Home - Daily Sitka Sentinel

Today's top stories

Cello Stars to Be Front and Center at Cellobration

Resident bears at the Fortress of the Bear listen to live cello music this morning. Seven cellists attending the Sitka International Cello Seminar performed for the bears, toursists and staff at the bear sanctuary. On Saturday the cellists will present the Cellobration! concert, the culminating event of the seminar, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

A group of up and coming cellists have spent the last few weeks practicing, performing and drawing inspiration from the Sitka landscape, mentors and each other. And at the Cellobration! concert Saturday, the seven musicians plan to showcase some...

Hayden Raasch, right, working at the information desk, answers questions posed by tourists at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Ordinance to Keep Visit Sitka Running

The Assembly at its meeting Tuesday agreed that the city would prepare a Request for Qualifications soliciting offers to provide visitor marketing, and visitor services starting next year. The Chamber of Commerce, which held the Visit Sitka...

STA to Hold Annual Picnic On Saturday

Public buses will carry Sitkans to and from Keet Gooshi Heen elementary Saturday for the annual Sheet'ká Ḵwáan Tribe/Sitka Tribe of Alaska picnic event featuring food, friendly competitions and community fun. The picnic draws many community...

Fishing Effort, Catch Low in King Fishery

Four hundred and sixty participating salmon trollers harvested some 44,000 total chinook in the July 1 summer king opener, marking record-low effort and harvest in the annual chinook retention period that lasted just four days this year. Alaska...

Christi Henthorn holds a honey comb. A former Sitkan who now runs an apiary called Wuerker Bee in North Carolina, Henthorn will present the first in a series of beekeeping seminars in Sitka this summer.

Bee Keepers Busy with Summer Workshops

With flowers in bloom and insects buzzing in Alaska’s brief summer season, a series of presentations on beekeeping will teach Sitkans the basics of bee care and pollination, as well as more advanced items around as bee products like honey and wax,...

Most read stories

Kay McCarthy Dies at 82; Services to Be On Monday

Service Set July 25 For Morris "Buzz" Brown Jr.

Barbara Rands Hames Dies at 95

Fishing Effort, Catch Low in King Fishery

28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza

Sheila Dianne Lawson Dies; 43-Year Resident Was 78

300,000 is Achievable

Andrew Winkel, 17, at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp ceramics studio. (Photo by Allison Graupman, Rochester, N.Y.)

Ceramics an Attitude Builder

Ceramics in Sitka By Bruno Bookman (Photos to come) Clouds loomed overhead, and a light sprinkling of rain signaled a turn in the weather as I walked into the ceramics building at Sitka Fine Arts Camp. The converted bakery that now houses...

Greta Brown working on her weaving. (Rienzi Witmer, Anchorage)

Teachers' Skill Matters

Teachers Matter By Emma Haney Stepping outside her comfort zone, Greta Brown, a 17-year-old SFAC student, decided to take weaving this summer. "I just wanted to try something new," she told me. Usually, she likes to sew and embroider, but as...

McKay Loan, Tacoma, Washington, whispers to Clare Knudson, 17, Tacoma. (Photo by Rhys James, Anchorage)

Grapevine Well-Grounded

Through The Grapevine: Opinions of Gossip at Sitka Fine Arts Camp By McKay Loan and Rhys James “This poem is about Micah’s dead mom. Micah’s mom is alive and well,” said sixteen year old SFAC camper Cooper Gregg when asked about the funniest...

Sitka White Elephant Shop donated $12,000 towards the construction of the Hitx’i Saani Community. Pictured on the construction site recently from left are: Marta Martinsen, White Elephant Board vice-president; Chris Balovich, CBC Construction; Sue Fleming, White E Board charitable treasurer; and Andrew Hinton, Sitka Homeless Coalition executive director. (Photo provided to the Sentinel)

White E Donation

CG Medevacs 3

The Coast Guard Air Station Sitka performed three medevacks since Thursday morning: - Thursday morning, outside of Yakutat the Coast Guard helicopter hoisted a crew member off a commercial fishing vessel Northern Star after he was struck on the...

