KCAW

A fisherwoman catches a fish out on the water (Courtesy of Skipper Science)

As climate change continues to impact fishing ecosystems, it is crucial for fishermen to be able to directly share their observations with scientists and fisheries management council members. Heather Bauscher and Kelly Drummond from The Skipper Science Partnership joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss the app that enables fishermen to conveniently report their observations out on the water.

Learn more about The Skipper Science Partnership and app here, as well as their annual season reports

Tracie Castle is one of four candidates to file for one of two open seats on the Sitka Assembly. (KCAW/McKenney)

A fourth candidate has joined the race for a seat on the Sitka Assembly. Downtown business owner Tracie Castle, who owns Forget Me Not Gifts, Souvenirs, and Stained Glass, filed with the city on Tuesday. KCAW sat down with Castle to hear more about her campaign and what she hopes to accomplish if elected. 

KCAW: So to start, why are you running for a seat on the Sitka Assembly?

CASTLE: Basically, you cannot expect change unless you’re willing to step up and be a voice for your fellow constituents or your neighbors. And I think that our town has gotten, I don’t know how to quite put it, like suppressed in their voice, and I would like to bring that back to the people and let them know that their commitment to the City of Sitka is important and valued and it should be heard.

KCAW: If elected, what will you bring to the table? What would you like to tell Sitkans?

CASTLE: My mission is to ensure a friendly, small town approach to our city through transparency. I would like to commit to addressing some of our housing deficits, our high cost of living, and especially our high energy bills. And I also plan to ensure that our assembly collaborates together to build a stronger and more sustainable future for our residents, our businesses and our guests.

KCAW: So you mentioned some really big issues affecting Sitka. If you could pick one of those, how would you go about approaching it if you’re elected on the Sitka Assembly?

CASTLE: I would say that I would be a great listener, and you need to be able to collaborate as a unit. Like with the City Assembly currently, I think there’s some deviation, and it’s okay to have differences of opinion. But I believe that they sometimes separate that out, and there needs to be more of a uniform collaboration on especially the tough decisions that need to be made, and I believe that our citizens should have a voice in those decisions that are being made and being counter weighted against the decision that’s being made. So I think being a good listener, to listen to the people and what they’re wanting, and then trying to bring that to [fruition], so that all parties are are happy and have a positive experience.

KCAW: And is there anything that you think Sitkans should know about you or your campaign?

CASTLE: As far as me as a person, it’s black or white. I am just me, and I’m as honest as the day is long. I don’t deviate from that. I’ve got a great structural set of values that I don’t deviate from those as well. And I’m just a kind, good hearted person.

KCAW: Well, thank you. Is there anything else I should have asked you or you’d like to share?

CASTLE: You know, I think the biggest reason that I said that I wanted to do this was because I just sat back in my seat one day and I thought, ‘I can’t complain about what’s going on with the city if I’m not willing to stand up and and be a voice for the people.’ I raised seven kids, so I have it within me to be that voice, and I carry that voice, but I just felt like I couldn’t complain about what was going on if I didn’t get into the mix. I live in this town too, and there’s great things about it, and there’s not some great things about it, and that’s okay. That’s part of life. But I’d rather be part of the solution, as opposed to part of the problem. And I feel by stepping forward and being in the assembly, I’m definitely moving my foot one step further to being part of the solution. And that’s what gives me good graces at night is. I can help wherever I can help. And if the people elect me to do that then that’s what I’ll do.

Sitkans will be voting to fill two open seats on the Sitka Assembly and two seats on the school board in the upcoming municipal election. Both assembly seats and one school board seat are three-year terms, and one school board seat is a two-year term. The filing period to run for a seat is open until 5 p.m. on Aug. 8. Sitka’s municipal election is Tuesday, Oct. 7.  

Paul Rioux is the first file for a seat on the Sitka School Board this fall (KCAW File Photo)

A sitting school board member filed to run for reelection last week. Paul Rioux first served on the Sitka School Board from 2019 to 2022, and he’s about to wrap up a one-year term on the board.   KCAW spoke with Rioux about his priorities if he’s re-elected. Listen to the conversation here:

KCAW: You’re running for re election. You’ve just wrapped a one year term. You’ve previously served a full term on the school board, so this would be your second full term. Why have you decided to run for re-election on the school board?

