Fee and Dividend Update
By Leah Mason
For those who are new to Climate Connections, or the mission of the Sitka Citizens’ Climate Lobby, we’re going to review a little bit of what has happened with CCL’s main focus - gathering bipartisan support for a fee and dividend system for carbon dioxide emissions. Working with our community, Sitka Citizens’ Climate Lobby has been encouraging Sitkans to communicate with their federal representatives, and working with important local organizations, businesses, and public figures to give their endorsement for the idea.
The City and Borough Assembly passed a resolution of support back in 2018. Since then, thanks to the efforts of volunteers and members of the House Climate Solutions Caucus, the idea has become a bill that would create an Energy Innovation Act (H.R. 763). In November 2019, the bill had 69 members sign on, and two more representatives, Rep. Annie Kuster (D-NH-02) and Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA-32), have added their names since New Year’s Day 2020!
The spirit of bipartisanship was also on show when Sen. Chris Coons addressed the recent CCL regional conference in his home state, Delaware. He started his speech by noting that his state was probably as threatened by sea-level rise as states like Florida and Louisiana, and thanking fellow Rep. Kim Williams and State Sen. Delcollo for being there.
“It is important that we find a path forward together on climate because, frankly, in the 10 years that I’ve been in the United States Senate, there has been precious little bipartisanship,” he said.
Sen. Coons also gave props to his “talented children” for helping to inspire his action to form a Senate Climate Solutions Caucus with Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana. This group, which includes Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Angus King (I-ME), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), will be encouraged to sponsor a companion to the Energy Innovation Act Bill by CCL.
Interested in keeping up with news about legislative and community action on the Carbon Fee and Dividend? Bookmark the Citizens’ Climate Lobby Blog at https://citizensclimatelobby.org/blog/
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Leah Mason is a member of the Sitka Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
Panelists Sought
For Maritime Event
The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society is seeking panelists to share their experiences at its annual meeting in March.
The panel will be about close calls on the water and the lessons to be learned from them. Those who have a story that fits the theme can contact SMHS at (907) 623-8054 or sitkamaritime@gmail.com.
Free GED
Classes Set
Free GED classes are being offered at UAS-Sitka Campus.
Individuals can go to Room 206 from 5 to 7 p.m. for math help on Tuesdays and science, social studies and reasoning through language arts on Thursdays.
Call 747-7785 or email ajbeam@alaska.edu to register.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School
Celebrates Founders’ Week
Mt. Edgecumbe High School will host a week of performances and cultural activities to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the school’s 1947 founding.
The Founders Week festivities will begin on Monday, Feb. 10, and conclude with final speeches on Thursday, Feb. 13.
MEHS graduate Florence Kargi, class of 2007, will deliver the keynote address, followed by special guest speaker Nick Hanson.
The weeklong event also will feature ongoing performances by two artists-in-residence, Yup’ik singer and storyteller Steven Blanchett and Athabascan drummer and dancer Kim Nichols.
The annual Gathering of Cultures will take place at the B.J. McGillis Gymnasium 7-9:45 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12. Attendees will see performances by the Alaska Native Women’s Drum Group; Mt. Edgecumbe High School’s Athabascan, Inupiaq and Yup’ik dance groups; and the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi Dancers of Sitka.
The Gathering of Cultures is free and open to the public. For further inquiries, contact Assistant Principal LieuDell Goldsberry at 966-3251.
Jazz Festival
Slated Feb. 6-8;
Tickets on Sale
The 25th Sitka Jazz Festival will be staged Feb. 6-8 and will include music for all ages.
Pianist Nick Milo will kick off the festival with a performance 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, at Centennial Hall. The event is for festival pass holders.
Events Friday, Feb. 7, are: artists will perform in the schools; a free brown bag lunch concert is planned noon-1 p.m. at the Odess Theater on the SJ Campus; the Sitka Charitable Trust Student Concert with Ketchikan High School, Thunder Mountain High School and Blatchley Middle School Jazz II is 6-7 p.m.; the Westmark Sitka Evening Concert, with the Sitka High School Jazz Band and special guests feature artist vocalist Gretchen Parlato and the Herbie Hancock Performance Institute will be at 7 p.m.; and the Big Band Dance Party will be at 8:30-11 p.m. at Centennial Hall, sponsored by CBC Construction.
Saturday events include: 6-7 p.m. Alaska State Council on the Arts Student Concert, with Ketchikan Vocal Jazz, DZ Middle School, West Valley High School and JDHS Jazz Bands; 7:15 p.m. Alaska Airlines Evening Concert with Sitka High Vocal Jazz, BMS Jazz I, the All Alaska Jazz Band and the Kyle Athayde Dance Party & Guests; and 10 p.m. after hours event at the Mean Queen downstairs for ages 21 and older.
For information about the festival visit sitkajazzfestival.com. Tickets are available at Old Harbor Books or from a Sitka music student. Volunteers also are needed and can contact Nichel Kernin at nichelkernin@gmail.com.