Community Calendar
July 11-14, 2025

FRIDAY 10 a.m.-3 p.m. STA Fish Distribution, Seafood Producers Cooperative Noon AA, St. Peter’s basement, call AA hotline 907-747-8866 for information 5:30 p.m. STA Zumba, Blatchley Middle School 5:30 p.m. NA Meeting, St. Peter’s...

Climate Connection: Policies Frustrating the Popular Will

Recently, Yale and Georgia Mason University Climate Change Communication Programs conducted a national survey that found that the great majority of U.S. voters, 79%, oppose eliminating government programs on global warming. That includes the...

Life Celebration Set For Bill Fredrickson

he family of William (Bill) Fredrickson is inviting those who can attend to a celebration of his life at 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3, at the Sitka Elks Lodge. Come and enjoy and share stories, his family said.

Geologists Sample Swan Lake Sat.

A team of geologists from the University at Buffalo, New York, will be taking samples at Swan Lake 1 p.m. Saturday in a hunt for ancient sea levels at Swan Lake. Attendees can meet lake sediment scientists, help open a core from the bottom of...

Unitarians Hold Service on Sunday

Sitka Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship will hold a short service followed by house cleaning on Sunday. All are invited to join the group for coffee and conversation at 10:30 a.m., with service at 10:45 a.m. SUUF is an inclusive...

See more events

Police blotter

Police Blotter
July 11, 2025

Police Blotter Sitka Police Department received the following calls Thursday. July 10 A caller on Highland Street complained feral rabbits are getting into the garden. The animal control officer was to follow up on the call. At 9:38 a.m. a man...

Read previous police reports

Obituaries

Service Set July 25 For Morris "Buzz" Brown Jr.

Morris Otto Brown, Jr. affectionately known as Buzz, passed away on May 12th, 2025, surrounded by love. He was 77 years old. A lifelong Sitkan, Buzz was a man whose presence touched many. Known for his steady kindness, his willingness...

Kay McCarthy Dies at 82; Services to Be On Monday

Kay Corliss McCarthy (Howe), a beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away in Palm Springs, California, on July 1st at the age of 82. Born June 20, 1943, in Hettinger, North Dakota, to Otto and Leona Howe, Kay was the youngest...

Barbara Rands Hames Dies at 95

Barbara Ann Rands Hames, beloved Mother, Grandmother,...

Sheila Dianne Lawson Dies; 43-Year Resident Was 78

The following information was submitted to the obituary form on the website: deceased name: Sheila Dianne Lawson obituary: In Loving Memory of Sheila Dianne Lawson 1946 – 2025 Sheila Dianne Lawson, a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend,...

More obituaries

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...

Sitka Yesterday
July 11, 2025

20 YEARS AGO

July 2005

Salmon and Dolly Varden are going to have an easier time getting up a drainage near Herring Cove this summer thanks to a new culvert installed as part of a mitigation project involving four agencies. The City of Sitka, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Army Corps of Engineers and Alaska Department of Transportation all had a role in replacing a 48-inch culvert with a 72-inch culvert.

50 YEARS AGO

July 1975

Classified Rentals: 3-bdrm, 2-bath house $1,500 mo. 3-bdrm, 1 1/2 bath, large ocean view $1,150. Spacious 2-bdrm duplex, beautiful view $900. ** 3-bdrm, 1 1/2 bath apt. $1,150.

Read previous Sitka Yesterdays

In court filing, Trump administration hints at a lifeline for embattled Pebble project

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took a rare step under former President Joe Biden to block development of the Pebble mine — Alaska’s largest known copper and gold deposit, which for years has fueled controversy over its potential impacts on one of the world’s largest salmon runs. Now, under President Donald Trump, the agency is giving […]

As Coast Guard receives billions in new Arctic funding, Alaska region gets new commander and name

Last week, President Donald Trump signed a budget bill with almost $25 billion for new Coast Guard construction, including almost $9 billion for new icebreakers and $300 million for new Coast Guard facilities in Juneau. On Friday, Rear Adm. Bob Little, the new commander of the Coast Guard in Alaska, said it remains to be […]

Health care takes big toll on cost of living in Alaska’s cities, report shows

Alaska’s three biggest cities have the highest health care costs among the nation’s urban areas, with costs that are about 50% higher than the U.S. urban average, a state analysis shows. The findings, part of a broader analysis of Alaska’s cost of living that was released by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, […]

Floods are swallowing their village. But for them and others, the EPA has cut the lifeline.

