KCAW - Sitka

ANB harbor is usually packed with commercial fishing vessels, but this week, it’s empty. Its regular occupants have moved to other harbors around Sitka, as the city prepares to demolish all of the existing structures and replace the harbor entirely. Construction is scheduled to start in early November.

ANB harbor was first built in 1956, and though it has been renovated over the years, it’s showing its age.

“We’ve got timber elements that are rotting,” says city engineer Dan Tadic. “We go to replace deck boards, and there’s nothing to nail the deck boards to, everything’s mush.”

Tadic points to a laundry list of problems. There’s grass growing out of the wood decking. The ramps are slippery, and ice over in the winter. The floats are slowly sinking into the water.

So this winter, Sitka will completely replace ANB harbor. Plans call for larger slips and wider entrances to accommodate today’s longer and wider boats. It will have galvanized steel pilings instead of creosote-soaked wood. The new floats will sit higher up out of the water.  A new gangway will be longer, better lit, and handicap accessible. And the contractor will also excavate rocks that currently obstruct parts of the harbor.

 

See the full story at KCAW: City prepares to replace ANB harbor

In the middle of building the most expensive hydro project in the community’s history, the Sitka assembly took a few minutes at its last meeting to look at some comparatively inexpensive energy.

It gave the Electric Department the go-ahead to work with the Alaska Energy Authority on a wind power test.

Wind power has been discussed before in Sitka — and dismissed — since the area’s hydro prospects are so good.

But utility director Chris Brewton says we’ve been looking at wind power the wrong way. Sitka is never going to run on wind, but that doesn’t mean wind can’t be useful.

“It would essentially act as a trickle charger to keep the water in the lake, is what would happen.”

Brewton asked the assembly for permission to coordinate with the Alaska Energy Authority to install three 10-meter towers, and one 30-meter tower, to gather data on Sitka’s wind. The test towers are a far cry from the huge, utility-grade turbines being installed in California and other parts of the lower forty-eight. They look more like antennas: tall poles with anemometers mounted at various heights.

“If it does turn out we find a good site and install a turbine, there will be aesthetic impacts, and other kinds of things that we have to accept to put up the wind tower.”

See the full story at KCAW:  Sitka to test wind power

A Sitka seafood processor has recalled two-year’s worth of product, after a state inspection revealed that monitoring equipment had failed.

The US Food and Drug Administration announced the recall by Big Blue Fisheries on September 30. It covers all vacuum-packed smoked fish produced by Big Blue — for the last two years.

Greg Johnstone, the Environmental Health Officer with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, inspected Big Blue on September 20 and discovered that a recording graph on Big Blue’s smoker was not working.

Mike Keating, with Big Blue, says his company cooperated with the DEC and the FDA, which distributed the recall notice nationwide. Keating says he destroyed about $20,000-worth of product with the DEC standing by. He’s used his invoicing records to notify customers of the recall directly.

Keating stresses that no dangerous bacteria was discovered in any of his company’s product. And, given the two-year extent of the recall, it’s likely that much of the product is not around anyway.

See the full story at KCAW: Sitka fish processor recalls two years’ worth of product

Police brought charges against two men after a weekend shooting at the Pioneer Bar in Sitka.

No one was injured in the incident, which happened shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday.

Court documents and witness accounts tell the following story: Richard Davis, of Juneau, and Keith Widmyer, of Sitka, were arguing inside the Pioneer Bar on a Sunday afternoon.

Widmyer said when he went to use the restroom, Davis followed him in, and a fight ensued.

“I didn’t look over my shoulder. I’m going to now, forever,” Widmyer told KCAW. “He came through the door and tried to punch me. I just happened to catch it out of the corner of my eye. Caught his arm, threw him on the floor.”

Widmyer said he and Davis have had a long-standing feud, and had been arguing inside the bar before the incident in the restroom. Widmyer says at some point, Davis pulled a gun from his waistband.

“When he pulled out the gun, I didn’t waste too much time,” Widmyer said. “I jumped over his head like a rabbit and was scrambling out the door. I made it right out here to the parking lot, and then I heard the gun go off.”

