Author: Ed Ronco

Three Sitka locations have made the list of Alaska’s 10 most endangered historic properties. The Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall is number two on the list. The Sage building, which houses the Sitka Sound Science Center, is number four. And Totem Square, in front of the Pioneers Home, is ranked at number nine.

Gov. Sean Parnell has posted a message to his Facebook page asking for ideas on what to do with Sheldon Jackson College. Parnell’s message was posted Wednesday morning. It comes just two days after the University of Dubuque announced it was abandoning talks to run a program at Sheldon Jackson.

The City and Borough of Sitka’s 2011 budget is final. It’s about $1.4 million less than this year’s budget. The Assembly finalized the $24.2 million spending plan at its regular meeting on Tuesday (6-8-10) making cuts across city departments in order to compensate for a decrease in money from sales taxes.

The Assembly approved the sale of land along Halibut Point Road to veterinarians Burgess Bauder and Victoria Vosburg. Bauder currently operates a small clinic at one end of the property and is building an animal hospital at the other end of the property.

This weekend marks one of the lowest tides of the season…and biologists are taking note. They’ll be gathering in Sitka this weekend to survey invasive species off the coast, and they’re calling it the BioBlitz.

The Sitka Lady Wolves Softball team took the state small schools championship over the weekend with a 6-3 win over Ketchikan’s Lady Kings, securing their first state title since 2005.

Michael Smith’s 50-point-6 pound king remained at the top of the leader board through a second weekend of fishing, and has won the 55th annual Sitka Salmon Derby. Smith will take home $5-thousand dollars donated by the Sitka Sportsman’s Association, plus two round-trip tickets to Seattle donated by Alaska Airlines.

For three weeks a male bear cub –found near Gustavus– has been living at Sitka’s Fortress of the Bear, but today marked his last day on the Island.

The University of Dubuque has walked away from a deal to operate part of the Sheldon Jackson College campus in Sitka. The private Iowa university was exploring the possibility of launching some sort of operation in Sitka, but its president said Monday that Dubuque, the City of Sitka, and the management of the former Sheldon Jackson College could NOT agree on how to move forward.

Dubuque president Jeffrey Bullock’s letter is striking for its strong language and lack of conciliatory tone. He leaves very little room for doubt that this is anything but a breakup. In addition to identifying disagreements with the Sheldon Jackson board of trustees and local government in Sitka, Bullock also argues that SJ president David Dobler was subject to “ridicule in the community” and “derision in blogs posted by former disgruntled members of the faculty and staff.”