Author: Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Blatchley Middle School is a lot more colorful these days, thanks in large part to a new mural which was installed this week. (March 4) Sitkan Lisa Busch spearheaded the grant process in order to bring Ketchikan artist, author and printmaker Evon Zerbetz to town, as this year’s Artist in the Schools.

The senate transportation committee has signed off on a bill that would allow the operation of low-speed electric vehicles in some Alaskan communities. A revised version of Senate Bill 59, introduced by Sitka senator Bert Stedman, was approved by transportation members Monday afternoon (3-3-09) and referred to the judiciary committee.

Like all competitions, there are winners and losers in drama, debate, and forensics. But there is a lot more to these events than winning medals. KCAW student reporter Ruby Gale is on the JV team at Sitka High School. She went behind the scenes, and sent this audio postcard from the state DDF meet in Sitka:

The Board of Fisheries has established a bag limit for sport-caught black cod for the first time. Proposal 137 quickly became a point of contention during last week’s (Thu 2-27) board meeting in Sitka, and it was the last issue the Board dealt with before wrapping up the ten day meeting Thursday night.

The State Board of fish has made some changes to the way the sitka sound sac roe herring fishery is managed. The guideline harvest level for the commercial harvest will be based on a rate of 12 to 20 percent, depending on the size of the biomass. That’s instead of a range of 10 to 20 percent. Also, the spawning population of herring now has to be forecast at 25,000 tons or more in order to have a commercial harvest. That’s five thousand tons higher than the old threshold.

Planning for the expansion of Sitka’s Rocky Gutierrez Airport has entered a new phase, and the public is being encouraged to participate. The assembly heard an intitial report on Tuesday (2-24-09).

The future of the Hames Athletic & Wellness center will come down to an assembly vote next month. The Sitka assembly last night (Tue 2-24-09) decided to give Pacific Tower Properties until the 10th of March to present acceptable terms on a lease for the former Sheldon Jackson PE center, or close down the facility.

Herring may be one of the most heated issues before the Alaska Board of Fisheries as meetings continue this week. Sitka Tribe of Alaska has three proposals that would limit the commercial harvest and increase subsistence thresholds for the sitka sound sac roe herring. Another proposal from the Ketchikan Herring Association seeks to close commercial herring in certain areas in Southeast.

Senator Lisa Murkowski says she's trying to become more optimistic about the economic stimulus package. The Alaska Republican delivered a sharp rebuttal to President Obama's weekend radio address (2-14-09). But the following Wednesday, she told the Sitka Chamber of Commerce that she was trying to cheer up:

When most of us were twelve years old, we spent our Saturday afternoons doing what twelve-year-olds do: hanging out or doing chores. But one seventh-grader in Sitka, inspired by Barack Obama’s clinching the democratic nomination last summer, decided to use his free time to volunteer for the future president’s campaign. Ben Gordon didn’t stuff envelopes, and he was too young to drive voters to the polls. Instead, he canvassed door-to-door for Obama and other democratic candidates. His last stop was the door of the US Capitol, one month ago today (2-20-09). KCAW asked him to record some of his experiences in Washington DC: This is Ben Gordon’s Inauguration journal.