Articles written by Shannon Haugland


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  • Tlingit & Haida sends multiple Starlink units to help Sitka during GCI outage

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Sep 11, 2024

    With repair of the damaged GCI fiber optic cable expected sometime in the next week, a lot of Sitkans are relying on Starlink thanks to help from the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Sitka lost internet service Aug. 29 when an undersea cable broke. “Our teams have successfully restored basic mobile voice and text services using alternative technology,” GCI reported Sept. 3. “However, customers are unable to use mobile data, internet and UConn TV services.” The telecommunications provider said a fiber repair...

  • Undersea cable break cuts GCI phone and internet service to Sitka

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Sep 4, 2024

    GCI said Saturday that a ship is coming from Seattle to make repairs to a damaged section of undersea fiber optic cable that has caused the loss of GCI cell phone and internet service in Sitka. Service, which was cut Thursday, Aug. 29, is not expected to be back up until next week. GCI said the repair ship is expected to be at the site of the undersea cable break, about 30 miles from Sitka, by Friday, Sept. 6, and that repairs could take three to seven days. In the meantime, the public is getting help from Starlink satellite communication...

  • Fish Conservancy sues over Columbia River salmon hatcheries

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|May 1, 2024

    Another lawsuit with implications to Southeast Alaska commercial salmon fisheries was filed last month by the Wild Fish Conservancy, claiming that hatchery programs on the Lower Columbia River are harming the recovery of wild fish runs. The complaint was filed April 17 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma by Washington state-based Wild Fish Conservancy and The Conservation Angler, based in Portland. The suit is filed against the National Marine Fisheries Service, and state biologists and fishery managers in Washington and Oregon. Matt Donohoe,...

  • Federal grant will pay for longliners association effort to save fuel and money

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Mar 27, 2024

    The Alaska Longline Fisherman’s Association says the $514,000 federal grant it received for a feasibility study could lead to lower costs for the fishing fleet and a path to decarbonization of the industry. “This will inform our efforts to decarbonize the fleet and implement hybrid boats while we work with the rest of the maritime industry to identify and develop next-generation carbon-free fuels,” executive director Linda Behnken said. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced the funding for t...

  • Southeast trollers pull in record king salmon catch in January

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Feb 14, 2024

    Despite the rough weather, Southeast trollers recorded a record chinook salmon catch for January in the winter troll fishery, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The January catch totaled 7,200 kings, well above the previous record of 4,800 in 2016. “I knew it was good but didn’t realize we were that far above the previous high,” said Grant Hagerman, Fish and Game Southeast troll biologist in Sitka. But “it’s not all roses,” Hagerman said. The fish are smaller on average, and the prices are below the five-year average. “We’re h...

  • Alaska trollers will gear up to fight endangered listing for king salmon

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Jan 24, 2024

    Southeast salmon fishermen say they weren’t surprised by the news that the nonprofit Wild Fish Conservancy has launched a fresh effort that could shut down Alaska’s king salmon fisheries. Last year, Southeast Alaska king salmon troll fisheries were threatened by a lawsuit from the Washington state-based organization in the name of protecting an important food source for Puget Sound killer whales. The latest threat comes from the conservancy’s announcement that it will seek listing of Alaska king salmon under the protection of the federal Endang...

  • Searchers find bodies of 2 who died when boat overturned near Sitka

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Jan 17, 2024

    Using an unmanned underwater drone to search a boat that had overturned near Chichagof Island, searchers on Jan. 10 located the bodies of two people who were missing after three others were rescued from the Jan. 9 accident. The three who survived were hoisted from the water within about an hour from the time Sitka Police Department received a digital GPS distress alert at 4:35 p.m. Jan. 9. Police immediately notified Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, and within 14 minutes a rescue helicopter was on the way to the accident site, in waters off the...

  • Trollers association disappointed with Board of Fisheries decision

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Dec 13, 2023

    Alaska Trollers Association Board President Matt Donohoe said he’s disappointed by the state Board of Fisheries’ decision that he believes will cause continued harm to commercial trollers in Southeast. “I think residents of Alaska, sport and commercial fishermen, suffered a terrible blow by the Board of Fisheries who favored out-of-state residents over residents,” Donohoe said of the board’s Dec. 1 decision not to more tightly enforce the catch allocation for sport anglers. The growing charter boat industry was the focus of the proposed...

