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Listen Here: Does economic globalization reduce poverty?

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The Drama Debate Forensics team at SHS has won the overall sweepstakes for their division for the past three years. (Photo courtesy of Stefanie Ask)

On Monday evening, February 9th, top teams from Sitka High School will go head to head in a live debate. The topic: On balance, economic globalization benefits worldwide poverty reduction.

The students are part of the Drama Debate Forensics (DDF) team at Sitka High School and are preparing for the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska state competition in Anchorage on February 19th – 21st.

If you missed the broadcast, you can hear it in its entirety here:

The post Listen Here: Does economic globalization reduce poverty? appeared first on KCAW.


Send us your love notes, this Valentine’s Day

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Dear KCAW Listeners,

Do you have a romantic crush to confess?

Maybe to your significant other, your wife of thirty years or your boyfriend of three days? Or maybe it’s someone you bump into all the time at the grocery store. Or that person who once served you coffee – with a smile? Basically, do you have a declaration of love you’d like to get off your chest?

Sitka Love Notes is a one-day project dedicated to getting those messages out. We’ll read your tributes and your secret memos on-air throughout Valentine’s Day, Saturday, February 14th, just like Muskeg Messages. And if you want to record your own, we’ll play that, too.

Here are two ways to participate:

  1. Write a love note and address it to someone specific (e.g. your husband, your girlfriend, your barber, your dog, your mystery crush, etc — it can include their name, or not. Your call.) Include whether you want your identity to be kept secret on air. Send to newsdesk@kcaw.org.
  2. If you’d like to record your message, we’ll play it on air. Let’s face it – what better way to surprise your sweetie?
    1. Call 747-5879 and leave your love note as a message in the voice mail box of Winter Fellow Emily Kwong (ext. 7).
    2. Keep it under a minute in length, please! Thirty seconds is even better. And make sure to pause for 10 seconds before recording! We don’t want to cut you off.
    3. Leave your name and number, so we can get in touch with any questions.

We’ll play your message during regularly scheduled music programming. Happy writing!

The post Send us your love notes, this Valentine’s Day appeared first on KCAW.

Listen: Kettleson Library’s Poetry Cafe

LIVE: Web stream of Glacier Conference

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Today (08-31-15), the U.S. State Department will host a GLACIER: A Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic.

Diplomats from 20 countries have convened in Anchorage to discuss challenges facing Arctic communities.

To view a live web stream of the President’s closing remarks around 5 p.m., visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

Live coverage of the President’s visit to Alaska is also available on GCI TV Channel 999 (HD) and Channel 1 (SD).

The GLACIER conference brings 450 policy-makers and stakeholders from 20 countries to Anchorage. All eight Arctic nations are represented, but so are many observer states like China, India, and the EU, who have political and economic interests in the high north.

This year, the U.S. started its three year term as head of the Arctic Council, taking over from Canada. Many in Alaska are hoping the conference represents a commitment from Washington to play a more active role confronting climate change, rural and indigenous issues, and lagging infrastructure investment in the region.

The conference also brings the first official visit from Presient Obama,
who’ll be speaking at the closing session around 5 p.m.

AGENDA

Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience (GLACIER)

Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center – Anchorage, Alaska

Monday, August 31, 2015

Opening Plenary (9:30am)

Traditional Welcome Ceremony: Mr. Lee Stephan, Tribal Chief from Eklutna

Remarks:

  • Mayor of Anchorage, Ethan Berkowitz
  • Mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska, Reggie Joule
  • Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, Byron Mallott
  • Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Dr. John Holdren
  • Special Representative for the Arctic, Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr.
  • Secretary of State, Hon. John F. Kerry

Sessions Begin

FOREIGN MINISTER SESSION 11: “The Arctic’s Unique Role in Influencing the Global Climate”

Speakers:

  • Foreign Minister of Norway, Borge Brende (Chair)
  • Dr. Julie Brigham Grette, Chair of the Polar Research Board at the National Academies of Science (NAS)
  • Dr. Svante Bodin, European Director of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI)

POLICY TRACK A, SESSION 1: “Building the Resilience of Arctic Coastal Communities in the Face of Climate Change”

Speaker:

  • Ms. Christina Goldfuss, Managing Director, White House Council on Environmental Quality

Panelists:

  • Hon. Fran Ulmer, Chair U.S. Arctic Research Commission (Moderator)
  • Mayor Reggie Joule, Northwest Arctic Borough
  • Ms. Robin Bronen, Executive Director, Alaska Immigration Justice Project
  • Mr. Craig Fleener, Arctic Policy Advisor to the Governor of the State of Alaska
  • Mr. Tommy Beaudreau, Chief of Staff, Department of the Interior

POLICY TRACK B, SESSION 1: “Strengthening International Preparedness and Cooperation for Emergency Response”

Moderator/Speaker:

  • Mr. Gary Rasicot, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Marine Transportation Systems

Panelists:

  • Rear Admiral Gerd Glang, U.S. National Hydrographer and NOAA Director of the Office of Coast Survey
  • Rear Admiral Daniel Abel, Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District, U.S. Coast Guard
  • Ms. April Brower, Director, North Slope Borough Search and Rescue
  • Captain Ásgrímur L. Ásgrímsson, Chief of Operations, Icelandic Coast Guard

Lunch

FOREIGN MINISTER LUNCH: Brief keynote remarks during a seated meal

Speaker: Mr. Evon Peter, Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks

POLICY TRACKS A & B: Buffet Lunch

Sessions Resume

FOREIGN MINISTER SESSION 2: “Focus Session on Climate Resilience and Adaptation Planning”

Speakers:

  • Foreign Minister of Sweden, Margot Wallström (Chair)
  • The Honorable Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior, United States
  • Mr. Vittus Qujaukitsoq, Minister for Industry, Labour, Trade and Foreign Affairs, Greenland, Kingdom of Denmark
  • Professor Johan Rockström (moderator)

POLICY TRACK A, SESSION 2: “Protecting Communities and the Environment through Climate and Air Quality Projects”

Moderator/Speaker:

  • Ms. Jane Nishida, Acting Assistant Administrator for International and Tribal Affairs, U.S. EPA

Panelists:

  • Mr. Chris Rose, Executive Director, Renewable Energy Alaska Project
  • Mr. Jim Gamble, Aleut International Association
  • Ms. Ingunn Lindeman, Norwegian Environment Agency
  • Mr. Sameer Akbar, The World Bank

POLICY TRACK B, SESSION 2: “Preventing Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean”

Speaker:

  • Ambassador David Balton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries, Department of State

Panelists:

  • Dr. Peter Harrison, Professor Emeritus, Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada (Moderator)
  • Mr. Alf Håkon Hoel, Research Director Norwegian Institute of Marine Research
  • Ms. Stephanie Madsen, Executive Director, At-sea Processors Association
  • Dr. Vyacheslav Zilanov, Russian Association of the Fishermen of the North
  • Mr. Jim Stotts, Inuit Circumpolar Council
  • Mr. Stefaan Depypere, Director, International Affairs and Markets, DG Mare, European Commission

FOREIGN MINISTER SESSION 3: “Strengthening Arctic Cooperation and Coordination on Ocean Stewardship, Environmental Protection, and Support to Local Communities”

Participants:

  • Foreign Minister Soini (Finland), Chair
  • Foreign Minister Jensen (Denmark)
  • Foreign Minister Sveinsson (Iceland)
  • Foreign Minister Brende (Norway)
  • U.S. Secretary of State, John F. Kerry

POLICY TRACK A, SESSION 3: “Healthy Arctic Homes: Designing Cold Climate Structures for the 21st Century (Addressing Health, Efficiency, & Resiliency through Innovative Housing Technologies)”

Moderator/Speaker:

  • Dr. Michael Bruce, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arctic Investigations Program – Alaska

Panelists:

  • Mr. Bill Griffith, State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Water and Sewer Challenge
  • Mr. John Warren, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
  • Mr. Jack Hébert, Cold Climate Housing Research Center
  • Mr. Stefan Lindbäck, Lindbäcks Bygg, Sweden

POLICY TRACK B, SESSION 3: “Strengthening Observation Networks”

Speaker:

  • Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere

Panelists:

  • Ms. Christine Daae Olseng, Special Adviser on Polar Research, Norwegian Research Council and Chair of SAON (Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks)
  • Mr. Michael Y. Brubaker, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
  • Mr. Jim Stotts, Inuit Circumpolar Council – Alaska
  • Dr. Hajo Eicken, University of Alaska & Study of Arctic Environmental Change (SEARCH)
  • Hon. Fran Ulmer, U.S. Arctic Research Commission (Moderator)

Concluding Remarks

End Event (5:30pm)

The post LIVE: Web stream of Glacier Conference appeared first on KCAW.

