against Mulligan and dismissed the case, without prejudice.
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Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School has a new principal: Mindy Barry will take over for Casey Demmert this summer. Barry is currently Keet’s learning support coordinator.
An interview committee comprised of representatives from both certified and classified staff, district administration, parents, and community members conducted interviews and made a recommendation on the hire. Feedback collected from staff and families was considered during the interview process.
Prior to her two years as learning support coordinator, Barry worked as a reading interventionist and classroom teacher.
Barry will work with outgoing principal Casey Demmert to ensure a smooth transition in leadership, and will officially start as principal in August for the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year. Demmert is retiring after a long career in the district’s administration.
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The Sitka School Board was faced with the choice of keeping 2-3 classroom positions at Keet Gooshi Heen, or taking district reserves down to their lowest level ever: $10,000. The board decided to keep the teachers. (File photo)The Sitka School Board has gone out on a limb – maybe the longest limb it’s ever gone out on – in passing a budget for next year.
In a split vote last Thursday (4-20-23), the board voted to keep staffing levels the same as this year, and to almost completely drain the district’s reserves.
Note: The Sitka School District’s $23 million dollar budget for next year now goes to the Sitka Assembly for final adoption.
The most money for education in Alaska comes from the legislature, and that’s the rub for Sitka, and every other school district in the state.
The legislature hasn’t decided how much it will spend next year, leaving schools to draft their budgets based on guesswork.
It’s an infuriating and agonizing process for local communities that want to spend as much as they can on schools – keeping good teachers, recruiting new ones, and maintaining sports, music, and other extracurricular programs that incentivize attendance.
Board member Tristan Guevin attributed much of Sitka’s difficult position to a faulty legislative process.
“We’re building a budget without an idea of what our revenues will be because of inaction by the state,” said Guevin. “We’ve talked to death the situation with the BSA, that it hasn’t been increased since July of 2016. In that same time period, we faced about 25-percent inflation. So in essence, that flat funding is a budget decrease – a significant budget decrease.”
The BSA stands for Base Student Allocation, or the amount of money the state gives each district for each student. The BSA has been increased once in the last seven years, and been bumped several times with one-time grants, but – as Guevin noted – it’s never been adjusted for inflation. Several bills have been introduced in the legislature this year that might provide yet another bump, but it’s anyone’s guess where the final number will land.
This left the Sitka School Board to consider only two options: whether to cut three teachers at Keet Gooshi Heen and increase class sizes in fourth and fifth grade, or keep those teachers and take the district savings account to its lowest level ever – just over $10,000. (Note: The district must maintain restricted reserves of about $65,000. The $10,000 balance is in excess of that.)
Board member Todd Gebler wanted to keep the teachers.
“It is an enormous risk,” said Gebler. “And a lot of it, you can put a label on it, the state is not doing what they should for us. And that is the truth: they’re really not doing it. But in order for the teachers to do what they need to do, small class sizes are important. And in order for us to do that, I’m very, very happy to keep those three positions at Keet.”
The risk is that the proposed budget assumes the state will increase the BSA with a one-time shot of $450. Again, it’s just a guess. Bills have been introduced in the legislature with higher amounts ($680 to over $1,000), but it’s a long road before any of them arrive at the governor’s desk. The final amount could also be lower than $450. In that event, the district couldn’t meet its obligations, as pointed out by Mike Vieira, president of the Sitka Education Association, which represents teachers.
“If you can’t meet payroll – that’s us (teachers),” Vieira said. “I think that puts us all in the same boat.”
Another alternative before the board would be to reduce staff at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary by two positions, and transfer them to Baranof Elementary School. The resulting draw on district savings would then leave close to $200,000 in the bank. This was the preference of board president Blossom Teal-Olsen, who was uncomfortable with going all the way down to $10,000.
“I cannot. I cannot bring myself to be okay with walking away, knowing that it would jeopardize our whole community, knowing that our find balance would be left at such a level,” said Teal-Olsen.
In the end, other board members overruled Teal-Olsen, and voted to approve a budget that leaves the teaching staff intact (with the exception of eliminating one teaching position at Raven’s Way, adding a Special Education case manager at Baranof Elementary, a social worker at Pacific High, and a reading specialist), draws on $1.7 million in savings, and assumes the legislature will allocate at least another $450 per student to education this year which – as yet – it has come to no agreement on.
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KCAW’s news department won several awards from the Alaska Press Club, including first place awards for Best Series, All Media for Black in Sitka; Best Profile, Radio; and Best Short Form Audio Podcast.
Report for America corps member Tash Kimmell reported and produced the Black in Sitka series; KCAW reporter Katherine Rose picked up the first place award for her profile of Brad Carow, a Sitkan who voices the character of Squidward, a grumpy, jazz loving, clarinet-playing cephalopod on Spongebob Squarepants; and independent producer Beth Short-Rhodes picked up the award for season 1 of the podcast, The Savory Moment. Katherine Rose was also recognized for her work on The Savory Moment.
“The Alaska Press Club awards are not a popularity contest,” said Robert Woolsey, KCAW News Director. “These are our peers, our toughest, most-discerning audience. Making the cut in this crowd is a real honor, and an honest reflection of the hard work it takes to produce the news. That KCAW consistently does so well says a lot about our community, and how much it values good reporting.”
KCAW’s other awards included 2nd place for Best Food Reporting, All Media; 2nd place for Best Headline Writing, All Media; 2nd Place for Best Business Reporting, Radio; 2nd Place for Best Arts Reporting, Radio; 2nd Place; 3rd Place for Best Investigative Reporting, All Media; 3rd Place for Best Sound Rich Feature, Radio and 3rd Place for Longform Audio Podcast, Our Grandparents’ Teachings.
Here’s the complete list:
Black in Sitka – First place, Best Series, All Media – Tash Kimmell
Will lab grown fish save Alaska’s wild salmon stocks? – 2nd place, Best food reporting, All media – Tash Kimmell
Is Sitka’s hotter-than-average inflation a touch of pipeline fever? – 2nd place, Best Headline Writing, All Media – Robert Woolsey
A Sitka high rise apartment’s lone elevator has been out of service for more than a year, and tenants are frustrated – 3rd place, Best investigative reporting, All Media – Katherine Rose
After 38 years as a ‘ramper’ Tim Fulton designed a better way to load planes. Now he wants to build it – 2nd place, Best business reporting, Radio – Robert Woolsey
We did a deep dive into the bathrooms on Lincoln Street so you don’t have to – 3rd place, Best Sound Rich Feature, Radio – Katherine Rose
Meet the Sitkan behind the music of a certain cartoon cynical cartoon cephalopod – 1st place, Best profile, Radio – Katherine Rose
A curious approach to vending makes ‘cents’ in Sitka – 2nd place, Best Arts reporting, Radio – Katherine Rose
“Our Grandparents Teachings” – 3rd place, Longform Audio Podcast – Chuck Miller, Ellen Frankenstein, Stephanie Hawney, Dave Emmert, Becky Meiers, Adam Lechowicz
“The Savory Moment”– season 1 – 1st place, Short Form Audio Podcast – Beth Short-Rhodes and Katherine Rose, producers
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Today (4-25-23), the first cruise ship of the summer arrives in Sitka, marking the start of what should be a record-breaking season. But the community’s response to the growth in cruise travel is evolving. Tonight the Sitka Assembly will decide whom to appoint to the newly formed “tourism task force,” which will explore next steps for the city’s long term management of tourism.
The task force has five directives to tackle over the next year. They’ve been asked to make recommendations in several important areas:
– the level of tourism in Sitka,
– an annual review cycle of city operations and tourism funding,
– a tourism management best practices plan,
– land use and waterfront development policies,
– and regional strategies to advance Sitka’s interests in the tourism sector.
Once the task force’s year is up in April of 2024, it may also recommend the assembly create a permanent tourism commission.
The nine member body has designated a certain number of seats for representatives from the tourism and cruise industries, local businesses, and members of the public as well as the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Ports and Harbors Commission and Sustainability Commission.
View the list of applicants for each seat here
In other business the assembly will consider, on final reading, whether to make early voting a permanent option for voters in Sitka’s municipal elections. And it will consider whether to apply for several state and federal grants, including one that would pay for the city to develop a renewable energy strategy, and another that would help fund repairs for the Crescent Harbor net shed.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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UAS art professor and regional coordinator for the Northwest Coast Indigenous Arts program Liz Zacher and academic advisor Akléi Helen Dangel joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the growing program and array of opportunities for students.
Listen to their conversation here:
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The Sitka Assembly is satisfied with the performance of the municipal administrator and attorney. In a special meeting on Tuesday, the assembly rated the performance of city administrator John Leach and attorney Brian Hanson as exemplary – and gave both pay increases.
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While municipal attorney Brian Hanson’s performance review was delivered in executive session, municipal administrator John Leach’s was done in public. And assembly members’ comments, on the whole, were positive. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said he was impressed that, after three years, Leach continued to grow in the position.
“I think others in your position having been here this long would sit on what they’ve accomplished and continue to ride that out for the next little bit,” Eisenbeisz said. “I don’t think that is the person that you are nor the direction you want to go.”
“Once one fire gets put out, I think you go looking for fires elsewhere to find to put out,” he added. “It’s been commonly said in the municipality that all we do is continually put out fires, but you’re getting there proactively, and you’re making sure that the tinder is gone.”
Some noted Leach’s integrity, attention to detail, his aptitude for budget and asset management. A couple noted that he could stand to delegate more and not ‘sweat the small stuff.’ Assembly member Thor Christianson said he was pleased to see that Leach had maintained a pretty good relationship with the community.
“It’s really rare for somebody to be in his position for as long as he has, and not have a significant percentage of the population mad at him,” Christianson said. “I think you could be the combination of Jesus and Gandhi, and still, you’d have a bunch of people mad at you. But it’s amazing how small that is..it kind of feels like he’s still new, but he’s not.”
Assembly member Crystal Duncan wanted to set goals for the coming year and possibly update the administrator’s job description to align more closely with the city’s strategic plan.
“I don’t want John to feel like this is because of deficient behavior. I’m not at all saying that, and I want to make sure that that’s on the public record,” Duncan said. “I think he made a lot of really positive movement. I think we as a body can better support him.” And we know it starts at the top, and we are at the top. So I think we need to set expectations for ourselves.”
Mayor Eisenbeisz agreed to schedule a work session in the coming weeks to set goals for Leach’s performance over the next year.
While the assembly was mostly in agreement over the positives Leach brings to the table, there was some back and forth over how much to raise his pay, whether to go with the 1.5% increase already built into Leach’s contract or something higher. While Leach told the assembly he was okay with the increase that was built in, several assembly members, including JJ Carlson, advocated for 5%.
“He said he’s comfortable with 1.5%. He’s okay, that was his word. He’s okay. But he’s not good. He’s not great. He’s not excellent. He’s okay with 1.5%.” He’s okay with that,” Carlson said. “And if we feel he’s better at his job than okay, we raise it to a degree that we think is a healthy place to live in this town.”
A motion was made to give Leach an exemplary rating and a 5 percent pay increase. After some discussion, assembly member Kevin Mosher said he could support five percent, but pushed back when that number was raised by around half a percentage point.
“I would like to pay John ten, you know, not ten times, but a lot more than we do,” Mosher said, but added that he wanted to keep Sitka’s taxpayers in mind. “City employees are some of the best paid employees in town. And we have taxes that these people pay,” he said. “A lot of them are not getting as good of a deal, and they’re often paying taxes to pay for this, and I want to keep this perspective in mind.”
Mosher was the lone vote against an amendment to bump Leach’s pay increase from 5 percent to 5.4%. The final vote to give Leach an exemplary review and a 5.4% pay increase passed unanimously.
Toward the end of his review, Leach read a short statement.
“Three years ago, I took this job. And I continue to do this job because I’m committed to the citizens, my staff and the success of this city. I always strive to approach every day’s work with my personal values of service, honesty, and respect,” Leach said. “And I understand and I know that at some point I will disappoint you or some of the citizens. But that’s because I’m a human being. Just understand that I do what I do to try to balance and honor our code, our charter, our strategic plan and the desires of the community members. And that’s no easy task. And it’s nearly impossible to get absolutely everything right, or to make everyone happy 100% of the time,”
Leach added that he appreciated the opportunity to serve and is looking forward to continued service to Sitka.
After reviewing attorney Brian Hanson behind closed doors, the assembly returned and offered him the same pay increase, on a 7-0 vote.
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Sitka High School’s Mock Trial team took their second successive state championship the weekend of April 1. Coach Howard Wayne and team members Kelsey Simic, Zoe Trafton, Sam McLaughlin, Isabelle Schmetzer, and Felix Meyers joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss their win. Listen to their conversation here:
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Young Performers Theater director Zeke Blackwell and performers joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the upcoming performance of High School Musical. Listen here:
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Sitka firefighters responded to a blaze at the scrap yard at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park on Wednesday morning (4-19-23).
Scrap yard employees called 911 around 10:45 a.m. to report that a silver BMW they were about to crush had sparked and caught fire, spreading to a nearby scrap pile. Staff kept the fire contained and were actively fighting the fire until the fire department arrived on the scene.
Fire Chief Craig Warren says the department sent two fire engines and an ambulance to the call. Six volunteers and six fire department staff responded. It took them about half an hour and around 7,000 gallons of water to extinguish the blaze. No injuries were reported.
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Eric and Pam Bealer at Sea Pony Farm. (SCS Image)For the last two weeks, an exhibit honoring the legacy of artists Eric and Pam Bealer has been open to the public in downtown Sitka. Marian Allen, Maite Lorente, and Steve Lawrie joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss ‘The Squirrel and Bear,” which is open through Friday night. Listen to their conversation here:
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Tim Fulton in his “happy place”: His home workshop. TISABAS did not spring into being overnight; Fulton has been prototyping for decades, with a variety of rollers and belts to move heavy items like fish boxes in the bellies of airplanes. His first two TISABAS are headed to an equipment supplier for Malaysian Airlines — for $35,000 a piece. (KCAW/Woolsey)An airplane equipment manufacturer is setting up shop in Sitka – in the garage where he invented his first device.
Tim Fulton is a “ramper” who spent nearly four decades loading luggage and cargo on Alaska Airlines jets. After weathering the pandemic and several years of demonstrating his product around the world and obtaining various safety certifications, he’ll be shipping his first two orders this month.
KCAW’s Robert Woolsey dropped by to see how business is shaping up at Ramper Innovations.
CNC cutter starting up…
If you’re experiencing déjà vu right now, don’t be concerned. I’ve reported on Ramper Innovations on two previous occasions, first with Tim Fulton the innovator, a second time with Tim Fulton the product developer. This third trip is to meet with Tim Fulton the manufacturer, and to see his operation.
Fulton’s machinist, Danon Vest, is operating a computer-controlled router.
KCAW – What’s this part that’s being made?
Vest – It’s a cover plate for the chassis. So right now it’s using a chamfer mill to cut some chamfers to accept hardware.
Machinist Danon Vest operates a computer-controlled router. While Ramper Innovations has outsourced the fabrication of some precision parts to other firms, the final product is assembled in Sitka. Eventually, CEO Fulton hopes to move into a larger facility with better storage for materials. (KCAW/Woolsey)Fulton’s shop is still located in his home in a Sitka neighborhood, but it’s evolved far beyond your typical garage workshop. The computer-controlled router and color monitors by the door are a dead giveaway, but so is the device taking shape on the bench: A clean assembly of precision-made aluminum framing, motors, and belts that is less the Rube Goldberg of my last visit, and a bit more Henry Ford. Fulton calls his product TISABAS, which is an acronym for Tim Saves Backs.
“We’re wiring this one up, and it should be assembled by the end of the week,” said Fulton. “Then we’ll start on the second one, and plans are to send it to Malaysia by the end of the month.”
The machine is a folding belt designed to operate in the belly of an aircraft like a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320. Unfolded, it’s 20 feet long, with eight independent conveyor belts that move your luggage from the loading door toward the center of the plane, where a “ramper” piles it up and secures it with a cargo net. In current practice, your luggage doesn’t move down a belt inside a plane: A ramper working on their knees throws, shoves, or rolls it, and the consequences can be painful – and often chronic – back injuries.
TISABAS is not exactly flying out the door. Fulton had to advocate for his product in a commercial environment where taking care of the people who load planes is a harder sell than passenger amenities, like streaming wi-fi. Still, there are believers, and Fulton has traveled the world to put TISABAS in front of them, and now it’s paying off.
“These are sold to an equipment supplier to airlines,” he said. “So we actually met this guy when we were at the expo in Paris last year. And he was with the purchaser for Malaysian Air, and the purchaser was very impressed and pushed this guy to purchase for them to send it over.”
Fulton has three beta-versions in circulation in various countries. As we spoke, one was being shipped from Brazil to Miami. Another had just been delivered in Sweden.
Surprisingly, the North American market – even his former employer, Alaska Airlines – hasn’t shown much interest. There’s little reason to doubt Fulton, who was a ramper for 38 years, when he says the US airline industry is slow to adopt. If TISABAS succeeds, it will be the international market that makes it happen.
“We were on a call yesterday with Argentina; the day before with Brazil,” Fulton said. “We have IAA, the Israeli Airport Authority is interested. From Sweden, the (beta) unit is going to Spain, England, Thailand, and India. So the international market is where we are close to closing deals on a daily basis.”
Ramper Innovations’ first year of revenue was 2022. Each of these TISABAS sells for $35,000, so they’re putting up numbers for this year too. But it’s still a scrappy operation.
“I do have a corner office, but it’s in my spare bedroom,” said Maury Hackett, laughing.
Hackett is one of four employees in the company, and Ramper’s chief operating officer, tracking everything from the company’s three-to-five year strategy, to how it manages time on the production floor. When I was last here, Hackett was in a jacket and slacks. Today, she’s in work clothes, helping to assemble the product. Her background is in recreational therapy and ergonomics. She wants to position Fulton as a thought leader in ramp safety, and she believes that safety will ultimately sell TISABAS.
“In the receptivity that Tim had in Paris by all these European companies,” Hackett said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, this is incredible.’ And not just like, ‘This is an interesting thing, let me see if I can convince the decision-maker of purchasing this thing.’ Rather, they have the authority as the safety person. And safety is shaping things.”
A crowd-funding campaign for Ramper Innovations raised over $325,000 last year, but now that he’s actually putting TISABAS into production, Fulton believes his company is turning over a new chapter. He envisions his folding belt technology used in trucking, warehousing, and even cruise ships. Like a lot of entrepreneurs, he did not think it would be this hard, but he’s in it for the duration.
“It does get stressful,” Fulton said, laughing. “But it’s still enjoyable. And I think believing in what we’re doing makes a big difference.”
In the meantime, Fulton will continue cultivating international sales, and stay focused. “What’s in front of us right now is getting these units built, getting more sold,” he said.
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The Sitka Parks & Rec Gymnastics program will be based on tumbling, rather than bars, beams, or vaults. (Flickr photo/R. Anderson)Andrew Roseman is with the Sitka Parks & Rec program. He’s joined by coach Trisha Bessert to discuss the new Parks & Rec Gymnastics program. The emphasis will be on tumbling (no beams, bars, or vaults). The program is for kids old enough to walk (about 1.5 years) through high school. Registration opens April 24 for the June session (including “Tongass Tumblers” and “Preschool in Motion”). Information about all classes can be found online at the City of Sitka website. Scholarships are available.
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Sitka Cirque is bringing vintage circus arts to Sitka this spring in ‘Under the Big Top.’ Youth coach and performer Nancy Neal and Evan Pedrola joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the upcoming shows happening this weekend. Listen to their conversation here:
Tickets must be purchased in advance at Sitka Cirque’s website here.
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“Medicare” by 401(K) 2013 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Financial planner Cindy Gibson and SEARHC Medicare specialist Susan Briles are hosting an information session on Medicare this Thursday at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Gibson joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to talk about Medicare and Social Security. Listen to their conversation here:
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Charlie Skultka shows second-graders at Keet Gooshi Heen how to cook herring eggs in a bentwood box. Skultka, cultural liaison for the district, mastered the art of heating pumice stones in a fire while camping at Shoal’s Point, Sitka’s top surfing destination. (KCAW/Bethany Goodrich)There are many ways to prepare herring eggs in Sitka. Freshly spawned eggs on hemlock branches, dipped in hooligan (eulachon) or seal oil, is a classic method, as is lightly sauteed in a pan with sesame or olive oil and eaten straight up, or stirred into a green salad.
Another method is to blanch them in boiling water – and that’s done best when the tiny herring eggs thickly coat a blade of macrocystis kelp. And to really connect with Sitka’s subsistence tradition, you’ve got to boil the eggs in a bentwood box.
Sitka second graders recently watched the district’s cultural liaison Charlie Skultka heat up volcanic rocks in a fire, and then use them to boil water in the traditional way.
KCAW reporter-at-large Kari Sagel attended, and sent this audio postcard.
Not too hot. Skultka says roe-on-kelp is ready when the kelp turns bright green. It’s important not to overboil the delicate eggs. (KCAW/Bethany Goodrich)Sitka Schools Cultural Director Jule LeBlanc reminded students to be grateful, and to not make faces, even if the herring roe was not quite to their liking. “The herring worked hard to bring us these eggs,” she said. (KCAW/Bethany Goodrich)Skultka slices the cooked roe, and serves it with a few drops of soy sauce. Although some prefer the pure eggs without the kelp, many like the crunchy, green algae too. (KCAW/Bethany Goodrich)The post Sitka’s traditional herring egg harvest tastes best with traditional cooking — in a bentwood box appeared first on KCAW.
Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia – 10 Dec 2022
by Pierre Markuse from Hamm, GermanyThe volcanic ash cloud that’s shut down flights throughout Alaska over the last three days may linger over Southeast this weekend.
Nate Eckstein is the science operations officer at the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in Anchorage. He says that on Thursday they were optimistic that the ash cloud would move off into Western Canada, but now it looks like the cloud could be sticking around for a bit longer.
“Now it looks like it’s caught in this trough, this weather system over the Gulf. It’s going to continue to track east today, but then turn back to the north, and that will put it back towards the Sitka area and Southeast Alaska in general, probably tonight,” Eckstein says. “And so we do think that it’ll be moving overhead of Southeast Alaska through Saturday.”
As of mid-day Friday, there wasn’t any ash lingering over Sitka. The main cloud system was south of the Gulf of Alaska moving east and a second was north of Yakutat, with other ash areas reported near Juneau moving north into Canada.
Eckstein says that the updated forecastmeans flight disruptions could continue into Saturday in Southeast. But the risk the ash cloud poses does decrease as time goes on and the cloud dissipates and weakens.
“It’s possible that even though this feature is moving, kind of, back to the north, into the eastern gulf, that it’s gonna continue to dissipate. And so that ash signal may may weaken to a point where the hazard ends. But it looks like maybe it’s staying together a little bit longer. And so we may continue to deal with this for another day, or more.”
As of Friday, Alaska Airlines had canceled nearly 100 flights throughout the state.
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UAS assistant professor Angie Bowers and mariculture program coordinator Sara Ebersol joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to talk about the UAS Applied Fisheries program and upcoming opportunities, including a three-day hands-on workshop. Listen to their conversation here:
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The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has officially closed the 2023 Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring Fishery. The department published its final fishery update for the 2023 season on April 12.
The fishery last opened on April 7, when 1600 tons were harvested. Early estimates for the season put the total commercial harvest at just under 11,000 tons of herring, a little over a third of the state’s 30,000 ton guideline harvest level.
While the commercial fishery won’t open again this year, aerial surveys will continue until no more active spawn is observed. From the first sightings of spawn on March 26, through April 13, the department recorded around 74 nautical miles of spawn during aerial surveys, including under half mile of active spawn Thursday near Hot Springs Bay.
State biologists will be out on the water through the end of this week conducting spawn deposition surveys. A season summary will be published by the department in the coming weeks.
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Sitka Tribe of Alaska Social Services is hosting a documentary film screening and a lunch-and-learn in honor of Child Abuse Prevention month. Doug Osborne and Krista Perala joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the upcoming events and provide other resources on child abuse prevention. Listen to the full interview here:
Screening of the film We Breathe Again, which addresses intergenerational trauma through stories, will be held 6:30pm-8:00pm on Friday, April 14 at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi. The second event, a lunch-and-learn for caregivers, will be held Saturday, April 22 at 12:00pm. Childcare and food is provided for the lunch-and-learn. For more information, contact Jolie Tulley at 907-519-0153 or jolie.tulley@sitkatribe-nsn.gov.
To report child abuse, call the statewide hotline at 1-800-478-4444 or email reportchildabuse@alaska.gov.
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(KCAW/Berett Wilber) Sitka’s municipal elections may soon be getting a refresh. When the Sitka Assembly met on April 11, it approved on first reading, code changes that would establish early voting as a new option for local voters.
In 2020, Sitka set a record for early voter turnout in the municipal election. Over 1,300 people showed up to cast their ballots in the last weeks of September, rather than on election day. But if you want to get technical, it wasn’t actually “early” voting – it was “absentee-in-person.”
Up until now, the only way to vote early in Sitka’s municipal election each October is by voting absentee. But there’s a big difference. Absentee votes aren’t counted on election night— they’re counted on the Friday following the municipal election, regardless of whether a vote was cast in-person or through the mail.
Even with the downside of waiting several days for your vote to count, municipal clerk Sara Peterson says the absentee-in-person option in Sitka has maintained popularity since she decided in the fall of 2020 to move the early polls from City Hall for Harrigan Centennial Hall as a COVID mitigation measure.
“The first year, in 2020, we had about 1300 people that voted in-person prior to election day. And then 2021 [and] 2022, it’s been about 700 to 800 people,” Peterson said. She added that while she felt COVID concerns were a big factor in the early voting surge, the ease of access at Harrigan Centennial Hall compared to City Hall made a big difference, too.
In 2022, 696 Sitkans voted early, in-person. That’s more than double the absentee-in-person votes from 2019. Under the new code, Sitkans will still have all of the absentee options – by mail, fax, in-person or using a representative – but they’ll have a new option too. If they choose to vote “early” in-person, they will see their votes counted on election night.
The new code would also change the requirements for municipal election candidates. Currently city code suggests candidates must submit advocacy statements and biographical information to the city clerk’s office in order for their names to be listed on the ballot, but it’s not actually required. A language tweak would clarify that those documents are optional for candidates.
But assembly member Crystal Duncan called for another language adjustment. The code sets a deadline for submitting those documents as 46 days before the election, if candidates want the information displayed on the city website. Duncan believed candidates who submit after the deadline shouldn’t be penalized.
“We need to question, are the same candidates running? Are we reaching different pools who probably don’t have experience running an election? For us, it was easy. For me, I had help, and so people were pushing me to get that submitted,” Duncan said, recalling when she ran for her assembly seat in 2020.
“I don’t want to penalize someone and, almost in a way, exclude them, because I know how hard it is to run for these seats,” she added. “And until we see a body that’s reflective of the community, I think I’m going to stress that we need to take those considerations into account.”
She asked Peterson if late submissions had been a recurring problem for her office, and Peterson said it hadn’t been. So Duncan asked if they could remove the deadline altogether. But several assembly members said they preferred to keep the deadline in, including Thor Christianson.
“I know that Sara [Peterson] would make sure that they know their deadline is coming up. I can attest to that,” Christianson laughed. “So I don’t have a problem with a deadline. I mean, you need to have a certain amount of, I guess, basic rules. And if they can’t make that deadline…they’re not serious.”
Duncan made a motion to amend the code by striking the deadline language but it failed for a lack of a second.
No other concerns were brought to the table about the code change. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz thanked Peterson for bringing early voting forward.
“I think making voting more accessible to more people is definitely a win. I understand how it can be difficult for some to make it down on a particular day,” Eisenbeisz said. “So your your work in modernizing our voting system to the standards that are in place elsewhere, is much appreciated.”
The ordinance passed on a 5-1 vote with assembly member Duncan opposed. It will come before the assembly for a final reading at the April 25 meeting.
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“It’s the gape,” says Prof. Todd O’Hara. “The size of the mouth will dictate the trophic level in a lot of fish.” O’Hara says long-lived predators like lingcod are likely to have higher concentrations of mercury. But so far, Alaskan seafood remains far below levels considered dangerous by the World Health Organization. (Flickr photo/Allie Caulfield)It’s an unpleasant fact for everyone who eats fish in Alaska: Mercury is in the food chain, and it’s particularly prevalent in seafood.
And while the amount of mercury found in Alaskan seafood remains far below dangerous levels, a pair of researchers want to keep an eye on it long-term. The best way to do this, they’ve found, is not by testing fish coming over the docks, but by testing human hair. They’re in Sitka to report the findings of a pilot study begun five years ago.
Note: Todd O’Hara and Maggie Castellini will report to the public on their mercury study 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, in Harrigan Centennial Hall.
Todd O’Hara is a veterinarian, but don’t bring him your cat to be spayed.
“I’m a veterinarian who has a PhD in toxicology,” he said. “I’ve never had any desire to be a clinical veterinarian. I’ve applied my veterinary degree to wildlife and fish research in toxicology and environmental agents of disease. So that’s how I got into this business.”
O’Hara is a researcher with Texas A&M and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A lot of pathologists who study human disease are veterinarians, which is not surprising when you consider how closely humans and animals are linked on this planet.
Maggie Castellini, however, is not a veterinarian.
“Maggie is a marine mammal physiologist, by the way,” said O’Hara, “she’s actually trained in marine mammal physiology.”
“That’s correct,” said Castellini.
“Which greatly applies to what we do,” said O’Hara.
We’ll come back in a moment to why a marine mammal physiologist is important for research about mercury in seafood. Castellini – until last summer – was with the UAF College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and working in the vet department. In 2018, she and O’Hara won funding from the National Institute of Health to study the accumulation of mercury in the marine food web.
The pair had often been to Sitka for the annual symposium on humpback whales – called WhaleFest – and the community, they realized, provided a diverse pool of people who live closely with the marine environment. They launched a pilot study, hosted by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and began to collect samples – not of the sea creatures consumed by Sitkans, but of human hair, which can reveal a lot about the head it’s growing out of.
“And hair is just a really easy tissue to be able to work with,” said Castellini. “it’s a very good indicator of mercury in the rest of the body. It’s obviously very easy to sample: You don’t have to stick a needle in somebody or anything like that. And we would just take a very small – maybe about the width of a pencil – from the very back of a person’s scalp, and just cut it right close to the scalp. And that’s all you need to do. It doesn’t hurt and you can’t even tell that the hair has been cut away. So it’s really nice to be able to do effective monitoring with such an easy collection and sample, and also something that’s pretty easy to analyze as well after the fact.”
The pilot study tested mercury levels in the hair of 70 subjects, both in Sitka and in another, smaller community in Southeast Alaska. The objective was to be as broad-based as possible, rather than focus on any specific ethnic group or demographic. Really broad-based.
“And one of the things we like is when vegans and vegetarians participate in the study,” said O’Hara, “because that shows us sort of a control, a non meat consuming person.”
The upshot of the study is that the tested population showed mercury levels far below the cutoff for the World Health Organization. O’Hara says most people came in at around one part per million of mercury, a couple of people were at five parts per million. The WHO cutoff is ten parts per million.
This is good news for Alaskans who live by – and from – the sea. But it’s not the full story. Mercury accumulates in different species at different rates. O’Hara and Castellini want to expand mercury monitoring, to better specify any risk.
“For a long time, the types of advisories that would be sent out – and there still are in some parts of the country – that basically treat all fishes equally, ‘Don’t eat more than this many meals of fish a week if you’re a woman who’s of childbearing age.’ But that’s not at all true with mercury. Some species of fish have vanishingly small amounts of mercury because of their lifestyle, whereas others can have – especially the bigger ones – can have fairly high levels.”
“The gape, the size of the mouth,” said O’Hara, “will dictate trophic level in a lot of fish. So the bigger the fish, the larger fish they can consume. And those tend to be at a higher position in the food web.”
And higher still are marine mammals. Alaska, the pair agree, has a pretty good advisory system for fish – but not for the animals that eat those fish, and then are consumed by people, primarily Alaska Natives.
“So we would like to include marine mammals, in our study,” said O’Hara, “to give people here in Southeast Alaska, better representation of their diet.”
Note: O’Hara is scheduled to present to the Sealaska Heritage Institute on mercury pathways in marine mammals. View a link to a YouTube video of the presentation.
Some places are famously contaminated with mercury: San Francisco Bay, with Gold Rush-era mining residue. Minamata Bay in Japan, with industrial mercury at such high concentrations that the resulting neurological damage is called Minamata Disease. Alaska’s mercury is less likely to be caused by human activity: There’s naturally-occuring cinnabar, for example, and volcanoes.
O’Hara and Castellini hope that their pilot study with the National Institute of Health will take off into more permanent monitoring of mercury in coastal Alaska. They see monitoring as an incentive to a healthy diet, rather than a deterrent.
“If that’s all people hear about, then they start to be afraid to eat good, healthy foods,” said Castellini. “And so it’s really nice to be able to get a broad study where we can look at communities and say actually ‘You might eat a lot of fish, but your mercury concentrations in general are still not that high.’ And it’s a good reassurance.”
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The Sheet’ká Family Challenge is happening in April, May, and June. Kari Sagel, with the Pathways Family Engagement Workgroup, discusses the lineup of free, family activities. Although registration isn’t required, it’s a good way to stay informed about upcoming events, including A is for April, Toddler Time, Tide Pooling, Girls on the Run 5K. Learn more on the Sitka Kids Facebook page.
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City staff are bringing a new wave of grant applications to the Sitka Assembly for consideration at tonight’s meeting. Most of the grants they’re hoping to score would help fund infrastructure improvements and repairs.
The first is an application for a $10.5 million dollar grant from the Alaska Department of Transportation, that would help the city re-pave and repair Katlian Street. If the city’s project is selected by DOT, it would include a 14 percent match from the city, around 1.4 million dollars.
The second grant from the Denali Commission would fund a $300,000 study to assess whether future housing could be built on some plots of undeveloped city-owned land.
The third, also from the Denali Commission, would fund the purchase of a $1.1 million dollar marine travelift boat hoist for the long-planned haulout at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park. While Sitkans approved $8.2 million dollars to fund a haulout in the last municipal election, the most recent estimates put the cost of a basic haulout at around $12 million, leaving the city with a $4 million dollar shortfall.
The fourth grant would fund a $4.7 million dollar replacement of the electrical system at Eliason Harbor. If the city scores this grant, it would require a 20 percent match.
In other business, the assembly will consider updating the code for local municipal elections to clarify that a written biography from candidates is not required in order for the candidate’s name to be included on the ballot and update the language around early voting.
The assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live following Alaska News Nightly.
View the full agenda here
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Gas prices have fallen in Alaska recently, but in Sitka they’ve fallen the least. Sitkans pay about 5-percent less for fuel than they did last year. In Anchorage, they’re paying 20-percent less. (KCAW/Woolsey)There’s an economic rebound occurring in Sitka, but it comes at a price – mainly in increased housing costs, and continued high fuel prices.
View the latest numbers from Sitka Trends, the quarterly newsletter of the Sitka Economic Development Association.
On the plus side, there is more money in Sitka now than in 2019, although it sometimes doesn’t feel that way with inflation running high.
A major source – obviously – is the increase in sales tax revenue. Sitka collected over $2-and-a-half million dollars more over the last fiscal year than it did in fiscal year 2021. That’s an increase of 19-percent, which has given local government a lot more flexibility to make major decisions around things like school funding, and the emergency replacement of the heat pumps at Blatchley Middle School.
Property tax has increased by less than $100,000 over the same period. Raw fish taxes – another major economic indicator – aren’t included in this report.
But it’s not just the city government that’s doing better. Per-capita income in Sitka is up since 2019 – by over $5,000 per person. That’s a bigger increase than seen in Juneau, Ketchikan, or even the entire state. Per capita income in Sitka is now roughly $76,000.
On the downside, driving is still expensive in Sitka – and it’s immediately clear how much so when you buy gas in Anchorage, where fuel has dropped to around $3.70, just $.30 higher than the national average. That’s a 20-percent drop for Anchorage in just the last year. Meanwhile in Sitka, the price of fuel has dropped only about 5-and-a-half percent, and is still over $5 per gallon. That’s worse than Juneau, where gas is going for a little more than $4.
The other big expense for Sitkans is housing, where costs have gone up significantly more than comparable communities like Ketchikan. Rent for three bedrooms in Sitka now averages about $1,870, compared to $1,815 in Ketchikan – but that Sitka rent is over 9-percent more than it was a year ago, while the rent in Ketchikan went up just 2-percent over the same period.
And finally Sitka’s population is down slightly – by just under 200 people since 2020. That’s consistent with the overall decline in Southeast Alaska, but contrary to the statewide trend. Alaska, as a whole, has gained over 7,000 people in the last two years.
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Sitka’s fourth annual Yaaw Koo.éex’, or Herring Ceremony, will be held this Saturday, April 15 starting at 1pm. The ceremony, in addition to other events scheduled for this week, honors the role of herring in the way of life of the Tlingit people. Organizers Louise Brady and Anna Laffrey joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the history of the koo.éex’ and the plan for this weekend’s event, which is open to the public and expected to last up to 12 hours. Listen to the full interview here:
Attendees can find more information about events on the Herring Protectors Facebook page and RSVP to the koo.éex’ by emailing herringprotectors@gmail.com.
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Scientist in Residency Fellow, Brian Ulaski, arrived to Sitka last week. Brian is a postdoctoral fellow with UAF studying seaweed and mariculture. He and research coordinator Alex McCarrell joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss Ulaski’s work and upcoming events at the Sitka Sound Science Center. Listen to their conversation here:
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Artist Steve Lawrie at Phonograph Creek in 2021. The Bealers didn’t specify how their home should be used by the Sitka Conservation Society, only that it benefit the Society’s Living Wilderness Fund. (SCS/Clare)A new exhibit is opening in Sitka, in honor of artists Eric and Pam Bealer.
The year-long project is a collaboration between a visual artist and a writer, both of whom found inspiration in the extraordinary lives of the Bealers, and in the extraordinary nature of their passing.
Note: The Squirrel and the Bear opening reception will be 5-7 pm Friday, April 7, in the first floor of the Venneburg Insurance building on Harbor Drive. All are welcome. The exhibit will be up until April 21. For purposes of disclosure, Maite Lorente serves on the board of directors of KCAW.
Eric Bealer was a wood engraver. Even if you don’t recognize his name, you’ll instantly recognize his art: Intricately detailed prints of the Southeast Alaskan landscape surrounding the home he made with his wife Pam, a textile artist, in Phonograph Creek, just outside of Pelican, on Chichagof Island.
In most ways, the Bealers were like so many other Alaskans living off the grid, forging a life from the land. But in one way they were quite different: Although it’s been five years since the couple died, their home – and their spirit – are very much alive.
“The interesting thing about that couple is when you go there, her presence is strong, really strong,” said Steve Lawrie, a portrait artist and painter who’s been out to Phonograph Creek several times.
“And Eric not so much, until you get out into the boat shop because he built boats, in addition to other things. He built all the buildings on the property. They built boats. It’s not that they’re any different in some ways than a lot of Alaskans. You know, you can look around and see people living out in the sticks and right there around Pelican. It’s the amount of art that Eric produced with Pam’s help. That’s pretty amazing.”
A world class wood engraver, Eric Bealer’s work is instantly recognizable for the depth of its detail. This piece is entitled “Surge Bay Puffins.” (SCS image)Then and now, Eric Bealer’s engravings remain some of the most iconic work produced in Alaska, and they can be found in homes and galleries everywhere. The exhibit installed in Sitka isn’t a wall filled with Bealer’s prints, however, it is a collection of over 50 paintings by Lawrie and his literary collaborator, Maite Lorente, which illuminate the lives of these remarkable people.
The exhibit is called The Squirrel and the Bear.
“Eric identified – if you like – as a squirrel, and boy, it is appropriate,” said Lawrie. “I don’t know if you’ve ever met him but he’s very frenetic. Like a squirrel. His wife Pam, more grounded, more solid to the earth. She identified with bear, so that’s how the title came about.”
“They tried to live as close to the earth as possible,’ said Andrew Thoms, the director of the Sitka Conservation Society.
“They tried to have as small of an environmental footprint as they could. They built their house out of beach logs that they salvaged. They practiced a subsistence lifestyle and put up all their food, they had gardens and grew stuff, and they made a lot of their art from what they found and gathered and were inspired by in the surrounding environment. And it was a really Alaskan way of life off the grid.”\
Pam and Eric Bealer at Sea Pony Farm. As Pam’s MS advanced, she gave up her horses and sheep. The couple disappeared from their remote cabin on Green Top, Yakobi Island, in the fall of 2018. They had completely arranged their affairs, and left instructions not to look for their bodies. (SCS image)In widely publicized news at the time, the Bealers disappeared from their home at Phonograph Creek in the fall of 2018 (and also from their remote property at Green Top, on Yakobi Island), leaving behind packages and postage, notes for friends and family, and a message for everyone else that they had chosen to end their lives together, and to waste no time or money trying to find their bodies.
They were both in their late 50s, Pam suffering from increasingly debilitating multiple sclerosis , and Eric – as far as is known – in good health.
They left their Phonograph Creek property and its contents to the Sitka Conservation Society, to benefit the Society’s Living Wilderness Fund, and it’s now a retreat built by artists, for artists.
“Eric and Pam lived and built their property and designed – everything that they had up there was a work of art,” said Thoms, “you know, just like the artwork that they did. They were true artists to their core, and it was infused in everything that they did. They had a very strong connection with the lands and waters around them. And you can feel that they’re in the property. And the Living Wilderness Fund honors them, and the founders of the Conservation Society, and the people that really did great work to help preserve this place for future generations.
“Ken” by Stephen Lawrie. Lawrie’s portraits often feature only his subject’s face, in remarkable detail. In “The Squirrel and the Bear,” Lawrie says he focused on illustration, and found a strong new direction for his work. (Image c. Stephen Lawrie)Although some will say the Bealers’ lives ended tragically, Steve Lawrie doesn’t. The context of The Squirrel and the Bear is much greater than the detail of their deaths.
“It’s a love story,” he said. “ Look at me, I’m an older guy: We all know how life works. But this couple met when they were young. And within two days, they started a life together and they never deviated. They went from back East to Haines, Alaska. They lived there for four or five years and then moved to Phonograph Creek when that property became available. And they never deviated from what Andrew just described, which is a life far less impactful life than I live for example. And I really admire their tenacity and in doing it.”
Lawrie has become well-known in recent years for his oversized portraits – paintings large enough for the National Portrait Gallery, but displaying, in most cases, only his subjects’ faces in painstaking detail. While this might recommend him as an interpreter of Eric Bealer’s work, Lawrie goes in a different direction for The Squirrel and the Bear, and the departure has resulted in some surprising – and profound – new work.
“They’re all paintings that describe the Bealers,” Lawrie said. “There are several portraits. The home, the interior of the home, the exterior of the home. Basically, I became an illustrator in this series of paintings, I suppose it would be fair to say. I think they explain their lives – this whole thing will help explain their lives.”
Lawrie credits his collaborator, Maite Lorente, for pouring over the journals and photos the Bealers left behind, including their notes to one another, and giving the exhibit a structure. Some of Lorente’s poems and excerpts from other writings are incorporated into the paintings themselves – over 50 in all.The Squirrel and the Bear seems made-to-order for a book someday, but the Sitka Conservation Society doesn’t have a timeline. For now, it’s both a tribute to the Bealers and to their home in the Tongass, as well as fresh insight into the lives they led, and the choices they made.
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Spring sports are moving into high gear, and Sitka’s softball, baseball, and track athletes – as usual – are aiming for state championships. But if one of those teams takes a state title, it won’t be Sitka High’s first sports trophy this year. KCAW recently met with the competitors and a coach of Sitka’s E-Sports team, which won a breathtaking video game championship earlier this year.
Recommended: Listen to the original audio version of this story that aired live on Raven Radio on April 6, 2023
A timer counts down- 3, 2, 1, GO! “The Sitka Rocket Wolves are sitting pretty with just one goal on the board.”
“Just four minutes and seven seconds left in this first gameas the Beltz Bois need to find a shot on net. They get the first one…And Pinecone was there for the save. Pinecone wants another shot down on the other end!”“It looks so dubious, that shot!”
This is Rocket League. If you’re unfamiliar with Rocket League, it’s probably not clear, just by listening, what this game looks like…The two commentators, Animal and Suplex+, pepper their narration with terms like dribbling…defense…a “dubious shot” down the field. But when they mention a player by name, like AK Pinecone, they’re not referring to a person wearing a numbered uniform and cleats. “When you’re first hearing about this game, a lot of people seem to think it’s very silly…it’s essentially car soccer. It’s like rocket-powered cars playing soccer,” says Alex Earsley. He coaches the Sitka Rocket Wolves, a division of the SHS E-Sports team. Rocket League is one of several video games the E-Sports team plays competitively against other schools throughout the state.
“You can fly in the air, do a whole bunch of flips and tricks and stuff like that,” Earsley says. “Essentially the main goal is just like it would be in soccer, you want to score more goals than the enemy team.”
Old school athletes and their fans might roll their eyes, but participants say a lot of benefits come with playing E-sports. It still teaches many of the same skills that physical sports teach- like teamwork and sportsmanship. I ask Earsley what else the Rocket League team is walking away with, besides knowing how to kick a soccer ball with a flying car.
“This is something that I’ve been trying to really put out there,” Earsley says. “There’s so much more than just learning the video game…it’s that you’re learning how to learn…it is a very, very good form of media that really works as…not only a team building exercise, but also just really helps to make you more of an analytical person in general.”
“People think are for people that don’t play sports or…just kind of keep to themselves. But I think video games can be for everybody,” says Brett Ross.
Ross is a freshman at Sitka High School, but on the Rocket League field he’s AK Pinecone. And while he may not have his license yet, he’s been driving virtual cars for a while.
“I’ve been playing since I was about six,” Ross says. “I think it was Mario Kart on a Wii. I was as soon as I played that, I was hooked.”
He’s played Rocket League for around four years, honing his skills. Ross also plays baseball, basketball and runs cross country, and he plays other popular video games with his friends. But in Rocket League, he may have found his niche.
“It’s a way to escape real life and a way to, essentially, play your own game that you’re good at,” Ross says. “None of my friends ever really got good at it, so I just felt it was my game. So kept playing. And the community is amazing.”
Coach Earsley says he’s already been talking to Ross about E-Sports opportunities after high school. In addition to coaching the Rocket League team, Earsley is an IT specialist for the school district, but he’s achieved some success in E-Sports of his own. And he knows that there are opportunities out there for students.
“There are places offering scholarships now for things like this,” Earsley says. “It’s getting to be a really big deal. And once you get into college, they have a league of their own, where you’re competing against all other colleges in your area…you start to really run into players that are on the path to being an actual professional player.”
Ross has plenty of time to decide what’s next in his E-Sports journey. Right now, there’s joy and glory to be found just playing the game. Last fall, Ross played in the state championship alongside two teammates – juniors Tyson Delgado (KillaTy) and Dane Refshaw (LivingFlipper).
The seven game series against the Nome Beltz Bois was a nail-biter.
“Those first three matches, we just dominated them,” Delgado says. “What, they got, like, two goals in those three games? And then the next three games…they subbed a person out. And that guy really affected their team because we lost the next three games.”
So it all rode on the seventh game, which went into sudden death overtime. Refshaw says their training went out the window, and the Sitka team fell back on instinct.
From left: LivingFlipper (Dane Refshaw), AK Pinecone (Brett Ross) and KillaTy (Tyson Delgado) are Sitka High School’s first E-Sports state champions. The three won the title in a tight best of seven match against the Nome Beltz Bois. (Photo courtesy of Coach Alex Earsley) “You can’t really concentrate,” says Refshaw. “You’re too nervous. You’re forgetting fundamentals of the game. And then you just get like tunnel vision at the very end.”
The teams were fighting neck and neck in overtime for a full five minutes.
“And then everything’s happening all at once,” Refshaw remembers. “And then the third person in our team, Brett, kind of took it on himself, and just ran it down the field, and just scored it right there. And I think that was pretty good. That’s pretty awesome.”
Ross says winning the game in overtime was surreal. And at the end of the game’s broadcast, commentators Animal and Suplex+ agree.
“I had no idea that we were going to see this level of tier performance. I had no idea that we were going to see this level of competition,” says Animal.
“Holy! Alaska, I didn’t know you were like that!” says Suplex+.
Watch the seven game state championship series between the Sitka Rocket Wolves and the Nome Beltz Bois here.
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Herring season in Sitka is a study in contrasts. Each spring for the last 45 years, large seiners land tons of herring, whose egg sacs are stripped and sold as a delicacy on the international market, often for millions. But the frenzy and money around the commercial sac roe fishery overshadows a far quieter Indigenous fishing tradition that’s taken place for millennia. KCAW recently accompanied a pair of subsistence harvesters in search of one of Sitka Sound’s most valued food resources – herring eggs-on-hemlock branches.
It’s a clear Sunday morning in March and the herring are on the move. Tlk’ Un Yeik Paulette Moreno and Goos’ shu Andrew Roberts are slowly motoring north through Sitka Sound. Their 16-foot yellow boat, nicknamed Tweetybird, is loaded up with five hemlock branches to set today. The traditional Lingít herring egg harvest has begun.
Moreno has been harvesting roe-on-branches for around 15 years; Roberts has been doing it for most of his life.
“This is usually a pretty good spot, where that boat is, right in that little gut, there,” Roberts points to a rocky area on the western side of Middle Island that has been productive in the past.”
“Traditionally, when they start spawning in here, there’ll be 50 to 100 sets in there,” he adds. “This is real popular place.”
They’re cruising along when an announcement from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game comes over VHF radio. The big story of the morning? The first signs of spawn this spring, around two nautical miles, have been spotted near Shoals Point.
The sun is out, but the water is a bit choppy, so Moreno and Roberts may not make it out to Shoals Point, which is about nine miles of open water away from where we are now, on the southeastern tip of Kruzof Island. But they’re not worried, they’ve already set some trees in that area. Moreno says for the last three years she and the Herring Protectors, a local advocacy group, have been setting “protection trees” to call attention to traditional fishing grounds that should be avoided by commercial seining vessels.
“They’re complete sets, and we put them in strategic locations, and then we call Fish and Game and tell them where they’re at,” Moreno says. “We can set where and when we want, and these protection sets are to remind people who pass that area that there are sets out there. And sometimes those sets do really good, but the idea of a protection tree is to do that, to protect the herring and the area.”
They slow their boat down in the lee of Middle Island to wait for the wind to die down. Roberts breaks out a rod and reel and begins to troll for salmon. It’s a delicate waiting game. The window to set branches at just the right time has shrunk in recent years.
“Instead of seeing the spawn for three or four days, we literally are seeing it pass through in four hours,” Moreno says. Unheard of. Unheard of.”
Roberts, who was born and raised in Sitka, says it didn’t used to be that way.
“I have witnessed when it spawned, it was on both South and North end, there was just nothing but solid herring, it was so thick,” Roberts says.
“I’ve seen, as a toddler, when the tide went out, herring would be stuck in the tide pools, because…the sound was so full, there was no place to fish to go,” he continues. “I’ve seen, just in my generation, how plentiful the herring were, and it’s not that way anymore.”
He believes that’s due to years of mismanagement of the commercial fishery. 2022 saw the biggest commercial harvest in Sitka’s history– 25,000 tons, which was just over half of the 45,000 tons the Department of Fish & Game allowed that year. In 2019 and 2020 the market crashed, and there was no commercial fishing at all. Moreno remembers how good those years off were for traditional harvesters.
“It was a year that COVID had just started, and we came through Middle Island. And it was a very calm, beautiful day. It was Native heaven again,” Moreno says. “There were boats and skiffs, and it was calm, it was peaceful. There was spawn everywhere. There was no competition with the commercial fleet, whatsoever. Everybody’s waving and smiling, we’re all putting down our branches.”
Moreno yearns for that undisturbed time on the water. While she’s called for all-out moratoriums of the commercial fishery in the past, and would still like to see that, she suggests a year on and a year off could be a place where traditional harvesters and commercial fishermen could find compromise.
“It would give us as harvesters, a chance to go out undisturbed and be in that Native heaven, you know, that we experience when there are not obstacles and we are closest to our spirit and our way of life. And then it would give the herring a chance to replenish those different years,” Moreno says.
“So yes, every other year I think would be good,” she adds. “But we need help in pursuing it, because the organizations that we have to go to, to try to just bring these things forward, are not always receptive.”
That time out on the water is important to Moreno because traditional harvesting is much more, much deeper than the word “subsistence” suggests.
“And our core is something that we need as a people to survive in the best way possible, because this feeds our spirits. And not only our spirits…there are Alaska Native and Native Alaskans who share this with us, who are hungry for balance in this world, who are hungry for things that matter the most, and this is one of them,” Moreno says. “We need that to be uninhibited. The closer that we are to less barriers and challenges and obstacles just to get the food that we have always eaten…the closer we are to our core.”
“Every barrier that’s put up, that we need to deal with, brings us further from our very soul and our very way of life. And it’s a sacred, beautiful way of life,” she says. “And that’s all we’re asking is to be able to practice that.”
As Roberts and Moreno troll back towards town, over the VHF radio, commercial fishermen let each other know where they’re going next to look for schools of herring. Roberts and Moreno laugh. They can see a big school of herring on their depth sounder just below the boat. But they’ll keep it to themselves today.
“The herring were right there with us,” Moreno said later, as we got off the boat in Sealing Cove. “That’s communication.”
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The power of the Rights of Nature movement is its simplicity: Along with individuals and land owners, nature itself should be able to litigate for damages. This tool has already been adopted by Tribal Governments like the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin. The participants in the Sitka Indigenous Youth Summit wanted to take the Rights of Nature — and other revolutionary ideas — back to their home nations in the Yukon, Cape Cod, Louisiana, and Hawaii. (KCAW/Woolsey)One of the major ideas to emerge from the Enlightenment was that individual humans have rights. In Sitka recently, a group of students from all over the country spent a week exploring how rights might be applied to nature, and what a legal framework respecting those rights might look like.
Surprisingly, this isn’t a group of legal scholars. Most are in high school, all are Indigenous, and all are committed to learning how the Rights of Nature can not only protect natural resources, but also preserve culture.
Britt Gondolfi lecturing, with PowerPoint:
“If you have a legal right, you have three things: One, you can bring a lawsuit on your behalf; two, when you bring that lawsuit, you have the right to have a court assess the injury done to you; and three, you have the right to be given relief from the court.”
In a classroom in Fraser Hall, once a dormitory for the Sheldon Jackson Training School (and later college), a mixture of about 40 mostly high school students and some older students are exploring a formidable new legal concept: The Rights of Nature. In this example, instructor Britt Gondolfi describes a scenario where landowners are suing an upstream polluter. Under current legal theory, those landowners can win damages. But what about the stream itself?
Gondofi continues…
“The Rights of Nature movement is saying, ‘We need to be adding nature to the list of people that are harmed in these kinds of litigation.’ And so in this kind of fictional scenario, the court will assess the injury done to the stream. They’re going to put a value not only on the loss that the landowner and the community has suffered, but they’re going to put a value on what it costs to restore the ecosystem.”
Britt Gondolfi, a former high school teacher-turned law student at Loyola University in New Orleans, walked students through the principles of the Rights of Nature. She explained that tribes are the logical entities to pursue the Rights of Nature because they are sovereign. When other jurisdictions (like cities) have tried to give nature legal “personhood,” they’ve been subject to countersuits. Sovereign tribes, on the other hand, would be immune. (KCAW/Woolsey)Once a high school teacher, Gondolfi is now a third-year law student at Loyola University in New Orleans, and the Rights of Nature project manager for Bioneers, a non-profit environmental advocacy organization.
During the pandemic, local Indigenous rights advocate Yeix Anatsees Tom Gamble gave a lesson on salmon to a Bioneers conference in San Francisco, and that was the genesis of this spring’s summit in Sitka.
Gamble says the Rights of Nature can be grasped by everyone, from a five-year old to a Ph.D.
“And some of our students recognize those rights without us ever having to explain more than ‘You’re an indigenous person, you’re in your own home, tell me what you would protect,’” Gamble said, “and the Rights of Nature just become blatantly clear to all of them.”
Yeix Anatsees Tom Gamble speaks to summit participants during the annual Blessing of Herring Rock in Sitka. After 25 years fighting for Sitka’s herring run, Gamble sees a new path forward in the Rights of Nature, and in educating young people about the possibilities. “Everything that I endured was not passed on to the youth that came to the summit,” he said. “We provided the real atmosphere that I had hoped for. They were safe, and they were learning. They’re empowered to engage their communities. In their own way, shape or form, they’re gonna change the world, and then they’re ready to go eat a hot dog (laughs).” (KCAW/Rose)Today’s lesson is far more than an academic exercise. There won’t be a test, at least not in this room. The test for these students will be taking the ideas home and putting them into practice, to protect their heritage and way of life.
