Angela Denning, CoastAlaska, Author at KCAW

Sitka School District approves cutting 8.5 staff positions next year

Sitka School District board members consider cutting staff positions in the 2026-7 school year...

Summer ferry schedule similar to recent years, reflects funding problem

The schedule looks a lot like recent years, with six of the state’s nine vessels sailing. There is not enough funding or staffing to run them all, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Southeast Alaska residents weather Friday’s storm

Most of Southeast Alaska avoided hurricane-force winds Friday but 70-mile-an-hour gusts were recorded at Southern Admiralty Island. Sitka missed the worst of the storm as it passed south of the town.

Southeast Alaska’s ‘number one economic problem is declining younger people’, economist says

The region lost 7,700 kids and working age residents in the last decade. “We've mapped it out, you know 25 years, and we still have a region without the young people and the workforce that we need. So the only way out of this issue is to build, build, build housing," said Meilani Schijvens.

Alaska’s draft 20-year ferry plan depends on steady federal funds

The state plans to build new hybrid ferries to replace the aging fleet, hire more workers to run them, and improve infrastructure at the ports. That, plus regular maintenance, is estimated to cost about $3 billion.

Alaska’s winter ferry schedule starts Oct. 1 and looks like last year

“It's our highway within Southeast Alaska, and that's what folks aren't understanding,” said Melissa Wileman with the City and Borough of Sitka.

Sitka’s outage could be from a break in a subsea fiber optic cable

Sitka continued to experience a wide internet and cell service outage Friday. Nearly all Sitkans use GCI for both services, but that went out Thursday shortly after 11 a.m. The company said technicians were working to temporarily reroute Sitka’s internet traffic.

Outage leaves most of Sitka without internet and cell service

Updated: 11:25 a.m.Sitka’s internet outage is impacting local medical services. The regional healthcare provider, Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, announced that until internet service is restored, Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center is canceling elective surgeries.

Raven Radio streaming is down and broadcasts to translator communities

KCAW's streaming is temporarily down and broadcasting to KCAW's translator communities as well. “GCI is aware of the outage that is affecting internet and TV service within the O’Malley area in Anchorage and Sitka,” GCI said in a statement.

Study shows “stray” hatchery salmon could change wild runs

A new study on hatchery pink salmon shows that some “stray” fish mingle with wild stocks and could alter the timing of wild runs. And that could lead to less productive runs in the future. The study is part of a decade-long effort to understand the pros and cons of Alaska’s hatchery industry.