Rioux: Well, I think it’s a really important role, to start with. I think that I bring some some good experience to the board. I feel like I represent a good cross section of our community, and I don’t think it’s going to be an easy time. People don’t want to step forward in times, especially when, you know, things are uncertain, and specifically funding. We’ve been fighting a lot of funding uncertainty for, oh gosh, at least probably a decade now or longer. When funding is uncertain and you stand the chance of having to cut things, it’s really difficult and it’s really uncomfortable.

KCAW: That was going to be my next question is, what do you see as sort of the biggest challenge the school board is facing? But I don’t think it’s any secret that that’s been kind of central to many of the conversations at the school board table in the last few years.

Rioux: Yeah, it’s been really central. I would love to have a solid foundation moving forward, so that we can come up with a plan with community input of what the next few years are going to look like, where we’re going to build, and having had the BSA raised at the state level really helps a lot. There’s still some uncertainty going on with some other things at the state, which I’m really hopeful are going to get cleared up in the next few months, so that we have a more of a clear picture of what the next, at least, what the next year or two is going to look like.

KCAW: By that are you referring to the conversations around changing the funding formula?

Rioux: The rules that they have put out aren’t 100% clear, but the conversations around local contributions and how that affects the foundation formula from the state, and the proposed ruling would essentially back out what the state would be contributing to the districts based on what the municipalities have already provided. The depth and breadth of that rule those rules is not clear, and whether or not they’re going to move forward with those rules is not clear, so and that’s going to be have a strong effect on the coming year and beyond, if that rule is what [the Alaska Board of Education] decide[s] to put forward.

KCAW: Moving forward, again, knowing that there are still some unknowns. What are your priorities going to be if you’re elected, and how are you going to kind of navigate that?

Rioux: Well, continuing the advocacy of showing up to those meetings, letting the public, doing our best to gather all the information and get it out to the public so that they understand the effects that it may have on their district, so that they can weigh in through us, and also directly to the State Board of Education. So this, the advocacy component, has become very important. You know, essentially, I think school boards exist to serve as a liaison between the school system and the community, and in reverse, between the community and the school system. And so as things progress, where rule changes and stuff will have very much a local effect, it’s our role and our responsibility to make sure that we get that information disseminated so that the public can weigh in. And we can have some good governance, good public debate, good public process, and things aren’t, you know, a surprise.

KCAW: Why should Sitkans vote for you?

Rioux: I think over the four plus years that I’ve served now, you know, I hope that I’ve earned people’s trust, and as someone who is thoughtful, and is going to show up and do the work. I believe I have a pretty good track record there, and I feel like I represent the entire community. I don’t feel like I represent any one aspect of the community. I want to hear from everyone. I definitely want everyone to feel heard.

KCAW: That’s all I wanted to touch on for today. But is there anything else you’d like to add? Anything else you want folks to know about you or your campaign?

Rioux: I just I encourage anyone who has any interest to in serving to step forward. If you have questions about what kind of time commitment that is, feel free to reach out to me. I’m sure that anyone else on the board or the superintendent would also love to take the time. It’s a tough but rewarding role. You get to impact a lot of students, a lot of families and the entire community’s lives. So it’s something that is really important, but you have a lot of support stepping forward if you do it.

Editor’s Note:
Paul Rioux is the first to file for one of two open seats on the Sitka School Board. Four Sitkans are vying for two open seats on the Sitka Assembly. Austin Cranford, Thor Christianson, and Katie Riley filed to run last week, and on Tuesday, a fourth candidate, Tracie Castle, threw her hat in the ring.

Ryan Cotter is the current News Resident at KCAW (Courtesy of Kelsi Nicole Kime)

After spending a year as a Jesuit Volunteer at KYUK Public Media in Bethel, Ryan Cotter’s love for Alaska and its unique stories was cemented. She is now the second ever person to serve in KCAW’s Sarah Evangeline Hughes News Residency, a 10-month mentorship program developing the skills, experience, and connections to pursue a career in audio journalism. She joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss her multimedia journey and what led her to Sitka. Listen here:

KCAW’s News Residency was created in memory of Sarah Evangeline Hughes, who served as Raven Radio’s news director from 1999 to 2001. You can learn more about her legacy here.

Katie Riley filed to run in late July for a seat on the Sitka Assembly. (KCAW/McKenney)

Another Sitka local is throwing her hat in the ring for a seat on the Sitka Assembly. Katie Riley filed to run with the city last week (7-30-25). KCAW sat down with Riley to learn more about her decision to run, and some of her priorities if elected. 

