Katherine Rose, Author at KCAW

City to keep Lincoln Street open through June

The Sitka Assembly is leaving Lincoln Street open for at least another month. When the assembly met on Thursday (5-29-25), the group agreed that more time was needed before making a decision on whether to bring back street closures on days with high cruise traffic.

Three years after vote, questions remain for Maine town’s cruise future

It’s been nearly three years since the town of Bar Harbor, Maine voted to limit cruise traffic. In the years since, the citizen-led initiative has spurred lawsuits, an attempted repeal, and uncertainty about the future. While not entirely parallel, the case bears striking resemblance to Sitka’s, where a similar initiative to limit cruise traffic will be considered in a special election on May 28.KCAW’s Katherine Rose reached out to the chair of Bar Harbor’s Town Council, and advocates on either side of the issue to find out how things have been since the town started enacting the limit.

Early voter turnout high for Sitka’s special election

Voter turnout is high on a citizen initiative to limit cruise traffic in Sitka. Sitka’s special election is tomorrow (5-28-25), but voters have already shown up to the polls in high numbers.

With bubbles and a song, Alaska Supreme Court Justice addresses graduates at alma mater

Alaska Supreme Court Justice and Sitka’s former longtime public defender Jude Pate was honored by his alma mater, Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland Oregon. His address to the graduates began with bubbles and ended with a song.

Sitka may allow on-site cannabis consumption with code update

The City of Sitka is poised to permit on-site consumption in the community’s two cannabis retailers. On-site consumption has been legal for years under state law, but Sitka never adopted the policy. Now, retailers say they need private spaces to accommodate cruise ship passengers who have no other place they can legally use marijuana.

City settles lawsuit with former police sergeant over $300K

The City of Sitka has settled another lawsuit against the Police Department – it’s the fourth in six years involving a complaint by a former member of the department. And like those suits, this latest was also costly. The settlement with former Sergeant Gary Cranford is for $320,000.

Researchers plan installation of new SNOTEL stations throughout Southeast

Researchers are hoping to collect more snowpack data throughout Alaska that will help with everything from avalanche monitoring to cross country ski access.

Assembly approves general, enterprise fund budgets for FY26

This year’s budget cycle has had its ups and downs– anticipating a deficit early in the process, in March the assembly tasked department heads with finding areas where the budget could be trimmed. Ultimately a few cuts plus a $400,000 increase in property tax revenue left the city with over $200,000 surplus in the general fund.

Gov. Dunleavy’s BSA proposal could mean more cuts for Sitka’s schools

Governor Dunleavy has proposed a $560 per-student increase. That’s lower than the $680 the governor approved last year, and which Sitka’s school board was counting on in its most recent draft budget.

Attorney, administrator earn ‘exemplary’ reviews from assembly

The Sitka Assembly is happy with the work the city administrator and attorney have done over the last year. When it met in a special session on Tuesday (4-15-25), the assembly gave “exemplary” performance reviews to the only two city employees who report directly to the assembly.