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)
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]
By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]
Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]
Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m. [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
10 Candidates in Running for Municipal Offices in Oct. 2 Election Tuesday’s city election ballot will include three candidates for mayor, two for two open seats on the Sitka School Board, and five for City and Borough Assembly. In the race f
10 Candidates in Running for Municipal Offices in Oct. 2 Election Tuesday’s city election ballot will include three candidates for mayor, two for two open seats on the Sitka School Board, and five for City and Borough Assembly.
In the race for mayor, incumbent Cheryl Westover faces two challengers, Thor Christianson and Mim McConnell. Westover has served one term as mayor, and two years of a term for Assembly. Christianson is one year into his three-year term and has served a total of eight years on the Assembly. Mim McConnell is finishing her first term, which expires this fall.
In the Assembly race, there are three open seats. Incumbent Phyllis Hackett is running for re-election, after serving a total of four years. Also running are Michelle Putz, Matthew Hunter, Aaron Swanson and Dallas Peavey. Two seats are for three-year terms. The third-highest vote-getter will win the one-year term, serving out the remaining year of Terry Blake’s term.
(Blake was elected two years ago, but stepped down early when he moved to Texas. Bill Paden, a veteran Assembly member, was appointed in July to serve until the next regular election, which is Tuesday.)
In the Sitka School Board race, two seats are open. Only Cass Pook, an incumbent, filed, but Jennifer Robinson registered as a write-in candidate. She is McConnell’s daughter. Those wishing to vote for Robinson need to spell her first and last name so that it’s recognizable, and fill in the oval next to her name, Municipal Clerk Colleen Ingman said.
Absentee voting is currently open on the third floor of city hall, and will remain available until 5 p.m. Monday night.
Polls on election day are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, with the entire town voting at the two precincts at Centennial Hall. Sitka this year consolidated its four voting precincts into two, both at Centennial Hall.
No questions or propositions are on this year’s city ballot.
For today’s pre-election edition, the Sentinel invited all candidates to submit statements which are as follows:
Thor Christianson
Candidate for Mayor
My name is Thor Christianson, and I want to be your mayor. Most of you know me already, but for those how do not, I am a lifelong Sitkan, and my family has lived in Sitka since the early 1950s. I have served on the assembly for a total of eight years. I have been a volunteer with fire department as an EMT/firefighter for the last 15 years. I work at Southeast Region EMS. I live on an island in Jamestown Bay with my wife Jessica and two children.
Sitka is in the middle of one of the most challenging times in our recent history.
The general economic downturn has not passed Sitka buy, and it has been magnified by a shift in cruise ship traffic. We are not seeing as many ships as we used to, and the resulting loss in business for Sitka is felt all across our economy. A number of local businesses have either gone out of business or moved, and many of the remaining ones are struggling.
Changes in the health care environment are making life difficult for our biggest employer, SEARHC. While the city’s ability to help them is limited, we should be looking for ways to partner with them to make them stronger.
We have to deal with a city infrastructure that is aging, with many of its components at or near the end of their useful lifespan. Many of the roads need work, as does much of the water and sewer system. The harbor system is going to need a lot of work over the next few years and cannot be ignored since it is an integral part of the fishing community, which of course is a mainstay of both our economy and our way of life. We are bumping up against the limits of our power generation capacity, with could cause our costs for energy to skyrocket. We have to figure out how to increase capacity without raising rates too much or it will limit the growth of our economy.
You may ask why with all this going on do I want to be mayor? Well I am the type of person that when I see a problem I just have to try and fix it. In fact, I get excited by the challenge. I am happiest when I have a problem that I working towards making go away. If it is a number of problems, this is OK, it just makes me want to work harder. The idea of working with the people of Sitka to make our town stronger gets me charged up and excited.
I feel that the best way to deal with these problems is to approach them holistically. By that I mean that we have look at the whole of the city, not any one sector. We need to make sure while we work to improve our visitor industry we also make sure that the schools, roads, power needs, recreational needs and other infrastructure demands are met. The economic health of our city is directly tied to the overall health of our city. If I am elected I work diligently to keep Sitka the vibrant city that has earned the nickname “Paris of the Pacific.”
So how are we going to deal with our challenges? I have a number of ideas on how we can at least ameliorate some of the problems, but it boils down to we will have to work together. We have a smart, imaginative and industrious population and we are going have to tap into those skills if we are going to survive. I know that I do not have all the answers, but I do know that we do have the answers in our community.
