Author: Robert Woolsey

For much of the state, Alaska Day is just a day. But in Sitka, it takes an entire week to celebrate the formal transfer of Russia’s Alaskan colony to the United States, with food booths, band concerts, a formal ball, a best beard contest, and foot and bike races. The highlight of the festival is the Alaska Day Parade on October 18th and a re-enactment of the 1867 transfer ceremony on Castle Hill. KCAW’s Robert Woolsey sends this audio postcard from the day’s events, which this year celebrated the founding of Alaska’s first newspaper in Sitka 140 years ago. (To watch a slideshow, select "more" then select "Watch slideshow.)

Sitka's Police Chief says it's clear that more people are using bikes for transportation around town, but his department has yet to develop a strategy for enforcement. Chief Schmidt says officers will continue to focus on education for young riders, while adult cyclists may see the occasional ticket.

The Hames Wellness Center will remain open under city management for another year, if the terms can be agreed upon. The Sitka assembly last night (10-14-08) directed the municipal administration to negotiate a new lease for the former Sheldon Jackson PE facility. In the meantime, the city legal and finance departments will prepare ballot language for next October’s election that will ask local voters to consider buying the center outright.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will soon have a revised edition of its technical bulletin, “Game Transplants in Alaska.” The first edition was printed in 1973, and since that time there have been some interesting challenges and changes to the way the state handles transplanting game in Alaska’s wild.

A bear cub found dead in Sitka’s Starrigavan Valley last week appears to have been killed by another bear. The cub is believed to have been one of a pair of twins who spent the summer feeding with a sow in the estuary adjacent to the campground.

Sitka voters have given seats to a new mayor, Scott McAdams, and one new assembly member, Phyllis Hackett. The race for a second assembly seat has a three-vote margin, and will be settled by absentee counting next week. Mollie Kabler and Tim Fulton won terms on the school board.

Much of the debate in congress last week leading up to the passage of the Economic Stabilization Act used words like “crisis,” “panic,” “greed,” and “bailout,” to describe what the nation was facing. Also prominent was the feeling that this crisis would ripple out from Wall Street to Main Street. James Wileman is the CEO of the ALPS Federal Credit Union, just off main street in Sitka. He spoke recently with KCAW’s Robert Woolsey about how his customers are responding to the dire rhetoric from Washington.

Despite the passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act last Friday (10-3-08), national and world financial markets have continued to wobble. In the congressional debate leading up to the passage of the $700-billion dollar bailout, voices on both sides of the issue warned that “main street” and taxpayers would bear the brunt of inaction. Now that the US Treasury is due to buy up quantities mortgage-based assets, “main street” is looking for some reassurance that things will improve. Steve Dalquist is a financial advisor in Sitka. He spoke with KCAW’s Robert Woolsey about how ordinary people should view the evolving situation in the financial market.

Public radio in Alaska lost a dear friend and colleague over the weekend. Steve Will, lately the program director of KCAW in Sitka, died Sunday from injuries he sustained in a bike accident about six weeks ago. Robert Woolsey has this look at his career in broadcasting.

Sitkans turned out at various venues for the only Vice Presidential debate that will take place before the November 4th election, between Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden. Within minutes pundits posted critiques of the debate on the internet and two polls by CNN and CBS News judged Biden the winner, although the CNN Poll found a large majority of people thought Palin did better than was expected. At a Republican Rally in Sitka, almost all in attendance seemed pleased with the Alaska Governor, while down the street at the Westmark, a standing room only crowd was a little less enthusiastic.