Author: Steve Johnson

New eco-friendly community trolleys will soon run the streets of Sitka, and a new training center will accompany the fleet upgrade. The Community Ride program, managed by Sitka Tribal Enterprises, received a number of grants to purchase the trolley and start a fleet maintenance and training center.

Political change, a celebration of history, and a college deal that went bust. Those were some of the headlines in Sitka in 2010. But one of the more defining moments for the community was also one of its most difficult – the loss of three Coast Guardsmen from Air Station Sitka. That leads off our list of the most important Sitka news of 2010. A full list is below. Hear details on each by listening to the audio version of this story, above.

Different city boards and commissions will be invited to appear before the Sitka Assembly in the coming months as part of a plan to determine which are working well, and which might need more guidance from city leaders. The appearances, which will take place during Assembly meetings, are a different approach than the one proposed at last night’s regular meeting of the Assembly.

An 89-year-old Pelican man died after his ATV went off a dock into the water on Dec. 23. John Clauson was traveling down the float plan dock on his enclosed ATV when it lurched off the dock.

Christy Williams is a community volunteer. The public presentation by FASD specialist Deb Evenson will be held on Thursday, January 6, 7-9 PM at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

In the three years since Sheldon Jackson College has closed, there’s been much attention directed on the efforts of the trustees to settle the school’s debts while leaving something behind for some future institution. That legacy will not include a library. Earlier this year SJ’s trustees announced that a transaction was underway to sell the Stratton Library to the state for just over $2-million. The building will join the Sheldon Jackson Museum next door and become part of the state museum system. But only the building is going to the state. The future of the collections inside is a longer story.

The sale of Stratton Library to the state will go a long way toward paring down debt at Sheldon Jackson, but won’t completely resolve the defunct college’s financial problems. That will likely require a break from the school’s primary creditor, Alaska Growth Capital.

Sitka Tribe of Alaska chairman Woody Widmark was one of 560 tribal chiefs and presidents who gathered in Washington DC last week (12-16-10) for the second White House Tribal Nations Conference. Widmark called the president's support for the UN Declaration the Rights of Indigenous People an "eye-opener."

A botched burglary attempt has landed two men in the hospital and two in custody in the Sitka jail. A third “person of interest” has been arrested, but not charged.

The Juneau Economic Development Council and the US Forest Service are collaborating on a new tool to guide development in the panhandle. The Southeast Cluster Initiative should help communities and businesses visualize opportunities for sustainable growth based on population, resources, and broad economic trends.