Amaya Balbeuna is a freshman in high school, and a citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts. She’s determined to protect both her community’s herring resource, and what it represents for her culture.
“I grew up going down to the herring run and getting herring with my dad,” she explained. “And when I saw they were dying out – the population was dying because of the cyanobacteria thing we have right now – it was really hurtful to me. And I know my community is hurt by it too. Our belief is the herring represent a new year every time they come. So if the herring stop, life stops for us.”
After Gondolfi’s presentation, the students break into smaller groups, one each for the Wampanoag, the Yukon Llingít, the Hawaiians, and the Houma Nation of Louisiana. Their objective today is to draft a proposed amendment to their tribal ordinances that incorporates the Rights of Nature principle. It’s to be modeled on the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, who have adopted language that reads: “Ecosystems, natural communities, and species.. possess inherent, fundamental, and inalienable rights to naturally exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve. This includes… rights to maintain, recover, and preserve their life cycles, structures, and functions… and rights to the defense, protection, and enforcement of their rights.”
Talia Landry is the adult facilitator for the Mashpee Wampanoag in Cape Cod. She says teaching the Rights of Nature to high school students will help create the long-term commitment needed to see those rights established in law.
“Obviously, we live for the seven generations before and the seven generations after in implementing this concept within the tribal youth now and having them push this along, “ she said. “ It’s going to be their life’s work. So if you implement the youth to do something very strong now, by the time they’re adults the initiative goes all the way forward. So you do have to start with the youth.”
“I got coastal erosion, we lose a football field of land every 40 minutes down there,” said Gabe Barnett, an 11th grader from the Houma Nation in Louisiana. He’s watching his home disappear.
“And it’s due to saltwater intrusion from the oil and gas company because our land is sinking while at the same time, glaciers are melting. And like because of climate change, and the water is rising while the land is sinking. So it’s like double whammy just hitting us hard.”
Each of the four Indigenous groups at the summit has a different issue: For example, the Houma have climate action, the Wampanoag have herring, and the Yukon Lingít have language preservation. But the Rights of Nature is important across cultures. It’s no coincidence that the Indigenous Youth Summit is in Sitka in late March, during the annual herring run in Sitka Sound. No subsistence issue has been more hotly-contested in the region, or actively litigated. The Sitka herring run hasn’t yet been defined as a Right of Nature, but it’s a likely candidate. The group learned about Sitka’s millennia-old relationship to herring from Tom Gamble and tribal elders during a field trip to the Blessing of Herring Rock, in downtown Sitka.
Yeix Anatsees Tom Gamble at Herring Rock…
“We call it speaks Lingít, ‘We’re gonna save it for our grandchildren.’ So some of the kids that aren’t even here yet, they’re not even born, are going to come back in 100 years, and you’re laying the foundation, the very first foundation, to make sure that our lives will be protected forever.”
There are other activities that give the Indigenous Youth Summit a bit of a summer camp feel – a tour of a hatchery and the Raptor Center, and a trip out on the water to harvest herring eggs. But there is an intensity to this education that can’t be overstated. The students huddle around their laptops and legal amendments like collegiate basketball teams in a championship game. The Rights of Nature won’t be won overnight. There’s got to be a strategy.
This is Houma 11th grader Gabe Barnett again.
“What we can do about it is people need to wake up to it,” he said. “More than anything people need to realize what’s happening.”
Yeix Anatsees Tom Gamble has been at the center of conflict over herring in Sitka for a long time. He believes the Rights of Nature represents a new path forward for him, and everyone who follows.
“A quarter of a century of fighting,” Gamble said. “I did not want that fight to be passed along to our youth. What we wanted to do is to hand them the tools necessary to conserve, protect, and to peacefully resolve their issues, in harmony with all the groups that need them.”
Gamble says a 2024 Indigenous Youth Summit is already being planned.
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It’s not always about baskets or headbands: Churchill showed her students how to weave these yellow cedar bark “flowers” on the last day of her classes at Pacific High in Sitka. (Mark Sixbey/UAS)Students in Sitka recently had an opportunity to study cedar bark basketry with one of the masters of the art.
Holly Churchill, who is following in the footsteps of her mother, famed Haida weaver Delores Churchill, taught art classes at the Sitka campus of the University of Alaska Southeast in March. Students from Pacific High School also attended, for dual credit toward college.
KCAW reporter-at-large Kari Sagel dropped by one of the classes and discovered that weaving is a quiet art, but one with lifetime benefits. She sent this audio postcard.
UAS art professor Mark Sixbey says Churchill’s class was so popular that he plans to invite the Ketchikan artist back to Sitka in the fall.
Instructor Holly Churchill says the lessons of basketry include patience: Sometimes work has to be undone and redone in order to move forward — a lesson for life. (Mark Sixbey/UAS)The post Audio postcard: Cedar bark basketry class a lesson in art, and in life appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Trial Courts ramped back up to speed this spring. A Sitka Grand Jury met several times over the last two months, ultimately indicting five Sitkans on a range of felony charges from drugs to tampering with evidence.
44-year-old Michael Souza was arrested at the Rocky Gutierrez Airport on March 18 after he deplaned flight 67. According to court documents, Sitka Police Officers Jayson Christner and Parker White, after obtaining a search warrant, allegedly found around 8 grams of white powder hidden in a jar of peanut butter. That powder later tested positive for cocaine. Police later found a package mailed through the United States Postal Service to Souza with around 11 grams of cocaine. According to a press release from the department around $24,000 dollars worth of cocaine was recovered in the bust.
On March 30, Souza was indicted on two counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree, a Class B felony.
Earlier in the month, two Sitkans were indicted on drug charges involving around $42,000 dollars worth of fentanyl pills. According to a police affidavit, on March 7, Sitka Police obtained a warrant to search a home on Brady Street occupied by 38-year-old Sheena Marie Vaughn and 42-year-old Jenny Lounsbury. Police found around 850 round, blue pills presumed to be fentanyl, and 19 grams of methamphetamine along with other drug paraphernalia.
On March 16, Vaughn and Lounsbury were indicted on one felony count each of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the first degree, for allegedly delivering drugs to a person under 19-years-old. They were also both indicted for one count of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree, a Class A felony, and in the fourth degree, a Class C felony. Lounsbury was indicted for an additional count of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree.
Also in March, a Sitka Grand Jury indicted 40-year-old David Skultka for violating conditions of release for a 2022 DUI arrest, a Class B misdemeanor.
And in February, Sitka’s grand jury only indicted one Sitkan, 45-year-old Sarah Smith, for allegedly interfering with a police investigation. On January 1, police officers pulled over a Sitka driver and began a DUI investigation after spotting a Cook’s champagne bottle and several cans of White Claw on the floor. According to court documents, the driver became combative during the investigation. While officers were attempting to restrain the driver, Smith allegedly approached the driver’s vehicle and attempted to remove the champagne bottle. It was recovered by police in the grass about 15 feet away.
Smith was indicted on count of tampering with evidence, a Class C felony.
Trial dates for all defendants facing felony charges have been scheduled in the coming months.
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(KCAW/Berett Wilber) Developing a community-wide renewable energy strategy is the top priority for Sitka’s new Sustainability Commission. The recently-formed commission is all-volunteer, but it has its own staff member in City Hall. They also plan to investigate opportunities to divert Sitka’s waste stream, which is currently barged off-island, and electrify the city’s fleet of vehicles.
The Sitka Assembly approved the commission’s goals at its last meeting.
The Sustainability Commission is the newest city commission, a permanent iteration of the Climate Action Task Force, which disbanded last fall. It advises the assembly with the long-term goals of improving the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the city. The volunteer commission also has the help of a new city staffer, a sustainability coordinator position that was created last year.
Commission Chair Katie Riley said in presenting the group’s annual plan to the assembly, she hoped to move away from some of the buzzwords around sustainability, and toward more concrete and realistic steps.
“Some of the things we’re looking at [are] how to pursue infrastructure and capital improvement projects with an eye towards future needs and demands. How we’re working with our municipal utility to be able to determine and meet the growing demand for electricity from residents and businesses as we transition to a clean energy future, and also how we’re finding ways to help the city save money and wisely steward our resources, whether they be natural resources, financial resources or energy resources and make Sitka a more self-sufficient community,” Riley said.
View the Sustainability Commission’s work plan for 2023-2024 here
Riley said for the last five months, the commission has been working to narrow down its goals for the next year, from around 20 to three: the first and top priority is to develop a community renewable energy strategy. Riley said the commission hopes to secure a federal grant ETIPP, or Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project, to fund that process.
The second is to look at options for diverting the city’s solid waste, the bulk of which is currently shipped out of town to a landfill in Eastern Washington. And the commission’s third goal is to develop a plan to transition the city’s fleet of vehicles to electric.
During public comment Leah Mason voiced support for the commission’s priorities for next year. She also said she hoped they would undertake a new greenhouse emissions study as part of the community energy strategy that looked into transportation into and out of Sitka .
“Electric passenger vehicles are a small but important part of this equation, and I support the idea that the city can reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions through making changes to its own vehicle pool,” Mason said. “However, it’s also important to begin the longer term work of facilitating transitions for other very critical elements of life as we know it in Sitka. Retaining the services of barges, ferries and the fishing fleet in a carbon neutral world underpins the sustainability of this community in the long term.”
Assembly member Crystal Duncan said she supported the commission’s plan, but worried about how lofty their goals were for the upcoming year.
“Goal one, goal two, and goal three all seem huge. And I really appreciated the commission intensity that you wrote into that, and you guys were very realistic,” Duncan said. “For all three goals, I saw that there was a high intensity required, and not only of the commission, but also staff. And you broke it up by quarter, but it’s high intensity this entire first year. You guys are volunteers. You’re passionate, but I just am worried about three large scale goals.”
Riley said the commission didn’t expect to knock out all three goals by the end of next year, and what doesn’t get finished would roll over into the next year’s plan.
Assembly member Tim Pike voiced support for the plan. He said he was glad the goals were “ranked” by importance, but also noted that they’ll take some time.
“I have been part of organizations where we tried to eat the herd of elephants, instead of just an elephant…if we pull ourselves too thin, we’re not going to get much accomplished,” Pike said.
“I think your first goal is, is probably a really good start, and build some success and then work our way down through the rest of them,” Pike said. “We’re not going to get through them in a year…I like what I see. But you got the herd out there.”
The assembly approved the sustainability commission’s goals for 2023 and 2024 unanimously.
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Homer Police Lt. Ryan Browning will be in Sitka to give a presentation called “Parenting in the Digital Age,” 6 p.m. Friday, April 7 at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi. Browning developed his program in response to a couple of recent cases he investigated in Homer, involving adult predatory behavior on young girls, and attempted suicide. This presentation urges dialog with kids, rather than trying to monitor their behavior through apps or software. Local parent Mary Suminski (herself a parent of two teens) coordinates the event, with sponsorship of the Sitka Elks Lodge.
The post ‘Parenting in the Digital Age’: Dialog and education can help protect children from online abuse appeared first on KCAW.
Seiners caught around 650 tons of fish in the first opening of the Sitka Sound Sac Roe herring fishery on Tuesday (5-28-23).
According to a press release from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the fishery was open on Tuesday for a little over an hour in the waters of Deep Inlet, Aleutkina Bay, and Leesoffskaia Bay.
The fishery was open for just over an hour on Tuesday, and opened again for an hour on Wednesday in Sitka Sound, along the eastern side of Kruzof Island. Estimates from Wednesday’s opening won’t be available until Thursday.
During Tuesday’s aerial survey, a little over 10 nautical miles of herring spawn was seen on the southern and southeastern Kruzof Island shoreline from Cape Edgecumbe to Shoals Point and Fred’s Creek. On Wednesday, just over 8 nautical miles of spawn were observed in the same areas, and at St. Lazaria Island.
The fishery has been on two-hour notice since last Thursday.
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KTOO’s “Sitka Herring: A Tale of Two Harvests” was filmed last year, and explores the contrasts between the commercial and subsistence harvests of herring in the Sound. (KTOO image capture)Courtney MacArthur is the lead support specialist for the Title III grant team at UAS Sitka, which provides support for historically underserved student populations like first-generation college students, Native students, and working parents. Xéetl’ee Katelyn Stiles is a term assistant professor of Indigenous Studies, who is developing new courses and curricula, like the Herring Egg Harvest Apprenticeship. The pair are co-hosting a “Herring Film Night” and potluck, 5-7 p.m. Thursday, March 30, in Room 229 (the big room upstairs), which will feature the world premiere of Sitka Herring: A Tale of Two Harvests, produced by KTOO TV in Juneau. All are welcome, with or without food.
The post ‘Herring Film Night’ and potluck set at UAS this Thursday appeared first on KCAW.
(ALFA Photo) The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) and Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT) are inviting community and tribal leaders, organizations, fishermen, and others to share via a new Seafood Donation Network Inquiry online form, whether they are struggling with access to local seafood or have seafood that they would be willing to contribute to families in need. Their invitation is part of ALFA and ASFT’s Seafood Donation Network, which was created in March 2020 as a program of ALFA but has since evolved into a statewide network of communities, organizations, businesses, and fishermen concerned about seafood insecurity in Alaska.
Natalie Sattler and Linda Behnken joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton in the studio to discuss the program.
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(KCAW/Tash Kimmel) Note: Opinions expressed in commentary on KCAW are those of the author, and are not necessarily shared by the station’s board, staff, or volunteers.There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children. – Nelson Mandela
Governor Dunleavy recently announced House Bill 105, which, on the surface, is intended to expand parental rights in education. But what it actually does is strip schools of their ability to educate, affirm, and protect trans and gender non-conforming youth who cannot safely share their identity with their families. It is the Governor’s contribution to a wave of transphobic legislation targeting LGBTQIA+ youth across the nation, and the effect is simple: targeting LGBTQIA+ children in Alaska and the spaces where they feel safe.
If passed, HB 105 would require school employees to notify parents in writing if a student requests to be called by pronouns or a name that differs from those assigned at birth. In short, educators must choose between forcibly outing students and facing legal action (including the potential loss of employment). Outing someone against their will doesn’t just violate their legally-protected right to privacy; it also puts them at risk of hostility, rejection, and even violence from their parents or guardians. The governor seems to be using his previous experience as an educator to justify this bill, stating that “Research shows that involving families more in a child’s education leads to better relationships and improved educational outcomes for students, and this bill will do just that.” He has conveniently ignored the fact that research also shows that the presence of just one supportive adult figure in an LGBTQIA+ child’s life reduces suicide attempts by 40%. Many LGBTQIA+ youths have reason to fear their parents’ or guardians’ reaction to their gender identity or sexuality, and this bill ensures that they will find no safety at school either.
Under this bill, parents would also need to provide written permission for their children to participate in any educational programs or classes involving sexual education and reproductive health. Again, the governor is risking the health and safety of Alaskan children in order to further his anti-LGBTQIA+ agenda. Comprehensive, age-appropriate sex education programs play a crucial role in keeping children safe. Studies have shown that these programs reduce rates of sexual activity, risky sexual behaviors, STIs, and unwanted pregnancy among youth, while also equipping younger children with the knowledge necessary to prevent, recognize, and report sexual abuse. And yes, they also teach age-appropriate information on sexual expression, orientation, and gender identity, equipping all children with the tools to understand their own identity, whatever that may be. As with all of the provisions in this bill, children from marginalized communities and those living in unsafe homes will suffer the most.
Finally, the bill requires that students in Alaskan schools use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to the sex recorded on their birth certificate, rather than to their gender identity. Again the governor wants us to believe that he is motivated by concerns for student safety or privacy, and again it is clear that his true motivation is ignorance, misinformation, and fear. Trans students do not pose a risk to their classmates, inside the bathroom or out of it, and this provision will force them to either reveal private medical information to their peers and teachers or risk breaking the rules and being punished and forcibly outed. This is an impossible choice for children who already face heightened risks of harassment and abuse from both their peers and adults.
All children deserve to feel safe and protected in school. It is our duty as Alaskans to stand up for the most vulnerable among us and to fight this bill at every step.
References:
The Trevor Project: Accepting Adults Reduce Suicide Attempts among LGBTQ Youth
ACLU: LGBTQ+ Youth and Outing
AGOG: Comprehensive Sexuality Education
ACLU Anti-Trans Bathroom Bills Have Nothing to Do With Privacy and Everything to Do with Fear and Hatred
The post Commentary: HB 105 puts Alaska’s LGBTQ+ youth at risk. We must fight it at every step appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Assembly continued to chip away at the city’s budget for next fiscal year at a special meeting on Thursday (3-23-23). The assembly discussed the city’s enterprise fund budgets, with a focus on the city’s capital projects planned for next year and beyond.
City Finance Director Melissa Haley presented an overview the city’s utilities and internal service funds to the assembly, outlining funding plans for major projects and infrastructure repairs. Some of the big ticket items include long-planned rehabbing of the Green Lake Dam, a solid waste compactor that’s being installed at the city’s transfer station this spring, and a new $7.7 million disinfection system the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will soon require for the city’s wastewater plant.
Each utility fund will see rate increases next fiscal year, ranging from a 3% jump in electric rates, to 8.5% for wastewater rates. According to Haley, for an average Sitka household that uses electric heat, all of the rate increases would total around $310 extra dollars a year.
View Haley’s presentation here
The four assembly members present supported the rate increases as proposed by staff. Deputy Mayor Kevin Mosher explained why he would approve the rate increases, as is.
“Obviously, there are increases to our enterprises funds. This has been happening every year for the past several years. Just want to give the history: there were not any rate increases for many, many years, and that put us behind on our capital improvement funds,” Mosher said. “We had a huge increase several years ago, but now it’s just trying to maintain inflationary rate increases.”
“I have confidence that this is the best that we can do, under the circumstances, to make sure we have the funds to continue making sure that the things that we need in town are functioning like plumbing, sewage, water, all these things that we rely on for basic services,” Mosher said.
On May 9, the assembly will review the final draft budget for FY24.
While the assembly didn’t tweak the plans for rate increases, it did make one new recommendation to city staff. At a work session last week, Visit Sitka, an arm of the Sitka Chamber of Commerce that holds the contract for the city’s visitor services, requested a bigger budget for next year– $665,000. But the assembly agreed to keep funding Visit Sitka at the same amount – $525,000.
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On Saturday, March 25, from 8:30-11:30 a.m. the Sitka Sound Science Center will host its annual Food Web Cruise. During this morning of learning and discovery, naturalists will share their knowledge of our rich and interconnected ecosystem while guests enjoy a light breakfast. Tiffany Pearson and Matt Goff joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the event:
Proceeds from this event support Sitka WhaleFest. Tickets are available at Old Harbor Books or SitkaScience.org
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(Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fentanyl_patch_packages.jpg) Tuck Harry is the executive director of the Alaska Academy for Drug Abuse Prevention– which trains young people in how to become drug abuse prevention specialists. He joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the opioid and fentanyl crisis in the state, and one particularly dangerous drug that goes by the street name ISO or tranq. Listen to their conversation here:
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Sitka school superintendent Steve Bradshaw photographed in 2014. (KCAW file photo/Robert Woolsey)Former Sitka School District superintendent Steve Bradshaw is returning to the job.
After a two-and-a-half hour executive session on Monday (3-20-23), the Sitka School Board unanimously voted to hire Bradshaw as interim superintendent, without discussion.
Bradshaw comes to the role with over 40 years of education experience in Alaska and Montana. He most recently worked as superintendent for Columbia Falls School District in Montana. He was Sitka’s superintendent for 13 years, and served as Sitka High School’s principal for three.
Bradshaw was one of two applicants the board interviewed to replace Sitka’s current Superintendent Frank Hauser, who submitted his resignation in February, effective June 30.
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The Sitka Sound Sac Roe herring fishery will go on two-hour notice on Thursday morning (3-23-23). That means at any time after that, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game can announce a fishery opening with two hours warning.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Monday conducted aerial surveys of Sitka Sound from Cape Burunof to St. Lazaria Island. According to a press release from the department, no spawn or herring schools were observed during their flights.
Herring predators were widely dispersed, but groups of humpback whales were observed near Inner Point, north of Middle Island, and south of Galankin Island. Groups of sea lions were observed near Inner Point, Mountain Point, and Bieli Rock. Department and industry vessels surveyed from Indian River to Deep Inlet and from Inner Point to Mountain Point.
From boats, several herring schools were observed from Indian River to Deep Inlet and from Inner Point to Mountain Point, as well as southeast of Big Gavanski Island.
Two test sets were conducted from department and industry vessels to assess the maturity of the fish. The fishery targets the herring’s eggs known as roe, which are sold internationally. A test set of herring pulled from South Galankin Island showed fish with around 3 and a half percent mature roe, at an average weight of 129 grams. Mature roe for a test set pulled near Mountain Point was much lower, at point two percent, with the fish weighing around 90 grams on average. In order to open the fishery, state managers want to see fish with at least 10 percent mature roe.
The state’s research vessel, the Kestrel, will arrive in Sitka on Wednesday morning and immediately conduct a vessel survey.
Last year, the guideline harvest level for the fishery was 45,000 tons, but fishermen only caught around 25,000. That was still the highest harvest on record. The guideline harvest level for this year’s fishery is set at 30,000 tons.
The fishery and its management have been under scrutiny for years. In 2018 the Sitka Tribe of Alaska sued the state over management of the fishery. That case was settled in 2021, but in December of last year, attorneys for STA called for a reversal of the superior court’s ruling before the Alaska Supreme Court. The court is expected to issue a written decision on the Tribe’s appeal sometime this year.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will hold a fishery meeting from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday (3-21-23) on Zoom. The meeting is open to the public. Find a link to attend the meeting here.
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(Photo provided by Mork for KCAW’s 2022 Election Coverage) Sitka school board member Mitch Mork is stepping down from his seat on the board, due to scheduling conflicts.
Mork was appointed to the school board last summer to fill a vacant seat and won a new three-year term in this fall’s municipal elections.
In an email to KCAW, Mork said that conflicting obligations during typical board meeting times were a big factor in his decision to resign.
“Over the last 6 months, I was often left with the choice of working with kids directly or working with the school board to benefit kids. Initially, I chose the school board but felt terrible canceling events for kids. Since the board understands the benefits of working with kids directly, I began to choose working with kids. The board would try to schedule around these activities but this was a struggle,” Mork wrote.
“Although we normally found a way to squeeze time between events, we often had to delay meetings or allow me to leave early/arrive late. On many occasions this resulted in all or part of meetings occurring without me,” he continued. “I am stepping down so someone with less conflicting obligations during the school board’s busy season can do a better job supporting the team’s efforts.”
The Sitka School Board has begun meeting more often this winter as it starts its search to replace Superintendent Frank Hauser who submitted his resignation in February, effective at the end of June. The board is also reckoning with the prospect of layoffs as it weathers a budget crunch.
The board accepted Mork’s resignation last night (3-20-23) after it met in an executive session to discuss next steps in the superintendent hiring process.
The board will be accepting letters of interest for Mork’s seat through Monday, March 27 until 4 p.m. The candidates will be announced on March 28, and will be interviewed at the regular school board meeting on April 5. The appointed candidate will serve on the board until the October 3 election.
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Around 1 p.m. Saturday, Coast Guard responded to a vessel that had overturned at the entrance to Crescent Harbor. The F/V Ocean Cape was refloated Monday morning. No injuries were reported in the accident. (USCG Photo) A fishing vessel that overturned just outside of a Sitka harbor this weekend was refloated early Monday morning (3-20-23).
Around 1 p.m. on Saturday (3-18-23), the Coast Guard responded to a vessel that had capsized at the entrance to Crescent Harbor in downtown Sitka. Coast Guard Marine Science Technician Allysia Helton was at the scene. She said all four passengers on the F/V Ocean Cape managed to quickly get off the boat. No injuries were reported.
“There were quite a few members of the community that were there on scene immediately after it happened, and they helped the crew get off the vessel and make sure everything was okay,” Helton says. “And throughout the response we had lots of community members that came to the site to help out where they could. It was a really good show of small town support.”
By the time the Coast Guard arrived, the crew of the Ocean Cape was already working with a local marine salvage operator. Helton says Hanson Maritime worked to secure the boat’s fuel vents and contain spilled fuel and oil with floating booms.
“The crews continued throughout the day to remove fuel from the tanks at low tide, and they were able to recover approximately 800 gallons of oil and oily water from the vessel between Saturday and Sunday,” Helton says.
The boat was refloated early Monday morning and returned to its stall at Crescent Harbor, with some damage to its hull that’s still being assessed. The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but Helton said weather conditions likely played a role.
“Saturday was pretty windy,” Helton says. “From what we’ve been told it sounds like the wind played a pretty significant role in the vessel rolling over to its side.”
The F/V Ocean Cape is owned by fisherman Chris Ystad, who also serves on the Sitka Assembly. In an email to KCAW, Ystad expressed his appreciation for everyone who offered assistance at the scene and with the salvage operation.
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Rhiannon Guevin (center) plays Amélie in Sitka Community Theater’s upcoming musical production, directed by Sotera Perez, with musical direction from Andrew Hames (Photo courtesy of Shannon Haugland) “Amélie is an extraordinary young woman who lives quietly in the world but loudly in her mind. She covertly improvises small but surprising acts of kindness that bring joy and mayhem. But when a chance at love comes her way, Amélie realizes that to find happiness she’ll have to risk everything and say what’s in her heart.”
Performer Keith Greinier and producer Shannon Haugland joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton (who has a role to play, herself) to discuss the musical, based on the 2001 romantic comedy of the same name. Listen to their conversation here:
Sitkans have three chances to catch Amélie The Musical: 7 p.m. on Friday March 24 and Saturday March 25, and 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Performing Arts Center. The show contains adult material and references. Those with questions can call 907-738-0602. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $10 for students and seniors at Old Harbor Books, at fineartscamp.org and at the door.
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Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with an alleged armed robbery in downtown Sitka late Saturday night.
Shortly before midnight on Saturday (3-18-23), 19-year-old John Brannon Horner-Raffaele and an unnamed 17-year-old allegedly entered Ernie’s Saloon on Lincoln Street and attempted to steal the DJ’s tip jar.
According to court documents, the 17-year-old entered the bar through the back door wearing a ski mask, while Horner-Raffaele waited in the back alley armed with a handgun. The juvenile allegedly grabbed the cash from the DJ’s tip jar and ran. Two bar patrons chased them to the intersection of American and Race Street in an attempt to recover the money. At that point Horner-Raffaele brandished a handgun at one of the patrons, before the pair fled the scene, according to a sworn statement by Sitka Police Sergeant Lance Ewers.
Ewers located the alleged robbers on Oja Street walking toward Baranof Elementary School. Ewers arrested the 17-year-old, but Horner-Raffaele remained on the loose until a community tip led to his arrest around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Around 1 a.m., police obtained a warrant to search the home where the 17-year-old was living. They found an orange backpack with cash from the bar — a $20 and a $10 dollar bill, both ripped and unusable, and a $1 dollar bill. Bar manager Peter Menendez told police that they put their ripped and damaged money inside the tip jar to encourage people to add cash to the pot.
Horner-Raffaele pleaded not guilty in Sitka Superior Court on Monday (3-20-23). He was charged with one count of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, a Class A felony, and one count of assault in the third degree for causing fear of injury with a weapon, a Class C felony.
No one was injured, according to a statement from bar manager Menendez on the Ernie’s Saloon Facebook page. Menendez thanked Sitka Police for their fast response.
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Predators spotted during ADF&G’s aerial survey on Monday (3-20-23). You can find up-to-date aerial survey information from ADF&G here. The Sitka Sound Sac Roe herring fishery isn’t kicking off just yet. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has been conducting aerial surveys of fish over the last week in preparation for the fishery, but so far they haven’t spotted any spawn or mature roe.
During their first aerial survey of Sitka Sound on Monday (3-13-23) they noticed some unusual activity- a large number of whales in the shallow waters east of Kruzof Island. Speaking with KCAW on Friday (3-17-23) Area Management Biologist Aaron Dupuis said that’s much more common toward the end of the month, not at the beginning of spawning season.
“Pretty exciting couple of hours until we got out on the water and we were able to get a test set of fish to see what they look like, to see if they were maturing enough to put the fishery on two-hour notice. But when the test results came back, it was 0% mature row,” Dupuis said.
“So why [were] those fish there? That’s anybody’s guess right now,” Dupuis added. “I suspect, we had that week and half of beautiful sunny weather that might have had something to do with it. Or the whales just carved off a big chunk of the biomass and pushed them up into the shallow waters and were working on them.”
The department conducted aerial surveys on Tuesday and Wednesday, and noticed the whales were pretty much staying in the same area. But by the time they got up in the plane on Friday (3-17-23), the whales had dissipated.
“All those fish that were up on the shallows, there were a few big schools in Hayward straight and off of Inner Point. But by and large, most of those had shifted off into the deep water,” Dupuis said.
“But we did see east of the Siginakas between Lisianski Point and Dog Point, there’s a fairly large biomass of fish in that area. And we did get a test sample off those fish today [Friday],” Dupuis said. “And again, it was 0% mature roe. So we still got some time. We got time.”
Herring predators were still seen along the Kruzof Island shoreline from Inner Point to Kamenoi Point during aerial surveys on Saturday and Sunday, but humpback whales have begun to be observed between Bieli Rock and Makhnati Island and south of Whale Island. A large concentration of sea lions was observed near Inner Point during both surveys.
The fishery won’t go on two hour notice until it looks like the mature herring have separated out from the rest of the population and have an 8 to 9% mature roe content.
Dupuis says with a 30,000 ton guideline harvest level there will likely be more herring available than the fleet can catch. That means this year’s fishery will likely be noncompetitive like the last two years. He estimates that around five processors and 28 or 29 vessels will participate in this year’s fishery.
You can find updated herring mapping data collected by ADF&G on their website here.
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Daily Sitka Sentinel sports editor Garland Kennedy joins KCAW’s Robert Woolsey to talk about the successes of Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe high schools in the Eastern Conference basketball tournament held last week. Kennedy also shares some phenomenal news about a former Mt. Edgecumbe wrestler, Sydnee Kimber.
Listen to their conversation here:
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Brooke Mulligan (r.) confers with her attorney, Lisa Rosano, during sentencing in Sitka Superior Court on March 14, 2023. Mulligan will serve four years total for criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of the accident. Mulligan was remanded into the custody of the Department of Corrections at the conclusion of the hearing, and transported to Hiland Mountain Correctional Center. (KCAW/Woolsey)A Sitka woman will spend four years in prison for hitting and killing a bicyclist with her car just over two years ago.
In court last August, 21-year old Brooke Mulligan pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the death of 20-year old Terry Carlson, Jr. At her sentencing on Tuesday (3-14-23), the court suggested that her actions at the time of the incident were, at best, approaching the more serious charge of manslaughter, and at worst were inhumane.
Please note the content of this story may be inappropriate for some audiences.
The short version of the story is grim: Brooke Mulligan, then 19-years old, possibly coming off a methamphetamine high from the previous evening, drove down Halibut Point Road at 6 a.m. on March 8, 2021, swerved across the centerline and hit a 20-year old bicyclist, Terry Carlson, Jr., head-on with her Jeep. Without stopping or getting out to check on Carlson, she turned around and drove to her father’s house where she attempted to conceal incriminating evidence. The collision was witnessed by other motorists, and police located Mulligan about an hour later, and she denied involvement. Carlson’s injuries were so traumatic he could not be medevaced to a larger hospital, and he soon died at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center surrounded by shocked and grieving family.
The long story won’t be told, at least not in criminal court, as Mulligan’s change of plea last August averted a lengthy trial – where perhaps we would have learned more about Terry Carlson, Jr., beyond the terrible way he died. During Mulligan’s sentencing, many of Carlson’s family spoke, painting a portrait of him through their grief – none more powerfully than his older brother Tyler Carlson.
“I’ve had so much anger built up towards you and your family,” said Carlson. “I wanted you to suffer. I wanted you to be left alone for dead like you did to Terry. It took a long time for me to get past that feeling. But deep down, I know it’s not what Terry would want. It wasn’t who he was and would want me to be. All Terry ever wanted was to be loved and accepted. And that built in him giving heart. He always wanted those around him to be happy. He’s not vengeful or spiteful. And though every part of me wants to be, I choose not to be and honor him in that way.”
In the aftermath of the incident, Mulligan was arrested, arraigned, and jailed on $500,000 bail. Her mother posted bail six months later, and Mulligan has been under her third-party guardianship since then – which, in a small town, only fueled resentment toward her. By pleading guilty, Mulligan finally admitted to the crime. During sentencing, she offered what apology she could for conduct that many would consider unforgivable.
“I understand that saying sorry doesn’t even begin to cut it,” she said. “And there’s nothing I can say or do to make up for what I’ve done. I realize that I cannot change your perception of me or the feelings you may have for me. What I did was wrong and unforgivable. But it’s important to me that you know my truth. I’m only 21 years old. And at the time of this tragedy, I was only 19. Unfortunately, at the time, I was a chronic drug user and at the peak of my addiction. I was in a very dark place. I had tried to go to rehab before to seek help. But my addiction was too strong and it had consumed me. I can tell you, I’m not proud of the person I was or the decisions I made. I wish that I was able to pull myself out of my addiction before I drastically and permanently altered all of our lives. And especially Terry’s life.”
Mulligan agreed to a plea deal that will have her serve eight years with five suspended for criminally negligent homicide, five years with four suspended for leaving the scene of an accident and failing to render aid. She’ll serve the terms consecutively, for a total of four years, with one day off for every two days of good behavior. After getting out of prison, she’ll be on probation for eight years. Assistant District Attorney Amy Fenske explained that this was the high end of the punishment for the charges, although she acknowledged that many would think it insufficient – possibly herself included. “In Alaska, you just don’t leave people,” she said, referring to Mulligan’s flight from the scene.
Superior Court Judge Jude Pate also wanted to hold Mulligan to account. Had the case gone to trial, he would have had a hard time accepting the argument that she was out of her head when she struck Carlson. He said her immediate attempts to flee and dispose of incriminating evidence – and her refusal to speak with police when they arrived at her father’s house – indicated “a guilty mind.” He said that the type of criminally negligent homicide Mulligan admitted to “was actually closer to manslaughter, which is a more serious type of crime.”
Pate also described the scope of the loss, not just for Carlson’s family, but for everyone.
“And she took from Sitka, by all accounts, a happy, healthy, joyous person – a young man,” Pate said. “He wasn’t perfect. But he was vibrant and best I could tell, he grew up being an important part of the Sitka community.”
Pate said the crime had a “sinister ripple effect,” and had produced not just a distrust of the criminal justice system, but lasting harm to the members of Carlson’s family, who have attended hearing after hearing the last two years, seeking justice for their son, grandson, brother, and cousin.
“This act – this killing – has ripped the fabric of Sitka’s community in the most deep and harmful way,” said Pate. “And it will take years for it to mend, if it ever does.”
Pate denied Mulligan’s request to fly to Anchorage with her mother the following morning to enter the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center. Instead, she was remanded into the custody of a Department of Corrections officer on the spot, handcuffed, and taken to the Sitka jail to await transport.
A civil lawsuit against Mulligan filed by the estate of Terry Carlson, Jr. is pending. Additionally, her father 72-year old Richard Mulligan is awaiting trial in June on one felony count of tampering with physical evidence.
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Ellen Frankenstein, with ArtChange, Inc. discusses upcoming collaborations with Lingít culture bearer Chuck Miller, who teases the return of Haa Léelk’u Hás Haa Éet Aawlitoo.át (“Our Grandparents Teachings”) on KCAW. In another ArtChange, Inc. collaboration, Alyssa Russel and Laura Tierman with the Salty Spoke Bike Co-op, will join with Frankenstein to produce a storytelling event — “Dream Cycles” — Tuesday, March 21, at Harbor Mountain Brewing. Doors open at 6 p.m., stories begin at 7. “Dream Cycles” will also be broadcast live over KCAW.
The post ‘Our Grandparents Teachings’ to return to air; ‘Dream Cycles’ storytelling benefit set for March 21 appeared first on KCAW.
(KCAW/ROSE) A new task force will now tackle tourism in Sitka. The Sitka Assembly on Tuesday/last night (3-14-23), approved the creation of a new “tourism task force” meant to investigate and plan for the city’s approach as it prepares for increased cruise traffic in 2023 and beyond.
A short-term tourism plan drafted by the Sitka Planning Commission got the city through a record-breaking cruise season in 2022. But that plan was always intended as a stop gap — and now the torch is being passed. Over the next year, a new “tourism task force” will dive into everything from land use regulations and waterfront development, to how many cruise passengers Sitka can reasonably handle…The ultimate goal? To develop a long-term tourism management strategy for a city that’s expecting more than 500,000 cruise visitors this summer– the most it’s ever seen by a wide-margin.
To the nine-member group, the assembly will appoint one representative from the “downtown business corridor” one member representing tours and attractions, one representing business in general, one from the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal, and two at-large members. The Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Port and Harbors Commission, and Sustainability Commission will each appoint one member to the task force as well.
Only one person commented on the resolution to establish a task force. Richard Wein said the business and tourism industry interests were too heavily represented.
“I think that they should increase the number of community members at-large to at least four, to have some parity with business,” Wein said. “Clearly, what businesses want is more business, and they’re interested parties, and they may not have the view of the regular run-of-the-mill citizen.”
Assembly member Chris Ystad said they’d heard from a handful of Sitkans who felt similarly. But they’d received an equal amount of support for more industry representation on the task force.
“And considering I’ve had complaints about how the seats are favored one way or the other, from both sides, I feel like we’ve met a good equilibrium, or at least close, because no one’s happy. And I think that that’s a good place to be,” Ystad said. “You know, hopefully, with that we get good discussion and some good, interesting results.”
And assembly member Tim Pike said he felt all of the representatives on the task force would be “Sitkans” first.
“And then they fill other roles in our community,” Pike said. “And I think they all have the best interest of Sitka at heart. That’s my belief. And I think this taskforce will bear that out.”
Assembly member Thor Christianson thought there would be limits to what the task force could do, but it would be busy, nevertheless:
“It’ll be good for, I guess, doing what the short term plan did, which is figuring out where we can do better,” Christianson said. “But as far as addressing levels of tourism in Sitka, I don’t think, honestly, it’ll have the power to do much about that. But there’s going to be constant work talking about things…everything from the crosswalks we talked about tonight, to what levels we close downtown, or do we close downtown?” he added, and said that it would be good to take that work off of the Planning Commission’s plate.
With little debate, the assembly voted unanimously to establish the task force. It must appoint the nine members by the end of April. The task force then has a year until it makes its final recommendations to the assembly, which could include establishing a permanent tourism commission.
In other business on Tuesday night (3-14-23), the Sitka Assembly authorized the city administrator to apply for two federal pass-through grants to fund crosswalks and road improvements on Harbor Drive and Raptor Way.
If the city scores grants from the Transportation Alternatives Program, it would fund a $1.7 million dollar project on Raptor Way, with a 9% match from the state DOT and a 5% match from the city, around $86,000.
The second grant application, if selected, would fund a $1.5 million dollar crosswalk on Harbor Drive, including a 9% match from the state and a 5% match from the city- around $75,000. The high price tag was estimated by the DOT, and includes design and construction- both of which will be administered by the state.
The assembly also went behind closed doors at the end of the meeting to discuss four lawsuits in which the city is a defendant. The assembly spent just under an hour in executive session, and when it returned, Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said that the assembly had received some updates on “some long standing cases that may have some progress” and one new case from the city attorney, but disclosed no further details.
Court records show that three of the cases involve the former city-owned Sitka Community Hospital. Two are civil cases against former Sitka Community Hospital doctor Richard McGrath, who pleaded guilty to sexual assault earlier this month. The third lawsuit was brought by Kimberly Gleason against the hospital, SEARHC and Jeffrey Bentley, a physician’s assistant. It alleges medical negligence in Bentley’s treatment of her child in 2018. According to court documents issued today, the parties have reached a pending settlement. The fourth lawsuit was brought in US District Court earlier this month– the plaintiff Ronald Dick is suing the Sitka Police Department, alleging that SPD discriminated against him and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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Seiners are arriving to Sitka, and that means the start of the Sitka Sound Sac Roe herring fishery is around the corner.
State fishery managers did their first aerial survey on Sunday, covering an area from Biorka Island to Krestof Sound. No spawn or schools of fish were observed during the first survey, but predators were observed along the Kruzof Island shoreline, and humpback whales were counted in the waters between Inner Point and Hayward Strait and in deeper water west of the Siginaka Islands.
On Tuesday (3-14-23), they flew again, surveying from Povorotni Point to Salisbury Sound. Again, no spawn or herring schools were observed, and a press release from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game noted an unusual number of whales and sea lions in atypical locations for this time of year.
The commercial herring fishery isn’t on two-hour notice quite yet. Once state biologists determine that the conditions are right to gear up for the fishery, they’ll hold a pre-season meeting that will be open to the public on Zoom. Then they’ll announce fishery openings over VHF radio. Area Management Biologist Aaron Dupuis says staffing shortages have delayed the release of the annual sac roe management plan, but on Tuesday, his department issued a press release with some details on plans for commercial and subsistence management.
This year’s guideline harvest level is over 30,000 tons of herring– twenty percent of the projected biomass of fish. The herring population estimate isn’t record breaking like last year’s, but is still projected to be one of the highest in the last five decades.
According to the release, so far, there’s no official agreement between the department and the industry on this year’s harvest strategy and whether it will be competitive or noncompetitive, but it’s likely that it will be structured similar to the last two years.
The commercial herring fishery has been under scrutiny for years, and in 2018 the Sitka Tribe of Alaska sued the state over management of the fishery. The case made it all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in December. A written decision is forthcoming.
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If the Sitka district is forced to lay off some untenured teachers, it’s likely that a few remaining staff positions would be “displaced” from Keet Gooshi Heen to Baranof Elementary, where there are an unusually high number of special needs students entering next year. However, having to consider dramatic cutbacks is an annual ritual in Alaska’s schools, because the legislature doesn’t appropriate funding until after most districts have built budgets for the following school year. (KCAW file photo)The Sitka School Board is facing the uncomfortable possibility of cutting up to 15 teaching positions next year, unless the legislature comes through with some eleventh-hour funding for education across the state.
Six of the teaching positions on the chopping block are retirements. This method of reducing the size of the workforce is the easiest, but it still creates some tough choices about where to fill vacancies, where to make some classes larger – often called the PTR, or pupil-teacher ratio – or what programs to cut entirely.
On top of the six retirements, another eight or so teaching positions would have to be cut if nothing changes. Currently the district employs 27 teachers who have not completed the two full years needed to become tenured, and – in anticipation of possible cuts – have not yet been issued contracts.
At a special budget worksession with the school board on March 9, Superintendent Frank Hauser said that shifting the remaining untenured teachers around to fill critical roles would not be simple.
“Of those 27 people, we will potentially have to have some displacements, if the board decides to change some PTRs and reduce PTRs at certain schools that could have a ripple effect and displacement of some staff,” Hauser said. “We know we have a couple of positions open at Baranof Elementary School, if we have to lose some teachers at Keet Gooshi Heen, then those teachers might be displaced to another school depending on what their certification is.”
This predicament – this conversation – occurs in every school district board room across the state this time of year, since Alaska is one of very few states that doesn’t appropriate money for education, until after most districts have prepared their budgets for next year.
As in past legislatures, at least two bills have been introduced to increase the Base Student Allocation (BSA), or the money that the state contributes for the education of each child in the state. For students who have special needs, that number goes up by a multiplier of thirteen – but the added revenue can still fall short of the money needed to cover the extra staffing for special needs students.
District special education director Chris Voron said that Baranof Elementary is going to require a special needs case manager, to keep up with the expected 12 special needs students in kindergarten and first grade next year.
Voron said it was an unusual set of circumstances, between the pandemic and other issues, creating the special needs bubble.
“The most common areas of eligibility are speech impairment, or early childhood developmental delay, those are categories in early childhood that I would say there is an increase in need that we’re identifying,” Voron explained. “So the pandemic has had a effect on our special education needs. However, we would say that doesn’t really account for everything that we’re seeing. It’s just these are the families, these are students, that are here currently, coming into kindergarten next year. We just have a very significant amount of students that are what we call ‘low incidence,’ meaning students with autism, students with medical conditions, students that have those higher level of needs.”
Sitka School Board members did not have a lot of ideas at this point, except a general willingness to use district reserves to balance the budget next year – but not all the reserves. They looked at scenarios where the state raised the Base Student Allocations by different amounts, from $250 to $450, and even by $1,000, which many education advocates say is the minimum needed to keep up with inflation since 2016 – the last time the BSA was adjusted.
Any of those numbers – if they come to pass – would provide relief for the district. Sitka assembly member Tim Pike sat in on the worksession. He’s also a teacher at the high school. The uncomfortable conversation around potential teacher layoffs was familiar, because it happens – to some degree – almost every year.
He urged board members to come up with a plan, and hope they don’t have to use it.
“I can remember previous superintendents who would say, ‘Gosh, I’m crying wolf all the time here,’ ” Pike said. “You know, at some point, that will show up, but most of the time — and up until now, and all my time here — it has never showed up. Because the state does come through with money in the end, but we don’t know what it is until after we’ve all gone through the pain and suffering of this process.”
The Sitka School Board’s draft budget for 2024 stands at just under $24 million. The board will finalize its budget for adoption, and submission to the Sitka Assembly, on April 20.
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“Electric vehicles” by OregonDOT is licensed under CC BY 2.0.The first-ever Electrification Expo in Sitka will be held this Saturday, March 18, 11 am – 2 pm at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Expo visitors will find information on how to save money through home weatherization, using electric vehicles, solar energy, heat pumps, and more. Organizer Leah Mason joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton on The Morning Interview to discuss the event. Listen to their conversation here:
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Sam Faustine strikes a pose during a David Bowie tribute show in Sitka in February 2023. San Francisco performer Sam Faustine has made a name for himself in Sitka as a sellout tribute performer, singing the works of Queen, Van Halen and, most recently, David Bowie. He’s also taught at Sitka Fine Arts Camp and performed in a handful of musicals here – including the 2021 production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Last month, he added “middle school music teacher” to his resume.
From watching him strut the stage of Sitka’s Performing Arts Center as Freddie Mercury or Eddie Van Halen, you wouldn’t guess that Sam Faustine spends most of his days singing classical music with the San Francisco Symphony. You also probably wouldn’t guess that he’d be teaching David Bowie harmonies to middle-schoolers, but Faustine thrives on variety.
At 8:30am on a chilly morning in late February, Faustine stood in front of about 20 middle schoolers in the Blatchley music room. The students were still a little bleary-eyed, but Faustine was energized.
For Faustine, singing has been a lifeline since he was younger than the students he’s working with now.
“As a choir boy, I was bullied quite a bit,” Faustine said. “And I found my own. I became the head boy of the choir, and I had a presence in that community and some amount of respect from my peers, but within my own grade, I was, you know, a bit of an outcast.”
Faustine took on his new role of teacher and vocal coach for two weeks through the Artists in the Schools program, which is funded collaboratively by the Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Sitka School District, and Sitka Fine Arts Camp. The Sitka Fine Arts Camp has been supporting a version of the program since 2005. In its current form, the grant pairs professional artists with school districts and provides funding for the artist to work for two weeks. The first week of Faustine’s residency lined up with Blatchley Middle School’s Discover Your Potential week, where students not enrolled in choir could sign up for a week-long vocal workshop.
The students learned David Bowie’s “Changes,” one of Faustine’s favorites. He spent much of the workshop encouraging the students to use their voices, literally and figuratively.
“Singing is such a personal reflection of one’s artistic voice,” Faustine said. “In fact, we use the word ‘voice’ to describe our ability to represent ourselves. And I think COVID has an effect, especially on kids who are in middle school these days, of really kind of subduing their identity and just making them more tentative about self- expression in general. And I think singing is a way to really unlock some of those hesitations.”
Getting the students to feel comfortable singing was his top priority.
“I gotta get them pumped, and I gotta get them comfortable,” Faustine said. “And so I have to be pretty careful about how I lead the classes in terms of like, it’s really important not to put students on the spot and feel like they have to sing in front of lots of people. That’s an easy way to kill any sort of interest, by potentially embarrassing somebody. But at the same time, you want to encourage people to, when they’re ready, open up and be able to be brave and make that step forward.”
Faustine asks a question about resonance to students during a vocal workshop session at Blatchley Middle School in February. For Faustine, playing a variety of roles has helped him to maintain balance.
“I have relatively serious ADHD and my ability – I don’t want to say ability, but my privilege of being able to do lots of kinds of things really enables my ability to be a professional performer,” Faustine said. “So if I was only doing Freddie Mercury, I think I would, I don’t want to say lose interest, but I think I would lose focus. So it’s really special to me to be able to tell lots of different stories from lots of different perspectives.”
Faustine picked “Changes” because the themes of confronting a changing world head-on seemed especially relevant for middle-schoolers discovering their potential. He pointed to a few lyrics in particular from the second verse where Bowie sings, “And these children that you spit on / as they try to change their worlds / are immune to your consultations / They’re quite aware of what they’re going through.”
“That is the message that I wanted,” Faustine said. “It coupled so nicely with the mission of DYP and of my residency, so I couldn’t resist working on that song with the DYP kids, and oh, my goodness, what a joy it’s been to watch them get passionate about David Bowie.”
Faustine hopes to return to Sitka for more musical endeavors.
“Sitka has kind of become — and Juneau — my rock and roll outlet, which I just can’t articulate how special that is,” Faustine said. “To me. I just love doing this.”
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For the seventh year in a row, Sitka High School’s Drama Debate and Forensics team scored big at the Alaska State Championship DDF Tournament. Coach Christian Litten and two state champions, Aiden LaFriniere and Isabelle Schmetzer, joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the competition and plans for the group’s first trip to nationals this summer. Listen here:
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Rep. Rebecca Himschoot brings HJR5 to the floor of the Alaska House on March 1, 2023. Reading a lengthy list of the towns who’ve passed similar resolutions, Himschoot said “all of these communities could be impacted by a catastrophic stoppage — an unnecessary stoppage — of the troll fishery due to this lawsuit which the state and federal governments are working on with the trollers.” {Image capture/KTOO Gavel}Alaska’s Congressional Delegation has filed an amicus brief, in a federal lawsuit that threatens to shut down salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska this summer.
The brief is meant to be friendly guidance for the court, but at least one of Alaska’s senators is not feeling especially friendly about the possible threat to an Alaskan way of life.
The amicus brief from Alaska’s Congressional Delegation comes just as some major players have stepped up in support of trollers, including the two largest hatcheries in Southeast Alaska, and the full House of Representatives.
Lawyers for Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, and Representative Mary Peltola, filed the brief on March 6 in the US District Court of Western Washington. The lawsuit was brought three years ago by the Seattle-based Wild Fish Conservancy against the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Conservancy argues that Southeast salmon trollers in Alaska intercept king salmon crucial to the survival of an endangered population of killer whales in Puget Sound, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The court is now considering whether or not to vacate the permit that allows the summer and winter troll fisheries in Alaska to operate, until the violation has been remedied.
An amicus brief doesn’t argue either side of the case, but is more like friendly advice to the court. During a recent visit to Wrangell, however, Sen. Dan Sullivan was not feeling very amicable toward the Wild Fish Conservancy.
“This lawsuit is ridiculous,” he said. “Think about what they’re trying to do: shut down this fishery. Estimates are that could impact Southeast by $100 million for orca problems in Puget Sound. They’re not asking for the fishery in Puget Sound to be shut down. They’re not asking about the pollution in Puget Sound. They’re looking at shutting down our fishery here. Idiotic — and an abuse of the Endangered Species Act.”
The amicus brief itself takes a more measured tone, and suggests that cure is worse than the disease. The National Marine Fisheries Service is already rewriting the 2019 Biological Opinion that the Wild Fish Conservancy first took issue with, and is bringing it into line with the Endangered Species Act.
NMFS is going to protect the killer whales; the amicus brief asks the court to protect the humans who’ve depended on this fishery for over a century.
Or, to paraphrase the legalese:
“The harm that vacatur would cause outweighs any deficiency in the (Incidental Take Statetment) ITS, because the asserted violation has been largely remedied (by NMFS) … and the economic impacts of the (proposed) remedy will be damning to an entire way of life that has existed for generations… and will devastate the troll fishing communities of SEAK(Southeast Alaska).”
A final Report & Recommendation on the matter is pending, in front of US District Court Judge Richard A. Jones. In addition to vacating the Incidental Take Statement that allows king salmon trolling in Alaska, Jones will also decide whether or not to suspend a Washington hatchery program intended to make more prey available for the Southern Resident Killer Whales.
KSTK’s Sage Smiley contributed to this story.
Southeast hatchery programs, Alaska House, come to trollers’ defense
On March 1, the Alaska House debated Joint Resolution 5, in support of the Southeast Alaska Troll Fishery.
The measure was sponsored by Rep. Rebecca Himschoot of Sitka, and had the full backing of Sarah Vance, from Homer, who chairs the House Special Committee on Fisheries.
“This is an opportunity for us as the legislature to stand united in saying we want to defend our fishery, and our rights as sovereign over the state of Alaska in these continued unnecessary lawsuits that are attacking individual Alaskans and their ability to provide for themselves,” Vance said.
Kodiak Representative Louise Stutes also sits on the Special Committee on Fisheries. She argued that if Alaska failed to defend this lawsuit, it would certainly be defending many more.
“This is a very slippery slope we’re on and we absolutely need to defend the sovereignty of our resource here in the state,” Stutes said.
The resolution passed the full House, 35-1, with Representative David Eastman of Wasilla opposed.
The following day, on March 2, another organization came together in support of Southeast Trollers: The board of the Sitka-based Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association voted to contribute $75,000 to the trollers’ legal defense fund. This came on top of a contribution of $25,000 made in 2022.
NSRAA general manager Scott Wagner said it took about an hour of discussion for his board of 22 trollers, seiners, and gillnetter to agree that supporting one gear group in this case meant supporting them all.
“I think the overarching concern with this lawsuit is that it has potential to affect all fisheries down the road, you know,” Wagner said. “If they’re successful targeting one, I don’t envision they’re going to stop and not target others moving forward.”
NSRAA’s sister organization in Ketchikan, the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, followed suit a couple of days later, and also contributed $100,000. Both SSRA and NSRAA are nonprofits, funded by an enhancement tax on fishermen, and by sales of their own fish – called “cost recovery.”
There is no war chest. Wagner says the nonprofit hatcheries will have to raise the money to fight the lawsuit through their existing revenue streams.
“We have to increase our fundraising, which we do through cost recovery, which means catching more fish and selling them as an organization for revenue, which means that there’s less fish for the commercial fishermen to catch,” Wagner said. “So it’s coming out of their own pocket.”
As yet there is no timeline for a resolution to the Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit. A final decision is pending before a federal judge in the US District Court of Western Washington.
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383,000 cruise visitors in 2022 prompted local leaders to close Lincoln Street to auto traffic on the busiest days. In 2023, an additional 100,000 visitors are possible. Based on data collected in the “2022 Community Assessment on the Impacts of Increased Tourism in Sitka,” a majority of residents feel the rapid growth of cruise tourism has made Sitka a less desirable place to live. (KCAW/Kimmell)A majority of Sitkans think the rapid increase in tourism last summer made the community a less desirable place to live – or at least that’s the feeling of a majority of respondents of a graduate study conducted in the height of the cruise season last August. As KCAW’s Robert Woolsey reports, collecting data on the impact of tourism is a matter of numbers, and of perceptions.
Note: Priya Gandhi and Samantha Matthews will present their study to the Sitka Planning Commission at its next regular meeting on Wednesday, March 15. Here’s a link to the Brief Report, and a link to the Full Assessement.
Priya Gandhi and Samantha Matthews are students at the Pardee Rand Graduate School of Public Policy in Santa Monica, California. They were the project leaders for a social science study last August to understand how Sitkans perceived the dramatic increase in summer visitation, and how it affected their sense of well-being.
Unlike more casual surveys, this project tried to tease out nuances: For example, Sitkans can appreciate the increase in sales tax revenue derived from visitors, but can be frustrated by the increased congestion.
And Priya Gandhi says the timing of the survey was a factor.
“This is kind of a snapshot into how community members were feeling at that very moment in which they engaged with our efforts,” said Gandhi. “But there are certainly lots of other potential changes, both in terms of tourism and the visitor industry and in terms of Sitka’s planning and responses, that all might feed into differences in these numbers one way or the other in the future.”
