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)
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
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By Sentinel Staff
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By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
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Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
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At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]
Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
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Sentinel Sports Editor
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Sentinel ports Editor
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In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]
Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m. [ ... ]
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Sentinel Staff Writer
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By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
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Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Zinke Returns Miller To National Park Job
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The U.S. Department of the Interior has reinstated Mary Miller as superintendent of Sitka National Historical Park, Alaska Congressman Don Young and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska announced today.
“I’m thankful,” Miller told the Sentinel. “I’ve had a lot of support. I’m looking forward to going back to work at the park.”
Mary Miller in 2010
Details of when she will start are still being worked out, but she said, “It will be soon.”
Miller was superintendent of the park from 2008 until 2010, when the National Park Service reassigned her to a new position in Anchorage as Alaska Native Affairs Liaison. Miller was fired after rejecting the assignment. She filed a lawsuit claiming she was told the newly created position involving Alaska Native affairs was a voluntary assignment. She said she then received a memorandum containing a “directed reassignment” and a notice that she would be terminated if she did not accept the post.
After she was fired, she appealed to the federal Merit Systems Protection Board. She claimed her firing was driven by discrimination based on her gender and race under the Civil Rights Act and her physical disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. An administrative law judge upheld Miller’s termination, but the merit board reversed that decision. She was reinstated as superintendent of Sitka National Historical Park on April 13, 2013.
The suit said the board’s reversal “was based, in part, on its conclusion that the defendant’s actions were pretextual and a veil to effect plaintiff’s separation from the federal service.” The National Park Service asked the appeals court in 2013 to review the board’s decision. The court ruled in favor of the National Park Service on Sept. 2, 2015, and called for the administrative law judge’s initial decision on Miller’s termination to be reinstated. She was terminated a second time on Dec. 31, 2015, in accordance with the September ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals. She filed a new lawsuit in January 2016, alleging gender and racial discrimination. A trial was set for February 2019.
In today’s news release Young said he sent a letter to Zinke in May in support of Miller’s reinstatement to her position at SNHP. Young said he met with Zinke “numerous times” to “raise awareness and seek assistance” leading up to today’s announcement.
Miller said she is relieved her battle is over.
“It’s been eight years, it’s been a terrific emotional toll on myself and my family,” she said. “It’s a great sense of relief and it will hopefully simplify my life. ... I’m excited about the prospect of returning, obviously. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the basics at the park. I’m sure there have been some changes.”
In his statement today Young said:
“I have been working to get Mary reinstated with the Sitka National Historic Park for eight years, and I want to thank Secretary Zinke for taking this case seriously and rectifying this error. I met with Secretary Zinke and have sent the Department of the Interior numerous letters on behalf of Mary. I am pleased that Mary will finally return to her job where she can serve Sitkans and visitors to the great town of Sitka proudly in her role as superintendent.”
A number of organizations issued statements applauding the reinstatement, including the Alaska Federation of Natives, and Sitka Tribe of Alaska.
Young’s statement quoted Alaska Federation of Natives president Julie Kitka:
“The Alaska Federation of Natives stands with Mary Miller on the egregious actions of the federal government in her employment with the Park Service. We are very encouraged that this is settled and she will be reinstated. We thank the Alaska Congressional Delegation and many others who worked to correct this wrong.”
STA tribal chairman KathyHope Erickson said in an announcement from STA, “My aunt, Ellen Hope Hays of the Kiks.ádi Point House, was the first Tlingit superintendent of the Park. After 40 years it’s wonderful that we have another Tlingit woman in charge at the Park; we know that Mary will be a good steward and a good partner in STA’s relationship with the National Park Service.”
STA General Manager Lisa Gassman said in the statement that “STA elders have long held a vision for STA’s involvement at the park even including the local Tlingit-themed ‘Totem Park’ – as Sitka National Historical Park is known locally – within the tribe’s 2004-2014 Strategic Plan.”
Miller has been working as economic development director at STA, and is currently following up on her study of the economic impacts of utility rate increases on tribal citizens, as well as STA’s plans to purchase the old Forest Service building at 204 Siginaka Way, to house a number of STA departments in one place.
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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 .....