Author: Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

A painting dating back to 1879 has caused a stir at the Sitka Historical Society and Museum. The painting of the USS Jamestown with Sitka in the background may potentially be one of the first oil paintings of Sitka from the post-transfer era.

On the upper end of the technological spectrum, Sitka High School lacks WiFi internet access. On the lower end of that same spectrum, the bathroom soap dispensers often run short. The Sitka High student council and Sitka school board convened in a joint meeting Tuesday (12-2-08) to discuss the pressing issues of the year. The conversation was far reaching and surprisingly candid on topics ranging from perceived racism toward peers at neighboring Mt. Edgecumbe High School, to statewide drug policy.

While the proposed cut in the Southeast commercial halibut catch next season is distressing news for longliners, many subsistence fishermen will also be fishing under tighter restrictions. Late last month (10-24-08), NOAA Fisheries implemented new rules to reduce the amount of subsistence halibut gear in the water by half in some parts of Southeast Alaska.

The Sitka high chapter of Amnesty International spent last evening taping up 240 red cut out paper figures in the high school commons. The display represents the number of youth worldwide between the ages of 15 and 24 who are infected with HIV every hour. Today is the 20th Anniversary of World Aids Day.

The Hames Wellness Center will continue to exist, at least for another year. The Sitka City and Borough Assembly approved the motion for a lease extension at last night’s [11/25/08] meeting. Supporters of the Hames Center filled Harrigan Centennial Hall to provide public testimony.

The International Pacific Halibut Commission has announced another significant reduction in the halibut harvest next year. The cutback will be a heavy blow especially for commercial longliners in Southeast who’ve seen their quotas cut steadily over the last five years. Lower halibut abundance in Southeast waters could also set the stage for another legal battle for charter halibut fishermen opposed to a reduction in the daily bag limit for their clients.

The Alaska Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Sitka man arrested for an act of civil disobedience in Ted Stevens’ Fairbanks office last year. Don Muller was charged in February of 2007 with criminal trespass after he and several others entered the senator’s office to read the names of the 32-hundred US service people and 6-thousand Iraqi civilians known to have been killed up to that time during the war.

A dedication and renaming ceremony was held last Friday, by the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium and the Angoon Community Association. The new clinic honors longtime community health aide practitioner Jessie Norma Jim, who worked in Angoon for over thirty five years.

The campus of the former Sheldon Jackson college in Sitka has made the list of the state’s twelve most endangered historic properties. The Alaska Association for Historic Preservation publishes the list annually. The designation came just ahead of a recent decision by the Sitka planning commission to approve a new plat for the campus that leaves most of the National Historic Landmark intact.

Recently a rogue bear was wreaking havoc in Port Alexander, and it’s not uncommon for bears to hang around in the fall and cause all kinds of mayhem. But just around the corner from PA, at the Port Armstrong hatchery, bears can often outnumber the residents almost three to one during the months of August and September.