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Week of Jul 20
Missing Craig hunter found alive on Prince of Wales Island
61-year-old Craig hunter who turned back alone on Red Bay Mountain was lost overnight, then found alive early Saturday and flown to Petersburg.

Juneau's flood barriers are finished before Suicide Basin lets go
Juneau's Mendenhall River flood barriers are done ahead of Suicide Basin's expected release. Officials still urge residents to heed evacuation advisories.

Juneau's fifth cruise dock clears a federal hurdle
Juneau's contested fifth cruise dock cleared another hurdle: a federal permit for the pile-driving that will disturb sea lions in Gastineau Channel.

Sitka Assembly reconsiders hatchery lease at Gary Paxton park
Sitka's Assembly takes another swing at leasing a chunk of the Gary Paxton park to a hatchery group, plus two more parcels up for private bids.

Wind hammered Skagway into early Friday
Skagway got pounded by 45 mph gusts Thursday, with forecasters extending the wind advisory three times before it finally let up at 1 a.m.

More than 100 land deals stand between Alaska and a safer KGB Road
Alaska can't fix KGB Road until it buys land from 100-plus owners. Elsewhere a Gustavus generator waits on a signature. Everything's sliding to 2027.

Sitka opens candidate filing for municipal election
Sitka has six seats up in October and the filing window closes Aug. 7 — including a School Board seat you only need 30 days' residency for.

Alaska's interlibrary loan service moves to Juneau, with its funding uncertain
The 800 number rural Alaska libraries have called for 20 years is moving to Juneau — and if federal grant money dries up, it may not survive the move.

More from Southeast
Eleven Sitka islands lose power for a day as crews swap a channel cable
Eleven islands off Sitka go dark for eight hours on July 31 while crews swap out an aging underwater cable. Charge everything Thursday night.

The AI money came first. The data center moratorium came Thursday.
Days after AI money turned up in his filings, Kreiss-Tomkins called for a data center moratorium — one a governor has no power to directly impose.

Sitka moves to fix its late-night ride problem
Sitka has few cabs, no Uber, and a hard time getting anyone to the airport. The city is rewriting its 1990s taxi rules to fix that.

Yakutat's Pacific ocean perch season closes after filling its quota
Yakutat's Pacific ocean perch season closed Wednesday after filling its 1,923-ton quota — the second West Yakutat rockfish fishery to wrap in a week.

House panel advances bill to let Alaska Native artists sell work with feathers
A Tlingit artist was made to strip the feathers off his own work and hand them to federal agents. A House committee just advanced the bill named for him.

Murkowski targets federal conditions on Southeast's hydropower licenses
Southeast's power comes from dams on Tongass land. Murkowski's bill would limit what the Forest Service can demand as those licenses come up for renewal.

Ketchikan Creek opens to dip netting for hatchery king salmon
Kings are closed across much of Alaska, but Ketchikan Creek just opened to dip netting for hatchery Chinook. Wild ones go back. Residents only, net in hand.

Two Dan Sullivans, and a ballot solution the state wrote itself
The court put the second Dan Sullivan on the ballot but left the labeling to the state — and the state's fix leaves him the only candidate of 16 with no party listed.

Coming up
Alaska State Parks Southeast Region Citizen Advisory Board Meeting
Online only: Microsoft Teams (Meeting ID 252 102 001 646 565 7, passcode Xq3o7kf3) or phone +1 907-202-7104, conference ID 521 494 427#
Meeting
Energy in the North: Robert Venables on Southeast Conference Economic Development
Class
Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office Sealed Bid Deadline
Public notice
Southeast Alaska Geoduck Fishery Closure (Holiday Period 1)
Public notice
Directed Lingcod Fishery Season End
Public notice
About Southeast
Southeast Alaska is the panhandle region along the state's southern coast, an archipelago of islands and fjords that includes Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. Its towns, among them Petersburg, Wrangell, Haines, Skagway and Hoonah, are linked by the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system.
Its economy rests on commercial fishing, cruise tourism and the Tongass National Forest. Fish and Game manages dive fisheries for sea cucumbers and geoducks, salmon seine and gillnet fisheries, and rockfish openings across its inside and outer waters. Cruise docks, the decisions of city and borough assemblies, land use rules and heavy coastal weather are recurring local questions.
Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian communities are part of the region's life, and institutions such as Tlingit & Haida and Huna Totem run programs and businesses across it. Huna Totem ventures have built or sought to run cruise docks in Juneau and Haines.
More from Southeast
Southeast's Dungeness season closes early on a 25-year-low harvest
Southeast's summer Dungeness season closes three weeks early Saturday on the worst harvest estimate in 25 years. Sea otters are part of the long story.

Petersburg pushed back when the state pulled Sullivan off the ballot
Newly released letters show Petersburg residents demanding the state show its evidence for pulling their neighbor off the Senate ballot.