The survey results are revealing. 87-percent of respondents reported being impacted by tourism in 2022; 63-percent of respondents felt the uptick in tourism made Sitka a less desirable place to live.
Sitka underwent significant short-term planning measures to accommodate the roughly 400,000 cruise visitors last summer – around double the typical number of visitors in any previous year. On the busiest days, the main street downtown was closed to traffic, large toilet trailers were parked in less-than-ideal locations, and cafes and restaurants struggled to meet the out-of-proportion demand.
Still, it wasn’t all bad. Samantha Matthews says Sitkans felt the yin and yang of the town’s surge in economic activity.
“A lot of our data show these trade offs that people are facing with increased tourism,” Matthews said. “And so a lot of folks talked about the the economic benefits, the tax revenue that the city would receive, and things like that, but then there were concerns around equity and the economic benefits of tourism, and where would that tax revenue go? So I think some of our recommendations were really just around making that process transparent. So that community members are able to be a part of that process and know where where the economic benefits of tourism are going and making it so that those benefits are more equitably distributed.”
The full study is called the 2022 Community Assessment on the Increased Impacts of Tourism in Sitka. It’s 28-pages long, with another 29 pages of appendices. It is the kind of social study where opinions matter, and the words of respondents come through as much as the data. One Sitkan wrote, “I believe there are economic benefits for our community due to increased tourism, but it’s still unclear if that means all residents will feel financial relief, like decreased utility rates, or if only the residents who work in tourism will feel the financial rewards…”
Gandhi says this type of response can help inform policy, as much as hard numbers.
“It was really our aim to help create sort of that point in time opportunity for the community to share their real time reflections with us, their insights and their suggestions, so that we could then take stock of that, and aggregate it and share it with different individuals and organizations who might be interested in thinking through this potential issue of increased tourism further,” said Gandhi.
The assessment doesn’t really say what to do next. It has a raft of suggestions offered by survey respondents on housing density, transportation, the environment, and so on – but this is information for policy makers, rather than direction.
Gandhi says the rest is up to Sitka.
“Sitka has such a collaborative spirit,” she said. “And we can’t emphasize enough just how important and valuable we think that is, in the community coming together to address any issue it might be facing currently, or in the future, that it feels is affecting sort of individuals’ opportunities to thrive, which is really how we are defining well-being.”
The Pardee Rand Graduate School of Public Policy has turned its focus on Sitka and several other communities around the nation, as a way of drilling down into how communities respond under a range of circumstances. Rand, for instance, was an early partner in the development of Sitka’s landslide warning system. Matthews is considering the Tourism Assessment as a basis for her doctoral research. Sitka may eventually adapt to the increase in tourism; attitudes could soften toward the industry – or harden.
She would like to find out.
“This could be something that could be very interesting to repeatedly do each summer and see how things evolve,” she said. “I think it’s definitely worth exploring in the future.
Sitka is anticipating possibly an additional 100,000 more cruise visitors in 2023 than in 2022. The first ship scheduled to arrive is the Brilliance of the Seas, on April 25.
The post Is Sitka’s cruise boom a bust for livability? A new study shows many residents think so. appeared first on KCAW.
Portable Southeast is an island-hopping art show designed to break down the physical and social barriers that divide the Alaska Panhandle. It showcases art from Alaskan artists across six different communities, including Sitka. Project manager Meghan Chambers joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton for the morning interview to discuss the program, which will be in Sitka this month at Harbor Mountain Brewing Co. Listen here:
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A Sitka-based residential treatment program for Alaska teenagers is moving to Juneau.
Raven’s Way treats teens who have been diagnosed with substance use or dependence. It’s operated by the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). But sometime later this year, the program will merge with Juneau Youth Services (JYS), which SEARHC is in the process of acquiring.
In an interview with KCAW on March 9, SEARHC’s communications director Lyndsey Schaefer said the details are still being ironed out, but SEARHC offered jobs to all Raven’s Way staff.
“80% of the current Raven’s Way staff in Sitka, have been offered positions in Sitka as well, because we are going to use the space that’s vacated by Raven’s Way — the buildings there in Sitka– to expand our adult substance use treatment program,” Schaefer said. “The remaining staff that were not offered positions in Sitka have been offered positions at the new Raven’s Way campus in Juneau. So there isn’t anyone that was not offered a position…period.”
Schaefer said this means Sitka’s adult substance use program will effectively double in size as well.
Like Raven’s Way, Juneau Youth Services provides residential treatment for teens, as well as therapeutic foster care, and case management. Schaefer said it’s too soon to say exactly what combination of services will continue to be provided, but once the purchase of JYS is finalized, it will be known as the Raven’s Way campus.
“Regardless of where it is, Raven’s Way has been very important and very impactful. We understand that,” Schaefer said. “It will still benefit youth that are struggling with drugs and alcohol…And then youth outside of Southeast Alaska will have a direct route to get to Juneau, which will allow us to expand the program reach and impact, and I think that’s a great thing.
“I think the expansion of the substance abuse services for adults in Sitka is going to go a long way to helping a lot of families and folks recover to get better, and heal families, which is very important to us,” she added.
Raven’s Way was in the news this time last year, when SEARHC closed Crossings, a wilderness program for at-risk youth based in Wrangell which was one of the community’s largest private-sector employers. At the time, four of the 16 staff members were offered jobs at Raven’s Way, and the other 12 were offered “commensurate positions” in Wrangell.
Since SEARHC is still in the process of acquiring JYS, the timeline for the move to Juneau hasn’t been nailed down yet. But Schaefer said the class of teens that graduates from Raven’s Way this April will be the last group to complete the program in Sitka.
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The Kake Thunderbirds are the winners of the Region V 1A Boys Basketball tournament, held last weekend at Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
The Thunderbirds defeated the Klawock Chieftans in the tournament final last Friday evening.
The Chieftans then dropped into the consolation bracket, and defeated the Skagway Panthers to claim second place, and a berth at the state tournament.
On the girls’ side, the Klawock Lady Chieftans took the regional crown, defeating the Angoon Lady Eagles in the Friday evening championship. The Lady Eagles then lost to the Kake Lady Thunderbirds on Saturday in the consolation bracket, giving the runners up trophy to Kake, who will now head to the state tournament.
For individuals, Cheyanne Kookesh, Taryn Kookesh, and Zara Fayer were named to the girls all-conference team, along with Marnie Crooks from Kake.
Ethan Kadake and Dominic Ross from Kake, George Valle and Magnus Endicott from Yakutat, and Kyle Johnson Jr. and Julian Duncan from Angoon were all named to the boys all-conference team.
George Valle, of Yakutat, won the boys free-throw contest, sinking 21 of 25 from the line.
The 1A state basketball tournament opens March 15-18 in Anchorage at the Alaska Airlines Center.
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Local singer/songwriter Vern Culp performing at the Original Artist Grind in 2022. (GSAC/Bobbi Jordan)Jeanne Stohlberg and J Bradley are producing the Original Artist Grind, 7 p.m. Saturday, March 11, at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. Ted Howard is a musician with Belly Meat, which will perform an homage to legendary accordionist Alice Machesney. In addition to music, the Grind will feature spoken word, dance, and visual art (on display in the lobby). Tickets $5 at Old Harbor Books, or at the door. This is the final Grind of the 2023 season.
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A teenager missing since Friday afternoon (3-3-2023) has contacted police to confirm that he’s safe.
In a press release earlier today (Wednesday 3-8-23) on social media, police said that seventeen-year-old Kawika Kane had last been seen around 4:00 p.m. on Friday at 703 Sirstad Street. Kane went missing for about 24 hours in January of this year before he was located safe a day later.
Kane reached out to police this morning after the press release was published. SPD spokeswoman Serena Wild said that Kane is “safe and not in dire straits” and had left home after an argument with his guardian.
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Elise Davidson-Kitka and Annie Mattea of Sitka Counseling and Prevention joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming free screening of the film “Whale Rider” 11 a.m. Saturday, March 11, at the Coliseum Theater. This screening will mark the end of the season for Second Saturday screenings, a winter program.
Doors open at 10:30 am. The film is based on a 1987 novel about a 12-year-old Māori girl.
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911 calls from Whittier, Alaska will now be forwarded to Sitka’s police dispatchers. The Sitka Assembly approved the contract last week (“Whittier, Alaska” by daihung is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.) Residents of Whittier and Girdwood will now have their 9-1-1 calls answered over 500 miles away – in Sitka. The Sitka Assembly on Tuesday (2-28-23) approved a contract worth $55,000 to provide dispatch services for those two communities, in a move Sitka’s police chief says will help him shore up efforts to recruit local dispatchers.
The Sitka Police Department is struggling to attract and retain dispatchers. Police Chief Robert Baty said that the additional funds from Whittier would help the police department better recruit for the open positions. He said the additional calls would amount to only minutes a day added to the workload for dispatchers.
“There’s really no training curve for us because the process and the computer programs and whatnot that Whittier uses are the same as ours,” Baty said. “We pick up zero paperwork associated with this. It’s literally going to be data entry and phone calls.”
Whittier has a population of 273 according to a 2021 estimate. Their police department consists of six officers, a lieutenant and a chief of police, and they are currently contracted to provide police services to the Girdwood area. And Baty said their public safety office handles around 4,000 service calls a year – which is roughly eleven calls a day – but around 80 percent of those calls are “self-initiated,” meaning an officer is going to do a security check or a public appearance.
Baty said the arrangement with Whittier would be similar to how the police department now handles calls for the Sitka Fire Department.
“With the same model we’ve taken on the fire department’s dispatch, and there’s been no hiccups in that,” Baty said. “And, of course, I can’t speak for Chief Warren, but I think he would agree with me that their response times have increased and their ability to deal with the true nature of their calls has increased.”
Only one member of the public commented on the contract, and he was supportive. Most assembly members were on board as well.
“I was definitely concerned…when I first read it, but I think going through it and then having Chief Baty come up and explain it out, it’s definitely alleviated those concerns that they can handle the extra workload,” said assembly member Chris Ystad. “I definitely appreciate the…creative way of finding different revenue sources for recruitment and retention. So this is definitely something I’ll support.”
The contract with Whittier is for 2 years, with three possible one year extensions. Assembly member Crystal Duncan asked about pay increases, and what would happen to the dispatchers’ pay when the contract term ends. City administrator John Leach said the answer was a bit complicated.
“Salaries for represented employees have already been set through the bargaining agreements. And as far as whether or not the salary will go up, and how long it will stay, that’s to be determined,” Leach said. “We have to do what’s called a letter of agreement with the bargaining unit. So we’ll still need to work that piece out to to get the specifics nailed down.”
Mayor Steven Eisenbiesz said early on he’d shared concerns about staffing, but those concerns had been assuaged. And he added if the partnership doesn’t end up working, the city has options.
“We do have a 60-day out, which was very important to me that, should it not work, we can get out,” he said.
“Valdez was the town with the previous contract,” he added. “If it worked for them, I’m pretty sure we can find a way to make it work here.”
The assembly approved the contract unanimously.
NOTE: Sitka Police Lieutenant Jean Achee is the brother of Whittier Police Chief Andre Achee. This information was not disclosed at the assembly table during contract deliberations, or in KCAW’s initial reporting on the matter.
KCAW spoke with municipal administrator John Leach, who said the disclosure wasn’t necessary because there’s no actual or implied conflict of interest, since neither Whittier’s police chief Achee nor Sitka’s lieutenant Achee will benefit financially from the contract. Sitka applied for the contract through a public “request for proposals” process, and was chosen from several applicants. The revenue will go into Sitka’s General Fund, and not directly into the police department’s coffers.
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Lacey Tuten is the President of Sitka’s Coast Guard Spouses and Women’s Association. She’s joined by former president Kirsten Haas, who is coordinator of the annual Rainy Day Bazaar and Silent Auction. The largest fundraiser event of the year for the organization, The Rainy Day Bazaar takes place on Saturday, March 25, from 9-4 pm in Harrigan Centennial Hall. Admission $3, includes access to both food and art vendors. Proceeds support the CGSWA Scholarship Fund.
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Two adults were hospitalized Sunday (3-5-23) following a two-vehicle collision near the intersection of Kashevaroff Street and Halibut Point Road. The cause of the crash is not yet known.
In an interview with KCAW, a spokesperson from the Sitka Police Department confirmed that the accident occurred around 4:00 pm on Sunday when a Toyota 4Runner and an unknown-model Dodge collided. Seventeen responders from the Sitka Fire Department arrived on the scene, along with Sitka Police. Two adults were transported to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center and later released.
The accident is still under investigation. KCAW News will update this story with additional details as they are released.
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Sitka Youth Leadership Committee is building awareness of teen dating violence through an education campaign this month. SYLC members Brandon Dickson-Penetac and Evelyn Garfield and facilitator Riley Nichols joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to talk about healthy relationships and what teens can do if they feel unsafe with a partner. Listen to the full interview here:
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Handcuffed, Richard McGrath surrenders into the custody of Sitka police officer Dave Nelson, after pleading guilty to 3rd Degree Sexual Assault. Three of McGrath’s victims were present to hear his change his plea: All of them were assaulted while under McGrath’s care at Sitka Community Hospital. A civil lawsuit on behalf of the victims is pending, with a trial scheduled for this July. Formal sentencing on the criminal count has been set for June 12. (KCAW/Woolsey) A former Sitka doctor accused of multiple counts of sexual assault four years ago is now behind bars.
On the first day of what was expected to be a lengthy trial, 79-year old Richard McGrath made a surprise plea deal, and will spend the next two years in prison.
Please note that some graphic detail in this story may be inappropriate for some listeners.
Dr. Richard McGrath has nearly come to trial twice. His first court date in 2020 was postponed because of the COVID pandemic. His second, last July, was declared a mistrial when the court failed to empanel a full jury.
But McGrath’s four-year journey to justice ended the morning of Monday, March 6, a few minutes before jury selection was to begin for a third attempt at a trial. Judge Michael McConahy put the question to McGrath.
“So, to the charge of sexual assault in the third degree, as I read to you, what is your plea?” McConahy asked.
“Guilty, Your Honor,” McGrath responded.
Two of McGrath’s three victims were in the courtroom for the hearing, and they visibly reacted to his admission of guilt. Over the weekend, two of them had consented to a hastily-crafted deal that – if the judge agreed – would see McGrath sentenced to 17 years in prison, with 15 suspended, and permanently lose his medical license.
A third victim did not think that was sufficient. A relative, Jessica Hames, spoke on the victim’s behalf.
“Mr. McGrath was hired into a position of trust and power as a doctor by the city of Sitka,” said Hames, reading from a statement. “He abused that power and violated the sacred trust between doctor and patient. I do not care how old and feeble Dr. McGrath is, or pretending to be, at this moment. He is a dangerous, sick predator who caused irreparable damage to these women. I would like to ask every man in this courtroom including you, Your Honor: How you would like this to be handled if it were you who had been violated?”
Bailey Woolfstead, with the state’s Office of Special Prosecutions, explained some of her rationale for the deal: She had received medical records which indicated that the 79-year old defendant was in a state of “mental decline,” that would create issues of competency in the event his case went to appeal. She said that the protracted delay had been exceptionally hard on the victims, and while there was never any certainty of winning a conviction in front of a jury, she had little doubt that she could prove some of the charges.
“I’m imagining we’re having at least one woman on a jury,” Woolfstead said, “and based on those experiences and how doctors regularly perform or exam: For example, going to perform a breast exam, they’re going to tell you they’re doing it. And it’s certainly not going to involve things like squeezing someone’s nipple, or taking your breast out of your bra and shirt without telling you what’s going and what’s happening.”
Regardless of the outcome of a possible jury trial on criminal charges, McGrath still faces a civil lawsuit brought by the victims , in a trial scheduled for this July. Woolfstead said that the plea deal would bring finality to this aspect of a complicated case, and perhaps – most importantly – put McGrath behind bars.
“Dr. McGrath going to jail this morning,” said Woolfstead. “As the court knows, there’s a statutory requirement that if he pleads guilty to a sex crime, he is going to jail today.”
McGrath’s attorney, John Cashion, did not offer any counterargument in the proceedings, telling Judge McConahy that he intended to argue mitigating factors at his client’s sentencing hearing on June 12. In the meantime, “I’ll certainly be asking the court to honor the plea agreement,” he said.
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Alicia Haseltine and her 6-year old daughter testified in support of a pay increase for Ventures aides. A working mom, she told the board that childcare was an economic issue. “If I don’t have childcare services, it does not only affect me, but a lot of this community,” she said. (KCAW/Woolsey)While test scores for Sitka’s students are generally better than the statewide average, one disturbing trend has continued: Alaska Native students in the Sitka schools are consistently testing lower than non-Natives.
How to effectively respond was the subject of intense discussion, when the Sitka School Board convened at the ANB Founders Hall on Wednesday (3-1-23).
For years, it was called the “achievement gap.” This ongoing disparity between Alaska Native students and other racial cohorts in schools. But the problem has continued so long that educators have recognized that it’s not about ability, it’s about opportunity.
Sitka School Board president Blossom Teal-Olsen is Iñupiaq, raised in Fairbanks. She explained what a lack of opportunity meant during her student years.
“I was asked to go into gifted and talented classes,” said Teal-Olsen, “but they only were after school, and you needed a ride home. And that was a big barrier for many of the students who should have been in gifted and talented classrooms. A lot of our parents were not able to come and pick us up after school. There were no buses to bring us home, there were not supports to allow us that chance.”
The discussion of the Opportunity Gap came during the board’s annual public hearing on Impact Aid, a federal program for schools serving children on “Indian Lands.” Jule LeBlanc, the cultural director for Sitka Schools, and Chookán
Lakrisha Brady, director of the Sitka Native Education Program – SNEP – used the results of recent standardized testing (Alaska MAP and AKSTAR) to illustrate the persistence of the Opportunity Gap.
Student board member Felix Myers challenged the testing data, suggesting that all kids – regardless of ethnicity – had little incentive “to give their best effort” on standardized tests.
LeBlanc responded that, even factoring in variables like student effort, the data were revealing.
“I think what’s so telling to me, the question I am asking myself,’ LeBlanc asked, “is why Alaska Native and American Indian students continue consistently performing lower, even if everybody is showing up is not doing their best? Why are we seeing – across every single data point – that Alaska Native and American Indian students are always lower?”
Board member Tristan Guevin has worked in the Education Department of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska for ten of the last twelve years. He saw a web of interrelated problems and barriers contributing to the gap. All of them, he said, “have been going on for a long time.”
“Native students are less likely to be in gifted and talented or AP classes, less likely to have opportunities for dual enrollment, CTE (Career and Technical Education) concentrators,” Guevin said. He continued, “more likely to receive out-of-school suspensions, and less likely to go on to post-secondary education. So it’s not just achievement, it’s those opportunities.”
Guevin drilled further into the problem. He thinks it’s systemic, and not the fault of students or teachers. He wanted to see transformational change.
“These aren’t student ability gaps,” he said. “These are gaps in the district’s being able to serve those students in the best way possible. And so I want that to be very clear, that this is on us to improve and on us as a community and a state.”
Part of that change, Guevin believes, is a renewed emphasis on cultural education, like SNEP – the Sitka Native Education Program.
“When you look at the evidence, Native students who have an opportunity to learn their heritage language, and their culture, they end up performing better than their peers and math, English, Language Arts – everything,” he said. “It’s not just culture, right? It’s about identity, it’s about knowing yourself about how you fit, it’s about that confidence that translates into better test scores and better outcomes. So again, we need to support the cultural program, we need to ensure it has all the resources that it needs to do its job effectively, and close these gaps.”
Board member Melonie Boord shared that view. She didn’t think that the board should acknowledge the problem, and then step away. She wanted the board to step in.
“This isn’t for SNEP just to solve by themselves,” Boord said. “There’s something going on in our system that is not allowing our Native children to reach their potential. And it’s a community issue and a school district issue. System processes need to change, and this cannot be just on Lakrisha and Jule and their staff. And so I’m up for the task of trying to find out how we can give our Native students the love, support, the connection, and meeting their basic needs, so that they don’t have those learning gaps. That there’s not that disproportionality. It’s just unacceptable.”
The Sitka School Board’s federal Impact Aid hearing concluded without any members of the public stepping forward to comment. One actionable idea emerged from the hearing, however: Possibly expanding the alternative education program at Pacific High as far down as sixth grade, since Native Alaskan students had proven to be very receptive to the model.
Ventures Pay Raise
Workers in Sitka’s afterschool childcare program will see a boost in wages, beginning this summer.
The Sitka School Board on Wednesday (3-1-23) unanimously approved an adjusted pay scale for both summer aides and part-time aides who work during the school year.
A working mom whose daughter attends the program, told the board that sustaining the Ventures program was about more than convenience.
“Hello, my name is Alicia Haseltine. I am here in support of increasing the wages for Ventures. I also have a six year old daughter here that was very intent on coming because she loves the staff. On top of that, I think we all know, the childcare situation in the nation, especially in Sitka is pretty bleak. I am the director of Rehab Services at SEARHC. And if I don’t have childcare services, it does not only affect me, but a lot of this community. So I hope you guys support this as well. Thank you.“
Under the newly-adopted pay scale, base pay for summer childcare aides – typically students – will go up from $13 to $17. After two years’ experience, summer aides will earn $18 per hour. The top of the scale for Childcare Associates, who are 21 and older and licensed will bump to $24 per hour.
Part-time staff who work during the school year will be paid on the same scale.
Funding for the raises will come out of the Ventures special revenue fund, which had a balance of over $300,000 at the end of the last fiscal year.
Ventures director Annette Evans has spoken to the school board on several previous occasions over the year, urging the group to be proactive in supporting the program, which is housed in Baranof Elementary School, but operates independently of the district.
Although the outcome of the vote was never in doubt, Evans wanted to make sure the board understood that raising wages for her part-time staff was a step toward finding a community solution for childcare. She said, “We’re not asking for more money. We’re asking for adequate pay for these employees that work, and the responsibilities that they hold when they take this position.”
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Alexander Serio, executive director of the Sitka Music Festival, discusses the origins of the Festival, and shares plans for the upcoming 52nd season, May 31 – June 25, which will feature returning artists Natasha Paremski, Martin Sher, Helen Kim, and the Festival’s Grammy-winning artistic director Zuill Bailey. The Festival also travels around the state; its artists have performed in 42 different communities in Alaska. Tickets for the summer Festival go on sale this Sunday, March 5.
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The Sitka Assembly wants to establish a tourism task force, but they’re still fine-tuning the details. When it met on Tuesday (2-28-23), the assembly discussed creating a committee that would look into the recent surge in tourism and make recommendations, but struggled over the composition of the group.
Last year’s tourist season was record-breaking, due to an increase in cruise traffic. 2023 should be even bigger with over 500,000 cruise passengers expected at the privately owned Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal.
“We wanted to come up with the directives that we wanted them to look into. And obviously, one of the big ones is the question of capping or limiting the amount of tourists that come into this community,” said assembly member Chris Ystad who co-sponsored the item with JJ Carlson. “Obviously, it’s kind of a hot-button topic here,” Ystad added. “But I’m stubborn, and I wanted to take it head on. And I want this taskforce to take it head on.”
“This is a taskforce that’s here to aid Sitka in maintaining our quality of life,” Carlson added. “That’s the top priority.”
The task force would explore whether capping or limiting tourism is possible for Sitka, develop an annual review cycle for Sitka’s tourism-related operations, and help create a “Tourism Management Best Practices” Program.
Several members of the public spoke out in support of a task force including Holly Reeder, of the Aspen Suites Hotel.
“I think that a taskforce is on the right track, I think that it’s time we start looking at the long range plan here, I’ve been at many meetings and that keeps coming up…to look towards the future, not just this short-term plan,” Reeder said. “I also think that we need to start looking a little bit broader, not just at the cruise tourism, but also our independent travelers, and including some of that in this task force as well.”
Kent Barkau cautioned against a task force that was made up mostly of people with economic interests in the tourism industry without counterbalance from the community.
“It’s a really difficult thing to try to compose a taskforce that’s independent, you know, neutral or somehow represents the whole community,” he said. “But if you stack it one way, I think you can assure yourself that it’s going to be stacked that way, and so the results you would expect would be predictable.”
Sponsors proposed that the nine member group include representatives from the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal, Lincoln Street businesses, tours and attractions, as well as two at-large community seats, and one appointed seat each from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Port and Harbors Commission, and Sustainability Commission, respectively.
Across the board, assembly members supported creating the task force. Tim Pike said he’d heard so-called “simple solutions” proposed, like a referendum that would ask voters to weigh in on the number of tourists visiting Sitka. But he felt more extensive conversations are needed within the community first to better understand what the Sitkans want.
“I think what questions we end up asking, and why, and what questions we ask of the community to elicit a deeper thoughtful response from everyone, I think will determine the success of this commission,” Pike said.
But there were still questions about the makeup of the group and how many representatives there should be for a given industry or perspective, how those members would be vetted, and the role city staffers would play.
Ultimately, sponsors JJ Carlson and Chris Ystad decided to tweak their language and bring a resolution back for assembly consideration at the next regular meeting in mid-March. If it’s approved by the assembly, the city will start advertising for volunteers to join the new task force.
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Blatchley Middle School principal Ben White is working to encourage attendance.An occasional day home from school can make a big impact on student learning. Blatchley Middle School principal Ben White joined KCAW’s Peter Apathy to discuss why missing just a couple of school days a month can be a major setback for some students, and how families can support their students. Hear the full interview here:
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The “SalmonThirtySalmon” livery first flew in 2005. Alaska Airlines says it will be replaced with something “to honor the culture and history of our namesake state and our connection to communities across the West Coast.” (Photo by Glenn Beltz/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)Alaska Airline’s iconic “Salmon Thirty Salmon” will soon be a memory. The airline confirmed on Monday that its custom Boeing 737 painted to look like an 129-foot-long Alaska king salmon, is going to get a new look – and it will be cultural, rather than fishy.
Tim Thompson, director of public relations and community marketing for the airline, told the Alaska Beacon that the plane will be painted over after a final ceremonial flight on April 17.
That will be Flight 65, the daily Southeast Alaska “milk run” that travels from Seattle to Anchorage with stops in Ketchikan, Petersburg, Wrangell and Juneau along the way. Flight 65 unfortunately does not stop in Sitka, for residents here who would like a last look.
The salmon-painted plane has been in the Alaska Airlines fleet since 2005, when the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute funded the repainting of an aircraft as part of a promotional campaign for Alaska salmon.
The flying salmon was so popular that the aircraft was repainted with a new salmon design six years later, with the airline fronting the cost.
Alaska Airlines says that the yet-to-be-announced replacement will be a new way “to honor the culture and history of our namesake state and our connection to communities across the West Coast.”
Fans of the current design have launched an online petition in an attempt to convince the airline to keep it.
The name “Salmon Thirty Salmon” is actually older than the first painted jet. The nickname came from a 1987 incident in Juneau when an Alaska Airlines jet was struck by a salmon dropped by a bald eagle.
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Sitka’s trail plan is due for an update. Sitka Trail Works, the local nonprofit which created the original plan twenty years ago, recently surveyed the community for its ideas on new cabins, trails, toilets, and more. Over 500 Sitkans responded, generating over 3,000 detailed comments. Trail Works has been crunching the numbers. KCAW’s Katherine Rose spoke with executive director Ben Hughey to learn how the new plan is taking shape. Listen here:
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Should Sitka’s police department take on a contract to answer 911 calls from Whittier and Girdwood Alaska? When the assembly meets on Tuesday (2-28-23), it will consider that question.
According to a memo from Sitka Police Chief Robert Baty, the city was awarded the contract in January after submitting a bid to provide full dispatch to the communities southeast of Anchorage. This would include general phone answering for non emergency calls as well as 911 dispatch and radio communications, and documenting that information.
If approved by the assembly, the contract pays $55,000 per year for two years with the option of three one-year extensions.
The Sitka Police Department has struggled to attract and retain dispatchers for the last year. According to the memo, the funds would help Sitka’s police department better recruit for those positions. Baty writes that Whittier’s call volume is minimal, and would have little effect on the police department’s current operations.
In other business, the assembly will discuss whether to create a “tourism task force.” According to a memo from assembly members JJ Carlson and Chris Ystad, the nine-member group would be tasked with reviewing the City of Juneau’s findings around capping or limiting tourism, developing an annual review cycle for Sitka’s tourism-related operations, and helping to create a “Tourism Management Best Practices” Program.
The Sitka Assembly meets at Harrigan Centennial Hall at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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Started in 1969, the New Archangel Dancers initially invited men to join the group, but (as is famously repeated nearly every show) they declined. So now men “watch the kids and take care of the home” while the NADs perform and travel. (New Archangel Dancers image)Heleena Van Veen has been with the New Archangel Dancers since 2005. Sadie Rose joined just last year. The NADs are an all-women, all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that needs help across the board — from dancing, to costuming, to announcing and technical work. No prior dance experience is necessary. Recruitment happens all year long. To watch, tryout, or see how you can help, call 907-747-5516, email newarchangel@gci.net, or send a message through the New Archangel Dancer Facebook page.
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An endangered sunflower sea star was the subject of some of the research done by UC Santa Cruz students in Sitka over the last month. Students will present their findings this week. (KCAW/Tash Kimmell)Students from UC Santa Cruz’s Global Change Biology Course have been in Sitka for the last month, in the field, studying everything from how much seaweed sea urchins eat, to how they get along with endangered sunflower sea stars. Students Sage, Rosie, and Nathan joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss what they’ve learned over their month in Sitka, and their upcoming final presentation later this week. Listen to their conversation here:
Students will present their group projects in a final presentation at the Mill Building on Wednesday March 1 from 5:30-7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
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Natalie Sattler and Eric Jordan with the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association Crew Training Program are looking for applicants. Jordan says the idea originated when his wife “retired” from the family fishing business and his own sons grew up and bought their own boats. Since then, under ALFA’s management, over 100 people have participated in the program, including KCAW’s Erin Fulton (2015). Applications are open through March; no experience is necessary. Apprentices can work all or part of the season, in a variety of gear groups.
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Hawlet Cohen learns how to brew espresso at Bear Country Coffee. Cohen was one of six 8th graders who tried their hands at being baristas for the week for “Discover Your Potential” at Blatchley Middle School. It’s “Discover Your Potential” week at Blatchley Middle School, and a group of 8th graders is discovering their potential, plus picking up serious job skills, training as baristas at a local coffee bar. KCAW’s Katherine Rose stopped by to see how it’s going, and sent this audio postcard:
Voices heard in this story include Blatchley Middle School 8th grader Gabe Blankenship and Claire Delacruz mastering the barista arts at Bear Country Coffee, along with teacher and coffee shop co-owner Kirstin Karsunky. From reading to kindergartners, to playing the card game “Magic the Gathering,” Discover Your Potential week at Blatchley Middle School is all about learning and honing new skills.Kirstin Karsunky (left) snaps a photo of the six students who participated in DYP at the coffee shop. Visible to the right: Shayla Meunier, Ilima James, and Gabe Blankenship. The post Students brew up potential barista careers during DYP week appeared first on KCAW.
Skipper Alicia Eells says all the Golden Dream’s electronics and navigation were destroyed by the fire, along with most of her belongings. Whether or not the boat is saved depends on the engine. “If the engine is gone, there’s no point,” she says. (KCAW/Woolsey)A commercial troller caught fire and burned in Sitka’s ANB Harbor Thursday evening (2-23-23). The boat’s skipper hasn’t yet determined if the boat is a total loss.
The Sitka Fire Department received the call at about 9:20 p.m. on Thursday, that a vessel was on fire in ANB Harbor.
Firefighters were on scene just eleven minutes later, and found the fiberglass troller Golden Dream fully involved, with visible flames in the cabin. A Good Samaritan was already at work attempting to douse the fire with a harbor hose. Nine firefighters and one EMT fought the blaze with a portable pump, and brought it under control in a few minutes.
David Johnson, with the Sitka Fire Department, says the fire likely started in the exhaust plenum – the shaft from the engine room to the smokestack that is supposed to protect the rest of the vessel from heat.
The vessel’s skipper, Alicia Eells, agrees with that conclusion. Eells told KCAW she had fished that day aboard the Golden Dream, tied it up in ANB, and then left to go play volleyball at the Hames Center. When she was notified of the emergency and returned to the boat, she found that the blaze had consumed the Golden Dream’s cabin, its navigation and electronics, and most of her belongings.
The Golden Dream caught fire while its skipper was off the boat. Firefighters suspect a hot exhaust stack, after a day’s fishing. The blaze was mostly confined to the cabin. (KCAW/Woolsey)Eells said that whether or not the Golden Dream can be saved depends on whether the engine survived the fire. “If the engine is gone, there’s no point,” she said.
Eells bought the boat last year and said she had a good season, and was looking forward to another. A GoFundMe page has been started on her behalf, with a $20,000 goal.
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Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (r.) meets with Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association director Linda Behnken in Sitka. Himschoot’s background as an educator has been useful, as she advances a Joint Resolution in the legislature in support of Southeast Trollers, whose season has been jeopardized by an environmental lawsuit. “The first step is to make sure they (other members of the House) understand the difference between trawl and troll, which I didn’t realize would be a barrier, and it is,” she says. (Rep. Himschoot photo)Among the first bills to reach the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives this spring will be a resolution sponsored by Rebecca Himschoot, a first-term legislator from Sitka.
House Joint Resolution 5 in support of the Southeast Seafood industry – the troll fleet in particular – had a speedy passage through its first committee hearing on February 14. But Himschoot says that final passage of the resolution is no slam dunk. She says that she has her work cut out for her, bringing the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives up to speed on the issue.
“When I’m working with the other 39 members of the body, the first step is to make sure they understand the difference between trawl and troll, which I didn’t realize would be a barrier, and it is,” said Himschoot. “So you know, depending on which member I’m talking to, they either know the issue well, or they need to learn about the issue.
Note: Read additional reporting on Rep. Himschoot’s legislative priorities in the current session.
It’s the Southeast Alaska Salmon Troll Fishery that’s under threat from an environmental lawsuit in US District Court in Washington state. Educating her colleagues about this critical difference is something that Himschoot, a lifelong teacher, has already shown an aptitude for. Rep. Himschoot was recently in Sitka, and spoke with KCAW’s Robert Woolsey about other ways her background has helped prepare her for the capitol, especially the first couple of weeks when the legislature organizes its majority and minority caucuses.
KCAW – Was there anything about being on the Sitka Assembly that helped you navigate Juneau, or helped you work the halls in Juneau? Was there anything about your assembly experience that is helping you now?
Himschoot – 100%? Juneau is a whole different game. We use Robert’s Rules on the assembly, they use Mason’s manual. It doesn’t seem like it would be a big shift, but it is. So logistically how you do things is different. But the assembly experience really helped me wrap my brain around what is the job of government to provide? What are we there to do? And I’m still having to make some adjustments in my mindset. Locally, where you are supporting either public works public safety or public education, it’s a little more straightforward in some ways, but also more complex, because my friends’ and neighbors’ politics don’t matter. I hold them in equal esteem, no matter which side of an issue we’re coming at a topic on. It doesn’t matter what people think in town politically, I value each Sitkan so deeply that it made decision making more difficult in some ways, trying to weigh what are the best interests of the community, versus the people who are giving me input and my respect for them and my respect for their input. And so it makes decision making more personal at the assembly level. But it also was a great experience and sort of looking at what is the problem we’re trying to solve? And what are the levers we can use to solve that problem? And in Juneau, everything is just 10 times more complex. I think I have a little bit of a leg up because I’m used to examining issues, getting the background, doing the research, and figuring out what the right path is. It (Juneau) is just a much bigger stage.
KCAW – At any point did you feel like going in as unaffiliated was a handicap?
Himschoot – I think the handicap of unaffiliated is for the voters in my district, because they don’t know exactly what they’re getting. And it made it harder to campaign in some ways, because people can’t say, ‘Well, you’re a Republican, I will or won’t vote for you,’ or ‘You’re a Democrat, so I will or won’t vote for you.’ So I had to explain my ideas and, and my positions on things. And so I think it made it harder for voters to know what they were voting for. And harder for me to make sure I get my message out. And then as far as where I’ve landed, in this round everybody who ran unaffiliated is in my caucus. I don’t think it made organization more challenging. I thought it would. But it didn’t really. And I can say that I was never asked to, so to speak, stray from my principles. So that was good that no requests like that came in. And then ultimately, some deals were made by some other people. And I landed in what we’re calling the house coalition, same as what Jonathan (Kreiss-Tomkins) was in, but we are in the minority as the House Coalition. But I feel really confident that we’re a very strong minority in that we’re very unified, we know what our agenda is, we’re very confident in what we’re doing. And we have a good sized group and a very representative group. I feel like our group really encompasses Alaska from the span of age ranges to life experience we have, young people, old people, people who are way to my left, some to my right, all in our little coalition that we have in the minority. So I think I landed in the right place for me and it gives me a longer runway for when we get back to the majority in a couple of years.
KCAW – When organization is happening, it’s not like you don’t fill out a survey with your principles. It just has to somehow become clear. And the dealmaking that was done was in the news. And it sounds like what you’re saying, you would, you would prefer to be in a minority with people who share values and who you feel you can work with, than trade some principles for a stronger voice in the majority, or a committee chair or whatever.
Himschoot – I would say that’s accurate for this year. I can’t say that will always be the rule I live by. I think it’s a good choice for me this year, as I get my feet wet, as I learn the system, as I learn the people in the system, which is I’d say at least half the battle is knowing who you’re working with and what their priorities are. So I can’t say that I won’t make some deals later when the time is right. But I will say I am comfortable with the people I’m working with, and that like I said is more than half the battle.
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Chuck Miller stands with his drum at the Sitka Public Library after sharing traditional stories for Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. You’re never too young to start learning about Alaska’s most important civil rights leader. Chuck Miller, the cultural and community liaison for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, captivated a group of about 20 toddlers at the Sitka Public Library last Thursday (2-16-2023) with traditional Tlingit stories to celebrate Elizabeth Peratrovich.
Accompanying himself on a drum, Miller told the story of how Raven made humans out of trees, and another one about how Raven lost his beak.
“ Neech wei yaanagut wei yeil, yoo awe kaduneek,” Miller began, introducing the story in Tlingit. “Do we remember what that means, friends?”
A blond-haired toddler sitting cross-legged on the rug piped up in response. “Raven walking along the beach!”
“Good job — Raven walking along the beach,” Miller said. “As he’s walking along the beach, he’s hungry. He’s always hungry, that Raven. His stomach will growl. Can you make a growling sound like your stomach?” Enthusiastic growls filled the room.
Miller has been telling stories for most of his life. For Miller, being able to tell these stories and wear his regalia is itself a celebration of Peratrovich’s advocacy, which was instrumental in passing the Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945.
“I was thinking earlier about it today, and what I’m appreciative for is being able to do the storytelling, do the songs, do the dance, and be able to share history with people of all ages and of all races,” Miller said. “I wouldn’t be able to do that. I wouldn’t be able to do any of that without what she sacrificed for all of us. I never even met her. But I’m grateful today that she did what she did, I wouldn’t be able to wear my regalia in front of anybody.”
The details of Peratrovich’s legacy may have been lost on this audience, but they were happy to paddle along with Raven as he dove down to steal bait off of a halibut hook. Miller narrated the experience:
“That’s his favorite. He just wants that animal fat. How is he going to get it? So he watched the fishermen every day. They go out fishing, they go out on their canoes and they paddle. Can you paddle, friends? Show me your paddling!”
Miller told stories for about 25 minutes – a long time for a room of wriggling children.
“Everybody was very happy, so I wanted to share more stories than just one,” Miller said. “So I shared two. I think they were right at the edge of their seats, but they were also like, at the edge of their patience, too, because they sat really well.”
Amid the vigorous paddling and call-and-response, there was only one close call, where Miller’s students took their instructions a little too literally.
“And they spit on the hook for good luck. Can you do that? Pretend to do that. Don’t do that.”
Miller ended with a short song and a thank-you to everyone for sitting so well. After the reading, participants were offered free coloring books with Tlingit stories. Sitka continued the Elizabeth Peratrovich Day celebration with a parade later on Thursday.
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Sitka Conservation Society and the U.S. Forest Service invite Sitkans to a community potluck and workshop this Saturday to learn about the Federal Subsistence Board process. The workshop will include an introduction to the board process and help participants learn how to navigate regulatory meetings. Heather Bauscher and Ashley Bolwerk joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to share more details. Listen to the full interview here:
This event will be held February 25 from 12:30-5pm at Centennial Hall. For more information, contact Ashley Bolwerk at 907-747-4299 / ashley.bolwerk@usda.gov or Heather Bauscher at 907-747-7509 / heather@sitkawild.org.
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Twins Sapphire and Elizabeth Esmay (at left), Bailey Skan, Steven Bautista, Bella Schmidt, and Teagan Woodcock discuss the best ways to entertain young children during the 4-H Youth Babysitting Certification Course sponsored by the UAF Cooperative Extension Service. Other coursework included first aid, nutrition, and business management. (Photo/Kari Sagel)The childcare crisis in Sitka isn’t just about a lack of places to enroll a child, or a lack of money – it’s also about finding someone reliable and qualified just to babysit.
A group of middle school students is working to change that dynamic. Eleven girls and three boys are taking a 15-hour babysitting certification course offered by 4-H, through the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension Service.
KCAW reporter-at-large Kari Sagel accompanied the students as they studied first aid, nutrition, discipline, entertainment, and business management, and sent this audio postcard.
Fourteen students will graduate with certificates on February 27, and will hold a Community Meet & Greet for families and potential clients following the ceremony.
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Sitka Fine Arts Camp will present an evening of voice and piano on Saturday, February 25 at 7 p.m. at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. The evening will feature Latvia-based pianist Robert Fleitz and Sitka’s own Rhiannon Guevin. The pair joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton for The Morning Interview to discuss the concert, which promises to bring its audience on a journey through the world of opera and art song from Debussy to Mozart and Donizetti, followed by musical theater solos and duets by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim and more. Listen to their conversation here:
Tickets are $20 and are available now at www.fineartscamp.org/shows. For more information call 907-747-3085.
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The annual meeting of the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society will be held this Thursday, February 23. The event will feature a panel of Sitkans sharing stories of remote fish buying in Southeast Alaska. Bruce Gazaway and Eric Jordan joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming event. Listen to the full interview here:
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Helen Cheek (l.) and Steve Bradshaw submitted letters of interest to the Sitka School Board, for the position of interim superintendent. (KCAW file photo)The Sitka School Board will interview two applicants who are interested in serving as interim superintendent of schools beginning this summer.
Former district superintendent Steve Bradshaw submitted a letter of interest for the position. He served as superintendent in Sitka for 13 years, and three years prior to that as principal of Sitka High School. He most recently was superintendent of the Columbia Falls, Montana, school district from 2014 to 2020.
In his letter, Bradshaw wrote, “I believe I can help the Board, district staff, and students have a very productive 2023-2024 school year.”
At the board’s February 16 meeting when the applicants were announced, at least a half-dozen faculty and staff stepped forward to speak in support of Bradshaw.
A second letter was submitted by Helen Cheek, who has been superintendent of the Iditarod Area School District in McGrath, Alaska, for the last two years. For two years prior to that, Cheek was the director of the Career Technical and Education Center for the Yukon Flats School District, as well as that district’s director of federal grants.
In her letter, Cheek wrote, “I love working with students and communities to build bridges between what the community needs and what students want for their future.” Cheek’s husband is a certified teacher and retired from the US Navy.
The Sitka School Board will meet in special session 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 22, in the District Office board room to develop interview questions for the applicants, and then convene in executive session to discuss contract terms for the interim hire. A meeting to interview the candidates has been tentatively scheduled for the evening of Thursday, March 2.
Current Sitka Superintendent Frank Hauser has submitted his resignation effective June 30.
Helen Cheek letter of interest.
Helen Cheek resume.
Steve Bradshaw letter of interest.
Steve Bradshaw resume.
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Alaska’s gymnastics team scored big at the Arctic Games in Alberta, Canada, earlier this month. The four gymnasts from around the state won the top award for the team competition, the Gold Ulu. Then two days later they racked up medals during individual team competition. Sitkan Trisha Bessert coached them to victory:
“I’m really proud of them for coming through with the Team Gold Ulu. That was exciting, but for the individual competition…our team took home 12 out of 15 medals. They did awesome,” Bessert said.
Gymnast Emma Marsh, from Anchorage, also scored the gold ‘all around’ title for the highest combined score in all four events. Bessert says Marsh also took home the coveted “fair play” pin.
“It is only awarded to 35 athletes out of 2000. And it stands for ultimate sportsmanship,” Bessert said. “So she was recognized as one of the 35 athletes that displayed ultimate sportsmanship during the competition.”
Two Mt. Edgecumbe High School students also scored big. Peter Griggs placed silver in the two-foot high kick. And Colton Paul won the Gold Ulu in all five of the competitions he entered– Paul tied for the most gold medals won by a single competitor for Team Alaska.
Earlier this month, over 2,100 athletes, coaches and staff gathered in Wood Buffalo, Alberta, Canada for the Arctic Winter Games. The international sports competition for northern athletes happens every other year, with Alaskans representing the United States.
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Get off the beaten path and explore the edge of the believable with captivating stories from the Banff Mountain Film Festival, coming to Sitka Performing Arts Center on Friday, February 24th, at 7pm. Paige Craig and Kenley Jackson joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton in the studio to discuss the event. Proceeds support the Hames Wellness Fund which makes the Hames Center accessible to all Sitkans. Listen to their conversation here:
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Sitka is facing another hydro project that’s likely to cost more than expected. The Green Lake Dam hydro equipment is nearing its 40th birthday and in need of major repairs. However, not only has borrowing the money to make those repairs become more expensive, the repairs themselves will only grow more costly the longer the city delays taking action.
Sitka’s Electric Department has a plan to rehabilitate the Green Lake Dam in three phases. Phase 1 was estimated to cost around $3 million dollars, but in mid 2021 at the peak of the COVID pandemic, interest rates for borrowing dropped, and the assembly saw an opportunity to borrow $4 million from the United States Department of Agriculture, assuming the same debt service they’d budgeted for $3 million.
Municipal Administrator John Leach said the intent was to use the extra million dollars to cover some of phase two. The USDA greenlit the city’s application in July of 2021, but the process to get the loan took a long time – there were some legal and logistical questions to resolve – and the loan agreement wasn’t finalized until December of last year.
“Here we are a few years later. Rates have gone back up I think they’re at about 3.5% right now. So our cost of debt has changed from when we first applied for this…And we’re in a bit of a difficult predicament here,” Leach said. “We still need the money for the project…the first phase is essentially sunk. We’ve already spent our own funds out of working capital to make that happen. But we still need to move forward with the rest.”
Phase one of the Green Lake Dam project covered repairs to the water supply portion of the dam. Now, they need to replace two generators that haven’t been overhauled since they were installed nearly four decades ago. And while they’re working fine for their age, Utility Director Scott Elder said the city would be risking a lot to further delay maintenance.
“But it’s kind of like any other vehicle or piece of machinery,” Elder said. “If you make a choice to delay maintenance, then you’re running a higher risk. If you repair something while it’s still in relatively good condition, you can expect more life out of it. Delaying maintenance on it [is] probably not our best idea. Our insurance companies are definitely watching.”
Kent Barkau said, no matter what the assembly decided, he hoped Sitka’s long-term energy needs carried weight in their decision.
“I’m looking at this with an eye to the report from ETIPP,” he said. “And the good work of our Electric Department highlighting the fact that our community is on the cusp of exceeding our capacity of our current hydro facilities…What is our plan, our energy plan long term for building out more capacity? And I think now’s the time to start that planning.”
Leach said they’d put a pin in the loan discussion while they were waiting for word from another funding opportunity, a $10 million dollar appropriation in the omnibus bill approved by Senator Lisa Murkowski. But the funds didn’t end up in the bill. So the assembly had to again consider the pros and cons of borrowing from the USDA.
The higher interest rate would mean nearly double the interest payments over a 30 year period. But the federal interest rate is still lower than borrowing from the Alaska Municipal Bond bank.
Assembly member Chris Ystad asked what the consequences of not accepting the loan would be.
“As I understand, we’ve already spent the money for phase one, and potentially somewhat into phase two. How much does this hurt the capital fund for this? Can we operate with what is in there?” Ystad asked. “Do we truly need this money to keep moving forward with matching and phase two and three of this project?”
Finance Director Melissa Haley said the capital needs were huge, and even if the assembly passed on this loan, eventually they’d have to borrow money.
“It might not be tomorrow, it might not be for this specific project,” she said. “But not borrowing will certainly make it more difficult to move forward as quickly as we’d like to at the next phase of Green Lake.
Haley added that the rate of inflation for capital projects is much higher than the regular rate of inflation and any delay to funding for the project could end up making repairs much more expensive.
“In my mind, choosing nothing, not to move forward, is not an option,” said Assembly Member Kevin Mosher, who said he’d likely support the loan agreement resolution. “We put off all these things for too long and we don’t want to push our luck, so it has to be done.”
Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz understood the need to balance the increased loan costs against the rising costs of inflation, if the city were to delay any further. However, he hoped the city would hold off on spending as much of the extra money as it could.
“Going through this process does give us the $4 Million, I think John [Leach] understands to only pull out as needed to try and reduce some of the costs of this loan,” Eisenbeisz said. “And I would just hope, for at least my sake, kind of a gentleman’s agreement that as this money has started to expand, that we’re just updated on it,” he added. “I really do think that we can keep including this in grant applications as we go forward.”
Ultimately the assembly voted unanimously in favor of the resolution. Work on the Green Lake Dam continues, with plans to overhaul the two aging generators next on the docket.
The assembly’s vote on the loan resolution was one of many 7-0 decisions the assembly made on Tuesday night. The group also unanimously approved $97,000 in funding for the Parks and Recreation office and unanimously approved a 25,000 grant for the Alaska Trollers Associations Legal Defense Fund. You can read more about Tuesday’s Sitka Assembly meeting on our website at KCAW dot org.
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February 16 marks Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. 78 years ago today, the Tlingit civil rights leader’s instrumental work brought about the passage of Alaska’s Anti-Discrimination Act — the first of its kind in the United States.
Sitkans celebrated Peratrovich’s legacy with an annual parade, followed by events at ANB Founders Hall.
Find more information on Elizabeth Peratrovich and the 1945 Anti-Discrimination Act here
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Sitka Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (r.) introduces her resolution in support of the Southeast Troll Fishery, during a hearing of the House Special Fisheries Committee on February 14, 2023. Staff member Thatcher Brower (l.) provided supporting details. (KTOO/Gavel to Gavel) A legislative resolution in support of Alaska’s salmon troll fleet has cleared its first hurdle, although it has a way to go before seeing a full vote of the Alaska House and Senate.
House Joint Resolution 5 is the first piece of legislation introduced by Sitka Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, who was elected to a first term last November, and was sworn in this past January.
Note: The US District Court of Western Washington could issue a final Report & Recommendation on the Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit any day. Additional reporting on this story, including comment from the Conservancy, is coming shortly from KFSK in Petersburg.
HJR5 was heard in the House Special Fisheries Committee on February 14, Valentine’s Day. Rep. Himschoot used the day as a springboard to focus attention on Southeast trollers, whose livelihood has been jeopardized by a lawsuit in the federal court in Seattle.
“I want to start by wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day,” Himschoot opened. “And if there’s one thing Alaskans love, it’s our fishermen. So we’re going to talk about some fishermen today.”
Himschoot and co-sponsor Ketchikan Representative Dan Ortiz are the only two Southeast Alaskans on the Special Fisheries Committee. Himschoot explained the significance of the troll fleet to the other members.
“You’ll find trollers in every community of Southeast Alaska,” she said. “I don’t know if there’s a community without at least one troller no matter how small the community. So it’s a very important fishery for Southeast Alaska. And 85% of the trollers in the fleet are Alaska residents. So these are people who are hook-and-line fishing. When they put their line in the water, it’s a very sustainable fishery, they’re going to pull up a salmon. So this incredible homegrown fleet of fishermen doing the hard work that brings in about $85 million to our economy in Southeast Alaska is under attack. And they’ve been attacked by the Wild Fish Conservancy. There’s a lawsuit that started in 2019. And this resolution is going to urge state and federal agencies to continue defending our trollers.”
Although the Southeast king salmon fishery is the target of the lawsuit, the defendant is the National Marine Fisheries Service, which oversees the management of the nation’s commercial fisheries. In broad terms, the Wild Fish Conservancy argues that NMFS violated the Endangered Species Act when it failed to fully account for the impact of Alaska trolling on the food supply of a population of endangered killer whales in Puget Sound. Although experts believe that NMFS can correct this supposed error, it’s now in the hands of a federal judge in Washington whether or not to shut down trolling for king salmon in Alaska until it is remedied.
Other members of the committee tried to tease out a better understanding of the problem. Committee chair Sarah Vance of Homer asked Alaska Trollers Association director Amy Daugherty if harm to killer whales was an ongoing concern.
“Has there been concerns about impact to the orcas prior to this?” Vance asked.
“Never,” Daugherty responded. “In fact, it’s our understanding that every other orca population up and down the coast is healthy, and in fact increasing, except for this localized Puget Sound population.”
This is probably the most incongruent aspect of the lawsuit for trollers, who regard themselves as an environmentally sensitive fishery: Shutting down commercial trolling for king salmon in Alaska may not have any effect at all on killer whales in Puget Sound.
Sitka troller, environmentalist, and fisheries advocate Eric Jordan could barely contain his frustration.
“This existential threat to close down our Southeast troll fishery and fundraising charade by the Wild Fish Conservancy is a brutal assault on us that won’t save one orca,” Jordan said. “ It is the most vicious, misguided assault I have witnessed and a lifetime of experience with fisheries conflicts.”
Tad Fujioka, board chair of the Seafood Producers Cooperative in Sitka, argued that the Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit failed to accurately trace the problem for Puget Sound’s killer whales. If it did, the line would lead right back to Puget Sound.
“The lack of salmon isn’t really the problem that Southern Resident Killer Whales face,” he explained. “If it was, we wouldn’t see that the Alaska and British Columbia orca pods growing so steadily. If our fishery was the reason for trouble, the local orcas would be suffering a lot more than the ones hundreds of miles away. The real problem for Southern Residents is the pollution in Puget Sound. There are 5 million people that live in the Puget Sound area, and with all the heavy pollution and road runoff it makes the local fish toxic. The Washington Department of Health recommends that people eat no more than two servings of Puget Sound king salmon per month. And of course the local killer whales eat a whole lot more than that. And that’s made them some of the most contaminated marine mammals anywhere in the world.”
The House Special Fisheries Committee unanimously passed House Joint Resolution 5 out of committee. Its next stop is the Rules Committee, where it could be scheduled for a floor vote.
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Sitka’s Drama, Debate, and Forensics team won the state championship in 2022 (for the sixth time in a row!). The team will hold a showcase 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 21, at the Sitka Performing Arts Center to tune up for the upcoming state meet in Anchorage. (KCAW file photo)DDF coach Amy Ainslie, along with competitors Felix, Sam, and Maya talk about the upcoming DDF Showcase. The team swept the Region V tournament at Thunder Mountain High School in Juneau, the last week of January; the Febrary 21 Showcase is a chance for Sitkans to see some of these championship performances before the team defends its state title in Anchorage.
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Clear-cut logging site at Humpback Creek near Yakutat. (Courtesy of Defend Yakutat)Residents in the Southeast Alaska community of Yakutat have struggled with a logging conflict in recent years. The community’s Alaska Native corporation, Yak-Tat Kwaan started a logging subsidiary, Yak Timber in 2018. The business began harvesting trees but ran into trouble when it proposed logging the nearby island of Khaantak and then started logging at Humpback Creek.
Corporation shareholders have voiced opposition saying these areas are culturally important. The Humpback Creek site could hold house pits and a stone wall, according to some archaeologists. The local tribe and regional tribal government, Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska have asked Yak Timber to stop logging. But it hasn’t. The corporation says it needs to make a profit as part the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and they have loans to pay off.
There have also been disputes around the corporation’s recent election process.
Freelance journalist, Nat Herz visited Yakutat for a few days in mid-January to investigate. He wrote about his trip in his newsletter Northern Journal. And he spoke with CoastAlaska’s Angela Denning who has also reported on the situation. He says Yakutat seems to agree that Humpback Creek is significant, but should it prevent logging is still in question.
You can find Herz’s writing about Yakutat at Northern Journal.
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The Sitka School Board is hoping public pressure will push the legislature to increase school funding in Alaska, or else the district could face potentially drastic cuts.
The board met in a work session last Thursday (2-9-23) to hear an overview of the budget for the next school year, and the numbers aren’t pretty.
Superintendent Frank Hauser warned board members that cuts are coming.
