New reporter for local radio station

After June Leffler left KSTK to move back down south last month, the local radio station has operated without a reporter. Leffler's replacement, Sage Smiley, arrived in town last Sunday.

"I'm really excited to be here," she said. "I think that Southeast is a beautiful place, and that Wrangell seems like a really wonderful and close knit community. I'm excited to be a part of it and get to report, do what I love here."

Smiley got her start in radio in Utah. She said she has worked in a variety of positions in her career, starting when she was 19-years-old. Some of her jobs have included working as a production assistant, making radio dramas, producing daily news shows, among other projects.

She came to Alaska, initially, to see family. Smiley said her aunt and uncle live in Bethel, and she came up to visit them one winter, and to volunteer at the K300 dog sled race. While there, she said she met some people with radio station KDLG. After that initial meeting, she said she learned about the fisheries report and decided to take a job in Alaska.

"So then I applied to the fisheries report and got that job, and then got it again this past year," Smiley said. "I wanted to stay in Alaska. I think Alaska's a very unique place, especially in terms of what radio means to communities.

Her most recent job was with KDLG, she said, but that was only seasonal. She wanted to keep working in Alaska, and found a more permanent position with KSTK. She has only been in town for a little over a week, and said that she has spent most of her time getting settled. She added that she is excited to start getting to know people, start attending community meetings, and start reporting.