Dedication Ceremony Set
For Community Housing
The Sitka Community Land Trust will dedicate the S’us’ Héeni Sháak Community 11 a.m. Saturday, May 13, at 1410 Halibut Point Road.
The affordable housing community will be 14 homes and a four-unit apartment building when complete. There are currently five homes with two under construction and seven more to come.
Sitka Tribe of Alaska named the neighborhood three years ago and will conduct the naming ceremony.
Local artist Will Peterson designed the neighborhood sign that will be unveiled. Peterson is also SCLT Board President.
“I see the naming ceremony as a land and language acknowledgement that we are on and always will be on Lingít Aaní; as an organization we recognize the importance of the indigenous peoples of the land.” Peterson said. “Having STA choose the name to the neighborhood is a gesture in the right direction.”
The community land trust model of homeownership brings permanently affordable housing to middle-to-low income families, the organization said.
Tours of the two homes under construction homes will be available after the ceremony. 1318 Halibut Point Road is a nearly complete two-bedroom in a one-story layout and 1350 HPR is a three-bedroom, two-story home that is halfway through framing.
“This neighborhood is truly a community project,” SCLT Executive Director Randy Hughey said. “The City of Sitka donated the site, many Sitka businesses donated professional services or donated money, and Sitka Tribe of Alaska named the community. How Sitka comes together to support affordable housing is motivating and inspiring.”
Peterson (Goon Naax Jidee, Tlingit, Raven L’uknax.ádi) is a Sitka wood carver. With a background in engineering and science, he apprenticed with his father Reggie Peterson and Tommy Joseph to hone his skills as an artist. As the owner of X̱út’aa Hídi, Peterson creates his formline and carving as a spiritual pursuit, connecting deeper with himself, his family, and his ancestors through art, a press release from the organization said.
Climate Connection
Cruise Ship Scrubbers
Ocean acidification from elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are affecting Sitka fisheries at the same time as they cause global warming. Ocean acidification affects the marine carbonate cycle that in turn affects the marine food chain and food productivity. Cruise ships cause additional acidification. In 2020, the International Maritime Organization reduced the maximum allowable sulfur in shipping fuels from 3.5% to 0.5% unless scrubbers to clean a ship’s exhaust gas are used. These scrubbers don’t reduce the CO2 in stack emissions from burning fuel oil. Scrubbers reduce other air pollutants from fuel oil combustion by passing smoke stack effluents through water treatment. Scrubbing decreases sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, heavy metals (nickel, lead, vanadium, copper, cadmium, selenium, zinc), and particulates in the exhaust air.
There are three types of scrubbers – open-loop, closed-loop, and hybrid systems which can operate in either mode. Eighty percent of ocean-going vessels use open-loop scrubbers including the Carnival, Holland America, and Princess cruise ships. These scrubbers dump the acidic scrubber wash water into the ocean. Closed-loop systems use alkaline-dosed fresh water, filter the wash water before discharge, and generate a thick sludge that is sent to landfills.
Using scrubbers is cost-effective for the cruise lines because of the difference in cost between high and low sulfur fuel oils. Carnival ships save about $150,000 per week per ship using open-loop scrubbers in Alaska. They have special permission to exceed Alaska water pollution acidity rules allowed under Carnival’s 2013 permits. In 2018, Alaska lost its authority to regulate scrubber discharge through the federal Vessel Incidental Discharge Act. Since then, two environmental organizations – Friends of the Earth and Center for Biological Diversity – have sued the Environmental Protection Agency for not developing regulations that cover scrubber discharge waters that the Coast Guard would enforce.
Why would we care? Although scrubbers decrease air pollution, the scrubber water contaminants result in water pollution. For this reason, many jurisdictions limit open-loop scrubbers, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Suez and Panama Canals, and China. Research in the southern North Sea and English Channel has shown that the acidity effect resulting from scrubber sulfur oxide discharges is many times the ocean water acidity attributable to the atmospheric carbon dioxide causing global warming.
Our Sitka fishermen do not need additional ocean acidification from cruise ship effluents that could be avoided, in part, through use of more expensive low sulfur fuel oil.
In the future, cruise ships, as well as container ships, bulk carriers, and fuel tankers, will need to be powered by cleaner energy sources such as hydrogen, ammonia, or methane that do not yield as much carbon dioxide on combustion. Commitments to decreases in net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 or 2050 require change, public pressure, and international rule-making. A price on carbon in fossil fuels would aid in the transition by accelerating adoption of alternative clean fuels.