The mayor of Sitka will need to an energetic cheerleader for Sitka. As mayor I would work with people of Sitka to explore every idea for making Sitka a better place to live in all aspects. I would work hard to make Sitka’s government an open and respectful entity. I would also work with the State, the legislature, the U.S. Congress, and industry groups to improve Sitka’s economy I would search out any idea for making our town as strong a community as it can be. I look forward to listening to Sitkans ideas and concerns over the next two years.
Let’s have some fun making Sitka stronger together!
Mim McConnell
Candidate for Mayor
I have lived in Sitka steadily since 2000 and in Southeast Alaska since 1975. My three children live here with my five grandchildren attending Sitka’s public schools. My husband, Mike McConnell, and I rent an apartment, and own a small sailboat for recreating and subsistence gathering. Mike is a retired commercial fisherman, a self-published author of two Alaskana books and is owner of Blue Heron Guitars, a stringed instrument repair home business. I own Shelter Cove Publishing, which provides web and graphic design services for local businesses, agencies and non-profits, and I publish Sitka Through Four Seasons, a well-established visitors guide. I am the volunteer executive director of Sitka Community Development Corporation (SCDC) which operates the Sitka Building Reuse Center and is working on developing permanently affordable workforce and elder housing. I am also president and one of the founders of the Easter Group, working to end extreme hunger and poverty in Sitka.
I am also:
–Working in an advisory capacity in helping to start a Sitka Community Foundation, which would help create long-term funding for Sitka’s non-profits;
–Being actively involved in tourism issues i.e. serving as an Assembly liaison on the Tourism Commission and attending the Destination Sitka Working Group, which is working on the Sitka Imaging/Identity Project.
Concerned about the city’s infrastructure and working to:
–Support the city building what it can afford to maintain in the future, and creatively finding ways, through community conversation and working with city staff, to maintain what we already have;
–Finding a level and type of taxation that Sitkans can live with and that gives them the services and quality of life they want for their community;
–Supporting the facility upgrades to the Centennial building and parking lot, the Sitka Historical Museum, and Kettleson Memorial Library using “head tax” funds;
–Promotion of a feasibility study on having a dock in Sitka’s downtown area so Sitkans can make an informed decision on the future infrastructure of the downtown area.
Supportive of Sitka’s business community through being:
–A long-time, hard-working small business owner, first commercial fishing 1976-1995 and now Shelter Cove Publishing, helping to promote over 100 local businesses since 1998, and Sitka Through Four Seasons since 2007;
–A past five-year employee of the non-profit, Sitka Works!, where I was a small business advisor and helped many businesses in Sitka get started;
–A member of Sitka’s Chamber of Commerce;
–Fiscally responsible both as a small business owner and in managing City of Sitka resources, as well as two non-profits.
Dedicated to keeping Sitka’s schools operating at their best through:
–The city providing necessary funding in a timely fashion;
–Supporting efforts to raise Sitka’s graduation rates;
–Preparing students for life after high school even if college is not a choice;
Proven experience supporting legislative advocacy and process through:
–Holding a key staff position for two state legislators during session;
–Serving as staff for the Sitka Legislative Information Office;
–Presenting information to groups on effective lobbying techniques;
–Planning and chaperoning school legislature field trips to the state capitol
Cheryl Westover
Candidate for Mayor
For the last two years, I have served as mayor of Sitka. Prior to that, I was an Assembly member for four years and learned a tremendous amount about how our city government operates. It’s been a challenging and rewarding experience.
I am a lifelong Sitkan and live with my partner Mary Ann and two malamute dogs. I graduated from Sitka High School, then attended college and earned a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice. I coached girls softball for many years and was on the committee that founded Sitkans Against Family Violence. I owned a small business in Seattle for five years and worked in the family grocery business for over 40 years. Last March, I retired in order to spend more time with my terminally ill mother who passed away in May.
I am proud of Sitka. One of my favorite things to do is to walk our dogs downtown and greet visitors, asking what brought them to our city. I also love taking these opportunities to talk with fishermen, other business owners and anyone else wanting to share ideas and concerns about our community.
I consider myself a fiscal conservative who uses common sense to make fact-based decisions that are in the city’s best interest, even when those decisions are unpopular. Sitka and its residents are facing some very tough economic issues now and in the near future.
The Blue Lake Dam expansion, which is critically important in meeting our energy needs, will cost $30 to $40 million over what was projected. We have no other reasonable alternative energy source at this time. Much of our city infrastructure, including roads, buildings, water and sewer systems and harbors, is coming to the end of its useful life. A systematic approach to address these issues has begun and must continue.
