Robert Woolsey, KCAW, Author at KCAW

Three crew members safe after troller Leona sinks during opener

Three people were rescued when the 33-foot troller Leona, owned by Hank Moore, sank about 7 miles south of Sitka Monday night (7-2-18). A Coast Guard helicopter, a Sitka Fire Department rescue boat, and another fishing vessel, Pacific Pearl, responded to the scene. Moore is a well-known musician and music instructor in Sitka.

Yakutat sockeye fishery blindsided by historic low return

Commercial sockeye fishing in Yakutat has been closed due to historic low returns, leaving set-netters in a bind until coho and chum season later in the summer. Unlike other salmon fisheries around the Southeast, biologists never saw this coming.

Passengers, crew safe after small cruise ship grounds north of Sitka

All passengers and crew were safely evacuated after the small cruise ship Alaskan Dream ran aground north of Sitka Saturday morning (6-30-18). According to the US Coast Guard, the 104-foot ship operated by Sitka-based Alaskan Dream Cruises went aground on a shallow beach in Olga Strait, about 12 miles northeast of Sitka.

Japonski Boathouse restoration on the (rail)way to completion

The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society is depending on the community’s historic love of the ocean to maintain the momentum behind it’s flagship project: The restoration of the Japonski Island Boathouse.

After two tours, change-of-command bittersweet at Air Station Sitka

Captain Chip Lewin handed over the keys to Air Station Sitka and its three helicopters to his successor, Cmdr. Michael Frawley, in a change-of-command ceremony in the air station hangar on Thursday (6-28-18). Lewin had served two consecutive tours in Sitka -- unusual in the Coast Guard -- as executive officer and then commander.

Shhh… Sitka’s library quietly tops list of high performance buildings

Two years after opening, Sitka’s newly-renovated public library has proven to be the most energy-efficient library in Alaska -- and it even tops libraries in Washington state. It was featured in the summer issue of the magazine “High Performance Buildings.”

Will Swagel, 1953-2018: A ‘Soupster’ who flavored Sitka’s small town culture

Will Swagel, co-publisher of the Sitka Soup, died on April 1st, but his iconic character "The Soupster" will live on in the pages of the Sitka Soup thanks to co-contributors and the editorial oversight of Swagel's wife and partner Suzanne Portello.

Sitka rehires laid-off teacher, but loses 21st Century Learning program

The Sitka School District has rehired one of two teachers it furloughed at the end of the last school year due to budget cuts. Also at this month's unusually busy summertime board meeting: There was a plea to keep the library at Blatchley Middle School open, a report on changes to the high school math program, and unwelcome news of the district’s 21st Century Learning grant.

Video: Six rescued from sinking pleasure boat in Sitka Sound

Six people are safe after their recreational vessel began taking on water in Sitka Sound on Tuesday evening (6-19-18). Good Samaritan boats -- including gillnetters and charter vessels -- swarmed the 27-foot Catalina Condor when its skipper called in a mayday near Long Island in Sitka Sound, at about 6:15 p.m.

Intervention averts suicide leap from cruise ship docked at Old Sitka

Sitka police, fire, and EMS responded to the Old Sitka Dock Friday afternoon (6-15-18) after the crew of Holland America's Zaandam reported that a passenger had climbed to the outer rail of an upper deck and was contemplating suicide.