–Kay Kreiss, Transition Sitka
Fisherman’s Flea
Market May 13
The annual Fisherman’s Flea Market will be held 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 13, at the Mt. Edgecumbe High School and UAS-Sitka Campus parking lots.
Those with marine-related items to sell are asked to load up their vehicles and park in front of the MEHS gym prior to 9 a.m.
Buyers can park in the UAS parking lot. For more information contact Denise at 907-747-5012.
The market is sponsored by SouthEast Alaska Women in Fisheries.
Visit Sitka Plans
Summer Expo
Visit Sitka will host its annual Summer Expo 3-6 p.m. Friday, May 12, at Centennial Hall.
It is held trade show-style, and offers a chance for the community to meet with tours, activities, and attractions that will be available for the summer season.
The event is free and open to the public. Booth spaces are free for Visit Sitka partners. Partners may register online at business.sitkachamber.com/events/calendar before Friday, May 5, to host a booth.Limited space is available and offered on a first-come, first-served, basis.
Health Fair
Set Saturday
The Sitka Community Health Fair will be 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 13, at Centennial Hall.
It will include a blood chemistry screen, men’s wellness package, women’s wellness package, and individual screens.
Free health education and local exhibitors will include the Veterans Outreach Program, SAIL aging disabilities resources and Red Cross disaster response readiness.
For more information about Alaska Health Fairs or to make an appointment for Saturday’s Health Fair, go to www.alaskahealthfair.org. Walk-ins are welcome.
Work Party Set
At the Boatshop
The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society is holding a volunteer work party to restore exterior walls on the Japonski Island Boatshop 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 13.
Volunteers of all skill levels are welcome to take gloves and tools. Volunteers are welcome to help out for part or all the time. Project leaders will provide training in historic preservation principles and methods.
Coffee and snacks are provided. Call 738-7448 or email sitkamaritime@gmail.com for information or go to sitkamaritime.org.
Unitarians Plan
Sunday Gathering
Rich McClear will present “Stranded in Mauritius, Ethnic Diversity, Religious Tolerance and Chinese Medicine” at this week’s meeting of the Sitka Unitarian Fellowship.
He will show slides and talk about the country of Mauritius, especially about its religious diversity.
“Their talk of religious and ethnic tolerance reminded me of what people in Sarajevo said about their community when we first visited there in 1972,’’ McClear said. ‘‘Sarajevo’s tolerance proved to be an illusion. Is Mauritius different? What can cause a tolerant society to dissolve into religious pogroms?”
All are invited to attend. Gathering is at 10:30; the program begins at 10:45. The Fellowship Hall is located at 408 Marine Street, with parking off Spruce Street.
This Week in Girls on the Run
For the 10th and final week of Girls on the Run (GOTR), participants used their team’s inner strength to implement the Community Impact Project and reflect on the GOTR season! The participants learned how to use their strengths and skills to give back to the communities to which they belong.
Monday/Wednesday decided to clean up the garbage off of the playground, clean the graffiti off the covered area, and write positive messages to the children and teachers with chalk on the blacktop.
Tuesday/Thursday decided to create postcards for the elders at the Pioneers Home, and create a “thank you” poster and donate baked goods to the Fire Department volunteers. In the last GOTR practice, teams reflected on their favorite memories from the season and talked about the toolkit of skills they’ve learned in the program that they will take with them when they go. Teams related this week’s GOTR themes to the Southeast Traditional Tribal Values of “we are stewards of air, land, and sea,” “be strong and have courage,” and “live in peace and harmony.”
Throughout this season, GOTR provided the Sitka community with updates from the program. We also gave mentors, parents, and guardians an opportunity to pass on skills from GOTR to the children in their lives! Here are some conversation starters for talking with kids about emotional health:
–How can you use your inner strength to impact others?
–Why is it important to give back to our community?
–What is one thing you like about yourself? (Share what you like about yourself.)
GOTR is an empowerment-based program for girls in third through fifth grades, currently in its 14th season at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School. GOTR is more than an after-school activity; it is a program designed to bring girls together with strength and resilience and prepare them for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. Through dynamic, interactive lessons and running games, GOTR prepares girls for a final celebratory 5K Fun Run on May 13 while teaching life skills and unleashing confidence.
Community members are welcome to join in the 5K or be cheerleaders along the course! If you are interested in volunteering, contact Annie at amattea@scpsak.org. Girls on the Run is brought to you in Sitka by the Pathways Coalition. Call 747-3493 for more information.
Pacific High
Graduation
Set Saturday
Pacific High School will hold its graduation ceremony 2-4 p.m. Saturday at Odess Theater on the SJ Campus.
