TRUCK FIRE – Firefighters knock down a fire in a Ford Explorer truck in Arrowhead Trailer Park in the 1200 block of Sawmill Creek Road Saturday evening. One person received fire-related injuries and was taken to the hospital, Sitka Fire Department Chief Craig Warren said, and the truck was considered a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Warren said. The fire hall received the call about the fire at 5:33 p.m., and one fire engine with eight firefighters and an ambulance were dispatched, he said. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

State Sues EPA For Pebble Mine Decision
18 Mar 2024 14:29

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    The federal government owes Alaska more than $700 billion in comp [ ... ]

Bill Seeks Makeover In State Parole Board
18 Mar 2024 14:26

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Sylvester Byrd Jr. served nearly three decades in prison for a [ ... ]

City League
18 Mar 2024 14:24

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing Sunday in a City League volleyball match, a short-handed Yellow Je [ ... ]

March 18, 2024, Community Happenings
18 Mar 2024 14:23

Heritage, Cultural
Tourism Event
Here this Week
The ninth annual Heritage and Cultural Tourism Conferen [ ... ]

March 18, 2024, Police Blotter
18 Mar 2024 14:19

Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 15
At 4:30 a.m. a fender bender invol [ ... ]

Sitka Officials Respond: Schools Facing Crisis
15 Mar 2024 14:47

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Rep. Rebecca Himschoot and School Board President Tri [ ... ]

Katlian Road Work Halted; $20M Needed
15 Mar 2024 14:46

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    With $20 million needed to complete the Katlian Bay r [ ... ]

Record Herring Run, Sac Roe GHL Forecast
15 Mar 2024 14:04

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    A historically high herring return is forecast for Sit [ ... ]

Dunleavy Names Judge For Sitka Superior Court
15 Mar 2024 14:03

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    After a year-long vacancy in the Sitka Superior Court  [ ... ]

Dunleavy Vetoes Hike In Education Funding
15 Mar 2024 14:00

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, following through on an ultimatum, vet [ ... ]

Bill Seeks to Lower Cost Of Diagnostic Breast Scre...
15 Mar 2024 13:59

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    For many of the women considered to be at high risk for breast ca [ ... ]

March 15, 2024, Community Happenings
15 Mar 2024 13:52

Climate Connection -- Cruise Tourism Choices
Citizen groups in many port cities have mobilized to pre [ ... ]

March 15, 2024, Police Blotter
15 Mar 2024 13:24

Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 14
An Austin Street resident said a c [ ... ]

Friday Dinner to Aid Cathedral, Homeless
14 Mar 2024 15:09

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Sitka Homeless Coalition and St. Michael’s Sist [ ... ]

Tourism Industry to Hold Conference Here
14 Mar 2024 15:08

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Sitka’s annual Heritage and Cultural Tourism Confere [ ... ]

House Bill: Child Porn Is Child Sexual Abuse
14 Mar 2024 13:26

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Language matters, the House agreed on Wednesday, when it advan [ ... ]

Small Boost Forecast In State’s Oil Revenue
14 Mar 2024 13:25

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A new state revenue forecast that includes modestly higher oil pr [ ... ]

March 14, 2024, Police Blotter
14 Mar 2024 12:15

Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 13
Vehicles left parked at Sealing Co [ ... ]

March 14, 2024, Community Happenings
14 Mar 2024 12:13

SFS, Coliseum
To Show 15 Shorts
The Sitka Film Society and Coliseum Theater will present the Oscar Sho [ ... ]

Sockeye Run Faces 50% Bag Limit Cut
13 Mar 2024 15:13

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Sitka Tribe of Alaska told the Assembly Tuesday that  [ ... ]

City May Take Over Blatchley Pool Operations
13 Mar 2024 14:45

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Among proposals presented to the Assembly Tuesday for [ ... ]

