Katherine Rose, Author at KCAW

Assembly gives first ‘thumbs up’ to budget for FY26

Sitka has a budget for next year – almost. After months of work ironing out the wrinkles, at least one past- and one present assembly member voiced strong objections to the 139-page document when it was introduced on first reading Tuesday night (4-8-25).

City will not close Lincoln Street in May trial run

The City of Sitka won’t close downtown’s main thoroughfare on high cruise traffic days in May.

It’s plucks, not clucks, at Sitka’s ‘Instrument Petting Zoo’

The Juneau Symphony is in town this weekend to perform classic orchestral pieces on Sitka’s biggest stage. But it’s not the only highlight of their visit. The afternoon before their highly anticipated concert, musicians visited the Sitka Public Library to open their violin and trumpet cases for an “Instrument Petting Zoo.”

Chinook harvest limit down nearly 40 percent from last year

The harvest allocation for king salmon in Southeast Alaska is lower than the region’s commercial trollers expected.

As world TB cases rise, a former Sitka nurse recalls Alaska epidemic

Like many infectious diseases, tuberculosis was never eradicated, just suppressed – by a global public health effort that began shortly after the Second World War. Sitkan Brownie Thomsen is a former tuberculosis nurse who recently celebrated her 100th birthday. KCAW’s Katherine Rose visited Thomsen on the occasion of World TB Day (March 24) to discuss her role in Alaska’s battle against TB, and her fears that changes in US foreign policy will allow the disease to bounce back.

Assembly approves Highmark Marine for haulout operation

The Sitka Assembly has invited a Kodiak-based company to run its new publicly-owned marine haulout – over the strenuous objections of many in the local fleet and marine services industry.

State will now share herring fishery data, with processor permission

The state will share harvest data from the Sitka Sound Sac Roe herring fishery after all. That’s after participating processors gave the Alaska Department of Fish and Game the green light to share the data with the public.

State won’t share herring harvest data this year due to low processor participation

Sitka’s commercial herring fishery is smaller this year, and that means fishery reports from the state will be restricted.

Murkowski warns of ripple effects from Trump’s orders

The impact of federal funding freezes and job cuts on Sitka’s economy topped the list of concerns when Senator Lisa Murkowski visited the Southeast island community on Wednesday (3-19-25). But community concerns extended beyond that, as was highlighted in a protest the same day of Murkowski’s visit, when over 200 Sitkans marched in opposition to a wide range of actions taken by President Donald Trump in recent weeks.

Sitkans protest actions of Trump administration

Over 200 people marched in Sitka today/Wednesday, protesting the recent actions of President Donald Trump. The group “Sitkans For Democracy” marched downtown, decrying executive overreach and billionaire Elon Musk's influence on the administration in its first 100 days.