I believe that Baranof Island Housing Authority is the organization to focus on affordable housing. There may be a way to do some partnering with the city, such as high-density zoning, keeping in mind that we’re stewards of all the people’s assets.
Making Sitka more affordable for all would be to help our Enterprise Funds such as electric harbor, sewer and water through legislative requests and help from the General Fund when possible.
The Assembly needs to pas the infrastructure ordinance which leads us in the right direction for road and building maintenance. These ideas and economic development are keys to our success.
I am ready to roll up my sleeves again and move forward to work for and with the good folks of Sitka.
Phyllis Hackett
Candidate for Assembly
I have been a resident of Sitka for 40 years and for the past 28 have lived with my husband and raised my family on a nearby Island. Much of my free time is spent enjoying the wilderness of this incredible place I am fortunate enough to call home.
Our children worked their way through the Sitka School District, graduating from Sitka High. I have been actively engaged in our school system; I realize the importance of and strongly support public education.
Through my years here I have owned and operated my own business and worked in a variety of sectors of our community. I have had the opportunity to work in and appreciate, among others, commercial fishing; the visitor industry, both SCVB convention sales as well as providing short-term accommodation; the non-profit sector serving as the director of Sitka WhaleFest and in social services as program director of SAIL, Southeast Alaska Independent Living.
For the past four years I have served the community of Sitka as an Assembly member. It has been a very difficult, challenging, rewarding and enriching experience. I have studied hard and learned well how the wheels of local government turn. During my tenure the economic climate throughout the country including Sitka has seen much change. Being generally optimistic by nature, I view this as a time of opportunity. I believe things are beginning to turn and our current time is best spent positioning ourselves to take full advantage of the upswing. That being said, I believe sound planning is the most prudent approach.
There are several issues that stand to impact our community greatly. The first and foremost being power generation, while I believe alternative options should continue to be explored; top priority must be given to the Blue Lake expansion. The settlement of Sealaska’s land entitlement is a very sensitive issue that stands to be divisive within our community and region. I see this as a travesty on several fronts by pitting families and neighbors, who have lived peacefully and happily side by side, against one another around something as basic as access for all to use and enjoy public lands.
However, I do believe finalizing of the ANSCA land selection is long overdue. There are many well founded concerns surrounding this issue and it will be very difficult for the incoming Assembly.
Economic development coupled with affordable housing is never-ending and of the utmost importance. They will always present interesting and unique challenges and opportunities for Sitka. Our issues will continue to develop as we are an ever changing. I believe the process by which we review and settle issues is most important and will be my highest priority if you choose to re-elect me to serve on the Assembly. I look forward to listening to your ideas, your concerns and continuing an open dialog.
I would appreciate your vote on Tuesday, Oct. 2.
Matthew Hunter
Assembly Candidate
My name is Matthew Hunter, and I am a lifelong Sitkan. I attended Sitka School District from kindergarten through my graduation from Sitka High School in 2001. I earned a bachelor of arts in mathematics and physics at St. Olaf College, and a master of arts in teaching at UAS. I am now beginning my seventh year as a teacher at Mt. Edgecumbe High School. Outside school, I volunteer with Sitka Mountain Rescue (past five years) and with the Sitka Fire Department’s EMS Division (past three years). I also volunteered for five years on the board of the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society. I enjoy the outdoors, bicycle commuting, attending community events, reading, and researching local history. I am a homeowner and a fiscal conservative.
I am running for Assembly because I love Sitka and I want a good future for Sitka. With luck, I will continue to make Sitka my home, start a family here, and retire here. As a 30-year-old, it is in my best interest to plan long-term. My generation will see the benefits and pay for the consequences of the decisions today’s Assembly makes for the next five or six decades. We need to be open to new solutions to old problems. We need to seek the solutions that, though they may be more painful in the short-term, will result in success in the long-term. We need to have faith in ourselves, the residents of Sitka. Together we gave Sheldon Jackson Campus new life during a worldwide recession. Together we can continue to grow and improve our community. I am optimistic for the future of Sitka because of the people who live here.
Sitka is a safe community with good schools, many good jobs (but not enough of them), and unaffordable housing. Every candidate statement I have read from the past few years has mentioned affordable housing and more jobs as top priorities. Housing costs continue to drive the young families and new retirees from our town. Talented young people leave, often in tears, when they cannot find a job with benefits or affordable housing. I have no delusions of fixing these problems on my own. The solution is for us all to work together, seek compromise, and be willing to consider new ideas.
