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Today's top stories

Alaskans Rally Across State to Say 'No Kings'

More than 350 protesters make their way to the Crescent Harbor shelter Saturday during Sitka's No Kings Day event. Nationwide protests were held in reaction to the a military parade in Washington, D.C. marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and President Trump's 79th birthday. At the shelter speeches were made and a performance was given of a comical song sung by the King George III character in the musical
As the Trump administration hosted a multimillion dollar military parade in Washington, D.C., marking the Army’s 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump’s birthday, and amid escalating military and law enforcement force against immigrants and...
Thousands of empty, plastic fish feed bags fell off of a Lituya Freight Runners barge in the lower Chatham Strait region in May. Mariners can report sightings of the green-and-white bags, which measure about two feet by three feet, by emailing seakmarinedebris@gmail.com.

Load of Plastic Bags Overboard, Cleanup Begins

Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association personnel have recovered about 1,100 empty, plastic fish feed bags from the waters of Chatham Strait since learning that a large quantity of bags, used to feed juvenile salmon at NSRAA’s Hidden...

2 Medevacked In ATV Rollover

A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka helicopter medevacked two people who were in the same single vehicle ATV rollover accident early Saturday morning on Kruzof Island. The Coast Guard received a call from Alaska State Troopers around 1 a.m. Saturday,...

Elks Cancels Flag Day Parade

The Sitka Elks Lodge #1662 announced this evening that its Flag Day parade, scheduled for noon Saturday, has been cancelled. The Elks said on social media that the Flag Day event at Pioneers Home is still planned for 1 p.m. on the front...
Community news
Work on Nelson Logging Road
The City and Borough of Sitka will perform road work on the riverbank off Nelson Logging Road today through Thursday. Drivers may experience delays and are being encouraged to plan accordingly;  use caution in the area; and follow...
Kruzof Island Adventure Set
Sitka Conservation Society will have a special low-tide adventure to Point Brown on Kruzof Island on June 29. The group will depart at 9:30 a.m. from Crescent Harbor to cruise across Sitka Sound to explore tide pools during a minus tide,...
Utility Payments, Library Systems Down for Upgrades
The City and Borough of Sitka will be testing new credit card terminals at the utility counter and Sitka Public Library 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, June 23, and won’t be able to process utility or library payments. The utility counter will be closed...
Liz Chikayaasix̂ Morrow (Unangax̂)
Sheldon Jackson Museum To Showcase Native Artist
Liz Chikayaasix̂ Morrow is the first artist in this season’s Alaska Native Artist Residency Program at Sheldon Jackson Museum, the Friends of the Sheldon Jackson Museum announced. She will be in residence June 17- July 3. She will be focusing on...
Library Friends Meeting on Tap
The Friends of the Sitka Public Library invites the community to its board meeting 5 p.m. Thursday, June 19, to select books for the “Challenge of the Books,” an adult reading program launching in August. A suggested book list will be available....
School Board Meets June 18
The Sitka School District School Board will hold its regular monthly meeting 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, at the District Office Boardroom. The full meeting agenda can be found by following the link on the district’s website at...
Climate Connection: Growing Gardens
The U.S. Department of Agriculture divides the United States into 13 plant hardiness zones based on 30-year averages of the lowest temperatures. These zones are a guide to what plants can flourish, although many factors other than lowest...
Instructor Nicole Filipik shows kids how to take water measurements in the ocean near Sitka as part of the 4-H pH program this spring. (Photo provided by Jasmine Shaw)
4-H pH Project Teaches Kids How to Test Ocean
About a dozen Sitka kids spent five months testing the water as part of an ocean acidification education program called 4-H pH.  The program is led by personnel from three units at the University of Alaska Fairbanks: 4-H program assistant...
Police Chief Candidate at Meet-and-Greet
The City and Borough of Sitka invites the public to meet Sitka police chief candidate Michael Hall at a meet-and-greet 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 17, at Harrigan Centennial Hall in meeting room 3. For more information contact the Human...
New Advisories Listed for PST
Advisories have been issued for Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research sites that have been found to have paralytic shellfish with toxin levels above the FDA regulatory limit of 80 µg/100 g. The latest beaches having tested above the limit by...
Police blotter

Police Blotter, June 16, 2025

Police Blotter Sitka Police Department logged the following calls over the weekend. June 13 A caller asked for a welfare check on an adult relative. Police found she was fine. Police found an inmate had violated a protection order by calling...