RILEY: I am running for the Sitka Assembly because I am a born and raised Sitkan. I love my community. I’m very invested in the future of it and making sure that current and future generations of Sitkans can continue to thrive here. Our community faces a lot of challenges, but we also have an amazing set of opportunities, and we live in a wonderful place, and I think that we need representation that understands those challenges, has experienced them, and can provide a solutions oriented perspective for what we can do going forward.

KCAW: If elected, what will you bring to the table? 

RILEY: I have been involved in local government over the past five years, serving on the Planning Commission and the Sustainability Commission. So I bring a certain amount of understanding of how those processes work, how the bodies work, and what we can do to make a difference on those bodies. And then I also bring a fresh perspective. You know, as a young Sitkan who’s getting involved in the elected body for the first time, it’s an opportunity for me to bring solutions to that table and represent the concerns of my generation and really share some of those new perspectives with the members that are on there. 

KCAW: Can you tell me a bit about what boards you serve on, or what entities you serve on?

RILEY: Yeah, I’ve been on the Planning Commission for the past five years. And the reason that I got on that body was really about housing affordability. When I moved home after college, one of the main things that my peers were dealing with was having to move all of the time, really not seeing a lot of available housing, and that is because we have the same groups competing for the same stock of housing. So we have renters, we have people who are looking for starter homes, we have the seasonal workforce, and we have visitors, and we have a limited housing stock here in Sitka. And so how can we find solutions that balance the needs of all those folks and still provide opportunities for year-round residents to find affordable housing, was one of the issues that I got on there to address, and have really become interested in the broader community development aspect of it all, and making sure that Sitka is a livable place for years to come. The other work I do is on the Sustainability Commission. And that is a newer commission that was created in 2022 and through my work on there, I’ve looked a lot at energy issues and really understanding, you know, why do our rates increase? Why do they cost what they do? What does our infrastructure look like, and what are the workforce development needs that we need to steward these systems going forward? We have amazing renewable energy here in Sitka, and we need to have the younger generation coming up that knows how to work with these systems and knows how to continue keeping the lights on for Sitkans.

KCAW: So you’re talking about some of these really big issues that are affecting Sitkans. If elected, what is one big issue that you’d want to tackle? 

RILEY: I definitely want to focus on housing. That is something that is near and dear to me. I’m a renter. I live in a trailer park. And I have experienced, you know, housing insecurity as well. And just wondering, how long am I going to be able to stay there as trailer park owners age, and we have to deal with, you know, the future of what is a significant source of housing for a lot of Sitkans. And so housing is something I really want to tackle. It’s a really complex issue, you know, and solutions are, if there were easy ones, we would have done them already. So this is something that I look forward to putting time and energy into. I’m at a point in my life where I can dedicate that to this body, and it’s really important to give back to the community that raised me. 

KCAW: And lastly, what do you think is important for Sitkans to know about you and your campaign?

RILEY: I was born and raised here. I moved back. I’m really invested in the future of my community. I’m a commercial fisherwoman. I am the Deputy Director of the Sitka Conservation Society. And I think that those things are really complementary, not contradictory. So, you know, I want Sitkans to know that I am going to be solutions oriented. I want to focus on solving problems, not just naming them, and I’m willing to dedicate the time and effort to figuring things out.

Sitkans will be voting to fill two open seats on the Sitka Assembly and two seats on the school board in the upcoming municipal election. Both assembly seats and one school board seat are three-year terms, and one school board seat is a two-year term. The filing period to run for a seat is open until 5 p.m. on Aug. 8. Sitka’s municipal election is Tuesday, Oct. 7.  

The 1844 Kessler organ at the Sitka Lutheran Church (KCAW/Woolsey)

Starting tomorrow (08-05-25), the Sitka Lutheran Church will begin offering mini-concerts of organ hymns for community members to drop-in and listen or sing along. Organist Edie Hockspeier joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss her unexpected journey in becoming an organist, the unique experience of playing the organ in Sitka, and what people can expect to hear at the church.

