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Most read stories

Taxi, Tour Drivers Share Views on Ordinance

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

5 days ago

Fond Memories

Wednesday, October 21

Seasonal Halt Oct. 31 on Lake Street Project

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

Wednesday, October 21

Data Center Control New Issue for Sitka

By ANNA LAFFREY
Sentinel Staff Writer

Tuesday, October 20

Police Chief Hall Warns of Fentanyl Danger

By ANNA LAFFREY
Sentinel Staff Writer

Wednesday, October 14

Today's top stories

YAS Alerts Public on Youth Exploitation Danger

Catherine Grant, Youth Advocates of Sitka office administrator, holds up a poster for the "Safeguarding Youth of Alaska" two-day conference which kicks off Tuesday in Harrigan Centennial Hall.
Safeguarding vulnerable young people from sex trafficking and online exploitation is the focus of a free, public education series at Centennial Hall and online Tuesday and Wednesday. Youth Advocates of Sitka is host of the Safeguarding Youth of...

By ANNA LAFFREY
Sentinel Staff Writer

8 hours ago

Child Care Tax Vote On Assembly Agenda

At it regular meeting Tuesday, the Assembly will consider having a special election on a ballot question that would, if passed, raise the seasonal sales tax to help stabilize child care in Sitka. The ordinance is on the agenda for first reading...

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

8 hours ago
Wilma Stokes-Leslie, who works in the early voting site at Centennial Hall for the Nov. 3 general election, shows the 200-foot-long string that's provided by the Alaska Division of Elections for poll workers. State law prohibits any campaign material or active campaigning within 200 feet of a polling station – that includes hats, buttons and T-shirts. 

It's More Than a Job, Say Sitka Election Workers

Early, in-person voting for Alaska’s general election opened in Sitka on Tuesday morning, and as of this afternoon more than 530 people had cast ballots at the Centennial Hall voting site. The Alaska Division of Elections reported Thursday that...

By ANNA LAFFREY
Sentinel Staff Writer

4 days ago
Sticky notes cover a board listing ideas for improving Lower Moller Field, Thursday at Harrigan Centennial Hall. The board was part of a community meeting hosted by Sitka Parks and Recreation Division and Sitka Recreation Foundation Thursday to gather input from Sitkans that would help build a long range Parks and Recreation Master Plan.

Sitkans Share Ideas for 20-Year Recreation Plan

More than a hundred Sitkans weighed in Thursday with their suggestions and priorities for a 20-year Parks and Recreation master plan. Sitka Recreation Foundation and the city Parks and Recreation division hosted the three-hour open house. The...

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

4 days ago
Work continues on the new QTS data center in Eagle Mountain on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Planners Vote Down Data Centers for Now

As data center developers show interest in Alaska, city leaders are taking steps to keep data centers out of Sitka until proper local protections are in place. At their regular meeting Wednesday night Planning Commission members recommended in a...

By ANNA LAFFREY
Sentinel Staff Writer

5 days ago
Cab and tour operators ask questions as Assembly members Thor Christianson, foreground, and Scott Saline, out of frame, host a meeting on rule and rate changes Tuesday night at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Taxi, Tour Drivers Share Views on Ordinance

A town hall discussion on the proposed ordinance to regulate the taxicab and commercial passenger business in Sitka drew a good turnout at Centennial Hall Tuesday night, and produced a number of suggestions for changes in proposed and current...

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

5 days ago
Sports

Sitka Wolves Outshine Kayhi Kings

The Sitka High School girls varsity volleyball team outplayed the Ketchikan High School Kings to win 3-0 in matches Friday and Saturday at the Sitka gymnasium. On Friday night, SHS defeated visiting Ketchikan in three games with scores of 25-13,...

By Sentinel Staff
8 hours ago
Mt. Edgecumbe senior Benjamin Balluta reverses on Haines freshman Asher Jimenez during their 119-pound championship match under the spotlight at the Southeast Showdown in Juneau's George Houston Gymnasium, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. Balluta won by fall at 0:32 of the second period.

