Home - Daily Sitka Sentinel

Today's top stories

Color of Justice

Mt. Edgecumbe High School junior Kabah Jolie Samah, from Anchorage, plays the role of judge during a mock trial at the Sitka Courthouse this afternoon as part of the Color of Justice program. Scores of students from the state-run boarding school took part in the two-day program which has taught Alaska students the essentials of the U.S. legal system for 20 years. School alumni who now work as lawyers and judges help run the local program. Also pictured are Timothy Nassuk, at left, a junior from Koyuk, who played the role of bailiff and Alaska Supreme Court Justice Jude Pate. The Color of Justice program received the national 2025 Sandra Day O’Connor Award for the Advancement of Civics Education.

A rough plan for a proposed shuttle dropoff for the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal buses, off Oja and Monastery streets. (In the online edition of the Sentinel, the yellow line marks the inbound direction for buses, and red is for outbound buses toward the cruise terminal.

Planning Panel Looks At Land Development

The Planning Commission discussed criteria for evaluating city lands for future housing development, Wednesday night at a regular meeting. In response to an identified need for more housing in Sitka, the city hired the consulting firm PND...

A late model Mazda CX-3 is pictured after it was rear-ended while waiting to enter the roundabout Thursday afternoon.

Two Vehicles Totaled In Crash At Roundabout

Two vehicles were extensively damaged around 1:30 p.m. Thursday in a rear-end accident at the roundabout. Police at the scene said both vehicles were totaled. The drivers were women alone in their vehicles, and both were evaluated at Mt....

Photos showing the KK Scan center. Note the Buddhist spire on the hilltop. One pic shows feet crossing the Moei River.

From the Front Line of Internet Scams, Non-stop War

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mark Gorman, who lives in Sitka between humanitarian aid assignments in Southeast Asia, sends this report as an important independent news source goes silent. Phop Phra, Thailand, Nov. 7 – From my guesthouse porch in Chong Khaep, I...

Trial Date Rescheduled In Protest Incident on Aug. 30

The trial for Pietr K. Dabaluz, a 19-year-old Juneau man involved in a fight that sent one person to the hospital during an Aug. 30 protest at the roundabout, has been rescheduled to begin in January as parties await a ruling by Juneau Superior...

Most read stories

Two Vehicles Totaled In Crash At Roundabout

Fisherman, Former Sitkan Jack Ranweiler Dies at 79

Police Blotter
November 6, 2025

Sitkan Donald Lock Dies; Air Force Veteran was 70

Color of Justice

Historical Society Gives Award, Shows Photos

Trial Date Rescheduled In Protest Incident on Aug. 30

Tribal Election Listed Nov. 11

Sitka Tribe of Alaska will hold tribal elections on Tuesday, Nov. 11. Election day polling locations and times are: -- 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Sheet'ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi, 200 Katlian Street. -- 8 a.m.-1 p.m. SEARHC Island Skillet meeting room, 222 Tongass...

Sixth-grade students at Blatchley Middle School stand with teacher Sheldon Turner, left, and Michelle Kavouras, prevention director of Sitka Counseling and Prevention Services, right. (Photo provided)

Sitka Counseling Presents BMS With Grant

Sitka Counseling and Prevention Services has awarded $3,500 to Blatchley Middle School in recognition of the school’s ongoing participation in the annual Substance Use Survey of Youth. Since 2019, Blatchley students and staff have helped...

Sitka Cancer Survivors Society receives a check from Sitka Emblem Club from proceeds from the Oct. 5 dinner and raffle, hosted by the Elks Lodge and Emblem Club. From left are  Bonnie Richards, Pam Samuelson and Jill Scheidt, SCSS; Emblem Club President Mindy Lowrance; Carolyn Fredrickson and Patti MacPike, SCSS; and Judi Blankenship, Emblem Club raffle liaison. (Photo provided to the Sentinel)

SODA FOUNTAIN TIPS

Climate Connection: Green Shipping

International shipping is overseen by the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO) that has 176 member states, nearly all the countries with coast lines. It provides guidance and technical assistance for safety, environmental...

STA Tribal Youth Celebration Set

Tribal children and their families are invited to the Tribal Youth Winter Solstice Celebration 5-7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, at Blatchley Middle School. The event will include a catered meal, crafts and cultural activities, drumming performances,...

Emblem Club Meets Nov. 13

Sitka Emblem Club 142 will hold a combined business/social meeting 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, at the Sitka Elks Lodge. Agenda items includes the annual memorial service, new member initiation and regular business meeting. Dessert will follow....

