Attention subsribers
Beginning on Saturday, June 21st, you will need to be a subscriber in order to view the content on this site.
If you are a current subscriber but do not have an account here, you can click here to set up your free account.
If you're not yet a subscriber, click here to subscribe today.
Log in Subscribe
Today's top stories
Brendan Jones teaches Latin dance to young students on the SJ campus lawn June 10 during the Fine Arts Camp elementary camp.

Dance Party to Offer Salsa in All Flavors

An evening of Cuban salsa dancing, with space for novices and experienced dancers alike, will hit the floor Saturday in a gathering hosted by the Friends of Sitka Circus Arts for people of all ages, complete with dance lessons and dinner. The...
The ride sharing app Lyft shows available rides in Sitka today.

Uber, Lyft in Sitka As Rideshare Arrives

The pink Lyft emblem glowing in the dashboard of a black SUV has announced the entrance of rideshares into Sitka’s transportation market.  As of this month, just a few Sitka residents are contracting with global rideshare companies to offer...
Robert Woolsey talks about his retirement from public radio in the Backdoor Cafe recently.

Rob Woolsey Retires, Recalls KCAW Career

Robert Woolsey’s first solo day on the air at Raven Radio was September 10, 2001.  “This is great, why didn’t I do this before?” he recalled thinking. The next day, the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center while he...
Community news
DV Victims Offered Class in Cedar Weaving
Sitka Tribe of Alaska tribal citizens who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking are invited to learn the art of cedar weaving with renowned Haida artist Holly Churchill. A weeklong workshop is offered in partnership with...
Community VBS Planned Aug. 4-8
Sitka community vacation Bible school will be offered 9 a.m.-noon Aug. 4-8 at Sitka Assembly of God, 214 Kimsham Street. The free VBS is in partnership with Sitka Christian Center and Sitka AG. Songs, games, snack and story times are planned....
Food Preservation Safety Talk Slated
A free class outlining the most important food and public safety risks associated with food preservation, such as canning and jarring, and how to minimize those risks will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 10, at Sitka Public Library. It is...
Potato Starts at Farmers Market
Transition Sitka will have a table full of potato starter plants to celebrate the first Sitka Farmers Market of the year on Saturday, July 12. All are invited to stop by the table to pick up a plant and find out about growing one of the most...
Healthy Soups Workshop Topic
A workshop to teach how to make healthy, home-canned vegetable soups from garden to pantry using a pressure cooker is being offered 5:30-9 p.m. tonight. Participants also will learn to make vegetable pickles using the water bath method. The...
Correction
An article in the July 8, 2025 edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel incorrectly stated that the online landslide dashboard at sitkalandslide.org was created by the Southeast Alaska Landslide Information and Preparedness Partnership. The Sentinel...
Correction
In Tuesday's story on the final performances for high schoolers at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, it was incorrectly stated that Friday's and Saturday's shows will take place at Odess Theater on the SJ Campus. In fact, the performances Friday and...
Community Calendar
July 9-11, 2025
WEDNESDAY 6-8 a.m. MEHS Aquatic Center Pool Open  9 a.m.-3 p.m. Made in Sitka Market, Harrigan Centennial Hall 11-2 Salvation Army Little Store open Noon White Elephant Shop open Noon AA, St. Peter’s basement, call AA hotline 747-8866...
SCSS Quilt Raffle Tickets Available
Sitka Cancer Survivor’s Society will be selling its annual quilt raffle tickets at all Sitka Farmer’s Markets this summer. The first will be 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, July 12. Tickets cost $10 each. Tickets will be drawn Oct. 6 at Sitka Elks...
Police blotter

Police Blotter
July 9, 2025

Police Blotter Sitka Police Department received the following calls Tuesday. July 8 At 8:15 a.m. a man was found sleeping in a bank lobby. He left after police arrived. A woman said she suspected a caller had tried to pull a scam. She said she...

Obituaries
Sheila Dianne Lawson Dies; 43-Year Resident Was 78
The following information was submitted to the obituary form on the website: deceased name: Sheila Dianne Lawson obituary: In Loving Memory of Sheila Dianne Lawson 1946 – 2025 Sheila Dianne Lawson, a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend,...
Former Longtime Sitkan Kathie Etulain Dies at 84
Kathie Etulain January 3, 1941 – June 10, 2025 Kathie Etulain, beloved mother, wife, sister, and grandmother passed away peacefully on June 10, 2025 in Bellingham, WA. She was 84. She is survived by her husband of 63 years Dan, residing in Sitka,...
Angela Lee Haag. (Photo provided)
Angela Lee Haag Dies; Former Sitkan Was 45
Services for Angela Lee Haag, a former Sitka resident, will be held 4 to 6 p.m. July 5 at the Mid-Valley Independent Baptist Church in Houston, Alaska, Mile 57.7 on the Parks Highway. Angela died in Houston on her 45th birthday, Jan. 1,...
Joyce Marvel Martin Dies; Former Resident Was 94
Joyce Marvel Martin, a beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully on June 6 at the age of 94. Joyce got her name because, as her family put it, marvelous day!” “The day of her birth was a joyous and Born on...
Sports

Mullin Earns National Sports Accolade

Sitka seniors Clare Mullin, right, and Marina Dill lead the pack in the girls 1600 meters during the 2025 ASAA/First Bank Alaska State Track & Field Championships in May in Anchorage. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
For the second consecutive year, Sitka High running ace Clare Mullin has been named Gatorade Player of the Year in recognition of her athletic, academic and community achievements.  Mullin has won numerous long distance track races at state...
More than 100 runners start the Medvejie Solstice Run Saturday at Herring Cove.

