WEAR ORANGE – More than 100 Sitkans follow drummers as they march down Lincoln Street this afternoon for the Wear Orange parade. Sitka Tribe of Alaska organized the Sitka event as part of an international observance which will be held on Sept. 30, that began as Orange Shirt Day/Every Child Matters in Canada, to honor First Nation/Indigenous children and families affected by the Native residential school system. The Sitka event also included a free lunch at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi and a short program. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer Sitka’s municipal clerk has notified Sitka resident La [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Harrigan [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY Sentinel Staff Writer It’s a promenade, a memorial and a rock concert all rol [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS Alaska Beacon The trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are considering whet [ ... ]
Police Blotter Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today: September 28 At 4:04 p. [ ... ]
Michael Meier, Lutheran Pastor, Dies in Oregon Michael Lee Meier, the pastor of Sitka Lutheran Ch [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer Proposition 2 on the October 3 municipal election ballot [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY Sentinel Staff Writer Along a well-trodden trail through the woods on the south [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer Phil Burdick, a former Sitka School District co-assistan [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN Alaska Beacon Alaska’s largest Native organization has sided with the federal go [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN Alaska Beacon Some of the world’s rarest whales could get enhanced protection un [ ... ]
Parade, Lunch Friday Honors ‘Orange Shirt Day’tka Tribe of Alaska invites the community to [ ... ]
Police Blotter Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today: September 27 Police ass [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer The Assembly at Tuesday’s regular meeting distributed [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY Sentinel Staff Writer On Tuesday voters in the city election will weigh in on a [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE Alaska Beacon Alaska Legal Services Corp. was awarded a million dollar grant fr [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS Alaska Beacon The three members of Alaska’s congressional delegation are trying [ ... ]
ANCHORAGE (AP) – An Alaska man facing murder charges in state court has now also been indicted on [ ... ]
By LARRY PERSILY Wrangell Sentinel writer The state wants to send the Matanuska, the oldest vessel [ ... ]
Police Blotter Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today: September 26 At 12:28 a [ ... ]
Pool Tournament Slated This Week The third annual Neil Huff Pool Tournament is running today throu [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer City Administrator John Leach says Southeast Conference [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer Voting has been slow in the seven days since early votin [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer The Sitka School District welcomed an Artist in the Scho [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Wedding Ring Found After Dog Gives it Up
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Balovich family’s mastiff Halli has a habit of scooping up small items in her droopy lips.
So when Nikki Balovich’s platinum wedding band went missing in January her thoughts went right to the 90-pound puppy.
The dog regards household items that end up on the floor as her toys, Nikki said. “She picks them up, and carries things around – hair clips, rocks, hair ties. She’s always spitting them out.”
Nikki Balovich shows her recovered ring. (Sentinel Photo)
Nikki was pregnant at the time, and would take her rings off at the end of a long day when her fingers would be swollen.
“My husband was always saying, put them away, put them upstairs – you’re going to lose them,” she said.
Nikki looked everywhere for the missing wedding band, including in Halli’s poop when they took the dog outside, but she knew that it was a long shot.
“I gave up, I thought it was long gone,” she said. “We take the dog everywhere with us, on hikes, on the boat – what were the chances we were going to find it?”
But on Tuesday this week she saw a Facebook post on Sitka For Sale: “FOUND! Beautiful wedding type band. If u have lost a ring, no matter where, call and describe! Found in an unusual place.”
“It’s been so long, but I had a gut feeling,” she said. “I thought I’ll call, why not?” On Wednesday she made the call, and described her ring – a platinum band with 10 round diamonds – and sent a photo to the person who posted the message, Bob Potrzuski. (He and his wife had already tried without success to find the owner by calling the police department, putting an ad in the Sentinel and going on Problem Corner.)
It turned out that Bob’s wife, Carol, and her friend Julie Schmitts, a few weeks ago decided to do a good deed, and were picking up dog poop on the ballfield behind Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary, in preparation to the start of the baseball and softball seasons. As they made their rounds, Carol spotted something glittery in the waste, and it turned out to be a ring with diamonds.
As for how it got there, Nikki Balovich explained that she was also volunteering at the ball field recently, organizing the equipment shed in preparation for the season, while the dog ran around.
“I feel very lucky,” Nikki said.
It was also the same day as her husband’s birthday, making the find a nice birthday surprise for him as well, since the couple had been considering buying a replacement.
Nikki collected the ring from Carol on Thursday, put it on, and said it will take some convincing to get her to take it off again.
“It’s been on my hands ever since – my hand was feeling naked without it,” she said.
Login Form
______________________
AK COVID-19
At a Glance
(updated 9-12-2023)
By Sentinel Staff
The state Department of Health and Social Services has posted the following update on the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alaska as of 8:57 a.m. Tuesday, September 12.
New cases as of Tuesday: 278
Total cases (cumulative) statewide – 301,513
Total (cumulative) deaths – 1,485
Case Rate per 100,000 – 38.14
To visit the Alaska DHSS Corona Response dashboard website click here.
COVID in Sitka
The Sitka community level is now "Low.'' Case statistics are as of Tuesday.
Case Rate/100,000 – 152.50
Cases in last 7 days – 13
Cumulative Sitka cases – 3,575
Deceased (cumulative) – 10
The local case data are from Alaska DHSS.
______________________
20 YEARS AGO
September 2003
Photo caption: Rescue K-9 team leader Karen Royce holds Alyeska, next to Mike Motti and his German shepherd Stryker during an agility drill on Alice Island. ...The Rescue K-9 team is part of the Search and Rescue team, a division of the Sitka Volutneer Fire Department.
If Sitka voters don’t re-authorize the existing 1 percent sales tax in an Oct. 7 referendum, the Sitka School District could be in a desperate situation, Superintendent Steve Bradshaw said at the Chamber of Commerce meeting.
50 YEARS AGO
September 1973
Conrad P. Baines Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Baines, Mt. Edgecumbe, has been graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a master’s degree in public health. He is a 1966 graduate of Sitka High.
By a margin of five to one, members of striking local 962-T of the United Paperworks International Union, AFL-CIO voted Thursday to accept a proposed contract. ... The 70-day strike was the second in ALP’s 13 years of operation. Mill personnel director Lloyd Rice said the mill is expected to be in full operation by next week.
Calendar
