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Today's top stories

Sitkan Takes Up Challenge of Native Food Only

Kaa,laa Mary Goddard harvests blue huckleberries near her house in the 4600 block of Halibut Point Road today. Goddard is 26 days into an effort to spend 90 days eating only customary and traditional Native foods, most of which she has harvested, processed and prepared.
The abundance of wild food in Southeast Alaska has long inspired Kaa,laa Mary Goddard, who is now spending 90 days filling up only on customary and traditional Native foods, most of which she has harvested, processed and prepared.  Today...

Troller Signup Opens For No-Compete Fishery

Commercial salmon trollers must register by noon on Aug. 1 to participate in a non-competitive chinook fishery that will  open for ten days in early August in place of a competitive August opening, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game...

Officers Put Sights On Bears In Town

A Sitka Police Department officer shot a bear cub near the city shops on Jarvis Street at about 2 a.m. today, as authorities are working to dispatch a group of bears that has been frequenting neighborhoods near Indian River. "We’ve determined...
Katherine Rose, public radio station KCAW-FM news director, left, talks shop with Mariana Robertson, KCAW general manager, in the radio station newsroom at 2 Lincoln Street today. The decision by Congress to cut $9 billion from funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid will mean a loss of $178,000 in previously approved federal support for Sitka’s community radio station.

Public Radio Group Responding to Crisis

The decision by Congress to cut $9 billion from funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid will mean a loss of $178,595 for each of the next two years in previously approved federal support for Sitka’s community radio station, KCAW-FM (Raven...

Assembly Looks at Capital Priorities

The Assembly in a work session Thursday evening discussed city capital projects and whether there are ways to move the upgrade of Lincoln Street to a higher priority. Five of the seven Assembly members attended, and since it was a work session,...
Community news
Author to Read from Book On Ricketts, Sitka Voyage
California essayist and poet Jerry Martien will visit in Sitka in late July to read from his new book, "Waveshock: Ed Ricketts, the Voyage of the Grampus, and Our Biopoetic Future" (Empty Bowl Press, 2025). The free reading will be held at Yaw...
Inupiaq Crossbow, Spears On Display at SJ Museum
An Inupiaq miniature crossbow, with two miniature spears, is the July Artifact of the month at Sheldon Jackson Museum. Exhibit SJ-II-E-76 was collected by Sheldon Jackson from King Island – ‘‘Ugiuvak’’ in the Iñupiaq language – in 1893 and was...
Unitarians Present Stories about Ravens
David Kanosh will present stories about ravens at Sunday’s Sitka Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship program. Coffee begins at 10:30 a.m., with service starting at 10:45 a.m.  Bread and soup will follow at noon. All are invited to...
Lutherans Welcome Texas Volunteers
LaVerne Reid and Loretta Hawley are volunteering this month at Sitka Lutheran Church.   Reid, a retired veteran FAA executive, has served Sitka Lutheran many times. ‘‘She brings the joy of a deep faith in the Gospel and a special gift for...
Armchair Travels Series to Begin
The public is invited to hear Mike Morris and Gary Bagley talk about 40 years of paddling trips on the Yukon River 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, at Sitka Public Library in the multipurpose room. The event is part of the library’s Armchair Travel...
Services Set for Buzz Brown
Services for Morris Otto ‘‘Buzz’’ Brown Jr.  will be held 11 a.m. Friday, July 25, at the Sitka National Cemetery. A reception will follow at the Sitka Fire Department. Buzz passed away on May 12, 2025, surrounded by love.  He was 77...
Life Celebration For Katherine Anderson
A celebration of the life of Ouulukluk, Katherine Walunga Anderson, 88, will be 2 p.m. Saturday, July 19, at the Sitka United Methodist Church, 303 Kimsham Street. She passed away in Sitka on July 6. In lieu of flowers, Katherine would be...
Community Calendar
July 18-21, 2025
FRIDAY 5:30 p.m. STA Zumba, Blatchley school 5:30 p.m. NA Meeting, St. Peter’s Church basement 6 p.m. Beekeepers beehive products workshop, Blatchley Middle School, 907-738-9047 6 p.m. Trail Running Filmfest, cruise terminal theater,...
Climate Connection: Climate Challenges of Agriculture
The federal administration is trying to kill the cheapest green energy solutions necessary to slow global warming from greenhouse gas emissions. But agricultural solutions for reducing emissions have hardly begun, so can’t be destroyed....
Shirley (Kiparalria) Hootch. (Photo provided)
Yup’ik Jeweler To Display Artistry at SJ Museum
The second artist in the summer’s Alaska Native Artist Residency Program, Shirley (Kiparalria) Hootch, will be at the Sheldon Jackson Museum through Aug. 3. She is a Yup’ik jeweler from Emmonak, a village in Western Alaska.  While in...
Police blotter