Alaska elections hearing reveals FBI contact, no precedent for 'good faith' test
State election officials admit they used a new good-faith test only on one candidate. They still refuse to explain why the FBI called.

Yakutat's dusky rockfish season closes after filling its 150-ton share
Yakutat's dusky rockfish season is done for the year — 150 metric tons and out, right on the same July schedule as last year. Bycatch retention still allowed.

Three salmon runs are down at once on Prince of Wales
Kings, coho, and pinks are all below average on Prince of Wales, and coho harvest is half last year's. The island needs rain to move fish into the creeks.

Past three miles, Alaskans fish like nonresidents
Alaskans lose resident fishing limits the moment they cross into federal water — and keeping a big lingcod inshore can shut you out of the EEZ entirely.

Hoonah just locked in 15 years of Disney ships
A Tlingit village of under a thousand people just guaranteed itself 15 years of Disney cruise ships — one a week through 2041.

The sea lions in Congress's salmon bill breed in Southeast Alaska
A House bill would expand sea lion removals to protect Columbia River salmon. The Steller sea lions involved breed on rookeries in Southeast Alaska.

Too few goats, too easy to reach: South Baranof stays closed
South Baranof stays closed to goat hunting a second year running — too few goats, and too easy to get to, which is exactly the problem.

Juneau Assembly to weigh $1.5M negotiated sale of City Hall to Sealaska Heritage Institute
Juneau Assembly will vote on selling City Hall to Sealaska Heritage Institute for $1.5 million, down from the $2.5 million minimum the borough originally sought.

Glacial outburst flood destroys 100 feet of Fish Creek bear platform near Hyder
A glacial outburst flood destroyed over 100 feet of the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site platform near Hyder, forcing the Forest Service to close the bear and salmon viewing facility.

A new committee would review how the Permanent Fund measures itself
How the Permanent Fund grades itself is contested — and trustees will weigh a new committee to review the benchmarks that decide the answer.

Heat advisory in effect for Ketchikan, Hyder, and Annette Island until 7 PM
Heat advisory in effect for Ketchikan, Hyder, and Annette Island until 7 PM tonight as temperatures approach 80 degrees, unusual for Southeast Alaska.

Tlingit artist warns AI hiring tools are already screening out job seekers of color
Tlingit photographer Larry McNeil warned that AI hiring tools already screen out job seekers of color, keeping them unemployed longer. • AI-generated artist statements are appearing in college applications, raising questions about authenticity in creative fields. • AI cannot replicate the precision of formline art, producing cartoonish results instead.

No Juneau beach is tested for the toxin in clams
No Juneau-area beach is regularly tested for the toxin in clams that can stop your breathing — and cooking does not destroy it.

Sitka crosswalk art project brings morning delays to Lincoln Street starting Thursday
Volunteers paint decorative crosswalk art on Lincoln Street in Sitka Thursday and Friday mornings, expect delays as part of a pedestrian safety project.

Juneau quarry seeks bigger blasts and longer hours through 2036
Juneau's Planning Commission will decide July 28 whether to let Stabler Point Quarry in Auke Bay blast bigger, run longer hours, and operate through 2036.

Juneau commission to review Chilkat Vistas Phase IV plat for seven Robbie Road lots
Juneau Planning Commission will review a proposal July 28 to create seven single-family lots on Robbie Road, completing a development cap set by a 2018 settlement agreement.

DNR extends geoduck farm lease near Ketchikan; comment period open
Alaska extended Tom Carruth's geoduck farm lease near Ketchikan for two more years, opening a 30-day public comment period that started June 23.

Week of Jul 13
Southeast Alaska pink salmon counts fall far below average for fourth straight week
Pink salmon catches in Southeast Alaska have plummeted to 5 to 10 percent of normal for four weeks, prompting Fish and Game to consider cutting commercial fishing openings.

Pioneer Park main shelter closes mornings July 23-24 for volunteer work
Pioneer Park's main shelter closes 9 a.m. to noon Thursday and Friday, July 23-24, while volunteers including Outer Coast do maintenance work. The park itself stays open.

Juneau candidate filing closes July 27 for five Assembly and school board seats
Juneau candidates have until 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 27, to file for five Assembly and school board seats in the October 6 election.

Southeast troll Chinook season stretches into mid-July with half the quota still in the water
Southeast Alaska's commercial Chinook troll season is running longer than expected because fewer boats are fishing and catch rates are slow, leaving about half the quota still available in mid-July.

Juneau Assembly to take up ordinance making 5-ship cruise limit enforceable law
Juneau Assembly will introduce an ordinance July 27 to make the five-large-cruise-ship-per-day limit a binding municipal law instead of a voluntary agreement.
