Author: Ed Ronco

Three more candidates have filed for municipal office in Sitka. Former city administrator John Stein has filed for the mayor’s seat. A relative newcomer to Sitka, Terry Blake, has filed for one of two open assembly seats. And current school board president Lon Garrison has filed for another term on the board.

Kruzof Island is 168 square miles of land, popping out of the Pacific Ocean just west of Sitka. It holds a volcano, a trail system, a series of beaches, meadowlands and forest. During World War II, it was a strategic location for U.S. forces.This week, we bring you three reports from Kruzof beginning with this story about an 80-year-old Haida weaver hot on the trail of young spruce roots for her baskets.

It’s not often that a Cruise Ship loses its anchor, but as KCAW’s Lily Mihalik reports, recovering such a loss is far from simple.

Four brown bears were tagged and collared this morning at Sitka’s Fortress of the Bear. The collars will allow the bears to be tracked and studied in the future.

The Sitka Assembly has put the brakes on a plan to operate a rock quarry on Kasiana Island.

A ballot proposal to tax sugar-sweetened soft drinks went down to defeat at the Assembly table last night, with even its two sponsors voting against it.

In rapidly expanding nations like India, Pakistan and China, disputes are heating up over a scarce and precious resource: water.

Earlier this month, two hatcheries in Sitka both suffered devastating accidents over the same weekend. The Sheldon Jackson Hatchery lost about 240,000 salmon fry when a water intake pipe became blocked.At Medvejie Hatchery, a few miles south, the damage was worse.A closed water-intake valve resulted in the loss of nearly 1 million Chinook fry. But Medvejie also has been conducting an experimental program that, in the weeks since the accident, has helped the hatchery recover from the damage caused by the accident.

The 2010 summer Farmers’ Markets began Saturday in Sitka. Vendors selling a variety of goods packed the ANB hall, and visitors came to check out live music and take their pick of locally grown produce, baked goods and homemade crafts. KCAW’s Shady Grove Oliver stopped by the first market and sent this audio postcard.