Police Blotter
July 18, 2025

Sitka Police Department logged the following calls Thursday. July 17 At 2:08 a.m. an argument was reported in a parking lot of an HPR trailer court. Police found no one in the area. A problem with a disgruntled employee was reported at a...

Obituaries
Military Service Were Held For Jimmy Don Nicodemus
Jimmy Don Nicodemus, age 75, passed away in Denton, Texas, October 19, 2024, after a courageous battle with esophageal cancer. Jim was born at Perrin AFB, Texas, to Donald Lee and Billie Jean Nicodemus on March 6, 1949. His birthday was his...
Kent Winship Dies at 64; Alaskan for Many Years
Kent Steven "Dogger" Winship passed away on June 27, 2025, in Independence, Missouri. He was 64. Born May 30, 1961, to Myron W. and Sharon F. Winship in La Chapelle Saint Mesmin, Loiret, France, Kent sought adventure in every aspect of life. He...
Thomas Williamson Dies; Sitka Resident Since 1976
Thomas Williamson, a resident of both Sitka and Sequim, Washington, died June 30 in Washington. Tom was born in 1954 in Ketchikan, the son of Tom and Paula Williamson. He grew up living and working at his parents' logging camp, and loved the...
Services to be July 19 For Katherine Anderson, 88
Katherine Walunga Anderson Ouulukluk, Katherine Walunga Anderson, beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away in Sitka on July 6th. Katherine was born on November 10, 1936, in Gambell, Alaska, on St. Lawrence Island, to John...
Sports

Mullin Earns National Sports Accolade

Sitka seniors Clare Mullin, right, and Marina Dill lead the pack in the girls 1600 meters during the 2025 ASAA/First Bank Alaska State Track & Field Championships in May in Anchorage. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
For the second consecutive year, Sitka High running ace Clare Mullin has been named Gatorade Player of the Year in recognition of her athletic, academic and community achievements.  Mullin has won numerous long distance track races at state...
More than 100 runners start the Medvejie Solstice Run Saturday at Herring Cove.

Medvejie Race Draws Out-of-Town Runners

More than a hundred runners made their way across Green Lake Road on Saturday’s 18th annual Medvejie Solstice Run, a fundraiser for Sitka High School’s track and cross country programs. KK Prussian, a co-organizer of the run, said she met at...
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Sitka Yesterday
July 17, 2025

20 YEARS AGO

July 2005

The Sawmill Cove Industrial Park Board has recommended to the Assembly that the city sell 13.74 acres of land at the park to a Florida entrepreneur if he meets a set of conditions. Wendell B. Adams of Sarasota, Fla., wants to buy the water bottling business that True Alaska Bottling Co. operates at the park.

50 YEARS AGO

July 1975

In Court: William Stelzenmuller for leaving keys in unattended vehicle forfeited $20. Greg Gouker, failure to have registered plates, forfeited $20. Phillip Speigle, Dennis Hicks and Bruce Dennis forfeited $10 each for no city sticker. 