Obituaries
Joyce Marvel Martin Dies; Former Resident Was 94
Joyce Marvel Martin, a beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully on June 6 at the age of 94. Joyce got her name because, as her family put it, marvelous day!” “The day of her birth was a joyous and Born on...
Agnes J. Greimann Dies; Longtime Alaskan was 92
AGNES J. GREIMANN  Agnes Joyce Greimann passed away, peacefully, on March 29, 2025. Agnes was born on December 15, 1932, in Alberta, Canada. On February 19, 1949, Agnes met Paul, in Edmonton, Alberta. After a week of dating , Paul left for...
Longtime Sitka Resident Marian Blankenship Dies
Longtime Sitka resident, Marian Blankenship, passed on to her eternal home, in the early morning hours of May 28, 2025, at the age of 92. Marian was born Marian Jean Myers, to Clarence and Sadie Myers, on March 8,1933, in Ketchikan AK.  She...
Barbara Pamela (Craig) Chittenden
Memorial Service June 13 For Barbara Chittenden
Memorial Service June 13 For Barbara Chittenden Memorial services for Barbara Pamela (Craig) Chittenden, who had deep roots in Sitka, will be Friday, June 13, at Sitka National Cemetery. Her ashes, along with those of her husband Gene, will be...
Sports

Sitka Wolves Sweep State Championships in Baseball and Softball

The Sitka Wolves baseball and softball teams hold their 2025 state championship trophies Saturday at Anchorage's Mulchay Stadium. (photo courtesy Heather Gluth)
Baseball By KLAS STOLPE For the Sentinel With just one out waiting to be closed on Saturday, Sitka senior Bryce Compagno-Calhoun looked down from the pitcher’s mound toward senior catcher Tanner Steinson.   “It was, I don’t know,...

Sitka boys advance to Saturday state baseball championship Hodges strikes out 14, Wolves top Colony 4-2 to earn title game

The Sitka Wolves put their undefeated 18-0 season record (24-2-1 overall) on the line in a semifinal against the Colony Knights (14-9) on Friday afternoon at the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Division I Baseball State Championships at...
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Sitka Yesterday, June 16, 2025

20 YEARS AGO

June 2005

Greenpeace protesters, including seven from Sitka, pleaded guilty in federal court to obstructing or helping to obstruct a road during an anti-logging campaign in Southeast last summer. ... The Sitkans were Larry Edwards, Don Mueller, Larry Trani, Marian Allen, Woody Litman, Roland Wirth and Jack Ozment.

50 YEARS AGO

June 1975

Police Blotter: Two male juveniles were charged with minor consuming and turned over to their parents. The theft of a transmitter worth $500, meter equipment worth $20, a camera worth $20, and a Coleman stove worth $10 were stolen from Kasianna Island. A handgun worth $115 was reported stolen from Monastery Street.

Around Alaska

Methamphetamine a big contributor to Alaska’s opioid-dominated overdose deaths, report says

While opioids have been involved in most of Alaska’s drug overdose deaths, another drug is a frequent contributor to those outcomes: methamphetamine. A little over half of the fatal overdoses in Alaska from 2017 to 2023 involved methamphetamine use, most commonly in combination with opioids but also sometimes in combination with other types of drugs, […]

With Alaska governor’s veto, oil tax records stay concealed from legislators who want an audit

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has vetoed a bill that would have increased the transparency of the state’s tax-audit process, citing legal concerns. As written, Senate Bill 183 would have required the executive branch to provide reports to the Legislature’s auditors “in the form or format requested” requested by legislators. That bit of arcane statutory work was […]

Federal energy tax credits are essential for Alaska’s energy independence

As someone who has spent three decades working in environmental policy and regulation in Alaska, I’ve witnessed firsthand how energy costs crush family budgets across our state. Today, I’m writing as a homeowner who recently made the switch from heating oil to a heat pump system — and as an Alaskan who believes our federal […]

Flooding washes out Dalton Highway, main overland link to Prudhoe Bay oil fields

A stretch of the Dalton Highway near the Saginavirktok River was washed out by flood waters on Saturday, leading to an 80-foot-wide gap in the only road leading to Prudhoe Bay. As a result, the highway is closed between Milepost 305 and 356.  The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, which said the washout […]

Freshmen lawmakers reflect on their first session in the Alaska State Legislature

Eleven newly elected legislators joined the 60 members of the Alaska State Legislature this year in Juneau: 10 of 40 in the House and one of 20 in the Senate. New members came from across the state, from the Arctic to Southeast Alaska, and a variety of backgrounds and experiences in education, business, journalism, engineering, […]

Alaskans rally across the state for democracy and ‘No Kings’ protest against Trump

As the Trump administration hosted a multimillion dollar military parade in Washington, D.C., marking the Army’s 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump’s birthday, and amid escalating military and law enforcement force against immigrants and protesters of immigration enforcement actions, thousands of Alaskans rallied in communities large and small, joining nationwide “No Kings” protests against Trump. […]

GAO report says Alaska pipeline regulation office should revitalize, update operations

The multiagency group that coordinates oversight of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System needs an update to better operate in changing conditions, said a federal report released on Thursday. The Joint Pipeline Office, a consortium of federal and state agencies with various regulatory duties, has scaled back its operations over the past several years, leading to […]

