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
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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
State Historical Figure Katie Hurley Dies at 99
Anchorage Daily News
Katie Hurley, a longtime state political figure and a participant in the drafting of Alaska’s Constitution died Feb. 21 at age 99 in Portland, Oregon.
Hurley got her start in politics when she joined the office of Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening in 1940. She became secretary of the territorial state and was chief clerk to the Alaska Constitutional Convention in 1955 and 1956.
Hurley served as president of the Alaska Board of Education, executive director of the state Women’s Commission, Alaska Senate secretary for five sessions and on Gov. William Egan’s statehood transitional staff.
Katie Hurley (Photo by RadioKAOS)
She was the first woman to win a statewide election in Alaska when she was victorious in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in 1978. In 1984, she was elected to the state House of Representatives representing Matanuska Valley.
On Monday, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered U.S. and state flags to fly at half-staff on March 30, which would have been Hurley’s 100th birthday.
Hurley was a trailblazer for women and a mentor to many, said her close friend Kathy Wisthoff, who worked for Hurley at the Women’s Commission.
“What kept her so involved in the Democratic party was just her drive and her fight to take care of people and to make sure that as a government we did that,” Wisthoff said.
Her daughters, Susan Derrera and Mary Hilowitz, remember that she would always say in her speeches that there were three things to know about her — she was a Norwegian, an Alaskan and a Democrat.
Hurley was passionate about politics and involved for as long as was possible, Derrera said. She remembered Hurley broke her pelvis on a snowdrift outside of her home when she was in her 70s, but crawled inside and waited to call for help until after she had been scheduled to testify for a legislative hearing.
“Those were her priorities,” Derrera said with a laugh.
Hurley lived in Wasilla and had three children, and said in a Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman article in 2011 that she worked while pregnant, even though it was nearly unheard of at the time. Hurley loved music and always ended a visit with company in song around the piano, Derrera said.
Hurley’s health had declined in recent years and she had been living in a long-term care facility in Oregon, according to an online fundraiser started by her daughters. Derrera said she died while in the company of family members.
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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.
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