“We are projecting, if we do not see any relief in the form of a new or increased Base Student Allocation (i.e. state funding), that we will have to have some budget reductions which could include increase pupil teacher ratio, reduction in staff and potential reductions in programs,” said Hauser. “And those will be needed to really balance the budget for the deficit that we’re looking at.”
Hauser has previously reminded the board that the Sitka School District is in no way a unique position: Districts across the state are looking at deficits, and the blame is most often placed on the failure of the state to keep up with increasing costs. There is a bill in the Alaska Legislature to increase state funding by $1,000 per pupil. Hauser said that if it passed, it would cover Sitka’s nearly $3 million dollar deficit, and then some.
“It’s important to know that there is some conversations happening in the legislature right now around the Base Student Allocation increase,” said Hauser. “If there is a Base Student Allocation increase, that will have a positive impact on the district. Currently, right now, with a $2.79 million deficit, it would require a Base Student Allocation increase of just under $900 to essentially break even, and potentially even put a few thousand dollars in the in the bank account.”
As it’s only February, no one is expecting quick action from the Legislature. Sitka High Math teacher Ryan Myers is the father of student board member Felix Myers. The pair were among those who attended a fly-in last weekend to lobby the legislature on behalf of schools. Ryan Myers told the board that the Legislature would only act if there were significant public pressure.
“There is absolutely no guarantee of a raise in the Base Student Allocation,” said Myers. “There are people that want that, and there are plenty of people that don’t. And there are people that want it at $1,000; people that want it “1,500. And there’s people that want it at $250. And if we’re counting on having teachers and programs and a school district that functions, that’s not a want, that’s a need. And I’m just stating for the public record that we need to be putting pressure on our legislators, we need to be writing them, we need to be putting things in the newspaper, we need to spread the word far and wide that this is not a small problem. If we have to pink slip 10 to 20 teachers and people in the school district because we need to balance a budget, and we just hope that they’re going to stick around and wait for us to decide we can pay them. That’s a dangerous game to play.”
The Sitka School Board often begins the budget process in the hole, and is forced to consider cuts that often it’s spared from making, thanks to an 11th-hour infusion of cash from federal or state sources.
Board member Todd Gebler doesn’t see a rescue coming this year. He urged the public to start contacting legislators.
“Without proper funding, school board members are going to be cutting programs and cutting teachers and cutting everything,” said Gebler. “There’s no more low hanging fruit to cut.”
The Sitka School Board will hold its next budget work session on March 9 in Harrigan Centennial Hall. The budget for the next school year is scheduled to be finalized and adopted on April 20.
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The proposed Seawalk extension, identified as “Section 2” in blue above, places an 8-foot wide path along the outside of the O’Connell Bridge. One of the last few areas on the downtown Sitka waterfront that has not been filled or otherwise modified, the site may contain a former clam garden — an ancient method of mariculture widely used by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. The Sitka Tribe of Alaska is concerned that a proposed extension of the Sitka Seawalk will destroy one of the few remaining cultural sites on the town’s waterfront.
The Tribe and the Sitka Assembly conferred on this and other matters during their semi-annual government-to-government meeting on Monday (2-13-23)
The Sitka Seawalk currently runs from Sitka National Historical Park to the Sitka Public Library. It’s a waterfront enhancement funded largely through the local share of the head tax on cruise passengers (Commercial Passenger Vessel Excise Tax) levied by the state.
A proposed extension of the Seawalk would create a new path around the outside of the O’Connell Bridge – essentially the last sliver of undeveloped waterfront in downtown Sitka.
State planners noted that rock fill for the proposed route would impact a bed of eelgrass in the area, considered essential fish habitat for herring. And there was also something else, as Jeff Feldpausch, the Tribe’s Resource Protection director, explained.
“They did find a man made rock wall that extends off that point, just from the base of the bridge kind of back towards the street or the road,” said Feldpausch. “I think the state had gone back through and did some additional testing. We were concerned that that rock wall was probably part of a clam garden.”
A clam garden is created by terracing a beach in an intertidal area with walls made from large stones. It’s a form of mariculture used by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest for millenia.
Clam garden in the Broughton Archipelago in British Columbia. Note how the lower intertidal zone rock wall has created a terrace of shell hash in the mid-intertidal, creating productive clam habitat in a location where there wasn’t even a beach before (Photo: John Harper/”Clam Garden” by SFU – Communications & Marketing is licensed under CC BY 2.0.).Tribal Council member Fred Olsen, Jr. noted the irony in that some places in Southeast were trying to enhance their waterfronts with recreations of nature or history (like the whale sculpture in Juneau), but Sitka had the real thing, and was putting it at risk.
“Instead of inventing something for tourists to look at, you have actual history to look at,” said Olsen. “And just don’t pave over that, you know.”
(Note: Tribal Council member Fred Olsen, Jr., is employed at KCAW.)
Sitka’s waterfront has been substantially modified and filled in over the years. Early in the last century, waves used to lap at the base of Castle Hill, and at the back of the stores along Lincoln Street. Now, most of the area from Crescent Harbor to Eliason Harbor has been filled in for streets and public buildings, like Harrigan Centennial Hall and the library. While the Seawalk doesn’t seem like a very big project relative to the overall development of Sitka’s waterfront, some Tribal Council members nevertheless felt very protective about what little of the natural environment remains.
Council member Marth Moses suggested that the construction of the Seawalk has already come with a cultural cost.
“When the Seawalk was being developed out to Totem Park and there was that little hill right there that had the huckleberries and the blueberries,” Moses said, “and when you had your elder go with you, you had a little trail that you could take your elder and they can go pick their own bucket. But that’s already blasted through. There’s a walkway through there, and that berry bush is gone. So when we talked about it at the Resource Protection (Committee), you make these developments and they’re gone forever. Our tradition is gone forever.”
Moses’ view was echoed by fellow council member Rachel Moreno, who said she worked in summer on cruise ships and interacted with passengers who were really interested to take in Sitka’s history, without creating harm.
“They want to know that they’re not having a negative impact where they visit,” Moreno said. “And if we just are so worried about creating a place for them to walk, without taking into consideration these historic sites and, and things that we grew up seeing – and gosh, we don’t see them anymore! I remember when Blueberry Hill was bulldozed for the Sitka – what’s there now? SAIL and the dental office. All us kids used to go up Blueberry Hill to pick berries, and that was a safe place to go. You know, we didn’t have to worry about bears or anything. And so that, because of development, is gone. That’s such a childhood memory. And I would hate to see one of the last parts of downtown Sitka that’s natural right now be destroyed.”
Scoping meetings were held in Sitka last fall on the Seawalk extension, and a public comment period was open through the end of the year. The state expects to have a 75-percent plan ready for public review by this coming spring or summer, as well as another public comment period. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz told Tribal Council members that he’d be adding their concerns to those he’s already heard.
“Just being honest,” said Eisenbeisz, “I have heard a lot of negative on this Seawalk. So I think it is time for us to take a hard look at that project and determine if it is right for Sitka.”
The Sitka Tribal Council and Sitka Assembly meet twice a year over a meal to discuss issues important to both bodies. Now in its 25th year, the arrangement (which is codified in a formal Memorandum of Understanding) is regarded as a rare — yet inspiring — form of government-to-government interaction. (KCAW/Woolsey)The Sitka Tribal Council and Sitka Assembly meet twice a year for a meal, and to cover a joint agenda of issues important to each body (and have done so for the last 25 years, a fact which was noted at the meeting). Other major topics covered at their February meeting included collaboration on an Affordable Housing Summit this year – including homelessness – building redundancy into the community’s broadband infrastructure, and coordinating the strategic plans of the Tribe and the City.
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The Sitka Assembly will give $25,000 to support the Alaska Trollers Association’s legal defense fund. The group unanimously approved the funding in a final vote on February 14.
The Alaska Trollers Association is an intervenor in a lawsuit that a Washington-based nonprofit brought against the National Marine Fisheries Service three years ago. The Wild Fish Conservancy aims to protect an endangered population of killer whales in Puget Sound by targeting the Southeast troll fishery. In December, a US District Court Judge issued a recommendation that could shut the troll fishery down until the NMFS makes some policy changes. Since Sitka’s assembly signaled interest in supporting the trollers last month, more Southeast communities have jumped on board. ATA President Matt Donohoe thanked the assembly for spurring action throughout the region.
“Sitka led the way on this, and I want to thank you for it,” Donohoe said. “I’ve lived in Southeast Alaska for I think 50 years now, roughly. And I don’t remember anything like this in that 50 years.”
In early February the Petersburg and Ketchikan borough assemblies approved resolutions supporting trollers in the lawsuit. Ketchikan’s assembly also plans to consider its own $25,000 donation later this month, and its city council will consider a resolution on Feb 16. Wrangell’s assembly will consider a $7000 donation at a meeting this Friday. Other local organizations have garnered support for the group, like the Elks Lodge and the Seafood Producers Co-Op — their board voted to donate $59,000.
Right now a final decision on the court case is pending. And in late January, Governor Mike Dunleavy said the state is preparing to appeal the lawsuit to the Supreme Court, if necessary.
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Rising interest rates may jolt the city out of a plan to borrow money from the feds to repair the Green Lake Dam. Those repairs will move forward nevertheless – how to pay for them is a question the assembly will consider on Tuesday (2-14-23).
The assembly approved borrowing up to $4 million dollars from the US Department of Agriculture back in 2020, when interest rates were at 1.9%. But the city’s electric utility director Scott Elder and Finance Director Melissa Haley say staff has only recently learned that the low rate wasn’t locked in.
The city’s application was approved in July of 2021, but the process of drawing up contracts with the feds was slow. When they finalized the agreement in December of last year, interest rates had risen to just over 3.5% which would nearly double the interest expense from $1.3 to 2.5 million over a 30 year loan period.
A memo from Haley and Elder outlines the pros and cons of borrowing from USDA: The city would free up working capital and the process of borrowing from USDA would be cheaper than bonding, and it would be easier to secure more loans for the city’s Electric Fund moving in the future. But borrowing from the USDA means meeting additional federal requirements, which increases the staff time and cost.
In other business, the assembly will on final reading whether to donate $25,000 to the Alaska Trollers Association’s legal defense fund. It will consider a $92,000 appropriation to bolster the budget for the Parks and Recreation office. And it will consider whether to extend property and utility tax exemptions for the Sitka Historical Society’s museum at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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Sitka Fine Arts Camp hosts a David Bowie tribute concert this weekend, February 17 and 18 at 7pm at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. Sam Faustine, who has performed in Sitka for Queen and Van Halen tribute concerts, joins musicians from Smokestack Music Productions to share highlights of Bowie’s career, from “Ziggy Stardust” to “Lazarus.” Audience members are encouraged to “put on some eyeliner, your finest sequined clothing, and Let’s Dance!” Tickets are available online at fineartscamp.org.
Drew Sherman and Faustine joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming show. Listen to the full interview here:
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The Sitka School Board is going to shake the tree for a week to see if an interim superintendent candidate falls out, before launching into a full-scale search for a permanent hire.
The board met in special session Thursday night (2-10-23) to consider how best to start looking for a new person to lead the Sitka School District.
Sitka Superintendent Frank Hauser submitted his resignation the first week of February. Although it’s a full month earlier than when former Superintendent Mary Wegner asked to be released from her contract, it’s just on the cusp of being too late to hire someone to begin work on July 1.
In fact, Timi Tullis, a hiring consultant with the Alaska Association of School Boards, said hiring season for school administrators across the state is wrapping up just about now.
“Copper River had two finalists chosen, and they were supposed to come into town this week to interview and both have accepted other jobs before they came to Copper River,” Tullis said. “So they have reopened theirs. And this week we have Aleutian East, Unalaska, and Bristol Bay are supposed to pick their finalists. Then we have Fairbanks who is in the middle of theirs, Juneau, Iditarod, and Southeast Island just this week have determined they’re going to be doing a search. And then of course you. I’m not trying to scare anyone, I am just saying this is the reality as of today.”
The meeting was well attended by district staff, several of whom urged the board to move forward with a permanent hire, and to train its sights on someone with practical experience in both the classroom and in the administration.
Another theme that came out in testimony was finding a candidate who might want to settle in Sitka, if they weren’t here already.
Sitka High Teacher Freddie Charbonneau – “The Sitka School District will intentionally develop haa’ latseeni, or strength of mind, body, and spirit, to inspire and prepare students to be compassionate and empowered, and to equip critical thinkers within a global community. This is the mission of the school district… And it is really important that when we’re looking for a leader, we are looking for someone who will live by this mission, and will encourage others to also do the same.”
Blatchley principal Ben White (reading from an email) – “Please consider prioritizing two key factors: The candidate having multiple years of actual classroom level teaching experience, and having multiple years of building level administrative experience. A significant part of any school superintendent’s job is to help inform teachers and administrators how to best do their jobs so that children reap the greatest educational benefit.”
Blatchley teacher Alexander Allison – “Please prioritize hiring somebody who is fully invested in living in, and being a member of, our community year round with their whole family.”
Tullis, who appeared via zoom, was visibly taking notes during public comment, but she cautioned everyone to lower their expectations slightly. Like a matchmaker counseling a bride, Sitka might get some of what it wants, but might have to settle for less than all it wants.
“I heard a few people talking about the essentialness of having both teacher and building level experience,” said Tullis. “And I’m not disagreeing with that. I just want to remind everyone in the room that currently our nation is facing a terrible teacher shortage. And because of that, we’re facing a building administrators/central office shortage. And because of that we’re facing a superintendent shortage. It’s just the reality of where we are now.”
The board was of two minds on how to proceed. Student member Felix Myers argued that the board needed a permanent superintendent in place sooner rather than later, because this person would take the lead in negotiating a new contract with teachers next year. He didn’t think such an important role should fall to a temp.
“What our students want is to make sure that we at least try first to get someone who can be here long term,” Myers said, “because when it comes to those discussions that are going to be essential next year, they want to make sure that person is in good faith when it comes to those discussions.”
Members Tristan Guevin, Mitch Mork, and Blossom Teal-Olsen favored going with a highly-experienced interim superintendent, to buy time for a more thorough search for a permanent hire. This approach was used when the district hired former superintendent John Holst to work for a year following Wegner’s departure in 2019. Teal-Olsen said she had been urged by the public to take the time to get it right.
” The consensus being there’s no rush,” Teal-Olsen said. “And I want to stay true to the community and how they feel. And ultimately I would like to find a candidate that will be long term, committed to the community, integrated into the community, and will represent Sitka, as they should.”
In the end, the board decided 4-1, with Myers opposed, to take a week (until February 16) to solicit letters of interest from interim candidates – just to see who was out there. If no one turned up who fit the bill, they’d ask Tullis and the Alaska Association of School Boards to initiate a search for a permanent replacement, with costs not to exceed $15,500.
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The Sitka Sustainability Commission is seeking feedback from Sitka residents about the commission’s priorities for the coming year. Katie Riley, who chairs the commission joined the city’s new sustainability coordinator Bri Gabel to discuss the survey. Listen here:
Click here to take the survey or scan the QR code pictured below:
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The Sitka Fine Arts Camp is a regular participant in the Sitka July 4 Parade. In 2019, campers delivered a message disapproving of the decision to eliminate the State Council on the Arts. (KCAW/Nina Sparling)Fifty years ago, Alaska tapped into one of its most important resources: The creativity and talent of its young people.
The Sitka Fine Arts Camp incorporated on February 9, 1973. KCAW’s Robert Woolsey spoke with Roger Schmidt who, between his years as a student and his years as director, has been with the camp for a quarter-century.
Celebrating the Sitka Fine Arts Camp’s 50th anniversary, Roger Schmidt was not attending a champagne gala. He was home on his couch, recovering from a cold.
Although the Sitka Fine Arts Camp is a summer program, it requires vigilance and effort year-round to sustain.
“Keeping our camp alive year to year is like keeping a fire burning in Southeast Alaska rainforests,” he said. “You turn your back on it for a second. It’s not even ashes.”
Not even ashes, just cold, wet dirt.
Over its five-decade history, the camp never was fully extinguished, but it came close. Initially it was housed on the campus of Sheldon Jackson College. When the college ran into financial trouble, the camp moved to Mt. Edgecumbe High School. Year-to-year, there was never certainty about where the camp would be held – or even if it would be held. A former camper, Schmidt arrived on scene in 2000 and realized that the fire had not quite gone out.
“It was on its last legs once again,” Schmidt said. “But what happened is when I taught at it, even though there weren’t a lot of students there, I was so moved by how much they cared about what they were doing. And I realized that it was a much smaller camp than the camps I’d gone to as a kid, but it was still the same spirit. It had the same value to the kids where they thought this was a spot where they felt like it was their place. And for many kids, the only place to feel like it is their place.”
Now housed permanently on the former Sheldon Jackson College campus (trustees of the college, which shut its doors for good in 2007, donated the core campus buildings to SFAC in 2011), the camp has nearly 700 students registered for this coming summer, from Alaska and all over the country. Schmidt considers this the rebound year, after a full closure in 2020, running at 50-percent in 2021, and a “recovery” year in 2022 when managing the pandemic still loomed large over camp operations.
Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on January 1, registration opened for 2023, and 200 students signed up within the first four days – many in the first few minutes.
Schmidt says this is a student-led phenomenon, and one that he is grateful for.
“The thing is we never made anybody do it, the kids did it,” said Schmidt. “Meaning we have all these teenagers that the first thing they do in their year is they sign up for camp. And to me that is so touching, so motivating, and so inspiring. To think that there are over 200 students out there that decided that the first thing they do in year 2023 was sign up.”
As of press time, there was only one opening left in the high school camp dormitory, and three places in the middle school camp dormitory, and a few places in the musical theater camp. There is more availability for day campers.
Schmidt doesn’t overlook the fact that reaching a 50th anniversary, though very significant for an Alaskan Arts institution, necessarily means things will get easier. There will always be battles, challenges, and obstacles. He credits everyone involved in the camp for their help making it this far. When asked what the secret to success was, to fanning that flame, Schmidt didn’t hesitate: “It’s willpower,” he said. “It’s people who care, and who care a lot, who are keeping it alive.”
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Members of the City League Basketball 2023 Women’s League pose for a photo. (Photo from Sitka Parks and Recreation.)Sitka Parks and Recreation is seeking comments from Sitkans about potential summer programming for the 2023 season. Andrew Roseman joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss how Sitkans can weigh in and give an update on current programming, including a new drawing club at Keet Gooshi Heen. Listen to the full interview here:
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A wolf on Pleasant Island near Gustavus, Alaska peers at the camera. (Photo by Bjorn Dihle)On a tiny, remote island in Southeast Alaska, scientists recently made a surprising discovery: Wolves are eating sea otters.
And not just one every so often. For this pack, it’s the wolves’ main source of food. The study is making waves in the scientific community.
Listen to the story here:
Pleasant Island is located about a mile south of the mainland near the town of Gustavus. Historically, wolves would occasionally swim over but had never colonized the island until about a decade ago.
“This pack of wolves really defied all of our predictions,” said Gretchen Roffler, who has studied wolves in Southeast for eight years.
Roffler is the lead author of a study published in January in a journal of the National Academy of Sciences on the island’s wolves. This new pack killed all the black-tailed deer on the island — a favorite meal for Southeast wolves. They’re a territorial species and an established pack was back on the mainland preventing a return. Roffler and other scientists assumed they would die off from starvation.
“Instead, what we found was that the wolves stayed on the island, and they continued to reproduce annually,” Roffler said.
But how? The island is small, just over 20 square miles. What were the wolves eating?
Nearby residents in Gustavus noticed new wolf activity on the island where they would hunt deer and pick berries. Greg Streveler is one of them and his first thought was, “Uh-Oh.”
Streveler is a retired ecologist with the National Parks Service and has studied the area’s land and animals for over 50 years.
“The ‘Uh-Oh’ was, you can see what’s coming,” he said. “Having the pack discover the place. And [then] there was two wolves instead of one. You could kind of read the tea leaves.”
Within a few years, Streveler and other residents saw the island’s deer disappear. So the scientists stepped in and began to gather data. In 2015, they counted three wolves. A year later there were 10. By the year 2017, there were 13 wolves.
“The wolf densities on this island at this time were some of the highest ever recorded,” Roffler said.
Roffler’s team collected scat and studied it in a lab to see what the wolves were eating. And it showed something surprising: sea otter.
“At first, I thought, well, this is maybe just a blip,” said Roffler. “Maybe this is just an occasional thing that wolves are able to do.”
They decided to collect wolf hair. While scat shows what wolves have eaten recently, hair gives scientists a longer-term look. And tests on the hair proved it wasn’t a blip. The wolves were eating lots of sea otters and had been for a while. Roffler said it underscores how adaptable wolves are.
“Something that we assume about wolves is that they really can’t live without ungulate prey,” she said. “They very quickly switched to a diet that primarily consists of sea otters. It really just took a couple of years for that to happen.”
Starting in 2020, Roffler’s team GPS-collared some of the wolves so they could study so-called “kill sites” where the wolves likely feasted for a while. They noticed the wolves were traveling around the circular island, along the tideline.
A wolf on Pleasant Island walks along the beach. (Photo by Bjorn Dihle)“When we look at all the wolf GPS location data, if we just splashed onto a map, it sort of looks like a doughnut,” Roffler said.
Sea otters might look cute — maybe you’ve seen photos of them floating on their backs and holding hands — but they aren’t small or defenseless. They have sharp teeth for cracking shellfish to eat and males can grow to 100 pounds. Based on the kill sites, the scientists believe the wolves are targeting otters at low tide when they’re on land or in the shallows and they’re more vulnerable.
Roffler hasn’t witnessed the pack hunt and is hesitant to speculate about it. But Streveler has a theory.
“The wolves are not dealing with a healthy group of otters,” he said. “So I don’t think it’s a big deal for wolves to find some.”
He says the otters in the area might be weak and are hauling out on land more than normal. Sea otters were introduced to the region in the 1960s after being hunted to near extinction. Streveler said it’s possible that there are more otters in the area than the habitat can support.
“Before, nobody here ever saw an otter haul out. Ever,” Streveler said. “And so, to find a naive group of very easy to catch very, very delicious critters. Oh, my God, you know, it’s like discovering the Garden of Eden.”
Scientists don’t know how this unusual diet might affect wolves in the long term. Roffler said that’s their next big question – how contaminants accumulate in the food web.
“Wolves are apex predators, and sea otters are apex nearshore predators,” she said. “So any sort of contaminants in the environment, if they’re being consumed by sea otters, or by sea otter prey, they would bioaccumulate in wolves. So this is something we’re trying to study more.”
They also don’t know how long the food source will be around. But Streveler thinks it’s temporary.
“The sea otter-wolf thing is probably a flash in the pan,” he said. “It’s not likely there’s going to be both a lot of sea otters and a lot of weak sea otters available very long. It’s a very, very brief, I think, opportunistic window.”
Besides the future of this wolf pack, the implications of the study are turning some corners of the science world upside down. In a commentary, Princeton University Ecology professor Robert Pringle says the conclusions “challenge dogma.” New ways of gathering data are debunking “grand theoretical generalizations.” He writes, “One thing it needs now is a rejuvenated commitment to figuring out what is what in the real world.”
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The reinstatement of the Roadless Rule on National Forest lands in Alaska was one of the biggest wins for conservation in the past year. Sitkans in 2019 actively protested the state’s exemption from the rule during the last presidential administration. (KCAW/Ari Snider)Andrew Thoms and Heather Bauscher discuss plans for the Sitka Conservation Society’s annual meeting, which is taking place tonight (6 p.m. Thursday, February 9, Mean Queen Dungeon). The meeting is not just to plan for the future, but also a chance to celebrate major conservation gains in the state, including the reinstatement of the Roadless Rule, to the cancellation of the Pebble Mine project.
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Anastasia Stefanowicz and Annie Mattea of Sitka Counseling and Prevention joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming free screening of the film “Eat, Pray, Love” 11 a.m. Saturday, February 11, at the Coliseum Theater.
Doors open at 10:30 a.m. The film stars Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem in the story of a married woman who steps out of her comfort zone to change her life.
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Two drug busts in Sitka led to indictments last month. According to court filings, on January 13, Sitka Police Officer Parker White pulled over 41-year-old Joshua Coon for operating a vehicle with expired tags. Officer White allegedly observed drug paraphernalia in the rear seat of the vehicle, and secured a warrant to search the car and its occupants. Officers found around 10 suspected fentanyl pills on the passenger, 37-year-old Stormy Powell, and over 50 of the same pills on Coon, along with additional paraphernalia and a ledger with a note that said the price for a pill was $25.
Both Coon and Powell were indicted by a Sitka Grand Jury on January 18 for misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree, a Class A felony, for intent to distribute oxycodone and/or fentanyl.
On January 10, 33-year-old Jacquelyn Gravely and 28-year-old Scott Vincent Thomas were arrested for allegedly using methamphetamine in the Crescent Harbor bathroom, which is within 500 feet of a school. On January 18, both Gravely and Scott were indicted by a Sitka Grand Jury on two counts each for misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree– both Class B felonies.
Two Sitkans were also indicted on felony assault charges last month. 27-year-old Andre Haas was arrested on January 15 for allegedly brandishing a firearm at a person, and damaging property . Haas was arrested at the Sitka Airport, where officers allegedly found a handgun in his backpack, which was later confirmed stolen.
Two days later, Maxwell Marshal Shellabarger was arrested for assaulting a woman in her home on January 17.
Both Haas and Shellabarger were indicted by a Sitka Grand Jury on January 26. Haas for one count of assault in the third degree and a count of theft in the second degree, both Class C felonies. Shellabarger was indicted for one count of assault in the second degree (a Class B felony) and two counts of assault in the third degree, Class C felonies.
Trial dates for all defendants are pending.
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Sitka Schools superintendent Frank Hauser has submitted his resignation, effective at the end of June.
Hauser has been superintendent in Sitka since the autumn of 2020, after many years of service in Anchorage as a music teacher and school principal. However, in each of the last two years in Sitka he’s actively pursued other jobs, first as superintendent of the Anchorage School District, and most recently, as superintendent of the Fairbanks North Star School District, where he is one of four finalists for the position.
In a letter emailed to district families on Monday, Hauser stated “While I am not sure what the future holds or if I might be called to serve elsewhere, I look forward to spending more quality time with family.”
Hauser replaced former superintendent Mary Wegner, who held the job for six years. Between Wegner’s departure and the arrival of Hauser, the School Board hired former superintendent John Holst on a one-year contract.
The Sitka School Board will meet in a special session at 5 p.m. Thursday, February 9, in Harrigan Centennial Hall to decide a course of action, and begin the search for a new superintendent. Speaking for herself only, board president Blossom Teal-Olsen told KCAW “I support Mr. Hauser’s professional endeavors. While I’m saddened at the thought of him leaving our district, I have confidence that our board and community will come together as we experience this change.”
Following the special meeting, the board and district administration will hold a Community Hearing on ways to address a $2.8 million shortfall in the budget anticipated next year.
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A new addiction recovery resource is now available in Sitka. Recovery Dharma offers an approach to recovery based on Buddhist principles. Mel Beadle joins KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the program, which holds its first meeting February 7 at Yoga Union. Listen to the full interview here:
Meetings will be held 6pm Tuesdays at Yoga Union starting February 7. Recovery Dharma of Sitka welcomes all those who wish to pursue recovery from any addiction, including process addictions and codependence, though it is requested that participants be sober from substances during the meeting. For more information email rdsitka@gmail.com or visit recoverydharma.org.
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In a matter unrelated to the district’s audit, Sitka Schools Superintendent Frank Hauser is continuing his hunt for another job outside of Sitka.
The Fairbanks North Star School District announced on Wednesday (2-1-23) that Hauser is one of four finalists for the position of district superintendent.
Hauser was hired by the Sitka School District in 2021, and did not wait long to look for another job. He was named as one of three finalists for the superintendent of the Anchorage School District in March of 2022. Anchorage ultimately hired Dr. Jharett Bryantt, of Houston, Texas, to take the reins of the state’s largest school system.
In addition to Hauser, the other candidates for the Fairbanks job include Luke Meinert, who is currently assistant superintendent in Fairbanks; Dr. Ryan Scallon, who is an assistant superintendent in Philadelphia; and Dr. Ronnie Tarchichi, who is a superintendent in New Jersey.
Final interviews for the position of superintendent of the Fairbanks North Star School District will be held on February 18.
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The Fiddle Grind is back and organizers are looking for musical Sitkans to feature in the community’s longest running family-friendly talent show. Jeff Budd and Debby LaVeck joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming Monthly Grind, happening at 7 p.m. Saturday, February 25, at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi. Listen to their full conversation here:
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and $5 tickets are at Old Harbor Books and the door. Dessert contestants also need a ticket. The philosophy remains family oriented, affordable, and non-political. Questions can be directed to Jeff at 907-747-4821.
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Staff members involved in student activities were concerned that centralizing the student activities accounts, and moving them from the individual school buildings to the district business office, would interfere with a system that’s worked well for decades. “We’ve basically been carrying that internal control risk for 30 years, and it’s been working as far as I know,” said school board member Mitch Mork,”but this is the first that anybody’s heard that it’s not working.” (KCAW photo) For the first time in recent memory, the Sitka School District in January failed to get a clean audit.
Although the faults were procedural – rather than financial – the issue weighed heavily on the minds of some school staff and school board members as they considered whether or not to formally adopt the findings at their February 1 regular meeting.
It should be noted from the get-go that the Fiscal Year 2022 Audit of the Sitka School District completed by the Anchorage accounting firm of Altman, Rogers & Co. is a 138-page report that finds the financial practices of the Sitka School District to be in good shape, and even praiseworthy.
That said, a couple of deficiencies were noted, that – given the overall competency of the district’s business office – might be the equivalent of grammatical errors on an A-student’s otherwise solid term paper.
The first was a failure to track expenses from the Student Activities accounts to the district’s general ledger on a monthly basis – which the auditors consider a “lack of internal controls,” and the second was a failure to file some quarterly reports to the US Department of Education on time, which the auditors also attributed to a lack of internal control.
The district office was informed about both of these problems before the auditors officially delivered the report in January, and its response was to promptly agree with the findings, and to begin corrective action.
Keeping on top of federal grant compliance did not generate much attention at the meeting, as it’s probably a matter of bringing recent hires in the district business office up to speed on the requirements of the government bureaucracy. But centralizing the Student Activities accounts raised alarm bells for some.
Mike Vieira is the president of the teacher’s union (Sitka Education Association) and a former activities director at Sitka High School. He was worried that changing accounting practices, while impressing auditors, might interfere with the function of activities.
“I was concerned to see that kind of buried on page 132 of the audit is a pretty big change in the standard operating procedure of our district regarding the way that activity funds are distributed and controlled, and executed,” Vieira said. “Forever, those activity funds — at least at the high school — have remained with the high school accountant. And it’s a very local approach to our building. And it’s allowed our building to function as a team with our administration, our accounting team, and the coaches inevitably that need access to those funds.”
Vieira recounted an incident where the Sitka basketball teams were en route to games in Wrangell, and ended up overheading and going all the way to Seattle for the night, where they had to be housed in hotels – all of which transpired long after the district’s business office had closed.
Rich Krupa is the athletic coordinator at Sitka High. He said that the episodes Vieira described were not unusual.
“Things happen all the time,” Krupa testified. “I need access to stuff immediately. And with stuff that’s proposed, that’s not going to happen. And my feeling is Sitka athletics and activities are going to be held captive, if it’s changed dramatically. I have no idea what (the District Office) they’re planning to do.”
The corrective plan is written right into the auditor’s report: Business manager Leslie Young stated that “the district is currently in the process of transitioning all school activity accounting to the district’s accounting system to provide a uniform system for operating and training school staff within one centralized system.”
What that will look like in practice is still a bit uncertain. Felix Myers, student representative on the school board, was caught in one of those thorny travel situations last year on a Mock Trial trip to Anchorage. He urged the administration to make sure that remedying the audit did not leave his fellow students in the lurch.
“We have to make sure that when this does happen, there is a constant line of support for student activities,” Myers said. “So because of that, speaking on behalf of students and student activities, that has to be a priority, making sure that we still have access to the ability to communicate and make sure we can get home.”
Board member Mitch Mork took a different tack: Maybe the auditor was incorrect. There’s nothing illegal about maintaining separate activities accounts in the schools, so why fix what isn’t broken?
“This has been going for, I don’t know, a long time, 30 years,” he said. “We’ve basically been carrying that internal control risk for 30 years, and it’s been working as far as I know, but this is the first that anybody’s heard that it’s not working. So again, communication…. We don’t have to do anything special. It’s just a conversation.”
Mork suggested that the board postpone voting on approval of the audit until all affected parties had been brought together and assured that the corrective action required by the auditors was fully understood.
Board member Tristan Guevin, however, thought it was irresponsible to play chicken with General Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), and urged the board to approve the audit, and the corrective plan.
“When you look at this audit finding, these bank statements weren’t being reconciled with the general ledger,” said Guevin. “And so I think that’s something we need to ensure happens. We need to support the the superintendent and the business office in ensuring that happens, and I think the only way that that does happen is through some kind of level of centralized control.”
Board president Blossom Teal-Olsen concurred, saying it was the board’s fiduciary responsibility to citizens to comply with the audit. Superintendent Frank Hauser carefully avoided trying to sway board opinion on the corrective plan, but emphasized several times that the district was required by law to have a board-approved audit. “We’re approving the audit,” Hauser said, “we’re not necessarily approving business office functions.”
Ultimately, all board members were reassured that approving the audit – including the two “internal control” deficiencies, and their corrective plans – didn’t rule out further dialog about how to best handle the student activities accounts, and the measure passed unanimously.
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Pictured: Fliers with information about human trafficking were distributed at a recent Sitka Police and Fire Commission meeting.
Almost a year ago, local nonprofit Youth Advocates of Sitka received a congressional appropriation to create a facility to house young victims of human trafficking and other exploitation. But the proposed location encountered strong objections from neighbors – and the Sitka Planning Commission refused to grant the facility a permit. Now its future is uncertain.
The $2 million dollar appropriation arrived quietly through Senator Lisa Murkowski about a year ago. The intent was to create a residential treatment facility supporting vulnerable youth experiencing human trafficking and exploitation – by purchasing an existing duplex or other multi-family dwelling and adapting it to this new purpose
Through a pilot program named Coastal Haven, Youth Advocates of Sitka – or YAS – planned to provide mental health care, clinical services, life skills, and employment training for teens and twenty-somethings. While the facility would prioritize Sitkans, it would be open to young people from around the state.
According to documents presented to the Sitka Planning Commission, YAS zeroed in on a possible location for the facility in June of last year – a duplex on Dodge Circle. After receiving the funding in November, they put a $5,000 down payment on the property and signed a purchase agreement, anticipating closing on the sale in January. But since the duplex is in a residential zone, the group needed to first secure a conditional use permit for a “quasi-institutional home” from the Sitka Planning Commission.
But neighborhood pushback was mounting. At the January 18 meeting of the Planning Commission, nine Sitkans spoke against the facility in person and in writing, sharing concerns about noise, traffic, and maintaining the single family nature of the neighborhood. Area resident Mary Todd Andersen presented a petition with around 30 signatures from neighbors who opposed the proposal. Two Sitkans spoke in favor of the plan, and shared personal stories of youth in their lives who would have benefited from the facility.
Ultimately, the commission voted unanimously to deny the permit application due to strong objections from the neighborhood. Commissioner Wendy Alderson told KCAW that she felt conflicted about her vote, and ultimately decided that the project didn’t meet all the criteria for a conditional use permit in a residential zone. She said she’s always been an advocate of keeping residential neighborhoods residential. And she said that as a commissioner, it’s her job to consider community feedback, even if she doesn’t always agree.
“I guess this felt like it was just pushing it a little bit in R1 zone,” Alderson said. “That, on top of the neighborhood turnout, was enough to sway me to vote against issuing the conditional use permit, even though I totally support the project.”
“I think that the fears were greatly exaggerated,” she added. “But that’s not my choice to make. It’s the neighbor’s choice to make, whether they support something like that in the neighborhood, and they overwhelmingly chose not to, so I had to take that into consideration.”
In an email to KCAW, YAS Executive Director Heather Meuret wrote that her organization had nothing more to add to the story. YAS had until February 1 to appeal the decision, which would have brought it before the Sitka Assembly for deliberation, but according to Planning Director Amy Ainslie, YAS did not file an appeal.
That means YAS will likely have to put the congressionally directed project on hold until they find a new location. KCAW reached out to Senator Murkowski’s office to find out what happens to the funds if YAS can’t identify a space, and they referred us to a representative from the office of Housing and Urban Development, who did not return our request for comment by press time.
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Participants and coaches gather for a photo after completing the 2019 5k fun run through Sitka National Historical Park. (Photo provided by Sitkans Against Family Violence.)Girls in third through fifth grade can now register to participate in the 14th season of Girls on the Run, an after-school program that inspires girls to make healthy choices while training for an end-of-season 5k run. Katie Niedermeyer and Barbara Quinn joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming season. Listen to the full interview here:
Registration is open through February 13, and participants can register at www.gotrgreateralaska.org or pick up an application at the Keet Gooshi Heen front office. Girls on the Run is coordinated by members of the Pathways Coalition, Keet Gooshi Heen, Sitka Conservation Society, Sitka Counseling, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Sitkans Against Family Violence, and Youth Advocates of Sitka.
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Wearable Art is more than a fashion show. It’s a journey into the imaginations of some of Sitka’s most creative artists. (GSAC/Jordan)Sitka’s Wearable Art show returns to the stage for two performances this Saturday (2 p.m. and 7 p.m., advance tickets $25/20 at Old Harbor Books, VIP seating available). Lois Verbaan is an artist/designer, and Tiffany Pearson and Bobbi Jordan are producers of the event, entitled ‘Awakenings.’ Nineteen pieces will be featured.
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Sitka chef Renee Trafton is one of four Alaskan semi-finalists for the prestigious James Beard Award. Trafton opened Beak in 2017, and has made the best of her unique situation: Creating award-winning cuisine on an island with some amazing benefits, and some practical challenges. (KCAW/Rose) When I meet Renee Trafton on a Monday, it’s a day off at Beak, so the restaurant is empty, and we have our choice to sit at one of a handful of mismatched tables. She chooses a black and white striped rectangular table in the corner of her restaurant, next to a 100 year old wooden piano. She says table eight is where most people sit if they have a choice, next to the window where there’s a slight view of the water.
“One of the times Mary Peltola came in, she sat right here,” Trafton says. “She got the cod tips. It was her second time coming in. The first time she got them with her daughter, and I don’t usually serve them at lunch. But she asked and I had them so…” she adds, and laughs.
She opened Beak six years ago, just before the start of the summer season.
“It was such a tenuous-seeming endeavor,” says Trafton. “Many people try to open restaurants and they fail. And I’ve just been working really hard. And to get this type of national recognition is unbelievably amazing.”
Trafton started cooking for friends at Oberlin College. She was a dinner cook there for two years. When she graduated she considered culinary school, but it was expensive, so she decided to get some experience first just to get a taste of the profession. She moved to New York and ended up working for a couple of Michelin star restaurants.
“It was a really formative experience. It was really exciting to learn about fine dining and all the many, many rules of it and sort of the focus that the chefs out there have,” Trafton says. “And I think I’ve definitely taken that focus and trained it on the ingredients I have available to me here.”
Trafton says in the last six years in her own place, her culinary voice has strengthened. And she’s learned to adapt to the challenges of operating a restaurant on an island in Southeast Alaska.
“In New York City, you can call at 10 o’clock at night, and then at, like, eight o’clock in the morning you have whatever produce you want. And here it’s a week out,” Trafton says. “So when I was designing my menu, from the beginning I would pick things that I think would survive the the barge journey up here…potatoes, carrots, onions, kale, kind of the hardier items.”
While she can’t get all of her produce locally, she has access to the freshest fish imaginable, and her menu centers around it. Over the years she’s been able to cultivate relationships with fishermen. She can have 1,500 pounds of salmon, halibut, black cod – and even gooseneck barnacles – in cold storage, and knows exactly who caught every pound and where it came from. With that, she’s able to take barge potatoes and kale to new heights.
“I can really transform them from something you just buy at the grocery store that’s, you know, not that exciting but with technique and time and a lot of effort,” Trafton says. “The transformation from raw food to dinner is, for me, it’s always been a magical transformation. And I think that’s what makes Beak really special, is like how much thoughtfulness we put into our food here.”
From the KCAW Archive: In 2018, Trafton showed KCAW how to make her massaged kale salad-– its been a staple on her menu since Beak opened. (KCAW/Rose)So who inspires her in the kitchen? Trafton names a few chefs, some she’s worked for, some she hasn’t. And René Redzepi comes to mind: he’s the chef at Noma in Copenhagen, which is considered the “world’s best restaurant” by many
“He does a lot of like, hyperlocal things in Denmark, and that’s not the most stereotypically bountiful area. But the idea of sort of a thriving within your confines,” Trafton says. “Finding inspiration in what you have– I’ve also felt a lot of inspiration with that.”
Redzepi made headlines a few weeks ago when he announced that Noma would soon close its doors. He said fine dining is “unsustainable” in its current form. And in pop culture, movies like The Menu and the hit TV show The Bear reveal a darker side of the industry.
Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that the James Beard Foundation this year is looking for chefs that set high standards with their culinary skill, who also contribute positively to their communities and make efforts to help createa sustainable work culture. That was Trafton’s goal from the beginning. Beak is gratuity free, and it was always important to her to make sure there wasn’t pay disparity between servers and kitchen staff. She says she’s always tried to hone a culture of respect and positivity in her kitchen. And music helps too. Trafton says in the last few years, her team has started singing along to the radio while they work.
“It just kind of lightens the mood. Because you’ve got a zillion things to do, and orders are coming in…and everything’s happening. But if you’re if you’re singing along to the radio, it makes the team feel more united and lighthearted, so you don’t get bogged down. It keeps the vibe energetic and happy instead of frustrated,” Trafton says.
“Being upbeat is super important for me,” Trafton adds. “And I think that is not generally the case in kitchens. But this is my kitchen, so I want to be happy.”
As for the future of Beak, Trafton is excited to be busier than ever following the announcement from the James Beard Foundation. But she says her goal isn’t to turn a lot of tables. She just wants to have people over for dinner, and make them food with thought and care.
Editor’s Note: Trafton is one of 20 semi-finalists from the Northwest and Pacific region. In late March, the James Beard Foundation will announce the top five nominees from each category. View the full list of nominees here.
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The indie-folk trio Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards, bring the power of fiddle, cello and bass to their music, along with the influences of folk, edgy pop and dance.
Cortese’s band and SFAC’s Kenley Jackson joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss their upcoming concert, happening tonight (2-1-23) and the Sitka Performing Arts Center. Listen here:
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A Southern Resident killer whale preys on salmon in the Salish Sea near Seattle. The Alaska Trollers Association has filed two major objections to the December 13 “Report and Recommendation” from US Magistrate Michelle Peterson, one of which is that shutting down trolling in Alaska wouldn’t benefit the whales, who reside in one of the most densely populated urban environments in the Northwest. The ATA argues that adopting the Report and Recommedation would not “appreciably reduce the likelihood of both survival and recovery of Southern Resident killer whales or destroy or adversely modify their designated critical habitat.” (Su Kim/NOAA Fisheries)Alaska’s governor says he’ll appeal a pending federal court ruling that threatens to shut down the Southeast king salmon season.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy was unequivocal when answering a question from a listener during Alaska Public Media’s “Talk of Alaska” on Tuesday (1-31-23).
The Duvall, Washington-based Wild Fish Conservancy filed suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service in US District Court in 2019, arguing that a flaw in the agency’s environmental analysis left a small population of endangered killer whales in Puget Sound exposed to further harm, due to the interception of their primary food source: king salmon, also known as chinook.
In barest terms, the proposed remedy to correct this alleged oversight by NMFS involves shutting down the Southeast Alaskan salmon troll fishery, until the full impact of the chinook harvest on Southern Resident Killer Whales can be assessed.
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game intervened in support of the National Marine Fisheries Service; so did the Alaska Trollers Association. It hasn’t gone well. Although a federal judge in 2020 declined to impose an injunction against the Southeast troll fishery, the latest “Report and Recommendation” in the US District Court of Western Washington in December, 2022, by US Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson, leaves open the possibility that the Wild Fish Conservancy could prevail. The ruling includes a proposed order vacating the Incidental Take Permit, or “ITS,” issued by NMFS that allows the Southeast troll fishery to harvest chinook year-round. If a judge signs off on the recommendation, trolling for king salmon in Southeast might be off-limits for ten months of the year – making the fishery uneconomic and unviable for many trollers.
Although the state joined the lawsuit, it’s been relatively quiet about the case. No fighting words, at least in public. That changed on Tuesday morning (1-31-23) when Juneau troller, and 4-decade plus fisherman, Tom Fisher posed the question directly to Gov. Dunleavy on Alaska Public Media’s “Talk of Alaska.”
“My question is, will the state commit all resources necessary to take this court case to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals? And if necessary, the Supreme Court?” Fisher asked.
“Yes. The answer is yes,” Dunleavy responded. “Because this is another example of opportunities being curtailed in Alaska. And again, I think we do fisheries better than the Feds did when we were territory. So the answer to that is yes.”
“We very much appreciate the governor’s conviction on pursuing this lawsuit to the end,” said Amy Daugherty, director of the Alaska Trollers Association.
“You know, it’s just so frivolous, and so harmful to all of Southeast and our way of life here. So it’s such good news.”
Daugherty says her job has changed dramatically since the Wild Fish Conservancy filed suit three years ago. The existential threat to Southeast trolling – which is somewhere between 700 and 800 small businesses across the region – has grown, as the suit has progressed. She says the issue has not been overhyped.
“I think (the threat to SE trolling) it’s extremely valid,” Daugherty said. “It’s extremely justified to be very concerned about the current situation. The Wild Fish Conservancy has a lot more means certainly than the Alaska Trollers Association. And they seem to be applying it with absolute conviction. So we’re just doing everything we can: We’re getting a lot of resolutions, we’re getting new money every day, a lot from fishermen, a lot from organizations, processors, stores even. And we’re just hopeful that there will be some common sense, you know, brought forward through this process.”
The Wild Fish Conservancy’s Response to the December 13 Report and Recommendation
“I want to emphasize that Alaskan fishers are not to blame for NOAA’s chronic mismanagement of this fishery, and we are sympathetic to the burden this decision may pose on Southeast Alaskan communities. However, it’s critical to also acknowledge that for decades this fishery has harvested majority non-Alaskan Chinook at unsustainable levels with cascading and coastwide consequences for fishing communities throughout British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington.
Emma Helverson, Executive Director of Wild Fish Conservancy. Learn more about the WFC’s position on the December 13 Report and Recommendation.
It’s unclear what the immediate impact of a ruling in favor of the Wild Fish Conservancy would have on Southeast trolling, given the this newly-reelected governor’s interest in fighting the suit to the bitter end. During the same “Talk of Alaska,” Gov. Dunleavy didn’t just go to bat for trollers, he reaffirmed a commitment to the industry as a whole, and to subsistence harvesters on Alaska’s interior river systems whose way of life is threatened by a still-unexplained collapse of king salmon and chum runs.
“I would say that this is priority number one when it comes to resources for this administration for the next four years,” Dunleavy said, in response to another caller. “And you know, missing a fishing season – two or three fishing seasons – has a detrimental effect not just as you said on food, but also on the fact that it’s difficult to pass down the ways of life and the culture if you can’t bring the kids out the fish camp…. So we’re gonna do everything we can to turn this around because Alaska is fisheries.”
A final decision by the US District Court of Western Washington on the December 13 “Report and Recommendation” in the case of the Wild Fish Conservancy versus the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA), et. al., is pending.
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Mt. Edgecumbe High School senior Aiden Panzer, of Unalakleet, practices flying every Friday using the flight simulator pictured above (KCAW/Rose) Students at Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka are learning how to fly a plane– before they even set foot in a cockpit. Their aviation ground course is the first step toward becoming a licensed private pilot, and a springboard to the skies.
The the low hum of a single engine airplane reverberates throughout a classroom at Mt. Edgecumbe High School. The sounds of aviation aren’t unusual here — the school looks out on Sitka Sound, and float planes zip by every day.
But the humming is quieter today, because it’s not coming from a real plane. This is a simulation.
Jack Davis teaches the aviation ground-school course at Mt. Edgecumbe. And Fridays are flight simulator day– in the back of Davis’s classroom, three students sit at computers, playing what looks like a video game with a few extra bells and whistles. But it’s not a game– they’re logging flight hours.
“How’s it going Ryder? You’re on track pretty good,” Davis says, looking over the student’s shoulder.
“Okay, I’m gonna let you go for a bit. You guys keep going. I wish I had some inflight peanuts for you,” he adds once all of the students are “in the air” and on the way to their destinations.
Davis got what he calls the “flying bug” when he was teaching in Western Alaska. And once he got his private pilot’s license, he bought a small plane in Texas and flew it home. He’s been teaching in Alaska for 30 years, 15 of them at Mt. Edgecumbe. And for the last five years, he’s taught the aviation ground course.
Throughout the week in his class, students crack the books, building the skills to pass a written test in April. That’s their first step toward earning a private pilot’s license.
“[It’s about] understanding how to communicate with people in the air and who’s there to help you on the radio, and making sure you’re going where you think you’re going,” Davis says of the course. “[And] navigating to the right place and understanding your engine, and making sure it’s not gonna overheat or run out of fuel.”
But on Fridays, they take to the skies, virtually anyway. The simulator is more complicated than your typical video game setup. Students watch their flight progress from a monitor. But instead of using one handheld controller, they have to multitask, managing steering, throttles and pedals to keep their planes gliding above the peaks and valleys of Alaska’s rugged topography.
Davis says the software can simulate flying from nearly every airport in the world. And the class uses paper charts as well.
(KCAW/Rose)
“I’ve landed on some grass strips in Indiana, on this these simulators. There’s some fun spots,” Davis says, but add that they only have detailed sectional charts for Alaska, and students don’t tend to fly the simulator in the lower 48. He then unfolds a chart to show me how it works.
“We like to fly out where we’re used to,” Davis adds. “And situations in the terrain that they’ll see when they’re in real life.”
Aiden Panzer is a senior from Unalakleet, and today he flew a Cessna Caravan from Kenai, to Homer, then to Soldotna and back. It was a bumpy ride because the simulator incorporates real-time weather conditions. But he tweaked the settings so it would be a little brighter, since this time of year sunlight is scarce up North. “It kind of keeps you on your toes, which is what you should be doing when you’re actually in the plane. So that’s what I like about this flight simulator specifically,” Panzer says. “It always keeps you on the edge of your seat in case your turbulence knocks you off course.”
For some students, the aviation course is just a fun experience. They dip a toe in and maybe decide they prefer their feet planted firmly on the ground. For others, they get the same “bug” that Davis got. That’s how Panzer feels. He plans to study aerospace engineering next fall in Oregon. After that, he hopes to join the Air Force.
“I’ve always been interested in space, I guess,” Panzer says. “I’m a huge space nerd. So I have a telescope, I look at stars. And I guess that just brings me closer to it…being in an a plane.”
Ultimately, Panzer’s not sure if he wants to fly a jet or a rocket…either way, he says flying helps him feel free.
“Sometimes when I’m walking, and I see a seagull or an eagle, or something like that, I just, like, picture, it would be so awesome to be that bird,” Panzer says. “Go wherever you want.”
If students pass their written test in April, they can move on to the next leg of their flight– getting in the air. Maybe some day, they’ll land their own real float planes in Sitka Sound.
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The Sitka Assembly is moving forward with plans to donate $25,000 to the Alaska Trollers Association (ATA), to support the organization’s ongoing legal fight against a Washington environmental group that hopes to shut down commercial fishing for king salmon in Southeast Alaska. And other organizations and locals are piling on, in anticipation of a lengthy – and costly – appeals process.
Alaska trollers and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game intervened in a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service brought by the Wild Fish Conservancy in 2020. The Duvall, Washington-based group argues that commercial trolling in Alaska threatens an endangered population of killer whales in Puget Sound by depriving them of king salmon – their primary food source. And they’ve been successful in court: In December a US District Court judge issued a report that, to make a long story short, puts the Southeast king salmon fishery at risk of closure. And that means a bigger hole in the troll association’s pocket, as it anticipates a lengthy appeals process.
In early January, trollers drummed up support at the assembly table. And at its January 24 meeting, more folks came out of the woodwork in support of the organization. Roger Hames of Hames Corporation, which owns a major grocery store in Sitka, said he’d been asked to contribute $5,000 but he’d likely contribute $10,000. Tad Fujioka is chairman of the board for Seafood Producers Co-Op. He said the Alaska Trollers Association had requested around $48,000 from SPC, but employees asked them to donate more money from their profit sharing pool.
“So even though ATA only asked for $48,500, the SPC board voted to contribute $59,000. It’s a investment in our company’s future. We can’t afford to lose access to troll salmon. And neither can Sitka,” Fujioka said. “So I encourage the assembly to be similarly farsighted, and make this investment alongside your citizen fishermen.”
And Jacquie Foss said it’s not just fishermen who have contributed to the trollers’ cause: The ATA is receiving a lot of individual donations, and contributions from municipalities like Craig, Port Alexander and Pelican.
“I feel super just grateful to live in a place where everyone’s rallying around small boat fishermen. And so I know Sitka’s the biggest and it’s the most, and our ask might feel like a lot,” Foss said. “But a third of the fleet is here.”
Most assembly members said they’d support a $25,000 donation to the legal fund, and some said they’d be open to contributing beyond that amount in the future. Assembly member Tim Pike said he wanted to shift the conversation around ‘why’ the contribution was necessary.
“I heard it here a couple of times tonight, you know, ‘Trollers paid a bunch of taxes, so we owe it to them.’ I don’t see it that way,” Pike said. “I see it as a community investment. I see it as coming out of all of our pockets. I see it as something for all of us to contribute to. I don’t see it as ‘trollers have earned this.’ Okay, you’ve earned it because you are Sitkans, and you’re part of our economy. But I think it belongs to all of us, it doesn’t just belong to the trollers.”
City administrator John Leach said they would be putting more resources toward supporting the ATA in the suit by putting pressure on the congressional delegation. He said staff and the city’s lobbyists had a meeting with staff from Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, and from Representative Peltola’s office last week to discuss options.
“It was reiterated by all all staff members on the call that it’s a very important issue for all three members of the delegation,” Leach said. “They found legal counsel with MSA and the salmon treaty expertise to assist them and are coordinating with each other regarding a possible amicus brief that they could file jointly with the court, and said they intend to circulate a draft internally among themselves as early as this week.”
Along with a separate resolution supporting the Southeast troll fishery, the assembly approved the $25,000 donation unanimously. The ordinance will come before the assembly for a final reading at the next regular meeting on February 14.
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Andrew Peters (left) poses with his mother, Lauren Peters, at the cemetery of the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania (KTOO/Photo courtesy of Lauren Peters)
On Saturday night (1-28-23) at 6 p.m., the public is invited to attend a presentation from Lauren Peters at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi. Peters will share her years-long journey of bringing home her great aunt Sophia Tetoff’s remains from Carlisle Indian School to St. Paul Island. She joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton for the morning interview on Friday. Listen here:
Peters is a UC Davis scholar and the Alaska Native representative at Fort Ross Conservancy in California. You can learn more about her work here.
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The surge in independent travel in the last two quarters of 2021, combined with a rebound in cruise visitors in the first two quarters of 2022, contributed an additional $3 million in sales taxes to the City of Sitka over 2019. (KCAW/Kimmell)The numbers are looking fairly good for Sitka, as sales tax figures are coming in for the last two summers – but expenses and inflation have taken a bite out of that windfall.
Municipal administrator John Leach walked through the Annual Report to the Community, during a meeting of the Sitka Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. His remarks – and the accompanying slide show – touched on the workings of every department in the city, and what local government was doing to both develop much-needed projects, and to preserve and maintain existing ones.
Here’s an excerpt of Leach’s discussion of upcoming capital projects. He warned the audience: There are a lot.
“We have an airport expansion and remodel. We have the haulout that was approved by a vote of the citizens that’s starting down at the industrial park. Marine service center bulkhead and seawall – we won a RAISE grant for $8.3 million, that is a federal grant that we received we’re starting on that. The heat pump emergency Blatchley, we just wrapped that up, about a $600,000 project. Transfer station compactor, an upgrade. You guys might remember the issue we had with shipping municipal solid waste and open top containers and now we’ve got a compactor coming in and we resolved that issue but got to start construction there. The Crescent harbor high load, the net shed over here (by Harrigan Centennial Hall). Senior Center fire system and plumbing, police station HVAC, Thompson lift station, Lakehurst-Monastery-Kincaid sewer reconstruction. Crescent Harbor multiple sewer lift stations, a seaplane base, Lincoln Street remodel, Crescent harbor restrooms, City Hall HVAC, the Seawalk phase two, Wachusetts fish passage culvert, Kimsham drainage, GPIP landfill, biosolids landfill expansion, and a traffic study we’re working on for the community.”