Sitkans to Share Tales of Wooden Boats
13 Mar 2024 14:18

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The public is invited to a discussion Thursday on the  [ ... ]

Commentary: Outer Coast College Has New Education ...
13 Mar 2024 14:16

By BRYDEN SWEENEY-TAYLOR
Outer Coast executive director
In 1986, two linguists, Ron and Suzie Scollon, [ ... ]

March 13, 2024, Community Happenings
13 Mar 2024 14:01

Vigil on Saturday
At Roundabout
Community members are invited to attend the weekly Voices for Peace vi [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

MEHS Students Prep Robots for Tourney

    As Mt. Edgecumbe High School prepares to host a regional robotics competition Saturday,  David Byayuk, a senior at the Japonski Island school, has one thing on his mind.
    “We plan to win it again,” Byayuk said Wednesday.
    Byayuk was in a second-floor classroom on Mt. Edgecumbe’s upper campus working on “Iron Braves,” the robot he programmed and designed with fellow senior Sean Oles. {mosimage}
    Byayuk was part of a Mt. Edgecumbe team that won the regional robotics title last year in Juneau and ended up finishing 26 out of 40 teams at state.
    Byayuk, who said he was just a “helping hand” on the 2011 team, took over a lead role this time around. He wants to repeat as Southeast champs and improve on Edgecumbe’s state finish.
    He started building Iron Braves in November and the programming ramped up in the last 10 days.
    “I’m hoping it’s going to work at the tournament, there’s going to be a lot of pressure,” said Byayuk, who hails from Togiak.
    Organizers are expecting teams  from around Southeast to compete Saturday at what is formally known as the Southeast Robotics Qualifier. Edgecumbe has three teams in the tournament, with squads from Skagway, Ketchikan, Hoonah and Thunder Mountain also signed up. Sitka High, which formed a robotics club this year,  will send a team to the competition as an observer. Four teams will advance to the state tournament, which is scheduled for the first week of March in Fairbanks.
    Other than Iron Braves, Mt. Edgecumbe has a team called Muqtaq Mafia, which features Kory Joe, Suvluuraq Akpik and Cheyanne Chikigak and another called Titanium Braves, which is led by Peter Demientieff, Trevor Creed and Cingarkaq Pavilla.
    Nance, who has about 30 students in two sections of the robotics classes he started at Edgecumbe last year, said the top two teams at Saturday’s competition will advance to state, with the judges picking a third. Mt. Edgecumbe, by virtue of hosting the competition, will get one automatic bid to state.
    The competition will kick off at 8 a.m. Saturday at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium. The robots will do battle in a 12 x 12 arena that is encased by 18-inch high “boards.” The robots will have to perform various tasks, like picking up crates, filling them with rubber balls and moving a bowling ball from one side of the arena to another. Nance said running scores will kept throughout the tournament, with elimination rounds scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m.
    The awards ceremony is set for 4:30 p.m.
    Similar qualifying competitions are being held in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Bethel. A total of 40 teams will make the state competition.
    This is the second year that Nance has offered the robotics class at MEHS. He said his Robotics II class had been working towards the competition since the students returned to campus for second semester in January. On Wednesday, some of Nance’s Robotics I students were preparing for a “tug of war” with the robots they’d built.
    Once the regional and state competitions are behind them, the students will turn their attention to building “underwater ROVs.”
    Nance explained that stands for remote operated vehicles.

Login Form

 

20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Businesses using the Centennial Hall parking lot testified Tuesday against a proposal to charge them rent in addition to the $200 annual permit fee. City Administrator Hugh Bevan made the proposal in response to the Assembly’s direction to Centennial Hall manager Don Kluting to try to close the $340,000 gap between building revenues and operational costs.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand President William S. Paul Sr. will be special guest and speaker at the local ANB, Alaska Native Sisterhood Founders Day program Monday at the ANB Hall.

Calendar

Local Events

Instagram

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Instagram!

Facebook

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Facebook!