  • Sitka rejects second petition to limit cruise ship visitors

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Nov 29, 2023

    The Sitka city clerk has rejected a second application to gather signatures for putting an initiative on the 2024 ballot to limit the number of cruise ship visitors to the Southeast community. City Attorney Brian Hanson recommended rejection of the application on the grounds that the proposed ordinance “would not be enforceable as a matter of law.” The attorney said, “Initiatives must be drafted clearly enough so that the voters know what they are voting on and so future disputes over the initiative’s meaning are avoided.” The initiativ...

  • Sitka assembly uses sales tax revenues to give $300 to every utility customer

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Nov 22, 2023

    The Sitka assembly has approved a one-time payment of $300 to all residential utility customers, spending more than $1 million of the city’s higher-than-expected sales tax haul this past fiscal year. The ordinance passed on a 5-2 vote on Nov. 14. The $300 will be applied to residential accounts starting late this month, city staff said. “Even as I was running, I had people always coming up to me, saying ‘we need help with utilities,’” Assembly Member Chris Ystad said. “That was a constant theme. And another constant theme was ‘how does t...

  • Sitka voters approve seasonal sales tax to help fund schools

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Oct 18, 2023

    More than 63% of Sitka voters cast ballots Oct. 3 to approve a 1% seasonal sales tax increase to provide more funding for school repairs and construction. The ballot measure will raise the sales tax from 5% to 6% from April 1 through Sept. 30, starting next year. The sales tax passed 1,058 to 594. Sitka had a 1% seasonal sales tax for 20 years to cover the city’s share of school construction bonds, but it ended June 30 this year when the tax had raised enough to pay off the bonds. The new seasonal tax addition approved by voters this month i...

  • Sitka rejects ballot initiative petition to limit cruise ship visitors

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Oct 18, 2023

    Sitka’s municipal clerk has notified resident Larry Edwards that his application to circulate a petition for a ballot initiative to limit cruise ship visitors to Sitka has been turned down. Clerk Sara Peterson notified Edwards that the proposal would be an “impermissible appropriation of a public asset,” which is prohibited by the state constitution’s provision for citizen initiatives. Edwards filed the application on Sept. 15, with 43 other co-sponsors, in response to the growth in cruise ship visitation which reached record numbers in 2022...

  • Sitka voters may get chance to vote on limiting cruise ship traffic

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Sep 27, 2023

    A ballot initiative in Sitka aimed at capping cruise visitators at an interim level of 240,000 starting in 2024 — less than half this summer’s count — may be headed for a special election this winter. “Win or lose, it’s going to get some good discussion going,” said Larry Edwards, one of 45 co-sponsors on the application to put the visitor limit to a vote in a special election. Edwards submitted his application for the initiative to the city clerk on Sept. 15 and, pending approval by the clerk, he hopes to begin gathering petition signatures in...

  • Sitka assembly approves plan for new boat haul-out facility

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Aug 9, 2023

    The Sitka city assembly has given the go-ahead to a plan for building a boat haul-out and shipyard at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park by late 2024. The option calls for a 150-ton boat lift, haul-out piers, washdown pad and an EPA-certified wastewater treatment system. The haul-out would be located next to the old Alaska Pulp Corp. utility dock, with an adjacent work yard for about 20 vessels. “I think that this will be a crucial piece of infrastructure that is worth investing in,” Assembly Member Kevin Mosher said at the July 27 meeting. “Ev...

  • State says troll season will open July 1, but no chinook harvest

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Jun 7, 2023

    The Southeast Alaska summer commercial troll season for coho and chum salmon will open on July 1, but no chinook retention will be allowed, the state Department of Fish and Game announced May 30. The prohibition on troll-caught kings is due to the ongoing lawsuit by the nonprofit Wild Fish Conservancy against the National Marine Fisheries Service. Still, Alaska trollers are holding out hope that king salmon fishing will open as usual on July 1 if the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals grants a stay of last month’s U.S. District Court order t...

  • Northern Southeast hatchery group donates to trollers fight against lawsuit

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Mar 8, 2023

    The Sitka-based Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association board voted March 1 to provide up to $75,000 toward legal expenses to help fight a lawsuit that threatens to shut down the Southeast commercial troll fisheries. The 22 members at the board meeting gave unanimous approval to the contribution to the Alaska Trollers Association, said association general manager Scott Wagner. The aquaculture association manages hatcheries and salmon run enhancement projects as far north in Southeast as Haines. The Wild Fish Conservancy, a...

  • Senate Finance co-chair says proposed spending cap that excludes PFD is 'nonsensical'

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Mar 8, 2023

    Bills under consideration in the Legislature to cap state spending are not addressing the main challenges Alaska is facing, said Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “We don’t have a spending-side problem; we have a revenue-side problem,” said Stedman, who also represents Wrangell and the rest of Southeast except for Juneau, Haines, Skagway and Gustavus. He is in his 20th year in the Legislature. The senator pointed out that the latest spending-cap proposal advanced by an Anchorage Republican would exclude the P...

