Katherine Rose, Author at KCAW

Assembly considers options for haulout project

With no federal or state funding available to support the project, plans for a new marine haulout in Sitka have come to a standstill. The Sitka Assembly this week (10-13-20) went back to the drawing board to look for new ideas to develop a haulout, which is considered vital to Sitka’s maritime industries.

Assembly recognizes outgoing and swears in new members

When the Sitka Assembly met Tuesday night (10-13-20), it held a ‘changing of the guard’-- recognizing outgoing assembly members, and certifying the results from last week’s municipal election.

Post-election, new assembly and school board members prepared to ‘get to work’

Sitka’s municipal election results were certified by the assembly on Tuesday (10-13-20). Raven News connected with a few of the candidates shortly after the election to find out how they were feeling, in their post election bliss.

Bear activity spikes in Sitka’s residential areas

Sitkans have seen an uptick in bear activity in recent weeks. Bears that would typically come out late at night and rob trash cans have become bolder about appearing in the daytime, and Sitka National Historical Park has been closed -- just to humans -- 24/7 until bears head to their dens.

Tuesday’s results are in, but 1707 votes still need to be counted in Sitka’s municipal election

The polls have closed and the numbers are in...well about half of them, anyway. KCAW’s Katherine Rose reports on how municipal election results looked, as of Tuesday night, and who the front-runners are as officials prepare to count over 1,700 more ballots Wednesday afternoon:

High early voter turnout means Sitka’s municipal election results could be delayed

Sitka’s municipal election is today (10-6-20). Early voter turnout is more than triple last year’s count, meaning that Sitkans likely won’t have a good idea of who won until Wednesday afternoon, at the earliest.

As COVID-19 cases creep upward in Sitka, officials hope to avert school closure

City officials are hoping to keep schools open in Sitka, as the number of coronavirus cases in the community edges closer to the threshold for closing them.

Mt. Edgecumbe student tests positive for coronavirus, prompting campus lockdown

Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka briefly locked down and quarantined around 25 students, after another student at the state-run boarding school tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this week.

With its budget uncertain, Sitka Assembly postpones annual nonprofit grant awards

The Sitka Assembly is postponing its decision on how to distribute $50,000 in funding to the community’s nonprofit organizations, until it has more clarity on its own budget.

Assembly approves second wave of business grants, utility subsidies

Earlier this year, the Sitka Assembly budgeted $5 million of available CARES Act money for business and nonprofit grants, without really knowing how many businesses would take advantage of the program. The application period closed last month, and on Thursday (9-25-20), the assembly had the opportunity to take stock of how much coronavirus relief funding is left in the pot.