Parks and Rec summer camps are wrapping up, and the department is gearing up for fall events. Parks and Recreation manager Kevin Knox and recreation activities specialist Elle Campbell joined KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss their fall course lineup, including a Dungeon Master workshop, arts club, junior reporter club, coding club and a community choir. Listen here:

Wooden blocks, boats and baseball bats are cornerstones of childhood play. For Chloe Fatsis, wooden tiles were the currency of her youth. 

“It’s basically been in me since birth,” said Fatsis, a former Outer Coast student and summer staff member who is leaving Sitka this weekend to compete in back-to-back national Scrabble championships.

Just before she was born, her father, journalist and nonfiction writer Stefan Fatsis, wrote a book about the subculture of competitive Scrabble.

“In the process of reporting for this book, he became a competitive Scrabble player himself, and in the process, fell in love with the game and the community,” Fatsis said.

At just six weeks old, Fatsis attended her first national Scrabble championship. And it wasn’t long before she was competing herself. 

“When I was, you know, maybe four or five, six, my dad and I would just form words on the rug,” Fatsis said. “We would like dump a bag of Scrabble tiles and shuffle them around and make words. So this was always something I was kind of being primed for, even though it was not maybe so intentional. And I think my dad feels very lucky that it’s actually something I really loved.”

She entered her first youth Scrabble tournament at 8, and her first adult competition at 9. Since then, she’s been traveling to tournaments around the country, and memorizing the Scrabble dictionary. 

“Over the course of the past, oh man, like 14 years of my life, I’ve been slowly chipping away at this dictionary,” Fatsis said. “Once I got to college, I really committed and learned all of the words and rose to the expert level that I’m now at.”

Scrabble is a classic board game invented by an architect in the 1930s. On a 15 by 15 grid of squares, players place wooden tiles with individual letters to spell words and score points. It’s a puzzle in which strategy and memorization, and the right words are key. 

“All of the two through eight letter words, those are really the words that’ll be most important to know for Scrabble, because you have seven letters on your rack of tiles, and you’re generally looking to play all seven of those for a bingo,” said Fatsis.

And while it’s a game that deals with letters and language, it’s also a numbers game. To play at an expert level, a Scrabble player might memorize 50,000 to 60000 words, or more. It’s a time consuming endeavor, so, to be efficient, most players focus solely on memorizing the words without the definitions.

At a tournament in New Orleans earlier this year, Fatsis realized the letters on her rack of tiles, played just right, would win her a boatload of points. There was just one problem.

“It was a word that I knew from my Scrabble word studying that I was not sure of. In that moment, I was like, ‘Oh, man, I really recognize this. Why is this word jumping out to me?” Fatsis recalled. “I am not feeling 100% confident that this is a word, but there must be a reason that my brain is, you know, recognizing it so strongly.”

Fatsis took a swing and was right. S-C-R-O-F-U-L-A is a word. It’s “Scrofula” and it’s a glandular infection usually associated with tuberculosis, but that definition wasn’t relevant at the moment. The confirmation of her skill was.

“And that was a really great feeling, not only to have found this very kind of weird and obscure word, to have gotten the ‘triple triple’ as we call it, which is a ton of points, but also to have really trusted my gut and gone with a word that I wasn’t sure of, but felt confident in enough to play,” Fatsis said.

This month, In St. Louis, Missouri, at the Word Game Players’ Association World Cup, she’ll play 31 games of Scrabble in five days. Then she’ll head to Hanover, Maryland, for the NAPSA Scrabble Players Championship. At that tournament, she has a particular goal in mind. 

“I am currently rated 1975 in one of the organizations, and the highest rated players get up to 2100 or so. So my goal is to break the 2000 rating. That is kind of a really big milestone in Scrabble,” Fatsis said.

Over the course of two weeks she’ll play 62 games of Scrabble, a marathon that will require a tremendous amount of mental endurance. She says coffee every morning and a good sized breakfast are key to maintaining stamina. But she’s never played this much Scrabble, back to back to back, before. 

“When I was younger, I didn’t get tired at all, no matter how much Scrabble I played,” Fatsis said. “But these past few years competing in these tournaments, by the last day I’m feeling super wiped from so much Scrabble and thinking, because you really have to have your brain on and working all the time.” 

She’s looking forward to unwinding with fellow competitors in the evenings, though for some it means playing more Scrabble, often lighter variations like “Burrito” where the first player to spell the word burrito wins.

“So it can be silly and not as mentally draining,” Fatsis said. “But still, sometimes after a long day of playing Scrabble, I don’t want to do anything Scrabble related at all, which some players cannot relate to and just can’t get enough of.”