Around Alaska

Governor vetoes bill intended to provide emergency health care to Alaska police dogs

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has vetoed a bill that would allow paramedics and other licensed emergency responders to provide treatment to injured police and rescue dogs. Current state law permits non-licensed people to treat injured “operational canines,” but licensed providers are forbidden from helping because doing so would be considered veterinary medicine and a violation of […]

Alaska Rep. Nick Begich again votes to strip funding from public broadcasters

The U.S. House of Representatives voted overnight Thursday to strip more than $1.1 billion in previously budgeted money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, putting the future of many of Alaska’s small public radio stations in doubt. Among the congressional Republicans voting for the cut was Alaska Rep. Nick Begich III. The 216-213 vote means […]

New Alaska law establishes quick deadlines for insurers’ decisions on medical care

Health insurers must provide speedier responses to prior authorization requests for certain medical treatments and services, under a bill that went into law on Monday without Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s signature. The measure, Senate Bill 133, requires insurers to notify patients within 72 hours whether the requested services are authorized in cases when requests are sent […]
This photo provided by Kanesia McGlashan-Price shows Lauren Adams, general manager of public radio station KUCB in Unalaska, Alaska, in the broadcast studio Thursday, July 17, 2025. (Kanesia McGlashan-Price via AP)

Searching for pennies: With the cut in federal funding public broadcasters are looking to cope

In Alaska, a public radio station general manager took a moment from a busy day warning her community about a possible tsunami for a special task — sending a text message to Sen. Lisa Murkowski …

Alaska US senators split votes on cuts to public broadcasting, foreign aid

Alaska’s two U.S. senators voted differently on a bill requested by President Donald Trump to block federal funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting.  The cuts include $1.1 billion for public broadcasting over two years, with more than $20 million in funding for Alaska’s 27 public radio and television stations. The measure is known as […]

Tracking Medicaid patients’ work status may prove difficult for states

States must begin verifying millions of Medicaid enrollees’ monthly work status by the end of next year — a task some critics say states will have a hard time carrying out. A provision in the tax and spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law July 4 will require the 40 states plus Washington, D.C., […]

Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state. Here is why Wednesday's earthquake was notable

Wednesday’s magnitude 7.3 earthquake off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands chain struck in a region that has experienced a handful of powerful quakes within the last five years. Officials say they have …

Alaska K-3 students improve in reading, state assessment shows

Alaska students from kindergarten to third grade showed overall improvement in reading proficiency last year, according to preliminary data from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. DEED reported an overall increase in reading proficiency from the beginning to the end of the school year, for the second year in a row, “which was […]
From the Associated Press
National news
FILE- In this Dec. 24, 2018 file photo, Christians celebrate the arrival of Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, center, after he crossed an Israeli military checkpoint from Jerusalem ahead of midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally recognized by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

Catholic and Greek Orthodox leaders enter Gaza in rare solidarity visit after Israel's church strike

Top church leaders in the Holy Land headed into Gaza Friday for a rare solidarity visit one day after an Israeli shell slammed into the only Catholic church in the territory, killing three people. …

Man dies after large chain necklace pulls him into MRI machine

A man whose large chain necklace pulled him into an MRI machine in New York after he wandered into the room has died. Nassau County police on Long Island say the 61-year-old man died Thursday …
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a residential building burns following a Russian air attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia pounds Ukraine with over 300 drones, killing 1 in Odesa

Russia has launched a massive overnight drone and missile attack on Ukraine, killing at least one person. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said over 300 drones and 30 cruise missiles were …

Florida Rep. Joe Casello dies while in office

Florida Democratic lawmaker Joe Casello has died while in office following a heart attack. He was 73. The Florida House Democratic Caucus says Casello was surrounded by his girlfriend and family when …
International
At least 34 people were killed and eight were missing after a tourist boat capsized in bad weather in Vietnam on Saturday, state media reported. The Wonder Sea boat was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members for a sightseeing tour of Ha Long Bay, a popular destination for visitors.

