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Cruise Limits Fail By Decisive Margin 1u524w

Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson, left, looks over paperwork with Holley Bayne, Precinct 1 chair Alix Snelling and Deputy Clerk Jess Earnshaw. durinng Wednesday night's tally of votes at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Unofficial results have 773 in favor and 2,071 against the proposition which would have limited cruise visitors ashore to 300,000 annually, and 4,500 daily; required at least one quiet day a week with no large ships; and implemented a permit system for cruise ships.

By a more than 2-to-1 margin, voters in Wednesday’s special election turned down a ballot proposition to limit cruise ship visitation. The vote was 773 in favor and 2,071 against the proposition which would have limited cruise visitors ashore to...

Linda Behnken loads ice in the hold of her boat, the F/V Woodstock in 2020.

ALFA Trains Future Skippers for Graying Fleet 6ok6v

The fleet may be graying in Alaska’s commercial fishing industry, but the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association’s Crew Training Program has no shortage of greenhorns to help combat it. Going into its 10th year of operation, the CTP has...

MONEY TALKS 4h5u2w

Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation Board of Trustees Chairman Jason Brune, center, talks with fellow board member Craig Richards today at Harrigan Centennial Hall during a discussion of real estate investment trusts...

Cruise Limits Fail 462c71

Voters in today’s special election turned down a ballot proposition to limit cruise ship tourism by a more than 2-to-1 margin. The vote was 773 in favor and 2,071 against the proposition which would have limited cruise visitors ashore to 300,000...

Election Day 3h1b51

Tourists walk by one of the voting signs set out near Harrigan Centennial Hall this morning. The parking area around the building has not been reserved for tour buses today in order to allow voters access to parking. Polling stations for Precinct...

Police Blotter May 29, 2025 l5s3c

Police Blotter Sitka Police Department received the following calls during the 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. today. May 28 A man reported a case of fraud through his bank. The FBI and other agencies were to be ed. A cruise ship docked at...

Read previous police reports

Obituaries

Sitkan Bill Fredrickson Dies; Service to be Held in August

William John Fredrickson known as Bill, ed away peacefully at SEARHC Hospital on May 11, 2025. He was born to Mildred Birch and John Holton on August 28, 1938 in Petersburg, Alaska. Mildred later divorced Mr. Holton when Bill was a...

Services to be Saturday For Natividad Manaois

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the ing of Natividad Juanitez Manaois, lovingly known as Naty, who ed away on May 4, 2025, at 10:40 PM at the Anchorage Pioneer Home, surrounded by her beloved husband Mario and...

Service for Janice Limbaugh Scheduled Sunday, May 18

A celebration of the life of Janice Marie (Williams) Limbaugh will be held 3 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the ANB Founders Hall. It will be potluck-style. Janice died Oct. 13, 2024, in Spokane, Washington. A former Sitkan, she had been a resident of...

Life of Irene Shuler, 85, To be Celebrated May 24

Irene Shuler, 85, ed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends, on April 24, 2025, in Sitka, Alaska. Irene is survived by her cherished husband of 47 years, Kaye Dethridge; her loving brother, Dennis; her nieces Chelsea and Elyse,...

More obituaries

Sports

Lady Wolves Fall to Juneau in Two-Game Series 1lp2c

Sitka runner Kaelynn Balovich out at first in game against Juneau at a game last month on Moller Field. The teams tied 3-3 in the preseason matchup, though the day prior Sitka beat Juneau 13-3. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

Squared off against the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears, Sitka High’s softball team fell in a two-game series Friday and Saturday in Juneau, losing their first matchup 15-6 but holding on in the second, only losing by 2 runs, 16-14. It was the team’s...

JDHS’ Siena Farr and Sitka’s Leilynn Swain race in the combined DI and DII 4x400 relay during the Region V Track & Field Championships at Juneau’s Thunder Mountain Middle School on Saturday. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

Sitka Track and Field Wins Region V Titles 5bc1q

With only days left in the track and field season, Sitka High’s boys and girls teams won Division II regional titles and set a number of personal records, Friday and Saturday in Juneau, as the squad prepares for the state championship meet this...

Sitka Routs Juneau in Late-Season Series 371j37

Competing on their home turf for the last time this year, Sitka High’s baseball squad routed Juneau-Douglas in a three game series, Friday and Saturday, allowing only two cumulative runs by the Crimson Bears in a weekend of hard hitting and...

Track Team Wins Region Races 3x605f

Sitka High swept to victory in the Division II Region V track and field meet over the weekend in Juneau in both the boys and girls competitions. As the meet separates larger and smaller schools, Sitka did not score with Juneau or Ketchikan at the...

Sitka Yesterday May 29, 2025 3j4s4o

20 YEARS AGO’

May 2005

A Coast Guard Memorial Day observance will be held at Sitka National Cemetery. of the Sitka Coast Guard family to be ed are Myrtle Flynn, Henri Leclerc, Kevin McCracken, Kyle Koval, Michael Brett Snelling, Edward J. Flynn, Mark Allen Teer, William L. McVey, Donald J. Husel, Julie Cooper Revalee, Nathan Ian Rehnert II, Vern Berg, Cecile Gutierrez, Alexander V. Thrush and James Lee Asnin.

50 YEARS AGO

May 1975

Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists from around Southeast and fisheries personnel from Sheldon Jackson College attended a workshop here given by Dr. Keith Jefferts, developer of a fish tagging machine which is being used at Starrigavan Bay to mark young salmon.