  • Sitka McDonald's will close this summer after 35 years

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Feb 8, 2023

    After more than 35 years as Sitka’s top spot for a fast-food fix, McDonald’s on Feb. 1 announced that its Sitka restaurant will close this summer. An announcement posted on the bulletin board at the Sitka McDonald’s said the restaurant would “cease operations no later than 7/31/23.” The announcement indicated the decision came from McDonald’s headquarters, and not from the franchise holders, Mike White and Bill Laliberte. “As a franchisee of McDonald’s we understand the business decision but find it hard to leave a community that we have be...

  • Senate Finance co-chair criticizes governor's proposal for larger PFD

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Jan 4, 2023

    Sen. Bert Stedman, co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, says Gov. Dunleavy’s proposed $3,800 Permanent Fund dividend in 2023 would mean “starting the year underwater.” “It’s not a prudent way to administer the state’s financial resources.” Stedman said, reacting to his first review of Dunleavy’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. “Revenues would not meet recurring expenditures. We’d be talking about going into the hole by about $300 million.” Stedman was reelected Nov. 8 to a sixth term in the Senate representing s...

  • Sitka processors will sell 20 tons of seafood to cruise lines this summer

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Sep 28, 2022

    Before departing Sitka on a recent cruise stop, The Serenade of the Seas took more than passengers aboard — it took 2,000 pounds of fresh Sitka seafood. It’s the latest development in a collaborative effort that started decades ago among seafood processors, cruise lines and their chefs, and the industry organization Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska. “We’ve had fish come off the (fishing) boats, into the processing room and onto the cruise ships within one and a half hours,” said Fred Reeder, Sitka port director for Cruise Line Agencies....

  • Sitka will vote on spending $8 million to build boat haul-out

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Aug 3, 2022

    A proposal to build a boat haul-out facility in Sitka with the money the city received from selling its community hospital property will be on the Oct. 4 city election ballot. On a 6-0 vote July 26, the assembly gave final approval to an ordinance on the ballot question. If passed by the voters, up to $8.18 million from the 2021 sale of the hospital building and property to SEARHC would go toward construction of a haul-out and boatyard at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park. Sitka has not had a boat haul-out — an important piece of i...

  • SEARHC continues to expand behavioral health services in Sitka

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Jun 29, 2022

    SEARHC is continuing to expand its behavioral health services in Sitka and also to serve residents of other Southeast communities, an official of the health care provider has told the Sitka borough assembly. “I wanted to bring your attention to some of the changes, the evolution of the behavioral health service line at SEARHC,” said Dr. Elliot Bruhl, senior vice president and chief medical officer at the Sitka-based SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. He called behavioral health “one of our number of areas of emphasis in terms of our c...

  • Repairs to Sitka cruise ship terminal now estimated at $2 million

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|Jun 15, 2022

    Repairs to damaged mooring dolphins at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal will take longer and cost more than originally expected, now estimated at over $2 million, dock officials said. Until repairs are made, only one ship, not two, can use the dock at a time. The dolphin off the north end of the Sitka Sound dock was damaged May 9 when it was struck by the Radiance of the Seas as it was maneuvering nearby. The damage reduced the number of available docking spaces from two to one, said Chris McGraw, manager of the privately owned cruise terminal....

  • Sitka Seafoods raises $130,000 for Ukraine, also donates canned salmon

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|May 25, 2022

    Silver Bay Seafoods, which started in Sitka 15 years ago, has connections that reach more than 5,000 miles across the world to Ukraine, prompting the company to reach out with sizable monetary and food donations to help those affected by Russia’s war on its neighboring country. “We were devastated by the reports and knew we needed to help, so we kicked off a donation program,” said Abby Fredrick, Silver Bay Seafoods director of communications. After only a few weeks, fishermen, employees and the company raised $130,000 to donate to the World...

  • Cruise ship knocks Sitka mooring dolphin out of commission

    Shannon Haugland, Sitka Sentinel|May 18, 2022

    The cruise ship Radiance of the Seas struck a Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal mooring dolphin on May 9 as it was preparing to dock, limiting the facility to one berth instead of two until repairs are completed in a few weeks, terminal manager Chris McGraw said. There was no apparent damage to the 961-foot ship and no reported injuries in the mishap. A dolphin is a collection of steel pilings driven into the ocean floor and used for mooring a ship at a dock. The Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment is investigating the accident, McGraw said. He has...

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