ENGULFED – A house on Bart Island, in Thimbleberry Bay, is consumed by fire Wednesday evening. The Sitka Fire Department was able to prevent the house at right from catching fire. No one was injured in the fire. Twenty firefighters were dispatched to the island, which is accessed by a foot bridge and a series of dirt driveways, about 1,000 feet from Sawmill Creek Road. (Photo provided by Dave Moore)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A fire destroyed a small island house in Thimbleberry [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola has included $5.8 million for [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The city announced Wednesday that $62,795 was stolen [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
A day of street performances, art, food and music, cap [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS,
CLAIRE STREMPLE and
YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
The 33rd Alaska State Legislature [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Legislature has passed a bill that combines carbon sto [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
May 15
Shortly after noon, callers complain [ ... ]
U.S. Coast Guard
Sets Town Hall
On Boat Accident
The U.S. Coast Guard will hold a town hall 5-8 p.m. to [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
After four months of special meetings to review and d [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Living amid craggy peaks and remnant glaciers, Southea [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
In the play opening Thursday at the Sitka Performing [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
A late-session attempt to salvage a proposal that would revive [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
May 14
At 7:46 a.m. a reckless driver was r [ ... ]
Life Celebration
For Carl Peterson
The family of Carl Peterson, 85, will have a celebration of his lif [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Alaska Department of Education is taking public c [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka’s pent-up demand for swim lessons was in full [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Racing against schools from across Southeast in the l [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Sitka’s softballers split a three-game series with Juneau-Douglas Friday a [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
Members of the Alaska Senate approved a bill that would increa [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
May 13
At 12:43 a.m. an out-of-town caller [ ... ]
Robin Klanott, 61
Dies in Anchorage
Longtime Sitka resident Robin Klanott passed away at Anchorage Reg [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly is winding up work on the city budgets f [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Alaska state lawmakers are preparing for a final vote on a bill t [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Playing in variable weather in the last regular seaso [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Law Firm to Get $4.7 M for Disaster Recovery Aid
By Claire Stremple
Alaska Beacon
The nonprofit law firm Alaska Legal Services Corp was awarded federal money this week to support victims of disasters last year as they continue to navigate the recovery.
The firm will be in charge of distributing $4.7 million in funding to create what’s being described as a “disaster relief hub,” which will support the victims of 12 natural disasters in American Indian and Alaska Native communities in Alaska and other Western states.
Victims of extreme weather events often require legal aid as they file for insurance benefits, navigate landlord relationships and seek to replace personal documents.
In Alaska the money will go to support areas affected by five major natural disasters, including Typhoon Merbok, said Sarah Carver, a senior staff attorney for Alaska Legal Services. She said that disaster highlighted how challenging it can be for rural residents to submit disaster relief paperwork to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
“Aside from the intuitive issues that come with a disaster, you also see an uptick in housing-related problems, security issues,” she said. “And these are all compounded by being vulnerable, remote communities where a lot of these disasters occurred.”
Alaska Legal Services will train local, non-attorney community justice workers to do outreach in their remote communities affected by natural disasters. The firm will work with Montana Legal Services, Oklahoma Indian Legal Services, Anishinabe Legal Services and DNA People’s Legal Services to do the same in their regions.
Carver said that disasters can expand what she called a “justice gap” — the space where people who could benefit from access to knowledgeable legal aid cannot get it. The program aims to reduce that gap by training locals to look for ways attorneys or volunteers can help guide disaster victims through the recovery process.
“They’re going to be doing extensive travel and outreach to even the most remote parts of the affected areas,” she said. “So they’ll be doing a lot of on the ground work, to disseminate information, advise people about their legal rights, and then take the potential client case as far as it needs to go.”
The money comes from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 and most of it will stay in Alaska, Carver said, largely because Alaska Legal Services will manage the grant. It will fund community justice workers in communities affected by Typhoon Merbok and storms in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the Kenai Peninsula, Fairbanks and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
In a news release, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, called the grant “good news” and said too many Alaska families are “facing challenges regarding their finances, insurance claims, housing, and more.”
“This funding will provide them with legal support while they continue recovering from the damaging impacts of Typhoon Merbok,” she said.
Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, said the money will allow Alaskans to continue to support each other in places where “resources are limited and communication with federal agencies can be slow.”
“Many Alaskans are still struggling to navigate the FEMA application and appeals processes, and this legal assistance funding will make a real difference in their lives,” she said in a news release.
Alaska Legal Services will begin to hire and train the community justice workers this fall. The work is designed around funding for a three-year grant, but Carver said the plan is to continue to find funding for the project so that it can continue.
––https://alaskabeacon.com/claire-stremple
Login Form
20 YEARS AGO
May 2004
Photo caption: Jimmy Bracket, second mate of the new fast ferry Fairweather gives a tour of the $36 million ship to Sitkans Leslie Pellett and Jeff vonRekowski Thursday. The 235-foot ferry can carry 35 cars and 150 passengers, go as fast as 42 knots and consumes 560 gallons of fuel an hour.
50 YEARS AGO
May 1974
Two changes have been announced in the cruise ship schedules. The first ship to arrive in Sitka will be the Xanadu on May 26, and an additional voyage of the Arcadia will be on Sept. 21, which will mean two ships in port here at the same time: the Arcadia and the Spirit of London. Sitka will have two cruise ships in port on seven days this summer.