Author: Robert Woolsey

Local officials in Sitka will ask the state to take over the campus of the former Sheldon Jackson College as a vocational educational center. At last night’s (Tuesday 12-9-08) assembly meeting, a group calling itself the SJC Campus Redevelopment Task Force said that the idle campus in downtown Sitka could help train the next generation of workers to build the gas line.

Using military-style ammunition to hunt big game will no longer be legal in Alaska, following action expected this spring by the state board of game. At its meeting last November, the board amended a proposal to ban .223 full metal jacket bullets in Southeast Alaska to include the entire state. Extending the prohibition to include all calibers of full metal jacket bullets remains on the table for the board’s spring meeting.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has announced it’s preliminary Guideline Harvest levels for the 2009 Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring fishery. The 15,308 ton quota is about 800 tons more than last year. Sitka Tribe of Alaska says it will affect the subsistence harvest.

With temperatures still in the low-to-mid forties in Sitka, it’s easy to forget that once in a while winter comes much earlier. On December 5th, one year ago today, Sitkan Bill Foster took advantage of clear skies, sunshine, and 23-degree weather to go ice skating on five different lakes around town. KCAW’s Robert Woolsey spoke with Foster about his five-lake skate:

A painting dating back to 1879 has caused a stir at the Sitka Historical Society and Museum. The painting of the USS Jamestown with Sitka in the background may potentially be one of the first oil paintings of Sitka from the post-transfer era.

On the upper end of the technological spectrum, Sitka High School lacks WiFi internet access. On the lower end of that same spectrum, the bathroom soap dispensers often run short. The Sitka High student council and Sitka school board convened in a joint meeting Tuesday (12-2-08) to discuss the pressing issues of the year. The conversation was far reaching and surprisingly candid on topics ranging from perceived racism toward peers at neighboring Mt. Edgecumbe High School, to statewide drug policy.

While the proposed cut in the Southeast commercial halibut catch next season is distressing news for longliners, many subsistence fishermen will also be fishing under tighter restrictions. Late last month (10-24-08), NOAA Fisheries implemented new rules to reduce the amount of subsistence halibut gear in the water by half in some parts of Southeast Alaska.

The Sitka high chapter of Amnesty International spent last evening taping up 240 red cut out paper figures in the high school commons. The display represents the number of youth worldwide between the ages of 15 and 24 who are infected with HIV every hour. Today is the 20th Anniversary of World Aids Day.

The Hames Wellness Center will continue to exist, at least for another year. The Sitka City and Borough Assembly approved the motion for a lease extension at last night’s [11/25/08] meeting. Supporters of the Hames Center filled Harrigan Centennial Hall to provide public testimony.

The International Pacific Halibut Commission has announced another significant reduction in the halibut harvest next year. The cutback will be a heavy blow especially for commercial longliners in Southeast who’ve seen their quotas cut steadily over the last five years. Lower halibut abundance in Southeast waters could also set the stage for another legal battle for charter halibut fishermen opposed to a reduction in the daily bag limit for their clients.