We have opportunities to address job creation and affordable housing in Sitka. We can be creative with the Benchlands property to increase housing options. We can offer incentives for a private business to construct a boat haul-out at Sawmill Cove to help our fishermen and to create jobs. We can market our town as the most authentic Alaskan tourism destination. We can support service-oriented non-profits that turn small city contributions into millions in grant dollars and dozens of jobs each year.
In short, I can’t imagine living anywhere but Sitka. I am committed to making Sitka successful in the long-term. The decisions the next Assembly makes will have enormous impact on the future of our town. Let us be sure we make the decisions with 2060 in mind, not just 2013.
Dallas Peavey
Candidate for Assembly
I was born in Williston, N.D., in September of 1979, and I grew up in Marysville, Wash. In 1989, when I was 10 years old, I moved to Sitka with my family. In high school I attended Mt. Edgecumbe High School, as well as Sitka High School. I graduated from school in 1998. After high school I moved around a bit, but always found myself retuning here to Sitka. This is the place that always has felt like home.
In 2001, while living in Washington, my daughter Dakota was born, and later in 2005 my son Dillon was born here in Sitka. I met my wife Beckey and her daughter AudreyAnna in 2008. Beckey and I were married here in Sitka in 2011.
I started working for Stragier Sanitation in 1997. With the exception of moving out of Sitka in 1998 for two years and again in 2006 for less than a year, I have continued to work with them. I enjoy my work because itis a very people oriented job.
I am running for Assembly because I would like to see a change in the direction that the city is going. I am new to politics but I feel like I could contribute to our fine community. I am the commissioner of the Sitka Softball Association, which has been a great experience. I love the challenge of trying to help the city with our problems and help to keep our city running efficiently. I would really love to call Sitka my home for many years to come, but I am concerned about the long-term results of some of our decisions.
I am a hard worker and love to see things followed though to the end. I would like to have the opportunity to represent you on the Assembly because I am just your everyday blue collar worker who knows it’s hard to raise a family here. I also think that now is a great time to have the younger generation represented. I am very pleased that I am not the only one of my generation to have the same concerns. I wish all of my fellow candidates the best of luck in this election. Thank you for your time and remember to get out and vote.
Michelle Putz
Assembly Candidate
I am Michelle Putz (pronounced like the verb, “Michelle puts ideas into action.”).
My husband, Perry Edwards, and I moved to Sitka in June 2005. We recognized Sitka’s outer beauty immediately. But little did we know what inner beauty she also held for us ... cultural diversity and good relationships with its first people, history like few other places in America or the world, an active, fun, involved and CARING community, and so much more. I am incredibly thankful for having found Sitka and for being taken in by her. I want to help make this great community even better. I want to give back to the community and citizens of Sitka.
Until I’ve heard from Sitkans and done some research, I can’t say how I will vote on issues facing the Assembly. But here are just two ways I look at concerns in the community of Sitka.
What can we do about Sitka’s economy and how can we bring in new jobs? Most people I talk to want to improve the economy of Sitka in some way. I agree with you, we DO need to improve Sitka’s economy and bring good-paying jobs to Sitka! I have been visiting many local businesses during my campaign to hear what they think are the biggest problems facing their business and to hear their ideas for the best solutions. I hope to discuss and identify the businesses we could expand or bring to Sitka that are sustainable and that are going to keep families here. What are those businesses? Manufacturing with its high shipping costs does not make sense. What does? Tourism is obviously one component. What are ALL the options to increase/stabilize that industry? What are other options? To me, some ideas are businesses that use the internet, businesses that support local needs, and education. I hope to identify those sustainable businesses and work to target those types of businesses to bring them into Sitka.
Should we put in a dock? While I think putting this proposal on the ballot at some point is the right way to ask this question of the community, I supported waiting to get it on the ballot until more information is available to explain and vet the proposal. A poorly developed proposal would surely, and rightfully, be defeated. We need to know if it would be used, who would pay for it, what it might look like, and more. It will come up again. I support the Assembly’s efforts to let you decide on a well thought-out, well-developed, well-researched proposal. How will I vote, personally? It will depend on the final wording and the proposal. In the mean time, let’s try to get use at the McGraw dock. I also lean towards a proposal that would put a dock on the EAST side of Baranof Island in an effort to provide an Inside Passage route to Sitka. Yes, it would take a road or a train or some other means through a tunnel to get us back and forth and a lot of effort, but it would mean a HUGE savings in fuel for food, ferries and cruise ships, reduced chances of losing shipping services during bad weather, and it would open up other opportunities.