Medvejie Race Draws Out-of-Town Runners

More than a hundred runners made their way across Green Lake Road on Saturday’s 18th annual Medvejie Solstice Run, a fundraiser for Sitka High School’s track and cross country programs. KK Prussian, a co-organizer of the run, said she met at...
Find us on Facebook

Sitka Yesterday
July 9, 2025

20 YEARS AGO

July 2005

Photo caption: Dr. John Totten points out details of an x-ray to Lois Rhodes on new view boxes in Sitka Community Hospital Imaging Services Dept. ... The boxes were purchased with funds donated in memory of Rhodes’ mother, Cora Johnson.

50 YEARS AGO

July 1975

In the 4th of July channel swim boys 16 and over Mike Griener won $75 first, Karl Stedman won $50 second, Mike Bovee won $25 third, and Scott Eddy won $10 fourth. For girls 16 and over winners were Heather Oen first, Laurie Higbee second, Ann Free third and Susan Poquiz fourth. In the children’s parade, wheeled vehicle category, winners were Dawn Bigelow, Christopher John Hope and Trevor Harang.

Around Alaska

Gov. Dunleavy veto of increase for Alaska child care and infant learning funding draws concerns

The budget vetoes that Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued last month included millions of dollars proposed by the Legislature to bolster child care and early intervention services for children with disabilities or developmental delays. Dunleavy vetoed a proposed $1.86 million in additional funding for child care grant programs and place-based and home-based child care centers, […]

Alaska Gov. Dunleavy’s office says state has no plans to build ‘Bear Alcatraz’ to jail ICE detainees

After a Fox News interview raised the possibility of Alaska building a “Bear Alcatraz” Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility, the office of Gov. Mike Dunleavy said on Tuesday that the state has no such plans.  The Dunleavy administration statement was prompted by an inaccurate story by Newsweek that summarized the interview, asserting that the […]

Alaska appeals court reverses attempted murder conviction after technical error at trial

The Alaska Court of Appeals has overturned an Anchorage man’s attempted murder conviction after finding that the trial judge improperly instructed jurors before they convicted the man. In a written order published Friday, the court reversed the conviction of Rigoberto Guillermo Walker and said that prosecutors may elect to retry him for attempted murder. If […]

US Supreme Court opens door to large-scale federal layoffs

The U.S. Supreme Court late Tuesday lifted lower court injunctions that had blocked attempts by President Donald Trump and his DOGE Service to restructure the federal government. Labor unions, advocates and local governments that sued to block the cuts said the president exceeded his authority with the executive order by moving to dismantle the federal […]

Tundra fire on Alaska’s North Slope among the biggest in recent years

A lightning-sparked fire that has burned about 2,000 acres of Arctic Alaska tundra is the biggest wildfire on the North Slope in eight years. The Ikpikpuk Fire, which bears the name of a 195-mile river that flows north into the Arctic Ocean, was discovered on June 22. Though classified as active, it is unstaffed, meaning […]

National Park Service asks for tips after boat injures whale in Glacier Bay National Park

Officials with the National Park Service are asking for the public’s help as they try to figure out how a humpback whale was injured by a boat in June. Pictures published by the park on July 1 show a humpback whale with a large gash behind its dorsal fin. The whale was photographed uninjured on […]

Sick leave is now mandatory in Alaska. Here’s what you need to know.

On July 1, Alaska’s new sick-leave and minimum wage increase law took effect. Approved by voters in November, it states that someone working at a business with 15 or more employees will earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 56 per year, unless the employer […]

‘In the Footsteps of the Traveller’ explores the skies through the perspective of Northern Dene

At a book launch in May, Paul Herbert shared to a full theater at the Morris Thompson Cultural Visitors Center in Fairbanks how he met Chris Cannon, the author of the newly published book “In the Footsteps of the Traveller: The Astronomy of Northern Dene.” One evening after he had been out on a trail […]
From the Associated Press
National news
FILE - Rick Springfield performs at Live Aid, a famine relief concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia Pa., Jon uly 13, 1985. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

Judas Priest, Rick Springfield, John Oates and Bob Geldof reflect on 40 years of Live Aid