Offshore in Cook Inlet, a ‘silent economy’ hunts for gas to keep Alaska running

SPARTAN 151 RIG, COOK INLET — Deep below the ocean floor outside Anchorage this spring, a huge drill bit chewed through multi-million-year-old sandstone, sending crushed bits of rock back to the surface through a mile-long hole. The hunt for natural gas, to keep Alaska warm, had resumed. Here, on crowded platforms perched above the icy […]
From the Associated Press
National news
President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to board Air Force One at Calgary International Airport, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Calgary, Canada, on his way back to Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Latest: Trump says all of Tehran should evacuate 'immediately'

U.S. President Donald Trump has posted an ominous message on his social media site calling for the immediate evacuation of Tehran but later denied reports he had rushed back to Washington to work on …

It may be 'very difficult' to find fair jury for man accused of killing 18 people, lawyer says

A judge ruled that the Alabama man accused of killing 18 people in 2023 and 2024, including two mass shootings, will go to trial in April next year. Damien McDaniel could face the death penalty for …
Sean "Diddy" Combs looks on as defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland cross examines Dawn Richard during Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 19, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Sean 'Diddy' Combs probably won't testify as defense says its case could be less than 2 days

Hopes that Sean “Diddy” Combs might testify at his federal sex trafficking trial have faded after his lawyer predicted a defense presentation lasting two to five days. The defense made the …
FILE - Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks during a meeting between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state cabinet at the Florida capitol in Tallahassee, Fla., March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

Judge finds Florida attorney general in contempt over immigration law

A federal judge has found Florida’s attorney general to be in civil contempt over her ruling that put on hold a new state law making it a misdemeanor for people living in the U.S. illegally to …
International

Another mayor is killed in Mexico, this time in Michoacan

A Mexican mayor and her husband have been killed in the western state of Michoacan. It occurred less than 48 hours after a mayor in the southern state of Oaxaca was killed. Local politicians are …
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, from left to right, President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a family photo at the G7 leaders' summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

First face-to-face between the leaders of US and Mexico will have to wait

For Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the bilateral meetings scheduled on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada were even more important than the summit itself. Her first …
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while flying aboard Air Force One en route from Calgary, Canada to Joint Base Andrews, Md., late Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Donald Trump jabs Emmanuel Macron over comments about his early departure from G7

The chemistry that once defined the political dynamic between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron was nowhere to be seen when the U.S. president blasted his French counterpart on social media. As Trump …
A Kenyan policeman, center, prepares to shoot a man who appeared to be a vendor, left, during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Photos capture the shooting of a civilian by a Kenyan police officer amid protests

An Associated Press photographer captured the shooting of a civilian by a Kenyan police officer in the head at close range. It occurred Tuesday during the latest protest against the country’s …
National Sports
The pit crew for Denny Hamlin works on the car during a pit stop in a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Federal judge calls on NASCAR, teams to settle bitter antitrust battle

A federal judge is urging NASCAR and two of its teams to settle their increasingly acrimonious legal fight that spilled over into tense arguments during a hearing this week. 23XI Racing, which is …

Mets rotation loses Tylor Megill for at least 1 month with right elbow sprain

The New York Mets lost a member of their rotation for at least one month when right-hander Tylor Megill was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow sprain. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza …

Nick Castellanos benched for 'inappropriate comment' after being pulled for defensive replacement

Nick Castellanos has been benched by Phillies manager Rob Thomson for “an inappropriate comment” the outfielder made after he was pulled for a defensive replacement a day earlier. The move ends …
Entertainment
This combination of photos shows choreographer Debbie Allen, from left, actor Tom Cruise, entertainer Dolly Parton and production designer Wynn Thomas. (AP Photo)

Tom Cruise is finally getting an Oscar — as will Dolly Parton, Debbie Allen and Wynn Thomas

Tom Cruise is finally getting an Oscar. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Tuesday that Cruise, choreographer Debbie Allen and “Do The Right Thing” production designer Wynn …

Singer R. Kelly alleges mistreatment after hospitalization and prison 'murder plot'

R. Kelly's attorneys say the R&B singer collapsed in prison and was hospitalized. The details made in court records this week came after Kelly's extraordinary allegations of a murder plot by prison …

Movie Review: An intergalactic, existential adventure about loneliness in Pixar’s ‘Elio’

Elio is a lonely 11-year-old just looking for big answers about life in Pixar's newest movie, in theaters Friday. Feeling like an alien on his own planet, the newly orphaned kid wishes to be abducted …
Health
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference regarding the recent protests in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Kristi Noem is ‘alert and recovering’ after trip to hospital over allergic reaction, official says

A spokesperson for Homeland Security says that Secretary Kristi Noem was taken to the hospital to treat an allergic reaction but is “alert and recovering.” Tricia McLaughlin said Noem was …

FDA to offer faster drug reviews to companies promoting 'national priorities'

The Food and Drug Administration says it will begin offering faster reviews to new medicines that align with Trump administration priorities for Americans' health. The new program announced Tuesday …

UK lawmakers consider decriminalizing abortion amid concern about increasing prosecution of women

British lawmakers are preparing to debate proposals to decriminalize abortion amid concerns that police are using antiquated laws to prosecute women who end their own pregnancies. The House of …