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Most read stories

Parade and Traditions Mark 2026 Alaska Day

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

Friday, October 16

JKT Brings Campaign, With Music, to Town

By MAYA GRAHAM
Special to the Sentinel
Friday, October 16

Police Chief Hall Warns of Fentanyl Danger

By ANNA LAFFREY
Sentinel Staff Writer

Wednesday, October 14

Data Center Control New Issue for Sitka

By ANNA LAFFREY
Sentinel Staff Writer

Yesterday at 7:28 PM

Second Interview Set For Admin Candidate

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Monday, August 24

Today's top stories

Fond Memories

FOND MEMORIES - Scott Saline hands out bags of freshly cooked rockfish at his Sea Daddy restaurant on Katlian Street Friday. Saline was offering free lunch to everyone to honor his good friend and long-time Sitka fisherman Jeff Stewart, who died after falling in the harbor in December 2023. Saline recalled an Alaska Day celebration in the 1980s when a fisherman marched in the parade wearing a huge hollowed out ling cod head dragging fishing gear, to the delight of many.
FOND MEMORIES - Scott Saline hands out bags of freshly cooked rockfish at his Sea Daddy restaurant on Katlian Street Friday. Saline was offering free lunch to everyone to honor his good friend and long-time Sitka fisherman Jeff Stewart, who died...
5 hours ago

Public Help Sought On Parks-Rec Plan

The Sitka Parks and Recreation Division and the Sitka Recreation Foundation will host an open house Thursday to gather input from Sitkans to help build a long range Parks and Recreation Master Plan for Sitka. The open house is 4 to 7 p.m. at...
By Noemi Nejedla, special to the Sentinel, and Sentinel Staff
5 hours ago
A photo taken on Friday shows the damage to the Ketchikan Public Utilities Ward Cove Substation caused by a landslide on Thursday.

Ketchikan Landslide Limits Electric Service

A landslide north of Ketchikan on Thursday ‘catastrophically’ disabled the Ketchikan Public Utilities electrical substation at Ward Cove, prompting local utility crews to reroute power to customers on Ketchikan's north end via two other...
By Sentinel Staff
Yesterday at 7:28 PM

Data Center Control New Issue for Sitka

City leaders are recommending changes to city zoning code concerning data center development in Sitka, as data center development proposals are popping up in Southeast and across Alaska. At a regular meeting 7 p.m. Wednesday at Centennial Hall,...

By ANNA LAFFREY
Sentinel Staff Writer

Yesterday at 7:28 PM
Attendees at the 2025 Alaska Day Ball twirl to the music of the Seattle Firefighters Pipes & Drums band Friday night at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Parade and Traditions Mark 2026 Alaska Day

A full slate of Alaska Day Festival and other activities will lead up to Alaska Day itself on Sunday, October 18. The packed schedule will include the Alaska Day Ball, parade, and a re-enactment of the October 18, 1867, transfer ceremony atop...

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

Friday, October 16
Sports

Wolves Top Braves in Fourth Head-to-Head

The Sitka Wolves bounced back from last week’s loss to Mt. Edgecumbe with a strong performance in their home gym Tuesday, defeating the Braves in their fourth meeting of the volleyball season ahead of the teams' final faceoff at the Region V...

By ANNA LAFFREY
Sentinel Staff Writer

5 hours ago
Sitka High School students Caellum Wentzel and Lazaria Kubacki give a command performance of "The Man Who Can't Dance" Saturday at the Performing Arts Center.

Sitka High and MEHS Host, Compete at Local DDF Tourney

Dozens of kids from around Southeast performed their best dramatic pieces and made their most compelling arguments at the drama, debate and forensics tournament Friday and Saturday at Sitka High. Schools competing in the regular season DDF...

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

5 hours ago

City League Basketball Update: 10/21/26

The 2026 City League basketball season continued Tuesday night at the Blatchley Middle School gymnasium, with Blanco’s Buckets defeating Yuyo’s Edge 83-71. Connor Dunlap led all scorers with 34 points. Hard Rock Construction also beat Sitka Sea...
5 hours ago

Sports Calendar: 10/21/26

Friday, Oct. 23 3 p.m. Sitka volleyball C team plays Ketchikan @ Home 5 p.m. Sitka JV volleyball team plays Ketchikan @ Home 7 p.m. Sitka varsity volleyball team plays Ketchikan @ Home Southeast wrestling teams, including Sitka and Mt....
5 hours ago
Sitka High School seniors line up with family members for Senior Night after their meet Saturday at the Mt. Edgecumbe Aquatic Center. Swimmers pictured (in swim gear), from left, are Zach Martens, Taryn Fleming, Corin Colliver, James Nellis and Elliott Galanin. (Photo provided to the Sentinel)

SHS Swimmers Post Top Times; Seniors Honored

Sitka High swimmers posted some of their best times at the Sitka Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Mt. Edgecumbe Aquatic Center. After the second meet Saturday, coaches, friends and families honored the five seniors on the Wolves...

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

Yesterday at 8:13 PM
Community News

Safeguarding Youths is Topic Of YAS Event

5 hours ago

The third annual Community Education Series Safeguarding Youth of Alaska will be held Oct. 27-28, hosted virtually and in person at Harrigan Centennial Hall. The event starts at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 27, with a lunch-and-learn, ‘‘FBI: Online...

This Week in Girls on the Run
Yesterday at 7:19 PM
Keet PAC Meet Set for Tonight
Yesterday at 7:11 PM
PUMPKIN PATCH
Friday, October 16
Police blotter

Police Blotter
October 21, 2026

Police Blotter Sitka Police Department logged the following calls Tuesday. Tuesday, October 20 At 7:32 a.m. a caller reported traffic cones had blown into the roadway at the O'Connell Bridge. The cones were moved out of the way. Police helped...

