COVID-19
Dear Editor: We want to express our gratitude to Sitka residents for their continued COVID-19 mitigation measures and practices during the holiday season. Our community has been resilient and adapted quickly, implementing preventative safety measures to limit community transmission.
This month, we beg for your continued cooperation by masking when and where appropriate, practicing proper social distancing, limiting gatherings, and ensuring proper hand hygiene. Holiday shopping, something we all look forward to, is vital to our small-town businesses’ survival. We want to do everything possible to ensure that our businesses can flourish during the holiday season, restaurants can remain open, and children can get back to school.
The Sitka COVID-19 Unified Command is urging our citizens to help flatten our recent COVID case surge by wearing a mask and social distancing during shopping, using takeout, curbside pickup, and delivery services, practicing good hand hygiene, and celebrating the holidays in a responsible and creative manner. Look for COVID Conscious Businesses and support them in their efforts to provide safe shopping and dining options.
Unfortunately, this is the year that some traditions need to be paused or modified. We encourage you to celebrate the holidays with only those who live in your household and limit travel as much as possible. Please be aware of how this virus can spread rapidly within group settings and understand the potential impacts of visiting friends, neighbors and family. Once we are on the other side of this pandemic, we will be thankful for the hard choices we made this year. On behalf of the Unified Command, we greatly appreciate your support as we continue to move forward through this pandemic.
We look forward to the time when this pandemic is behind us; until then, please wear your mask, maintain your social distance, and stay home if you are ill.
Sitka COVID-19 Unified Command:
John Leach,
CBS City Administrator and
Incident Commander;
Dr. Elliot Bruhl, M.D., SEARHC CMO and Incident Commander;
Craig Warren, CBS Fire Chief and Emergency Operations Manager;
Denise Ewing,
Sitka Public Health Nurse III;
Lisa Gassman, Sitka Tribe of Alaska;
John Holst, School Superintendent;
Janelle Vanasse, Mt. Edgecumbe High School Superintendent
Local Businesses
Dear Editor: As part of an on-going partnership between Sitka High School, Southeast Independent Living and Division of Vocational Rehabilitation we would like to thank the local businesses that have supported us recently.
The program includes students who experience a disability and centers around learning employment skills for the future. We cover things like how to complete an application, where to go in your community for help, what local businesses’ can offer you and the many jobs available in Sitka – both now and after high school.
Prior to school closures we were making visits to local businesses to ask questions and see in person what services they offer to our community. Since closures we have been taking these tours virtually as a class. This requires that a business owner be willing to schedule a time to talk to us, download the app to get connected and join us in class to give a virtual tour and answer student-led questions. Business owners are busy and have a lot on their plates these days, and yet we are able to find people ready and willing to give back to their community in this way! WOW, we love Sitka businesses!
We would like to thank Renee from BEAK restaurant for giving of her time and expertise most recently. She answered student questions about her business, jobs available there, employment skills (always show up to work clean!) and even her favorite recipes. Other businesses that have let us join them in person and get our questions answered include; Harry Race Pharmacy and Photo, Sea Mart, A/C Lakeside, NAPA Automotive, Sitka Laundry Center, Sitka True Value, Tongass Threads, Westmark Hotel, McDonald’s, Pizza Express, USPS Post Office, Old Harbor Books and the local Sitka library.
A big thank you to all these businesses for their support of local students. What an amazing place to live, work and grow up.
Meggan Turner, SHS;
Joel Hanson and Maria Sakowski, SAIL
