SHOVEL READY – City officials pose with a gold shovel at the location of a new marine haulout Friday at the Gary Paxton Industrial Site. Pictured are, from left, Assembly member Kevin Mosher, GPIP Board of Directors members Chad Goeden and Lauren Howard Mitchell (holding her son, Gil Howard), Municipal Engineer Michael Harmon, Assembly member Thor Christianson, Municipal Administrator John Leach, Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz, Sitka Economic Development Association Executive Director Garry White, and GPIP Board of Directors Chair Scott Wagner. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Assembly members at a busy meeting on Tuesday approve [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Yeidikook’áa (Dionne) Brady-Howard has been electe [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
A five-member state commission has approved plans for a new local [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich has almost clinched a [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka Police received the following calls as of midnight last night.
November 11
At 8:09 [ ... ]
Planning Event for
Afterschool Programs
The City and Borough of Sitka Parks and Recreation will host a [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, heading into her second term [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Alaska lawmakers expect bipartisan coalitions to control the stat [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka Economic Development Association is seeking mor [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
A helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka rescued three fishermen [ ... ]
By CATHY LI
Special to the Sentinel
Sitka Homeless Coalition held a community walk up Jarvis Street Sa [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka High swimmers posted personal best times and ra [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
The world’s biggest sockeye salmon run will be larger than average nex [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Judicial Council has nominated an Anchorage judge, an [ ... ]
Sitka Police received the following calls as of midnight last night.
November 8
At 5:47 p.m. a vehicle [ ... ]
Fall Art Walk
Slated Saturday
To Feature Sitkans
The Fall Art Walk, 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, will sh [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Through grants and other financial aid to training and [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
From mushrooms to salmon to venison and blueberries, [ ... ]
By ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Planning Commission gave preliminary approval to a tw [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Competing against wrestlers from across the state in [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
In their first swim meet of the season, 37 members of the Baranof Barracudas [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
In a City League recreational division basketball game Thursday, Forrester a [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Alaska senators will address education, elections, energy and the [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska House of Representatives will be governed by a mostly [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Fine Arts Camp Drops Suit Over Worker Visa
By James Brooks
Alaska Beacon
A key employee for one of Alaska’s major arts organizations has received a federal immigration visa, ending a lawsuit over the case.
Sitka Fine Arts Camp is withdrawing its federal immigration lawsuit after immigration officials approved the visa needed for its technical theater director.
Attorney Nicholas Olano filed a request for voluntary dismissal Wednesday, less than a month after he filed suit on behalf of the camp, a 50-year-old institution that conducts courses on the grounds of the former Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka.
“Things are back again to where they should be,” he said by phone on Friday.
The lawsuit involved Denush Vidanapathirana, who runs programs for the camp and is in charge of the Sitka School District’s multimillion-dollar Performing Arts Center.
Vidanapathirana, who holds a Sri Lankan passport, needed a visa to continue working in Sitka, but the federal government initially determined that the theater manager’s skills didn’t meet the standard for an H-1B visa, given to people who have special technical skills.
Sitka Fine Arts Camp sued, appealing that decision, and it was reversed quickly. H-1B lawsuits are relatively uncommon in Alaska; they’re more common in the Lower 48, where high-tech companies frequently seek international employees.
“I think the (assistant U.S. attorney) did something magical because they didn’t even answer or respond (to the lawsuit),” Olano said, “but the case got reopened.”
Olano said Vidanapathirana is already back on the job.
--https://alaskabeacon.com/james-brooks
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20 YEARS AGO
November 2004
Sitka Emblem Club has begun taking orders for Thanksgiving pies. Forms can be picked up and dropped off at the Elks Lodge and the Daily Sentinel. This year’s sale is a fundraiser for Aurora’s Watch and will include donations of pies to the Swan Lake Senior Center and Aurora’s Watch.
50 YEARS AGO
November 1974
Shee Atika Inc., the Sitka area Native Association formed under provisions of the Alaska Native Land Claims Act of 1971, will hold its first shareholders meeting Saturday to elect its first regular board of directors.
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