FAMILY FUN – Crystal Johns holds her son Zayne , 2, as she follows her son Ezekiel, 4, up an inflatable slide Saturday at Xoots Elementary School during the annual Spring Carnival. The event included games, prizes, cotton candy, and karaoke. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Rep. Rebecca Himschoot says in the discussion on educ [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Song, dance and a cast of school-aged actors will brin [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Don’t talk to people claiming to be from Medicare o [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska House of Representatives voted Wednesday to allow comp [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has dismissed an appeal filed by [ ... ]
Mr. Whitekeys
In Sitka to Tell
Gold Rush Tale
Sitka Historical Society and Museum will present ‘‘Th [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
April 17
At 9:08 a.m. a transformer was r [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The threat of major cutbacks to the subsistence socke [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
With the first vote on the city budget for fiscal yea [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
In the final day of play in the recreational division City League volleyball [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Three amateur athletes from Sitka were among tens of [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
A proposal to require Alaska schools to keep opioid-overdose-r [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s Kobuk River, which flows out of the Brooks Range above [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
April 16
At 8:07 a.m. a woman [ ... ]
Presentation On
Medicare, SS
SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium and Cynthia Gibson, CFP®, an [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Musicians from Sitka High and Mt. Edgecumbe High scho [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Whether you enjoy scaling mountains, walking in the p [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Two-time Alpine Adventure Run winner Chris Brenk cont [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee expanded a [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS and
CLAIRE STREMPLE
The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
April 15
A protective order was issued at 1 [ ... ]
Chamber Speaker
Event Wednesday
The Chamber of Commerce speaker series will continue noon Wednesday at [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
From high costs and low availability to challenges sur [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A number of participants at Thursday’s community me [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
JKT Hails Actions Across Party Lines
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins spoke at Wednesday’s Chamber of Commerce meeting about the state’s need for fiscal responsibility without draconian cuts or depletion of the Permanent Fund.
While he was critical of many of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s policies, the Sitka Democrat said he was happy about the bi-partisan cooperation in the Legislature. Kreiss-Tomkins, now in his fourth term in the state House, said the current session has been an “all time high in terms of intra-legislative cooperation and general functionality.”
But he went on to say he was “deeply concerned about the governor’s agenda.” He called certain parts of the governor’s budget cuts, such as sudden reductions to senior citizen care and the attempt to shut down the ferry system, as “unconscionable and unforgiveable.”
Kreiss-Tomkins said he would support a tax to help alleviate budget shortfalls.
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. (Sentinel Photo)
He also worried that Dunleavy was trying to stack the state Board of Fisheries, which wields a great deal of power over management of fishery resources, with sport fishing advocates, to the detriment of commercial fishing interests. He concluded that “the balance on the Board of Fish, which has tremendous implications in a place like Sitka and in our economy, is in peril.”
Kreiss-Tomkins summed up the concerns among legislators of both parties regarding the governor’s intentions for the state, as ranging from “serious to existential.”
He described the recall effort now underway as “a freight train hurtling down the tracks.”
“If the recall election were held today, this governor would no longer be the governor,” Kreiss-Tomkins said.
He also expressed his belief that the Legislature needs to act to protect the assets of the Permanent Fund from appropriation, noting that only about two-thirds of the fund is safe from spending. The Permanent Fund has two parts, the principal and the earnings reserve, he explained. The principal, which comprises about two-thirds of the total dollar amount of the fund, is constitutionally protected from being spent, while the one-third represented by the earnings reserve is subject to appropriation by the Legislature.
Kreiss-Tomkins said that “whatever the flavor-of-the-day idea is, that cash (in the earnings reserve account) can be liquidated by a simple majority vote” in the Legislature. He noted that this has nearly happened in the past.
Kreiss-Tomkins said he hopes to “make the entirety of the Permanent Fund permanent,” and called the Legislature’s recent approval of the transfer of $5 billion from the earnings reserve into the unspendable principal a “huge victory.”
The Sitka legislator said Dunleavy’s attempts to spend portions of the earnings reserve would “mortgage the future – tax the future of Alaska.”
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20 YEARS AGO
April 2004
Photo caption: Sen. Lisa Murkowski talks with students in Karoline Bekeris’ fourth-grade class Thursday at the Westmark Shee Atika. From left are Murkowski, Kelsey Boussom, Laura Quinn and Memito Diaz.
50 YEARS AGO
April 1974
A medley of songs from “Jesus Christ Superstar” will highlight the morning worship service on Palm Sunday at the United Methodist Church. Musicians will be Paige Garwood and Karl Hartman on guitars; Dan Goodness on organ; and Gayle Erickson on drums.