Many of the capital projects Leach mentioned are paid for through some combination of state or federal grants, combined with local matching funds. The most variable source of cash for the city is the local sales tax, which began ticking upward in the second half of the summer of 2021, through the first two quarters of 2022. The city brought in over $3 million more in 2022 than it did in 2019, but Leach explained that it was not a pure cash windfall, since the city was forced to defer a number of expenses during the 2020 pandemic.
“In ‘22 we finally saw a strong rebound of our most significant source of revenue, which is our sales tax. We went from $13.3 million In 2019, to $16.4 million in FY ‘22, this was attributable to a strong independent travel season in July through September of ‘21, continued increases in tax revenue on remote sales – it was zero in ‘19 when we kicked off that program, and it’s $1.2 million in ‘22 now. And a rebound in cruise tourism in April through June of ‘22. However, important to note is that CBS continued growth at a pre-pandemic rate of growth. Our FY ‘22 revenue is still less than what would have been expected by this point if let’s pretend COVID didn’t happen. But part of that is inflation, things are getting more expensive, that drives up the sales tax revenue too. So while adding the revenue, it also impacts us on the expense side. This revenue is really what’s needed to support deferred maintenance, which was further deferred to the pandemic.”
Leach went on to say that the positive revenue from sales tax contributed to the transfer of $9 million dollars into the municipal infrastructure sinking fund over the past two years, to allow the city to catch up on maintenance deferred during the pandemic.
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Proposal 10 was a rare creature in its own right, as hunters asked the Board of Game for a reduction in the bag limit for what — at the moment — is an abundant game species in Southeast Alaska: Sitka black-tailed deer. However, the board saw no biological necessity to lower the limit, and may have wanted to communicate that message to the Federal Subsistence Board, which will consider similar proposals later this month. (Image: Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center – Girdwood Portage Alaska” by watts_photos is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)The bag limit for the sport harvest of deer in Unit 4 in Southeast Alaska will remain at six, one of the most liberal in the state.
During its Ketchikan meeting over the weekend (1-22-23), the Board of Game unanimously voted down a proposal that would have reduced the bag limit to 4 deer, saying it saw no biological necessity for lowering the harvest. Advocates of the change, however, urged that – given so much ecological uncertainty recently – erring on the side of caution was the more prudent course.
Things have been pretty good for deer hunters in Unit 4 for at least the past decade, as deer populations have rebounded to near carrying capacity for the three major islands comprising the unit – Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof, which are often called the “ABC Islands.”
This is a change from 2006 through 2008, when harsh winters, with especially high snowfalls, dramatically affected deer populations. Fish & Game beach surveys in the spring of 2007 recorded roughly 4 winterkill deer carcasses per mile of shoreline – and the ABC Islands have many miles of shoreline.
Kevin Maier, who proposed the bag limit reduction, was aware of this history, as well as where things stand now. If anything, his proposal was an effort to nudge the Board of Game to think more broadly about changes happening in the ecosystem, and to manage Southeast Alaska’s now-abundant deer population with caution.
“We’re facing incredibly uncertain climate and economic futures, and we owe it to our children and future Alaskans to make conservative decisions,” Maier told the board. “Although I’ve spent most of the last 20 years in Southeast, I grew up in Washington state where I watched dramatic fisheries declines happen in my lifetime. I’m in Alaska in no small part because of abundant fishing opportunity. And I’m hopeful you make decisions that help us avoid the disastrous fate of much of our hunting and fishing opportunity in the lower 48.”
Maier sits on the Juneau Fish & Game Advisory Committee, but offered the proposal (Proposal 10) as an individual. He told the board that he personally would be unaffected by the bag limit reduction, since he didn’t have a large enough boat to hunt in the ABC Islands. In fact, he said his position on his own proposal was neutral.
Unit 4 area management biologist Steve Bethune suggested that many more hunters would also be neutral, as a very small percentage ever filled all six tags, after the bag limit was raised from four to six in 2019.
“And we found that between 2019 and 2021, under this new bag limit, we had an average of 30 non-federally qualified hunters who took five deer and 29 non-federally qualified hunters who took six deer,” said Bethune, “and this averages out to about 88 additional deer per year. It’s about one- to one-and-a-half percent of the annual harvest.”
“Non-federally qualified hunter” is government-speak for sport hunter, or in the case of Unit 4, hunters from Juneau. Every other community on Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof islands is a federally-qualified subsistence community. Hunters in these towns, including Hoonah, Angoon, and even Sitka, have always been able to take six deer, and also have an extra month of hunting in January on federal lands. The total number of deer taken in the Unit ranges between 5,000 and 7,000 animals per year.
So in a nutshell, 97-percent of sport hunters are taking four deer or less in Unit 4. Why not make that the bag limit? Possibly, because it sends the wrong message to the federal government. This is biologist Steve Bethune again.
“The four-deer bag limit is adequate for most non-federally qualified hunters,” said Bethune. “However, six deer is sustainable and provides an additional opportunity. So it’s going to be fully up to you all on the Board of Game to decide if you want to make changes on the state side to try to influence the federal subsistence board.”
The Federal Subsistence Board meets at the end of the month in Anchorage and will weigh in on several proposals about deer hunting on the ABC Islands, most notably a proposal that would close several major drainages on Admiralty Island to sport hunting during the month of November – the peak deer hunting season – in order provide more access for subsistence hunters. In a relationship that is murky at best, the Federal Subsistence Board relies heavily on research from the state Department of Fish & Game, but sets policy based on different priorities. Often, federal and state regulations overlap, but there is always a possibility that they could conflict.
Paul Johnson, a well-known hunting guide based out of Chichagof Island, also put in a proposal (Proposal 11) to cut back the Unit 4 bag limit for deer, but withdrew it when it became clear that the Board of Game was not going to support Maier’s proposal. Unlike Maier, Johnson did have a “horse in the race” with a four-decade career in guiding on the ABC Islands. The board kept Johnson at the testimony table for a few minutes, just to hear his opinion on the issue. Johnson didn’t disagree with state biologist Steve Bethune, he didn’t sense any urgency to lower the bag limit, but he felt the four-deer limit was probably more cautious.
“I always felt the four-deer limit held the test of time,” Johnson said. “Times have changed, the department has got different concepts on what’s happening around. I don’t want to interfere, it’s above my level. But I can say that Steve’s right it’s the winters that play the biggest role”
Nevertheless, the state Board of Game unanimously voted down the proposal to reduce the sport bag limit for deer on Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof islands.
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2020’s Ramshackle Cabaret was the last major public event in Sitka before the pandemic closures.Shelby Williams, Serena Wild, and Christian Litten are helping to organize the return of Sitka’ Ramshackle Cabaret, 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, February 17 and 18 (doors open at 8 p.m.) at Harrigan Centennial Hall. VIP tickets go on sale this Sunday (January 29) 2 p.m. at the Mean Queen Dungeon, $60 each (limit 2 per customer), and general admission tickets will go on sale February 5 at Old Harbor Books, $35 each. All attendees must be 21 and older, and show I.D. at the door. The cabaret is fun, adult entertainment, and a fundraiser for sexual health and reproductive wellness. This year’s title is “Sploosh!” and the theme (loosely speaking) is “a pirate-y, nautical adventure.”
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Participants float in a pool wearing survival suits during a training in Juneau. (Photo provided by AMSEA.) The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association has several trainings scheduled over the next few months on marine survival for commercial fishermen and other boaters. AMSEA Executive Director Jerry Dzugan joined KCAW’s Peter Apathy to discuss an upcoming drill conductor workshop and other training opportunities. Prospective participants can sign up at amsea.org. Listen to the full interview here:
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Registration is now open for Sitka’s upcoming season of city league volleyball. Andrew Roseman joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss volleyball, Saturday open skate nights, and other upcoming opportunities through Sitka Parks and Rec. Registration for volleyball is open now at recreationatcityofsitka.com and closes January 30. Listen to the full interview here:
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Sitka needs bear-resistant trash cans: That’s the recommendation of a group of Sitkans tasked with tackling the community’s bear problem.
When the Sitka Assembly meets on Tuesday (1-24-24), it will hear the final report from the task force that re-convened last March, after 14 bears were shot and killed over the summer and fall of 2021.
The group is recommending the city purchase Kodiak brand bear-resistant trash cans to replace some of the city’s current cans. Last spring, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game partnered with the Fortress of the Bear to test several can options. They filled them with beef, berries and peanut butter, and handed them over to several adult brown bears at the facility. The bears managed to open all of the cans eventually, but the Kodiak cans lasted longer than the others– coming in at around 12 minutes. A full shipment to Sitka, around 280 cans, would cost the city around $98,000.
The assembly will also consider donating $25,000 to the Alaska Trollers Association’s legal defense fund. The trollers, along with the Department of Fish & Game, have intervened in a suit brought by the Washington state-based Wild Fish Conservancy against the National Marine Fisheries Service. The conservation group has argued – so far, successfully – in US District Court that Alaska trollers are threatening the survival of a small population of endangered killer whales in Puget Sound, by depriving them of king salmon, their primary food source.
At its last meeting, most assembly members signaled willingness to give the money. If they approve the appropriation tonight, it will come back before the assembly again for a final reading.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
View the full agenda here
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Drew Larson conducts 30 members of the Sitka Community Orchestra through an arrangement from Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. (KCAW/Redick)Sitka’s community orchestra is back in action after a nearly-three year break during the COVID-19 pandemic. As KCAW’s Meredith Redick reports, the intergenerational group is tackling everything from Sibelius to Mozart.
It’s a Tuesday evening at Blatchley Middle School, and members of Sitka’s community orchestra are tuning their instruments for their second rehearsal as a group.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Sitka had a robust community orchestra. Now, after a three-year hiatus, director Drew Larson is bringing musicians back together.
Right now, they’re warming up on a lively tune. “Nice accents and style on the eighth notes,” Larson says. “Nice full sforzandos is what we’re going for.”
The orchestra currently has about 30 members that range from sixth-graders to retirees, and even includes a few parent-child duos. Elizabeth Bagley and her 13-year-old son Ian sit next to each other in the brass section, and Melissa Bunney plays cello one section over from twelve-year-old Ruby Dunn, on trombone.
“I like the Thunder Mountain Waltz, or the Thunder and Lightning waltz, because I like the bass line,” Dunn says.
They’re about to launch into Dunn’s favorite tune – with another reminder from Larson to focus on dynamics.
“Every so often we get a sforzando right on beat 1 and we go ‘da, da, da, dum, da, da, da, dum,’” Larson says, clapping his hands to demonstrate.
Larson has been the Blatchley Middle School music teacher since 2019, and he directed Sitka’s community orchestra in 2020.
Many of the musicians here are dusting off decades-old skills or experimenting with new instruments – like Ruby, who plays violin and triangle in addition to trombone.
Beth Short-Rhoads is transferring her piano skills to the glockenspiel, or orchestral bells.
“They’re a piano keyboard,” Short-Rhoads says of the percussion instrument, a set of tuned metal bars she strikes with a hammer. “It’s still really challenging, though, because it’s just a different movement with your hands and it’s a different instrument to learn. But it’s so amazing to be a part of this group, and I’m able to be a part of making music that otherwise would be too complicated for me. ”
Beyond the standard woodwind, strings, and brass sections, the orchestra has one unusual addition – the alto saxophone, played by 13-year-old Khalil McCormick. McCormick already has a favorite piece to play with the group.
“I just started today, but out of the ones that I’ve gotten, I’m gonna have to say Largo,” McCormick says.
From left to right: Khalil Mccormick, Ruby Dunn, and Melissa Bunney smile during a break in Tuesday’s community orchestra rehearsal. (KCAW/Redick) Largo is a movement from Dvorak’s New World Symphony. Other pieces they’re working on include an excerpt from Sibelius’s “Finlandia” and an arrangement from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” Director Larson has worked to make sure that the pieces are accessible for the whole group.
“There’s a fine balance between making sure that the top players are engaged enough and pushing things musically, while you’re not leaving some of the newer players behind, which can be very frustrating for them,” Larson says. “So finding that balance of picking hard enough music and moving quick enough, while at the same time, making sure that no one’s left behind.”
After a short break — in which Larson prompts everyone to talk about their favorite ice cream with another musician – they start on an arrangement from Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. It’s one of the more difficult pieces the orchestra is rehearsing.
Fortunately, the orchestra has some time to fine-tune their delivery. They perform for the first time in three years on March 10 at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. Rehearsals are on Tuesday evenings at Blatchley Middle School. Musicians interested in joining can contact Larson at delarson17@gmail.com.
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From the archive: Judge Jude Pate hugs his grandmother, Nancy Balogh, as he’s assisted into black robes by his sons Will and Joe, after being sworn in as the Sitka Superior Court judge on June 1, 2018 (KCAW/Emily Kwong)
Sitka Superior Court Judge Jude Pate has been appointed to the Alaska Supreme Court.
Governor Mike Dunleavy announced Pate’s appointment on Friday afternoon (1-20-23). Pate was selected from a list of four attorneys and judges nominated by the Alaska Judicial Council in December.
Pate was Sitka’s public defender for over a decade from 2006 to 2017. Before that, he worked as in-house counsel for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and as a private practice attorney. He moved to Sitka in 1993 after earning his law degree at Lewis and Clark Northwestern School of Law.
Five years ago, Pate was appointed to serve as the Sitka Superior Court judge by then- Governor Bill Walker. In an interview with KCAW in 2018, shortly before he was sworn in, he explained how he saw the transition from lawyer to judge:
“Baseball player: Playing the game, playing for one side, trying to win. Umpire: not trying to win, just trying to make sure there’s a fair game. It’s going to be a change for a baseball player to become an umpire, but it’s a different job,” Pate said. “Maybe you’ll miss the thrill of the chase, but I’m looking forward to a different role and experiencing a different side of the law.”
Pate was in court on Friday and could not be reached immediately for comment. He will fill the vacancy created by Chief Justice Dan Winfrey’s retirement.
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Trisha Bessert ran the Sitka Gymnastics Academy for seven years, and now she’s the recreation coordinator at Mt. Edgecumbe High School. She’ll be coaching Alaska’s gymnastics team at the Arctic Winter Games in Wood Buffalo, Alberta, Canada in late January 2023 (KCAW/Rose) Later this month, over 2,100 athletes, coaches and staff will gather for the Arctic Winter Games. The international sports competition for northern athletes happens every other year, with Alaskans representing the United States. As KCAW’s Katherine Rose reports, a Sitkan will coach this year’s gymnastics team.
Trisha Bessert learned how to backflip like so many 90s kids, on a trampoline in her Wisconsin backyard.
“My dad bought me a trampoline to get my energy out,” Bessert said. “So I just started playing around. I had four older brothers that were flipping around all the time, so it was more like a copycat kinda situation,” she added. “It gives you some bravery when you see your older brothers doing it, and then just kind of join in on the fun.”
Bessert grew up watching icons like Shannon Miller, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin and Chellsie Memmell. At school, she played basketball, but she found herself drawn to the gymnastics team at 13.
“I already had a lot of skills that I had taught which just needs to be kind of tweaked to actually look nice,” Bessert said. “Backyard gymnasts tend [to not] have the the finesse, when you’re self taught, so [I] learned that pretty quickly, and a coach noticed that after I learned a skill, I was pretty good at, then, teaching.”
So she started coaching younger students, and by the time she was 15 she was coaching competitive teams. And she kept coaching gymnastics as a side hustle when she was studying at the University of Wisconsin.
She moved to Sitka a decade ago. One morning in 2014, she woke up to a bunch of Facebook messages asking if she was interested in starting a local gymnastics program. She’d been tagged in a Facebook post in the local group, Sitka Chatters.
“It was my, now, husband that said, ‘Oh, Hey! Trish used to be a gymnast, and she’s also a gymnastics coach. Maybe she would start something.’ Then people in Sitka kind of took that and ran with it,” Bessert said.
At first she agreed to coach a couple of classes. But she ended up quitting her job and coaching gymnastics full time, leading the Sitka Gymnastics Academy for seven years. Though the business didn’t survive COVID, coaches across the state thought of her when it was time to nominate someone to lead Alaska’s gymnastics team in the Arctic Winter Games – an international sports competition that happens every two years in the Northern hemisphere.
“I think the best way to describe it is like a mini Olympics at a more amateur level for some Arctic countries,” Bessert said. “So Canada, and then Alaska as the United States representation, Greenland, Finland and Sweden are all a part of this. And there’s 20 different sports that are played…everything from gymnastics, and I’m pretty sure there’s dogs dog sledding and hockey, to Native Youth Olympics.”
Bessert’s job as coach goes beyond her work at the mat. She had to design everything from the leotards and warm-up routines to the composition of the team itself.
She selected four gymnasts from across the state to compete – two are from Anchorage, one from Fairbanks and one from Wasilla, chosen based on both their athletic abilities and their work outside of the gym.
“What else do they do outside of gymnastics? Who are they as people? And how does that represent the state? We want to have people that give back to their communities,” Bessert said of the criteria she considered. “So I have a great team, and I’m really excited.”
She said it’s an honor to be chosen, and especially to be nominated by the other Alaska gymnastics coaches.
“Alaska gymnastics has a very, very tight community, and a very supportive community. So a lot of sports, you’re gonna see this, almost this rivalry between different teams. And gymnastics just isn’t like that,” Bessert said. “Of course, you have kids that…want to win, they want to take, you know, gold medals home. But, all in all, they want other gymnasts to be at their best at every competition.”
Bessert says gymnastics has stuck with her for all these years because of the precision, dedication and grit it builds. She says the skills kids gain from gymnastics help them in all aspects of life.
“Case in point, I have some kids that are now on an eighth grade basketball team, and they are dominating. All five starters were gymnasts. And it’s pretty cool, because watching them, they’re fierce, and they’re confident, and they’re strong,” Bessert said.
“That’s what I love about it…when you do gymnastics, it never really leaves you,” she adds. “The lessons that you’ve learned from it stay with you for the rest of your life.”
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Are we gonna need a bigger pier? That was one question presented to the Gary Paxton Industrial Park board of directors last week (1-12-23), as it discussed how to get Sitka’s highly anticipated marine haulout project off the ground.
Last fall, just over 80% of Sitka voters approved $8.2 Million in city funding to build a haulout at the city-owned industrial park. The facility will serve the fishing fleet, which currently has no way to pull large vessels out of the water for maintenance, locally.
But the language voters approved for the haulout wasn’t highly specific– the main requirement was a travelift that can haul up to a 150 ton boat out of the water. That leaves a lot of the design up to city and industrial park officials.
One unanswered question is how wide the haulout’s pier should be. GPIP director Garry White told board members that a wider pier could expand the haulout’s customer base.
“I had a conversation this week with a representative from Allen Marine, they suggested that if we made it wide enough to accommodate their boats, they would use the heck out of this haulout and they need 32 [feet],” White said. “So somewhere we gotta settle on how wide our piers are going to be. And I think that’s going to take some more discussion,” White added, saying that he originally suggested 25 feet, but now he’s leaning toward 32.
A wider pier would likely cost more money, though it’s not clear how much. The industrial park’s board has yet to vote on the question or consider detailed proposals. Development is essentially on hold while the city works to hire a project manager.
But there’s still plenty to talk about in the meantime, and White said the more specifics the board could nail down, the less money they’d end up paying a consultant down the line. In an hour-long discussion with city staff, board members considered everything from the recommended width of the pier, to how many washdown pads the facility will include, to exactly where the lift will be located in the park. City Administrator John Leach said one main thing to remember was they would never be able to build a structure that serves every possible user. “We know this envelope 97% of our vessels fall in. And if we can serve that 97%, just in that first chunk, you know, then there are little add on pieces after that,” Leach said. “Yes, we would hear everything. But initially, we’ve got to get the one that fits the biggest need.”
White, the park director, said next steps include goal setting, a joint work session with the Port and Harbors Commission, and lots and lots of public input as the city designs the new facility.
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2020 performers sing their hearts out in an ensemble piece at Broadway Night. (Photo by Bobbi Jordan.)Sitka Community Theater presents Broadway Night 6:30 p.m. Friday, January 20, at Odess Theater. The fundraiser for Sitka Community Theater features show tunes performed by local celebrities and friends. Tickets are $45 at Old Harbor Books and fineartscamp.org and include appetizers, wine and treats. Organizer Shannon Haugland and performer Keith Greinier joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming event. Listen to the full interview here:
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The Sitka Assembly on Tuesday (1-10-23) continued to make changes to the rules for tour vendors and commercial vehicles at Harrigan Centennial Hall. It voted to eliminate permit fees for taxis, if they’re electric – among other updates.
In early December, the assembly voted to change the process for obtaining commercial permits at the city building that serves as the main drop off point for cruise ship passengers. The new rules required businesses to bidfor vendor and outfitter spots outside the building, instead of paying a flat fee. It also created annual permit rates for commercial vehicles, like taxis and buses.
But the assembly wasn’t finished there. On Tuesday, it got rid of permit fees for electric vehicles (7-0), it changed the permit duration for vendors and outfitters from one to three years (5-2), and it shifted the bidding process from sealed to an “outcry” auction (6-1).
But there was one proposal that the assembly rejected. It was a measure to increase the newly established permit fee for vehicles with 30 or more passengers from $1000 to $2000. Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal owner Chris McGraw said the assembly should hold off on the increase until the city does more research to figure out the financial impact the bus traffic has on city infrastructure.
“Leave it at $1,000. That’s already more than anybody was anticipating this year, we’ve had to set our prices to the cruise lines, the other two operators that are going to be impacted by this fee also have already set their pricing,” McGraw said. “So we’re not going to be able to increase prices to recoup these fees. So keep it at $1000, do an actual financial analysis to determine what it costs. And then if fees have to be adjusted, adjust the fees. I’m happy to pay for the impact that I have dropping people off here.”
“Equity is always a tricky thing. You know, because equity comes in all sorts of different guises. And I think people have different opinions what that actually looks like, and I think we’re kind of there on this one,” said assembly member Tim Pike who noted that at $1000, larger vehicles would end up paying a lower rate per passenger than smaller vehicles, like taxis.
“So do we increase the larger ones to match the lower ones?” Pike asked. “What’s not on the table is to lower everybody down below where they were based upon what the bigger one was.”
Pike said he’d support the fee increase for vehicles with 30 or more passengers. But Assembly Member Kevin Mosher said he was firmly against the hike and said they should review it at the end of the next tour season.
“These buses are bringing people hence, you know, paying customers and tax dollars into town,” Mosher said. “We were helping pay to bring them couple years ago,” he added. “The $1,000 is enough. I think doubling is a little excessive.”
Ultimately the measure to increase the bus fee failed on a 3-4 vote with assembly members Mosher, Crystal Duncan, Chris Ystad and Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz voting against it.
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A photobooth station is one of the many activities offered at Keet Family Night.
Keet Gooshi Heen families are invited to a screen-free activity night next Thursday, January 19 from 5-7 p.m. The event will feature a variety of family-friendly stations, including formline arts and crafts, open gym time, and board games. Dinner and a strawberry dipping station will also be provided. Kari Sagel and Jeanine Brooks joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming event. Listen to the full interview here:
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UPDATE 3:59 PM 1-12-23: The missing teenager was located safe on Thursday afternoon, according to an update on the Sitka Police Department’s facebook page.
Original report:
Sitka Police and Alaska State Troopers are looking for a Sitka teenager who has been missing since Wednesday night (1-11-23).
In a trooper bulletin published today (1-12-23) 16-year-old Kawika Kane is described as being around 5 foot 7 inches tall, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen around 7:30 p.m. at his residence in Sitka, wearing a grey hoodie, gray hat and black and red tennis shoes.
Anyone having contact or information regarding Kawika Kane is asked to contact the Sitka Police Department at 907-747-3245 and reference case number 23-0021.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. Updates will be noted here with the date and time.
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A 2021 spelling team confers before spelling a word provided by pronouncer Robert Woolsey. (Photo by Meredith Redick)Spelling bees might invoke anxious elementary-school memories for some, but Sitka’s annual Adult Spelling Bee is all in good fun. Cara Crain and organizer Jeff Budd joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming event.
The bee will take place from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. on February 9 at Harrigan Centennial Hall. The entry fee is $20 per person and benefits the Friends of Sitka Public Library. For more information or to sign up, contact Jeff at 747-4821 or jbudd3500@gmail.com.
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“Orca #1” by vijay_SRV is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Trollers turned out at the Sitka Assembly meeting last night (1-10-23) to voice concerns about a court case that could shut down commercial salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska. The lawsuit is about Washington killer whales and Alaskan king salmon. Fishermen and representatives from the Alaska Trollers Association (ATA) asked the local assembly to consider contributing $25,000 to their legal defense fund.
The Seattle-based environmental group Wild Fish Conservancy wants to stop the southeast troll fisheries, which they say harms an endangered population of orcas. The group has argued the government failed to adequately address the impact of Alaska’s king salmon harvests on Southern Resident Killer Whales, whose population in the Puget Sound area of Washington has dropped to critically-low levels.
And in December, a federal judge in Washington issued a report that puts the fisheries at risk of closure. The Alaska Trollers Association is a defendant in the 2020 suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Sitka fisherman Matt Donohoe is the president of the ATA. He says they object to the report, and expect their legal expenses to increase. “Anyone claiming that Southern Resident killer whales are starving because Alaska trollers were taking food from the mouths of their babies would be laughed out of court. That’s what we thought,” Donohoe said. “Yet a judge is recommending that the historic Southeast Alaska troll fishery, which for 100 years has never closed, will shut down this winter. If that happens, the industry will die and so will a large part of Southeast Alaska’s economy.”Around a dozen fishermen asked the assembly to help with the organization’s legal defense fund.And it’s not just trollers. Linda Behnken leads the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association– both her group and the trollers drafted a report outlining research into the decline of Southern Resident orcas. She said the lawsuit ignores a large body of science, which indicates that pollution, not fisheries, are the biggest threat. “Everything they eat is coming out of waters that are polluted. They’re struggling with habitat issues, they’re struggling with what’s been done in the world around them. They’re in Puget Sound,” Behnken said. “It’s not even fisheries, let alone the fishery is 1000 miles away up here, and that our fishermen have worked for years to keep the resources up here healthy, to keep our rivers clean, and to take care of the whole ecosystem and to now have this overreach by an area that’s not done their job to take care of that habitat, I think, really illustrates who else will be at risk if this lawsuit perseveres.”
When it came time for the assembly to consider the proposal, there was support, and some said they’d be interested in giving more than $25,000. Assembly member Chris Ystad, who is a fisherman himself, said he saw it as an investment.
“I think the Sitka troll fleet produces more than $25,000 in tax revenue every year to the city. So I don’t think it’s too much for them to ask for some of that back to fight their battles,” Ystad said. “It’s an investment for us to make sure that the troll fleet is still able to operate.”
Assembly member Crystal Duncan suggested calling for other Southeast communities to throw in money, noting that like Sitka, communities of Craig and Petersburg had donated to the fund previously.
“I’m just wondering, if this is a Southeast wide problem, rather than us take and elevate that number beyond $25,000…I guess the question is have we reached out to say, ‘Here’s what has happened since. Here’s how much we’re requesting of Sitka. Can you match that?” Duncan said.
She also wondered whether the assembly would be setting a precedent that would lead other industry groups to request money to help with legal fees.Sponsor Thor Christianson didn’t take issue with that.
“I am hard pressed to think of [an] event that has threatened to wipe out a huge portion of our economy in one fell swoop,” Christianson said. “That is the definition of emergency. So if somebody came forward with a similar issue, yes, we would discuss it.”
And then there was a question of where the money should come from. City Administrator John Leach and municipal attorney Brian Hanson said the Fisheries Enhancement Fund could likely be used. But Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz preferred the money come from the city’s general fund. As for whether the assembly could offer more than $25,000, Eisenbeisz noted that while no one at the meeting spoke against the measure, the assembly had received some negative feedback in their inboxes.
“It’s it’s going to be shocking to the people in this room, it was actually kind of surprising to myself, that the assembly actually had a lot of pushback in our emails from donating even this amount,” he said. “I didn’t expect that. But it’s, for better or for worse, what we saw. So I think we should start here. And then as things develop, keep an eye on the pulse on that. From the people in this room and the strength of the people in this room, I have no doubt that we will be continued to be informed on that.”
The Sitka assembly didn’t take a vote at the meeting– assembly members Christianson and Kevin Mosher, who co-sponsored the discussion item, said they’d bring an ordinance to the table for the assembly to vote on at the next regular meeting, January 24.
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(KCAW/Meredith Redick) In much of the world, the Christmas season continued into the new year with Eastern Orthodox Christians overseas and in the United States celebrating “Russian Christmas” on January 7. On Saturday, St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Sitka hosted its annual Nativity service featuring a divine liturgy and choral music — with lyrics in Tlingit, Aleut, and Yup’ik as well as Latin. KCAW’s Meredith Redick brings us this audio postcard, featuring the voices of Father Ishmael Andrew and choral director KathyHope Erickson. Listen here:
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Will and Jaden Smith in the 2006 film “The Pursuit of Happyness”Sitka Counseling’s Lakota Harden and Elise Davidson Kitka joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss an upcoming free screening of the film “The Pursuit of Happyness,” which will play 11 a.m. Saturday (January 14) at the Coliseum Theater. The screening is part of the “Second Saturdays” program and is sponsored by Sitka Counseling, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and Youth Advocates of Sitka. Listen to the full interview here:
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Sitka Fine Arts Camp will host two nights of improv comedy this weekend, featuring Sitka’s own Zeke Blackwell and Chicago-based comedians Cassidy Russell, Meredith Weir and Karl Bradley. Blackwell joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to chat about how he prepares for an unscripted show and what audiences can expect. Shows are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday (January 13 and 14) at Odess Theater, and tickets are available online. Listen to the full interview here:
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Betsy Longenbaugh, author of “Forgotten Murders From Alaska’s Capital,” will sign her book this Friday at 6 p.m. in the Sitka Public Library. She’ll also give a presentation to the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society on Wednesday evening, January 18, entitled “1920: A Murder in Chatham Strait.” Longenbaugh is originally from Sitka.
Longenbaugh, who is originally from Sitka, joined KCAW’s Robert Woolsey to discuss her upcoming talk and book. Listen here:
You can learn more about her book here.
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Fishermen fighting a court case that threatens to shut down commercial salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska are asking for help from the Sitka Assembly. When the assembly meets on Tuesday (1-10-23), it will consider whether to donate $25,000 to the Alaska Trollers Association legal defense fund. The ATA is a defendant and intervener in a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) brought by the Wild Fish Conservancy in the spring of 2020.
The Wild Fish Conservancy is a Seattle-based environmental group that wants to halt the southeast troll fishery to protect an endangered population of killer whales in Puget Sound. They argue the fishery targets an important food supply of the whales — Chinook salmon. Trollers say that other factors, like pollution, habitat loss, and vessel traffic are harming the orcas, not fisheries.
In December, a U.S. District Court in Washington issued a report that would put the fisheries at risk of closure. The ATA is responding, but anticipates legal fees will exceed another $100,000 from what the organization was already paying for — hence the $25,000 request the Sitka Assembly is considering.
In other business, the assembly will discuss the city’s management plan for the 2023 summer cruise season. And it will consider, on final reading, whether to tweak new rules for tour businesses and vendors at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
In early December, the assembly changed the process for obtaining commercial permits at the city building where cruise passengers are picked up and dropped off during the summer. The new rules required businesses to bid for a limited number of vendor and outfitter spots outside the building, instead of paying a flat fee, and established yearly permits for taxis and buses.
Shortly after adopting the new code, in late December the assembly drafted several modifications to the rules including increasing the permit duration for vendors from 1-3 years, and fully eliminating the permit fee for electric vehicles. But the group was split on whether to increase the annual permit fee for large commercial vehicles with 30 or more passengers from $1000 to $2000. That item narrowly passed on a 3-3 vote, but in order to pass tonight it would require majority support at the table.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. on Tuesday (1-10-23). Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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Staff are in short-supply at the Sitka Police Department, and only a few have applied for a number of vacant positions. Right now, there are close to a dozen vacancies.
According to a report presented to the Sitka Assembly in late December, the department is recruiting openly for a handful of jailers, patrol officers and dispatcher posts. And the Animal Control Officer job has been open since mid-July with no applicants.
In an interview with KCAW, Police Chief Robert Baty said they started experiencing a new wave of turnover about 11 months ago – and he said the job vacancy issue isn’t unique to Sitka.
“I think it’s for pretty much all jobs in within Sitka, as well, as nationally, and even internationally. I’ve just recently attended a National Association of Chiefs of Police conference, and those were some main topics we were talking about…the retention and the lack of applicants that we all receive,” Baty said. “Definitely seeing that as a national issue,” he added. “But what that means for Sitka is [that] it’s taken longer to fill the positions that we have openings for.”
See related regional news: Juneau looks to new recruitment strategies amid city worker shortage
Baty said the department has shifted responsibilities of some staff to compensate for the vacancies, and has assigned off-duty police officers to fill in as jailers and dispatchers.
“We’ve been able to provide full services to the community by having other personnel fill in whether it’s our MSO [multi-service officer], or officers providing dispatch services or jail services,” Baty said. “So it’s been pretty seamless for the public to not be impacted.”
Baty is optimistic that they’ll fill the vacancies– he said they’re working with a group of officers and the city’s Human Resources department to update their local advertising and recruitment efforts. The Sitka Assembly also approved an 8% pay bump for officers in October, with more to come in future years.
And that’s shown some success, though perhaps not as quickly as officials have hoped. They’re currently training a new dispatcher and have received a couple of applications for those positions. And after an eight-month search, the city hired an IT specialist for the department in November.
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Poet Sueyeun Juliette Lee will give a talk in Sitka next week. (Photo provided by Margot O’Connell.)Denver-based poet and environmental consultant Sueyeun Juliette Lee gives a free talk 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 11, in the Sitka Public Library multipurpose room. Lee will discuss her new book, “Aerial Concave Without Cloud.” Lee and SPL Librarian Margot O’Connell joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the event. Listen here:
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A bicyclist sustained minor injuries after a car accident yesterday (1-5-23) at the intersection of Sawmill Creek Road and Jeff Davis Street.
In an interview with KCAW, a spokesperson from the Sitka Police Department confirmed that the accident occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday when a vehicle struck the adult bicyclist. Sitka Police and EMS responded. The bicyclist was transported to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center with minor injuries and was later released.
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The Coast Guard wants to purchase the three lots outlined in red, one of which it already holds under long-term lease. Under the recent determination, Lot F-1 also could be leased until an alternative site for “student recreation” is identified. (DEED image)The state has determined that it’s in its best interest to sell a portion of the Mt. Edgecumbe High School campus to the Coast Guard, for construction of a new dock.
The determination is a necessary step before the state can dispose of land.
The state Board of Education met in Sitka on the Mt. Edgecumbe campus in September and voted to enter into negotiations with the Coast Guard for the sale of the property, which includes three lots immediately to the north of the Coast Guard’s existing dock. The total amount of land to be sold is a little over one-and-a-half acres.
One of the lots is currently under long-term lease to the Coast Guard, and is used for parking. The other two lots are directly across Seward Ave. from the Mt. Edgecumbe Aquatics Center, and are designated “student recreation.” The preliminary determination authorizes the Department of Education to negotiate a lease for a second lot until an alternative site for recreation can be built.
The land is needed by the Coast Guard to construct a floating dock for the 154-foot Fast Response Cutter Douglas Denman, which is currently stationed in Ketchikan, awaiting its final homeporting in Sitka. The existing pier for the buoy tender Kukui will be demolished and rebuilt as part of the project. The Douglas Denman is one of six Fast Response Cutters being deployed in Alaska.
The state Board of Education met on December 8 and voted to approve the preliminary determination. A public comment period opened on December 13, and will remain open through the close of business on January 13.
Written comments should be submitted to DEED at P.O. Box 110500, Juneau, AK 99811-0500, or by fax to (907) 465-4156 or e-mail at deed.commissioner@alaska.gov.
Read the public notice.
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A culvert on a tributary to the Good River has become “perched” over time (1999 left; 2021 right). According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, fish have a hard time navigating the resultant low flow through the culvert and small/juvenile fish have difficulty jumping into the now-hanging pipe. (Photo courtesy of USFWS)An eight-bridge project over the Good River near Gustavus has finally drawn to a close. It’s part of a national fish passage program that received $40 million in last year’s federal infrastructure law. The project in Southeast Alaska should help juvenile fish maneuver through the waterway.
The land around Gustavus doesn’t stay still. It’s constantly rising from what’s known as isostatic rebound. Basically, as a nearby glacier retreats, the pressure on the land lessens and it rises. The land in Gustavus is rising faster than anywhere else in the world – about an inch a year.
“And it’s been doing that for 200 and whatever years,” said Mike Halbert, longtime fishing guide in Gustavus.
Since the mid-1700s, to be more precise.
“I’ve been fishing there for 30 years,” Halbert said. “So yeah, I’ve seen three, four or five feet of difference, and you can see it on charts since it was charted in the 60s.”
The rising land is one reason the federal government spent the last decade fixing eight bridges over the Good River and its tributaries. The funding comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Fish Passage Program which received $3.5 million for Alaska projects in the bipartisan federal infrastructure law.
The Good River runs from Glacier Bay National Park to Icy Straits. In recent decades, while the land continued to rise, so did the metal culverts. But the streams kept cutting into the land causing the culverts to overhang the water. That’s a problem when they’re home to salmon, dolly varden, and cutthroat trout.
“If the water where it came out of the culvert, if it was creating a waterfall, [USFWS] considered a hindrance for the young coho to move upstream, they’d be reluctant to jump like the adults,” Halbert said.
Halbert says the Good River doesn’t have a lot of fish in it. It isn’t nearly as big as the nearby Salmon River where most locals and tourists go. The Good River is small and runs along roads, past town, and through a mud flat.
With beginnings in Glacier Bay National Park and an end in Icy Strait, the Good River is like many Southeast Alaska rivers — a nursery for fish, cold, and relatively short (for Alaska standards). According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it’s groundwater fed and makes a lazy traverse across a relatively recent outwash plane. (Photo courtesy of USFWS)Another local fly-fishing guide, Natalie Vax, says mostly kids fish the Good River for salmon and trout.
“Kids catching cutthroats and dollies and pinks and silvers on that little culvert side ditch thing on the side of the main road, but it is not a ton,” she said. “There are a few spots where sometimes fish do gather.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hopes the new bridges will allow more fish to spawn in the smaller stream.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Shannon Estenoz, oversees fish, wildlife and parks.
“These projects are all about kind of what the name suggests — removing barriers to flow, removing barriers to fish passage, often updating, you know, either outdated or malfunctioning infrastructure that are impeding fish passage,” said Estenoz.
Estenoz is a civil engineer. She says when engineers are designing infrastructure like culverts and bridges, they can’t always predict what will happen decades later. Sometimes the material fails or outlives its useful life.
But the fish passage projects aren’t just about saving fish, she says.
“They often fix multiple problems at once,” Estenoz said. “I’m finding as I’m traveling across the country, that we might be helping fish, but we’re often also improving flood protection. . . we’re making it safer for folks to paddle the river to, you know, fish on the river. And apparently, this has been an ancillary benefit for the Good River as well.”
Fishing guide Mike Halbert doesn’t see the local bridges making much difference for his industry but he says it’s a huge improvement for traffic across the waterways. And he says it’s also provided jobs for road workers building the bridges.
“Obviously, the people that are working on the construction, it was a big benefit,” Halbert said.
The infrastructure law included $600,000 for the Good River’s final bridge. The entire fish passage project totaled $1.76 million.
Other fish passage projects in Alaska that received federal infrastructure funding included $1.3 million for the Little Tonsina River in the Valdez-Cordova Borough and $1.6 million for the Tyonek Creek on the Kenai Peninsula.
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The slow awakening of Mt. Edgecumbe from 4,400 years of dormancy is certainly Sitka’s most unsettling news of 2022. Volcanologists have determined that the flanks of the mountain have “inflated” by about 3 inches per year since 2018. But most of the recent activity is far under the surface, and the mountain itself remains tranquil, as photographed from the air on May 19, 2022. (USGS-AVO/Max Kaufman)As 2022 comes to a close, the KCAW News team has been searching for one word to describe the year – and they landed on “big.” A lot of big things happened for Sitka – politically, socially, and scientifically. And while bigger doesn’t always mean better, this year brought a lot of big numbers that were hard to ignore. KCAW’s Robert Woolsey and Katherine Rose have the year in review.
Listen to KCAW’s Robert Woolsey and Katherine Rose reflect on the news of 2022. 380,000 – The record-breaking number of cruise passengers who visited Sitka this summer While the Lincoln St. closure plan was generally considered successful, planners will make some adjustments to both the daily closure schedule and bathroom placement in 2023. (KCAW/Tash Kimmell)Sitka saw its biggest cruise season in history this year, and while we didn’t quite see the numbers that were predicted, it was nonetheless a boom, with 380,000 visitors ultimately reaching Sitka’s shores. And downtown looked different this summer: Lincoln Street was often closed, with food vendors and bathroom trailers sharing street space. And that space was tight, with thousands of visitors filling the sidewalks amid street closures and construction.
“We’ve got small streets, we have some difficult corners. And then we have people who are just completely unfamiliar and on vacation, fully on vacation, not always looking where they’re going. I know people are frustrated, and rightfully so. But I also still see people being cautious, I see people looking out. Citizens have done a lot to accommodate…these increased numbers…to try and keep people safe”- City Planning Director Amy Ainslie
The city is planning for a number of safety improvements and changes next year. That’s because next year will be even bigger, with more than 500,000 cruise passengers expected in 2023.
$8.2 million – The amount of money approved by voters to construct a marine haulout at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park Until Sitka has a new haulout, competition will remain fierce for space on the municipal grid. (KCAW/Rose)
Sitka’s fishing fleet has been without a boat haulout for nearly a year. Several years ago Chris McGraw, the owner of Halibut Point Marine, announced he’d be shutting down his haulout to concentrate on developing the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal. The city took several approaches toward building a replacement, but the efforts hit dead ends, even though fishermen say that the need for one in the community is dire.
“The fishing fleet, the marine fleet, affects every single person in this town…You can’t just say, ‘Well, I don’t have a fishing boat, it doesn’t affect me.’ It affects you very much, from sales tax to payroll, to people being on payroll, and then that money just circulates throughout the town. Having a haulout is absolutely crucial to this community.” – Assembly member Kevin Mosher, on why a haulout isn’t a special interest project
So the assembly put out a ballot question: Would voters support an initiative to withdraw $8.2 million from Sitka’s Permanent Fund for the construction of a marine haulout at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park? Turns out, that both Sitkans who fish and don’t fish were pretty into the idea. Just over 80-percent voted in favor of the plan in the October Municipal Election.
23 years-old – Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins’ age when he was elected to the Alaska Legislature Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (KCAW/Woolsey)2022 was an intense year for elections, especially without a president on the ballot. Between the new ranked-choice voting system, the death of Don Young, the rise of Mary Peltola, and the comeback of Lisa Murkowski, there was an astonishing amount of election news. But a big story that was very nearly buried by this was the departure of Sitka’s longtime representative Jonathan Kreiss Tomkins, who did not seek re-election.
“It’s been a decade, and I’ve watched my twenties go by the wayside, and literally every adult life birthday I have had has been in the confines of the Alaska Capitol. And I want to be sure before I get too long in tooth, that I have the opportunity to have time and space for other aspects of life as well, as difficult a decision as that is. Because I love the legislature, and I love this community in the region, and enjoy and feel effective with the work that is involved with the legislature.”–Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Kreiss-Tomkins’ seat will now go to former assembly member Rebecca Himschoot. Himschoot is a political independent, a long-time elementary school teacher in Sitka, who is planning to bring a collaborative approach in local government to the state.
“I think there’s just some really important issues that we need to be working on. And I think if we can take the same model our assembly uses which is a productive, collaborative process, that’s going to really help how things get done in Juneau. Our problems are too big to bicker. We need to get to work.”– Rebecca Himschoot
Himschoot’s departure for Juneau created a second vacancy on the assembly, which was filled by JJ Carlson. Sitka High teacher Tim Pike was appointed just a month earlier to replace Dave Miller, who resigned because of health issues. Both Pike and Carlson will have to run for their seats this fall, but they’ll have a head start. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz was elected to a second term, assembly member Chris Ystad was elected to his first, and Thor Christianson was re-elected. Two school board appointees, Mitch Mork and Tristan Guevin, handily won full terms this fall, and Melonie Boord won a school board seat as a write-in.
4,500 years – The last time Mt. Edgecumbe erupted As if life in Sitka wasn’t interesting enough, Mt. Edgecumbe is showing signs of life. Cheryl Cameron is a geologist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Cameron grew up in Sitka, and she says her brother first noticed the swarm of small earthquakes below Mt. Edgecumbe last spring. The AVO subsequently used satellite radar data to determine that the flanks of Mt. Edgecumbe have inflated by about 11 inches (3 inches per year since 2018) and the volcano has been reclassified from dormant to “historically active.”
Mt. Edgecumbe now joins a list of about 50 volcanoes in Alaska that are either currently active, or otherwise showing signs of recent activity. Cameron and the AVO came over last summer and installed monitors on the cone that should provide a bit more insight into what’s going on over there. It may not amount to anything, or we might be resetting that 4,500-year number!
Keeping tabs on Mt. Edgecumbe isn’t the only way Sitka’s scientific community is staying out in front of natural disasters. The tsunami warning system has been around for years, and now we’ve got a landslide warning system.
“So this project got started in 2015, when we had a deadly landslide that killed our friends and family. And I can say that I’ve been here 35 years and just never thought about landslides until then. As a big worry, mostly, we worried about tsunamis. And all of a sudden people had lots of concerns and lots of questions.” – Lisa Busch, Sitka Sound Science Center director.
The project is a huge multi-agency collaboration funded by the National Science Foundation, combining geology, weather, and social science. The website provides information about landslide risk – low, medium, or high – and you make the call about what to do, depending on where you live. Check it out at sitkalandslide.org.
45,000 tons – The record-setting harvest for the Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring FisheryHerring abundance is in the eye of the beholder: The record returns forecast by the state remain a fraction of past abundance, based on cultural memory. In any case, the market for sac roe — a delicacy in Asia — has been soft in recent years. (KCAW/Emily Kwong)
Even with the optimistic forecast from Fish and Game, seiners said from the get-go that they wouldn’t hit that quota, due to changes in the market. Still, they broke the herring harvest record, catching around 26,000 tons of fish, over 56 percent of the GHL. Next year’s target is just a little lower, and market conditions haven’t changed much.
Traditional harvester Harvey Kitka is a member of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Herring Resource Committee. The record-setting forecasts don’t mean much, when cultural memory has a far different story about herring abundance. He thinks there’s a disconnect between management and harvest that’s being ignored:
Because when only when only the herring were left (and other forage fish gone) this is one of the things I was so concerned about was that the only thing that man controls is what we take. And if we don’t keep track of what’s happening in the natural cycle and try to adjust ourselves to it will be hurting ourselves in the long run.– Harvey Kitka
1,100 feet – The distance Jeff Wright fell on Mt. Verstovia, and survivedA few minutes after Jeff Wright snapped this selfie, a misstep sent him on his epic “luge ride” as he described it. (Jeff Wright)In March, Sitkan Jeff Wright fell an estimated 1,100 feet (and perhaps more) down the side of snowy Mt. Verstovia. Not only did Wright live to tell the tale – albeit with serious injuries – he says the misadventure helped sharpen his appreciation for the outdoors.
People are surprised that I’m alive. And I understand that. But you know…I’ve survived far more significant things in my life. I had a heart attack…And I rate that fall with this heart attack as far as severity. And there’s other things that have happened that I’ve overcome that were much, much greater. And that helps me — not downplay what happened to me — but it puts it into perspective.– Jeff Wright
24 Hours – The amount of time Russia expected to take to topple UkraineDmitry Rudas gestures toward a photo of a barbershop in Kharkiv, Ukraine, which has since been destroyed. “This place doesn’t exist anymore,” he says. (KCAW/Tash Kimmell)The impact of the war has been felt everywhere, even in Sitka. Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, KCAW’s Tash Kimmell spoke with Sitkan Dimitry Rudas, who is originally from Ukraine.
“It’s your homeland. It’s where you were born. It’s something that you can never stop worrying about, no matter how far away you are, or how long of a time that’s passed. You still worry about it like it’s your child. People have been calling me have been texting me have been just catching me in the street, expressing their support. Saying that they’re worried for me for my family. I’ve never seen, I’ve never experienced, this level of support from local community, from my colleagues at work and from the global stage at large as as well, as I’m seeing right now.” – Dimitry Rudas
Former Sitka High Music teacher John DePalatis had good friends in Ukraine. He made the news with his one-man relief effort, taking suitcases of medical supplies from Poland into Ukraine.
John DePalatis and his friend Julia (whose last name has been intentionally omitted) standing in front of a badly charred building in Irpin. After a month of airstrikes and fighting, the Ukrainian military retook the city in late March. John and Julia are currently raising funds for medical supplies for Ukrainian troops. (John DePalatis)
“No matter what I do, no matter how much money we raise, no matter what I accomplish, it’s not enough. this war isn’t gonna stop for a long time, and people aren’t going to be saved for a long time,” he says. “I have the desire to fix it all….but I can’t, and so I have to do this. I have to. There’s not a choice.” – John DePalatis
1:04.95 – Lydia Jacoby’s gold medal time in the 100-meter breaststrokeLydia Jacoby shared her training secrets with Sitka’s Baranof Barracudas in January. She also passed around her gold medal. (KCAW/Katherine Rose)1 minute 4 seconds and 95 hundredths. This may the most exciting number for every Alaskan who watched the summer Olympics in 2021. Olympic gold medalist and Seward High School senior Lydia Jacoby shared stories of her rise to the top with some of Sitka’s youngest swimmers in January, 2022.
And when that was done, they dived in to practice with – and race against – one of the fastest women in the water.
No one wasn’t charmed by her at the pool that day. And there were many who were flat-out awed.
KCAW – Dr. J, were you inspired today?
Tom Jacobsen – I am inspired. And yeah…(laughing) Inspired is how much faster she is than I am.
Other big stories of 2022: Sitkans rally for reproductive rights following Supreme Court leak
“It’s going to be strong way after I’m gone’: Bernie Gurule retires after 17 years as Mt. Edgecumbe’s principal
Longtime Sitka Search and Rescue veteran found dead on Mt. Verstovia
A pandemic success story, Sitka Salmon Shares closes plant as sales tumble during the recovery
Why were six highly debated herring proposals withdrawn from Board of Fish consideration?
Sitka’s water scores second place in national taste competition
After 30 minutes in the ocean, Sitka kayaker rescued by good Samaritan walking her dog
A Sitka high rise apartment’s lone elevator has been out of service for more than a year, and tenants are frustrated
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City League Volleyball begins in Sitka at the end of January. (“DIY Netting for Volleyball Cage” by GA-Kayaker is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)Barb Morse, interim Parks & Rec coordinator, says activities held during winter break are beginning to wrap up, but her office is already gearing up for the new year: The City League Basketball Tournament starts next week (January 2), and open gyms will begin to feature open volleyball, in anticipation of the beginning of the City League Volleyball season which begins at the end of January. City League Volleyball is co-ed, and there are teams for all skill levels. The successful revival of Parks & Rec relies on its volunteer program, and Morse says interested residents can reach her at recreation@cityofsitka.org or 747-4031.
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The Sitka Fine Arts Camp announced, last week, that the musical theater camp will produce Rogers and Hammerstein’s classic musical ‘Cinderella’ for its 2023 season
(“Glass slippers” by Glamhag is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.)Registration for all four Sitka Fine Arts Camp 2023 programs opens at midnight on January 1. Program Director Kenley Jackson and Executive Director Roger Schmidt joined KCAW’s Peter Apathy in the studio to discuss registration and programming plans for the summer. Listen here:
Click here for more information on registration and summer camp programs or call 907-747-3085.
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When the Sitka Assembly met on Tuesday (12-27-22), it approved several updates to rules concerning commercial vendor and vehicle permitting at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Some, like additional incentives for electric vehicles, passed smoothly, while others, like increasing the permit rate for large buses, will need more votes in order to pass on second reading.
In early December, the assembly voted to change the process for obtaining commercial permits at the city building that serves as the primary pickup and drop off point for cruise ship passengers in the summer months. The new rules required businesses to bid for vendor and outfitter spots outside the building, instead of paying a flat fee, and established annual permit rates for commercial vehicles, like taxis and buses.
Despite having already adopted new code, the assembly believed there was still work to be done, and on Tuesday it approved several modifications to the rules. In response to requests from tour operators, it voted to increase the permit duration for vendors and outfitters from one year to three years, and to change the bidding process from sealed to an “outcry” auction on a 5-1 vote with Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz opposed.
It also unanimously voted to fully eliminate the permit fee for electric vehicles. But there was considerable debate over the fourth amendment, which would increase the permit fee for large vehicles with 30 or more passengers from $1000 to $2000.
Several members of the public said they agreed that the fees should be increased, but asked the assembly to slowly increase the amount over time. Michelle Barker owns Sitka Bike and Hike.
“These do need to be increased. You guys are right. But we just were shut down for two years, and we’re so in debt. And we’re just really working to get all that COVID debt paid off. So consider a ramp up period, give us some time,” Barker said. “The way our companies work is our pricing is already set for 2023. We can’t change a thing until 2024. If we have these huge fees upfront this year, that’s going to hurt a lot of us.”
Trudy Pruitt owns Sitka Tours, one of a few companies that would be impacted by the large vehicle fee increase. She agreed with Barker that the fees should be increased, but the rates should “ramp up.”
“We’ve had a couple of years that have been tough,” Pruitt said. “I would be feeling punished, if what it is that you’re asking, for me to have to…pay out at this point in time.”
Sponsor Thor Christianson said the thinking behind increasing the rate was two- fold. Large buses had the biggest impact on the community during last cruise season – on traffic, emissions, and city infrastructure. And increasing the fees for the larger vehicles would equalize the rate all vehicles pay per-passenger.
“Right now the smaller passenger vehicles are paying significantly more per passenger, about twice, depending on the size,” Christianson said. “I know, at least for me personally, I feel that a large reason why we have to charge the higher fees is because of the large vehicles.”
“In terms of the impact those those vehicles have on this facility, this is the cost that we think would be reasonable,” said Tim Pike who co-sponsored the ordinance with Christianson. “And some of those seats are filled multiple times a day. So, I mean, the cost per passenger is pretty minimal, even on these bigger buses. So yeah, I do understand the concern for going from zero to something, but the costs and impacts have changed significantly.”
But Mayor Eisenbeisz noted that the city used to pay the bus companies to bring passengers from the cruise terminal to Harrigan Centennial Hall. Going from subsidizing those trips to increasing the rate the tour buses pay is a big change. And the policy wouldn’t just impact the larger tour operators.
When we come at this, and we say that we can get more money, I would agree, I would think that Alaska Coach would pay $5,000 a bus. I think they’d pay $10,000 a bus to have a place to drop off,” Eisenbeisz said. “But we have to realize that same fee, that same level of impingement, is also going to go forward to a business like Sitka Tours,” he added. “Is that who we want to be? Is that what we want to be?”
Ultimately the assembly was split, with members Christianson, Pike and JJ Carlson voting in favor and Kevin Mosher, Chris Ystad, and Mayor Eisenbeisz opposed. Member Crystal Duncan was absent and excused. Since the ordinance didn’t receive 4 “no” votes, it will advance to a final reading, but at that point it will need a majority of assembly members to support it in order to pass. All four amendments will come before the assembly again at its next regular meeting on January 10.
View the assembly’s meeting agenda, including the complete language for each amendment here
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Ryan SilvaNote: This obituary first appeared on Legacy.com, and was provided to KCAW by the family.
We are sad to announce the passing of Ryan Silva of Sitka, Alaska, formerly of Chelmsford, MA. He died at the age of 43 on December 18, 2022.
Ryan had a passion for the outdoors that included hunting, fishing, hiking, and dog field training. This passion brought him to Sitka many years ago, where he fell in love with its impressive beauty. His enthusiasm for the things he loved was infectious; he would eagerly share his knowledge with anyone who would listen. His laugh was also incredibly infectious – something that always accompanied his witty jokes and countless stories. We cannot imagine the magnitude of the ripple effect of those he touched; he was a great friend to many. His constant companion was his Red Labrador Retriever, Hunley.