The festival strives to teach music appreciation, skills, history, artistic expression and cross-cultural understanding through jazz in a supportive environment. Visiting artists and local educators provide clinics in jazz history, jazz theory, and jazz improvisation, as well as a variety of individual instrument and section-specific workshops.
Student performances are non-competitive, with an emphasis on cooperation and appreciation. Large ensembles perform for adjudication and for the public.
The Kyle Athayde Dance Party
The Kyle Athayde Dance Party will perform at the Sitka Jazz Festival 7:15 p.m. Alaska Airlines Evening Concert with Sitka High Vocal Jazz, BMS Jazz I, the All Alaska Jazz Band and the Kyle Athayde Dance Party & Guests; and 10 p.m. after hours event at the Mean Queen downstairs for ages 21 and older.
Public Testimony
Taken at Sitka LIO
Alaska Legislature will be taking public testimony on several issues next week. Those wanting to testify can stop by the Sitka Legislative Information Office at Totem Square.
Events and times include:
Feb. 4 – 11 a.m., Transportation of Live Crab; and 3:30 p.m. Peace Officer/VSPO eligibility.
Feb. 5 – 1 p.m. Intensive management surcharge repeal term date; 1:45 p.m. Constitution, votes needed for veto override; 3:30 p.m. exploration and mining rights/annual labor.
Feb. 6 – 11 a.m. registration of commercial boats: exemption,
For a full list of topics, visit akleg.gov and click on “Public Testimony Opportunities.” Track bills by text by calling the Sitka Legislative Office at 747-6276 or visiting akleg.gov.
JKT Office Hours
Slated on Feb. 8
State Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins will hold public office hours on Saturday, Feb. 8. From 1 to 2 p.m. he will be at the Backdoor; and at Highliner Coffee, 2-3 p.m. No appointments are necessary.
Unitarians Meet
At Fellowship Hall
The program at Sunday’s meeting of the Sitka Unitarian Fellowship is “Awakening the Sufi Within”: an interview with Kabir Helminski, author of ‘‘Living Presence: A Sufi Way to Mindfulness and the Essential Self.’’ Discussion will follow the video.
Gathering begins at 10:30 a.m., with the program beginning at 10:45 a.m. Soup and bread follow at noon. The Fellowship Hall is located at 408 Marine Street, with parking behind off Spruce Street. All are invited to attend. For information, call 747-3702.
Career Fair at
Sitka Job Center
The Sitka Job Center will host a Career Fair 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, at Centennial Hall.
The event is free and open to the public. Businesses that have not received a registration form and wanting to participate can contact Fran Schwuchow at 747-6921 or via email at fran.schwuchow@alaska.gov. Registration deadline is March 13.
Anthropology
Event Saturday
Anthropologist Nancy Yaw Davis will speak 1-2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Sheldon Jackson Museum.
Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum will host the event.
The free talk is titled “People of the North Pacific Coast: Shared Currents, Coasts, and Kinship” and augmented with images.
Sourdough Bread
Baking Taught
The Sitka Kitch’s winter baking series will continue 6-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25 with a course on how to bake sourdough bread.
Carolyn Rice will lead the class at the community commercial kitchen at Sitka Lutheran Church. It will be similar to the one she taught on Jan. 14.
Information on future winter baking series classes will be posted at https://sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/2020/01/16/scenes-from-the-sitka-kitchs-winter-baking-series-class-sourdough-bread-with-carolyn-rice/.
Rice is an Alaska Fellow with the Sitka Conservation Society and the USDA Forest Service. She works to publicize the management of the Tongass National Forest.
Raised in a tiny town in the Colorado Rockies, Rice has since lived all over the American West. Now, she “kind of” hails from Portland, Ore. — but feels at home generally in kitchens and when her feet are dirty. She loves to make sourdough bread, run, write poetry, and watch sunsets.
The registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. Feb. 22. The class costs $40, which is part of the new all-inclusive fee system. Register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on the EventSmart page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com. For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, call Chandler O’Connell or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society, 747-7509.
For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440.
Black History
Month at Library
Sitka Public Library is observing Black History Month. Ages 10 and younger can find the pictures of African American Heroes in the library’s children room and read the clues to guess who they are.
Correct answers will go into a random raffle and the winner will get a prize. The game will run Feb. 1-28.
For more information call the library at 747-4022.
SJ Museum Updates
Film Times, Talk
Sheldon Jackson Museum has updated its film screening and event schedule.
The film ‘‘Project Chariot’’ will be screen at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8.
The film is being shown as part of the Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum Winter Film Series. The documentary by Inupiaq filmmaker Rachel Naninaaq Edwardson tells the story of how in 1958 the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission planned to detonate thermonuclear bombs near North America’s oldest continually inhabited settlement, and how the Inupiaq village stopped the most powerful agency of its time.
‘‘The museum originally had a talk by Nancy Yaw Davis scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 1.,’’ the museum said. ‘‘The museum regrets that this talk will not take place. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope to see you for the Feb. 8 film screening.’’
