KCAW - Sitka

Officials said in a statement that research staff were capturing and collaring brown bears at Redoubt Lake when the drowning occurred.

Southeast Alaska’s commercial king salmon fishery will remain open until further notice. The July 1 king opener for trollers, who fish with hook and line, is usually over quickly– it typically lasts anywhere from a handful of days to a week. But this year, with two weeks down, trollers are only at the halfway mark toward catching their target.

The MH-60 Jayhawk from Air Station Sitka went down on June 22 during a training flight. The crash occurred at about 1,500 feet on the south side of Harbor Mountain.

The Kruzof stranding wasn’t the only one this summer. A second beaked whale was found beached in Yakutat in early June.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed about $123,000 from the state budget Wednesday that was earmarked for a maintenance position at Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka. The school, which is operated by the state, currently has three budgeted maintenance positions, but two remain unfilled. Dunleavy spokesperson Grant Robinson said in a statement that the governor generally…

A majority of the area has reopened, but officials remind the community to keep its distance as the Coast Guard continues its recovery and investigation efforts.