VOCAL EXERCISES - Artist in the Schools instructor Sarah Branton of Cherry Creek, Colorado, leads an exercise in the Sitka High School band room this morning as she teaches students how to improve their volume. Branton will be here all week working with choirs at Blatchley Middle School and Sitka High. Her instruction is part of the effort to rebuild school choir programs and numbers following the pandemic. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Charter Boat Sinks
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
An intensive search was under way today in Sitka Sound for four people missing in the sinking of a day-fishing charter boat on Sunday.
The Coast Guard said the body of one passenger has been recovered. Four other people believed to be aboard the boat were still missing as of 11:30 a.m. this morning, authorities said.
The Coast Guard said five feet of the bow of the partially submerged 30-foot aluminum boat were located by a search helicopter Sunday 10 miles southwest of Sitka near Low Island, and the body was recovered from the water nearby.
The Coast Guard is investigating the accident and it is not known how the vessel came to be submerged, the Coast Guard said.
The search started Sunday after the boat was reported overdue returning to Sitka. The search includes Coast Guard helicopters and vessels, teams from the Sitka Fire Department and many privately owned boats, including tour boats from Allen Marine.
The fire department said the department’s search and rescue and dive teams were unable to deploy until first light today because of the lateness of the hour Sunday, six-foot seas and high winds in the search area.
The identity of the deceased individual and others on the boat, including the skipper, were not released.
The Coast Guard said that on Sunday afternoon the missing boat was reported overdue from a day fishing trip that started at 6 a.m. in Sitka. The vessel was last seen anchored at a regular fishing spot between 1 and 2 p.m. near Cape Edgecumbe, about 10 miles southwest of Sitka.
Coast Guard Air Station Sitka launched a helicopter around 7 p.m. Sunday and located the half submerged boat with the identifying AK number visible on the bow above water at 7:03 p.m. The wreck site was north of Low Island, off the southeast side of Kruzof Island.
The person who was picked up, whom the Coast Guard said later was a man in his 50s, was flown to Sitka, where EMS crews were standing by.
Authorities said the Sitka charter company called the Coast Guard after the boat was overdue and the skipper did not respond to calls. The Coast Guard said the boat was equipped with an emergency locating beacon but it had not been activated.
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AK COVID-19
At a Glance
(updated 9-12-2023)
By Sentinel Staff
The state Department of Health and Social Services has posted the following update on the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alaska as of 8:57 a.m. Tuesday, September 12.
New cases as of Tuesday: 278
Total cases (cumulative) statewide – 301,513
Total (cumulative) deaths – 1,485
Case Rate per 100,000 – 38.14
To visit the Alaska DHSS Corona Response dashboard website click here.
COVID in Sitka
The Sitka community level is now "Low.'' Case statistics are as of Tuesday.
Case Rate/100,000 – 152.50
Cases in last 7 days – 13
Cumulative Sitka cases – 3,575
Deceased (cumulative) – 10
The local case data are from Alaska DHSS.
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20 YEARS AGO
September 2003
Sitka Tribe of Alaska is “upset and disturbed” about the Senate appropriations bill that cuts spending for Alaska tribal courts, STA Vice Chairman Gil Truitt said today. He was referring to Sen. Ted Stevens’ move to divert Department of Justice grants from tribal courts and tribal police officers to fund the Village Public Safety Officer program.
50 YEARS AGO
September 1973
Photo caption: Receiving service pins at a Carpenters Union Local 466 dinner meeting at the Kiksadi Club were, from left, Arthur Littlefield, Alvin Helm, Harley Finch, Dave Gibson, Gerald Hughes, Fred Nelson, Walter Moy, Edward Nelson, William Sutton and Don Stromme.