35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 1: The Rescue

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October 4th marked the 35th anniversary of the sinking of the Prinsendam. The cruise ship  was abandoned 200 miles off the coast of Sitka due to fire. Over 500 passengers and crew were rescued. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)
October 4th marked the 35th anniversary of the sinking of the Prinsendam. The cruise ship  was abandoned 200 miles off the coast of Sitka due to fire. Over 500 passengers and crew were rescued. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)

October 4th marked the 35th anniversary of the sinking of the Prinsendam. The cruise ship was abandoned 200 miles off the coast of Alaska due to fire. Over 500 passengers and crew were rescued. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)

It’s been called the greatest high seas rescue in the history of the Coast Guard. 35 years ago on October 4th, the luxury cruise liner Prinsendam caught fire in Gulf of Alaska, between Yakutat and Sitka. Despite an incoming typhoon, 30-foot seas, and 100-meter visibility, every one of the more than 500 passengers and crew escaped before the ship burned and sank.

Earlier this month members of the US Coast Guard and Air Force, and their Canadian counterparts, gathered in Seattle for a reunion. In Part 1 of a three-part series on the Prinsendam anniversary, KCAW’s Rich McClear headed south to join them – and reflect on his own role in the emergency. 35 years ago, McClear, was about to leave KTOO in Juneau to start the public radio station in Sitka.


Downloadable audio.

October 4, 1980 was Juneau’s 100th birthday and the city was in the mood to party. The Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell was in town, up from Seattle, to help with the celebration. The bars were full of Coasties.

Sitkan Doris Bailey was in Juneau and remembers how her husband, Roy, first learned that the party was over. “Some boat started tooting blasts on the horn and Roy jumped out of bed and said “Oh My Gosh, every coastguard person is being called back to the ship, all leave is canceled,” Bailey said.

That was around 1 AM in the morning. The Boutwell’s Captain, Lee Krumm, was scheduled to be the Centennial Parade Grand Marshal. He was enjoying himself in a Mendenhall Valley tavern when he was called to the phone.

Lee Krumm:  I went up and got the microphone from the band and said, ‘Anyone from the Boutwell in here get yourselves downstairs. We’re heading  back on the ship. We have a cruise ship on fire.’ We had people actually sitting in the trunks of cars with their legs hanging out the back getting them back to the ship.

The Juneau police and volunteer fire department went to every bar rousting out crewmembers.  Seaman Dan Long was on the ship helping load the crew back on board. Long remembered the process. “One guy take the arms, one guy take the legs, haul them on board and dump them on the flight deck – those guys who couldn’t walk under their own power,” he said.

But in two hours the Boutwell was ready to sail with only nine crew members missing. In Sitka, the Woodrush was also underway and two helicopters from Air Station Sitka were heading to the ship.

Aboard the Prinsendam, the fire spread. She was dead in the water. The captain gave the order to abandon ship. John Graham was the ship’s lecturer and recalled, “In the beginning the seas were relatively calm. We were put into the lifeboats in the middle of the night. It was kind of an adventure. People did sing along to old campfire songs.”

At daybreak, the helicopters started hoisting passengers. They ferried the survivors to the Exxon Williamsburgh, which heard the SOS. Fortunately, the tanker had a helipad and was fully loaded with crude oil, making it stable in the rising seas.

Every few trips the helicopters had to refuel, so they carried their passengers to Yakutat.

Pete Torres was on the crew of one of the Kodiak choppers and said, “The people had been sitting cramped in a lifeboat for up to 10 to 12 hours. By the time they got into the helicopter, they couldn’t get themselves out of the basket. We would actually have to pick them up and move them back to the back of the helicopter.” He added, “There weren’t enough troop seats in the helicopter, so after a while a lot of the passengers would actually have to sit on the deck in a pile.  I think on our last run we had up to 16 survivors on our helicopter.”

The Prinsendam passengers who flew to safety may have been the lucky ones. As the day wore on, the weather deteriorated.

Passenger John Graham said this is when survivors in the lifeboats began to feel desperate. “Finally the typhoon hit us full force. Winds gusting up to 60 knots. 30 foot seas. And we were all hypothermic. We were all seasick. At about 5 o’clock, the storm was so bad that the helicopters couldn’t fly anymore.  So our only hope was that there something out there on the sea that could rescue us,” he said.

Graham’s boat was eventually found by the Boutwell. She had arrived from Juneau and began taking survivors aboard. It wasn’t easy.

First they sent a launch to transfer survivors from the lifeboats to the ship. That didn’t work so well, Dan Long recalls. “We went out and got to the first lifeboat. Well, the crew from the Prinsendam, they were just panicked. We wanted to take the elderly on board first. They were climbing over the elderly and climbing onto our boat because they were so afraid. It was this total mayhem. Our boat quickly filled up and we couldn’t get the elderly off the lifeboat.”

Instead, the launch towed the lifeboat to the Boutwell, but most were not able to climb the 40-foot Jacob’s ladder to the ship. Their hands were cold, and they could not grip the rungs. Long said, “We just sent a man down with a horse collar and manually hauled them up one by one,” using a hand winch.

And that’s the way the Boutwell brought all the survivors from the remaining lifeboats aboard – or so they thought.

Lt. Colonel Dave Briski, the pilot of an Air Force C-130, was unwilling to call it a day.

Lt. Dave Briski:  I called the Coast Guard and I said, ”What’s the status of the mission?’ They said, ‘Well, everybody’s been picked up. We’re closing down the mission down.’ And I said, ‘Are you sure you’ve got everybody picked up?’ And they said, ‘Yes everybody’s picked up.” And I said, ‘Okay, the last I heard, the Air Force helicopter, the boat they were picking up people from, had two of our PJs, or pararescue men, and about 18 to 20 people from the ship.  Can you confirm those people were picked up?” They said  ‘Yeah, they’re all picked up.’ I said, ‘Well give me the names of the two PJs and then I know you’ve got ‘em. They insisted they were going to close the mission.  I called the Rescue Coordination Center back at Elmendorf and I said ‘Hey, I don’t think they’ve got everybody picked up.’

Briski was right. The Boutwell and Woodrush sailed search patterns in the area where the lifeboat was last reported. Just before 2 AM, the Boutwell found the missing lifeboat and hauled its passengers aboard. The mission was closed, but for the residents of Yakutat, Sitka, and Valdez, the rescue of the Prinsendam was just beginning.

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The Prinsendam on a postcard, pictured at Skagway before the fire. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)

The end of the mission at sea was the beginning of the rescue on land, as the more than 500 passengers and crew of the Prinsendam were brought ashore with only the clothes on their backs. In Part 2 of this series tomorrow, KCAW’s Rich McClear talks with Sitkans who lent a hand – and much more – to the survivors of the Prinsendam.