He leaves behind his daughter, Haley Silva and son, Gavin Silva; his mother, Marie Silva; his former wife and friend, Lauren Silva; his sisters, Andrea Silva and Jessica Spates; and beloved niece, nephew, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Others he left behind are his friend, Mary Ferguson and her son, Evander Elixman.
The family is hosting a visitation at the Prewitt Funeral Home in Sitka on Wednesday, December 28, 2022, from 5pm-7pm. A celebration of life will take place at a future date in New England. We will announce details soon.
In lieu of flowers, if you would like to contribute to the family to assist with the funeral and other family needs, please contact the family at a_silva@me.com. You can share your condolences with the family at Legacy.com.
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Sitka firefighters responded to a garage fire late Christmas Eve, but damage from the event was limited.
Dane McFadden with the Sitka Fire Department says the initial alarm came in about 20 minutes before midnight on Saturday, December 24, that a garage in the 500 block of Arrowhead St. was burning.
Five firefighters responded to the scene and quickly contained the blaze. McFadden says that there was smoke damage to the garage and its contents, and fire damage in the corner of the room which was burning.
The cause of the fire is undetermined.
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Ryan Silva was one of three Sitka Police Department staff members who sued the department, alleging various forms of harassment or discrimination. He settled in 2019 for $350,000. (KCAW file photo)The recent death of a former Sitka police officer has been ruled a suicide.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation on Friday (12-23-22) released the results of a preliminary investigation which concluded that 43-year old Ryan Silva died by suicide.
Sitka police and Alaska Wildlife Troopers responded to the report of an unexpected death at Silva’s Monastery Street home on December 18. At the request of the Sitka Police Department, both the Alaska Bureau of Investigation and the Alaska Crime Lab investigated the death, processed the scene, and determined that Silva took his own life.
His body has been sent to the state Medical Examiner’s office in Anchorage.
In 2019 Silva won a $325,000 settlement with the City of Sitka, over allegations that he was harassed and discriminated against in retaliation for blowing the whistle on the Police Department’s acquisition of automatic weapons in violation of department procedures. His fellow officer, Mary Ferguson, later filed a sexual discrimination lawsuit of her own against the department, and Silva allegedly suffered recriminations for his support of her. Ferguson subsequently settled out of court for $500,000. Both Ferguson and Silva were represented by the Northern Justice Project.
Silva joined the Sitka Police Department in 2008, following a career in the Coast Guard. He was promoted to detective in 2011, and was one of the department’s firearms instructors. In his whistleblower suit, he said that he believed automatic weapons to be “extremely dangerous in untrained hands.” He argued that the police chief at the time, Jeff Ankerfelt, ignored his concerns, as did then-city administrator Keith Brady. Silva alleged that he was demoted to patrol officer in retaliation.
The settlements for both Silva and Ferguson were paid by the City of Sitka’s insurance carrier.
Note: If you or anyone you know is having thoughts of suicide, a mental health professional can help. Call or text 9-8-8 anytime to speak to someone at the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
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While the picture appears bleak for several Alaskan fisheries, resource advocates urge an end to crisis-based management, and a more traditional perspective on the ecosystem in general. “And now we’re managing as if we’re in this little time slot, we’re not thinking enough about the past and not thinking enough about the future,” says Linda Behnken. “Except for someone like Harvey (Kitka), who has a viewpoint informed by generational knowledge being passed on from time immemorial, we all fall prey to thinking it all started when we first arrived. And that becomes our baseline.” In the photo: In a ceremony held every spring, Herring Rock receives a blessing of water from the major rivers and streams that empty into Sitka Sound. (KCAW/Woolsey)Although a number of Alaska’s fisheries have collapsed, or are otherwise under threat, some of the people most deeply involved in fishing advocacy believe that recovery is not just possible, but necessary to the well-being of our communities and our planet.
KCAW in Sitka recently held a one-hour forum on the Future of Fishing (12-16-22), and the three panelists all found reasons to be hopeful that continued research, traditional knowledge, and historical perspective will all play a role in charting a path to the future.
Harvey Kitka is a lifelong Sitkan, whose father was a commercial seiner around the time of statehood, when fishermen were paid by the fish, rather than by the pound. His grandfather seined prior to the arrival of hydraulics, and pulled the weighted webbing by hand.
As an indigenous Alaskan, Kitka has one foot in a millenia-old subsistence tradition, but both eyes on the future. He’s uniquely positioned to bring deep perspective to policy decisions, and he’s been no stranger to the testimony table at the state Board of Fisheries. He is an advocate for rebuilding Southeast herring stocks.
“I think one of the first satellites that took pictures of the Earth, at one time took a picture of Baranof Island,” said Kitka. “And it just happened to be the time when the herring were spawning. And it really shocked me to look at that picture and see that around the whole island was white with herring spawn. And now it’s just Sitka Sound, basically.”
“I would say the future of fishing depends on a fair measure of humility, really” said Linda Behnken, “We are seeing so many changes in our ecosystem right now, because of climate change.”
Behnken is the executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association. She’s been on both sides of the policy table, having served nine years on the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council.
“I think we all suffer from – except for someone like Harvey, who has these connections from time immemorial, and his viewpoint informed by generational knowledge being passed on – we all fall prey to thinking it all started when we first arrived. And that becomes our baseline. And I’m not just talking about herring, I think that happens in a lot of arenas. And so if you start managing a commercial fishery, and this is the abundance – we’re looking at the fourth highest – that seems huge, right, because it’s the fourth highest, but if you have Harvey’s perspective, and you have seen what herring stocks might have been back before the herring reduction plants, you really have a different baseline.”
Behnken draws parallels between Sitka Sound herring and the crisis in far Western Alaska. Only five years ago, the region’s commercial fisheries appeared robust. The rapid change demonstrates just how short a five-year window is.
“I’m thinking a lot about what’s going on right now in the Bering Sea, with crab with salmon, where we’ve seen these huge population crashes,” said Behnken, “and what that’s meant for the people who depend on those resources, whether they are the subsistence people of the Yukon, or the commercial crab fleet that’s just lost everything. That, yeah, the system’s changing, but there was a long time of people depending on those resources, watching things change with kind of glacial timing of receding and advancing – but adapting. And now we’re managing as if we’re in this little time slot, we’re not thinking enough about the past and not thinking enough about the future. And with the changes might be bringing.”
Heather Bauscher chairs the Sitka Fish & Game Advisory Committee, and has become a recognized face at both the Board of Fish and North Pacific Fisheries Management Council. Bauscher represents a younger generation of Alaskans, equally concerned with community sustainability and the fisheries. The future that Behnken and Kitka are talking about is her future
“We’re not in the position that they are in out west,” said Bauscher. “But if we can’t get a handle on some of these threats to the resource, we might be in a position like that down the road. And I want to second what Linda said about the time spent at the meeting, the testimony was absolutely incredible. And I’m not as familiar with the (North Pacific Fisheries Management) Council process. This was a really big learning opportunity for me. And I’m grateful to people like Linda and like Harvey, that have been my mentors in these processes, whether it’s the Council or the state process or the subsistence process over the years, but it was a strong showing of voices from all of coastal rural Alaska and especially some strong voices from Southeast from both indigenous communities and commercial fishing. So, you know, despite the things that we’re up against, it’s always really inspiring to witness that. And remember that there is a growing movement on these things.”
Bauscher believes it’s possible to bring a new level of data to the policy table – something more than graphs and tables that go no farther back than statehood. Scientists tend to rely on things they can count, but so much of the observable world is full of information that’s been impossible to quantify. Bauscher is helping spread the word about an app called “Skipper Science,” originally developed by the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, that exponentially expands data collection in Alaska’s fisheries.
“So each year we’ve done this,” said Bauscher, “all these observations get standardized and become part of this report that we can hand off, and we finally successfully have proven to the different agencies that fishermen are capable of collecting this data. So one of the brand new projects, circling back to sablefish, we’ve been working with Seafood Producers Cooperative and local longline fishermen in Southeast Alaska to collect stomach samples that they then photograph through the app and upload, and it becomes part of a data set that (the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) NOAA is going to be using to do full ecosystem analysis of the Gulf of Alaska, which is also pushing management towards ecosystem-based analysis and giving local fishermen a direct hand in. And we’re even paying (fishermen) them for it.”
When everyone who fishes has the ability to contribute information to fisheries research, Alaska’s policy makers will have a far broader perspective to draw on than they do now, and perhaps more courage to act for long-term benefits.
This will be a full-circle moment for Harvey Kitka, who has never needed an app to understand the natural world, and how best to manage it.
“Back in the 50’s and early 60’s we had 50-, 60-, 70-pound (chinook) fish being caught in Sitka Sound,” said Kitka. “Now we’re lucky to see a 30-pounder. What a world of difference in size and things. It would be nice to know what actually happened out there in the ocean. When only when only the herring were left (and other forage fish species gone) and this is one of the things I was so concerned about: The only thing that man controls is what we take, and if we don’t keep track of what’s happening in the natural cycle and try to adjust ourselves to, we’ll be hurting ourselves in the long run.”
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The Sitka Assembly will revisit new rules it recently passed concerning summer vendors and outfitters, when it meets in regular session tonight (12-27-22).
Two weeks ago, the assembly voted to change the process for obtaining commercial permits at Harrigan Centennial Hall, and required businesses to bid for highly-coveted spots outside the building, instead of paying a flat fee. Tonight (12-27-22), the assembly will consider four possible amendments to the newly established code that could extend the permit period from one year to three years, and change the rules for the bidding process.
The new code also requires taxi and tour companies to purchase permits for vehicles that drop off and pick up passengers at Harrigan Centennial Hall— those permits range in price from from $250 to $1,000 depending on the size of the vehicle, and electric vehicles get half-off the cost of a permit. The first amendment up for consideration tonight would further incentivize electric vehicles by eliminating the permit fee entirely. The second amendment would increase the permit fee for vehicles with 30 or more passengers from $1000 to $2000.
The third amendment the assembly is considering tonight would change the terms of permits, staggering them and increasing them from 1 year to three years, which would come with an increase to the minimum bid in order to secure the longer permits. And the final change would shift permit bidding from a sealed process, to an “outcry” bid process.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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Santa is wise to the thousands of letters he receives that are generated by artificial intelligence. Anyone — adult, student, or child — who uses this new technology could be headed for the Naughty List. (Flickr source image, Matti Mattila)Once college students started using Artificial Intelligence text generation to write their term papers, it was only a matter of time before kids started using the same software to compose their letters to Santa. St. Nick is not jolly about this new trend, nor the latest mischief at the Pole by famous entrepreneur, billionaire, and half-elf Elon Musk, who proposes a buyout of Santa’s Christmas operation. With KCAW’s Robert Woolsey.
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JJ Carlson holds the assembly packet from her first meeting. Carlson was sworn in as Sitka’s newest assembly member after being chosen from a pool of six candidates (Photo courtesy of Carlson). Last week, the Sitka Assembly added a new member to its roster. JJ Carlson was appointed to fill former assembly member Rebecca Himschoot’s seat for the next year. KCAW’s Katherine Rose spoke with the Sitkan, who moved back around two years ago. Carlson has experience working in architecture and construction, and believes her design-approach to problem solving and willingness to collaborate will be assets at the assembly table. Listen here:
Transcript forthcoming
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“Windmills at the windmill farm Middelgrunden” by andjohan is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.Wind power may be the best option to add extra “umph” to Sitka’s electric grid– based on research collected as part of an investigation into Sitka’s long-term energy needs.
Amy Solana and Molly Grear are engineers with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. They presented their findings to the assembly on December 13. The study was funded with a federal grant the city scored from the United States Department of Energy– Sitka was one of a handful of communities nationwide selected to participate in the ETIPP program– that stands for Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership– which seeks to help remote and island communities increase their energy resilience.
Solana said that of all of the options – wind, solar, tidal, and geothermal – wind is expensive, but long-term it’s cost effective and would bring the biggest bang for the city’s buck.
“The wind resource is the strongest resource that there is available, is what we found,” she said. “There were several locations that we assessed throughout this project, and Beaver Lake and Lucky Chance are the locations that are shown here to be the most favorable as far as wind production goes.”
Solana said it could take around four years for the city to set up a wind project, which could generate up to 24 megawatts of power. She said solar energy would be quicker to set up, but the payoff is more limited since it would be most useful in the summer months, on large south facing rooftops.
She also said there was potential to source wind and tidal energy, which would prove more useful than solar energy in the winter months, but would be smaller scale than a wind power project. There’s also geothermal energy from Goddard Hot Springs– which was last investigated as a potential energy source in the 1980s.
“And what was found is that it looked promising, but really [an] additional detailed investigation is needed to characterize the resource, to understand what the capacity is,” Solana said. “And if it’s really feasible, what that detailed assessment means is drilling a well to understand what the heat flow is below the surface.”
So why look into this, when Sitka is still paying off a multi-million dollar hydroelectric dam project? The city is expecting more electric customers to jump onto the grid in the next five-to-ten years. With the construction of the new hospital on the SEARHC campus and continued migration toward electric cars, the city would need to rely on diesel generation to supplement the energy from the dam more often, or find an alternative energy source.
These loads are are known that they’re going to be coming. The current resources exist to meet those loads. But again, trying to look forward and reduce that reliance on diesel was the the purpose of this project. And looking even farther forward. As electrification continues with electric vehicles, and homes and buildings, switching from fossil fuel heating to heat pumps, you will eventually reach some thing along the lines of what’s shown in blue at the very top. So that’s a huge growth and load that really needs some some planning now, to address that what is coming.
The full ETIPP report will be published in January. You can view Solana and Grear’s presentation slides here.
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In its 134-page Annual Report (2021) the Alaska Division of Public Health tracks a large amount of health and medical data for residents — including what we’re naming our babies. (Flickr photo/mulan)The most popular boys name in Alaska in 2021 was actually a tie: Noah and Oliver.
This interesting – and surprising – fact was compiled by the Alaska Division of Public Health, along with over one-hundred pages of other vital statistics for the state for the year.
See the complete 2021 Alaska Vital Statistics Annual Report.
At a time of year when everyone is making lists of the best and worst of 2022, please remember that the information in Alaska’s most recent vital statistics report comes from 2021. So Noah and Oliver may have been nudged off the top spot in the past 12 months – we’ll just have to wait until this time in 2023 to find out. I will reveal the top girls name of 2021 at the end of this story, if you’d care to guess.
In the meantime, there is a lot of other information available about 2021, some of it positive, and some of it distressing.
COVID, for example, was the third leading cause of death in Alaska last year, right behind heart disease and cancer, and ahead of accidents. Heart disease and cancer each took the lives of just over 1,000 residents in 2021; COVID killed 762, accidents killed 591.
A total of 6,216 Alaskans died in 2021, but happily, there were more residents born in 2021 offsetting some recent trends in outmigration from the state. There were 9,410 babies in the state that year, over 3,000 more than the number of deaths. 52-percent of those babies were boys. The oldest mother to give birth was 48, the youngest was 14. The oldest dad was 71, and the youngest dad 15. And contrary to whatever stereotypes the rest of the country holds for long winters and romance in Alaska, the number of births in the state by month is absolutely uniform (although it has been on a slow decline since 2017).
The Alaska Division of Public Health tracks a huge amount of data on ethnicity, prenatal care, and other factors relevant to birth – not to mention reams of charts and tables on the diseases we’re suffering from, the accidents that befall us, and life expectancy. The complete Vital Statistics Report is a total of 132 pages long.
But really, the most unexpected statistic is the state’s tracking of baby names: I’ve already mentioned Noah and Oliver were tied for the boys, at 42 each. Oliver has actually been at the top of the list three out of the last four years, except for 2019, when Liam was number one. Wyatt, Elijah, and Logan have all been recent runners up. And for girls, Amelia was the top Alaskan baby name in 2021, with Ava, Hazel, and Olivia tied for second, and Charlotte a close third. The two names to take a dip in popularity in the last few years are James and Emma: Both were number one in 2017, and dropped to fourth in 2021.
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This is an aerial view of the logging near Humpback Creek. The yellow circles indicated boulders found at the site. The black lines represent rock walls. (Courtesy of Defend Yakutat)Controversy over a logging project near Yakutat in Southeast Alaska has intensified. The local tribe, an archaeologist and others say a site that’s being logged is home to centuries-old ruins that could provide clues into the history of Southeast Alaska’s Indigenous people. CoastAlaska’s Angela Denning has more:
Yakutat elder Victoria Demmert says her ancestors – for hundreds of years – harvested the abundant salmon that returned to Humpback Creek every summer.
“I don’t know how you could live here, grow up here and not know,” said Demmert, a council member for the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe.
Just this past August, the tribe passed a resolution calling the site sacred and culturally historic. Elders like Demmert and anthropologists say the tribe purchased the site from previous inhabitants hundreds of years ago. Tom Thornton with the University of Alaska Southeast visited the site in August and found “there is evidence of house remains and culturally modified trees and other landscape features.”
So Demmert says she was taken aback when she learned that the local Native village corporation, Yak-tat Kwaan Inc., had begun clear-cutting the forests around Humpback Creek. She says the company never publicly announced that its subsidiary, Yak Timber, planned to log the area.
“We had to find out by seeing what was going on,” Demmert said. “And then seeing some drone footage of it in addition to pictures that were being taken.”
In a December 8th letter to Yak-tat Kwaan, the tribe called on the company to stop logging the area. The tribe wants time to investigate the site.
“We know we had a village there,” Demmert said. “And we know there are historical sites there and we want Yak-Tat Kwaan to stop and let archaeologists get in there before everything’s destroyed.”
Now, there’s physical evidence of the history, says Sealaska Heritage Institute. That’s the regional Native nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Indigenous people in Southeast.
A Yak Timber equipment operator found what could be several house pits and a series of parallel stone walls at the site being logged. That was at the beginning of December.
The institute announced the findings in a joint news release with the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe and Sealaska Corp. on December 15. The groups called on Yak Timber to stop logging the area until it can be investigated.
Stone wall found near Humpback Creek. (Photo courtesy of Defend Yakutat)“There are cultural and spiritual dimensions of it, that’s really important to us,” said Rosita Worl, the institute’s president and a Ph.D. anthropologist. “The rock wall…I’m just so curious about what, what is that? What kind of fishing occurred with that rock wall?”
Sealaska Heritage is working with archaeologist Aron Crowell with the Smithsonian Institute’s Arctic Studies Center. Crowell believes the Yakutat site could date back 700 years.
In the joint news release, he says “A remarkable set of cultural features related to salmon harvesting appears to be preserved. . . cultural layers at the site could provide a unique record of traditional lifeways and subsistence practices extending back 700 years. Although part of the site has been clearcut, the cultural features do not appear to have been substantially damaged, and their future preservation should be a high priority.”
Even before Humpback Creek, logging was controversial among Yak-tat Kwaan’s shareholders — so much so that Yak Timber announced October 4th it would dissolve and sell off its assets.
But later in the fall, Yak Timber reversed course and started logging near Humpback Creek.
“Yak Timber is harvesting. We’ve been harvesting,” said Marvin Adams, CEO of Yak Timber, on December 13, two days before Sealaska Heritage announced their findings. He says the site has never been documented as historic and was approved by the Alaska Division of Forestry after they inspected it in 1975. A 2007 letter (page 1, 2) from Sealaska Corp. discussing historic sites did not identify the area either.
After the findings were announced, Adams said he had yet to be formally notified of Humpback Creek’s cultural significance. He said the company would follow all relevant laws and regulations, but declined to say whether Yak Timber would continue logging the area.
Clear-cut logging site at Humpback Creek near Yakutat. (Courtesy of Defend Yakutat)“Obviously, we’re not going to go over some historical site to destroy it,” Adams said. “I think we all respect that. But right now, I have not been able to get any documentation from the tribe or anybody else.”
He points to the work of anthropologist Frederica de Laguna. She researched and wrote extensively about the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe from notes she gathered in the 40s and 50s.
Adams says she never mentioned Humpback Creek as a sacred site.
“If there was actually a historical site and a settlement there, I can assure you that that would have been listed and the specific house and the clan house that was supposed to be there would have been listed,” he said. “But it never was.”
But Demmert sees it differently. Though de Laguna’s work doesn’t go into detail, she says the anthropologist’s notes do mention Humpback Creek as an important salmon-harvesting site. It’s where her people Kwaashk’iḵwáan got their name, which means “people of the Humpback Creek.”
“It’s part of our history, it’s part of who we are,” Demmert said. “And to see it desecrated. . . it just hurts spiritually and physically, it’s just breaks our heart and brings tears.”
Worl, the Sealaska Heritage president, says the tribal groups are working with Crowell and the state to see how they can investigate the site further.
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The Alaska Supreme Court on Wednesday (12-14-22) heard oral arguments in an appeal brought by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska over the management of herring. The Tribe asked the high court to reverse a 2021 Superior Court decision that ruled in favor of the state on a constitutional claim. A final ruling on the matter could take months.
Editor’s Note: Watch the full oral argument between representation for Sitka Tribe of Alaska, ADF&G and the Southeast Herring Conservation Alliance here.
In 2021, lawyers for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska argued that the state hadn’t met its constitutional obligation to provide the “best available information” to the Board of Fisheries, as it considered a number of proposals to limit the commercial harvest of herring in Sitka Sound during its 2018 meeting. The Tribe claimed that the state had omitted a particular document – called the Martell Report – which recommended a number of improvements to the way the Department of Fish & Game estimates the amount of available herring in Sitka Sound.
At the time, Juneau Judge Daniel Schally ruled that the state broke no rules by failing to provide the report to the Board of Fish. In his 13-page decision, he wrote that there is no requirement in the “sustained yield clause” of the state constitution for the state to provide the “best available information.”
Over a year-and-a-half later attorney John Starkey challenged that claim before the Alaska Supreme Court.
“But our point is, despite how difficult it is, how technical it is, it’s up to the decision makers to make a judgment about all those issues,” Starkey said.
“Once it’s revealed, there can be a dialogue between the department and the board about the report. But if the board never gets to see the report, the board never gets to ask those questions, [and] the board never gets to make those judgments for itself,” Starkey said. “It takes the power away from the rulemaking authority to see the evidence, and for them to determine whether it’s too technical. In addition to that, Your Honor, it takes away the opportunity for the public to see the report.”
Assistant District Attorney Kimber Rodgers, representing the state, argued that it’s the Board of Fisheries responsibility to balance the economic, ecological, and cultural concerns in its oversight of the state fisheries – not the court’s. “This Court has repeatedly stated that courts may not substitute their judgment for that of the trained biologist and other scientists hired to manage Alaska’s complex fisheries,” Rodgers said. “But this is exactly what the Tribe is asking for. They’re asking for micromanagement of the decision making process. But the text of the sustain yield clause and this Court’s interpretations of that clause, do not impose such a duty on the department to provide any particular information to the board.”
Rodgers maintained that although state biologists weren’t constitutionally required to provide the Martell Report, their comments on regulatory proposals at the 2018 Board of Fish meeting were nonetheless informed by it. Rodgers said providing the whole document would not have been useful for board members.
“But that said, you know, herring were already returning in substantial abundance,” Rodgers said. “The department [was] going above and beyond and trying to do everything it can to make its forecasting model better. And that’s what the Martell Report was about. But it’s highly scientific and technical, very difficult for a layperson to digest.”
Rodgers also argued that the board could have obtained the report through the public process. It was never intended to be suppressed or concealed by the department.
“It’s true that the department did not specifically list that they had the Martell report, that it existed,” Rodgers said. “So but certainly I think members of the public could make [a] public records request to the department and say, ‘Please send me all the relevant information you have about this issue or that issue.’ And then the department would have some obligation to respond to that public records request. And then they might have, you know, as part of that, gotten the Martell Report and been able to provide it to the board themselves.”
Starkey, however, challenged that assertion, arguing that the state was overestimating the capacity of the Board to obtain material that wasn’t provided directly by the department.
“This remedy for finding out the information– that the public somehow going to discover the Martell Report, and be able to bring it out at the board meeting– it just, it doesn’t exist,” Starkey said. “The agency has got the information. They’re holding it. Sitka Tribe might have known that they were going to work on trying to prove the model, but they sure didn’t know that there was a report out there that explained how and what the problems were with with the current model.”
In her remarks, Senior Justice Dana Fabe suggested that the case pivoted on the idea of whether the department had failed in its responsibility to supply the Board with all the material needed for it to make an informed decision about Sitka’s herring population in 2018.
“And to that, our role is to ensure the agency is given reasoned discretion to all the material facts and issues,” Fabe said. “How can the board give its reasoned discretion that’s beyond our review once they take a hard look to all the material facts and issues, if those haven’t been provided to them? To me, that’s the bottom line of this case.”
The Supreme Court has taken the matter under advisement and will issue a written decision at a later date- which could be months away.
View the Martell Report here, beginning on page 31
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(KCAW/Tash Kimmell) Vendors hoping to cash in on the record numbers of cruise ship visitors next year in Sitka are going to have to pay for the privilege. The Sitka Assembly on Tuesday adopted a new fee system for outfitters and tour operators, requiring them to bid on the limited commercial space at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
Some vendors complained that bidding – which could run into the thousands of dollars – would ruin the “friendly” spirit among competitors who previously had to pay only $400 to set up shop at the building.
For the last twenty years, the vendor spaces at Sitka’s downtown tourist hub, Harrigan Centennial Hall, have been available to local tour operators and businesses on a first-come-first-serve basis, with a flat rate for permits. But not anymore. When the Sitka Assembly met on December 13 it approved a new policy: Now those businesses will have to secure their spots through a sealed bidding process with a minimum bid of $2,500 for vendors, and $5,000 for outfitters. And commercial vehicles will be required to pay for an annual permit in order to pick up and drop off passengers at the building.
With the number of cruise passengers growing, Sitka’s city administrator John Leach said it was important for the city to account for the added costs to maintain the building, which, in its current setup, is operating in the red.
But some local tour operators who run their businesses at the city building pushed back. Andy Nye owns one of the tour companies that would be impacted. He worried that the new process would make the vendors competitive and favor outside competition. Right now he said the businesses work together well, and called them the “friends out front.”
“You pit us against each other with this closed bid. Now we’re all trying to outbid each other. There’s only gonna be 10 spots out there. Last year there were 13 or 14 people, so you’re automatically gonna cut three people out,” he said. “I don’t think we’re quite ready for this, I don’t think this is ready, so what I’m asking you is please don’t vote this tonight. We’re not in a rush.”
“Sitka is a special place,” he added. “And I think this is the first step in turning it into those other places. Don’t ruin the friends out front. Because we like each other. We like working together.”
Several other operators voiced opposition to the sealed bid process. Some said they should change the permit time from one year to three years, with a lower flat fee. And some said they should open up 20 spaces, not 10.
Tony Rosas, who manages the building, said they decided to open up 10 spaces next year after observing pedestrian traffic snarls last summer, with a record number of tourists and vendors sharing space in front of the building at the bus pick-up location.
“What was happening late morning and early afternoon was, at that point, they were starting to line up to get back to the ships,” Rosas said. “And because of the big numbers of people that we had, that whole east side of the building was just jam-packed with people.”
City administrator John Leach pushed back on the idea that larger out of town businesses would swoop in and outbid local vendors.
“I know some of the argument has been brought up that the larger out of town businesses may come in and outbid,” Leach said and then asked Rosas what the current price is for a space out front. Rosas replied that right now a space costs a $400 flat rate.
“So is there anything preventing one of those larger businesses right now from coming in? First day of opening and paying the $400? And taking that space?” Leach asked. Rosas said there wasn’t.
“Not only am I a business supporter, but I understand at the seat I need to look out for the best interests of the city and all citizens and covering our expenses at this facility. And giving maximum value to the citizen is very important,” said assembly member Chris Ystad of the ordinance. “So I’m conflicted. All in all, I’m very conflicted. It’s not an easy one.”
Ystad and other assembly members were open to the concerns voiced by business owners and said they would consider making changes to it, and member Thor Christianson said he’d be open to making the lease multi-year or changing the bidding process from sealed to open, and he said he may even bring ordinances to amend the legislation in the coming weeks.
“I expect this not to be the final answer,” said assembly member Tim Pike, who said he’d vote yes to start the process, but hoped to see some changes by the summer. “I think that it’s important for us to put out [that] it’s for sure the framework, so that people understand where we’re headed. And we can adapt it so that it fits the needs of our community,” he said.
Ultimately the assembly passed the ordinance, as written, on a 5-1 reading with Chris Ystad opposed.
If assembly members do bring amendments to the table, however, it’s unlikely they’ll impact the permit process for next summer’s cruise season. City administrator Leach said that staff were planning to move quickly once the ordinance passed, and he wasn’t optimistic that any big changes to the ordinance, which would require at least two readings at the assembly table, would be finalized in time to go into effect this summer.
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The mini-theater program will culminate in a short production of Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Creative Commons/”Sir Edwin Landseer – ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’” by sofi01 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.) The City and Borough of Sitka Parks and Recreation will hold an eight-day theater camp from Monday, December 19 to Friday, December 30 at Blatchley Middle School.
Barb Morse is with the Sitka Parks & Recreation Office. She joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer us to talk about the camp, along with other activities available for students and adults during the holiday break. Listen here:
For more information, please contact Parks and Recreation by emailing recreation@cityofsitka.org or by calling 907.747.4031.
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Last spring, riding windfall oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Alaska Legislature passed a budget built around the idea of price benchmarks, to make sure nothing’s spent unless the revenue is there. For example: $85 oil is the basic budget; $87 oil starts forward funding of the state’s public schools, or paying for schools two years at a time, rather than one; $101 oil begins to refill the nearly-empty Constitutional Budget Reserve; $111 oil and above is deposited into the Permanent Fund. Last week, however, oil fell to $74, which could jeopardize the expectations for improved funding for schools. (Flickr photo, Jason Ryman)The changing economy – and the changing finances of the state – will produce some hard conversations at the Sitka School Board in the coming months, and board members want more time to discuss the challenges, including the continuing decline in students.
KCAW’s Robert Woolsey reports on the board’s December meeting.
Although it doesn’t feel like it in Sitka, gas prices are coming down across the nation, along with the price of crude oil. While this is good for drivers, it’s bad for everything else that depends on state funding, especially education. Last spring, when oil prices were soaring, Alaska’s legislature created a budget balanced at $85 for oil – which actually felt cautious at the time. But just last week, the price of crude dipped to $74.
The new financial reality is going to dash some hopes that Alaska’s schools will finally see a boost in state funding, along with stable funding for more than one year.
Sitka School Board member Tristan Guevin didn’t attribute his mood directly to oil, but he was deeply concerned about the future as he delivered his report to the board at its December 7 meeting.
“I struggled to put words to paper for this board Report, and only recently realized why,” Guevin told the board. “I realized recently that I feel something of a sense of hopelessness for where we are and where we have to go as a board, district, community, and state to ensure that every student in SSD receives a well-rounded and high quality education. More than anything else, school districts across our state are underfunded and under-resourced, and there doesn’t seem to be the political will to change things at the state or local levels.”
The state is by far the largest funder of Alaska’s schools, through a formula called the BSA, or Base Student Allocation, which provides $5,960 per student to local school districts. Guevin said that it had gone up only $30 in the last eight years. Just accounting for inflation, he said, it should have gone up by more than $1,300 over the same time period.
The shortfall, he argued, contributed to the first impasse in negotiations with the teachers’ union in Sitka in over 25 years.
“Without a significant change in the BSA in the coming years, I’m not sure how we move forward as a district,” Guevin said. “Our teachers need and deserve better pay and benefits. But as a school board and as a district, we have no way to raise revenues, so are largely at the mercy of the state and local government, and by extension, Alaska and Sitka residents, and what they’re willing to provide.”
Guevin said that Alaska’s Open Meeting law limited the ability of board members to get together to discuss the issues outside the board’s monthly meetings. He wondered if the board should schedule more work sessions to brainstorm ideas, strategy, and potential partnerships to improve funding for Sitka’s schools.
Board president Blossom Teal-Olsen, and members Melonie Boord and Todd Gebler agreed.
“We do need to have more work sessions, just to go over things that you said,” Gebler said. “I feel that would be a great place to start.”
Although more discussion could help, so would more students. While the pace of Sitka’s enrollment decline has slowed, it hasn’t stopped. Superintendent Frank Hauser told the board that enrollment numbers during the critical October count period were below projections.
“We currently have 1,122 students in attendance in the Sitka School District,” said Hauser. “Some of those students are part-time correspondence students and only count as .9. In the final number that we submitted to the state as our Average Daily Membership was 1,112.1 students. That was 12.9 students less than what we projected.”
The financial news is not all bleak. In October, Sitka voters adopted a special tax on cannabis that could supplement the school activities budget by $300,000. A couple of listening sessions were held to gather input on how to use the money, and the district sent out a survey. One of the questions was open-ended. Hauser shared some of the results.
“This is just a sample of the 38 pieces of feedback we received,” said Hauser: “ ‘Targeted towards lower income students who otherwise cannot participate,’ ‘especially travel costs,’ ‘equally supporting travel for academic activities as well as athletic activities, If possible.’ ‘I would prefer that all students get a share of these funds to subsidize their participation activity of their choice.’ ‘Support field trips at the elementary school,’ ‘Use directly for kids.’ And ‘help everyone please.’ These are just some of the feedback that we received.”
Student board member Felix Myers urged spending the money in proportion with some of the highest activities costs. For him, that meant high school activities involving travel. “When you’re talking about a $200 trip every month,” Myers said, “it adds up.”
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Roger Schmidt (trombone) and Brad Hogarth (conductor) share the highlight’s of this weekend’s Holiday Brass Concert (7 p.m. Saturday, December 17, Sitka Performing Arts Center, tickets available online). Schmidt says the show is an attempt to create a “spectacle” around a challenging repertoire of music ranging from Baroque to contemporary jazz. This year’s musicians come from not just from Sitka, but also from Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Washington, D.C. New for 2022: a guest lighting designer will illuminate the show.
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Sitka Trail Works and the Sitka Trail Plan Committee are releasing a draft list of conceptual plans for improvements to our trail system and they’re looking for public input.
This initial list open for comment includes conceptual plans for nine reconstructions, six new day hikes, four backpacking trail ideas, and nine short in-town trail connections. Sitka Trail Works director Ben Hughey joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the plans and how the public can give feedback. Listen here:
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JJ Carlson is Sitka’s newest assembly member. When the assembly met last night (12-13-22) , it unanimously appointed Carlson to fill a vacancy until next fall.
Carlson will replace former assembly member Rebecca Himschoot who was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in November. Himschoot had a year left on her term and resigned shortly before Thanksgiving. Carlson was one of six Sitkans to apply for the open seat.
Born in Sitka, Carlson moved back over a year ago after 17 years away. In her letter of interest, she said she studied architecture, and currently works at a social services nonprofit and does design consulting.
“I think that as a young female professional, I bring a good voice to my friends, my community,” Carlson told the assembly on Tuesday (12-13-22). “With the strategic plan ahead of us that the city has laid out with child care and housing as top priorities…I have a good vision for that, and think that collaboration and teamwork are great ways to make that happen.”
The assembly unanimously appointed Carlson to the seat. She’ll serve in the role until the municipal election next October.
Raven News will share an interview with Carlson later this week.
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On Wednesday, December 14 at 9 a.m. the Alaska Supreme Court will consider an appeal of the 2021 decision in the Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s suit against the state over management of the Sitka Sound Sac Roe herring fishery. Watch the oral arguments live here:
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Rob Jordan (with the Renewable Energy Alaska Project REAP) is part of a team that includes the Pacific Northwest National Lab and the National Renewable Energy Lab providing technical assistance to the City and Borough of Sitka Electric Department. Jordan and team members will deliver a summary of the results of an 18-month-long ETIPP study to the Assembly on 6 p.m. December 13, 2022, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. The meeting will also be broadcast live on KCAW.
Katie Riley is chair of Sitka’s Sustainability Commission.
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When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (12-13-22), it will appoint a new assembly member to fill a recent vacancy.
Former assembly member Rebecca Himschoot stepped down last month after being elected the newest representative for House District 2 in the Alaska Legislature. Six Sitkans have applied to fill her seat– JJ Carlson, Gregg Dunn, Steve Lee, Drew Thompson, Carol Voisin, and Richard Wein. The assembly will vote on Himschoot’s replacement, and if they’re at the meeting they’ll be sworn in and seated immediately. The person chosen will serve in the seat until the municipal election next October.
The assembly will also consider, on final reading, whether to update the procedure for renting vendor and outfitter spaces at Harrigan Centennial Hall during the summer season. Previously, the spaces were offered at a flat rate on a first-come-first serve basis. If approved tonight, businesses will have to bid for slots, with the minimum bid of $2500 for vendors and $5000 for outfitters, who get extra storage space. The new policy would also require commercial vehicles, like taxis and buses, to secure permits in order to pick up and drop off passengers at the building. The permits would range in cost from $250 to $1000 for the year, based on the number of passengers a vehicle carries. It’s the first update to the building’s permit policies in 20 years, and is intended to help the city secure more revenue to support city infrastructure.
Read the full agenda here
The Sitka Assembly meets tonight at 6 p.m. at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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Tourists in line for the shuttle to the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal at Harrigan Centennial Hall. (KCAW/Tash Kimmell) The Sitka Planning Commission is recommending safety improvements as part of its plan for next year’s cruise season. They also want the city to once again consider the restroom situation. The Commission approved a draft of the plan at a meeting on Wednesday (12-7) and is sending it to the Assembly for review.
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Next year the city will likely see another uptick in tourism, with more than half a million visitors expected to cruise to Sitka.
In response, the planning commission is recommending the city stay the course with the main downtown thoroughfare, Lincoln Street, closing the road on days with 5000 or more cruise passengers. They’re also recommending safety improvements to Harbor Drive, like more pedestrian crossings and signage, and crossing guards. And they want alternate locations considered for the three temporary restrooms that were parked downtown all summer.
Read the draft plan here
In a survey conducted at the end of this summer, tour buses, traffic safety and congestion topped Sitkans’ lists of concerns. Most cruise passengers arrive in downtown Sitka via shuttle from the privately owned cruise terminal out Halibut Point Road. And terminal owner Chris McGraw wants to cut back on the congestion at the main drop off, Harrigan Centennial Hall, by adding another drop off point downtown. At a recent assembly meeting he said that Baranof Elementary School might work as a secondary location.
“I’m really not supportive of that particular facility being used, because that is a street that…people live on,” said Commissioner Katie Riley, who felt the commission should oppose the school as a potential drop off point in their plan.
“There’s a bunch of kids that play on that street, there’s the playground that’s used for kids, there’s Pacific High,” Riley said. “I think that we need to be supportive of maintaining the environment of Sitka as for residents, as for supporting our children and youth that are growing up in this community that are going to live here.”
Riley agreed that dispersal of the passengers is a major issue, but she wanted other locations to be considered as alternate drop-off points. And Commission member Wendy Alderson agreed.
“I think those diesel idling old buses that will be pulling through there and idling and it’s just, we’re already in no idle zone in the schools,” Alderson said. “So that just exacerbates that problem.”
“Disbursement is the biggest issue that in my opinion, we need to be open minded and focus on, because that’s become the biggest problem that we’ve seen, just this summer alone is the disbursement issue,” said Commission Chair Chris Spivey, pushing back. “I’m not gonna lean one way or the other. But I think we need to remain open minded…especially during the extremely busy portions of the summer.”
Unable to reach a consensus, the commission didn’t amend their plan to oppose a drop off at Baranof Elementary School. But Planning Director Amy Ainslie said that if the cruise terminal pursued the school further, there would be a more involved public process.
“The Planning Commission in its land management responsibility would be reviewing a potential lease,” Ainslie said. “With it being, again, in theory being tied to tourism, [it] would be extra pertinent to make sure that it goes through this commission, and then [is] discussed at the assembly as well.”
Ainslie said if a private location was identified, the city’s involvement would be less, but the police chief would still have to approve any new bus stops on local streets. The planning commission approved its draft plan for 2023 with few changes. The Sitka Assembly must vote on the plan before any change could take effect.
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(Sitka Arts Council Photo) The deadline to register as a designer in the 2023 Wearable Art Show is Friday December 16. Bobbie Jordan and Tiffany Pearson joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the show that kicks off in February. Listen to their conversation here:
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The Alaska Association of School Boards and the Sitka School District are holding a family and community dialogue about improving the bridge between childcare, daycare and kindergarten on Tuesday, December 13.
Jill Lecrone and Jule LeBlanc from Baranof Elementary School joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the event. Listen here:
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Sitka’s planning department will investigate whether several sections of city and state-owned land can be opened up for housing development.
Finding solutions to Sitka’s housing shortage is a goal of both the city’s comprehensive and strategic plans. At a recent Sitka Planning Commission meeting, Planning Director Amy Ainslie highlighted tracts of municipal land that might be good for housing development. Ainslie said she focused on large swaths of land that are close to existing power and water connections.
“As we have found in all of our other studies, the farther you are away from utility infrastructure, the more expensive the cost is going to be,” Ainslie said. “And if the goal is affordable housing, then obviously having high utility expenses…contravenes the whole goal, right?”
Ainslie said a large section of city-owned land behind Sitka High School is at the top of the list. She said the city should also consider state-owned land through the Indian River Valley.
“I think it’s an area worth exploring and with the current administration, there has been some interest in working with with municipalities to open state lands, in particular to give state lands to municipalities,” Ainslie said. “There’s a lot of focus on housing too. So I think it’s a good opportunity for us to be working with the state on this piece of land.”
Ainslie said there are three questions city staff need to answer in evaluating the land – whether it’s safe and buildable, how much housing can be built in the area, and how much it will cost. To answer those questions, Ainslie said she’s budgeting for a study of the properties, which she hopes to kick off by the beginning of the next fiscal year, and fund through grants.
Commissioner Katie Riley said she was excited about the prospect of opening up more land for housing. But she noted that it doesn’t solve the immediate problem of affordable housing in Sitka.
“Houses are built. They’re sold to the folks who can afford them, which a lot of the times are not necessarily the folks that are looking for housing in town,” Riley said. “So having having a discussion, you know, amongst this body of what affordability is, what that means? I know that it’s a topic that we all hold a lot of different opinions on, and so I’m excited to explore that as well.”
During public comment, Sitka resident Martina Kurzer said she hoped that further down the line, developers would consider options beyond single-family homes. She recalled apartment buildings she saw on a recent trip to Juneau’s Auke Bay. “I saw three buildings that were very attractive…overlooking the harbor there,” Kurzer said. “And I was wondering, they have a lot more space than we do. But is that anything? Is there anything we could do? How could we change our thinking to make the best with the limited available space we have?” Kurzer asked.
Ainslie, the planning director, said in the new year the commission could hold a special session to seek more community feedback on the land and its potential for housing development.
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Blown by the Same Wind is the fourth novel in author John Straley’s mystery series set in the fictional Alaskan town of Cold Storage. Set in 1968, the story sees the Christian mystic and guru Thomas Merton come to Alaska and “become involved in a big, messy crime,” says Straley. (KCAW image)Sitka author John Straley has published a new novel. The story weaves a little-known strand of 1960s pop culture into the fabric of life in a remote, Southeast Alaska fishing town.
KCAW’s Robert Woolsey recently spoke with Straley about the book, and what’s next for one of Alaska’s most prolific fiction writers.
Note: Author John Straley will read from Blown by the Same Wind at 6 p.m. Thursday, December 8, at Old Harbor Books in Sitka.
The novel is called Blown by the Same Wind, and like all of John Straley’s books, there is more to the title than meets the eye.
Writing mysteries and detective fiction is just Straley’s day job. By night, Alaska’s former Writer Laureate is a poet, and a student of literature and history. During his decades working as an investigator for the Alaska Public Defender Agency, Straley says he kept a quote from the monk Thomas Merton on the cover of all his notebooks.
“I wrote this quote down and it was, ‘I am blown by the same wind that moves all of these people down the street like dead leaves and bits of paper in all directions.’” Straley recited, from memory.
Knowing that he carried Thomas Merton with him as he explored the criminal underbelly of Southeast Alaska, it’s a little surprising that it’s only in Straley’s twelfth and latest novel that Merton makes an appearance. I asked Straley to tell me the story of the story, which begins shortly after Merton, a Cistercian monk living at a monastery in Kentucky, had published a best-selling book called The Seven Storey Mountain, making him something of a superstar in the world of spirituality.
“Dozens and dozens of tourists would come to want to sit at the feet of Thomas Merton,” said Straley. “The abbot suggested that he go someplace more remote, to pray and meditate and serve a small community. And they talked about coming to Alaska. In 1968. Merton actually did come to Alaska, and he wrote some letters indicating that after his trip was over, he was going to come back and live in Alaska – in southeastern Alaska. (Although he was nervous about bears.) Anyway, after he was in Alaska, went to California and then to Asia, where he traveled and met with the Dalai Lama. He was also of interest to the FBI and the CIA because he was not in support of the war in Vietnam. And he died in Bangkok. His brothers found him under an electric lamp, which they thought must have killed him.”
That Merton actually came to Alaska – and may have moved here had he not died suspiciously – was all Straley needed to weave him into the fictional world of Blown by the Same Wind.
“It’s an interesting story full of conspiratorial overtones,” said Straley. “And so I thought, that’s just perfect for me. So I thought up every conspiratorial frame of mind that I could from 1968, researched all the different kinds of things and have Thomas Merton come to my little fictional town of Cold Storage and get involved in a big, messy crime.”
Blown by the Same Wind is Straley’s fourth novel set in the fictional Southeast Alaskan town of Cold Storage. He’s written eight other novels in a different series featuring his ne’er-do-well detective, Cecil Younger. His plan is to write a novel for each series in alternate years.
Twelve novels so far, some poetry collections, an anthology, and a biography make John Straley one of Alaska’s most prolific writers, but there is a small problem – he doesn’t live in Alaska anymore. Earlier this fall, Straley and his wife, the noted humpback whale biologist Jan Straley, moved to Carmel, California.
Straley is trying to make the adjustment.
“I love the climate there,” said Straley. “It’s good for my health. It’s good for my wife’s health. I love the food down there, the fresh vegetables, but I miss the people here.”
Straley has been knocking around some of the roughest corners of Alaska for about four decades. He’s in Steinbeck country now, and he’s already noticed that most residents appear “thin, rich, and healthy.” But, there are plenty of thin and healthy people in Alaska. But Straley is having to recalibrate his ideas about the rich.
Straley – “Brad Pitt has a $42 million home in Carmel, California now, with like 62 fireplaces. He hired a guy just to work on his fireplaces.”
KCAW – “Wow.”
Straley – “That’s where I’m rolling now. That’s the kind of crowd I’m in.”
KCAW – “Does Brad Pitt have a library?”
Straley – “He should. I haven’t driven up to the gates with the guard dogs and the men in black suits and sniper rifles to try to drop a book off, but you never know!”
Straley feels obligated to write another novel about detective Cecil Younger, since the last title in the series, So Far and Good, saw our hero locked up in the Lemon Creek Correctional Center. “I’ve just got to get poor Cecil out of jail,” Straley says. Next comes a biography of his wife Jan, and only then might he turn his attention and his pen to Northern California. There is literally no place John Straley can’t work.
“Everybody has failings and tries to cover them up and gets in trouble,” Straley observed. “Everybody gets in trouble. And I have to say there’s some beautiful country around Big Sur and some crazy people down around there and near where I live. So every place is worthy of writing about.”
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The new heat pumps at Blatchley Middle School replace similar equipment that was only eleven years old when in failed. The school district maintenance staff believe the original heat pumps may have been incorrectly installed, allowing some parts of the units to freeze in cold weather. (KCAW/Woolsey) The heat is back on at Sitka’s Blatchley Middle School, and classes are expected to resume as usual on Wednesday (12-7-22) after students were unexpectedly sent home for four days during the installation of new heat pumps.
The return to warm classrooms concludes what has been a full year of chilly instruction for Sitka’s middle schoolers.
Blatchley principal Ben White is feeling upbeat about the prospect of a fully-heated building.
It’s been a while.
“Yeah, it’s been a calendar year since we’ve had a functional effective heat system,” said White. “It was November of last year when it shut down. And so as of last night, that would be December 5, at eight o’clock, we have half the units up and running and functioning very well, and the other half of the units should be hooked up in the next 24 to 48 hours. And they don’t anticipate any issues going forward with the continued hook up. But even with half the unit running, the building is already more completely heated than it has been in well, a year.”
The school had been getting by on space heaters, and a couple of the original heat pumps that were limping along, leaving conditions in the building tolerable, if not comfortable. There was no disruption of classes until Wednesday, November 30, when White sent a note informing parents that there would be no school for two days – Thursday and Friday – and then remote learning for another two days on Monday and Tuesday.
It happened to be the coldest part of the winter so far in Southeast Alaska, and the problem wasn’t a lack of output from the new heat pumps. The contractors, White says, had to test the other half of a heat pump system, and turn on the building’s air conditioning.
“It was a little ironic,” White said. “And when they told me that I had to laugh, but it’s part of the heating and cooling system. So they had to essentially purge that and make sure that system was functional. So it was kind of comical at that point. ‘Oh, of course, we’re gonna turn the air conditioning on.’”
White says the test run of the air conditioning took the temperature down to around 40 degrees in some classrooms.
The Sitka Assembly set aside $600,000 last August to purchase new heat pumps for the building, when district maintenance staff determined that the old heat pumps, which were just eleven years old, had failed beyond repair – likely the result of an installation method that just wasn’t suitable for Southeast Alaska. Fortunately, there was money to spare from surplus sales tax revenues from Sitka’s rebound in cruise tourism, and the new equipment was ordered, while the actual timeline for installing it remained an open question.
That the installation came during a cold snap wasn’t the best timing, but White is glad the situation is finally being resolved, and that Sitka’s middle-schoolers can return to learning without having to dress for the climate.
“We have lots of students and staff who do actually wear their winter hats and winter coats and gloves,” said White. “Students get to move throughout the school during the school day, they see seven different teachers each day. So part of their days was in heated rooms while part would be in rooms that weren’t heated. However, staff, if you happen to be an unlucky teacher whose room didn’t have heat, you were frequently in a room all day long that might be 50 degrees. So it does start to take a toll.”
White says all Blatchley students will return to in-person learning, and buses will run on their usual schedule, as of Wednesday, December 7.
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Boys Run I toowú klatseen is a ten-week program for boys- composed of running, discussion, and culturally based activities that honor Southeast Alaska traditional values – it’s meant to help participants gain the skills they need to build healthy relationships and create a community of respect for self and others.
Katie Niedermeyer is a volunteer with this year’s Boys Run I toowú klatseen 5K planning committee. She joined coach Johnny Elliot and runners Garrett and Kayden with KCAW’s Erin Fulton for the morning interview to get the word out about the program’s upcoming 5K on December 10. Listen here:
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In October, the Sitka Assembly appointed Tim Pike (left) to fill a recent vacancy — Pike was one of four applicants for the seat. Now, another seat has been vacated, but so far no one has applied. (Photo of Pike shaking hands with Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson, courtesy of Shannon Haugland/Sitka Sentinel) There’s one week left to apply for a newly vacant seat on the Sitka Assembly, but as of Tuesday morning (12-6-22), the city hasn’t received any applications.
In anticipation of her job as the newest state representative for House District 2, Rebecca Himschoot stepped down from her seat on the Sitka Assembly two weeks ago. She’ll be sworn into office in Juneau in January.
Himschoot had one year remaining on her three-year term on the assembly. She is the second assembly member to resign this fall. In October, Dave Miller resigned due to health concerns, and Tim Pike was chosen from a pool of four Sitkans to fill his seat.
Applications are available from municipal clerk’s office by calling 907-747-1811 or clerk@cityofsitka.org. The deadline to submit a letter of interest is noon on Monday, December 12. When the assembly meets on Tuesday, December 13, they’ll choose an applicant from the pool. If the candidate is at the meeting, they’ll be sworn into office immediately, and serve in the role until the municipal election next October.
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This tiny home village called “Second Wind Cottages” in upstate New York is a model for what the Sitka Homeless Coalition would like to construct on Jarvis Street. (SHC image) Andrew Hinton is the director of the Sitka Homeless Coalition. He reports that the “Shelter Sitka” campaign has been going well, with $18,000 raised toward a goal of $25,000 by the end of the year. The project will build a tiny home neighborhood next summer to temporarily house unsheltered residents of Sitka. The organization accepts donations online or at ALPS. The SHC annual meeting will be held 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, December 7, at the Sheet’ká Ḵwáan Naa Kahídi, with dinner provided to the first 90 attendees, prepared by chef Renee Trafton of the Beak.
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“And this is, as far as I know, the only award for young adults (fiction) that’s given in recognition of what they’re calling these days Eco-Lit, focusing on sustainable themes, talking about the wild, talking about resources and how they are and aren’t used. And they decided for 2022 to recognize Whispering Alaska, which, which was awesome, because I’ve always wanted a gold sticker on my book. And now I have one,” says Jones.A Sitka-based author has taken a detour into young adult fiction, and the diversion has paid off with a national award.
Brendan Jones will receive/received the “Green Earth Book Award” in a virtual ceremony on December 7th from Delaware. The award has been presented for the last 18 years by the nonprofit Nature Generation, for exceptional work in a genre now called “Eco-Lit,” or literature which explores ecological issues.
Jones’ new novel Whispering Alaska, was published last year by Penguin/Random House. Jones says the story about twin girls who move to an island in Alaska wasn’t his idea; rather, it was suggested to him by an editor at Random House. However, the novel didn’t come together until Jones was living in the Russian Far East on a Fulbright scholarship.
“My agent called up and said, ‘Hey, listen, there’s a great editor out there, Beverly Horowitz,’” said Jones, “‘Would you be interested in writing a story about twins coming from Pennsylvania to Alaska?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know anything about, you know, young adult.’ And, Julian, my agent pointed out, ‘Well, you’re gonna have three of them – and specifically three girls, because you have three girls who are younger now. So I’m sure it’s something you’ve been thinking about. And so maybe you could give it a shot.’ And so I did. I wrote a manuscript and sent it to Beverly, and she said, ‘This is not good. Try again.’ And I did and I sent her one. And she said, ‘This is still not good. Try again. Start over.’ And I went to Siberia, and just had a couple of months on my own right before COVID started in March (2020). And I had some time alone. And I just really dropped into some sort of creative space and sent her one. And she said, ‘We can work with this.’ And that was Whispering Alaska.”
Jones says that although the story coalesced into a novel before COVID, writing during the pandemic informed the plot. In fact, Jones says his publisher believes that this is the first young-adult fiction to explore the impact of the pandemic on youth. In this case, the twin girls at the heart of the story have suffered the death of their mother, an emergency room doctor. And although they’re twins, a rare genetic twist means that they each have a unique experience of grief.
“So they’re grieving their mother’s loss, and they’re mirror twins. It’s this incredible thing where twins are actually mirrors of each other. They’re they have birthmarks on opposite sides, even their hearts are on opposite sides – it’s this crazy phenomena. But it also means that one is right brain and the other is left brain. So they literally mirror each other. And so when their mother dies, they have very different ways of dealing with her death. And both those different ways – one, for lack of a better term is more type A and one’s more type B – are seen through the lens of the Tongass and through this small remote island town, and they react so differently. One is much more biology in the classroom and engaging on that level, and the other just wants to get out into the old growth and experience what’s there.”
Jones says that Whispering Alaska is aimed at readers who are around age 12 and up – which in the publishing industry is known as “middle-grade.” He’s recently returned to Sitka from a trip to Port Alexander, where he taught the book for a week, and he says that it’s been a great way to reach Alaskan kids with a story that’s more relatable than the usual novels like To Kill a Mockingbird. His plan is to take Whispering Alaska into other classrooms in Alaska, and into high school and university courses he’ll instruct in the coming year.
Jones has received high marks for his previous work: His debut novel The Alaskan Laundry won the 2017 Alaskana Prize, and was recognized by Oprah’s Book Club.
The post A coming-of-age story in the Tongass, ‘Whispering Alaska’ wins a prestigious award for Eco-Lit appeared first on KCAW.
Brave Heart Volunteers offers social and emotional support — and respite — for caregivers. (BHV photo)The “Made in Sitka” Holiday Market is this Saturday, December 10. Brave Heart Volunteers will be among the fifty-plus vendors at the market, featuring a drawing for two unrestricted tickets on Alaska Airlines, as well as other prizes (and free hot drinks!). BHV executive director Angie DelMoral and board member Lacey Tuten join us to discuss their organization’s work. Since the pandemic, the need for BHV services (an increase of 123-percent) has outpaced traditional fundraising, and it’s important to keep this resource available in Sitka.
The post At the ‘Made in Sitka’ Market, Brave Heart will offer two free tickets on Alaska Airlines appeared first on KCAW.