MEHS, SHS Wrestlers Show Out at SE Showdown

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé wrestling team honored its senior grapplers on Saturday and proceeded to sweep the team titles in the Southeast Showdown. Mt. Edgecumbe High School and Sitka High boys and girls squads earned their...
By KLAS STOLPE
Juneau Independent
8 hours ago

City League Basketball Update: 10/26/26

Keith Shelton sent the Hard Tacos into overtime Sunday with a deep 3-pointer with less than 15 seconds on the clock Sunday night, cutting a three-point deficit to Ludvig's Layup. Shelton's shot set up the Hard Tacos' 66-64 win at the Blatchley...
8 hours ago

Little League Annual Meeting Set for Tuesday

Sitka Little League is holding its annual meeting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the Blatchley Middle School gymnasium. Parents, coaches, volunteers and fans of baseball and softball are encouraged to attend the meeting, Sitka Little...
8 hours ago
Hames Center Manager Paige Craig shows off the recently completed work on the Hames Center gym floor today.

Hames Center 'Soft-Opens' New Hardwood

The Hames Center gym floor has never looked brighter – at least not in the past four decades. On Saturday, the Sitka Fine Arts Camp will mark the completion of a project to sand the floor, replace sections and make other improvements. The “soft...

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

4 days ago
Community News
Police blotter

Police Blotter
October 26, 2026

Police Blotter Sitka Police Department logged the following calls over the weekend Friday, October 23 At 1:13 p.m. a caller asked for a welfare check at Pioneer Park. Police found a mother napping in a car with kids were in it. Police...

8 hours ago
Obituaries
Screenshot
Wayne C. Bowers Dies; Business Owner was 69
Wayne Cameron Bowers, a construction company owner, fisherman, and a 24-year Sitka resident, died August 11 of a heart condition in Burien, Washington. He was 69. No services are scheduled at this time. Wayne was born June 22, 1957, in Chapel...
4 days ago
Dr. Thomas Edwin Jacobsen, DDS
Dr. Tom Jacobsen Dies; Service to Be on Nov. 8
Dr. Thomas Edwin Jacobsen, DDS, age 79, of Sitka, died September 7, 2026. Tom was born December 27, 1946, in Sioux City, Iowa, the son of Donald and Marian Jacobsen. He earned an undergraduate degree in general science from the University of Iowa...
Friday, October 16
Former Sitkan Mackenzie Clarke Dies in Seattle
The family of Mackenzie Augustus Clarke, 37, with profound sadness writes that he died unexpectedly on September 16 in Seattle. The former Sitkan, a Sitka High graduate, was the beloved son of David and Raine Clarke, brother of Kelsie and Zachary...
Friday, October 9
Wrangell Teacher, Coach Phil Wayne Dies in Sitka
Phillip I. Wayne passed away peacefully at his home in Sitka on Monday, September 27, at the age of 89. Phil’s arrival on February 7, 1937, in Corbin, Kentucky, was prominently featured in the Corbin Times as the first Caesarean birth in Laurel...
Friday, October 9
Alaska News
President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon arriving at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, after a campaign rally in Port Huron, Mich.(AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

The Latest: Blanche says Trump isn’t trying to meddle with Alaska election by suing over Senate race

Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the Trump administration’s lawsuit to block certification of Alaska’s Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses the race and argued he legal …
By The Associated Press
7 hours ago
President Donald Trump talks to reporters before boarding Air Force One, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, en route to a campaign rally in Mississippi. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Trump administration asks Washington to set aside ballots from 400 voters it says may be noncitizens

The Trump administration is asking Washington state to set aside any ballots received from more than 400 people it suspects registered to vote without U.S. citizenship. The Justice Department says …
By GENE JOHNSON
8 hours ago

Opposition grows to Trump lawsuit seeking to aid Sen. Dan Sullivan’s re-election bid

One of the most prominent figures backing Sen. Dan Sullivan’s re-election campaign is speaking out against a Department of Justice lawsuit intended to aid him. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said on Friday that the DOJ should have never filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to pause certification of the ongoing U.S. Senate election if […]
By James Brooks
9 hours ago
Find us on Facebook

Sitka Yesterday
October 26, 2026

20 YEARS AGO

October 2006 

Former state Sen. Richard I. Eliason has become the first Alaskan to be recognized by a Northwest organization for his contributions to the health of wild salmon. Eliason, a lifelong commercial fisherman, said he felt honored not just as an individual but for the state of Alaska. He is the first Alaskan to have been nominated to the hall of fame.

