HAMES HANDOFF - Roger Hames, left, and Brian Hames, at center, give a backroom tour of Cascade Convenience Center in January to Albertsons Companies Inc. representatives, including the company's regional vice president of operations, and leaders in regional sales strategies. The Hames Corp. announced Tuesday, April 22, that on Wednesday, April 29, it will officially transition Sea Mart, Watson Point Liquors, Market Center, and Cascade Convenience Center operations to Albertsons/Safeway.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School students take photos outside Odess Theater on the SJ campus during the school's prom Saturday night. The state-run boarding school is winding down the academic year, with graduation set for May 8.

Sitka School Board voted 3-2 Thursday night to adopt a $23,819,826 budget for Sitka schools in the fiscal year that starts July 1. The spending plan requires four and a half teaching positions to go unfilled, and anticipates a $199,292 fund...

ROSE AWARDS - Mel Beadle of Sitkans Against Family Violence, right, presents the Sitka Rose Awards Friday night at the Sheet'ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi. Organizers said the awards honor individuals who embody SAFV’s main values: safety, respect and community. The honorees were in three age groups, high school, young adult (20-34), and adult (35 and older). Receiving awards this year were Alice Ann Ricketts, pictured at left, Cheryl Vastola, Liz Zacher, Breanna Martin, Sadie Fitzgerald, Margot O'Connell, Dr. Valerie Waddell, Haylee Steffes, Kate Plaisance and Amara Johnson.

The Assembly at a three-hour special meeting Thursday continued reviewing, asking questions and making minor changes to the fiscal year 2027 budget. The fiscal year begins July 1, but the Assembly will have its first reading of the budget May 12,...

Sunlight bounced off the new Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center’s tinted glass exterior Thursday as hundreds of onlookers gathered outside the main entrance for the 1 p.m. ribbon cutting that opened the roughly $300 million hospital building.

The U.S. Forest Service will hold a workshop Monday to get the public's views on the ongoing process to develop a revised land management plan for the Tongass National Forest. A primary focus of the meeting – to be 4 p.m. Monday at Harrigan...

HIGH FLYING - Friends of Sitka Circus Arts and Sitka Cirque will present the show at 6:30 p.m. April 25, 5:30 p.m. April 26, 6:30 p.m. May 2 and 5:30 p.m. May 3, at the Sitka Cirque Studio, 207 Smith Street. Admission is $25 for adults, and $15...

The Federal Subsistence Board in the first half of its Anchorage meeting this week took testimony from Alaska harvesters and began deciding on proposals to change regulations governing hunting and fishing on federal lands across the state. The...

The Assembly finished a second-round interview Wednesday in a search for a new city administrator but made no decision after their half-hour executive session that followed. Steve Dahl is one of two candidates the Assembly is interviewing for the...

ANCHORAGE -- Sitka reporters were among others from throughout the state who received press and audio awards Saturday at the Alaska Press Club annual meeting in Anchorage. Alaska Press Club board members awarded Daily Sitka Sentinel co-publishers...

From left, Leatha Merculieff, SEARHC senior executive vice president; Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz; Kimberley Strong, SEARHC board chair; Charles Clement, SEARHC president and chief executive officer; and Sen. Bert Stedman cut a ribbon this afternoon to open the new SEARHC Medical Center on Japonski Island. Hundreds turned out for the event and to tour the $410 million medical facility. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

Jude Reis and Vicky Porter, dressed as Tortoise and Hare, get ready to march in the Parade of Species Friday afternoon in Totem Square. Sitkans dressed as their favorite plants and animals for the Earth Day celebration organized by the Sitka Conservation Society and Sitka Sound Science Center. This year kids made costumes at the Pioneers Home and several residents joined in the parade. Today is Earth Day, with the theme "Our Power, Our Planet." (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

Both City Administrator John Leach and City Attorney Rachel Jones were rated “exemplary” in their annual performance evaluations by the Assembly Tuesday. The evaluations are held in executive session unless the official being evaluated requests...

Sitka School Board is to adopt a budget for the 2027 fiscal year at a special meeting Thursday, choosing from four options all of which include teacher and staff cuts to cover a funding shortfall of more than $1 million. The meeting will be held...

The Holland America Line shop Noordam nears Ketchikan on Tuesday, marking the First City's first big cruise ship of 2026. Sitka's cruise season is scheduled to begin Sunday with the 1,400-passenger Holland America ship Voldendam mooring at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Between 580,000 and 590,000 total cruise ship passengers are expected to visit Sitka this summer, Sitka Dock Company owner Chris McGraw told the Sentinel. Meanwhile, Ketchikan's 2026 season could break records with 1,642,619 total potential passengers expected to visit the First City, up from roughly 1.5 million passengers who visited Ketchikan in 2025. (Christopher Mullen/Ketchikan Daily News)

Brian McLaughlin, a former commanding officer of U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, will serve as interim chief of the Sitka Fire Department as recruiting efforts for the permanent position continue, the Assembly was told last week. The current...

Owen Kindig is taking readers on a long walk through the wilderness of American culture, and of their imaginations, with his recently completed fantasy novel, “Can It Ever Be Undone?” Kindig, who moved to Sitka from Ohio in 2013, said in an...

The Federal Subsistence Board is meeting in Anchorage this week to decide on proposals to change regulations and policies governing hunting and fishing on federal lands in Alaska.   The 11-member board is scheduled to address deer...

COMMUNITY CHOIR - Sitkans of all ages sing together on stage at the Performing Arts Center Sunday. The City of Sitka Parks and Recreation division presented the evening concert that included performances by the Community Choir and Community Orchestra. The groups have been rehearsing since January for the concert through Parks and Recreation organized programs. Drew Larson conducted the orchestra, which was open to those with their own instruments who are able to read music and Andrew Hames conducted the choir which was open to all. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)