4-H Woodworking Series for Youths

Sitka Spruce Tips 4-H Club invites youths ages 8 and older to a woodworking series. A planning session is to be held Friday, Nov. 14. The series runs Dec. 5, 12 and 19. It has limited space. Youths must be registered as 4-H members to participate...

Outer Coast at Unitarian Hall

Students and staff from the Outer Coast program will offer insights from their individual and collective educational experience at Sunday’s meeting of the Sitka Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship. Members and guests can gather at 10:30 a.m.,...

Leader Library Teens to Meet

Sitka Public Library’s Teen Advisory Board will meet 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, in the library’s multipurpose room. Conversation about books, planning for upcoming teen library programs, and hang-out time are part of the agenda. Teens 13 and...

Annual Benefit For Raptor Center

Alaska Raptor Center will hold its 25th annual fundraiser Saturday, Nov. 15, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Registration, cocktails and a silent auction will be at 5 p.m. followed by a live auction and dinner at 6:45 p.m. For information and to...

See more events

Police blotter

Police Blotter
November 7, 2025

Sitka Police Department logged the following calls Thursday. November 6 At 2:58 a.m. a bear was seen on Rudolph Walton Circle, heading to the woods. At 11:19 a.m. a caller from out of town said the ring video on the caller's home on Lance Drive...

Read previous police reports

Obituaries

Sitkan Donald Lock Dies; Air Force Veteran was 70

Master Sgt. Donald B. Lock (retired) passed away in Sitka on Oct. 30, 2025, after a brief battle with cancer. He was 70. Don was born Nov. 30, 1954, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to Alan B. Lock and Irene F. (Wurtak) Seixas. He grew up in Canada...

Fisherman, Former Sitkan Jack Ranweiler Dies at 79

John “Jack” Louis Ranweiler, 79, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, died peacefully on October 16, 2025, at home in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico. He was a former resident of Alaska, having lived in Ketchikan, Sitka, and Homer. Jack was born...

David Edgar Glazier Dies; Musician, Troller was 70

Musician, teacher and fisherman David Edgar Glazier died Oct. 16 aboard his boat, the F/V Ulla, in Thomsen Harbor. He was 70. David was born Sept. 13, 1955, in Salem, Oregon, the son of Hazel Wilma (Brockhoff) and Lyle Ambrose Glazier. He grew up...

Former Sitka Attorney Ed Stahla Dies in Neb.

Edward Alan Stahla, of Cozad, Nebraska, formerly of Sitka, died October 20 at Emerald Nursing & Rehab in Cozad. He was 82. Ed was born on February 17, 1943, to August and Sarah (Martin) Stahla, in Kimball, Nebraska, and grew up the family...

More obituaries

Sports

City league The next games are scheduled for Sunday at Calendar Today 11/7 1 p.m. Sitka Wolves swim at ASAA / First National Bank Alaska Swim & Dive State Championships @ Bartlett High School pool in Anchorage 3:30 p.m. Sitka Wolves...

Mt. Edgecumbe High School's Gracelynn Friske receives a serve Thursday night during the Region V 3A Tournament at the Sitka High School gym.

Sitka High Volleyball Punches Ticket to State

The Sitka High Wolves are proceeding to the 3A/4A Volleyball State Championships after their back-to-back victories over the Mt. Edgecumbe Braves Wednesday and Thursday in the Region V volleyball tournament. The Wolves secured the region title by...

Sitka Yesterday
November 7, 2025

20 YEARS AGO

November 2005

Photo caption: Competitors take off in the annual Whale Fest Run and Walk. Race director Brian Beall said the run had a large turnout. ... Doug Carlton won the 10K race overall in 39 minutes, 24 seconds, for the men, and Tara Flynn took the women’s title, finishing second overall, in 39.59.

50 YEARS AGO

November 1975

In its annual October meeting, the Sheldon Jackson College Board of Trustees approved the $2.3 million budget. Also approved was an appraisal of the buildings of the SJC 345-acre campus. A 1972 appraisal placed the value at $4 million.

Read previous Sitka Yesterdays

Alaska Supreme Court bans disgraced federal judge from practicing law in the state

The Alaska Supreme Court has disbarred former U.S. District Court Judge Josh Kindred, banning him from practicing law in the state, “effective immediately.” The court’s decision was announced Friday, a little over three months after the Alaska Bar Association recommended the action. Kindred, recommended by Alaska Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, was appointed […]

Alaska parole rates are among the lowest in the nation. Advocates want to know why.

The number of people approved for discretionary parole by the Alaska State Board of Parole has dropped significantly in recent years, and advocates are asking the board for explanations. Last year, the board denied 59% of applicants for discretionary parole. In 2023, it denied 58% of applicants. In 2022, it denied 70%. An analysis by […]

Alaska’s public schools serve as emergency shelters. Those buildings are also in crisis.