How can we really move Sitka forward? I have heard people say that recent Assemblies seem to be “putting out fires” but not really moving the city forward. I agree. We need a strategy to move Sitka forward and I have an idea how to get us there! Let’s get an agenda item in every Assembly meeting that will help us use all the great plans, charters, and laws that have been developed for Sitka and respect the time and efforts of our commission members. Within each of those plans are ways to save money, improve the economy, and do something about the biggest problems facing our community. Let’s use that hard work and the energy of our volunteer commissions to improve this community and move us forward! Let’s pull out and follow the best parts of those plans and let’s enforce the laws and codes that we’ve developed. Or if we can’t or won’t use the plans or enforce the laws, we need to consider getting rid of them or revising them until they are useful and used. I will take our plans, laws, and codes seriously and work to make sure that we have a strategy to move us forward in the future.
For other issues: What do we do about dropping budgets? Are you well represented? How can we continue to improve community relationships? Please visit my website at www.alaska.net/~mupere for more information or contact me at michelleputzforassembly@gmail.com.
And please vote for me, Michelle Putz for Sitka Assembly on October 2.
Aaron Swanson
Candidate for Assembly
My name is Aaron Swanson. I was born in Sitka in 1981 the son of Lloyd and Vicki Swanson. I moved from Sitka to Washburn, Wisc., where I completed high school. After high school I went to the UW-Platteville and soon left school to start working. I worked various jobs including construction, property management, and hardware store clerk before I moved back to Sitka to manage the day to day operations at Misty Fjords Water Co. After about a year with the water company I started working for Arrowhead Transfer Inc. and have been a full-time employee for them for the last five and a half years.
I am married to my wife Sheryl Monsod, who I met here in Sitka, and have two wonderful sons, Jacob and John. Together with my wife we have faced many struggles, but always seem to come out on top, including fighting to get her green card for six years.
I am running for Assembly, because I want to make Sitka a better place for the people who live here now and for future generations. I am committed to listening to the public comments and finding a common ground that is in best interest of both the people and the city.
I would appreciate your vote on Oct. 2 and look forward to serving you.
Jennifer Robinson
Write-In Candidate
Sitka School Board
Education is a key component to the success and economic health of our community. It is through education that we create a skilled and diverse workforce. We should foster in our children a desire for higher education, helping them to set realistic and attainable goals while providing them with the skills to achieve them. The way that our children connect and engage continues to change as technology advances and it is vital that we provide them with the tools that they need to learn in today’s global classroom.
I grew up in Port Alexander just 90 miles south of Sitka on the very southern tip of Baranof Island. As a child, Sitka was the big city and I relished every opportunity that brought me to town. After high school, I moved to the big city of Sitka and then eventually north, where I graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with an associate of arts degree. I have always stayed very busy and while attending classes at UAA, I was also the mother of two young children, an Air Force wife and the owner of a successful small business, Tender Moments Childcare. Shortly after my graduation, we moved to northern California and bought a home in Live Oak, a small community north of Sacramento. While there, I homeschooled my children just long enough to develop a strong appreciation for the energy and commitment it takes to be a teacher! After enrolling my children in the public school system, I stayed actively engaged by volunteering in their classrooms and serving as the president of the Live Oak Middle School Parent Teacher Organization.
It has been just over four years now since I moved back home to Sitka as a single parent with my daughter Krista who is now 16 and a junior at Sitka High, and my son Caleb, who is 12 and in his last year at Blatchley Middle School. As my children have grown older, they are less appreciative of me in their classrooms and so I have refocused my energy into the community, through both my employment and volunteer work. Currently, I am the executive director for the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce and through my position I am able to make a positive impact by advocating for our business community.
Our businesses are strong supporters of our schools and vital to the success and economic strength of Sitka. I am on the advisory committee for Lead:North and one of the founders of Lead:Sitka, groups that fall under the umbrella of Institute of the North and work to create and strengthen opportunities for young leaders in our communities and state. Last winter, I was appointed to the Sitka Tourism Commission, which I now chair. Serving on the commission has been an invaluable learning experience and one that I have enjoyed very much. In addition to my involvement in the community, I am also enrolled in the school of management at UAS as I work toward my bachelor of business administration and marketing with a minor in art.
Serving on the School Board has been a dream of mine for many years and I am humbled by the support and encouragement that I have received thus far. I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve and hope to hear from parents and members of our community.
Login Form
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 .....