This story is Part 1 in a series to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam Rescue. Here is Part 2 and Part 3Click here for more historic photographs of the Prinsendam sinking, courtesy of the Alaska State Library.

The post 35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 1: The Rescue appeared first on KCAW.

35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 2: The Response

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The liner was sailing through the Gulf of Alaska, approximately 120 miles south of Yakutat, Alaska, at midnight on October 4, 1980, when a fire broke out in the engine room.  After all passengers and crew were rescued, the vessel sank a week later. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)
The liner was sailing through the Gulf of Alaska, approximately 120 miles south of Yakutat, Alaska, at midnight on October 4, 1980, when a fire broke out in the engine room.  After all passengers and crew were rescued, the vessel sank a week later. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)

The liner was sailing through the Gulf of Alaska, approximately 120 miles south of Yakutat, Alaska, at midnight on October 4, 1980, when a fire broke out in the engine room. After all passengers and crew were rescued, the vessel sank a week later. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)

35 years ago this month, the Coast Guard carried out one of the most dramatic rescues in its history. On October 4 and 5, 1980, more than 500 passengers and crew from the Prinsendam were pulled out of lifeboats in the Gulf of Alaska as the cruise ship burned and sank. By sunrise October 5 everyone was safe and accounted for.

But as the Coast Guard’s job ended, Sitka’s began. Survivors, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, began arriving in Sitka by plane from Yakutat and from the Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell.

KCAW’s Rich McClear was about to leave KTOO in Juneau to found Sitka’s public radio station. In Part 2 of our series on the 35th anniversary of the Prinsendam rescue, McClear meets with some of the people who lent a hand – and much more – to the Prinsendam survivors.

Downloadable audio.

Holland America laid off of all its Alaska employees at the end of September, 1980,  so there were no staff in Sitka. The line instead called John Litten, manager of Sitka Tours, and asked him to make arrangements for survivors.

John Litten: We realized immediately, ‘Oh man, have we got something on our hands.’  There were close to 200 people. They were coming off wearing garbage bags, night gowns, some of them were wrapped up in curtains that they ripped down off the walls of the ship…it was just crazy, watching them walk down the long gangway. I started thinking, ‘Okay, here we have all of these elderly people, they’ve come off the ship with virtually nothing. Many of them are going to need medications and they are going to need toiletries.’ Not until I saw them coming down the gangway did I think about clothing.

So Litten called several shopkeepers and asked them to open their stores. He told them to run a tab. They would figure out payment later.

Bonnie Brenner ran a women’s clothing store.  She said, “All of these ladies were in there. They didn’t have underwear ‘cause they had left the ship in whatever they were wearing. And so we clothed them. I’ve never seen anything like it. We just kept selling everything.”

Shirley Robards, who worked at John McDonalds men’s store, recalled, “We didn’t have enough stuff for that influx of people. It was a lot of people.  They cleaned us out.  I forget what we did, it was $41,000 or something.  So, poor Prinsendam.”

Jill Scheidt owned Vi’s Apparel. She said, “Back then it was the wealthier people who cruised. It wasn’t yet into middle America cruising.” Many of the survivors were placed in the Sheffield House, now the Totem Square Inn. Vi’s was a first stop for women off the ship without any clothes.

Scheidt: They came into the store in their nightgowns with mink coats on and so forth.  Some with shoes, some without.

McClear: What types of things did they buy?

Scheidt: They bought mostly clothing that they could wear when they were planning to leave the next day on an airplane.

McClear: Did they pay or did the line pick it up?

Scheidt: The Line picked it up and said, ‘Go ahead and just create a charge account and we will make sure it gets to the right people and you’ll get paid.  And it did, and very rapidly actually.

McClear: With the line picking it up did some people clean you out?

Scheidt: They really didn’t, they got what then needed. No one seemed to be excessive.

But there always a few in every crowd, like the guy Shirley Robards encountered. She remembered, There was one gentleman out of all of them I remember, and I think he was really quite well to do. He wanted the pants shortened and he wanted this and he wanted that and he was the only one who ended up with more than what he needed just to get home. I don’t think a thousand dollars was very much to him.”

But a bigger problem was medications. Many of the passengers were elderly and on maintenance drugs. Litten recalled, “Paul Lunas had a medical office practice right across from the bookstore, upstairs. He came down. So did Ed and Mary Spenser. Their practice was just out Halibut Point Road.  And they came into the hotel and they sat down. They just had people walk up and say what medications were you taking, what were the dosages. And they, without any kind of physical exam, just started writing them scripts.

And they went across the street to Harry Race Pharmacy, which had opened for the occasion.  Harry Race also sold out of toothbrushes and other toiletries.

Throughout the rescue Sitkans contributed their own blankets and other goods, and some offered home cooked dinners. “The townspeople poured out,” said Litten. “When they heard that these people came out without clothing, people were bringing donations into the Sheffield. It was just incredible.”

Because of the weather, most passengers stayed in Sitka for two nights. Some stayed a few days longer recovering in the hospital.

The first survivors arrived in Sitka on Saturday afternoon, October 4. On the following Friday, October 10, the Sentinel announced ‘Last Out.’  On Saturday, October 11 the Prinsendam, still on fire and under tow to a shipyard in Portland, sank off of Cape Edgecumbe in 9,000 feet of water.

In Part 3 of this series, McClear discusses some of his own memories of the Prinsendam disaster, and the challenges of reporting on a high seas rescue before the internet, digital photography, or satellite communications. Listen to Part 1: The Rescue.

Click here for more historic photographs of the Prinsendam sinking, courtesy of the Alaska State Library.

The post 35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 2: The Response appeared first on KCAW.

35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 3: The Reporting

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KCAW’s Rich McClear said Prinsendam is a great triumph for local reporting. The front page of the Sitka Sentinel on the Monday after the rescue. (Photo courtesy of Newspapers.com)

When the cruise ship Prinsendam burned and sank off of Cape Edgecumbe 35 years ago, it brought an amazing story to an end. But, like all great tales, there is a story within a story.

Reporters in 1980 used typewriters. Fax machines were a novelty. Kodachrome photographs had to be shipped out of state for processing. Covering the rescue of 500 people from a burning cruise ship in the Gulf of Alaska was a huge challenge for Southeast media organizations — but they succeeded. Just as the Prinsendam is one of the greatest rescue stories of all time, it is also one of greatest achievements of regional journalism.

In the third-and-final part of our series on the 35th anniversary of the Prinsendam rescue, KCAW’s Robert Woolsey spoke with Rich McClear about how the men and women of Southeast media delivered the story.

Downloadable audio.

Rich McClear was the radio manager at KTOO-FM in Juneau in 1980. The city was in the middle of its centennial celebration, and every Coast Guardsman had been recalled to duty aboard the cutter Boutwell. McClear said, “Everyone else in Juneau was awaked by the blast from the Boutwell, but I slept right through it, even though I could see it from my window.”

Just as we do now, reporters called the Coast Guard District 17 headquarters for a lead on what was happening. But the similarities end there.

The Heroes

KCAW’s Rich McClear gathered interviews for this series during a reunion of Prinsendam survivors and rescue crew in Seattle. (Rich McClear/KCAW photo)

McClear’s news director was named Jim Gordon. Without really understanding what was going on, Gordon asked McClear if he could get a plane — an incredible expense for a public radio station at the time.

“[Gordon] and Dave Carpenter from the Anchorage Times were able to charter a plane,” said McClear. “They called CNN to see if they could sell some video, to help cover the costs of the plane. And CNN said, ‘If you’ve got video, we’ll buy it.’ That was a good thing because when my boss, the general manager of KTOO, heard out about it he was upset that we had expended the money to rent the plane.”

