Posted by Katherine Rose | Apr 29, 2021
A group of local advocates known as the ‘Herring Protectors’ protest the state’s management of the Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring Fishery. (KCAW/Berett Wilber)
After several years of litigation, the case between the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and Board of Fisheries has been resolved and will not go to trial this summer.
Sitka Tribe filed suit against ADF&G in 2018, over the department’s management of the Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring Fishery. On Monday (4-26-21), Juneau Judge Daniel Schally signed the order vacating the trial, originally scheduled for June 1.
At its worst in May of 2020, Sitka’s employment was down by about 25-percent.
“Sitka was hit harder than most of the rest of the state,” said Calvin. “Down 676 jobs (25-percent). In the meantime the statewide decline was about nine percent, and Juneau was down 13-percent.”
Virtually all seasonal tourism jobs vanished, along with most visitors and not just cruise passengers. In April of 2019 somewhere around 5,000 people arrived at Sitka’s airport; that same month a year later saw only 300 “enplanements.”
Every other sector of Sitka’s economy also took hits: hotels, restaurants, construction, retail, seafood, and government all were down.
Posted by Robert Woolsey, KCAW | Apr 26, 2021
Harry Race will hold a clinic with the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine 11 A.M. to 12 noon Wednesday, April 28, at the Sitka Firehall. After a review of data the CDC has recommended the resumption of the J&J vaccine, after a nationwide “pause” on April 13. That “pause,” however, was par for the course for any new medication, according to the state’s top pharmacist. (KCAW photo/Berett Wilber)
The US Centers for Disease Control on Friday (4-23-21) recommended the resumption of Johnson & Johnson vaccine. After an extensive review of the data following reports of a rare blood clotting condition, the agency advised “that the J&J/Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine’s known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks.” Sitka’s Harry Race Pharmacy will have the J&J vaccine (which requires only a single dose) available at its next clinic 11 AM – 12 noon Wednesday, April 28, at the Sitka Firehall.
Posted by KCAW Staff | Apr 19, 2021
SEARHC personnel test a colleague for COVID-19 at the employee screening tent behind the hospital in Sitka in April 2020 (KCAW photo/Berett Wilber)
Sitka reported five new coronavirus cases over the last week.
Three men and two women tested positive between April 13 and April 18. Three of the patients are Sitka residents, and all five are isolating in Sitka.
One of the people who tested positive is in his forties, three are in their fifties, and one young man is between the ages of ten and 19. Three of the patients had no symptoms at the time of testing. Two of the cases are related to travel and one is classified as community spread, according to city data. Information about symptoms and transmission was not yet available for two of the cases as of Monday afternoon.
As of Tuesday evening, local health officials said contact tracing from Saturday s exposure is about 40% completed.
Credit Berett Wilber/KUCB
Unalaska s City Council voted at a Tuesday meeting not to implement any new health restrictions, despite a recent incident of potential widespread COVID-19 exposure at a local bar.
In light of the incident, the island moved from the medium to high coronavirus risk level after nearly a month and a half at the lower threshold.
At Tuesday s meeting, City Manager Erin Reinders suggested tightening health measures, citing potential widespread exposure. In keeping with previous practice of Council when we ve been at high risk in the past, we re recommending limits to public gatherings at this time, Reinders said. And this would be revisited at our next council meeting which is 14 days from today on April 27.