Robert Woolsey, KCAW, Author at KCAW

A major fisheries advocate, Sitkan Tad Fujioka found dead in apparent bear mauling

Searchers from Sitka on Wednesday (10-30-24) recovered the body of a hunter who died in a brown bear attack. 50-year old Tad Fujioka was a commercial fisherman, and the chairman of the board of the Seafood Producers Cooperative, one of Sitka’s three large seafood processors. He was also an experienced and capable outdoorsperson.

Sitka School Board appoints (again) Paul Rioux to 1-year term

The Sitka School Board dispensed with the usual interview, and unanimously appointed Paul Rioux to fill a one-year term. Rioux was previously appointed to serve for one-month in September.

Makhnati Island herring subsistence closure up for federal review

Makhnati Island was formerly a World War II defense battery, and now is a federally-protected area for subsistence herring. The Federal Subsistence Board will decide in a few months whether it remains that way.

It’s more than a feeling: Capacity of Sitka’s childcare centers at rock-bottom

Sitka is far behind state and national averages for the availability of childcare, and it’s creating a crisis of unintended consequences in business, education, and the overall well-being of the community. The first in a series of panel discussions sponsored by the Sitka Chamber of Commerce (10-9-24) lent some hard data to Sitka’s childcare crisis, and began to explore solutions.

Indigenous Peoples Day panel reflects on Haa Ḵusteeyí

Sitka’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebration was a feast for the senses, and a rich lesson in what it means to be a contemporary Lingít person. The event spanned over four hours Monday evening (10-14-24).

New Sitka School Board tackles its first policy call, agrees to launch a tuition-based preschool

The Sitka School Board has agreed to a plan that would create a district preschool for up to twenty students – but it won’t be free. District administrators advocated for the plan as a way to both ease Sitka’s childcare shortage, and to better prepare students for kindergarten. However, at least one board member was concerned that the $1,000-per month tuition was not serving the district’s mission of equity.

Incumbents hold off challengers in Sitka’s mayor, assembly races

Sitka voters returned an incumbent mayor, and two incumbent assembly members during the municipal election on October 1, 2024. Voters also elected a new school board member.

SE Alaska’s ‘Submerged Past’ offers clues to human migration in North America

Research in Southeast Alaska could expand the changing story of how the first humans arrived and traveled in the American continents. A Canadian archeologist is looking for evidence of human activity along the coast, in areas long since inundated by the rise in sea level following the last ice age.

Why Sitka lost almost everything else when it lost the internet

The recent 16-day internet outage in Sitka revealed a lot about the humanity of its residents, most of whom stepped up in one way or another during the event. But it also revealed a startling dependence on a cable made of glass fibers, together no thicker than a garden hose, which runs for hundreds of miles along the seafloor.

Sitka’s Land Trust claims an affordability win in first cottage resale

Sitka’s Community Land Trust has passed its first – and possibly most important – test. A cottage home built and sold two years ago by the trust has just been resold at a price far below the market rate for housing in Sitka. Yet the original homeowner still walked away with both her equity and considerable cash.