Sitka Sentinel Front Page, Oct. 6, 1980

Sitka Sentinel Page 6, Oct. 6, 1980

But it didn’t take long for word of the Prinsendam to reach the big, lower-48 news bureaus. Without a satellite uplink, McClear says the locals weren’t able to get their film to CNN before the networks began running their own footage.

They came up with another idea. Because of fog in Juneau, the KTOO plane flew over the Prinsendam, but then had to land in Sitka. That’s where most of the survivors were headed.

Rich McClear: Jim and Dave wrote a boilerplate story, and then interviewed people coming off. In the boiler plate they put a paragraph about someone locally. Then they went to Kettleson Library and got a directory of papers. They called weeklies in New Jersey and Iowa, places like that, and said, We’ve got an exclusive story about your survivor off the Prinsendam! There were fax machines then. So they were able to fax the story, and that’s how we partially paid for the airplane.

Autographed Prinsendam Life Vest

A life vest autographed by rescuers, at the 35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam sinking in Seattle. (Rich McClear/KCAW photo)

Nevertheless, their eyewitness account of the ship, combined with their connections in the Coast Guard and with other sources on the ground, gave the local news organizations an advantage in reporting the story. McClear says KTOO, the Juneau Empire, and the Sitka Sentinel ran an amazing week of coverage — the Empire even put out an extra edition.

Some network reporters, meanwhile, were just learning that you couldn’t rent a car in Juneau and drive to Sitka or Yakutat.

McClear says there are two main differences between how the story was covered in 1980, and how it would be covered today. First, the ships have grown dramatically. Instead of 500 passengers, some ships in the Gulf now carry more than 3,000 passengers, and 1,500 crew. A Prinsendam-style airlift would be extraordinarily difficult, even in the best of conditions.
And, of course, the news would spread instantly.

Rich McClear: Reporters could virtually cover it. As soon as video came into Sitka the whole world could see it, because it would go out via the internet. There would be high-quality interviews instead of raspy phone interviews we took from Juneau to Sitka. And a lot of the coverage could be done remotely because there’s high-quality audio and video conferencing, through Skype and things like that. It would have been covered much more quickly, but I’m not sure we would have had the same happy outcome because of the larger ships. There are still only three helicopters in Sitka.

Even though the Prinsendam eventually did make worldwide headlines, McClear says the story never achieved epic status. Many people may be only hearing the name Prinsendam for the first time in this retrospective, while the Exxon Valdez is a cultural icon. Part of the problem might be that the Coast Guard was just too good.

McClear remembers discussing the event with an editor at one national network who wanted the story — but only if someone died. And that kind of notoriety — unfortunately — might be one thing that has not changed in news over the last 35 years.

This story is Part 3 in a series to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam Rescue. Here is Part 1 and Part 2.

Reunion Cake

McClear speculates that if another cruise ship were to catch fire off the coast of Alaska in today’s times, “[The news] would have been covered much more quickly, but I’m not sure we would have had the same happy outcome because of the larger cruise ships.” (Rich McClear/KCAW photo)

The post 35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 3: The Reporting appeared first on KCAW.

Full audio: Listening to Yellow Cedar

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IMG_4249 (1)Kimi Eisele is a Writer in Residence here at the Island Institute. Her radio essay, “Listening to Yellow Cedar,” aired on Raven Radio Sunday, Oct. 25th. This personal investigation looks at the yellow cedar tree and its importance culturally, economically and as part of the temperate rain forest ecosystem. Find out how climate change is affecting yellow cedar, and what this means for culture bearers, scientists, forest managers, artists and others.

Download Audio 

The post Full audio: Listening to Yellow Cedar appeared first on KCAW.


Listen Here: 2015 Live Radio Theater!

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Photo by James Poulson/Sitka Sentinel

In November 20, 2015, a host of talented Sitkans with the GSAC Sitka Community Theater put on a production of four live radio dramas at the Sitka Performing Arts Center.

Included in the production are two original plays by Zachary Desmond, “Milktown 1999,” and Rebecca Poulson “A Fairy Tale,” a re-telling of the classic “Pride and Prejudice,” directed by Stefanie Ask, and a romantic comedy with a twist, “For Business Reasons,” directed by Shira Kahan. Sound effects were designed by Marybeth Palof, Dan Palof, Jessica Menary, and Angelo Cannizzaro. So, pull up a chair, a cup of hot cocoa, and tune in to something other than Netflix on a cold December night.

A recording of this performance will air on December 15, 2015 – at 7PM on KCAW Sitka. Tune 104.7 FM or 90.1 FM, or stream live here

EACH OF THE FOUR PLAYS:

For Business Reasons, from the series “Romance,” aired Jan. 1, 1949

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Downloadable audio.

Starring William E. Davis, Peter Apathy, Emily Kwong, Marcy Drake, Hilloah Courtney, Ayla McNeilley. Music by Greta Healy. Directed by Shira Kahan.

A Fairy Tale, written and directed by Rebecca Poulson

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Photo by James Poulson/Sitka Sentinel


Downloadable audio.

Starring Tamie Parker Song and Christian Litten. Directed by Rebecca Poulson.

Milk Town 1999, written and directed by Zachary Desmond

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Photo by James Poulson/Sitka Sentinel


Downloadable audio.

Starring Seaton Bryan, Rhiannon Guevin, Tamie Parker Song, and Andrew Marius. Music by Sarah Swong and Stacy Evans. Directed by Zachary Desmond. 

Pride and Prejudice, from the series “Romance,” aired May 28, 1947

Photo by James Poulson/Sitka Sentinel

Photo by James Poulson/Sitka Sentinel


Downloadable audio.

Starring Jude Reis, Sotera Perez, John Stein, Brielle Schaeffer, Christian Litten, Adam Litten, Blossom Twitchell, and Mary Barrett. Directed by Stefanie Ask. 

This performance was organized by Sitka Community Theater, a project of the Greater Sitka Arts Council, with sponsorship from the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, Alaskan Dream Cruises, and Raven Radio.

Sound Effects by Marybeth Palof, Dan Palof, Jessica Menary, and Angelo Cannizzaro

Directed by Shira Kahan, Rebecca Poulson, Zachary Desmond, and Stefanie Ask

Production and lights by Shannon Haugland

Technical direction, lighting design, and visual effects by J Bradley

Sound by Max Kritzer

Stage Managment by Tom Hesse

Video by Lucy Poulson and J Bradley

KCAW Radio Production by Rebecca Danon

The post Listen Here: 2015 Live Radio Theater! appeared first on KCAW.

Untangling Medicaid and the ACA

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Special_ProgrammingRaven Radio hosted a special half-hour program on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act on January 4th, featuring Monique Martin, a health care policy adviser to the Commissioner of Health and Social Services and Andrea Thomas (907-966-8883), the SEARHC outreach/enrollment coordinator in Sitka.with experts interested in helping you obtain health care insurance. It’s not too late to get health insurance: Enrollment is open through the end of January, and if you qualify for Medicaid you can enroll ANY TIME. With KCAW’s Robert Woolsey.

Downloadable audio.

Note: Alaskans eligible for Medicaid can enroll at any time at healthcare.gov, by calling 1-800-318-2596, or by visiting any Public Assistance Office.

For Alaskans eligible for health insurance in the marketplace, the enrollment deadline is January 30, 2016. Please visit healthcare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596 for complete information.

People enroll for Medicaid the same way they enroll for health insurance in the marketplace: by going online to healthcare.gov, calling the 24-hour number (1-800-318-2596), or filling out a paper application. Local clinics, and agencies like The United Way (in Alaska dial 2-1-1), public assistance centers, and MyAlaska — the state’s web portal — can all steer people in the right direction.

The post Untangling Medicaid and the ACA appeared first on KCAW.

Special Programming in January

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Raven Radio will be bringing you some special programming the week of January 19th-22nd.

