FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]
By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]
Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]
Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m. [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
UA Regents Delay Downsizing Decision
By DAN JOLING
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The University of Alaska Board of Regents on Monday postponed a decision that would have allowed administrators to bypass usual procedures for cutting programs and personnel.
Regents face a 41% cut in state funding for the university but delayed declaring a “financial exigency” that would allowed rapid downsizing through expedited layoffs of tenured staff.
“I think the board wanted to give the political process a little more time, and that makes sense,” university President Jim Johnsen said in a phone interview afterward.
The board will hold an informational meeting next week and will gather again July 30 for a formal consideration of the declaration.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy last month used line-item vetoes to eliminate $130 million in state funding from the university budget. University administrators say the impact will be greater because fewer students will enroll and pay tuition and researchers will lose grants and contract work with federal agencies.
Lawmakers failed to reach the three-quarter majority threshold last week to override the vetoes. About one-third of the legislature, including most members of the House minority and a handful of senators, stayed away from the Capitol in a dispute about where a special legislative session called by Dunleavy should have been held.
Republican Sen. Click Bishop, near tears and with his voice cracking, apologized to regents, who face major institutional decisions and minimal time to make them.
“I want to say I’m sorry,” Bishop said. “This should never have happened.”
The House Finance Committee met Monday morning in Anchorage to consider the size of dividends to be paid out from the Alaska Permanent Fund and adopted a bill that would restore money that Dunleavy vetoed. That measure also could be vetoed, but Bishop pledged to find additional support among his colleagues.
“I’m not done, and we’re going to turn this around,” he said.
Johnsen said he has been in contact with Dunleavy and that the governor is operating from a position of power after seeing the override vote fail. Johnsen said he’s focusing on the budget in hand rather than how it might be enhanced in the next few weeks.
At the current level of spending, the university would have to cut $11 million per month through next June to balance its budget. Delaying reductions until October would mean having to cut $15 million monthly.
“Every day we delay only compounds the cuts we need to take later in the year,” Johnsen said.
But regents were hesitant to take immediate action while legislators negotiate with Dunleavy.
Regent Andy Teuber called for waiting until July 30 or the vote on a declaration of exigency, given the monumental scope of the decision and the ongoing discussions.
Regent Lisa Parker said she was unwilling to waive normal procedures without a plan for reductions. “It scares me terribly,” she said.
Regent Darroll Hargraves told Johnsen to assure Dunleavy that regents were willing to make cuts but needed a longer “glide path” to do so.
Maria Williams, chairwoman of the University of Alaska Faculty Alliance, urged regents to hold off on decisions until they had tapped into the expertise and suggestions of faculty.
Johnsen said regents could take one of three approaches and all have pros and cons.
Administrators could simply cut every campus by a certain percentage, which would keep the current university structure but would be disabling to every unit, Johnsen said. Administrators could eliminate a major campus and some of the 13 satellite campuses. A third alternative is uniting all three major campuses under one accrediting banner and making strategic reductions, such as limiting fields of study to one campus each, Johnsen said.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....