Davis owns the fishing vessel West Bank. Police say his deckhand ran out of the bar with the gun. The deckhand is identified as 22-year-old Tyler Westlund, of Port Townsend, Wash.

“We went and walked outside the back door,” said Donald Combs, who had just stepped out of the bar when it happened. “And as soon as we were outside the back door, we were standing there, and we heard a ‘crack!’ The door swung open, pretty close to us, and a red-headed guy ran straight down to the dock, down that ramp there. He had the gun, trying to stuff it in his pants or something, but the gun was in plain sight.”

Davis was in the bar when police arrived. He was arrested, along with Westlund, who police found aboard the West Bank, which is docked in Sitka’s ANB Harbor. According to court documents, when police contacted Westlund, he did not have a gun on his body, and denied knowing anything about it.

Davis faces charges of assault and misconduct involving a weapon. Westlund is charged with tampering with physical evidence. Davis and Westlund are represented by Juneau attorney Bruce Weyhrauch, who did not immediately return a call for comment.

Both men remain in custody until at least Friday, when they’re scheduled for a bail hearing in Sitka District Court.

It was just a few years ago that Sitka’s electric utility predicted a significant increase in the number of electric vehicles on the road, especially in places with inexpensive electric power. But Sitka’s interest in electric cars has remained flat.

KCAW recently visited an electric car owner in Sitka to find out why the cars have been slow to catch on.

Like most Alaskans, Sitkan’s love their cars and trucks. In fact, there’s one registered vehicle for every man, woman, and child who lives here. Sitkans use their vehicles to haul stuff and haul themselves through the wet Southeast Alaska weather. There’s one kind of car that seems perfect for most of these jobs, but hasn’t been embraced here.

Between the Nissan Leaf, the Chevy Volt and the Toyota Rav4 EV, most of the big car makers have at least one electric vehicle on the road today.

Sitka should be ideal: It doesn’t get too cold, there’s not much road, and compared to some places in Alaska, the local hydroelectric power is practically free. All of this, plus the town’s progressive attitude make it a perfect habitat for electric cars.

The answer may come down to leading by example.

Here’s the full story from KCAW

Additional details from KCAW Raven Radio:

The Coast Guard is searching for a missing crewman from the fishing vessel “Swift.” The 34-foot boat is reportedly based in Juneau, but state records show it registered to a Sitka captain.

The Coast Guard received a call for help shortly after midnight Tuesday.
The 57-foot Pacific Horizon discovered the Swift in Icy Strait. Crew members found no one aboard, and notified Coast Guard Sector Juneau. The Coast Guard reported the Swift’s position at about 40 miles west of Juneau.

A helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka found one of the Swift’s two crewmen on a beach, near his overturned skiff. The other member of the crew remains missing. The Sitka helicopter, as well as a response boat from Juneau and the Coast Guard Cutter Liberty are aiding in the search. The Civil Air Patrol joined search and rescue efforts Tuesday morning.

The missing crewman is reportedly wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and black rain pants. Further details on the crewmen, including their names and ages, were not yet released by the Coast Guard.

National Weather Service meteorologist Geri Swanson says at the time the Coast Guard received the call for help, Icy Strait was experiencing 15-to-20-knot winds under cloudy skies. But earlier in the evening, the region experienced a series of moderate thunderstorms, including winds up to 37 knots. The National Weather Service issued storm warnings to mariners throughout the evening, urging them to find safe harbor.

Original story at June 18, 2013 6:20 a.m.

The Coast Guard was out searching this morning for a man who went overboard Monday night.

The unidentified deckhand, wearing only a gray sweatshirt and raingear, either jumped or fell into the water from the fishing vessel Swift after midnight Monday in Excursion Inlet.

The skipper of the boat chased after the crewman in a dinghy, but he could not find him.

The Coast Guard on Tuesday morning searched with H-60 helicopter from Sitka and a 45-foot boat from Station Juneau.

Petty Officer James Fangman of the Coast Guard Command Center in Juneau says the skipper, who was in an immersion suit, was medavacked to Bartlett Regional Hospital for treatment of mild hypothermia.

The vessel Swift is anchored up with no one on board.