The City of Sitka will host a Town Hall meeting to get public input on local marijuana ordinances this coming Monday, January 19, at 6:30 p.m. Raven Radio will broadcast the meeting live.

Tuesday, January 20, Raven Radio will carry NPR’s special coverage of the President’s State of the Union speech, starting at 5 p.m. Local news will be heard just prior, at 4:49 p.m.

And Governor Bill Walker will deliver his State of the State address on Wednesday, January 21st, and a State of the Budget on Thursday, January 22nd. Raven Radio will be broadcasting both of these live, starting at 7 p.m.

The post Special Programming in January appeared first on KCAW.

Movies in Your Mind: Radio Theater 2014

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The radio theater show featured a 1950s Western, a Sherlock Holmes mystery, and four original plays by John Longenbaugh. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)
The radio theater show featured a 1950s Western, a Sherlock Holmes mystery, and four original plays by John Longenbaugh. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

The radio theater show featured a 1950s Western, a Sherlock Holmes holiday mystery, and four original plays by John Longenbaugh. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

On Saturday, December 6th, 2014, a 24-member cast and 9-member crew staged an evening of live radio drama at the Sitka Performing Arts Center.

Directors Suzan Brawnlyn and Megan Pasternak chose a variety of plays, including a classic Western, a Sherlock Holmes mystery set during the holidays, and four original works by Seattle-based playwright John Longenbaugh. Gather round, close your eyes and listen closely…

A recording of this performance will air on Christmas Day – December 25th, 2014 – at 8PM on KCAW Sitka. Tune 104.7 FM or 90.1 FM, or stream live here

THE FULL SHOW:

Downloadable audio.

EACH OF THE SIX PLAYS:

Wild Jack Rhett, from the series “Escape,” aired Dec. 17, 1950

The cast of Wild Jack Rhett, a 1950 Western about a sheriff who shakes up the town of Red Mesa. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

The cast of Wild Jack Rhett, a 1950 Western about a sheriff who shakes up the town of Red Mesa. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

Downloadable audio.

Starring Emeterio Hernandez, Adam Litten, Seaton Bryan, Erin Fulton, Emily Kwong, John Stein, Ira Snelling, Angelo Cannizzaro, and Mary Barrett. Music by Celia Lubin. Directed by Megan Pasternak.

In the Trees, by John Longenbaugh

"In the Trees" is the tale of three sloths, hanging on a limb, until one begins to lose his grip. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

“In the Trees” is the tale of three sloths, hanging on a limb, until one begins to lose his grip. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

We’re high in the tree canopy of the South American rain forest, upwards of 60 feet above the forest floor.

Part 1: It’s a lovely late afternoon. Hanging on one long tree limb are three large sloths: Oliver, Cynthia and Albert. Oliver is hanging between Albert and Cynthia. He has just woken up with a start.

Downloadable audio.

Part 2: Same setting as before, but eight years later. Oliver fell out of the tree. Two of the sloths, Albert and Cynthia, are hanging from the same limb.

Downloadable audio.

Starring Phil Horton, Tracy Turner, and Jay Sweeney. Directed by Suzan Brawnlyn. 

Facecookie, by John Longenbaugh

In this original play by John Longenbaugh, Facebook is no laughing matter. And neither are cookies. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

In this original play by John Longenbaugh, Facebook is no laughing matter. And neither are cookies. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

Two men, two women, all at their computers. It’s Sunday afternoon on Facebook.

Downloadable audio.

Starring Luciano Cannizzaro, Rachel Waldholz, Addie Fowler, and Phil Horton. Directed by Megan Pasternak. 

New World Under, by John Longenbaugh

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“New World Under” is fresh take on the myth of Persephone, the man who wooed her to the underworld, and her overprotective mother. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

A retelling of the Persephone myth which explains the changing of the seasons, from spring to fall and winter.

Downloadable audio.

Starring Jessica Menary, Zack Desmond, and Stefanie Ask. Directed by Suzan Brawnlyn.

Sherlock Holmes: The Night Before Christmas, from the Sherlock Holmes series on the Mutual Broadcasting Company. Aired Dec. 24, 1945.

The full cast of Sherlock Holms: The Night Before Christmas. Several actors took on multiple characters, from children to cab drivers to criminals. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

The full cast of Sherlock Holms: The Night Before Christmas. Several actors took on multiple characters, from children to cab drivers to criminals. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

Downloadable audio.

Starring Emeterio Hernandez,  Calvin Drake, Janet Drake, Luciano Cannizzaro, Athena Hughes, Bethany Boyer-Rechlin, Jack Petersen, Zeke Blackwell, and Seaton Bryan. Music by Celia Lubin. Directed by Suzan Brawnlyn. 

This performance was organized by Sikta Community Theater, with sponsorship from the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, Alaskan Dream Cruises, and the Greater Sitka Arts Council. 

Directed by Suzan Brawnlyn and Megan Pasternak

Produced by Shannon Haugland

Technical Direction by J Bradley and Monica Ague

Sound Effects by Jeanne Stolberg, Mary Beth Palof, and Karen Upcraft

Sound by John Herchenrider

Lights by Moncia Ague

Visual Effects by Phil Horton and J Bradley

Stage Managment by Tom Hesse

KCAW Radio Production by Emily Kwong 

The x member cast extends a thank you to lighting and sound crew as they take their bows. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

The 24-member cast extends a thank you to lighting and sound crew as they take their bows. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

The post Movies in Your Mind: Radio Theater 2014 appeared first on KCAW.

Call-in: What to keep, what to cut in Sitka’s Schools?

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The Sitka School District budget is $1.6-million dollars short next year. While it’s not exactly a crisis, there are no obvious, easy cuts — and no last-minute bail outs. Join us at 6:30 PM Monday March 7 for a live school board budget hearing. Listeners can ask questions over the phone at 747-5877, or email news@kcaw.org, or pose a question on our Facebook page.

View district finances here:

2017ExpenseAssumptions 2017RevenueAssumptions 2017Summary

The post Call-in: What to keep, what to cut in Sitka’s Schools? appeared first on KCAW.

UAA’s Alaska Budget Breakdown

LISTEN: All About the Grand Bargain

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The budget deficit for the City and Borough of Sitka is estimated to be $900,000 this year. And as oil prices drop, Sitka is unlikely to receive much state funding. How will Sitka make due? The Assembly appointed a Citizens’ Task Force to tackle the problem and the group is ready to unveil their solution: “The Grand Bargain”

Tune in Monday (03-21-16) at 10 a.m. for a half-hour special with Rob Allen, Cindy Gibson, and Hugh Bevan, three members of the Task Force to talk about the “Grand Bargain.” Full audio here. 

Downloadable audio.

This multi-tier proposal recommends raising the cap on property taxes by two mils. In exchange, the Task Force proposes eliminating the sales tax on groceries and subsidizing the electric fund, to keep rates from increasing beyond 5% this year.

Draft of the Grand Bargain spreadsheet

Core Services Worksheet

Website for the Citizens’ Task Force

The Citizens’ Task Force will host a town hall meeting on Monday (03-21-16) at 6 p.m. in room 229 of the University of Alaska to present the Grand Bargain to the public. Raven Radio will not be broadcasting the meeting live, but will provide full coverage in local news.


Listen: Kettleson Library’s Poetry Cafe

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(Photo By Xtinepix)

Kettleson Memorial Library held a live poetry reading event in April of 2015, celebrating the end of National Poetry Month. People of all ages participated in the event by sharing original poems. Raven Radio aired a recording of the event, but if you missed it in person or on the radio, you can hear it here now!

LIVE: Web stream of Glacier Conference

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Today (08-31-15), the U.S. State Department will host a GLACIER: A Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic.

Diplomats from 20 countries have convened in Anchorage to discuss challenges facing Arctic communities.