Forty years ago, the legendary Live Aid concerts simulcast from Philadelphia and London aimed to do a lot of good. They helped to raise over $100 million for famine relief in Ethiopia and inspired …
A New Mexico mountain village is preparing for another round of monsoon rains as it tries to dig out from historic flooding that killed a man and two children. (AP Video: Roberto Rosales)

New Mexico village rebuilds all over again after record-breaking flash flood kills 3

The mountain village of Ruidoso has returned to the grim rituals of rebuilding from flash flooding. Crews are working to clear twisted metal, broken trees and muddy debris from streets and homes days …
Dan Beazley, of Michigan, left, reacts as he holds a large cross with Abigail Smithson during a vigil for flooding victims at Tivy Antler Stadium on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Hundreds gather at high school stadium to honor the many lost to Texas deadly floods

Several hundred people have gathered for a worship ceremony at a high school stadium in Texas. The vigil was held Wednesday evening to remember of the at least 120 people who died in the catastrophic …
FILE - President Donald Trump signs an executive order on birthright citizenship in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

New Hampshire judge to hear arguments on class action against Trump’s birthright citizenship order

A federal judge in New Hampshire will hear arguments Thursday on a class-action lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship restrictions. The lawsuit, filed by the American …
International
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron sit down for bilateral talks at 10 Downing Street in London, Wednesday, July 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Britain and France try again to tackle English Channel migrant crossings

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are focusing on stopping migrant crossings in the English Channel. Officials will discuss economic growth, defense, and …
The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Eternity C is seen near Cathlamet, Oregon, July 23, 2019. (Mike Cullom via AP)

Ship attacked by Yemen's Houthi rebels sinks in the Red Sea, 6 of 25 aboard rescued

Houthi rebels have attacked and sunk the cargo ship Eternity C in the Red Sea. A European naval force reported Wednesday that only six of the 25 crew members have been rescued so far. The attack …
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, front, arrives at Subang Air Base, outside of Kuala Lumpur Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rubio arrived in Malaysia to attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)

Rubio will meet Russian foreign minister in Malaysia with Ukraine tensions high

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet his Russian counterpart in Malaysia for what could be a testy conversation as tensions between the countries rise over Moscow's increasing attacks on …
Macarthur FC player Kearyn Baccus, center, leaves at Campbelltown Local Court in Sydney, Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image via AP)

Two players plead guilty to match-fixing over yellow cards in Australian soccer's A-League

Two professional players have admitted in court to engaging in betting corruption after they were paid to earn yellow cards during games in Australian soccer’s A-League. Former Macarthur Bulls …
National Sports
Arizona Diamondbacks' Geraldo Perdomo celebrates while rounding the bases after hitting a grand slam home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Orlando Ramirez)

Perdomo hits grand slam, Pfaadt throws 8 innings to help the Diamondbacks beat the Padres

Geraldo Perdomo hit a grand slam and All-Stars Eugenio Suárez and Corbin Carroll, as well as James McCann, also homered for the Arizona Diamondbacks in an 8-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on …

Former Olympic wrestler and MMA star Ben Askren recovering after double lung transplant

Olympic wrestler and former UFC fighter Ben Askren has undergone a double lung transplant after battling severe pneumonia. In a social media post Wednesday, Askren shared that he is now recovering. …

Rays slugger Junior Caminero to compete in Home Run Derby and start at third base in All-Star Game

Tampa Bay Rays slugger Junior Caminero announced he will compete in the Home Run Derby on Monday in Atlanta. Hours later, he learned he will start at third base for the American League in the …
Entertainment
This image released by Peacock shows Cierra Ortega in an episode of "Love Island USA." (Ben Symons/Peacock via AP)

Former 'Love Island USA' contestant Cierra Ortega apologizes for using racial slur

Former “Love Island USA” contestant Cierra Ortega has released a video on TikTok apologizing for previously using a racial slur against Asian people. Just a week before the reality show’s …

Video game performers vote on contract that could end nearly three-year-long battle over AI

Union members have until July 9 at 5 p.m. Pacific to vote on a tentative contract between video game performers and their employers. If the agreement is ratified, it would formally end a nearly …

Asian American, Pacific Islander comics are the main event in an LA comedy and cuisine festival

For one weekend, Belly Laughs is mounting an unprecedented gathering of 30 AAPI stand-up comics — from headliners to newer scene-stealers — in downtown Los Angeles. There will also be 20 food and …
Health
FILE - Water flows from a shower head on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

A good shower is a simple shower, no matter what influencers recommend

Elaborate, multistep shower routines are all over social media. They can inspire people to spending endless amounts of time sudsing up. But those routines can harm your skin and the environment. …

The US is having its worst year for measles in more than three decades

Measles cases in the U.S. are at their highest in three decades. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the U.S. has 1,288 cases since the beginning of the year. That’s higher …

Mattel introduces its first Barbie with Type 1 diabetes

Mattel has introduced its first Barbie doll with representing someone with Type 1 diabetes. The doll, part of the Fashionistas line, includes realistic medical accessories like a continuous glucose …