This story was originally published by Floodlight. Acre by acre, the village of Kipnuk is falling into the river. The small Alaskan tribal village sits on permafrost, which is thawing fast as global temperatures rise. That’s left the banks of the Kugkaktlik River unstable — and more likely to collapse when floods hit, as they […]

Appeals Court backs NMFS decision rejecting Alaska effort to remove ringed seal protections

A federal appeals court on Friday affirmed the National Marine Fisheries Service’s 2024 decision rejecting attempts to strip Arctic ringed seals of Endangered Species Act protections. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s 2024 ruling concerning a 2022 lawsuit filed against the federal agency by the state of Alaska and the […]

Backers of new Alaska ballot measure seek to permit ‘magic mushrooms’ and other hallucinogens

A draft ballot measure proposal under review by the Alaska Department of Law would decriminalize “magic mushrooms” and similar psychedelics, allowing home cultivation and personal use, as well as their use for medical and traditional reasons. The measure does not allow commercial sale. “For most people, their lives will not change, but for people who […]

Bowhead whales are ingesting toxins driven by warming in Arctic, study finds

A long-term study of bowhead whales in Alaska published this week points to a direct correlation between ocean warming and threats to the Arctic food web. An interdisciplinary team of scientists, collaborating with Alaska Native whale hunters and other North Slope residents, studied bowel samples taken over nearly two decades from 205 subsistence-harvested bowheads, looking […]

Court affirms split federal-state salmon management system for Alaska’s Cook Inlet

A federal judge has upheld the National Marine Fisheries Service’s new system to manage commercial harvests in federal waters of Cook Inlet, concluding that the agency has no obligation to extend that management to state waters. The July 1 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason lets stand a split federal-state management regime for […]

Cello Stars to Be Front and Center at Cellobration

Ordinance to Keep Visit Sitka Running

STA to Hold Annual Picnic On Saturday

Fishing Effort, Catch Low in King Fishery

Bee Keepers Busy with Summer Workshops

Police Blotter
July 11, 2025

Mullin Earns National Sports Accolade

Medvejie Race Draws Out-of-Town Runners

Sitka Yesterday
July 11, 2025

In court filing, Trump administration hints at a lifeline for embattled Pebble project

As Coast Guard receives billions in new Arctic funding, Alaska region gets new commander and name

Health care takes big toll on cost of living in Alaska’s cities, report shows

Floods are swallowing their village. But for them and others, the EPA has cut the lifeline.

Appeals Court backs NMFS decision rejecting Alaska effort to remove ringed seal protections

Backers of new Alaska ballot measure seek to permit ‘magic mushrooms’ and other hallucinogens

Bowhead whales are ingesting toxins driven by warming in Arctic, study finds

Court affirms split federal-state salmon management system for Alaska’s Cook Inlet

Nationals take high school shortstop Eli Willits, son of ex-MLBer Reggie, with No. 1 pick in draft

Trump is attending the FIFA Club World Cup final

Search for Texas flood victims paused as heavy rains bring new threat of high waters

Washington Nationals select Oklahoma high school shortstop Eli Willits with first pick in MLB draft

Here's how Nigerians remember Buhari, who ruled both as a dictator and a democrat

Chelsea beats PSG 3-0 for Club World Cup title as Palmer scores twice and sets up third goal

Jannik Sinner faces Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in a rematch of their epic French Open final

Emergency services are at the scene of a small plane crash at London Southend Airport

Brewers RF Sal Frelick departs after making a sliding grab

MLB-best Tigers limping into All-Star Game break with season-high, 4-game losing streak after sweep

American Talor Gooch wins LIV Golf Andalucia at Valderrama

‘Superman’ and DC Studios fly to a $122 million opening

Photos show celebrities as they attend Wimbledon

'Love Island USA' prepares to crown winning couple following tumultuous seventh season

US aid cuts halt HIV vaccine research in South Africa, with global impact

Charges dropped against Utah doctor accused of throwing away $28,000 in COVID vaccine doses

'The Salt Path:' A book that captured the hearts of millions, but now mired in controversy