On a Sunday morning last month, James Taq’ac Amik was huddled on a small bridge with his girlfriend. At 4 a.m., they had scrambled into an 18-foot aluminum motor boat, fleeing floodwaters from a massive storm surge that inundated Kipnuk, a village of 700 in the heart of western Alaska’s sprawling Kuskokwim river delta. “I […]

Fairbanks judge and state prosecutor are in the running for Alaska Court of Appeals seat

Alaska’s six-person judge-nominating board has picked a state prosecutor and a Fairbanks Superior Court judge for possible appointment to the Alaska Court of Appeals. Following Wednesday’s vote by the Alaska Judicial Council, Gov. Mike Dunleavy will have 45 days to make the final choice between prosecutor RuthAnne Beach and Judge Patricia Haines. The council’s members […]

AvaRae Carl looks out of the window of her family's temporary housing in Bethel, Alaska, with her grandfather Joe Paul as he points in the direction of Kipnuk village, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, after they were displaced from their home due to Typhoon Halong that hit earlier in the month. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Photos of the aftermath of devastating floods in remote Alaska Native villages

KWIGILLINGOK, Alaska (AP) — Uncertainty looms over the future of remote Alaska Native villages devastated by the remnants of Typhoon Halong last month. Some evacuees express doubts about ever …

Sullivan votes to block Senate measure intended to preempt American bombing of Venezuela

Alaska’s two U.S. senators split on a vote that would have allowed the U.S. Senate to take up a resolution that sought to prevent President Donald Trump from unilaterally ordering the bombing of Venezuela. Fifty votes were needed in the Senate to take up the resolution, but only 49 senators — all the Senate’s Democrats, […]

Alaska’s coastal communities deserve a say in geoengineering of our oceans

Marine heatwaves, fisheries declines and coastal erosion show Alaskans how changes to our climate can threaten our ways of life. Governor Mike Dunleavy and others have proposed that we should welcome new industries that seek to capture and store carbon away from the atmosphere, including marine carbon dioxide removal, to boost our economy and reduce […]

Color of Justice

Planning Panel Looks At Land Development

Two Vehicles Totaled In Crash At Roundabout

From the Front Line of Internet Scams, Non-stop War

Trial Date Rescheduled In Protest Incident on Aug. 30

Police Blotter
November 7, 2025

Sitka High Volleyball Punches Ticket to State

Sitka Yesterday
November 7, 2025

Alaska Supreme Court bans disgraced federal judge from practicing law in the state

Alaska parole rates are among the lowest in the nation. Advocates want to know why.

Alaska’s public schools serve as emergency shelters. Those buildings are also in crisis.

Fairbanks judge and state prosecutor are in the running for Alaska Court of Appeals seat

Crews are working to fix Alaska Native villages devastated by flooding. But will residents return?

Photos of the aftermath of devastating floods in remote Alaska Native villages

Sullivan votes to block Senate measure intended to preempt American bombing of Venezuela

Alaska’s coastal communities deserve a say in geoengineering of our oceans

No people thought unaccounted for as UPS cargo plane crash toll stands at 14, Louisville mayor says

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony will induct Outkast, Cyndi Lauper, Salt-N-Pepa, the White Stripes

AP Top 25 poll preview: Hawkeyes hankering for an upset of No. 6 Oregon to shake up AP, CFP rankings

People in some states get SNAP food aid while others still wait for their November benefits

Rodrigo Paz sworn in as Bolivia's new president, ending 20 years of one-party rule

A Russian drone strike on a tower block in eastern Ukraine kills 3 and injures 12

Pakistan–Afghanistan peace talks in Istanbul fail amid rising border tensions

Tens of thousands in Portugal protest proposed labor reforms

Dominant defense helps Wisconsin snap 6-game skid by upsetting No. 24 Washington 13-10

Rodney Hammond Jr. runs for 191 yards and 2 TDs, Sacramento St. beats Portland St. 52-24

Diego Pavia throws TD pass in OT and No. 15 Vanderbilt holds off Auburn 45-38

Brazilian environmentalist gets funded by DiCaprio after false forest fire accusation by Bolsonaro

Movie Review: Jennifer Lawrence goes for broke in 'Die, My Love'

Colombian artists transform Pablo Escobar's hippos and excesses into art

Infant botulism in 10 US states linked to formula being recalled

James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix shape of DNA, has died at age 97

Pfizer clinches deal for obesity drug developer Metsea after a bidding war with Novo Nordisk