While the nationally ranked player has some competitive goals for these tournaments, she’s not only in it for the wins. Over the years she’s made some of her best friends while competing, bonding over their shared love of wooden words. So when they all get together, she says it’s “like a family reunion.” And for Fatsis, that’s even more true, because her dad will be playing alongside her.

The Word Game Players’ Association World Cup will take place in St. Louis, MO from August 2-6. Stream the tournament live here.

The NAPSA Scrabble Players Championship will be held in Baltimore from August 9-13. Stream the tournament live here.

Thor Christianson sat on the assembly for the first time in the late nineties, and is currently serving his fifth term. (KCAW/McKenney)

Current assembly member Thor Christianson has filed to run for a chance at a sixth term on the Sitka Assembly. Christianson sat on the assembly from 1998-2004, 2010-2013 and 2019-present. KCAW sat down with him to learn more about his decision to run again, and some of his priorities if elected. 

KCAW: So first of all, you’re wrapping up your fifth term on the Sitka Assembly. What keeps bringing you back?

CHRISTIANSON: Well, there’s always issues. Every time I run, it’s been something different. But I think right now we have a mixture of some real challenges, but we also have some very exciting things that may help Sitka in the long term. And honestly, I think we have a very good working assembly right now. We have obvious differences of opinion, but we’re respectful with one another. We’ve had some really good discussions where there’s been disagreements, but people listen and sometimes change the way they do or adapt, and I’d like to see that keep going. And it hasn’t always been that way on the assembly, and I think that there’s a lot coming up in the next few years that are going to make a big difference to a lot of Sitkans, and I would like to be there to help facilitate that.

KCAW: Can you tell me about maybe a piece of legislation that you’ve sponsored in this recent term that you’re most proud of?

CHRISTIANSON: Right before I started running last time, the haulout. I sponsored putting it on the ballot, and now we’ve been working to get it there. We are very close to hauling our first boats or ships, hopefully, before the election, it’s that close, and I’m very excited about that. I’ve also been working with some members of staff and with other groups trying to get some of the city land on the market to help with housing. And that’s a very long process. Right now we are in engineering, and it’ll be a multi-year process, but it’s one that requires attention constantly. But if we do it right, we could, I don’t know if we can lower housing prices, but we can maybe keep it from going up much. And maybe trying to focus in on things for more affordable size lots…trying to avoid having large lots that require million dollar houses to have more lots of small lots. And again, that’s more of a more behind the scenes, but trying really hard to push on that, I guess.

KCAW: You mentioned a lot of important issues facing Sitkans. If you are elected for another term, what’s your top priority?

CHRISTIANSON: Well, I’m not sure I could pick one top priority, but ongoing finding the balance between the summer tourism and Sitka life. Working on trying to help with the childcare situation is one of the top ones there, and then trying to work on ways to try and reduce the cost of housing, or at least make it stabilize. You know, one of the things that’s hard to admit when you’re on the assembly is the lack of power. Sometimes you have to nibble around the edges and try and do the best you can. But we’re limited in what we can do, so a lot of the times, to get things done, it’s more of a collaborative process, and it’s more of a working with other organizations, working within the assembly, working with city staff, to try and find solutions that can help, that may not be splashy ordinances, but more bringing people together to try and find solutions.

KCAW: Is there anything else I should have asked you, or you’d like to share?

CHRISTIANSON: Well, I think experience matters. [I’m] just wrapping up five terms on the assembly. And it’s really interesting how many times things come up that we ran into 20 years ago. And I can say, ‘You know, we tried X and it didn’t work out so well’ or ‘It worked really well.’ And oftentimes people are surprised. The institutional memory is lacking in the city, you know, it’s the nature of the beast. You’re going to have turnover and things. But I think it’s important to have a mixture on the assembly. And you know, when I was first elected, I think I was the youngest person on the assembly, and I’m not sure, I think I might be the oldest now, which is fine. I’m 61. I’m not that old yet, but I think it’s good to have that experience, and one learns. And you know, in a way, it gets easier, because you kind of know what to expect. It’s a lot easier for me to read the agenda now than it used to be. And so I hope that if the people elect me again, I can put that experience to use for people. Anybody who knows me knows they can always call me, and they do, and that’s just fine. And we’ll talk things out, and we’ll try and keep going and trying to make things a little bit better every day or at every meeting, and hopefully at the end of the day, it’s noticeable.