The next phase of the Sitka Seawalk will connect Sitka Public Library to Totem Square, by meandering along the shore -- and under the O'Connell Bridge.
The post Planners hope residents contribute ideas to the next — and trickiest — phase of the Sitka Seawalk appeared first on KCAW.
Out fishing for halibut last month near Sitka, geologist Jacyn Schmidt and her partner noticed an unusual feature on their depth sounder: A 100-foot tall cone, with a plume of gas. Experts believe that it's an underwater volcano -- caused by heated mud or gasses, rather than by erupting magma.
The post More likely mud than magma, Sitka’s newest volcano is rising from the depths appeared first on KCAW.
Jarrick Hope-Lang, Amara Enciso, and Christine Southall share details about this Saturday's Point House fundraiser. The event will feature live music from Meridon and Prime Cuts, and a menu by Enciso, the executive chef of Jorgenson House in Juneau. 6:30 - 11 p.m. Saturday, December 3, at the Odess Theater.
The post An evening of music and fine dining to benefit Point House appeared first on KCAW.
Jane Straight is a United Way Healthcare Navigator and the Director of Income/Health at United Way of Anchorage. She discusses the agency's free services to help residents sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act (Open Enrollment is now through January 15, 2023). Straight will be in Sitka on December 7. To connect with a navigator on the phone, call 2-1-1.
The post The United Way has free assistance for anyone who needs help navigating health insurance appeared first on KCAW.
The couple took hundreds of thousands of dollars and used it to retire early and buy a home in Texas.
“So when it comes down to it, what we learned throughout this lawsuit was that these individuals, the Siglers. . .they took 63% of all of the assets that Neva had on hand, not counting her house,” said Beth Goldstein, an attorney with the state’s Office of Public Advocacy.
The post Former Alaska couple ordered to pay $1.47 million for fraud against Yakutat elder appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka-based Northline Seafoods lost its processing barge in a Bristol Bay storm in 2020. Thanks to a $40 million USDA loan, the company planning a comeback.
The post A Sitka processor lost everything in 2020. Now it’s planning a comeback with a bigger boat and a better idea appeared first on KCAW.
The series "American Innovators" first considered Sitka for a film about energy storage, but that quickly changed. "Here's a town doing it all," says producer Kate Tucker, "and doing it in a way that's necessary for resilience in the future."
The post ‘American Innovators’: New film ties Sitka’s push for renewable energy to a tradition of resilience appeared first on KCAW.
Hal Spackman and Blake Conway with the Sitka Historical Society share details about the return of the Society's Holiday Train Village, which opens 12-4 pm December 17 at Harrigan Centennial Hall, and will be up all week. In addition to Toyland, there will be classic model trains (Conway, lead conductor), a selfie station with Santa and The Grinch, and a Gingerbread House contest.
The post All aboard! ‘Toyland’ joins Historical Society’s Holiday Train Village appeared first on KCAW.
Every year, a Forest Service District is chosen to provide a "Together Tree" for the Governor's Mansion in Juneau. The Sitka Ranger District has been tapped to send this year's tree. Sitkans can contribute ornaments representing "togetherness" to be displayed on the tree, which will be placed outside of the Governor's Mansion. Ornaments can be dropped off at the Sitka Ranger District office through next Monday (12-5-2022) at 4 pm. KCAW's Erin Fulton spoke with Ashley Bolwerk and Cody Mosley from the US Forest Service.
The post Sitka Ranger District tapped to send “Together Tree” to Juneau appeared first on KCAW.
Air Station Sitka located an overdue hunter near Klawock Saturday night (11-26-22) using night-vision technology.
The post Video: Coast Guard uses infrared radar to locate overdue Klawock hunter appeared first on KCAW.
The victim in Sunday's boating tragedy in Sitka, Deanna Moore, was a counselor at SAFV and Sitka Counseling, and a fierce advocate for women and families.
The post Sunday’s boating victim, Deanna Moore, was a prominent advocate for women and families appeared first on KCAW.
Sitkan Deanna Moore, 51, died when the boat she and her husband, Jay Stilwell, and Roger Hames, Jr. were aboard capsized outside of Three Entrance Bay Sunday morning (11-27-22).
The post Sitka woman perishes in weekend boating mishap appeared first on KCAW.
The ANB/ANS Community Thanksgiving returned to full strength this year, feeding dozens of Sitkans a traditional menu of turkey and all the trimmings, and oh so much pumpkin pie. (KCAW/Woolsey)
The post Sitka’s Community Thanksgiving: We gather together appeared first on KCAW.
Now that the Gary Paxton Industrial Park has the cash to build a marine haul out, board members have to find a path forward that both meets voter expectations and accommodates as much of Sitka's fleet as possible.
The post The $8.1 million question: How much boatyard can Sitka build? appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Fish & Game Advisory Committee will soon start reviewing new proposals from the Southeast Board of Game and Statewide Board of Fisheries.
The post Sitka Fish & Game Advisory Committee appeared first on KCAW.
When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (11-22-22), it will accept the resignation of assembly member Rebecca Himschoot.
The post November 22, 2022: What’s on the Sitka Assembly’s agenda tonight? appeared first on KCAW.
Communities on the outer coast can brace themselves for a blustery Thanksgiving, with heavy rainfall and winds reaching as high as 60 miles per hour in some communities on Wednesday and Thursday.
The post Thanksgiving storm brings high winds to Southeast appeared first on KCAW.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy took an ideological tone in his remarks to the 43 graduates of the Alaska Law Enforcement Training Academy in Sitka on Nov. 18, saying, "We haven't had any shootings or lootings or burnings when the rest of the lower 48 and some of our major cities were going through that, what I consider to be nonsense."
The post Dunleavy to Sitka DPS Academy grads: ‘Your character is going to be tested’ appeared first on KCAW.
KCAW Sitka, Artchange, Inc., and David Kreiss-Tompkins partner to collect stories from the community around the theme of how we’ve collectively gotten through the pandemic. What new habits and routines have we picked up that have positively influenced our … more
The post Sitka Silver Linings appeared first on KCAW.
Two Sitka girls made their marks at the state swim meet the first weekend in November. Lady Wolves Volleyball captured third place at the state championships on November 12.
The post Sentinel Sports: Swimming, Volleyball perform well at state meets, as Wrestling season opens appeared first on KCAW.
(Photo: www.franchiseopportunities.com/)
Susan Briles, the patient health benefits director at SEARHC, joined KCAW’s Peter Apathy to talk about Medicare Open Enrollment. December 15 is the deadline to re-enroll for a January start date. … more
The post Medicare Open Enrollment appeared first on KCAW.
Some business owners on American Street in Sitka are asking that the city change its status from one-way, back to two-way. The conflict over the downtown route came up at a recent Police and Fire Commission meeting, and commission members weighed in.
The post American Street has technically been a ‘one-way’ for months, but some Sitkans want it changed back appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Police say a woman who has been missing in Alaska since last summer has been found. Earlier this week, Alaska State Troopers were looking for information on 60-year-old Barbara Carbone, whose last known whereabouts were in Sitka.
The post Missing woman found in Anchorage appeared first on KCAW.
Sitkans can now pull back the curtain on the city budget, thanks to new tools available on the municipality’s website.
City Administrator John Leach and Finance Director Melissa Haley joined KCAW for the Morning Interview on November 17. Leach said … more
The post New web tool shines light on Sitka’s city finances appeared first on KCAW.
As Sitka's planners look to 2024 and beyond, traffic congestion remains at the top of the list in managing the record volumes of summer cruise passengers. Not far behind are concerns over the bus fleet used to transport them. Many residents are calling for electrification, and at least one thinks light rail is the answer.
The post Managing congestion tops list for future tourism planning in Sitka. Electrifying (or eliminating) the bus fleet is a close second appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Homeless Coalition's Andrew Hinton and Doug Osborne join KCAW's Erin Fulton on November 16 to discuss the campaign, volunteer opportunities, and the Coalition's upcoming annual meeting on December 7.
The post Sitka Homeless Coalition appeared first on KCAW.
A salmon hatchery operator in Prince William Sound has agreed to pay a $1 million fine for hazardous waste violations. Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation pled guilty to illegally burning fuel and waste at its hatcheries, which led to a worker being seriously injured.
The post Salmon hatchery operator agrees to pay $1 million for environmental violations appeared first on KCAW.
A somewhat new local non-profit hosted a ‘picture purrfect’ fundraiser on Saturday (11-12-22) to raise money for operations at the Sitka Animal Shelter.
The post Family, pet photo shoot raises money for Sitka’s animal shelter appeared first on KCAW.
Unlike nearly every other sector in the Alaska, marijuana cultivation did not experience job loss during the pandemic. That's helped position the industry as the projected leader in job growth through 2030.
The post Marijuana cultivation to lead Alaskan job growth over next decade appeared first on KCAW.
27 of Sitka’s youngest actors take to the stage this weekend to perform a play set in an enchanted forest. Young Performers Theater Director Zeke Blackwell and performers Arya Galanin and Rosie Starbuck joined KCAW's Erin Fulton for the Morning Interview on Tuesday to discuss the project. A Tale from the North Woods isn’t a widely known play, but the themes, woven into a fairytale setting, are timeless.
The post YPT’s ‘A Tale from the North Woods’ a fantasy with timeless themes appeared first on KCAW.
Sitkans are reflecting on the biggest cruise season to-date on the silver screen. Throughout the summer, filmmakers Ellen Frankenstein and Atman Mehta were documenting the record-breaking year. Now they're presenting a rough-cut of the film Cruise Boom, this Sunday, November 20 at the Coliseum Theater.
The post Rough-cut of ‘Cruise Boom’ documentary showing in Sitka this weekend appeared first on KCAW.
Last month, the Sitka Assembly appointed Tim Pike to fill a vacant seat for the next year. Pike has lived in Sitka for the last 25 years, and teaches Career and Technical Education at Sitka High School, but he doesn’t consider himself the “education candidate” on the assembly –- beyond the classroom, he says he's a citizen interested in economic growth.
The post Newest assembly member, Tim Pike, shares thoughts for upcoming year appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Tribe of Alaska held its annual Tribal Council election on Tuesday, and several councilors were re-elected to their seats.
The post Sitka Tribe of Alaska announces 2022 election results appeared first on KCAW.
As advance votes are counted, Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman and newcomer Rebecca Himschoot appear likely winners in their respective legislative races.
The post As absentee/early votes come in, Stedman and Himschoot likely to claim seats in the next legislature appeared first on KCAW.
Performers and producers of the upcoming Radio Adventure Hour joined KCAW's Erin Fulton in the studio to discuss the upcoming performance this Friday, November 11 at 7 p.m. Listen to their conversation here:
The post Radio Adventure Hour highlights local playwrights, superheroes appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Assembly is moving forward with a long-planned seaplane project, and while new estimates project the cost at more than double original predictions, the assembly is going for a fully-realized project rather than a more affordable scaled-back option.
The post Assembly moves forward with full-scale seaplane base project appeared first on KCAW.
Outer Coast will open its doors as a two-year college in 2024. Nine years in the making, the program is modeled on Deep Springs College in California, but should be "a significant departure from any other institution that's out there."
The post Outer Coast to admit first freshman class in ’24 appeared first on KCAW.
A famously dark and wet holiday in Sitka, Halloween dressed up as a beautiful, sunny day on October 31, 2022. Hundreds of trick-or-treaters took advantage of the clear skies to roam down Lincoln Street, collecting candy from downtown businesses participating in the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event.
The post Lincoln Sweet appeared first on KCAW.
The Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association is hosting the Spring Fishermen's Expo on November 9.
The post ALFA to host fishermen’s expo next week appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka has been awarded over $7.8 million dollars in federal grant money to reconstruct the sheet pile bulkhead and crane at the Marine Services Center.
The post Sitka wins $7.8 million federal RAISE grant for Marine Service Center repairs appeared first on KCAW.
The famous Stardust Ball took place on Saturday, October 29th at Centennial Hall. After staying dormant for 2 years, Sitka’s signature event roared back to life, with a costume contest, lip sync competition, and of course, and Eldridge Gravy & … more
The post The Return of Stardust Ball! appeared first on KCAW.
The theme of this year's Sitka WhaleFest (Nov 3-6, 2022) is "How It's Made: Courting, Babies, & Growth." Nine speakers will cover reproductivity in the marine ecosystem from seaweed to whales. See the full schedule here.
The post Courting, sex, and babies deliver a (re)productive WhaleFest appeared first on KCAW.
The Alaska Region of the US Forest Service has over $14 million to spend on cabin projects in the Tongass and Chugach national forests, thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Biden last year. The deadline for public comment is Monday, October 31.
The post Comment deadline Monday: Fed infrastructure bill has $14 million for cabins in Tongass and Chugach forests appeared first on KCAW.
The first step in solving Sitka's childcare problem is awareness: Bringing families, providers, and resources together in one room to get a grasp on the problem. That's what took place at the Childcare Awareness Fair on October 22.
The post Postcard: Childcare Awareness Fair kicks off the search for solutions to Sitka’s childcare shortage appeared first on KCAW.
A high school vocational instructor has been chosen to fill a vacancy on the Sitka Assembly for one year. Tim Pike comes to the table with years experience teaching at Sitka High School and leadership of the local teachers union.
The post Assembly appoints Tim Pike to fill vacant assembly seat appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka WhaleFest is back with a full schedule of in-person science symposiums, a market, a Film Fest, a race, a cruise, and more. Registration information for the November 3-6 event is available here.
The post WhaleFest returns with a full complement of science, art, and fun appeared first on KCAW.
Following a couple of slow COVID years, Sitka businesses got a long awaited boost this summer. While the surge in cruise tourism revived some traditional enterprises, it also inspired new businesses, from food carts to sustainable snorkeling. One Sitkan’s entrepreneurial spirit took her in a “curious” direction, however, managing a distinctively offbeat vending machine.
The post A Curious approach to vending makes ‘cents’ in Sitka appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka voters overwhelmingly approved a proposition to use public funds to build a marine haulout and boatyard, giving the project 80-percent of the vote. A new tax on marijuana also passed with 57-percent of the vote. The proceeds will support school activities.
The post Sitka voters hand a big wins to marijuana tax and marine haulout appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka voters made their preferences known for mayor, assembly, and school board Tuesday. And although over 800 early and absentee ballots have yet to be counted some races’ winners can be cautiously called.
The post Sitka’s unofficial 2022 municipal election returns appeared first on KCAW.
After their landing craft Windchaser went on the rocks in Pavlov Harbor in last Saturday's storm (10-1-22), the stranded couple on board relied on handheld flares to signal an Air Station Sitka helicopter.
The post Video: Handheld flares aid rescue of stranded boaters in Pavlov Harbor appeared first on KCAW.
Sitkans will began casting their ballots at 7:00 this morning (10-4-22) in the local municipal election at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Ten candidates are vying for six open seats on Sitka’s assembly and school board. And there are two important ballot propositions.
The post Polls open until 8 for Sitka’s municipal election appeared first on KCAW.
A proposal to build a new seaplane base in Sitka is 20 years in the making, and seemed to be gathering steam before the pandemic. But some fresh community opposition last year, and a significantly higher cost estimate this year, are proving to be major setbacks. The Sitka Assembly recently heard an update on the project.
The post Proposed seaplane base price tag more than double original projections appeared first on KCAW.
About 50 Sitkans gathered under the Crescent Harbor net shed on Friday afternoon (9-30-22) in honor of Orange Shirt Day, which is also known as Every Child Matters. The event was one of several held across Alaska and the region in remembrance "of those we lost, and those who survived Native residential schools," said host Yeidikook’áa Dionne Brady-Howard.
The post Orange Shirt Day draws Sitkans to remember those lost, and those who survived, Native residential schools appeared first on KCAW.
US Representative Mary Peltola will deliver a keynote address 6 p.m. Monday, October 10, culminating a weekend of on-campus events in honor of Indigenous People's Day.
The post Indigenous People’s Day events at UAS Sitka to feature weekend screenings of Land Acknowledgment Panels, and a keynote by Rep. Mary Peltola appeared first on KCAW.
The summer cruise season is winding down, and now the city is looking for community feedback, while it’s fresh on Sitkans’ minds.
The post City seeks feedback on summer tourism to aid in next year’s planning appeared first on KCAW.
Economics steered at least a third of the Southeast troll fleet toward chum salmon this summer. As a result, about 9,000 kings went unharvested, despite being open all season.
The post A rare summer-long chinook opener was not enough to lure SE trollers away from Chumageddon appeared first on KCAW.
As a proportion of overall housing, more of Sitka's stock is tied up in short-term rentals than anywhere in the state except the Kenai Peninsula
The post Sitka (almost) tops state for short-term rentals, but long-term vacancies are high, too appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka's Covid alert level has dropped to "low" for the first time since April. Much of the state has dropped to low as well, consistent with the drop in new hospitalizations for the virus.
The post Sitka’s Covid alert level drops to ‘low’ appeared first on KCAW.
Troopers say that 29-year old Manuel Bell accidentally drove into Boot Lake and drowned. A passenger survived. An investigation is ongoing.
The post Troopers investigate Kake drowning death appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka’s made it over the hump of what was originally predicted to be the busiest cruise season in the town’s history. And while there’s still over a month to go, city officials are already exploring changes for next year. At the top of the list: Sitka’s busiest intersection may be getting a makeover.
The post Sitka’s Lake/Lincoln Street intersection may get makeover next year appeared first on KCAW.
Mary Peltola edged out former Gov. Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III in the race to fill the seat in Congress left open by the sudden death of Don Young. She'll be the first Alaska Native to serve in the US House of Representatives.
The post Peltola wins race for Alaska’s seat in US House appeared first on KCAW.
It’s not an uncommon story for cultural artifacts, or tribal property to go missing or fall into the wrong hands. A less common story? For those objects to be returned. In Sitka this July , a Kik.sadi clan house was repatriated after nearly 20 years in the possession of another clan. Its new legal owner, Jerrick Hope-Lang, hopes the historic exchange will spur a greater conversation about repatriation
The post Point House repatriation in Sitka marks new chapter for Kiks.ádi Clan appeared first on KCAW.
Although Sitka's local school bus contractor is short-staffed, buses have been covering all routes. The bigger holdup is likely construction delays at Sitka's major intersection.
The post School buses rolling in Sitka despite short-staffing, construction delays appeared first on KCAW.
The annual application cycle is now open for the Sitka Legacy Foundation. The organization hopes to give $25,000 in grants to local nonprofits and government organizations this year.
The post Sitka Legacy Fund opens annual application period appeared first on KCAW.
Local artist Jennifer Younger-Rudas joins KCAW's Peter Apathy to discuss what's new with her work, including a recent collaboration with designer Ursala Hudson at the Santa Fe Indian Market, and having her work featured on the new Marvel/ Disney show SheHulk.
The post Hulk smash! Jennifer Younger on art, fashion and superheroes appeared first on KCAW.
The rules governing short-term rentals in Sitka may be changing soon. When the assembly met on Tuesday (8-23-22), it green lit changes that would affect new permits for short-term rentals in residential zones.
The post Rules governing short-term rentals could change under new assembly ordinance appeared first on KCAW.
As tourists return to Alaska, communities across the state are discussing the social, economic, and environmental impacts of summer travelers. One business that started up this year in Sitka, hopes to create a sustainable model for hosting tourists- through an activity that doesn’t get much attention in Alaska.
The post In Sitka, a tourism company reflects on sustainability through snorkeling appeared first on KCAW.
If you’re a member of Raven Radio and have been looking for additional ways to support your favorite community station, consider becoming a board member. KCAW’s board heads a mission-driven organization, providing creative community media with diverse programming and fair and … more
The post KCAW wants you to join our Board of Directors! appeared first on KCAW.
John Straley and Margot O'Connell join KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss how he ended up in Sitka and what his next adventure will be.
The post John Straley says ‘farewell-for now’ with final reading at Old Harbor Books appeared first on KCAW.
Fees could rise for vendors at Harrigan Centennial Hall next year.
The post Assembly considers increased fees, permitting for vendors at Centennial Hall appeared first on KCAW.
A coast guard crew from Airstation Sitka medevaced a 65-year-old woman from a cruise ship in Cross Sound Sunday night
The post Sitka Coast Guard medevacs 65-year-old woman from cruise ship over the weekend appeared first on KCAW.
When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight, it will consider making changes to the city code governing short-term rentals.
The post August 23, 2022: What’s on the agenda when the Sitka Assembly meets tonight? appeared first on KCAW.
Brave Heart Volunteers is holding their annual buoy and art auction August 23-30.
The post Oh buoy! Brave Heart to host annual art auction, featuring 21 painted buoys appeared first on KCAW.
Seven years (to the day) after a swarm of landslides struck Sitka -- one of which was fatal -- an interdisciplinary team has developed a web-based tool to alert residents to landslide danger.
The post New app warns Sitkans of landslide risk appeared first on KCAW.
Steve White and Larysa Murray of Team Rubicon join KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss the organization and their hopes for Southeast Alaska.
The post Disaster relief network, Team Rubicon hopes to start branch in Sitka appeared first on KCAW.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, we’ve heard many stories of refugees escaping the conflict and coming out of the country. Stories of people going in, however, are a bit more rare. A former music teacher in Sitka is one of those stories. What began with a suitcase full of bandages and other medical supplies has evolved into a one-man humanitarian relief effort.
The post After an eye-opening supply-run, a former Sitkan fundraises for friends in Ukraine appeared first on KCAW.
If Sitka voters had their way, Bethel Democrat Mary Peltola would be their representative in the US House -- by a longshot. Voters in the district also gave big margins to Lisa Murkowski and Bill Walker.
The post No longer an unknown, Peltola is Sitka’s clear favorite on primary election day appeared first on KCAW.
Three new exchange students through the AFS program arrived in Sitka last week and will be spending the next year as part of the community
The post AFS welcomes three new exchange students to Sitka with community potluck this weekend appeared first on KCAW.
A federal judge in Seattle has ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service violated a key provision of the Endangered Species Act in 2019, when NMFS published research on the harvest of king salmon in Southeast Alaska – and failed to address its impact on a small population of killer whales in Puget Sound.
The post US Court ruling on endangered killer whales likely won’t shut down Southeast trolling. But it could force a rewrite of federal fisheries policy appeared first on KCAW.
Lead academic advisor at UAS, Katie Sill joins KCAW's Meredith Redick to chat about tuition assistance for local students over the coming fall and spring terms. Qualifying students can save around $700 for a 3 credit class through the Sitka Campus.
The post UAS to offer new financial aid opportunities for local students appeared first on KCAW.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski stopped in Sitka Friday while on the campaign trail to keep her seat in the US Senate. Originally from Ketchikan, the republican has represented the state for nearly 20 years on the senate floor, and has emerged as one of the most important swing votes in government. Murkowski sat down with KCAW’s Tash Kimmell to discuss her thoughts on issues ranging from climate change, to winning the millennial vote.
The post Lisa Murkowski talks climate change, Roe v. Wade, and winning the youth vote on the campaign trail to keep her senate seat appeared first on KCAW.
Ryan Herbert is a newcomer to local politics in Sitka, lately becoming a regular at assembly meetings during “persons to be heard.” Now, he’s among the five candidates running to sit on the other side of the assembly table.
The post ‘Jack of all trades’ Ryan Herbert vying for assembly seat appeared first on KCAW.
Sales tax returns won’t be available for a while, but we do have some unfiltered data on Sitka’s record breaking tourist season that’s not exactly secondhand. Amanda Roberts is a health educator with the SEARHC health promotion program. She leads monthly cigarette butt cleanups in Sitka. She says this summer they’ve seen significantly more butts than they have in the last four years.
The post With cigarette cleanup comes some ‘unfiltered’ data on tourist boom appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka recorded its seventh death of the coronavirus pandemic this week, though the report is several months delayed.
The post Sitka reports seventh COVID death appeared first on KCAW.
Priya Gandhi and Samantha Matthews are with the Rand-Pardee School of Public Policy. They're launching a survey on cruise tourism in Sitka, as part of their social science research. They joined KCAW's Meredith Redick to share details of how Sitkans can participate.
The post Researchers investigate tourism’s impact on Sitka appeared first on KCAW.
Former Gov. Bill Walker says he vetoed half the Permanent Fund Dividend in 2016 because the legislature lacked the courage to do so. "We need generational thinking," Walker says. "We need to think beyond the next election."
The post ‘Who will run to the fire?’ Walker’s comeback depends on persuading voters that political courage matters appeared first on KCAW.
Former mayor and assembly member Valorie Nelson is vying for a seat on the Sitka Assembly again. Nelson last served as an assembly member from 2019 to 2021, and did not seek re-election last year.
The post Former mayor, assembly member Valorie Nelson seeking mayor’s seat appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka's Blatchley Middle School was without its primary heat source for most of last winter, after five Mitsubishi heat pumps failed. Now, the Sitka Assembly has appropriated up to $600K on first reading for emergency replacements.
The post Premature heat pump failure at Sitka’s middle school could mean $600,000 in replacement costs appeared first on KCAW.
The end of summer is nearing, and for Sitka Cirque, that means its time for their annual summer showcase. Gina Newkirk joined KCAW's Peter Apathy in the studio to discuss the upcoming performances on August 13. Listen here:
The post Sitka Cirque to host summer showcase this week appeared first on KCAW.
Commercial fisherman and Gary Paxton Industrial Park Board member Chris Ystad was the fourth of five Sitkans who filed to run for a seat on the Sitka Assembly last week. KCAW’s Katherine Rose spoke with him about his decision to run for public office.
The post GPIP board member, fisherman Chris Ystad seeking assembly seat appeared first on KCAW.
Director of Sporting Advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Arron Kindle, and climate organizer with the Southeast Conservation Council (SEACC) , Matt Jackson join KCAW's Meredith Redick in discussion about the impact of climate change on local hunting and fishing.
The post Sporting roundtable seeks to understand changing climate through personal experience appeared first on KCAW.
Each year, swimmers from Sitka and around the world compete in the northernmost open ocean race in the United States, and possibly the world. Change Your Latitude - 57° North Open Water Challenge kicks off this weekend.
The post Nation’s northernmost open ocean swim enters 13th year appeared first on KCAW.
In the sleepy hamlet of Port Alexander in Southeast Alaska, amenities like wifi, cell service and even electricity are a luxury. Diesel generators run everything and fuel isn’t cheap so conservation is a cornerstone of daily life. Now, Sitka’s Raven Radio hopes to help the remote community conserve energy by updating its aging radio transmitter with wind and solar power. Listen Below:
The post KCAW hopes to bring wind and solar to Port Alexander with new project appeared first on KCAW.
Local business owner Kris Chinalski is one of four candidates, so far, vying for two open seats on the Sitka Assembly this fall. She spoke with KCAW about what motivated her to seek public office. Listen here:
The post Kris Chinalski fourth Sitkan to file for assembly seat appeared first on KCAW.
Former assembly member Dr. Richard Wein filed for a seat on the Sitka Assembly on Wednesday (8-3-22). Wein served on the assembly from 2018 to 2020. KCAW spoke with him about his decision to run again for public office. Listen here:
The post Former assembly member Richard Wein running for another term appeared first on KCAW.
Two more Sitkans filed to run for seats on the assembly on Monday (8-2-22). Former mayor and assembly member Valorie Nelson was the third to file for the mayor’s chair. Incumbent Thor Christianson was the first to file for one of two open assembly seats.
The post Assembly member Thor Christianson files for reelection appeared first on KCAW.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was out with COVID, and did not join the Republican defection to block the PACT Act on July 27. She subsequently issued a strong statement supporting veterans.
The post Murkowski sidesteps PACT controversy, offers full support for veterans appeared first on KCAW.
People who move to Alaska are not staying as long as they used to. The latest report from the Alaska Department of Labor shows a striking downward trend in outmigration -- but it's not from a lack of job opportunities.
The post ‘Trends’ report: Despite near-record job availability, more recent arrivals are choosing to leave Alaska appeared first on KCAW.
Felony charges have been brought against a driver who allegedly stabbed another man in a "road rage" incident July 17 in Sitka. The assailant will likely make a claim of self-defense.
The post Assailant in Sitka ‘road rage’ stabbing will claim self-defense appeared first on KCAW.
Current Sitka Superior Court Judge Jude Pate, and former Sitkan (and Anchorage Superior Court Judge) Dani Crosby are both in the running to join Alaska's Supreme Court.
The post One current, one past Sitkan in field for appointment to Alaska high court appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Homeless Coalition will host its first ever sleepout next week. “Sleepouts” are a common strategy used across the country to raise funds and awareness around homelessness. Organizers Johnny Elliot and Doug Osborne joined KCAW's morning interview to discuss the upcoming event.
The post Sitka’s first “sleepout” to raise awareness for unhoused, funding for tiny home community appeared first on KCAW.
The Alaska Sea Grant is looking to the public to guide research into rebuilding and managing stocks of abalone in Southeast Alaska.
The post Take the abalone survey, and help direct research to rebuild stocks of one of Southeasts ‘charismatic organisms’ appeared first on KCAW.
Unlike past oil windfalls, much of Alaska's $2 billion surplus will be deposited in savings, and used "to fix the fiscal position of the state." says Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman, co-chair of the Alaska Senate Finance Committee.
The post Stedman: Alaska’s wartime windfall a chance to save more, and build less, than previous oil booms appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Assembly is throwing its support behind a senate bill to study the history and effects of residential boarding schools in the United States.
The post Assembly backs Senate bill to investigate impacts of residential school policies appeared first on KCAW.
Voters will now decide whether to fund a marine haulout using money from the sale of Sitka Community Hospital. When the Sitka Assembly met last night (7-26-22), it approved a ballot proposition asking voters to tap the city’s permanent fund to cover the costs of the project.
The post Haulout ballot prop will go to voters this fall appeared first on KCAW.
KCAW technicians are currently installing a wind- and solar-powered battery bank that will boost the strength of KCAW's signal in Port Alexander from 10 watts up to 250 watts -- while drastically reducing dependence on the town's diesel power plant.
The post ‘Translatorpalooza’ brings solar-and-wind power to remote community radio appeared first on KCAW.
Director Zeke Blackwell and performers in the upcoming Sitka Fine Arts Camp production of Mamma Mia joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss this weekend’s showings of the musical. Listen to their conversation here:
Mamma Mia will run July 29-30, with … more
The post Sitka Fine Arts Camp to debut Mamma Mia! this weekend appeared first on KCAW.
Abalone populations are good in some places, and all but gone in others. An Alaska Sea Grant Survey hopes to engage residents in strategies to improve management of this resource, and improve harvests. With NOAA fellow Ashley Bolwerk and doctoral candidate Taylor White.
The post Abalone survey will inform work to rebuild stocks, improve harvests appeared first on KCAW.
Tristan Guevin has filed for a full term on the Sitka School Board. The former assembly member was appointed to a vacancy in June of this year. He's committed to public service, and he believes in the power of education to address problems of social justice.
The post Guevin files for Sitka School Board race appeared first on KCAW.
Researchers in the Sitka Tribe of Alaska are trying to figure out how far subsistence herring eggs travel across the state and beyond each spring.
The post Survey seeks data on herring egg sharing network appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Public Library's Youth Services librarian Maite Lorente and with Kylee Jones from the Sitka Conservation Society joined KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss the 100 Breakfasts and Books program sponsored by SCS. Listen here:
The post ‘100 Breakfasts and Books’ pairs food with local literature appeared first on KCAW.
Eechdaa Dave Ketah is a Tlingit carver, drum maker, and painter. He's the Sheldon Jackson Museum’s first Alaska Native artist-in-residence of 2022 and will be working most days at the museum through July 30. Listen to our conversation with Ketah here:
The post Meet SJ museum’s artist-in-residence, Eechdaa Dave Ketah appeared first on KCAW.
The filing period to run for local office opened on Monday, July 18. Through Friday August 5, Sitkans can file to run for a seat on the assembly or school board.
The post 2022 Candidate Filings: Who’s running for public office in Sitka? appeared first on KCAW.
Incumbent mayor Steven Eisenbeisz was the first candidate to file in the 2022 Sitka municipal election. Eisenbeisz is wrapping up his first term as Sitka’s mayor, a role he took on after serving two terms as a Sitka Assembly member. KCAW’s Katherine Rose recently spoke with Eisenbeisz about why he’s seeking elected office again:
The post Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz files to run for re-election appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman says the legislature has appropriated enough money to complete the Katlian Bay Road – and several others across the state – but the project may serve as a cautionary tale about the reality of construction along Southeast Alaska’s rugged coastline.
The post Stedman: Sitka’s Katlian Bay Road a hard lesson for future construction along the Southeast coast appeared first on KCAW.
A year into serving his second term as a Sitka Assembly member, Kevin Mosher has filed to run for the mayor’s seat. KCAW’s Katherine Rose spoke with Mosher this week about why he’s making another run for elected office:
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A 64-year-old man was medevaced from a cruise ship in Chatham Strait Monday morning
The post Coast Guard medevacs 64-year-old man from Encore of the Seas appeared first on KCAW.
As food insecurity surges nationally, rural Alaskans at the intersection of food scarcity and climate change are facing a tough reality. In the Chignik region, low salmon returns are leaving the community without a vital food source. In response, one Sitka based organization is leading the initiative to provide fish for families in need
The post ‘Fish to Families’ initiative harnesses Bristol Bay abundance to feed families in need appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka police are investigating a stabbing that happened on Sunday morning in the 800 block of Halibut Point Road.
The post Sitkan charged in stabbing, following ‘road rage’ incident appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman is cool to the idea of withdrawing $8 million from Sitka's permanent fund to pay for a new marine haulout. He thinks using state funding to build a yard similar to Wrangell's is "more workable and deliverable."
The post Stedman ‘not excited’ about drawing on Sitka’s permanent fund for new marine haulout appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka's government relations director Melissa Henshaw and SSW Consulting's Sara Wilson give a broad overview of the city's strategic plan, including a timeline, focus group opportunities, the difference between a comprehensive plan and a strategic plan, why the public should care, and the importance of participating in the survey.
The post Survey closing July 8: Strategic plan will be Sitka’s roadmap for the next five years appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka is remarkable for many things, not the least of which is its large population of polydactyl cats.
The post Sitka’s ‘little cat feet’ bigger than most appeared first on KCAW.
On back-to-back days – June 18 and 19 – the Pathways to a Safer Sitka Coalition held a Story Trail along the downtown sea walk, and Sitka’s first-ever Juneteenth celebration.
The post A ‘story trail’ and Sitka’s first Juneteenth Celebration bring out families in June appeared first on KCAW.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka is undergoing a leadership shift this summer. A new superintendent was hired to take over the state-run boarding school, and she is no stranger to the campus, or to its mission of combining a rigorous academic education with deeply-held cultural traditions.
The post For new MEHS superintendent, ‘culturally responsive education’ is key appeared first on KCAW.
Since late April, six eagles have tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza, or “bird flu” in Sitka. But only one of those cases was discovered in the last five weeks.
The post Bird flu shows signs of slowing in Sitka, with only one recent case reported appeared first on KCAW.
Executive Director and President of Brave Heart Volunteers, Angie DelMoral and Michelle Freidman join KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss this weekend's upcoming event.
The post Brave Heart Bowls to return this weekend appeared first on KCAW.
When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (6-28-2) it will consider, on final reading, whether to put a new cannabis consumers tax out to the voters this fall.
The post June 28, 2022: What’s on the agenda when the assembly meets tonight? appeared first on KCAW.
The Jan. 6 Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol will hold its sixth hearing on Tuesday (6-27-22) after previously announcing there would be no more hearings until July. Watch live here beginning at 9 a.m. AKST.
The post Watch Live: Jan. 6 Committee schedules last-minute hearing appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka’s Search and Rescue team rescued an injured hiker on Thursday evening. The hiker was walking across the first bridge on the Indian River Trail when the handrail gave way, and he fell, injuring his ankle.
The post Sitka’s SAR team rescues hiker injured from fall appeared first on KCAW.
A small group of demonstrators gathered at Sitka's roundabout at noon, following the Supreme Court's decision, holding signs that read, "Bans off our bodies" and "Protect our right to choose."
The post Sitkans protest Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade appeared first on KCAW.
Next week, the Sitka Conservation Society is hosting the first of several annual fundraising cruises. Heather Bauscher joined KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss three of the Society's cruises this summer: Birds, Intertidal, and Kruzof Wildlife and Geology.
The post Catch a glimpse of puffins and auklets on upcoming bird cruise appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka is having an outbreak of kennel cough among its canine residents. The disease is fairly common in dogs, but clinics in town have seen an unusually rapid uptick in cases.
The post Kennel cough outbreak means more social distancing for Sitka’s dogs appeared first on KCAW.
Musicians Helen Kim, and Jasmine Arakawa join KCAW's Brooke Schafer in discussion about this weekend's upcoming performances.
The post Helen Kim and Jasmine Arakawa on what to expect at the Sitka Music Festival’s final weekend appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka won its first bronze from the Walk Friendly Communities Program in 2013, and it remains the only city in Alaska to be recognized by the program.
The post Sitka strolls to another bronze in national walk-friendly program appeared first on KCAW.
Late Monday evening (6-20-22), the 2,800-passenger Celebrity Eclipse requested a medevac for a 67-year old man in need of medical attention. According to Coast Guard Public Affairs specialist, Nate Littlejohn, the on-duty flight surgeon was in communication with the captain of the cruise ship, as well as with medical personnel on board, before greenlighting the operation.
The post Video: Air Station Sitka rescues ailing passenger from Celebrity Eclipse appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Trailworks surveyed almost 800 Sitkans this spring about the future of local trails. Trailworks executive director Ben Hughey joins KCAW's Brooke Schafer to go over the results, and the next steps forward. Listen Below:
The post Ben Hughey of Sitka Trail Works discusses the future of Sitka’s local trails appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka’s drinking water is officially “prize winning” on a national level. The city’s tap water, locally sourced from Blue Lake, won second place last week (6-14-22) at the American Water Works Association (AWWA) taste test competition.
The post Sitka’s water scores second place in national taste competition appeared first on KCAW.
Herring season wrapped up earlier this spring in Sitka Sound with the largest commercial harvest in the history of the sac roe fishery. Herring management nevertheless continues to be controversial, and – many would argue – weighted heavily toward market demand in Asia. But what exactly is that market? Earlier this year, KCAW spoke with a Japanese anthropologist studying the history of herring in his home country, and how the market is changing along with the tastes and habits of the Japanese themselves.
The post In Japan, marketers spawn new strategies to sell herring eggs appeared first on KCAW.
SFAC director Roger Schmidt shares details of this Saturday's Jazz on the Waterfront: Kyle Athade will lead a 20-member jazz orchestra playing selections from the French Hot Club era, Basie, a Latin music set, and R&B. The menu, from Chef Patti Peck, includes tapenade toast points, boeuf bourguignon, and a lemon mousse and rasberry coulis.
The post Jazz on the Waterfront: Where Basie meets boeuf bourguignon appeared first on KCAW.
Around 250 people gathered in Totem Square this weekend in anticipation for Sitka's first ever pride parade.
The post Over 200 marched in Sitka’s first Pride parade on Saturday appeared first on KCAW.
Despite hours of testimony from residents living along the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers who called for urgent action to curb the bycatch of chinook and chum salmon in the Bering Sea trawl fisheries, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council decided to approach the problem more methodically.
The post With a way of life on the Y-K Delta at risk, the North Pacific Council declines to reduce trawl bycatch, and instead wants more study of climate change appeared first on KCAW.
Since the beginning of the summer cruise season, the city has been closing the street to through traffic on days when 3,000 or more cruise passengers are in town. Beginning next week, the threshold will increase to 4,000.
The post City raises Lincoln Street closure threshold to 4000 cruise passengers appeared first on KCAW.
Twenty-seven Sitkans and one non-resident tested positive for the coronavirus last week in Sitka, as reported by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
The post Sitka reported 28 new COVID cases last week appeared first on KCAW.
As any Alaskan will tell you, life in the 49th state isn’t cheap. But for those living in remote villages, and especially island communities, prices can be astronomical. In Kake, a village of about 500, residents are feeling the squeeze of inflation especially hard, as transportation costs have driven up the price of food and basic necessities to unimaginable levels.
The post In Kake, the squeeze of national inflation hits residents hard appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Assembly is one step closer to putting a marijuana tax question out to the voters, but it will be a slightly lower tax than previously advertised.
The post Cannabis tax ballot question progresses toward final vote appeared first on KCAW.
A Coast Guard crew from Valdez came to the aid of stranded boaters on Tuesday (6-14-22), about 80 miles west of Yakutat.
The post Coast Guard aids stranded boaters west of Yakutat appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Music Festival's artistic director Zuill Bailey joined KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss the weekend's upcoming performances. Listen here:
The post Sitka Music Festival hits midway mark this weekend appeared first on KCAW.
The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium kicked off construction of its long-planned hospital expansion earlier this month on Japonski Island. At the Sitka Assembly meeting on Tuesday (6-14-22), SEARHC secured short-term permission to crush its own rock for gravel fill at the construction site.
The post SEARHC hospital construction crew to process gravel on-site appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka School Board Wednesday night (6-15-22) appointed Tristan Guevin and Mitch Mork to a pair of vacant seats on the board. They will serve until the Sitka Municipal Election in October. After swearing in Guevin (Mork appeared telephonically, and will be sworn in later), the four members elected Blossom Teal-Olsen as president, Todd Gebler as vice-president, and Paul Rioux as secretary.
The post Guevin, Mork appointed to vacant seats on Sitka School Board appeared first on KCAW.
The city of Sitka is coming out strongly against a proposed land sale of Alaska Mental Health Trust land to a buyer in Montana.
The post City admin pens letter in opposition to state land sale appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Salmon Shares closed its Sitka plant on three days' notice on June 6, but will continue to sell fish packaged by other processors. The expansion in the direct-to-consumer seafood market during the pandemic faltered during the pandemic.
The post A pandemic success story, Sitka Salmon Shares closes plant as sales tumble during the recovery appeared first on KCAW.
A 30-foot chunk of the Sitka Cross Trail that washed out in a landslide in late January has finally been repaired.
The post Five months after sustaining slide damage, section of Sitka Cross trail repaired appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka law enforcement officers have apprehended two teenagers for allegedly starting a fire in Crescent Harbor last month.
The post Two teens apprehended for alleged involvement in arson case appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka reported 25 new coronavirus cases over the last week, and no new hospitalizations were reported.
The post Sitka reported 25 new coronavirus cases last week appeared first on KCAW.
Although Saturday June 11 is the deadline for the special primary election to fill the vacancy in Congress created by the death of Don Young, Friday June 10 is the last day to have your ballot postmarked in Sitka.
The post Voting Friday is Sitka’s best choice for beating Saturday’s deadline for special primary election appeared first on KCAW.
Flautist Amy Taylor and violist Christian Colberg met playing for the Cincinnati Symphony, but it was a medical scare that made him realize he could not live without her.
The post An inspiring love story brings romance to the stage at the Sitka Music Festival appeared first on KCAW.
The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is holding the first in a series of what's expected to be 6 public hearings. The committee has interviewed hundreds of witnesses and collected tens of thousands of pages of documents as part of its investigation into the deadly attack.
The post Watch live: US House Select Committee hearings on January 6 insurrection appeared first on KCAW.
Daily Sitka Sentinel Sports editor Garland Kennedy joins KCAW's Robert Woolsey to discuss the Sitka Wolves second-place finish at last weekend's state baseball tournament.
The post Sentinel Sports: Sitka Wolves baseball, track teams score big at state tournaments appeared first on KCAW.
The NPFMC will cover a wide range of species harvested in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, but based on public comments, salmon bycatch and electronic monitoring (EM) will be big issues.
The post Salmon bycatch, electronic monitoring on the table at Sitka meeting of North Pacific Fishery Management Council appeared first on KCAW.
The Coast Guard medevaced a man Sunday night (6-5-22) from a cruise ship near Duke Island, around 120 miles southeast of Sitka.
The post Sitka Coast Guard crew medevacs man from Eurodam cruise ship appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka's 4H program will be offering a six part course this summer for teens interested in learning the essentials of entrepreneurship.
The post Sitka 4-H to offer “Essentials of Entrepreneurship” workshop for local teens appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka School Board gave its informal approval to a plan to replace the sales tax on cannabis products with a new consumer tax that -- if voters approve -- would top out at 8-percent.
The post Sitka School Board endorses plan to tax cannabis to support student activities appeared first on KCAW.
The Sitka Music Festival is returning to a pre-COVID format. Artistic director Zuill Bailey and violinist Benjamin Bree discuss the month's lineup of concerts.
The post Sitka Music Festival kicks off summer with first concert this Friday appeared first on KCAW.
Sitkan Asa Dow, joins KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss his upcoming presentation on the future of hydroelectricity in Sitka
The post Local high school senior, Asa Dow, on the future of Sitka’s hydroelectric production appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka Salmon Derby officials were hoping to see a trend back toward larger fish this year, and that may be happening. A 40-pounder went to the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.
The post 40-pounder takes lead in Sitka Salmon Derby appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka's Hope Coalition is sponsoring a cigarette butt cleanup in the area surrounding Blatchley Middle School at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 31.
The post Cigarette butt cleanup scheduled for ‘World No Tobacco Day’ in Sitka appeared first on KCAW.
Andrew Hames has been on the Sitka School Board since 2020, but he considers a chance at a music teaching job in the district too good of an opportunity to pass up.
The post Hames resigns school board post to pursue teaching position appeared first on KCAW.
A Yakutat woman is in jail pending murder and assault charges, after allegedly losing control of her vehicle, killing one man and injuring three others.
The post Yakutat woman charged with murder and assault after deadly car accident appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka's teachers ratified a two-year contract on Tuesday, May 24, ending the first negotiating impasse in 25 years. Union reps say the agreement restores competitive salaries and is a hedge against inflation.
The post Negotiating impasse over, Sitka teachers ratify two-year contract appeared first on KCAW.
Sunny skies and light winds are forecast 67th Annual Sitka Salmon Derby, which begins over Memorial Day weekend. Anglers will be chasing a big fish that could be worth $6,000.
The post Sunshine, bigger fish anticipated in 67th Sitka Salmon Derby appeared first on KCAW.
June is international pride month and to celebrate, the Sitka Pride Planning Committee has put together a jam packed schedule of community events throughout the mon
The post Sitka Pride Planning Committee to host slew of events in celebration of pride month appeared first on KCAW.
Plans for a new marine haul out in Sitka are high and dry, after the Sitka Assembly on Tuesday did not reach a consensus on where to go next to look for funding for the project. Some members contemplated putting a tax on the October ballot and building the haulout with public funds, and some still hoped for some combination of grant funding and private capital.
The post Assembly considers options to fund heavy lift of marine haulout construction appeared first on KCAW.
Three people were critically injured in a small airplane crash near Yakutat on Tuesday (5-24-22), and a fourth was treated for minor injuries.
The post Plane crash outside Yakutat leaves three critically injured appeared first on KCAW.
John Denver tribute artist Ted Vigil began his career as a rock and roll drummer, but changed course after winning a singing contest performing John Denver songs.
The post John Denver tribute artist to perform this Saturday in Sitka appeared first on KCAW.
In response to the rising number of avian influenza cases, the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka is temporarily suspending its bird rescue and rehabilitation services.
The post With concerns about bird flu mounting, Alaska Raptor Center temporarily suspends some services appeared first on KCAW.
The newly expanded Sitka Sound Cruise Ship terminal welcomed its first seven sailings last week, commencing what’s expected to be a record breaking year in cruise travel. While a majority of dockings went without a hitch, the terminal sustained damage to its inside berth on Monday (5-9-22), after a cruise ship struck an outer mooring dolphin.
The post Damaged mooring dolphin leaves cruise ship terminal at half capacity appeared first on KCAW.
Patrick Trischman, of Port Alexander's, Alaska Alexander Archipelago Tongass to Tidal Science Academy (AAATTSA) joins KCAW's Brooke Schafer to discuss the program
The post Port Alexander’s science academy accepting applications for next fall. appeared first on KCAW.
A Sitka daughter and father will be tried separately for their involvement in a hit-and-run that led to the death of a bicyclist.
The post Sitka manslaughter case to be tried late this summer appeared first on KCAW.
When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight, it will consider whether to put a cannabis tax ballot question out to the voters for consideration in the October 4 municipal election.
The post May 10, 2022: What’s on the agenda when the Sitka Assembly meets tonight? appeared first on KCAW.
Last month, two Indigenous plant experts visited Sitka to share their knowledge with harvesters gearing up for the spring season.
The post Seaweed, shoots, and wild celery: Sitkans ring in spring with Indigenous foods and medicine class appeared first on KCAW.
When Mt. Edgecumbe High School Seniors graduated on May 5, they weren’t alone in saying their farewells to the school. After 17 years as the school’s principal, Bernie Gurule is retiring.
The post ‘It’s going to be strong way after I’m gone’: Bernie Gurule retires after 17 years as Mt. Edgecumbe’s principal appeared first on KCAW.
Sitka High School Theater Department director Christian Litten, and actors Sagan McLaughlin and Izzy Williams join us to discuss the group's upcoming play. Listen here:
The post ‘She Kills Monsters’ brings fantasy roleplaying to Sitka stage appeared first on KCAW.
Mount Edgecumbe's 68-person senior class of 2022 celebrated their graduation Wednesday morning. May 4
The post Mt. Edgecumbe class of 2022 says ‘so long’ to high school in graduation ceremony appeared first on KCAW.
On May 6, Bethel Native Corporation will sponsor a Candidate Forum for four of the candidates running in the U.S. House Special Election. Emil Notti, Mary Peltola, Tara Sweeney, and Sarah Palin will answer questions about rural issues.
The post Four US House Candidates answer questions at Bethel forum: here’s how to listen appeared first on KCAW.
A group of squid gather for the parade of species in downtown Sitka (KCAW/Tash Kimmell) The 21st annual Parade of Species took place this Friday in downtown Sitka, and was open to the public for the first time in two years. The event, which is hosted by the Sitka Conservation Society encourages Sitkans to dress as their favorite plants, animals and bugs in observance of Earth Day. Many sported silly hats, animal onesies, or hand crafted costumes as they paraded from downtown Sitka’s Lincoln street to the Sitka Fine Arts Campus.
Young children dressed up as an array of different animals, real and imagined, for the 21st annual Parade of Species (KCAW/Tash Kimmell) A fox waits for the start of the Parade of Species in Sitka’s Totem Square (KCAW/Tash Kimmell) The post The CorvidEYE: Sitkans celebrate Earth Day at 21st annual Parade of Species appeared first on KCAW.
Although the teachers’ contract is unresolved, the school board was under a legal deadline to pass its $22 million budget before the end of the month. But budgets can be changed: “We are in ongoing negotiations, and that will have an impact on this budget, as those become settled and we move forward,” Superintendent Frank Hauser told the board. The Sitka School District has been unable to reach a new contract agreement with the union representing its teachers.
Members of the Sitka Education Association spoke to the Sitka School Board directly, at the board’s last regular meeting on April 20.
Teachers were hopeful that the bargaining impasse could be resolved, as it’s possibly the first in the district’s history.
The details of the negotiations between the SEA and the Sitka School District are not public. However, it was clear from testimony before the school board on April 20 that the issue is salaries. Sitka teachers in the recent past have accepted deals that postponed pay increases, in order to assist the district manage its finances under a tighter state education budget.
But now SEA negotiators feel teachers have fallen behind – so far that it’s hurting recruitment and retention in a district that used to be a plum choice for the state’s educators.
SEA president and Sitka High teacher Mike Vieira announced the impasse, which is likely unprecedented.
“We don’t have anyone currently in our association who can remember having done this before,” Vieira said. “It’s in a place that can go down a road that can become divisive, and it’s not a place that we’ve ever been. So I’m expressing concern that we’re there. And I’m expressing hope that we can find a way to work our selves out of that.”
Vieira explained that the days of hefty state pensions (Tier I and Tier II in the Teachers’ Retirement System) for retired teachers were long gone. 70 percent of his membership was now covered under what amounts to a savings plan – known as “Tier III.”
“They (Tier III teachers) don’t have the flexibility to wait for their salary to increase because they need to take those dollars and put them in account and let them sit for as many years as possible, so that they can have a chance of success in retirement,” Vieira said. “They don’t have access to Social Security. They have one leg to stand on in retirement and it’s based on the amount of money that they earn today.”
Sitka High American Government teacher Howard Wayne is not one of those whose retirement will depend on how much he can save out of his salary, but he brought his long perspective to the board. He’s from Southeast Alaska, the child of Alaskan teachers, and he’s seen a shift in the culture of education, most noticeable during five years when he served as principal of Sitka High.
“I saw as an administrator, and having grown up in this region, places like Juneau and Sitka were coveted by teachers all around the state,” Wayne said. “And when I was first applying for jobs back in the late 90s, and in early 2000, it was not uncommon for the Sitka schools to have 100 to 150 applicants for each position.”
Wayne was a principal in Sitka between 2005 and 2010. The state adopted the Tier III retirement in 2006.
He called it a “watershed moment.”
“I saw a relatively quick change,” said Wayne. “And it was becoming more and more difficult to find teachers to come to this region. And it was partly because of the retirement system, but also because the salaries were not as competitive as other places.”
Sitka High Science teacher Stacy Golden is another 20-year veteran, who can also look forward to a retirement under the state’s original plan. But she was concerned for the well-being of her younger colleagues. That teachers everywhere have been under a heavy strain during the pandemic is universally understood. Golden said it was far from over for educators.
“It’s not suddenly going to get easy again (after the pandemic),” said Golden. ” We have kids with massive social emotional needs and new challenges from the last few years. We have gaps in curriculum that we need to deal with. And so I feel like the challenges of the pandemic, the poor retirement process for our Tier III teachers, the increase to the cost of living, all of the challenges and where we are with negotiations, is just something that I would ask… and really make funding teachers as a priority and figure out where the other money has to come from. It’s needed by your staff at this point. And I’m sorry to ask for that. But I kind of feel like that’s where we are.”
Sitka High Librarian Beau Hedrick said that the excitement of landing a job in a place like Sitka can sometimes override long-term considerations for young teachers. He said the bubble would usually burst after a couple of years.
“And then they finally sit down and talk to a financial planner, they finally talk to somebody and they realize ‘You’re out of your mind, you will never be able to retire with what you’re doing today. You need to put in 50% of your paycheck today, for the rest for another 30 years, and you might have a possibility of retirement, there is no social security, there is no there’s nothing else for you except what you contribute,'” Hedrick said.
Hedrick said the idea of Sitka as a place to work for two or three years before moving on to something better was “unheard of” when he joined the district 20 years ago. “You’d work there until you were done,” he said.
The only item on the Sitka School Board’s agenda April 20 was the adoption of next year’s budget. These remarks from SEA members all came during persons-to-be-heard, and under board rules members were not allowed to respond. Sitka High teacher Betty Richter argued for the importance of retention, saying teachers were “changing the world,” and at the same time nudged the board back to the budget.
“Please put teachers first,” she pleaded. “Show us that we are valued by giving us an improved compensation, a competitive Alaskan wage. You have to put those big rocks in first, before you filter in all the sand.”
Under pressure to meet its legal deadline, the board approved the final budget as submitted, $22,057,629 for next year, without any adjustment for teacher salaries. Superintendent Frank Hauser said contracts would be issued to tenured teachers, on the understanding that they could change, once the impasse is resolved.
“We are in ongoing negotiations, and that will have an impact on this budget, as those become settled and we move forward,” said Hauser. “And so we have had some great conversations. And I’m feeling I’m optimistic. So I’ve heard optimism a few times tonight, and I would like to just reiterate that.”
As in past years, the amount for instruction – or teacher salaries – in the 2023 budget is almost 80-percent of all expenses.
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The Cathedral Arms’ first floor is comprised of businesses. Floors two through seven are one-bedroom and studio apartments, with a penthouse apartment on the eighth floor. Tenants say the lone elevator in the building has been on only intermittently for over a year. (KCAW/Rose) The elevator in Sitka’s only high-rise apartment building has been off intermittently – for over 15 months. The situation – although not necessarily illegal – is at best inconvenient, and at worst discriminatory for tenants who may struggle with seven flights of stairs.
For the last two months, KCAW has been investigating the complicated web of regulations that allow a residential elevator to remain broken indefinitely.
Listen to the radio story that aired on 4-22-22 or read the extended print version below
Downtown Sitka’s skyline is small but striking. The distinctive St. Michael’s Cathedral in the center of Lincoln Street always draws the eye, juxtaposed against a snow-capped Mt. Verstovia behind it. But there’s one building that overshadows the spire of St. Michaels — an eight-story structure striped in sea foam green and sandy beige.