To view a live web stream of the President’s closing remarks around 5 p.m., visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

Live coverage of the President’s visit to Alaska is also available on GCI TV Channel 999 (HD) and Channel 1 (SD).

The GLACIER conference brings 450 policy-makers and stakeholders from 20 countries to Anchorage. All eight Arctic nations are represented, but so are many observer states like China, India, and the EU, who have political and economic interests in the high north.

This year, the U.S. started its three year term as head of the Arctic Council, taking over from Canada. Many in Alaska are hoping the conference represents a commitment from Washington to play a more active role confronting climate change, rural and indigenous issues, and lagging infrastructure investment in the region.

The conference also brings the first official visit from Presient Obama,
who’ll be speaking at the closing session around 5 p.m.

AGENDA

Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience (GLACIER)

Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center – Anchorage, Alaska

Monday, August 31, 2015

Opening Plenary (9:30am)

Traditional Welcome Ceremony: Mr. Lee Stephan, Tribal Chief from Eklutna

Remarks:

  • Mayor of Anchorage, Ethan Berkowitz
  • Mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska, Reggie Joule
  • Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, Byron Mallott
  • Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Dr. John Holdren
  • Special Representative for the Arctic, Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr.
  • Secretary of State, Hon. John F. Kerry

Sessions Begin

FOREIGN MINISTER SESSION 11: “The Arctic’s Unique Role in Influencing the Global Climate”

Speakers:

  • Foreign Minister of Norway, Borge Brende (Chair)
  • Dr. Julie Brigham Grette, Chair of the Polar Research Board at the National Academies of Science (NAS)
  • Dr. Svante Bodin, European Director of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI)

POLICY TRACK A, SESSION 1: “Building the Resilience of Arctic Coastal Communities in the Face of Climate Change”

Speaker:

  • Ms. Christina Goldfuss, Managing Director, White House Council on Environmental Quality

Panelists:

  • Hon. Fran Ulmer, Chair U.S. Arctic Research Commission (Moderator)
  • Mayor Reggie Joule, Northwest Arctic Borough
  • Ms. Robin Bronen, Executive Director, Alaska Immigration Justice Project
  • Mr. Craig Fleener, Arctic Policy Advisor to the Governor of the State of Alaska
  • Mr. Tommy Beaudreau, Chief of Staff, Department of the Interior

POLICY TRACK B, SESSION 1: “Strengthening International Preparedness and Cooperation for Emergency Response”

Moderator/Speaker:

  • Mr. Gary Rasicot, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Marine Transportation Systems

Panelists:

  • Rear Admiral Gerd Glang, U.S. National Hydrographer and NOAA Director of the Office of Coast Survey
  • Rear Admiral Daniel Abel, Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District, U.S. Coast Guard
  • Ms. April Brower, Director, North Slope Borough Search and Rescue
  • Captain Ásgrímur L. Ásgrímsson, Chief of Operations, Icelandic Coast Guard

Lunch

FOREIGN MINISTER LUNCH: Brief keynote remarks during a seated meal

Speaker: Mr. Evon Peter, Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks

POLICY TRACKS A & B: Buffet Lunch

Sessions Resume

FOREIGN MINISTER SESSION 2: “Focus Session on Climate Resilience and Adaptation Planning”

Speakers:

  • Foreign Minister of Sweden, Margot Wallström (Chair)
  • The Honorable Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior, United States
  • Mr. Vittus Qujaukitsoq, Minister for Industry, Labour, Trade and Foreign Affairs, Greenland, Kingdom of Denmark
  • Professor Johan Rockström (moderator)

POLICY TRACK A, SESSION 2: “Protecting Communities and the Environment through Climate and Air Quality Projects”

Moderator/Speaker:

  • Ms. Jane Nishida, Acting Assistant Administrator for International and Tribal Affairs, U.S. EPA

Panelists:

  • Mr. Chris Rose, Executive Director, Renewable Energy Alaska Project
  • Mr. Jim Gamble, Aleut International Association
  • Ms. Ingunn Lindeman, Norwegian Environment Agency
  • Mr. Sameer Akbar, The World Bank

POLICY TRACK B, SESSION 2: “Preventing Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean”

Speaker:

  • Ambassador David Balton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries, Department of State

Panelists:

  • Dr. Peter Harrison, Professor Emeritus, Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada (Moderator)
  • Mr. Alf Håkon Hoel, Research Director Norwegian Institute of Marine Research
  • Ms. Stephanie Madsen, Executive Director, At-sea Processors Association
  • Dr. Vyacheslav Zilanov, Russian Association of the Fishermen of the North
  • Mr. Jim Stotts, Inuit Circumpolar Council
  • Mr. Stefaan Depypere, Director, International Affairs and Markets, DG Mare, European Commission

FOREIGN MINISTER SESSION 3: “Strengthening Arctic Cooperation and Coordination on Ocean Stewardship, Environmental Protection, and Support to Local Communities”

Participants:

  • Foreign Minister Soini (Finland), Chair
  • Foreign Minister Jensen (Denmark)
  • Foreign Minister Sveinsson (Iceland)
  • Foreign Minister Brende (Norway)
  • U.S. Secretary of State, John F. Kerry

POLICY TRACK A, SESSION 3: “Healthy Arctic Homes: Designing Cold Climate Structures for the 21st Century (Addressing Health, Efficiency, & Resiliency through Innovative Housing Technologies)”

Moderator/Speaker:

  • Dr. Michael Bruce, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arctic Investigations Program – Alaska

Panelists:

  • Mr. Bill Griffith, State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Water and Sewer Challenge
  • Mr. John Warren, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
  • Mr. Jack Hébert, Cold Climate Housing Research Center
  • Mr. Stefan Lindbäck, Lindbäcks Bygg, Sweden

POLICY TRACK B, SESSION 3: “Strengthening Observation Networks”

Speaker:

  • Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere

Panelists:

  • Ms. Christine Daae Olseng, Special Adviser on Polar Research, Norwegian Research Council and Chair of SAON (Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks)
  • Mr. Michael Y. Brubaker, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
  • Mr. Jim Stotts, Inuit Circumpolar Council – Alaska
  • Dr. Hajo Eicken, University of Alaska & Study of Arctic Environmental Change (SEARCH)
  • Hon. Fran Ulmer, U.S. Arctic Research Commission (Moderator)

Concluding Remarks

End Event (5:30pm)

35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 1: The Rescue

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October 4th marked the 35th anniversary of the sinking of the Prinsendam. The cruise ship  was abandoned 200 miles off the coast of Sitka due to fire. Over 500 passengers and crew were rescued. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)

October 4th marked the 35th anniversary of the sinking of the Prinsendam. The cruise ship was abandoned 200 miles off the coast of Alaska due to fire. Over 500 passengers and crew were rescued. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)

It’s been called the greatest high seas rescue in the history of the Coast Guard. 35 years ago on October 4th, the luxury cruise liner Prinsendam caught fire in Gulf of Alaska, between Yakutat and Sitka. Despite an incoming typhoon, 30-foot seas, and 100-meter visibility, every one of the more than 500 passengers and crew escaped before the ship burned and sank.

Earlier this month members of the US Coast Guard and Air Force, and their Canadian counterparts, gathered in Seattle for a reunion. In Part 1 of a three-part series on the Prinsendam anniversary, KCAW’s Rich McClear headed south to join them – and reflect on his own role in the emergency. 35 years ago, McClear, was about to leave KTOO in Juneau to start the public radio station in Sitka.

Downloadable audio.

October 4, 1980 was Juneau’s 100th birthday and the city was in the mood to party. The Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell was in town, up from Seattle, to help with the celebration. The bars were full of Coasties.

