FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Begich, Dunleavy Battle in Final Debate

By BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press
    JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Sparks flew in the final debate of the Alaska governor’s race, with the two major candidates jockeying to draw distinctions between themselves as the election nears.
    Democrat Mark Begich dismissed as a gimmick a major piece of Republican Mike Dunleavy’s platform: a plan to pay residents a full dividend check from the state’s oil-wealth fund, the Alaska Permanent Fund.
    Dunleavy, meanwhile, sought to cast Begich as disengaged from the budget debates that have roiled the state in recent years.
    The at-times testy TV debate gave Begich and Dunleavy a high-profile opportunity to lay out their case to voters in the run-up to Tuesday’s election. The two are seeking to succeed independent Gov. Bill Walker, who ended his campaign last month.
    Though Walker remains on the ballot, he has dismissed any thought of winning. He has said he thought Begich would be better for Alaska than Dunleavy.
    Begich called Dunleavy’s plans to pay residents a full dividend check a ploy for votes that could threaten the long-term future of the program.
    “What I hear here is a gimmick and a slogan and basically, ‘Let me take your vote today and give you a big prize.’ But down the road, who’s going to pay this? All of us,” Begich said.
    Qualified residents receive an annual check from the Alaska Permanent Fund. But the check has been capped since 2016 amid a budget deficit.
    Dunleavy said the state can afford to pay a full dividend. He said he also supports paying Alaskans the money they missed out on when checks were capped.
    He acknowledged that would cost billions of dollars but said there is money in the fund’s earnings reserve account. As of Sept. 30, the amount in the earnings reserve was $17 billion, according to the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.
    The future of the checks is a major issue in the race, along with crime and the economy.
    When lawmakers left Juneau earlier this year, they anticipated a shortfall of about $690 million that would be covered using savings. That assumed an average oil price of $63 a barrel. So far this fiscal year, prices have been above that, reaching above $80 a barrel at some points.
    But the budget is propped up with permanent fund earnings, which legislators began dipping into this year to help cover government costs. Dividends also are paid with fund earnings, setting up a political fight over the program.
    Dunleavy argues Alaskans should get a say on proposed changes to the program via an advisory vote.
    Begich has supported moving much of the money in earnings into the fund’s constitutionally protected principal. He supports limited withdrawals based on a percentage of the fund’s market value with money divvied between dividends and education.
    In 2017, Dunleavy left the Republican-led caucus, costing him committee assignments and staff. He said he wanted more cut from the budget and opposed limiting the size of the dividend check.
    During Thursday’s debate, Dunleavy said he voted against the budget. He did on an initial vote. But when the vote was reconsidered in the Senate, he voted yes. Alaska Public Media reported at the time that Dunleavy said the vote was made in error since he thought it was a procedural vote.
    Dunleavy left the state Senate in January after five years to focus on the campaign. He said while he was fighting for the dividend in Juneau, Begich was “in Washington, D.C. making millions of dollars consulting with his clients” and “nowhere to be found.”
    A financial disclosure Begich filed with the state shows he made between $200,000 and $500,000 last year as CEO and president of Northern Compass Group and between $100,000 and $200,000 with the group for “general strategic advice.”
    Begich, who worked as a consultant after losing his re-election bid to the U.S. Senate in 2014, said it was “outrageous” for Dunleavy to suggest he wasn’t paying attention to Alaska issues.
   

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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