It’s the Cathedral Arms building, and it’s the largest apartment complex in town. It was built in the early 1950s.
“It’s a sweet old building, and it’s got a lot of character…there’s a lot of good things about it,” says Owen Kindig. He moved into the building in the spring of 2018. He says at first things were good. The views were great, and at $895 a month, it was comparatively affordable for a one-bedroom apartment. Its location was unbeatable. On the corner of the 7th floor, he had a view of Sitka Sound to the south, and Mt. Edgecumbe to the west.
“We had the two best views in Sitka,” Kindig laughs. “And we had, initially, a cordial relationship with the landlord. Things worked out well.”
But by the summer of 2019, things had changed. Kindig opened an AirBnb to rent out the apartment when he and his wife were traveling. Around the same time, the building’s lone elevator started having mechanical problems. Often, it was out of service – without warning. Kindig says he didn’t mind the exercise, but climbing six flights of stairs bothered his guests.
“We had problems, because they needed the elevator. They were coming in with suitcases. Often they were elderly, and they needed to have the elevator,” Kindig says. “And when the elevator wasn’t working, we didn’t get good information from the landlord.”
And Kindig started to notice some of his neighbors were struggling as the elevator went out of service for longer periods, sometimes weeks at a time.
“We knew one person who was, you know, disabled, and couldn’t walk up the steps. And I don’t know how they managed,” Kindig says. “It seemed impossible for them to manage. And yet, they were still there when we left.”
The Kindigs moved out in the fall of 2019. Since the winter of 2020 through March of 2022, tenants say that the elevator has been off. This spring they invited me to visit Cathedral Arms, and I discovered for myself that it was still off.
I spoke with six tenants who currently live in Cathedral Arms, and two who recently moved out. They all said they had no access to the elevator for somewhere between 13 and 16 months. All except Owen Kindig asked to remain unidentified in this story, some for fear of losing their housing.
I also spoke with the owner of the building, a local businessman named Kelly Pellett (KCCR Properties LLC) , who declined to comment. The elevator, however, I’ve learned has been on intermittently since I spoke to him. Then, on April 4, the state Office of Mechanical Inspection (OMI) issued a “cease and desist” after an investigation determined that he may have been operating the elevator without a valid certificate. Until the owner makes the necessary repairs to get the elevator recertified, the state says the elevator must remain off.
The tenants are frustrated with the situation. Some said they’d approached city officials, reached out to Alaska’s congressional delegation, and called state agencies – all without success. That’s because it’s not necessarily illegal for a multi-story apartment complex to go without a working elevator for over a year. And the reasoning is not straightforward.
“When it comes to civil things where there’s not an immediate threat to life and safety, the Alaska public — the Sitka public — doesn’t have much appetite for enforcement that’s really compulsory,” says Scott Brylinsky, a former Sitka building official.
Brylinsky says the city and state doenforce regulations dealing with life and safety. For example,at the Cathedral Arms – years ago – the state fire marshal required the building’s owner to install an exterior fire exit. It was an expensive, but necessary addition.
But an out-of-service elevator doesn’t fall into that category. Sitka has never adopted Chapter 11 of the International Building Code (IBC), which spells out accessibility requirements for buildings, including elevators. And Brylinsky believes that adopting these codes retroactively in Alaska is politically and practically impossible, due to the burden it would put on private businesses.
“There’s so many places that it can be an issue that I don’t see in a libertarian state, like Alaska. You get the government coming in and telling businesses they have to make changes by a certain date or get shut down, or be subject to enforcement action, or be fined,” Brylinsky says. “It just would never work.”
Sitka’s current building official could not comment for this story. Municipal administrator John Leach released a statement confirming that Sitka has not adopted the accessibility requirements in the IBC, and stating that the city believed that matter fell under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, or ADA, and that tenants could file complaints with the US Department of Justice.
At the state level, Alaska’s Office of Mechanical Inspection certifies elevators for operation as long as they meet certain safety standards. Although no one in the OMI agreed to an interview, in an email, the state’s Chief of Mechanical Inspection, Scott Damerow, said they inspected the Cathedral Arms elevator last July (2021- nine months ago). It did not pass inspection, so they placed it fully out-of-service, pending repairs to bring the elevator back up to code.
Damerow said as far as OMI is concerned, shutting off an elevator is considered “an acceptable alternative to an expensive repair or retrofit.” Once the owner makes repairs to put the elevator back in service, Damerow says they’ll inspect it. But until then, it’s out of their hands.
Pictured Right: A photo provided to KCAW from inside the Cathedral Arms elevator on a day in early March after tenants reported that, after more than a year with no access, the elevator had been turned back on and they were able to ride it to their apartments. Days after KCAW received these reports, the state OMI issued a “cease and desist” after an investigation revealed that the elevator may have been put back into operation without a valid certificate.
Municipal Administrator Leach is likely right that this is a matter covered under federal law – but maybe not under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
“The fact that it’s been like this for so long, and they have been trying to get help is concerning,” says Leslie Jaehning. She’s a staff attorney with the Disability Law Center of Alaska. Jaehning says it’s a common misconception that the ADA covers all residential housing. Rather, it covers public accommodations.
However, most privately owned apartment complexes are covered under the much older Fair Housing Act. The FHA prohibits housing providers from discriminating against people with disabilities.
“So if somebody is not able to access their home, you know, because…their disability makes it unable to go upstairs or things, that is discriminatory,” says Jaehning.
She says under the FHA, if a building has an elevator, the landlord must keep that elevator in working order and repair it quickly if it breaks down, to ensure tenants with disabilities have equal access to their homes. That, or provide a reasonable accommodation.
Jaehning also says there may be even more protections if the landlord gets subsidies for providing housing to low income tenants. She says tenants who believe they’ve been discriminated against can file a complaint with the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.
But what about the tenants who don’t have disabilities? Do they have any recourse?
What does the ADA cover?*“ADA normally covers public accommodations, places like theaters or restaurants, banks, things like that. Where the ADA does apply in relation to housing is government owned housing, or certain privately owned facilities,” says Jaehning. “So areas of public housing, like student and faculty housing and nursing homes, or if housing get some sort of federal grants, you know, or federal or state monies, then that will sometimes trigger the ADA to cover the housing.*“
“Probably not under the Fair Housing Act, though I would say that the definition of disability under the Fair Housing Act is very broad,”says Dan Coons. He’s an attorney with Alaska Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm that provides free civil legal services to low-income Alaskans.
“There may be some good arguments that state landlord tenant law applies, and that the landlord has a duty under state landlord tenant law to make these kind of repairs,” says Coons.
He says another step tenants can take is filing a civil suit, if they believe the state’s landlord tenant law is being violated.
“It’s a matter of going to the courts and the tenants asserting their rights under the state Landlord-Tenant Act through a lawsuit, but that’s not a small undertaking. It takes a lot of work to get a lawsuit like that in front of the court successfully.”
Compelling a landlord to make repairs under state law through the courts could be both costly and time-consuming. And it doesn’t help tenants right now,who are holding out hope that the elevator will be fixed soon.
“I think that a landlord has a responsibility to the people he serves to keep them healthy and safe,” says former tenant Owen Kindig.
It’s been more than two years since Kindig lived in Cathedral Arms, but he still worries about his former neighbors. He hopes someone will step in to help them.
“I think it’s unsafe. It’s a nuisance, it’s a danger to the people who are living there to not have a working elevator.”
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The April 11, 2022, earthquake “swarm” was located under the Mt. Edgecumbe crater, which itself is part of a larger volcanic field called the “Southwest Rift.” These geological features all stem from the Queen Charlotte Fault, the boundary between the North American and Pacific plates located just 12 km offshore. (Alaska Earthquake Center image) An expert on marine geology and a leading researcher on the Queen Charlotte Fault believes the recent earthquake “swarm” under Mt. Edgecumbe near Sitka is consistent with volcanic activity.
Dr. Gary Greene is not suggesting an eruption is imminent – if one occurs at all – but he does think signs are pointing to the upward movement of magma below Mt. Edgecumbe, which has been dormant for centuries.
The Queen Charlotte Fault runs offshore Southeast Alaska, almost perfectly straight, for over 500 miles.
It’s a rare geological feature – called a “leaky transform fault” – where the North American and Pacific plates continually slip past each other.
Because it’s a plate boundary, the Queen Charlotte Fault is deep, extending down through the Earth’s crust and into the mantle. Thousands of years ago, the movement of the fault opened a conduit in the crust, and molten magma pushed through and formed the Mt. Edgecumbe volcano.
Dr. Gary Greene thinks that the April 11 earthquake swarm indicates that the process may be underway again.
“When magma starts heading towards the surface it re-melts the rock that is there and it fractures that rock and the fracturing is what causes the earthquake,” said Greene. “So as the magma starts to move up into the crust and and gets closer to the surface, you start getting these, these low magnitude earthquakes, which were experienced last week (April 11). And then it can shut off, which it sounds like it has now. But it can start again any time and if the fault moves some more, it can cause dilation again and then cause more magma to start reaching up towards the surface.”
Greene is retired from a long career with the US Geological Survey. He’s an emeritus professor at the Moss Landing Marine Lab at San Jose State University, and he holds a research faculty position with the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Lab.
But his specialty of late has been mapping the undersea Queen Charlotte Fault, and the Mt. Edgecumbe volcano is a product of that fault. The Queen Charlotte is tectonically active, and reliably produces measurable earthquakes – which usually propagate laterally along the fault.
The April 11 “swarm” was located under the mountain, and the quakes appeared to migrate upward from deep in the crust to shallower depths. But like his peers at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, Greene says it’s too early for dire predictions.
“The good sign is that this might just be a hiccup,” said Greene. “It just started and there wasn’t much pressure below, or much dilation, to cause this thing to really start to break towards the surface in an explosive event, but it also could be a precursor to what may occur sometime in the future.”
Mount St. Helens, as seen during its eruption in May 1980. The stratovolcanoes of the Cascades were produced as the result of plate subduction. Located along a “leaky transform fault” (or plate boundary), a Mt. Edgecumbe eruption — if it occurs — would be far less dramatic, and more along the lines of the Hawaiian volcanoes, according to Greene. (USGS image) Most Sitkans by now are probably envisioning Mt. Edgecumbe blowing its top, and clouds of ash billowing into the sky like the famous eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Again, Greene says the structure of the Queen Charlotte Fault probably wouldn’t lead to anything that dramatic. He pictures something a bit more tame.
“This volcano is not like the volcanoes that sit down off of Seattle, for instance. And it’s not like a St. Helens volcano. So these types of volcanoes generally have a small amount of explosive activity at the beginning of an eruption. A lot of ash will come out. But generally after a while it dies down and they’re more similar to a Hawaiian type of volcano.”
One of the most active volcanoes in Hawaii isn’t on the big island itself, but just offshore. Greene says this could be a possibility for Mt. Edgecumbe, which isn’t a lone volcanic peak, but one crater of many in a large volcanic field along the “Southwest Rift” which links Kruzof Island – where Mt. Edgecumbe is located – to the Queen Charlotte Fault 12 kilometers away, under the sea floor. An eruption somewhere on the rift is as much a possibility as an eruption on Mt. Edgecumbe – no one knows for sure right now. Although he’s mainly a student of the fault, Greene is glad the USGS is taking an active interest in what’s happening at Mt. Edgecumbe. “If I were really studying the volcano in any detail,” he says, “I’d want to get some instruments out there.”
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Kari Sagel, with the Sitka School District, and Lisa Hodges, with the Center for Community’s Early Learning Program, discuss the Sheet’ká Family Challenge, a multi-agency project to provide free and fun activities for kids and families over the next couple of months. Register online!
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A COVID-19 vaccine sign, posted in the window of the building next to Harry Race Pharmacy, where regular vaccine clinics take place (KCAW/Rose) 75 new coronavirus cases were reported by the state last week in Sitka. Months ago, this jump in cases would put Sitka’s COVID-19 alert level at high, but CDC guidance now weighs hospitalizations more heavily than case counts. So Sitka remains at ‘medium’ because there have been no hospitalizations associated with the recent uptick.
Some of the new coronavirus cases over the last week are linked to outbreaks at two local healthcare facilities that serve some of Sitka’s most vulnerable– the state-run Pioneer Home, and the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s (SEARHC) long-term care unit. SEARHC’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Elliot Bruhl says those outbreaks haven’t resulted in any hospitalizations.
“And the staff of both of those facilities are doing a terrific job of caring for people,” Bruhl says. “Nobody has had to be hospitalized. And anyone who would qualify for one of the medications that we use now to treat COVID disease for high risk individuals — medicines like Paxlovid and Molnupiravir— our staff, our medical staff, is prescribing those medicines.”
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reports new COVID-19 cases on a weekly basis, and this is the biggest jump in cases in Sitka since early February. Getting a clear read on the number of positives in the community is even harder, since many are taking advantage of readily available home test kits.
But, according to new community guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control the number of new coronavirus cases doesn’t carry as much weight as it did earlier in the pandemic. Andeven with the recent uptick, Dr. Bruhl is optimistic about where Sitka stands with the virus, almost two years to the date since the community’s first COVID case was reported.
“I think we are in a good place,” Bruhl says. “There’s a lot of reasons why.”
Perhaps most notably, Bruhl says the current variant, BA.2 – although highly contagious – doesn’t seem to be very virulent.
“So people are not getting really sick with it,” he says. “We don’t have anybody in the hospital for COVID disease…and we haven’t for some time. So that’s good news.”
He says community awareness is around the virus and public health remains strong. People know what to do to protect themselves — wash their hands, stay home if they’re sick, and take a COVID test. The other tools, vaccinations and being up to date on boosters, remain crucial.
Another layer of protection – the mask – has been making headlines again, after a federal mandate for masking during air travel was lifted on April 18.
“You know, mask requirements have been dropped, but that doesn’t mean you can’t wear a mask,” Bruhl says. “I think if you’re concerned or you’re vulnerable, just like at any point in time in the last two years, you should wear a mask.”
So, what does this mean? Case counts are going up, but local hospitalizations are still at zero and have been for a while. So is that ‘return to normal’ that many are hoping for finally here? Will the coronavirus become endemic? What’s next? “We would all like to have closure and certainty, but we don’t, unfortunately,” says Bruhl.
He says it could be that COVID-19, like other viruses, may become a part of ‘the lay of the land’ in public health. But Bruhl says one thing is clear: At an individual level, the approach to the virus is still pretty straightforward.
“I think that’s what we can control. You know, we can control our own…health and behavior in terms of trying to stay safe,” Bruhl says. “I continue to urge people to get vaccinated. If they’ve been vaccinated and [are] eligible to get a booster, to get a booster…And that they need to stay home if they’re sick.”
Bruhl says PCR coronavirus tests are still available daily at Mountainside Clinic Monday through Saturday, and local vaccine clinics are still administering out initial doses and booster shots, free to the public.
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This sow with white-tipped ears was one of 14 bears destroyed in Sitka in 2021. The Bear Task Force is looking for ways to bring down the death toll, primarily by changing the way Sitkans manage garbage. (Photo Shk’awulyéil Ralph Brady) The Sitka Bear Task Force is reconvening to gather ideas for addressing Sitka’s bear issues proactively. Assembly liaison Crystal Duncan and ADF&G biologist Steve Bethune (who advises the task force) discuss the group’s mission and goals, strategies for living successfully with bears, and aspects of habitat biology which make garbage management a more effective solution than killing the animals. The first meeting is noon, Thursday, April 21, in Harrigan Centennial Hall. The public is welcome to attend.
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From the archive: Young Sitkans and their parents marched down Lincoln Street Friday, from Totem Square to the Sitka Sound Science Center, in commemoration of Earth Day. (KCAW 2019 photo/Enrique Pérez de la Rosa) The 21st annual Parade of Species will be in-person and open to all this year, after being scaled back for the last two years of the coronavirus pandemic. Emily Pound and Drew Roseman of the Sitka Conservation Society joined KCAW’s Katherine Rose to discuss the parade and other upcoming 4-H events, happening this Friday, April 22 at 3:30 p.m. Listen here:
The parade will begin at 3:30 at Totem Square, and will end on the Sitka Fine Arts Camp campus, where costume awards will be presented. Masks are required.
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Kaeden Skultka, Alexander Allison and members of the Blatchley Chess Club join KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming Spring tournament. This will be the first tournament since 2019 and is open to the public. Historically the tournament has been exclusively for school aged kids, but this year also includes an adult tournament for the first time. Listen here:
The Sitka Chess Spring Tournament will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 27 at the Sitka Public Library. The last day to register is tomorrow, April 20.
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At 11 a.m. on Tuesday April 19, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) will deliver his annual address to the legislature. Watch a livestream of his speech here:
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Of the short video Ukrainian President Zelensky showed to the US Congress, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said, “If that didn’t touch the heart and the core of every one of us, then we didn’t have our eyes open.” Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed a joint session of the United States Congress Wednesday morning (3-16-22) was a galvanizing moment for that institution, and possibly for the world.
Zelensky delivered his remarks from his embattled capital in Kyiv, where he has led the resistance to the Russian invasion which began on February 24.
KCAW spoke to US Senator Lisa Murkowski later Wednesday afternoon, to hear her thoughts on Zelensky’s address.
“It is pretty compelling to to listen to a man — to look at a man — and to know that all around him in his capitol, buildings are being are being bombed, people are dying on the streets and in their apartments,” Murkowski said. “And he is standing there before the free world asking for help and support, reminding us of the values that the people of Ukraine are fighting for. They’re fighting for the same values that Americans hold dear — and to remember that as we provide the aid and support for him. And so I have been moved to say, we must do everything that we can to help the people of Ukraine because their fight is the fight of the free world.”
Following Zelensky’s remarks, President Biden announced another $800 million in aid to Ukraine.
Sen. Murkowski said that anyone who wasn’t swayed by President Zelensky’s argument should watch the short video he played for the joint session of Congress. “If that didn’t touch the heart and the core of every one of us, then we didn’t have our eyes open,” she said.
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Sitka Tribe of Alaska and Central Council of Tlingit & Haida will be cohosting a Heritage and Cultural Tourism Conference at Harrigan Centennial Hall later this month. The conference will involve many Tribal nations from across Alaska, and the country, and lead attendees in sessions highlighting tourism and cultural inclusion, intellectual property rights, and how to work with the cruise industry. STA’s Camille Ferguson joins KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the upcoming conference and how to get involved. Listen here:
The Heritage and Cultural Tourism Conference will be a three day event from March 29-31 at Harrigan Centennial Hall, and is open to the public. For more information or to register for the event, visit the website .
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Herring Rock receives a blessing of water from the major rivers and streams that empty into Sitka Sound. (KCAW/Woolsey) Sitkans gathered on a wet and windy Tuesday afternoon (3-15-22) for the Herring Rock Blessing.
The traditional ceremony is a celebration of herring as they arrive in Sitka Sound to spawn, and an invocation of the renewal of life that comes each spring.
Yeix Anatsees Tom Gamble is the master of ceremonies at Herring Rock, which once stood near the tideline in Sitka Channel, but now rests in front of the Sheet’ká Ḵwáan Naa Kahídi tribal house.
Yeix Anatsees calls to the attending houses.
Yeix Anatsees belongs to Kiks.adi Clay House. An important aspect of the ceremony is acknowledging the duality of Tlingit culture, Raven and Eagle, Kiks.adi and Kaagwaantaan. Gamble invites two Kaagwaantaan to sit in honor, holding the Peace Hat, given by the Russian Empire in reconciliation to Sitka’s Tlingit, and the Frog Hat. The first is Harvey Kitka.
“Thank you,” Harvey Kitka said to the crowd. “ It is not me holding this hat, but my great grandfather Rudolph Walton, and my grandfather Charlie Daniels, Sr. Gunalchéesh!”
Kaagwaantaan Dr. Tom Thornton (l.) and Harvey Kitka are invited to hold the Kiks.adi Frog Hat, and the brass Peace Hat, which was given to the Kiks.adi by the Russian Empire. (KCAW/Woolsey) The second is Dr. Tom Thornton.
“It is not me holding this hat,” Thornton said, “it is my adopted relatives, the Kaagwaantaan, and we are proud to be an outer shell for our Raven Kiks.adi.”
Lakrisha Johnson (l.) and Katelyn Stiles present the Herring Robes, which will be part of a traveling exhibit about Sitka Herring. Robe co-designer, Carol Hughey, is to the rear. (KCAW/Woolsey) Tom Thornton is the Dean of Sciences at the University of Alaska Southeast.
The highlight of the ceremony is the presentation of herring regalia, worn by two of the Herring Protectors, Katelyn Stiles and Lakrisha Johnson, who lead the ceremony in song.
The robes are blue, like the ocean, and embroidered with silver herring. Another Protector, Louise Brady, explains that they are the centerpiece of a traveling exhibit which will educate the rest of the country about the importance of herring to the environment and people of Southeast Alaska.
A very wet mist has settled over Sitka by the time Yeix Anatsees concludes the blessing, by asking each of the houses present to pour water over Herring Rock. He’s collected the water in gallon jugs from all the major rivers and streams in the Sound. He then thanks everyone for braving the elements to attend the Herring Rock Blessing, and reminds us that the damp cold is a sign that winter is changing into spring, and the herring are returning soon.
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Second-round action between the MEHS Braves and the Sitka Wolves, during the Eastern Conference 3A Tournament in Sitka March 9-12, 2022. (KCAW/Woolsey) Daily Sitka Sentinel sports editor Garland Kennedy joins KCAW’s Robert Woolsey to discuss the highlights of the Eastern Conference 3A Basketball Tournament in Sitka. The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves won a second-seed berth at the state tournament (behind undefeated Houston), and the Sitka Lady Wolves will go to state the number-one seed from the region.
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Sarah Lawrie is the coordinator for the Sitka Americorps program. Lawrie and several alumni discuss the benefits of the program, which is open to people at any stage of life.
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Dmitry Rudas sits in the living room of his home in Sitka. Although he hasn’t lived in Ukraine for the last 20 years, he’s anguished as his family members remain under threat of Russian missile strikes, and as his former neighborhood is destroyed. (KCAW/Tash Kimmell) The first thing I see when approaching Dimitry Rudas’ house is a “Stand with Ukraine” sign displayed prominently in the window. When he greets me at the door, he’s wearing a zip up jacket adorned with Ukraine’s electric blue and yellow. Underneath, his black t-shirt displays the nation’s coat of arms. Although Rudas hasn’t lived in Ukraine for more than two decades, it’s easy to see how he feels about his home country. While Social media has enabled us to witness the atrocities of war with unmatched speed and accessibility, few of us know what it’s like to have family on the front lines, or to mourn the destruction of a childhood home. Rudas does.
“It’s your homeland. It’s where you were born. It’s something that you can never stop worrying about, no matter how far away you are, or how long of a time that’s passed. You still worry about it like it’s your child,” he explains.
Originally from Kharkiv, Rudas says Ukraine’s second largest city is one of the hardest hit by Russian forces. Hearing the news of Russia’s invasion was personally devastating.
“It was awful. I cried,” he said. “We thought that it would de-escalate. But on that evening, which was evening here, morning in Ukraine, that’s when the first cruise missiles were starting to hit all the cities in Ukraine. It was very difficult to to bear.”
For many Ukrainians February 24 will live in infamy. And as the conflict escalates, it’s unclear when normalcy will return or what it will look like when it does. Rudas says his remaining family in Kharkiv is simply trying to survive.
“Where my cousin’s live, my my uncle and his son and his wife, that building just got hit with a missile,” said Rudas. “Their window on the ground floor was completely shattered. The missile hit two floors above them right over top of their windows. two floors above. That’s how close they are to the consequences.”
A text exchange between Rudas and one of his family member shows the damage done to the apartment building where his family lives
(Photo courtesy of Rudas)
Rudas shows me a map of Ukraine on his iPad. The eastern areas are shaded in red, now controlled by Russia. Kharkiv has yet to fall, but Russia’s shadow looms. As Rudas explains it, for the Ukrainian people it’s more than just their independence at stake, it’s their identity.
“Their existence their peoplehood you know, their culture, their identity,” he said. “The Russian government through its spokespeople have continuously denigrated the Ukrainian identity. Right now with the intensity and the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, it’s literally a matter of survival. But on the other stage here, it’s also their identity as people. ”
Rudas last visited Ukraine four years ago. He shows me photographs from the trip.
Rudas in front of the City Coucil Building in Kharkiv’s Freedom Square during his last trip to Ukraine in 2018. The building has since sustained substantial damage following heavy shelling on March 1. (Photo courtesy of Dmitry Rudas) “This is where I showed you my grandparents’ home in the country. This barber shop is maybe a five minute walk from where that cruise missile hit,” he says, gesturing toward the photo album. “There were subsequent damage all down the street. This place doesn’t exist anymore. It just doesn’t exist,” he said, his voice trailing off.
“This place doesn’t exist anymore,” says Dmitry Rudas, gesturing toward a photo of a barbershop which has since been destroyed by Russian bombardment. (KCAW/Kimmell) Rudas took his sign and flag and stood on Sitka’s downtown roundabout shortly after the invasion began. While a few people spontaneously joined his demonstration, he says that many other Sitkans have offered less visible support.
“People have been calling me have been texting me have been just catching me in the street, expressing their support. Saying that they’re worried for me for my family. I’ve never seen, I’ve never experienced this level of support from local community, from my colleagues at work and from the global stage at large as as well, as I’m seeing right now,” said Rudas.
Rudas is leaning on that support, as every day brings fresh images of destruction in his home country. For Rudas and other Ukrainians witnessing the war from afar, the distance does little to ease his suffering. And he doesn’t see a silver lining. “It already is a catastrophe,” he says.
Tash Kimmell is a Report for America Corps member
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Sitka Monthly Grind and Greater Sitka Arts Council will be hosting its first live show since the beginning of the pandemic at Harrigan Centennial Hall this weekend. The show will feature original works of art in music, dance, writing, and visual art, with a hybrid of both live and pre-recorded performances. Vern Culp, J. Bradley and Jeanne Stolberg join KCAW’s Meredith Redick to discuss what listeners can expect if they attend the show. Listen Below:
The show will begin at 7 pm, on Sat. March 19. Tickets are $5, available at Old Harbor Books and at the door. Limited seating – Social distancing and masks are highly encouraged.
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Over two days (March 10, 11) seventy people testified on herring, most on one side or the other of the six most-contested herring proposals. This note put an end to debate, and the Board of Fish moved on without voting. (BOF image) Note: This story will be updated, as more information becomes available.
The Alaska Board of Fisheries on Saturday did not vote on three proposals from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska that could have curtailed the commercial herring harvest in Sitka. But neither did the board vote on three issues backed by the commercial fishing industry that could have limited the subsistence harvest of herring eggs.
The six proposals were withdrawn in a handwritten letter to the Board of Fish, signed by representatives of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and by the industry group, the Southeast Herring Conservation Alliance. The note read, “The undersigned hereby withdraw proposals 156-161.”
Afterward, tribal subsistence advocate Louise Brady met with media in Anchorage to share her frustration with the Board of Fish process.
“I don’t think that the board is an effective forum,” said Brady, “because we are not a user group. This has nothing to do with economics, it has to do with human rights. Right now, we don’t have access to a more appropriate venue. But we will. We will someday. And we’ll take everybody’s testimony out and everybody’s working. It will matter to someone. It matters to us. It matters to the herring, most importantly.”
The Tribe has had some success litigating the issue in Superior Court. Brady, and other subsistence advocates who testified before the Board, suggested that it was covered under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
The post After two days of testimony before the Board of Fish, Sitka Tribe and herring seiners step away from their contentious proposals appeared first on KCAW.
Tribal elder Harvey Kitka told the Alaska Board of Fisheries that it takes about three days of spawning to coat hemlock branches with a desirable amount of roe — “about 5/8 to 3/4 inches thick,” he said. Subsistence advocates say that the herring biomass — albeit large — doesn’t spawn reliably anymore in areas accessible to most local harvesters, and the window of opportunity often closes quickly. (KCAW photo / Enrique Pérez de la Rosa) Public testimony during Day 2 of the Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting drew attention to the fundamental problem with herring management in Sitka: How do you reconcile a science-based approach toward commercial fishing, with an unscientific – yet very well understood, and very old – subsistence tradition?
Note: The Alaska Board of Fisheries is expected to deliberate this weekend on over a dozen proposals for herring management in Sitka.
Sitka Sound is home to the largest herring biomass remaining in Southeast Alaska, and recently, the state has calculated that biomass this spring to be the largest on record.
Those records really don’t go back very far, however, only to the 1970s. And subsistence harvesters, who lay hemlock branches in shallow waters near Sitka each spring in the hope that they’ll be coated with a thick layer of eggs, say this large biomass of herring has been forced into less accessible areas under pressure from the commercial seine fleet.
Biologist Kyle Rosendale works for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. He explained to the board how you can have a high abundance of herring, but a poor subsistence harvest in Sitka Sound.
“We are talking a lot about biomass, because that’s our only actionable metric at this time in this fishery,” said Rosendale. “But I think there’s a lot more nuance with some of the spatial data that ADFG has been collecting over time that show we’ve sort of had this contraction in the duration of spawn, and sort of this westward migration in the spawn. It’s really hard for folks to make sure they have places where there are three consecutive days of spawn to harvest that good quality and quantity of eggs. And this is particularly true for folks in smaller skiffs. There’s a very, very small window that people can obtain a good quality harvest in some years, not all years, but in some years.”
A number of Sitka’s tribal citizens traveled to the Anchorage meeting to press the point, that despite the high abundance of herring, the subsistence fishery was failing. Pete Karras, Jr. drew an analogy for the board.
“Well, when I was being carried in my mother’s womb, I was eating herring eggs,” he testified. “So it’s been in our culture for many years. And it is our right, it is our way of life. And I think if the tables were turned, and you had your refrigerators, your freezers, your food cabinets locked, and you could not get into them unless I said that you could. That is what you are doing. And it is just unacceptable.”
Karras also thought that state management was pushing herring stocks dangerously close to collapse. The reason Sitka herring are so prized is because stocks elsewhere in the region have been depleted – some while being managed by the state.
“And if your eyes are closed, open them because it doesn’t take rocket science to figure this out,” Karras continued. “If you put this problem between 9- and 10-year old children, and you ask them the same questions that we’re asking each other today, they would say, ‘Stop fishing.'”
Imposing a moratorium on the commercial herring fishery is not a radical idea. The Alaska Native Sisterhood, in fact, passed a resolution urging the state to do exactly that. Daphyne Albee, ANS Grand President, reminded the board of her organization’s position.
“The Sitka Sound herring stock one of the last within the state of Alaska that provides a viable cultural food harvest of herring eggs for indigenous people that is shared throughout Alaska and lower 48 communities that we represent,” Albee said. “According to ADF&G, the amount of necessary egg harvest for the Indigenous peoples has not been met for nine out of the last 10 years.”
But a moratorium on commercial fishing would shut down a multi-million dollar harvest, and create an economic ripple effect beginning with the 47 active permit holders in the fishery, and extending to the tenders, processors, and to the communities which support them.
Julianne Curry is a second-generation herring seiner from Petersburg, who’s been active in commercial fishing advocacy her entire life. She cautioned the board against rash decisions.
“I’m a subsistence and a personal use harvester and my business is fully dependent on sustainable fisheries management,” Curry said. “I’m proud of my fishing heritage and my way of life. And I’m even more proud of Alaska’s reputation of having the best managed fisheries in the world. I’ve been an advocate in the regulatory process for sustainable commercial fisheries since 2006. And I’ve spent a lot of time working on hearing issues and past Board of Fish cycles. In that time, and as my time as a harvester, I’ve learned that one thing is true. Biomass always fluctuates. Ups and downs don’t signify a stock collapse, or a collapse of the resource. And we can’t manage fisheries based on a strictly on a ‘what if?’ scenario.”
The board may have found valuable insight from some of Sitka’s tribal elders, who carry a memory of herring far beyond the beginning of state management – and even beyond statehood. In territorial days, herring reduction plants were common throughout Southeast Alaska. Consequently, the state government inherited a herring population that had been driven into serious decline.
Harvey Kitka told the board that basing today’s high abundance on a baseline set in the 1970s created a false impression that Sitka herring were thriving.
“Oh, in the 70s, using that as a baseline — that was a far cry from what it was back when we first became a state,” Kitka said. “When we first became a state, we were still able to harvest eggs almost anywhere in Sitka Sound because the whole Sound turned white (with milt from spawning herring). And therewere a lot of places where we had our own private places to set branches. Now we’re competing for the tiny spot (aka the “core area”). And sometimes it’s really hard to get the quality eggs that we need. There’s so much that we we’ve been competing for eggs over the years.”
Kitka’s testimony resonated with at least one Board of Fish member John Wood, of Willow.
“Mr. Kitka hits something that was on my mind not only in relationship to the herring industry, but also to salmon throughout the regions,” Wood said, “and that is what I call shifting baselines. Because when I came on the board, I was under the impression that part of our responsibility was to restore stocks to their historical levels. And you hit on that today. You, sir, are a treasure, in that you go back to actual active harvesting, back to a time before statehood.”
Kitka stayed at the testimony table for 15 minutes, answering board member’s detailed questions about subsistence practices in Sitka, how many days branches are left in the water, how thick a coating of eggs was desirable.
When asked what he would recommend to solve the problem in Sitka, Kitka replied, “Fish conservatively.”
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Kake is now experiencing one of its biggest outbreaks of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, with 32 active cases reported as of today/Friday, March 11. The outbreak comes after multiple Kake high school basketball teams as well as their family and fans traveled to compete in the 1A regional tournament at the beginning of the month.
The Kake Thunderbirds traveled to Juneau for the small schools regional basketball tournament March 2-5 at Thunder Mountain high school, where community members are suspected of catching the virus . Thunder Mountain’s activities director, Luke Adams, told KCAW that masks were mandatory for spectators and non-playing team members, but optional for players on the court.
In a call with KCAW, Kake superintendent, Rich Catahay says the teams, as well as accompanying fans and family members followed masking protocol and were diligent about testing before and after the tournament. Catahay says the city made sure to report the positive cases to the Alaska School Activities Association.
The city is offering antigen tests to those who believe they’ve been exposed or are experiencing symptoms, as well as preventive measures for the elderly and immunocompromised.
The next booster and children’s vaccine clinic will take place April 1.
All Kake city schools are currently implementing remote learning and will continue to do so through next week.
KCAW also reached out to the Alaska School Activities Association for comment. Basketball director Isaiah Vreeman responded in an email that ASAA (ah-saw) was unaware of the outbreak, but since the state 1A tournament was more than 10 days away, “this might not be an issue.”
The state 1A/2A tournament will be held March 16-19 in Anchorage at the Alaska Airlines Center and the UAA Seawolf Sports complex.
This article was edited on Monday March 14 at 11:06
Tash Kimmell is a Report for America Corps Member
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The Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum annual meeting will be held on February 19. Former curator Rosemary Carlton, guest speaker Preston Singletary, and Laura Bennett joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to share a preview of their presentation. Listen to their conversation here:
For more information, visit their website here: www.friendsofsjm.com
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Dealing with illegally-parked or abandoned vehicles has been an ongoing problem for the state operations crew at the airport, who have no enforcement authority. For the public, the primary issue is the shortage of long-term parking (68 spaces). The DOT’s Sam Dapcevich anticipates that a private management system would “reevaluate and adjust long-term versus short-term parking on demand.” (ADOT image) Paid parking is coming to Sitka’s Rocky Gutierrez Airport, possibly as soon as April.
The Alaska Department of Transportation has issued a request for proposals for a parking management company to “remedy parking issues” at the airport.
DOT spokesperson Sam Dapcevich says parking in Sitka has been a headache for the state for some time.
“Well, our maintenance and operations crew, the amount of time that they’ve had to spend dealing with either illegally parked or abandoned vehicles over the years has increased,” Dapcevich explained. “They’re not really tasked with enforcement for parking. And so we’ve had discussions with the city about it. And we’ve come to a point where we needed to make a decision. That’s how we came out with this RFP (Request for Proposals) to seek a parking management company.”
The city is involved in the conversation because it owns the terminal building – but the parking lot, the runway, and ramp areas are all owned by the state.
Paid airport parking by no means is a new thing in Alaska’s largest cities, but a relatively new addition to smaller towns. Just last December, Petersburg implemented a paid parking system that could be a model for Sitka’s.
“A private company, locally owned in Petersburg came forward and leased land from the state, and they’re managing the parking there,” said Dapcevich. “It’s kind of interesting, theirs is managed primarily through a website and an app. So people pay and I believe they register with their license plate, and they’re able to leave their car there, and the company manages it that way.”
The parking fees in Petersburg are modest: the first hour is free, then it’s a dollar-per-hour for 2-6 hours of parking. One to six days is $7 per day, and it’s $35 per week. There’s no booth or parking attendant in Petersburg: users download an app and scan a QR code in their parking space, or pay at a website.
But there’s one big difference between the airports in Sitka and in Petersburg. Not everyone spending time at the airport in Sitka is getting on or off a plane. Dapcevich says the department has crowdsourced a plan to manage patrons of the Nugget restaurant.
“We announced this on social media,” said Dapcevich. “And some of the suggestions we saw were a grace period, which we kind of expect. There’s typically a grace period, so that people can take care of business without having to pay if it’s picking someone up or dropping someone off or whatever. So there could be a one hour grace period potentially. The other thing that we’ve seen suggested is — and I remember doing this at the Juneau airport years ago — to validate your parking if you went in and ate at the restaurant. So that may be an option, to have validated parking.”
Since technology has really lowered the barriers to developing paid parking in Sitka, the state thinks a vendor could be in place by April – in less than two months. In the meantime, Dapcevich says Sitkans can ease some of the problems at the airport right now, especially by not leaving unattended vehicles in the active loading zone in front of the terminal doors.
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The Glory was without power and taking on water in 55 mile-per-hour winds and 5-foot seas. An Air Station Sitka rescue swimmer assisted in hoisting both crew members from the distressed vessel. Watch the full video. (USCG image) Islet Passage (center of chart) is relatively protected, but Monday’s storm generated heavy seas and high winds in the area. (KCAW image) Two crew members were safely rescued from a sinking fishing boat south of Sitka on Monday evening (2-7-22).
According to a news release, the Coast Guard was notified at 8 p.m. that the 40-foot troller Glory was in distress in Islet Passage, about 17 miles south of Sitka, near Kanga Bay.
A rescue helicopter from Air Station Sitka arrived on scene soon after the report, and lowered a rescue swimmer to aid the two mariners on board the Glory, however the flooding could not be stemmed, and its engine would not start.
Although protected waters, weather conditions in the area were poor, with 5-foot seas, and wind gusts to 55 miles per hour.
The swimmer advised the crew to abandon ship, and both were safely hoisted aboard the helicopter by 9 p.m.
Lt. Cmdr. Scott Woodcock, the helicopter pilot, complimented the crew of the Glory on their preparedness, with “good communication and survival gear.” He noted that the most difficult part of the rescue was the severe winds.
The Glory did not fully submerge in the incident, but instead was grounded. Petty Officer Janessa Warschkow says the owner has since returned with a second vessel to de-fuel the Glory and refloat it Tuesday. The engines were restarted, and the Coast Guard is going to allow him to attempt to bring the vessel back to Sitka under its own power.
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While pediatric deaths from COVID-19 are a small fraction of overall deaths (left), the proportion of pediatric cases has been growing during the omicron wave (right). (CDC image) Alaska this month became the 47th state to report its first pediatric deaths from the coronavirus pandemic.
The fatalities both occurred in mid-2021, during the delta surge. State health officials nevertheless remain optimistic that the current omicron wave has plateaued, and that the high infection rates among residents of all ages will soon be coming down.
Dr. Anne Zink is the chief medical officer for the state.
“Sadly, we did have our two first pediatric deaths that we are sharing here in the state,” she said. “These did happen a bit ago, and it took a while for the death certificate review process to come through. Both infants were less than 12 months old in the South Central region.”
The only other detail the Department of Health and Social Services would provide about the infants is that both were Alaska residents.
During a weekly statewide press conference on February 3, department officials said that pediatric deaths are particularly tragic, and run counter to the widespread idea held by the public that COVID-19 presents no risk to children.
The two infants died during the delta surge last year, which generally caused more severe illness and strained the capacity of the state’s hospitals. During the current omicron surge, severe illness and deaths are down, and hospitals are functioning well – but far more people are contracting the omicron variant, including children.
And while most children are at low risk of severe COVID disease, Zink said the rising numbers are of concern.
“A lot of people are mixing, kids need to be back in school and doing lots of things,” said Zink. “But what we have seen with the number of childhood cases in the past has just been a real increase with this more recent surge. And that’s been very different than early on in the pandemic. And you can see this across the regions in the country. And here (in Alaska), when we look at the number of adult cases compared to child cases, again, those child cases clearly are going up as well.”
The number of cases nationally is now coming down – and in Alaska we may be seeing a plateau within the next week. The BA.2 variant of omicron has been detected in the state, but it doesn’t appear any more virulent than the original omicron (BA.1), and vaccines and medications remain quite effective.
Zink said that Alaska has a roadmap – if not back to “normal” – it’s to a better place than we were two years ago.
“COVID is going to be here with us for a very long time, if not forever, and it will be probably continue to change,” said Zink. “And we’ll have surges and we’ll have variants, and we’ll learn new things. Science isn’t fixed, it’s a process. And we’ll continue to learn and respond as we have challenges moving forward. But our tools and our resources in 2022 are definitely different than our tools and resources in 2020. So when we started, when we were helping to support that flight from Wuhan, we didn’t know how this virus spread, we didn’t have PPE (personal protective equipment), we didn’t have a test for it. We didn’t have vaccines, we didn’t have treatments. And we are at really different place now in 2022: Most of the Alaska population has either been vaccinated or has previously had COVID-19. And while both of those things can wane over time, they still provide protection. We have treatments like we never had before, we have more masking and tools. And we are finding ways to be together, have our kids in school, gather and do the things that are important to us moving forward.”
The state Section of Epidemiology expects omicron to taper off in Alaska in the near future, just as it has elsewhere in the country, and with the decline in cases will come a relaxation of some of the layers of mitigation that have been in place since last fall – but only some. Individual responsibility will continue to play a large role in controlling the pandemic.
Dr. Zink said an immunocompromised person going through chemo, and a fully-vaccinated seven-year old who’s already low risk, will protect themselves differently post-omicron. “There are as many different solutions as there are people in the state,” she said.
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When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (2-8-22), it will consider adopting the city’s plan to absorb this summer’s anticipated tourism boom.
An estimated 480,000 cruise passengers are set to travel to Sitka, following the expansion of the privately owned Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal. Anticipating a strain on city resources, the Assembly directed the Planning Commission to develop a short-term plan for receiving the influx of travelers.
At its last regular meeting, the Assembly approved the budget for that plan, and tonight it will consider that budget on second reading along with the planning document itself. But there’s still the question of whether to fully close Lincoln Street or make it one-way. The plan recommends a full closure, and if the Assembly approves the plan as-is, it would likely approve a separate budget for a Lincoln Street closure at a future meeting.
In other business, the Assembly will take another look at the city’s rules for All Terrain Vehicles on public roads. Last month, a law change made ATVs legal on many public roads throughout the state. But not in Sitka – the Assembly elected to opt out shortly before the New Year. But now it’s going to consider local rules that would allow ATV use on roads in Sitka with some restrictions. Assembly Members Thor Christianson and Dave Miller drafted the new “All Purpose Vehicle” code, and with some amendments, the city Police and Fire Commission gave the ordinance a unanimous thumbs up when it met last month.
Read the ordinance here
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
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The Sitka Seed Library is about community knowledge-sharing. Most of the seeds are donated by expert gardeners, and their understanding of what works best will be collected in a binder: “We’re disseminating everything you know about seeds,” says O’Connell. (KCAW/Robert Woolsey) Margot O’Connell is a librarian who’s branching out from books to seeds. Following a national trend, O’Connell is starting a seed library at the Sitka Public Library, to be called the “Sitka Seed Library.” O’Connell says the project is still mostly in the “gathering” stage, but should be open to the public as of today (2-8-22), with a limited supply of seeds. Registration is open to anyone, no library card is needed.
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The cost of educating Sitka’s students has slowly climbed over the last six years, while state funding has remained unchanged. “When we look at state funding that has kept us at a flat Base Student Allocation since 2017, cost increases, inflation, and all the other factors that come into place, we are finding it more and more difficult to be competitive with hiring and retaining our teachers and our paraprofessionals and our administrators,” Superintendent Frank Hauser told the Sitka Assembly. (SSD image) The Sitka School District will have to wrestle down a $2 million dollar deficit next year, and it’s looking for the city’s help.
Starting the annual budget process in the hole is not unusual for the district – in fact, it’s usually the case – but it always prompts hard conversations about how to make ends meet.
The Sitka School Board and the Sitka Assembly met in special session on Thursday (2-3-22) to take a look at school finances, which are the single largest expense of city government.
Superintendent Frank Hauser outlined the problem.
Hauser – There are a couple items to keep in mind when considering the projected deficit. We’re expecting enrollment to remain steady. Salaries and benefits uncertainties exist due to ongoing collective bargaining with two employee bargaining groups. We are expecting science curriculum expenses this year in light of the adoption of the new science standards. And again, of course, it is still very early in the budgeting process. Cuts will need to occur in conjunction with the use of the fund balance. It’s important to note that the fund balance alone cannot sustain a $2 million deficit between projected revenues and projected expenses.
The “fund balance” is the district’s savings account, which currently stands at over $3 million, but the board usually prefers to draw it down only as a last resort.
Assembly member Thor Christianson asked Hauser the $2 million-dollar question.
Christianson – Any thoughts on how you’re going to make it up? I mean, I know it’s early on — how you’re going to make up that $2 million?
Hauser – I’ve already had some conversations with my principals to go through and look at ways of trying to identify cost savings. We are looking at determining if there’s going to be any retirements or resignations, and trying to manage some of the reduction through managed attrition. And looking at ways to just kind of streamline. We do have some extra monies available still from the CARES Act and the COVID money that came through, and there is a possibility utilizing some of that to help offset some costs.
Enrollment in the district has continued a slow decline, but the anticipated drop next year is not enough to explain the deficit. In fact, the 40 intensive needs students served by the district help support district finances, by bringing in roughly 13-times more funding per pupil than other students.
Assembly member Rebecca Himschoot – a long time teacher in the district – asked Hauser about the impact of intensive needs students on the budget.
Himschoot – Because those students often have a human being attached to them, right? It’s a huge personnel cost.
Hauser – Yes, it is, it is a huge personnel cost. It could depend specifically on the students and the needs for that student. You know, it’s about $80,000, when you look at the each intensive needs student.
Sitka administrator John Leach said it was likely to be this assembly’s approach to start by funding the district with the maximum allowable contribution – often called “the cap.” It would be just under $8 million dollars next year, or 39-percent of the district’s overall budget.
Not all assemblies in the recent past have had the same approach. Hauser was grateful, and now looked to the state government to revisit its obligations to education, under the BSA – or Base Student Allocation.
Hauser – I think the fact that we’re starting with being funded to the cap is just great. That’s just a fantastic position to be in and just the support that we’ve seen so far has just been a real positive feeling. But when we look at state funding that has kept us at a flat BSA since 2017, cost increases, inflation, and all the other factors that come into place, we are finding it more and more difficult to be competitive with hiring and retaining our teachers and our paraprofessionals and our administrators. And so it’s something that we need to take into consideration and when the city funds us to the cap, but yet the state has us at a flat BSA for the last five years, that we have to figure out a way to still be able to make and find those resources to be able to continue to meet our obligations and provide those services for students.
The next community budget hearing before the Sitka School Board will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 16, in Harrigan Centennial Hall. The budget must be finalized and submitted to the assembly by the end of April.
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Technicians in the Sitka Electric Department first became suspicious when they noticed that the locking seal on Forst’s meter at his Islander Drive home had been replaced with one not supplied by the department. When they pulled the meter and cut the power, equipment inside Forst’s garage continued running. (KCAW/Woolsey) A Sitka resident and charter operator has pleaded guilty to felony theft of electricity, and he’ll have to pay $150,000 in restitution and fines immediately, or face additional civil enforcement from the city.
59-year old Richard A. Forst pleaded guilty in Sitka Superior Court on January 31, 2022, to one count of criminal mischief in the 4th degree, a misdemeanor, and to one count of theft in the 2nd degree, a felony, for the theft of electric power at his home on Islander Drive, and at his dock property on Halibut Point Road – for at least the last seven years.
Forst was arrested and charged in 2019 after technicians with the Sitka Electric Department noticed that the locking seal had been removed from Forst’s electric meter, and replaced with another not supplied by the utility. A large motor was audible in Forst’s garage. The department subsequently pulled the meter and found that two bypass wires had been installed to divert power into the garage, without first going through the meter. The main circuit breaker was opened, and the motor inside the garage nevertheless continued running.
Technicians later observed that the meter at Forst’s commercial property at Guckers Island Dock on Halibut Point Road had been bypassed in a similar manner. Police were informed of the situation; they obtained a search warrant to investigate inside the buildings at the two properties and found that the bypassed circuits were feeding refrigeration equipment. Based on the age of the equipment and further investigation into Forst’s electrical consumption, the department estimated the value of electricity diverted over a period of years to be around $200,000.
Municipal attorney Brian Hanson appeared at Forst’s change of plea hearing to deliver a scathing victim impact statement, on behalf of all rate payers in the community.
“Sitka is not a cement building at the end of Lincoln Street,” Hanson told the court. “It is not a full of faceless bureaucrats. The City and Borough of Sitka is approximately 8,500 citizens: Men, women, and children who live, work, go to school, and recreate in this community. They also are electric ratepayers in this community. Some are in poverty, many are low income, and the citizens plead to our assembly to keep the rates of electricity as low as possible. Mr. Forst you stole from those citizens and you stole from them for years.”
Under the plea agreement, Forst must pay $144,925 in restitution to the City of Sitka, and fines of $5,200. In an email to city assembly members, Attorney Hanson wrote that “If Mr. Forst fails to immediately pay the judgement, I will initiate civil enforcement.”
Forst will also be on probation for two years, and subject to the the terms of the Court’s “Order to Probation on Suspended Entry of Judgement.” If he’s found to have successfully completed the terms of his probation by 2024, the charges will be dismissed. Otherwise, the judgement will stand and the felony conviction will be entered into Forst’s record.
Neither was Superior Court Judge Jude Pate conciliatory. He told Forst that, had he not accepted the plea agreement, he could have faced 1-3 years in prison for the original charge of theft in the first degree, and paid up to $100,000 in fines. The original charge of criminal mischief in the third degree carried potential jail time of up to two years, and a $50,000 fine.
Judge Pate agreed with the state prosecutor Amy Fenske that when a citizen of nominal good standing, a prosperous business owner, abuses the system so flagrantly, something more damaging than mere theft occurs.
“The bigger and possibly the more long term harm is, as Counsel Fenske pointed out, tearing at the social fabric,” said Pate. “And that’s just the lack of trust that these actions have brought about, at a time where our society is already at odds on so many things. And you pour in this this doubt, this mistrust by stealing. It causes citizens not to trust the government. It causes citizens not to trust each other. It erodes our very community on both a financial and sociological, psychological level.”
Judge Pate offered Forst the opportunity to address the matter in open court, but he declined.
“Mr. Forst, is there anything you’d like to tell me before I decide what to do?” Pate asked. “You’re not required to speak. But if you’d like to speak now be the time.”
“No, judge,” Forst replied.
Judge Pate went on to observe that if the COVID pandemic had not intervened, this case likely would have gone to trial. As a result, public reaction to date has been “somewhat muted.”
In his remarks, Forst’s attorney, Juneau-based August Petropulos, suggested that the entire question of Forst’s guilt would be moot if two as-yet-unread motions received favorable ruling from the court: the first to dismiss the original indictment, and the second to suppress the evidence in the case. Nevertheless, Petropulos said he wasn’t there to litigate, and urged the court to accept the plea deal.
“We’re taking this deal,” Petropulos said. “I think it’s a fair compromise, given the two motions that were filed. The fact that Mr. Forst has no prior convictions, and that this guarantees the city gets the $144,924. I’d ask the court accept it.”
In addition to the restitution and fines, Forst will serve two years of probation. He also agreed to perform 80 hours of community work service.
Note: This story was updated on February 5, 2022, to reflect that the Sitka Superior Court issued an “Order to Probation on Suspended Entry of Judgement,” which means that Forst’s felony conviction will not be entered unless he fails to successfully complete his two years’ probation.
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SE Alaska trollers believe they have borne the brunt of reductions negotiated in the 2019 Pacific Salmon Treaty. The increased harvest forecast for ’22 is welcome news. Writes Alaska Trollers president Matt Donohoe: “Since most trollers live in rural Southeast Alaska, the 40,000 increase in Chinook harvest will help SEAK’s Covid-beleaguered rural economies.” (KCAW photo/Rachel Waldholz) The state is expecting a better year for king salmon in Southeast Alaska, which in all likelihood means a better year for all harvesters, the commercial troll fleet in particular.
Overall, about 60,000 more chinook will be available to catch in Southeast Alaska in 2022 (261,300) than last year (201,100) – welcome news, especially for commercial trollers, who will take the lion’s share of the fish (44,700).
The catch limit is set by rules negotiated under the Pacific Salmon Treaty, an agreement between the US and Canada that governs the harvest of kings, who originate in the big river systems from Oregon up the Canadian coast to Alaska, but commingle in the Gulf of Alaska.
Grant Hagerman, troll fish management biologist in Sitka, says there’s no single explanation for the increase in abundance.
“Definitely in winter, and in summer, we have a mixed stock,” Hagerman said. “We’ve got Alaska stocks, Canada stocks and southern US stocks. And so it’s more a picture of Coastwide abundance. And so from this year, it looks like – I’m not pinning down any particular stock – but just in general, that the abundance would be up for 2022.”
The formula for determining abundance is based on the success of commercial trollers during the first half of the winter fishery, beginning in mid-October. How many boats get out, and how many chinook they land allow biologists to calculate the rate of harvest, called the CPUE, or Catch Per Unit Effort. Hagerman says this has proven to be a reliable indicator of abundance later in the summer.
“What we have seen for December and January out here in Sitka is when the weather cooperated and they were able to get out that those catch rates have continued to be good, and much better than what we’ve seen going all the way back to 2001 for those two months,” said Hagerman. “So that’s it is promising that what we were seeing in October-November is a very accurate picture of what we’re going to see for abundances next year.”
The ATA responds to the 2022 Chinook forecast:
“Trollers are grateful for the larger quota and subsequent increased Chinook harvest opportunities this year. The SEAK small boat hook and line troll fishery has taken considerable economic hits from Stocks of Concern Management and from the one-sided 2019 Pacific Salmon Agreement in which SEAK gave up another 13.2% of our historic Chinook harvest (not to be confused with Allocation) (Economic Impact of the Pacific Salmon Treaty on the Alaska Troll Fleet, Dec,2019 McDowell). Since most trollers live in rural SEAK, the 40,000 increase in Chinook harvest will help SEAK’s Covid-beleaguered rural economies.”
Matt Donohoe, President Alaska Trollers Association
The Southeast troll fleet’s share of this year’s increased harvest allocation is nearly 45,000 kings (44,700), and pushes their total allocation up to over 190,000 fish. Summer trolling opens on July 1, and managers aim to harvest 70-percent of the allocation then, and the rest in August. The openers are often very short, just a few days. Although it’s too early to be specific, Hagerman believes the additional 45,000 fish will mean longer openers.
“That could translate into — depending on whether some of it was caught in July and some was caught in August — about 2, 3, or 4 more potential fishing days.” Hagerman said. “But again it’s really all kind of dependent on on how those catch rates are.”
Economically, it’s also hard to know the exact impact on the industry’s revenue. Kings sell for about $10/pound in winter, and somewhat less in summer, although the fish tend to be larger. Hagerman says the additional 45,000 kings are going to make a dent.
“That’s a fairly big financial increase, I think’ from 2021,” he said.
Other groups will share in the increase, but none quite as much as trollers. Seiners and gillnetters combined take about 8-percent of the all-gear catch limit, commercial set netters take an even smaller share, and then trollers and sport fishermen divide the rest 80/20.
The total value of the commercial chinook fishery in Southeast runs to the millions – $13.2 million in 2020, $11 million in 2019, and $14.6 million in 2018.
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32 new coronavirus cases were reported Sitka between Wednesday and Thursday (1-3-22) according to data from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. The city’s seven day case rate now stands at 120, down from 137 last week.
Statewide, every municipality is in high COVID alert. Alaska reported 1566 new cases yesterday/Thursday (2-3-22), and 160 current hospitalizations.
Since the onset of the pandemic Sitka has reported a total of 2060 positive case, 29 hospitalizations and 6 deaths.
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