FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Walker Sees Hope For His Tax Plan

By Sentinel Staff
    Gov. Bill Walker says he sees the possibility of compromise between the state House and Senate in the upcoming special session on his proposal to fund state government with a 1.5 percent wage tax.
    “It’s do-able, he said in an interview with local reporters Tuesday.

Gov. Bill Walker shakes hands with Sitkan Lily Herwald at Beak Restaurant Wednesday afternoon. Walker, his wife, Donna, standing next to him, and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, left, held the campaign rally while in town for the Alaska Chamber of Commerce Fall Forum. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)


    “I’m no fan of taxes,” he said, but added that the failure to raise revenue will be pink slips for state employees and teachers and “the marine highway schedule coming out late because there is no budget.”
    “The state has not had a balanced budget since 2012,” he said. “We have now drained $13 billion from our savings accounts while we wait to make these difficult decisions.
    “This year we will go through the Constitutional Budget Reserve, and the only thing after that is the earnings of the Permanent Fund.”
    The House passed a revenue bill this year, but the Senate failed to take action. Walker said he’s encouraged that a version of his latest tax proposal was suggested by a leader in the Senate’s Republican majority, and that while nobody says they love it, he sees a chance for passage.
    Despite the ongoing impasse, he said it has been helpful that he works well with legislators on both sides of the aisle. “I am the only independent governor in all 50 states,” he said.
    He said he has called four special sessions so far this year “because we need to get on with the job of achieving budget certainty for this year and the next year – that we’re going to have revenue for the services we provide. Alaskans deserve the comfort of knowing their fiscal house is in order.”
    As for SB54, the second item on the special session agenda, Walker said he went against his own rule of taking one issue at a time because “Alaskans are very concerned about their safety.”
    SB54 has already been passed by the Senate. If approved by the House “it will give judges and prosecutors more tools they can work with as a deterrent to those who commit crimes,” Walker said.
    Asked about his administration’s stance on the EPA’s decision to consider reopening the environmental permitting process for the Pebble Mine, Walker said he has not made an official statement on the issue.
    However, he said, he believes that “if we have a renewable resource that is in competition with a non-renewable resource, I am in favor of the renewable.” He added, “I am supportive of mining, very much, but not mining in that location.”
    During his two-day visit to Sitka the governor attended the state Chamber of Commerce convention, met with constituent groups and attended a fund-raising event at the Beak Restaurant.
    Walker is not a frequent visitor to Sitka, but he and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott will be back next week for the Sesquicentennial Alaska Day celebration.
    He and Mallott have already declared as candidates for re-election in 2018. In answer to a reporter’s question, he explained that he is dividing his travel expenses between official business and his re-election campaign for separate accounting.
    As in their successful bid for office four years ago, both Walker and Mallott are required to submit petitions signed by 3,000 voters in order to be on the primary ballot as independents in their respective races. Unless either loses in the primary, they will be on the ballot as a team in the general election.



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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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