Robert Woolsey, KCAW - Sitka
Robert Woolsey is a reporter at KCAW in Sitka.
LISTEN: Richard Bingham was acquitted in murder cold case, but accusation clouded his life – until now
Bingham confessed to the crime, despite evidence that he didn't commit the murder of 17-year-old Baggen. But even after he was acquitted, his life wasn't the same.
With six new cases in one day, Angoon goes into lockdown
The new cases take Angoon’s total to eight, prompting Mayor Joshua Bowen to issue an emergency order requiring all travelers to the community to self-isolate for two weeks on arrival.
24 years after her death on a Sitka bike path, genetic evidence leads to Jessica Baggen’s killer
DNA evidence led investigators to a 66-year old man living in Arkansas, who took his own life last week, shortly after Alaska investigators arrived to question him.
Rocket’s red glare injures three in Sitka fireworks mishap
A pyrotechnician said that there was a malfunction during the finale, which “for reasons unknown” launched more quickly than planned.
Federal court opinion a win for Southeast Alaska’s summer king season
An environmental group fought for an injunction that would stop king salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska in order to protect orcas.
Federal judge questions venue for king salmon injunction in orca case
While the Wild Fish Conservancy has asked for an injunction that would stop all chinook salmon fisihing in Alaska, Alaska trollers say that there is more than just fish at stake.
NOAA Fisheries: Alaska chinook harvest not to blame for killer whale decline
A Washington state conservation group is suing to stop the summer troll and sportfishing seasons, which it says will protect the orca populations.
Nothing ‘false’ about it: Sitka’s first coronavirus remains a positive case
In subsequent tests, the patient, a resident of a long-term care facility who had been in lockdown for six weeks, tested negative in a subsequent test.
Bob Allen, Alaska maritime entrepreneur, boat builder and storyteller, dies at 83
The founder of one of Alaska’s largest homegrown marine tourism companies has died. Bob Allen, of Sitka’s Allen Marine, passed away Monday morning, March 2. He was 83 years old.
Murkowski: Ready to move beyond the ‘ugly’ politics of impeachment
In public remarks during this latest congressional recess, Sen. Murkowski has openly acknowledged that the past few months have not been among her best as a lawmaker.
Sitka Tribe and state exchange legal barbs over management of subsistence herring egg harvest
Commercial harvesters seek herring roe while it’s still inside the fish; subsistence harvesters collect the eggs on hemlock branches (pictured above) after the fish have spawned. This one-after-the-other paradigm is at the heart of the conflict over Sitka herring. “The essence of this claim,” argued Tribal attorney Andy Erickson, “is that (the state) is subjugating the subsistence priority to the needs of the commercial fishery.”
Sitka objects to ‘critical habitat’ designation for humpback whales
Local officials in Sitka are concerned that a critical habitat designation will be another hurdle in the permitting process for work on the city’s waterfront, and become an impediment to the management of the region’s commercial fisheries.
Sitka settles police whistleblower lawsuit for $325,000
Former Sitka police detective Ryan Silva filed suit in August 2018, claiming he was harassed and demoted after calling out irregularities in the department’s procurement of automatic weapons.
Proposed land trade may turn the tide for Sitka’s maritime industry
The deal has the potential to break a troubling economic logjam in the community.
In Sitka, mild winters push deer population to near-capacity
A biologist attributes the boom in deer population to mild winters since the “Snowpocalypse” of 2007-8. But in biological terms, huge deer numbers are not necessarily a great thing.
Sitka park board shelves large ship plan in favor of utility dock sale
The board of Sitka’s industrial park wants to move forward with the sale of the old utility dock, even if it means letting go of plans to develop a moorage facility for large ships.
In Sitka, Indigenous Peoples’ Day a prelude to broader ‘reconciliation’
As many Sitkans gear up to celebrate the 152nd anniversary of the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States on Oct. 18, others are working on reframing the holiday to include the idea of “decolonization.”
Sitka land trust breaks ground on affordable cottage neighborhood
The collaborative project will offer houses at a cost well below Sitka's average list price. Some residents hope it will help tackle the community's affordable housing problem.
Struggling under debt, Sitka brewery defaults on $637K city loan
Despite a busy summer season, Sitka’s Baranof Island Brewing Company was unable to get ahead of its large debt, according to its owner.