This year’s graduates are Xandra Gray-Young, Reece Lowe, Frederic McCleland, Hannah Mosher, Raven Richards, Silas Rioux and Ceridwen Snelling.
For more information call (907) 747-0525.
Sitka Author Nix
Plans Reading
Local author Megan Nix will speak about her new book ‘‘Remedies for Sorrow: An Extraordinary Child, A Secret Kept from Pregnant Women, and a Mother’s Pursuit of the Truth’’ 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 9, at Sitka Public Library.
Old Harbor Books will have copies available for purchase. For information, email Margot at margot.oconnell@cityofsitka.org or call the library at (907) 747-4020.
Auction Planned
For Vender Space
The City and Borough of Sitka will hold a second and final public outcry auction for obtaining a 2023 Plaza Vendor Space Permit and/or Plaza Outfitter Space Permit for commercial operations of tours and excursions at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
The auction will begin at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 19, in meeting room 6 of Centennial Hall.
The application must be filed by 4:30 p.m. Thursday, May 18, in the manager’s office at Centennial Hall.
For application and procedures, visit www.cityofsitka.com/cbsforms or the Centennial Hall manager at (907)747-4090.
Life Celebration for
Kenneth Kimball
A celebration of life for Kenneth Kimball will be 3-5 p.m. Sunday, May 21, at Centennial Hall.
Kenny died Jan. 21 in Sitka at the age of 93.
Rites of Passage
Set at Blatchley
Blatchley Middle School will hold its annual Rites of Passage ceremony 11 a.m.-1 p.m. May 24 at the Sitka High School gymnasium.
Parents and guests are asked to park at the front of the building and enter through the gym door. Students will be dismissed from the high school.
On Honor Roll
Two Sitkans have been named to the Spokane, Washington, Community College honor roll for winter quarter, which ended in March.
Hunter Johnson and Jordan Kuhnert earned at least a 3.00 grade point average to be listed.
SSSC Plans Science
Talk on May 18
A free talk by Dr. Tyler Hennon of UAF Fairbanks will be held noon Thursday, May 18, at the Sitka Sound Science Center’s Mill Building.
Hennon leads a project in collaboration with the Alaska Troller’s Association to gather temperature, salinity, depth and chlorophyll information in the understudied inside waters of Southeast Alaska. He will provide information on why understanding the physical aspects of inland waters is important, and share preliminary data from the project.
Attendees can take a lunch or purchase one at Ludvig’s chowder cart. Weather permitting, the talk may be held outside. For information, contact Alex McCarrel at amccarrel@sitkascience.org.
Tendering Facility
Dock Gets Repairs
A 50-foot northern section of the Crescent Harbor tendering facility dock is undergoing repairs and will not be usable until Monday, May 15.
The city’s harbor department is asking individuals to use caution in the area. Call 907-747-3439 with questions.
Rotary Club Sets
Work Day at
Goddard May 21
Sitka Rotary Club will hold its annual work day at Goddard Hot Springs on Sunday, May 21.
Tubs may not be available for use by the public between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., while the Rotary Club and volunteers do cleaning and maintenance.
Since the 1970s, the Sitka Rotary Club has been a partner to the City and Borough of Sitka in constructing and maintaining the facilities at Goddard.
Many other groups, including the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, Sitka Elks Lodge, and Sitka Trail Works, have partnered with the city.
Individual Sitkans also provide their expertise and labor to keep the Goddard tubs in working condition for the community.
The Sitka AmeriCorps and Jesuit Volunteers groups will assist the Rotary Club this year, as they have for most of the last 20 years, the Rotary Club said. Allen Marine Tours will once again provide round-trip transportation to and from Goddard.
The Rotary Club extended appreciation for the help of volunteers and to Allen Marine.
For further information contact Michael Stenberg, city maintenance and operations superintendent, at 907-747-4041, or Michael.Stenberg@cityofsitka.org.
Bear Awareness
Topic of Program
Defenders of Wildlife is reimbursing Sitka residents and landowners up to $500 to obtain and install electrified fences to keep bears out of things they shouldn’t get into.
Residents can learn more about living safely with bears Saturday, May 20, at Community Bear Awareness Day.
Bears will try to destroy bear-resistant garbage cans, coolers and other itmes 10 a.m. to noon at Fortress of the Bear.
From 1 to 3 p.m. at Sitka National Historical Park, individuals can learn about bear behavior and living with bears.
It is presented by: Fortress of the Bear, Defenders of Wildlife, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and the National Park Service.
For more information about the Electric Fence Incentive Program or to apply for funds to install an electric fence, go to www.defenders.org/got-bears.
The Electric Fence Incentive program is supported by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian
Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida), U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