Tourist boat capsizes during a thunderstorm in Vietnam, leaving 34 dead. 8 people remain missing

State media in Vietnam have reported that 34 people were killed after a boat carrying tourists capsized during a sudden thunderstorm. Eight people remain missing. The capsizing on Saturday afternoon …
Clan fighters gathered in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday to support Bedouin militants in their clashes with Druze armed factions in the southern province of Sweida despite calls for a ceasefire.  (AP video by Ghaith Alsayed)

Syria's interim president urges Bedouin tribes to commit to ceasefire ending clashes with the Druze

Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has urged Sunni Bedouin tribes to honor a ceasefire aimed at ending deadly clashes with Druze-linked militias Sweida. The violence has left hundreds dead …
A Palestinian man who was injured at an aid distribution center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, receives treatment on the floor of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)

Over 30 Palestinians killed trying to reach US group's food distribution sites, Gaza authorities say

Israeli troops have opened fire on Palestinians near food distribution hubs in southern Gaza, killing at least 32 people. Witnesses say the shootings happened Saturday as crowds approached centers …
This photo released by the El Salvador's presidential press office shows men, who El Salvador's government identify as Venezuelans who the U.S. government detained and flew to El Salvador months ago, boarding a Venezuelan plane bound for Venezuela as soldiers stand by at the Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, Friday, July 18, 2025. (El Salvador's presidential press office via AP)

Venezuela releases 10 jailed Americans in deal that frees migrants deported to El Salvador by US

Venezuela has released 10 jailed Americans in exchange for getting home scores of migrants deported by the United States to El Salvador months ago under the Trump administration’s immigration …
National Sports
Chicago Sky's Angel Reese poses on the orange carpet for WNBA All Star basketball events, Thursday, July 17, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

The Chicago Sky's new social media protection: How it works and how it came to be

The Chicago Sky have partnered with Moonshot Technologies to protect players from threats made on social media. Sky co-owner Nadia Rawlinson had been looking a way to keep Sky players safe amid …

UK government backs London bid to host the 2029 athletics world championships

The British government has announced its support of London’s bid to host the 2029 athletics world championships. London hosted the biannual premier track-and-field event in 2017 at the London …

De Bruyne will rely on Belgium teammate Lukaku for more than just goals at Napoli

Kevin De Bruyne is going to rely on Romelu Lukaku for more than just goals at his new club Napoli. He wants translation help from his longtime Belgium teammate too. De Bruyne called Lukaku and former …
Entertainment
Gillian Murphy performs the role of Odette in "Swan Lake" on July 6, 2022 in New York. (Rosalie O'Connor via AP)

What does one do on their last day as a ballerina? Gillian Murphy will jump off a cliff (gracefully)

After a career of nearly three decades, Gillian Murphy is hanging up her pointe shoes. American Ballet Theatre’s senior ballerina joined the company at 17, and is retiring at age 46. A dancer of …

Lawyer argues Call of Duty maker can't be held responsible for actions of Uvalde, Texas, shooter

A lawyer for the maker of the video game Call of Duty is arguing that a judge should dismiss a lawsuit brought by families of the victims of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting. Families of shooting …

Trump files lawsuit against Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over reporting on Epstein ties

Trump files lawsuit against Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over reporting on Epstein ties.
Health
Zheng Qinwen of China serves to Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in a first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Olympic tennis champ Zheng says elbow surgery 'successful'

Sixth-ranked Zheng Qinwen of China has undergone arthroscopic surgery on her right elbow after experiencing “persistent pain” for several months. The 22-year-old Olympic champion says the surgery …

Gene therapy maker Sarepta tells FDA it won't halt shipments despite patient deaths

Drugmaker Sarepta Therapeutics says it won’t comply with a request from U.S. regulators to halt all shipments of its gene therapy. The Food and Drug Administration made the request Friday after the …

3 Democrat-led states have rolled back Medicaid access for people lacking permanent legal status

Three Democratic-led states that led the way in offering free health care to low-income people who are in the U.S. without legal permission are either limiting or ending the programs because of …