Robert Woolsey, KCAW - Sitka
Robert Woolsey is the news director at KCAW in Sitka.
Sitka’s tourism boom has brought a staggering increase in cigarette butts
What started as a community cleanup has become a legitimate scientific study.
Stedman warns against overdrawing Alaska Permanent Fund to pay dividends
Senate Finance Committee co-chair Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, says state lawmakers must make tough decisions to keep the Permanent Fund healthy.
A long-awaited hydro project in Angoon can proceed, if funding can be found
The local Alaska Native corporation is seeking construction funds for the project, which is expected to fully replace costly diesel power.
Fish were plentiful, but fishermen scarce for Southeast Alaska’s first summer king opening
Southeast trollers brought in about 85,000 king salmon from July 1 to July 12, around 8,000 fish over the target for the first opener of the season.
Sitka’s seafood donation network connects abundance with scarcity in Western Alaska
The Seafood Distribution Network is supplying sockeye to families on the Yukon and Chignik rivers, whose traditional salmon runs have crashed.
Scientists say Tongass trees could bounce back from budworm infestation
Scientists with the U.S. Forest Service believe that the blackheaded budworm, whose numbers surged over the past three years, is now in decline.
Sitka’s airport expansion set for takeoff this fall
Sitka’s airport terminal is overdue for an expansion, and the city anticipates that federal funding will help get the project off the ground this fall.
Sitka’s 13,000-visitor day was ‘far too many,’ mayor says
Three cruise ships brought more than 13,000 passengers and crew to Sitka on June 21, choking streets and prompting concerns about overcrowding.
NOAA says revised analysis could allow Southeast king salmon troll fishing, despite ruling
A fisheries official says a summer troll season for king salmon in Southeast Alaska is possible, despite a federal judge’s recent ruling to the contrary.
3 Alaska trollers contemplate a summer without chinook
Barring last-minute legal action, there will be no king salmon troll fishery in Southeast Alaska this summer or winter. Three trollers discuss what that means.
Sitka’s airplane equipment maker moves from prototype to production
Former Alaska Airlines "ramper" Tim Fulton's invention, designed to ease loading luggage into airliners, has just been bought by Malaysian Airlines.
What’s the best way to monitor for mercury in Alaska seafoods? Test human hair, says these researchers
Two researchers say the best way to track mercury levels in Alaska seafood isn't testing fish coming over the docks, but testing human hair.
Moments before his sexual-assault trial, a former Sitka doctor takes a plea deal
On the first day of what was expected to be a lengthy trial, 79-year old Richard McGrath made a surprise plea deal for a two-year prison term.
Tongass coming-of-age story wins prestigious award for eco-lit
A Sitka-based author has taken a detour into young adult fiction, and the diversion has paid off with a national award.
More likely mud than magma, Sitka’s newest volcano is rising from the depths
A depth sounder near Sitka last month caught what appeared to be a volcano: A perfectly formed cone about 100 feet tall, with a plume of gas trailing from the top.
A Sitka fish processor lost everything in 2020. Now it’s planning a comeback.
The 2020 wreck of its fish processing barge in Bristol Bay could have been the end for Northline Seafoods, but the Sitka-based operation is planning a comeback – in a big way.
Marijuana cultivation to lead Alaskan job growth over next decade
The fastest job growth in Alaska over the next ten years will be in agriculture, but if you’re thinking farmers and cows, think again.
Longtime Sitka Search and Rescue volunteer found dead on Mount Verstovia
Mike Motti was a veteran of Sitka’s Mountain Rescue team. He regularly climbed above treeline to a knoll overlooking Sitka, known locally as Picnic Rock, to celebrate his birthday.
New dashboard warns Sitkans of landslide risk
A landslide warning system developed in Sitka is now available to the public as an online dashboard, and work is underway to export the project to other communities in Southeast Alaska.
The dashboard was unveiled at...
Despite near-record job availability, more recent arrivals are choosing to leave Alaska
In the 1990s, just over half of people who moved to Alaska in their 30s stayed for at least 10 years. Lately that’s fallen to about 40%.