BIG RIGS – Max Bennett, 2, checks out the steering on a steamroller during the 3 to 5 Preschool’s Big Rig fundraiser in front of Mt. Edgecumbe High School Saturday. Hundreds of kids and parents braved the wet weather to check out the assortment of machines, including road building trucks, a U.S. Coast Guard ANT boat, police cars and fire department rigs. Kids were able to ride as passengers on ATVs. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
From high costs and low availability to challenges sur [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A number of participants at Thursday’s community me [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE Alaska Beacon TJ Beers stood across the street from the Capitol in a nav [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
When it rains hard enough in the Prince of Wales Island town of C [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
A designated wilderness area in Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Fo [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
Julie Kitka, the longtime president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
April 12
At 5:18 p.m. a caller asked for a [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka Tourism Task Force reviewed a number of recomme [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Almost exactly a century ago, the engines of four modi [ ... ]
By RACHEL BECKER
Alaska Beacon
In a devastating blow to California’s fishing industry, federa [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said a poll shows there is strong su [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a long-a [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
When the federal government established an Arctic Domain Awareness Cente [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
April 11
At 2:14 a.m. a report was logged t [ ... ]
Card of Thanks
Dear Sitka, I would like to say thank you for the outpouring of love and support for t [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
High school musicians and directors from around South [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Recent changes in the collection of recyclable materia [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Opening the softball season strong at a tournament in [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska House of Representatives has voted to provide state fu [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
An Alaska conservation group has released a new series of reports [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
Sixty years after North America’s most powerful earthquake on record r [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
April 10
A dog was reported running loose i [ ... ]
Big Rig Event
Set Saturday
For All Ages
All types of vehicles, food and activities are planned for the [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
After hearing testimony from a number of residents, t [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
October 30, 2020, Community Happenings
ANS to Meet
On Monday
The Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 4 will meet 3:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, on Zoom. ANS members, and anyone interested in learning more about ANS, are being encouraged to attend.
The ANS mission is ‘‘‘to better the lives of Native people and their families; to fight for civil rights and land rights for all Native people; to share the cultural knowledge, wisdom, and artistic beauty of Native tribal societies, and to strive for a spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood among all people.”
Membership dues are $12 a year, and all are welcome. For call or text Nancy, 907-227-9102, with questions.
Women’s Book
Group to Meet
The Women’s Book Group will hold a Zoom meeting to discuss ‘‘The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo’’ at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10. Women can call Dorothy at 747-3412 to receive an emailed invitation.
Climate Connection: Choosing a Destination
By Leah Mason
How do you feel when you find yourself in an unfamiliar place, having to make decisions about which way to go? Most of us have experienced this. For me, this feeling draws me back to the days before air-conditioned vehicles, when my family made a regular habit of getting lost on summer car trips. We would drive, hot, angry and confused, until forced to admit that we were not getting where we wanted to go. Back then we didn’t have navigation tools to tell us where we were, or help us get to our destination. Five-year-old Leah would lie in the back of our gigantic station wagon - hot, thirsty, terrified of angering the driver - and hope that it would all end soon. Now, as an adult, I understand how hard it is to be the driver who has no idea about where we are.
Most people think of me as someone who is very sure of myself, but I am actually a recovering indecisive person. As a teenager and young adult, I was completely paralyzed by doubt about everything. Over time, I realized that I was loading decisions with a lot of unrealistic expectations. For example, “this decision will change my life.” Or, “this decision must be the best decision I could make - for all time.” It was so hard to tackle those expectations that I would wait for something to happen rather than making an actual decision about it. It took a long time for me to understand that this made me really unhappy. Eventually, I figured out that letting events - or other people - take decisions out of my hands made me feel like that 5-year old in the station wagon. Powerless and at the mercy of events and other people.
This is what I think about when I am tackling the decisions that I need to make about climate change. These are big decisions. I don’t have the best information about where we are, or what things will look like if we get off this 32-lane highway. I do know that things are changing, and that I am not prepared for those changes. None of us are. The decisions I make will change my life but my life is changing anyway, and making my own decisions lets me do some of the navigating and driving. This makes me feel much better.
Yes, it’s a lot of responsibility. It’s not comfortable, but it feels a lot better than any of the other options that I have. The question for me is where do I want to go? What is my destination? How do I get there? Where is my darned map?
My answer is that I want to live in a world that I recognize. That means finding an off-ramp that offers a healthier relationship with the intelligent life that is all around us - on THIS planet. It’s a destination and a map. I will know that I’m going in the right direction when there are more trees, fewer extinctions, clearer air, and a lot less garbage. If this sounds good to you, feel free to join me!
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Leah Mason is on a road-trip to a better world with the good folk of the Sitka Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Hop aboard by visiting https://citizensclimatelobby.org
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20 YEARS AGO
April 2004
Responding to the requests of athletes, coaches and parents, the Sitka School Board voted unanimously Monday against a proposal that would have changed Sitka High School’s classification from Class 4A, which includes Juneau and Ketchikan, to the 3A, which has schools with enrollment of 100 to 400 students.
50 YEARS AGO
April 1974
Memories of Sitka’s first radio station have been revived by a St. Louis, Mo., man who was one of the founders. Fred A. Wiethuchter recently wrote a letter to “Mayor Sitka, Alaska” asking about the town since he was here during World War II. He was an Army private at Fort Ray when he was attached to Armed Services Radio Station KRAY and WVCX ....
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