Sitkans will be voting to fill two open seats on the Sitka Assembly and two seats on the school board in the upcoming municipal election. Both assembly seats and one school board seat are three-year terms, and one school board seat is a two-year term. The filing period to run for a seat is open until 5 p.m. on Aug. 8. Sitka’s municipal election is Tuesday, Oct. 7.  

Austin Cranford is the first to file for one of two open seats on the Sitka Assembly. (KCAW/Rose)

On Tuesday (7-29-24), former assembly candidate Austin Cranford filed to run a third time for a seat on the Sitka Assembly. This year, he’s the first candidate to throw his hat in the ring, and hopes to bring a youthful energy to the seven-member group. KCAW spoke with Cranford to learn more about his decision to run again, and some of his priorities if he’s elected. 

KCAW: To start, you’ve run for the Sitka Assembly before. Why are you throwing your hat in the ring again? 

CRANFORD: So I continue to throw my hat into the ring because essentially, the community wants me to. I have community members that are like, ‘Are you going to run? Will you run? Can you run?’ And as long as the community continues to want me to run, I will continue to run. As I’ve mentioned to people before, I’ve got plenty of stuff on my plate. So if I get it, great. It’s one more thing that I can put effort into and hopefully do a good job. And if I don’t get it, I have plenty of other stuff to keep me occupied. 

KCAW: If you are elected, what do you think that you will bring to the table? 

CRANFORD: I think I’ll bring a younger voice to the table. I’m 27, so I’d be the youngest person on the assembly if I was elected. As much as the current assembly…and I am on a conversation basis with some of them, Scott Saline and others…as much as I talk to them, yes, they’ve been here a long time, yes, they want what’s good for the community, I think they lack what it truly means for somebody that is coming out of high school, coming out of college, what it means to be in Sitka. They’re already well established in their careers, well established in their businesses. One of the recent things that came up in the assembly was like, ‘Oh, the reason people aren’t coming to Sitka is because there’s not recreational opportunities,’ it’s like, the reason people are leaving and not coming to Sitka is because they can’t afford to pay for their rent. They can’t afford to buy a house. So I’ll be bringing a younger voice to the assembly and hopefully being able to tackle some of the larger issues that are ongoing. 

KCAW: Yeah, so you touched on these larger issues. What do you think are some of the biggest issues facing Sitkans? And if you could choose maybe one of those to tackle, what would that be? 

CRANFORD: So some of the issues is obviously utility rates, cost of living, the housing crisis, the haulout is kinda in there. I know there’s been a lot of discussion about a city-run haulout versus a non-city-run haulout. Of all of those, I think, just like previous years, my main focus would be the cost of living, which would ultimately be utility rates, how to lower them, and how to lower housing cost, or somehow get more housing built. I know there’s been talk about, you know, getting the state land from Indian River Valley, or possibly even finishing that road out to the tribal land up north, but I’ve not seen any movement on the state or local level, other than ‘We’re working on it.’ Well, I’m glad that you’re working on it, but we’d like to see some movement on that. 

KCAW: And lastly, what do you think that Sitkans should know about you and your campaign? What’s important? 

CRANFORD: As mentioned, I’m focusing on cost of living. That’s been my platform for the past two years that I’ve ran. It’ll be the platform again. Really it’s, I would say, ultimately it tends to side closer to the younger age groups. Because, yeah, it’s like, I understand, oh, you know, you just have to work two or three jobs, or you just have to do this, or you just have to do that. Eventually, there is only so many hours in the day. I work for the University. I continue to be a part-time student pursuing my degree. I’m working on my certificates for my job. I hold two quasi administrative positions on top of my main title for my job, and I am on a out-of-state board. So cool, I can go get another one or two jobs, but at the end of the day, there’s 24 hours in a day, and wages nationally, not even in Sitka, have not risen at the same pace as inflation and all this other stuff. So that doesn’t fix the underlying problem as well. 

Sitkans will be voting to fill two open seats on the Sitka Assembly and two seats on the school board in the upcoming municipal election. Both assembly seats and one school board seat are three-year terms, and one school board seat is a two-year term. The filing period to run for a seat is open until 5 p.m. on Aug. 8. Sitka’s municipal election is Tuesday, Oct. 7.