LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Federal officials on Wednesday approved most of Alaska’s four-y [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
At an hour-long work session with the Assembly Tuesda [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
The story behind a classic, though often misunderstoo [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
The state government risks losing millions of dollars in feder [ ... ]
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Alaska Beacon
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday signed a bill that promise [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, known for its steep mountains [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing Wednesday in competitive division City League volleyball matches, Ca [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 27
At 2:36 p.m. a dead [ ... ]
This Week in Girls on the Run
By Sitkans Against Family Violence
and The Pathways Coalition
During th [ ... ]
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 [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Pebble Mine CEO Quits Over Taped Comments
By BECKY BOHRER
The Associated Press
JUNEAU (AP) — The man helping lead efforts to develop a copper and gold mine near the headwaters of a major salmon fishery in Alaska has resigned following the release of recorded comments in which he “embellished” relationships with elected and regulatory officials, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. said Wednesday.
Tom Collier served as CEO for the Pebble Limited Partnership, which is owned by Canada-based Northern Dynasty and is seeking a key federal permit for the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, which supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. Collier’s resignation is effective immediately, Pebble spokesperson Mike Heatwole said by email.
The resignation letter was not released. Heatwole called it “a private matter between employer and employee.”
John Shively, a former Pebble partnership CEO, will act as interim CEO, Northern Dynasty said. Efforts to reach Collier weren’t immediately successful Wednesday.
Collier and Ron Thiessen, Northern Dynasty’s president and CEO, were shown in recorded conversations released this week by a Washington, D.C.-based group called the Environmental Investigation Agency. The recordings were made by individuals the group called “investigators” who had “expressed interest in investment opportunities related to the Pebble project.”
Thiessen, in a release Wednesday, slammed the group’s tactics as unethical. But he said it doesn’t excuse the comments that were made. He apologized “to all those who were hurt or offended, and all Alaskans.”
Heatwole did not respond to questions about whether there were any calls within Northern Dynasty for Thiessen to resign.
Collier in the tapes suggested support from the state for the project and described himself and Gov. Mike Dunleavy as “pretty good friends.” He also suggested Alaska’s two U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, were “embarrassed” by statements they made raising concerns about the project and were now “in a corner being quiet.”
Murkowski, in a statement, said she did not misunderstand an announcement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in August that said discharges at the mine site would cause “unavoidable adverse impacts to aquatic resources” and laid out levels of mitigation that would be required.
Murkowski and Sullivan released statements the day of the August announcement that said the corps had determined the project could not be permitted as currently proposed and they agreed with that position.
“I am dead set on a high bar for large-scale resource development in the Bristol Bay watershed,” Murkowski said in a statement Wednesday. “The reality of this situation is the Pebble project has not met that bar and a permit cannot be issued to it.”
Sullivan said he “unequivocally” stands behind his August comments. “Any suggestion otherwise is either wishful thinking, a blatant mischaracterization, or a desperate attempt to secure funding for a mine that cannot move forward,” he said in a statement.
Dunleavy’s office said statements made in the released videos “misrepresent the Dunleavy administration’s role and stance on the Pebble Project.” His office said resource development projects undergo “a rigorous environmental and permitting process” by federal agencies and that if a plan is submitted by Pebble to the state, “it will also undergo a vigorous review process.”
The corps also took issue with what a spokesperson characterized as misrepresentations or inaccuracies in the recorded comments. The corps has yet to make a final permitting decision on the project, which has been a source of intense debate in Alaska for years.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.