Sitkan Doris Bailey was in Juneau and remembers how her husband, Roy, first learned that the party was over. “Some boat started tooting blasts on the horn and Roy jumped out of bed and said “Oh My Gosh, every coastguard person is being called back to the ship, all leave is canceled,” Bailey said.

That was around 1 AM in the morning. The Boutwell’s Captain, Lee Krumm, was scheduled to be the Centennial Parade Grand Marshal. He was enjoying himself in a Mendenhall Valley tavern when he was called to the phone.

Lee Krumm:  I went up and got the microphone from the band and said, ‘Anyone from the Boutwell in here get yourselves downstairs. We’re heading  back on the ship. We have a cruise ship on fire.’ We had people actually sitting in the trunks of cars with their legs hanging out the back getting them back to the ship.

The Juneau police and volunteer fire department went to every bar rousting out crewmembers.  Seaman Dan Long was on the ship helping load the crew back on board. Long remembered the process. “One guy take the arms, one guy take the legs, haul them on board and dump them on the flight deck – those guys who couldn’t walk under their own power,” he said.

But in two hours the Boutwell was ready to sail with only nine crew members missing. In Sitka, the Woodrush was also underway and two helicopters from Air Station Sitka were heading to the ship.

Aboard the Prinsendam, the fire spread. She was dead in the water. The captain gave the order to abandon ship. John Graham was the ship’s lecturer and recalled, “In the beginning the seas were relatively calm. We were put into the lifeboats in the middle of the night. It was kind of an adventure. People did sing along to old campfire songs.”

At daybreak, the helicopters started hoisting passengers. They ferried the survivors to the Exxon Williamsburgh, which heard the SOS. Fortunately, the tanker had a helipad and was fully loaded with crude oil, making it stable in the rising seas.

Every few trips the helicopters had to refuel, so they carried their passengers to Yakutat.

Pete Torres was on the crew of one of the Kodiak choppers and said, “The people had been sitting cramped in a lifeboat for up to 10 to 12 hours. By the time they got into the helicopter, they couldn’t get themselves out of the basket. We would actually have to pick them up and move them back to the back of the helicopter.” He added, “There weren’t enough troop seats in the helicopter, so after a while a lot of the passengers would actually have to sit on the deck in a pile.  I think on our last run we had up to 16 survivors on our helicopter.”

The Prinsendam passengers who flew to safety may have been the lucky ones. As the day wore on, the weather deteriorated.

Passenger John Graham said this is when survivors in the lifeboats began to feel desperate. “Finally the typhoon hit us full force. Winds gusting up to 60 knots. 30 foot seas. And we were all hypothermic. We were all seasick. At about 5 o’clock, the storm was so bad that the helicopters couldn’t fly anymore.  So our only hope was that there something out there on the sea that could rescue us,” he said.

Graham’s boat was eventually found by the Boutwell. She had arrived from Juneau and began taking survivors aboard. It wasn’t easy.

First they sent a launch to transfer survivors from the lifeboats to the ship. That didn’t work so well, Dan Long recalls. “We went out and got to the first lifeboat. Well, the crew from the Prinsendam, they were just panicked. We wanted to take the elderly on board first. They were climbing over the elderly and climbing onto our boat because they were so afraid. It was this total mayhem. Our boat quickly filled up and we couldn’t get the elderly off the lifeboat.”

Instead, the launch towed the lifeboat to the Boutwell, but most were not able to climb the 40-foot Jacob’s ladder to the ship. Their hands were cold, and they could not grip the rungs. Long said, “We just sent a man down with a horse collar and manually hauled them up one by one,” using a hand winch.

And that’s the way the Boutwell brought all the survivors from the remaining lifeboats aboard – or so they thought.

Lt. Colonel Dave Briski, the pilot of an Air Force C-130, was unwilling to call it a day.

Lt. Dave Briski:  I called the Coast Guard and I said, ”What’s the status of the mission?’ They said, ‘Well, everybody’s been picked up. We’re closing down the mission down.’ And I said, ‘Are you sure you’ve got everybody picked up?’ And they said, ‘Yes everybody’s picked up.” And I said, ‘Okay, the last I heard, the Air Force helicopter, the boat they were picking up people from, had two of our PJs, or pararescue men, and about 18 to 20 people from the ship.  Can you confirm those people were picked up?” They said  ‘Yeah, they’re all picked up.’ I said, ‘Well give me the names of the two PJs and then I know you’ve got ‘em. They insisted they were going to close the mission.  I called the Rescue Coordination Center back at Elmendorf and I said ‘Hey, I don’t think they’ve got everybody picked up.’

Briski was right. The Boutwell and Woodrush sailed search patterns in the area where the lifeboat was last reported. Just before 2 AM, the Boutwell found the missing lifeboat and hauled its passengers aboard. The mission was closed, but for the residents of Yakutat, Sitka, and Valdez, the rescue of the Prinsendam was just beginning.

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The Prinsendam on a postcard, pictured at Skagway before the fire. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)

The end of the mission at sea was the beginning of the rescue on land, as the more than 500 passengers and crew of the Prinsendam were brought ashore with only the clothes on their backs. In Part 2 of this series tomorrow, KCAW’s Rich McClear talks with Sitkans who lent a hand – and much more – to the survivors of the Prinsendam.

This story is Part 1 in a series to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam Rescue. Here is Part 2 and Part 3Click here for more historic photographs of the Prinsendam sinking, courtesy of the Alaska State Library.

35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 2: The Response

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The liner was sailing through the Gulf of Alaska, approximately 120 miles south of Yakutat, Alaska, at midnight on October 4, 1980, when a fire broke out in the engine room.  After all passengers and crew were rescued, the vessel sank a week later. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)

The liner was sailing through the Gulf of Alaska, approximately 120 miles south of Yakutat, Alaska, at midnight on October 4, 1980, when a fire broke out in the engine room. After all passengers and crew were rescued, the vessel sank a week later. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library)

35 years ago this month, the Coast Guard carried out one of the most dramatic rescues in its history. On October 4 and 5, 1980, more than 500 passengers and crew from the Prinsendam were pulled out of lifeboats in the Gulf of Alaska as the cruise ship burned and sank. By sunrise October 5 everyone was safe and accounted for.

But as the Coast Guard’s job ended, Sitka’s began. Survivors, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, began arriving in Sitka by plane from Yakutat and from the Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell.

KCAW’s Rich McClear was about to leave KTOO in Juneau to found Sitka’s public radio station. In Part 2 of our series on the 35th anniversary of the Prinsendam rescue, McClear meets with some of the people who lent a hand – and much more – to the Prinsendam survivors.

Downloadable audio.

Holland America laid off of all its Alaska employees at the end of September, 1980,  so there were no staff in Sitka. The line instead called John Litten, manager of Sitka Tours, and asked him to make arrangements for survivors.

John Litten: We realized immediately, ‘Oh man, have we got something on our hands.’  There were close to 200 people. They were coming off wearing garbage bags, night gowns, some of them were wrapped up in curtains that they ripped down off the walls of the ship…it was just crazy, watching them walk down the long gangway. I started thinking, ‘Okay, here we have all of these elderly people, they’ve come off the ship with virtually nothing. Many of them are going to need medications and they are going to need toiletries.’ Not until I saw them coming down the gangway did I think about clothing.

So Litten called several shopkeepers and asked them to open their stores. He told them to run a tab. They would figure out payment later.

Bonnie Brenner ran a women’s clothing store.  She said, “All of these ladies were in there. They didn’t have underwear ‘cause they had left the ship in whatever they were wearing. And so we clothed them. I’ve never seen anything like it. We just kept selling everything.”

Shirley Robards, who worked at John McDonalds men’s store, recalled, “We didn’t have enough stuff for that influx of people. It was a lot of people.  They cleaned us out.  I forget what we did, it was $41,000 or something.  So, poor Prinsendam.”

