Author: Robert Woolsey, read by Holly Keen

The Sitka assembly Tuesday night (12-18-07) appointed Heidi Raffaele to serve out the remainder of John Holst's term. Raffaele, a former teacher in the Sitka School District, was the second runner-up in last October's municipal election.

Fred Reeder, of the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska (in Sitka), says the threat to the SE cruise industry from a re-interpretation of the Jones Act could be avoided by defining a "foreign port call" as 8-10 hours, rather than the 48 proposed by US Customs and Border Protection. Interview with KCAWs Robert Woolsey.

Heavy snows have hit Northern Southeast Alaska, fulfilling a weather forecast that earlier this month prompted the state Department of Fish and Game to close down the winter doe hunt throughout much of the region. And the subsistence hunt may follow.

With over $3.3 million in major awards for several community organizations and projects, December has been a good month for grant writers in Sitka.

The state Department of Fish and Game’s preliminary guideline harvest level for the 2008 Sitka Sound Sac Roe herring fishery is the highest ever. Still, fishery managers say they’re being conservative. Meanwhile, the Sitka Tribe of Alaska is calling the commercial quota “shocking”, and predicts it will jeopardize the subsistence herring egg harvest.

Research published this week (12-13-07) in the journal Science indicates that a well-known parasite may threaten wild Pacific salmon stocks to a much greater extent than previously thought. Sea lice reared in British Columbia’s salmon farms are spreading to -- and killing – wild runs of juvenile salmon. News of the Science study is being met in Alaska’s fishing community with renewed concern over salmon farming. In Sitka, the assembly wasted no time in passing a resolution supporting the protection of wild salmon. Robert Woolsey (with help from Steve Heimel, Anchorage, and Joel Southern, Washington DC).

The purchase of the 200-acre University benchlands will go ahead as planned. The Sitka assembly (on 12-11-07) voted down a proposal from the mayor to cancel the $3-million dollar purchase, in the hope that development costs can be kept to a reasonable minimum, and that Sitkans could have access to some of the last, prime residential real estate in town.

Assemblyman John Holst cited his growing consulting business as the reason for his sudden resignation from Sitka's governing body. But, friction with the mayor -- in plain view Tuesday night (12-11-07) during debate over the benchlands purchase -- may also have been a factor in the timing of his decision.

An ornament handcrafted by Sitka artist Tommy Joseph is adorning this year’s White House Christmas Tree. The Northwest Coast-themed ball is sharing space with over 300 other holiday ornaments representing the country’s national parks.

A top official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be in Sitka on Friday to meet with community leaders.