5 hours ago
Obituaries
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
SE Alaskan Harlan Adams Dies at 86
Harlan J. Adams passed away on May 26, 2026, at Swedish Hospital, Cherry Hill Campus, Seattle, Washington. Harlan was born on February 9, 1940, in Yakutat, Alaska. He and his family moved to Kake, Alaska in 1953. Harlan married Lavina on May 13,...
Monday, October 5
Alaska News

Commentary: Cook Inlet’s gas shortage has become Fairbanks’ diesel bill

On October 12, Golden Valley Electric Association asked its cooperative members to conserve electricity and prepare for possible controlled power outages. Scheduled maintenance, compounded by an unexpected shutdown of a unit at its North Pole Power Plant, had left the utility running all remaining available generation with very little reserve. Coming just before winter, after […]
By Gwen Holdmann
5 hours ago

After successive damaging ex-typhoons, Western Alaska considers future storms

A year after a Pacific storm largely destroyed villages in Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and prompted the biggest air evacuation in state history, people in the region are bracing for repeat occurrences. Among them is Johnny Andrew Jr. of Kwigillingok, a Yup’ik village of about 400 people, most of whom were evacuated when the storm hit. […]
By Yereth Rosen
7 hours ago

Revealed: The money behind the last-minute fringe candidate ad blitz in Alaska’s U.S. Senate primary

A left-leaning dark money organization and a GOP fund were among the groups behind the last-minute blitz of cash into Alaska’s U.S. Senate primary in August, when super PACs flooded the state with ads for fringe candidates on both the left and right, according to new filings with federal campaign finance regulators. The ads were […]
By Nathaniel Herz, Anchorage Press
8 hours ago
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Sitka Yesterday
October 21, 2026

20 YEARS AGO

October 2006 

Photo caption: Alaska State Trooper Larry Nicholson swears in members of the Keystone Kops near the Prospector statue. The troupe includes Diane Falk, Kim Smith, Lori Pettigrew, Cyndy Gephart, Jenny Houx, Jodie Bellows, Bernie Salt, Rachel Fate and Joan Berge.

50 YEARS AGO

October 1976

Alaska’s 1867 transfer from Russia to America will be celebrated with three days of events. Military personnel, Mrs. Jay Hammond and U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel will be among guests. Fireworks, Coast Guard aerial displays, dedication of a totem pole, and traditional events including the re-enactment of the transfer ceremony, Alaska Day Ball, Governor’s Tea, concerts, a parade, beard judging, parties and fund-raising by the Keystone Cops.

5 hours ago
From the Associated Press
National news
Tree debris obstructs part of a street as storms caused damage at a local apartment complex, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Hail the size of golf balls pummel parts of Arizona as rare storm moves through the West

The National Weather Service issued multiple warnings across parts of Arizona on Wednesday, including severe thunderstorm warnings that brought large hail the size of golf balls. Thunderstorms moved …
By WUFEI YU and JESSICA HILL
3 hours ago
FILE - The logo for Electronic Arts is displayed during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on June 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Video game developer BioWare shuts down, next 'Mass Effect' canceled amid broader layoffs at EA

Video game publisher Electronic Arts is shutting down the popular and influential game development studio BioWare after more than three decades. The upcoming “Mass Effect” game, the fifth since …
By BARBARA ORTUTAY
3 hours ago
FILE - Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., gestures during a news conference, Aug. 24, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

Trump brings a last-minute rally boost to Darline Graham in South Carolina's US Senate race

President Donald Trump will visit South Carolina to support Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who's in a tough campaign against Democratic nominee Annie Andrews. Graham replaced her late brother, …
By MEG KINNARD
3 hours ago
The original Old Main building on the University of Arizona campus is seen Friday, July 31, 2015, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Fraternity suspended at University of Arizona after female student reported assault by 2 men

The University of Arizona has suspended a fraternity's activities after a female student alleged two men sexually assaulted her at fraternity's house in August. The Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter was …
By MIKELLA SCHUETTLER
3 hours ago
International
FILE - People walk past a Likud party campaign billboard featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alongside opposition party leaders and bearing the Hebrew slogan "Right or Palestine," ahead of Israel's general election, in Beni Brak, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

A look at the major candidates in Israel's election next week

Israelis are set to vote on October 27 to decide if Benjamin Netanyahu will continue as prime minister or if Gadi Eisenkot will take the lead. Polls suggest a tight race between Netanyahu's …
By MELANIE LIDMAN
3 hours ago
The shark, which was named Bukang-i, was first spotted in the canal on September 18, drawing more than a million visitors.

South Korean officials struggle to free a shark trapped in Busan canal

South Korean officials are struggling to free a large gray shark trapped for over a month in a canal in Busan. The 3-meter-long dusky shark, nicknamed Bukangi, has become a tourist attraction, …
By KIM TONG-HYUNG
3 hours ago
Ryosuke Doi, of Japan, competes in the rings during the men's qualifications at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Photo highlights from the artistic gymnastics world championships in Rotterdam

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — The world’s top gymnasts compete for titles at the artistic gymnastics world championships in Rotterdam, showcasing strength, balance and precision across a range of …
By FRANCISCO SECO
4 hours ago
FILE - A man carrying water bottles walks along a dusty street in Hamanskraal, Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, May 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

Over 500 in South Africa sickened in outbreak linked to poor water quality

Over 500 people in South Africa have fallen ill from a gastrointestinal illness linked to poor water quality in two cities. Authorities have warned communities in Bronkhorstspruit, east of Pretoria, …
By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
4 hours ago