Ed Ronco, KPLU - Seattle
Ed Ronco is a reporter at KCAW in Sitka.
Decision Day For Sitka’s School District Budget
Officials in the Sitka School District decide tonight what stays and what goes in the year ahead. The school board is trying to close a nearly $400,000 deficit, and it could make big cuts to get there.
Download Audio
Sitka Man Gives Medal To Fellow Boston Marathoner
An impulse of sympathy by a Sitka couple in Boston has gone viral on the Internet as a symbol of people pulling together in the face of violent tragedy. Monday after the bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon, police stopped the race. Those who could not finish didn’t know if their families waiting at the finish were okay.
Download Audio
Sitka Sac Roe Closes As Co-op Yields 250 Tons
The Sitka Sound sac roe herring season is over. The Alaska Department of Fish & Game announced the closure Thursday morning.
Bill Would Make Hazing Students A Misdemeanor
High school hazing would be outlawed under a bill introduced by state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D-Sitka.
Download Audio
First Herring Opening Yields Roughly 2,100 Tons
The herring fleet gathered about 2,100 tons of fish during Wednesday’s first opening of the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. Those are the preliminary numbers from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. Wednesday’s opening lasted just over three hours, from 3 p.m. to 6:05 p.m.
Sitka Herring Fishery To Open Wednesday
The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is scheduled for a 3 p.m. opening Wednesday. It is the first opening of the season as fishermen try to catch more than 11,500 tons of the small silverfish. Herring eggs are valued on the Japenese market.
SEARHC To Close Bill Brady Healing Center As Sequester Hits
The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, or SEARHC, is closing down its residential drug and alcohol treatment program. The closure was announced Tuesday and comes after massive reductions in federal funding, also known as sequestration.
Download Audio
Sitka Herring Fleet Goes On 2-Hour Notice
The Sitka herring fishery went on two-hour notice today at 11 a.m. It means if Fish & Game calls an opening, the fleet has at least two hours to make it to the location of the fishery.
Download Audio
Ostebo: Sequestration Will Hit USCG In Alaska Less
Federal spending cuts known as sequestration will have less of an impact on the Coast Guard in Alaska than elsewhere in the country. That’s the word from Rear Admiral Thomas Ostebo, who is in charge of the Coast Guard’s District 17, which encompasses the entire state.
Download Audio
CEO: SEARHC Hit Hard By Federal Spending Cut
A healthcare organization with thousands of patients in Southeast Alaska expects a massive hit to its budget. The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, or SEARHC for short, says it’s the result of federal spending cuts known as “sequestration.”
AK: A Fashion Show
Right now, as you’re listening to this, a group of Sitka residents are preparing to walk the runway. But they’ve traded in the usual fabrics for more eccentric media. Maybe it’s a dress that’s all zippers. Or a suit made out of nautical charts. Or a purse composed of bicycle valve stems. In the fashion world, this might be called madness. In Sitka, it’s called wearable art.
Former Sitka Principal Charged With Sexual Assaults
The former principal of Blatchley Middle School in Sitka has been indicted on charges of sexual assault. A Sitka grand jury on Friday charged 54-year-old Joseph Robidou on six counts of felony sexual assault. He also faces an additional five misdemeanor charges for incidents that allegedly happened beginning last May and as recently as January. All of them involve other adults, and prosecutors say students at the school were not involved.
JKT: Representing District Is ‘Deeply Personal’
When he ran for the Alaska House last year, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins visited each community in his district, knocking on almost every door. The strategy paid off. The 24-year-old Democrat won a seat in the Legislature by just 32 votes.
Sitka Mayor: ‘Don’t Assume, Always Hope’ For Funding
About a hundred officials from cities and towns across the state met in Juneau last week for the Alaska Municipal League conference. Part of the conference involved lobbying state lawmakers for funding for local projects. In Sitka, officials are hoping for more than $40 million to fund an important hydro electric expansion project. That might be more money than state is willing to fund in lean budget year. But as the Sitka leaders found out, it's always worth a try.
Vigils Planned To Mourn 13-Year-Old Kake Girl’s Death
As the investigation into her death continues, candlelight vigils are planned across Alaska tonight (Friday) in memory of Mackenzie Howard. The 13-year-old Kake girl is believed to be a victim of murder in the small, Southeast village on Kupreanof Island.
Earthquake Rattles Sitka; NO Tsunami Danger
Many Sitka residents felt an earthquake just before 1 a.m. Thursday. The quake did not set off any tsunami alerts, and the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer reported shortly afterward that there is NO tsunami danger.
Two Donations Total $600K For Sitka Building Improvements
Two donors have sent hundreds of thousands of dollars – each – to improve a couple of buildings in Sitka.
Officials Take Victories, Lessons From Tsunami Evacuation
Tuesday night’s Assembly meeting included a topic no one could have foreseen when the agenda was released Friday. Fire Department officials briefed Assembly members on the Saturday morning evacuation that followed a 7.5 earthquake just before midnight Friday.
Are You Prepared For The Next Evacuation?
At 12:13 early Saturday morning in Sitka, the tsunami siren blew. Warnings were broadcast throughout Sitka after the 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck right before midnight. And the siren caught many city residents unprepared.
Sitka Man Dies After Car Crash
A young Sitka man crashed his car into an other vehicle and was killed in the crash Sunday night. Police say Lane Marlin Robinson, 22, took off on Halibut Point Road after failing to stop for an officer's lights and siren. He crossed the center-line at high speed and hit a sports utility vehicle driven by an 18-year-old woman. Robinson was declared dead at the scene.