Author: Ed Schoenfeld

Sitkans are celebrating the 132nd anniversary of the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States. Their Alaska Day Festival this week also recognizes the 50th anniversary of statehood. The event includes concerts, historic tours, dances and a reenactment of the transfer ceremony. One popular venue is a community variety show featuring barbershop harmonies, young winners of an Alaska-themed essay contest, and a sing-along. Here's excerpts including the Breakers and the Barbershop Belles, essays from Emma Bruhl and Cameron Mutchler and a sing-along in honor of longtime resident Alice Machesney.

On Tuesday (10-13-09), the Sitka Assembly voted against negotiating a new one-year lease for the Hames Athletic Center. The city’s current lease runs out on October 31 and without a new agreement the center might have to close. But as Ed Ronco reports, last night’s vote will not be the final word on Hames.

The village of Pelican has $100,000 in state disaster relief money to help rebuild a flume that collapsed in August. The collapse caused an immediate shortage of water and power to Pelican. A temporary solution is in place, but now officials are looking at another serious issue: the potential release of ammonia from the Pelican Seafoods plant.

One hundred years ago, a real-life drama was playing out on the waters near Sitka. A Japanese hunting vessel had wandered off course, and was about to be captured by American authorities. A relative of the ship’s captain was in Sitka on Friday (10-9-09) to commemorate the anniversary.

Alaska Airlines is doing better than its competitors, but it’s still a tough market for air carriers. That’s the word from Bill MacKay, the airline’s senior vice president for Alaska, who visited Sitka on Wednesday (10-7-09). He gave an update on the company’s economic health and his concerns for the future.

Sitka voters (on Tue 10-6-09) rejected a pair of ballot propositions that would have improved city roads at a cost of a half-percent sales tax increase.

Medvejie Hatchery in Sitka just finished hosting five classes of third graders for their fall field trip. The students got to handle some fish and see how the hatchery works. But teachers say this is more than just sight-seeing – it’s a way to let their students DO science while learning about it.

Three brown bear cubs captured this summer in Sitka after their mother disappeared are bound for a new home on the East Coast. Officials with Sitka’s Fortress of the Bear loaded the cubs on a cargo flight to Anchorage this morning (Tue 10-6-09), where they were transferred to a Fedex plane and flown to Newark, New Jersey.

Voters in Sitka head to the polls Tuesday and among the questions they'll decide is whether to approve bonds for road repair. Some of those roads look like they're in pretty decent shape, but as Ed Ronco explains, city leaders say it's important to act now.

School board candidates Cass Pook and Tom Conley took listener calls and answered questions in a live call-in forum on Sept. 30. This is the first half of that conversation.