Read previous Sitka Yesterdays

An aerial view shows the destruction of Blatten, Switzerland, Thursday, May 29, 2025, one day after a massive debris avalanche, triggered by the collapse of the Birch Glacier, swept down to the valley floor and demolished large parts of the village. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

Swiss glacier collapse renews focus on risks of climate change as glaciers retreat around the world 1y6l6l

The landslide that buried a Swiss village and riverbed this week is refocusing attention on the role of global warming in glacier collapses around the world. In Switzerland, the mountainside gave way …

Coastal Alaskans see commercial fishing limits as a ‘crisis.’ Lawmakers don’t. 6h2q1u

This story was produced as part of the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship and the Public Media ability Initiative, which s investigative reporting at local media outlets around the country. It was reported and edited by Northern Journaland APM Reports, with from Alaska Public Media. For decades, an economic catastrophe has been unfolding in […]

Judge: Alaska limits on intoxicating hemp products do not violate the U.S. Constitution x5ml

A federal magistrate judge has ruled that the state of Alaska did not violate the U.S. Constitution when it acted to limit intoxicating hemp products in 2023. In an order published May 23, Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon granted summary judgment in favor of the state and against the Alaska Industrial Hemp Association, which sued two […]

Missing family's boat found in Alaska waters along with human remains n633y

Officials say that nearly a year after a search was suspended for a family of four missing after the boat they were on capsized in waters off Alaska, the vessel along with human remains have been …

Alaska Airlines suspends red-carpet ceremonial fly-out of first Copper River king salmon 4h371z

Alaska Airlines has stopped rolling out the red carpet for the opening of Alaska’s salmon season. The airline has paused a 15-year-old program that celebrates the Copper River salmon run, one of Alaska’s earliest commercial salmon fisheries, the company confirmed by email. For more than a decade, Alaska Airlines observed the unofficial opening of Alaska’s […]

Alaska Legislature makes progress on aid package for ailing seafood industry 5h121d

To help pull the struggling Alaska seafood industry out of its tailspin, state lawmakers ed some bills aimed at lightening the financial load on harvesters and advanced others that are intended to help businesses and fishery-dependent municipalities. The bills stemmed from recommendations made by the t Legislative Task Force Evaluating Alaska’s Seafood Industry, which was […]

Maryland's Wes Moore says he's not running for president but high-profile stops keep chatter alive f3c1i

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has been saying for months that he does not plan to run for president in 2028. That isn’t stopping persistent talk about his future political plans, though. He's often …

FILE - Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks at a hearing on Capitol Hill Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)

Ernst draws groans at Iowa town hall after retort on Medicaid cuts, saying 'we all are going to die' 7221t

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst is facing backlash after saying “we all are going to die” while talking about potential changes to Medicaid eligibility at a town hall in north-central Iowa. Despite …

FILE - Animated character Homer Simpson is projected on screen at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, Sept. 22, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Alf Clausen, Emmy-winning composer who wrote music for 'The Simpsons' for 27 years, dies at 84 i5w6n

Al Clausen, the Emmy-winning composer who provided the music for “The Simpsons” for 27 years, has died at age 84. Clausen's daughter says he died in Los Angeles on Thursday. Clausen began …

AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley smiles while completing in the girls long jump during the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High School, Saturday, May 24, 2025, in Moorpark, Calif. (Kirby Lee via AP)

California track-and-field final enters spotlight for rule change after trans athlete's success 1365c

The California high school track-and-field championship is set to begin Friday amid a controversy over the participation of a transgender female athlete. The state's governing body for high school …

International

FILE - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth holds a t press conference with and Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Philippines, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon, File)

Hegseth says US will stand by Indo-Pacific allies against 'imminent' threat of China 43u4w

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reassured allies in the Indo-Pacific that they will not be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressures from China. Speaking on Saturday at the …

At least 88 people dead after floods submerge market town in Nigeria om4y

An official says at least 88 people have been confirmed dead after floods submerged Mokwa, a market town in Nigeria’s Niger State on Thursday. Husseini Isah, head of the operations office in Minna, …

A man poses by an artwork by street artist Banksy, Friday, May 30, 2025 in Marseille, southern . (AP Photo/Bishr Eltoni)

A hunt for Banksy's new lighthouse artwork leads to the south of 5s186p

Images of an enigmatic new work by elusive street artist Banksy set of a hunt for its location that ended in the south of . It started with pictures on the artist’s Instagram site showing a …

Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, attends a t press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in the chancellory in Berlin, , Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

UN seeks 20% cut in staff to help deal with a funding shortfall 6t2g3q

More than 60 United Nations offices, agencies and operations have been ordered to submit proposals by mid-June to cut 20% of their staff. It's part of a major reform effort to consolidate operations …

National Sports

NCAA Div I Softball World Series Glance 1g1345

At OGE Energy Field Oklahoma City All Times EDT Double Elimination x-if necessary Thursday, May 29 Game 1 - Texas 3, Florida 0 Game 2 - Oklahoma 4, Tennessee 3 Game 3 …

Entertainment

FILE - Smokey Robinson attends the screening for "The Apollo" during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival on April 24, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

Smokey Robinson sues former housekeepers for defamation over rape allegations 3b4v3k

Smokey Robinson has filed a defamation lawsuit against four former housekeepers who filed a $50 million lawsuit accusing him of rape and sexual assault. The 85-year-old Motown music legend filed the …

Health

Will you be able to get a COVID-19 shot? Here's what we know so far 6611i

For many Americans, it's not clear how easy getting a COVID-19 vaccination this fall will be — or if they've lost the choice. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week said the shots are no …