Sealaska Heritage Institute’s artist residency program hosts Indigenous artists at public spaces in Southeast Alaska throughout summer. The residency, which expanded to Sitka this year, provides the artists room to create and connect with their heritage where visitors can stop by to watch their work come together. 

Ameerah Bad’r is the current artist-in-residence at Sitka National Historical Park. Her work combines drawing, watercolor, and formline design, a traditional art style used by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest that incorporates curved lines and shapes. Sitka’s flora will be her main subject.

“I’m working on a foxglove painting right now,” Bad’r says. “I definitely want to draw the fireweed [and] paint the fireweed. It’s a little intimidating, though. It has a lot going on.”

A lot of her work has focused on flowers from the places she’s traveled over the last few years. Bad’r says she finds it meditative to study plants’ delicate details. 

“The work is kind of rooted in grieving and memory and the cycle of life,” she says. “If you can truly be present with a flower and really look at it, you’re really getting to see something beautiful. But in the end, that flower is totally going to die. But then after that, another flower is going to come back.”

Bad’r is currently based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She says she’s been wanting to come to Southeast Alaska for a long time because of her family’s roots. 

“It’s a gift to be able to come here and meet people and learn more about the culture, and see where I fit in here. And I’ve learned a little bit about my family lineage already.”

She says her time in Sitka has been peaceful, and that this won’t be her last trip here. You can visit Bad’r at Sitka National Historical Park through Sept. 4.

Dolly Parton’s passing last week has left many reflecting on the country music star’s philanthropy, particularly around children’s literacy. Last weekend (8-29-26), Sitkans took a page out of Parton’s book by giving free books to kids. Listen here:

It’s a rainy afternoon at Old Harbor Books in Sitka. Lisa Teas Conaway is browsing the shelves with her three sons.

“We found a great Frog and Toad for Owen here, who’s only seven months old. He’s very excited to chew on it already. And Adrian, what did you find?” Teas Conaway asks her oldest son, who holds up Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual. 

They’ll be walking away with three new books — one for each of the boys — without paying a penny. A Facebook group called Sitka Kids is leading a pay-it-forward campaign for children’s books at the local bookshop. Kids up to age 12 can choose one book under $20. Community donations will cover the cost.

It’s one way Sitkans are honoring the legacy of Dolly Parton, who was dedicated to improving children’s literacy, especially in rural areas. Librarian Kari Sagel helped get the idea off the ground.

“People wanted to commemorate her, sing her songs, play tributes,” Sagel says. “And I sensed that people wanted to do something, and I thought, ‘Well, let’s give them something to do.'”

Parton has been making an impression on young readers in Sitka for years. Over 260 kids are enrolled in Sitka’s branch of the Imagination Library, Parton’s foundation that sends one free book a month to kids under five. As a librarian, Sagel says she’s always eager to give books to children. Especially physical books.

“I think research shows that the ‘book book’ is important. That’s the technical library term: ‘book book,'” Sagel says.

Jasmine Horton is a bookseller at the local store. Before the shop opened this morning, she says people were lined up outside with rainboots and umbrellas.

“I expected it to be busy for sure,” Horton says. “But when I walked up and saw the line, I was like, ‘Oh, let me hurry up and get inside so we can get started.'”

And there’s been a steady stream of customers all day. The fund started with $300 from Sagel, the bookstore, and Peggy Fedoroff, a retired teacher. With just a few days notice, they racked up more than $3,000 from individuals and businesses in town. Over 120 kids were able to walk away with a free book. 

“It’s social media and word of mouth in a small town. The two are just the perfect combo,” says Ashia Lane, the bookstore’s manager.

There’s still a few hundred dollars left in the fund. Lane says the bookstore is hoping to hold the balance on a gift card to pay-it-forward another day. 

Dolly Parton’s death was tough news for people around the world. But for Sitka’s youngest readers, her light still shines, even on a rainy day.

“And what that really means is that our rainfall amount hit a level where there had been landslides in the past,” Silva said. “So it’s not that there’s always going to be landslides when that level of rain hits. You know, it happened last night, and we didn’t have any slides in town, but it did mean that other slides have happened at that amount of rainfall that we hit that last night.” 

While no slides resulted from the heavy rains, Silva hopes Sitkans will walk away with a reminder to be prepared and use the dashboard as a tool when deciding whether to leave a landslide-prone area.

“I always think it’s worthwhile to really exercise caution, because while we don’t know that a landslide will happen, it could,” Silva said.

Silva recommends having a “hazard buddy” who lives outside of landslide-prone areas. When the risk level shifts to medium, consider staying with that person for the night. Silva also recommends keeping tabs on the National Weather Service website for the most up-to-date weather information, weather.gov/ajk. As for when to check the dashboard – Silva said there are some signs to watch out for.

“Heavier rainfall than you imagine is a big one,” Silva said. “Other environmental triggers we’ve seen that you could observe with your own eyes are, let’s say, if you live near a stream, for example, and you see water that normally runs clear running muddier or sort of darker. That’s a sign that we’ve seen before landslides in the past.”

For more information, including maps of landslide prone zones and other slide signs, visit sitkalandslide.org.

The Sitka Community Gardens Association is hosting a community picnic at its Jarvis Street garden location on Sunday, September 6. Lee Rector and Kari Sagel joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss the event, which will feature a musical jam session, floral arrangement and dessert contest. Listen here:

The dashboard is hosted by the Sitka Sound Science Center in collaboration with a number of other organizations.

Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and may be updated.

A male brown bear in Sitka known locally as Tum-Tum drowned at Redoubt Falls earlier this summer during a state-run research project.

Researchers with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are currently in year two of a six-year project to count the number of bears on Baranof Island, which covers 1,600 square miles. 

State wildlife biologist Stephanie Sell said in a statement Monday that research staff were capturing and collaring brown bears at Redoubt Lake over a four-day period in late July when the drowning occurred. She said the five-year-old brown bear, who was highly habituated, was darted and took a trail that led to salt water.

Sell said staff made every effort to resuscitate him, including rescue breathing and CPR, without success. ADF&G staff ceased all captures in the area immediately afterward.

Sell said it was “a highly unfortunate accident” that they don’t take lightly.  However, she said, wildlife management and research come with inherent risks to both staff and animals. 

“Despite the skilled and professional biologists’ best efforts, across North America, occasionally an accident occurs which results in loss of the animal,” she said.

The second annual American Documentary and Animation Film Festival — AmDocs — returns to Sitka October 9-11. Organizer Debbie Miller joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss the event, which will feature 33 films and a variety of programming. Listen to the conversation here:

Sitkans are invited to meet international exchange students with AFS-USA at a potluck this weekend. Students Mark Lisovenko, Daniel Mueller and Ema Lungu joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss their experiences with the program so far. Listen here:

The community is invited to meet this year’s cohort this Sunday (8-30-26) at 5:30 p.m. at the Halibut Point Recreation area.