Jill Scheidt owned Vi’s Apparel. She said, “Back then it was the wealthier people who cruised. It wasn’t yet into middle America cruising.” Many of the survivors were placed in the Sheffield House, now the Totem Square Inn. Vi’s was a first stop for women off the ship without any clothes.

Scheidt: They came into the store in their nightgowns with mink coats on and so forth.  Some with shoes, some without.

McClear: What types of things did they buy?

Scheidt: They bought mostly clothing that they could wear when they were planning to leave the next day on an airplane.

McClear: Did they pay or did the line pick it up?

Scheidt: The Line picked it up and said, ‘Go ahead and just create a charge account and we will make sure it gets to the right people and you’ll get paid.  And it did, and very rapidly actually.

McClear: With the line picking it up did some people clean you out?

Scheidt: They really didn’t, they got what then needed. No one seemed to be excessive.

But there always a few in every crowd, like the guy Shirley Robards encountered. She remembered, There was one gentleman out of all of them I remember, and I think he was really quite well to do. He wanted the pants shortened and he wanted this and he wanted that and he was the only one who ended up with more than what he needed just to get home. I don’t think a thousand dollars was very much to him.”

But a bigger problem was medications. Many of the passengers were elderly and on maintenance drugs. Litten recalled, “Paul Lunas had a medical office practice right across from the bookstore, upstairs. He came down. So did Ed and Mary Spenser. Their practice was just out Halibut Point Road.  And they came into the hotel and they sat down. They just had people walk up and say what medications were you taking, what were the dosages. And they, without any kind of physical exam, just started writing them scripts.

And they went across the street to Harry Race Pharmacy, which had opened for the occasion.  Harry Race also sold out of toothbrushes and other toiletries.

Throughout the rescue Sitkans contributed their own blankets and other goods, and some offered home cooked dinners. “The townspeople poured out,” said Litten. “When they heard that these people came out without clothing, people were bringing donations into the Sheffield. It was just incredible.”

Because of the weather, most passengers stayed in Sitka for two nights. Some stayed a few days longer recovering in the hospital.

The first survivors arrived in Sitka on Saturday afternoon, October 4. On the following Friday, October 10, the Sentinel announced ‘Last Out.’  On Saturday, October 11 the Prinsendam, still on fire and under tow to a shipyard in Portland, sank off of Cape Edgecumbe in 9,000 feet of water.

In Part 3 of this series, McClear discusses some of his own memories of the Prinsendam disaster, and the challenges of reporting on a high seas rescue before the internet, digital photography, or satellite communications. Listen to Part 1: The Rescue.

Click here for more historic photographs of the Prinsendam sinking, courtesy of the Alaska State Library.

35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 3: The Reporting

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KCAW’s Rich McClear said Prinsendam is a great triumph for local reporting. The front page of the Sitka Sentinel on the Monday after the rescue. (Photo courtesy of Newspapers.com)

When the cruise ship Prinsendam burned and sank off of Cape Edgecumbe 35 years ago, it brought an amazing story to an end. But, like all great tales, there is a story within a story.

Reporters in 1980 used typewriters. Fax machines were a novelty. Kodachrome photographs had to be shipped out of state for processing. Covering the rescue of 500 people from a burning cruise ship in the Gulf of Alaska was a huge challenge for Southeast media organizations — but they succeeded. Just as the Prinsendam is one of the greatest rescue stories of all time, it is also one of greatest achievements of regional journalism.

In the third-and-final part of our series on the 35th anniversary of the Prinsendam rescue, KCAW’s Robert Woolsey spoke with Rich McClear about how the men and women of Southeast media delivered the story.

Downloadable audio.

Rich McClear was the radio manager at KTOO-FM in Juneau in 1980. The city was in the middle of its centennial celebration, and every Coast Guardsman had been recalled to duty aboard the cutter Boutwell. McClear said, “Everyone else in Juneau was awaked by the blast from the Boutwell, but I slept right through it, even though I could see it from my window.”

Just as we do now, reporters called the Coast Guard District 17 headquarters for a lead on what was happening. But the similarities end there.

The Heroes

KCAW’s Rich McClear gathered interviews for this series during a reunion of Prinsendam survivors and rescue crew in Seattle. (Rich McClear/KCAW photo)

McClear’s news director was named Jim Gordon. Without really understanding what was going on, Gordon asked McClear if he could get a plane — an incredible expense for a public radio station at the time.

“[Gordon] and Dave Carpenter from the Anchorage Times were able to charter a plane,” said McClear. “They called CNN to see if they could sell some video, to help cover the costs of the plane. And CNN said, ‘If you’ve got video, we’ll buy it.’ That was a good thing because when my boss, the general manager of KTOO, heard out about it he was upset that we had expended the money to rent the plane.”

Sitka Sentinel Front Page, Oct. 6, 1980

Sitka Sentinel Page 6, Oct. 6, 1980

But it didn’t take long for word of the Prinsendam to reach the big, lower-48 news bureaus. Without a satellite uplink, McClear says the locals weren’t able to get their film to CNN before the networks began running their own footage.

They came up with another idea. Because of fog in Juneau, the KTOO plane flew over the Prinsendam, but then had to land in Sitka. That’s where most of the survivors were headed.

Rich McClear: Jim and Dave wrote a boilerplate story, and then interviewed people coming off. In the boiler plate they put a paragraph about someone locally. Then they went to Kettleson Library and got a directory of papers. They called weeklies in New Jersey and Iowa, places like that, and said, We’ve got an exclusive story about your survivor off the Prinsendam! There were fax machines then. So they were able to fax the story, and that’s how we partially paid for the airplane.

Autographed Prinsendam Life Vest

A life vest autographed by rescuers, at the 35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam sinking in Seattle. (Rich McClear/KCAW photo)

Nevertheless, their eyewitness account of the ship, combined with their connections in the Coast Guard and with other sources on the ground, gave the local news organizations an advantage in reporting the story. McClear says KTOO, the Juneau Empire, and the Sitka Sentinel ran an amazing week of coverage — the Empire even put out an extra edition.

Some network reporters, meanwhile, were just learning that you couldn’t rent a car in Juneau and drive to Sitka or Yakutat.

McClear says there are two main differences between how the story was covered in 1980, and how it would be covered today. First, the ships have grown dramatically. Instead of 500 passengers, some ships in the Gulf now carry more than 3,000 passengers, and 1,500 crew. A Prinsendam-style airlift would be extraordinarily difficult, even in the best of conditions.
And, of course, the news would spread instantly.

Rich McClear: Reporters could virtually cover it. As soon as video came into Sitka the whole world could see it, because it would go out via the internet. There would be high-quality interviews instead of raspy phone interviews we took from Juneau to Sitka. And a lot of the coverage could be done remotely because there’s high-quality audio and video conferencing, through Skype and things like that. It would have been covered much more quickly, but I’m not sure we would have had the same happy outcome because of the larger ships. There are still only three helicopters in Sitka.

Even though the Prinsendam eventually did make worldwide headlines, McClear says the story never achieved epic status. Many people may be only hearing the name Prinsendam for the first time in this retrospective, while the Exxon Valdez is a cultural icon. Part of the problem might be that the Coast Guard was just too good.

McClear remembers discussing the event with an editor at one national network who wanted the story — but only if someone died. And that kind of notoriety — unfortunately — might be one thing that has not changed in news over the last 35 years.

This story is Part 3 in a series to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of the Prinsendam Rescue. Here is Part 1 and Part 2.

Reunion Cake

McClear speculates that if another cruise ship were to catch fire off the coast of Alaska in today’s times, “[The news] would have been covered much more quickly, but I’m not sure we would have had the same happy outcome because of the larger cruise ships.” (Rich McClear/KCAW photo)

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