Author: Robert Woolsey, KCAW

The first voyage of Alaskan Dream Cruises is just about a month away. The venture represents a new direction for Sitka-based boat builder Allen Marine. While the company has been involved in day tours for its entire existence, Alaskan Dream is its first attempt at multi-day cruising. General manager John Scheerens says it’s also an attempt to diversify business in a slow economy. He spoke to the Sitka Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday (4-7-11).

UPDATED (10:14 a.m. 4/9/11): A federal government shutdown was averted, but the pole raising is still postponed indefinitely, say officials at Sitka National Historical Park. The deal averting the shutdown came after the park had canceled events. The pole raising will be rescheduled.

Marika Partridge's was the first voice ever heard on Raven Radio, twenty-nine years ago. She recalls some of the early days of the station, and discusses some other stops in her career, including NPR. Partridge appeared via Skype on the Morning Interview with KCAW's Ken Fate.

Alaska State Troopers have issued their first violations in this season’s herring fishery. Among them, 54-year old John Johanson was cited on Monday (4-4-11) for operating a commercial herring seine in closed waters, during the third opening of the Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring fishery. Johanson runs the Klawock-based seiner Alaska Rose. Trooper records do not indicate whether Johanson was allegedly fishing outside the boundary of the opening, which occurred in Sitka’s Eastern Channel, or possibly failed to close his seine before the end of the seventy-minute opener.

The preliminary estimate from Monday’s opening was 5,840 tons. The opening was concentrated in Eastern Channel, near Silver Point in Aleutkina Bay.

Photographer and essayist Amy Gulick read a scientific article four years ago that linked nutrients in the Tongass forest to salmon. In her new book "Salmon in the Trees," Gulick takes that idea a step further, and identifies the biological connections between land and sea in Southeast Alaska that encompass all creatures -- including humans. She appeared on the Morning Interview with KCAW's Robert Woolsey.

In a news release issued this afternoon (Tue 4-5-11), Gov. Parnell said “Senator Eliason will be remembered for his decades of service to our state and his steadfast commitment to sensible, long-term management of Alaska’s fisheries.” The governor’s reference to Eliason’s “steadfast” commitment to fisheries is something of an understatement. Eliason fished for 76 years out of Port Alexander and Sitka. In 2006, he became the first Alaskan nominated to the Wild Salmon Hall of Fame at the Pacific Northwest Salmon Center, primarily for his leadership in banning finfish farming in Alaska.

Former State Senator Dick Eliason has died at the age of 85. The Sitka Republican served 22 years in both chambers of the state legislature, including two years as president of the Senate.