50 YEARS AGO

October 1976

In the Alaska Day races, 7-mile winners were Veronica Howard and Walter Gilmour, pre-high school; Heather Oen and David Licari, high school; Jan Turner, Roger Adams, post high school; and Albert R. Duncan, over 30.

8 hours ago
From the Associated Press
National news

AP investigation: Documents support claim ICE has detained a mentally ill US citizen since January

An Associated Press review has found that for nearly a year immigration authorities have detained and sought to deport a mentally ill man whose mother, lawyers and public records say was born in the …
By RYAN J. FOLEY
21 minutes ago
Israeli settlers line up to vote at a school serving as a polling station during Israel's general election in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Latest: Israelis vote in a tense election seen as a referendum on Netanyahu

Israelis are voting in a national election widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership. Tuesday's vote is the first since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and the …
By The Associated Press
28 minutes ago
Milwaukee Brewers third baseman David Hamilton, left, Tampa Bay Rays catcher Nick Fortes, center, and pitcher Cole Sulser, right, watch his RBI base hit during the fifth inning of Game 3 of baseball's World Series, Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla., between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Brewers rout the Rays 10-1 to move within a win of their first World Series title

Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang sparked Milwaukee's eight-run fifth inning, and the Brewers routed the Tampa Bay Rays 10-1 to move within one victory of their first World Series title. Rookie …
By ROB MAADDI
2 hours ago
Haunted attractions are taking Halloween to another level, offering paranormal investigations and overnight stays at a former psychiatric hospital and a funeral home — with one even hosting weddings. (AP video by Mike Householder)

Tours offer Halloween enthusiasts visits to former psychiatric hospital and funeral home

Halloween enthusiasts are seeking "real" scares at a former psychiatric hospital and funeral home. Eloise Asylum outside Detroit and Mortuary Manor in Toledo, Ohio, offer ghost-hunting tours. …
By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER
3 hours ago
International
A dealer watches computer monitors at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Asian stocks advance following a rally on Wall Street and oil prices fall

Asian stocks are mostly higher, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul lifted by buying of AI-related stocks. U.S. futures edged lower and oil prices extended losses. South Korea’s Kospi rose 3.3%, …
By ELAINE LAI
19 minutes ago
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva addresses supporters during a victory rally after winning a fourth term in the presidential runoff on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Lula’s win in Brazil bucks a regional shift to the right and denies Trump a powerful ally

Brazilian voters have denied Latin America’s resurgent right its ultimate prize. Leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Flávio Bolsonaro with 51.8% of the vote in Sunday's runoff …
By ISABEL DEBRE
44 minutes ago
Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance attends the opening ceremony of the 5th World Internet Conference in Wuzhen in east China's Zhejiang province on Nov. 7, 2018. (Chinatopix Via AP)

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming reclaims top spot in China’s rich list, thanks to his firm's AI push

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has reclaimed the top spot on a list of China’s richest people, driven by his company’s push into artificial intelligence. That's according to the annual rankings …
45 minutes ago
A pedestrian passes a campaign billboard featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and his main rival, opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot, with a message in Hebrew that reads "The race is tight," Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Voters in Israel will decide whether to oust Netanyahu after 3 years of war

Israelis will vote in a pivotal election as the country grapples with unfinished wars and divisions over its future. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a strong challenge from former military …
By CARA ANNA and TIA GOLDENBERG
2 hours ago