Ketchikan: M/V Stikine To Be Christened By M.C. KAUFFMAN - Painting of the M/V Stikine was recently finished, just in time for the upcoming christening and launching ceremony scheduled for January 21, 2006. The Stikine, the second vessel in the fleet of the Prince of Wales Inter-Island Ferry Authority, will be christened at the Dakota Creek Industries shipyard in Anacortes, Washington, with Alaska's First Lady Nancy Murkowski attending.

Dakota Creek Industries began the project in February 2005, with approximately 80 employees working on the project. All work on the Stikine is expected to be finished to meet a March 2006 delivery date. The M/V Stikine is being built in the same Anacortes' shipyard as the Inter-Island Ferry Authority's M/V Prince of Wales. - More...
Monday AM - January 16, 2006

Top Stories U.S. News U.S. Politics Alaska Ketchikan

Ketchikan: Banks stress vigilance as online fraud scams increase By Melissa Campbell Alaska Journal of Commerce - Four times in five weeks, someone went phishing for information from Credit Union 1 members. It's likely that thousands of Alaskans received e-mail messages last month that aimed to bait them into giving up their log-in passwords, personal identification numbers and even credit card information. - Read this AJC story...
Alaska Journal of Commerce - www.alaskajournal.com

Ketchikan: Banks work to meet new online security requirements By Melissa Campbell Alaska Journal of Commerce - Alaska's banks and credit unions are working to meet a new federal requirement to add an additional layer of security to their online banking Web sites. - Read this AJC story...
Alaska Journal of Commerce - www.alaskajournal.com

Fish Factor: How do fishermen make risky decisions? by LAINE WELCH - How do fishermen make risky decisions out on the water? Researchers are hoping Alaska halibut skippers will help them find out.

Quinn Weninger, an economist at Iowa State University, is leading a study called
Decision-Making in Uncertain Circumstances: Learning from Alaskan Halibut Fishermen. He has put out a call for 50-60 halibut skippers to participate in the project for the 2006 and 2007 fisheries.

"Halibut fishing is a great example of a process in which decisions have to be made about where fish might be, and the decisions are all subject to various forms of uncertainty. It is a very interesting, natural experiment for us to try and test some of the theories that are being put forth about decision making under uncertainty. That's the motivation for this study," Weninger said.

Researchers suggest that people tend to use simplifications or "rules of thumb" - called heuristics - to aid in the complex task of making decisions under uncertainty. "These rules of thumb can lead to errors or mistakes, and there is tremendous interest in the academic community to try and uncover how these various heuristics influence decisions," Weninger said.

For the two year halibut project, each skipper will be given a hand held computer and GPS logger, and asked to "point and click" through a short list of questions before they leave for a fishing trip. "They'll be asked about the thought processes that went into making the decision about where they are going to fish, and in particular, what they expect to catch. At the end of the trip, they'll do another round of questions, such as what might have changed out on the water, and how they reacted as the trip proceeded," Weninger said. He stressed that all fishing data will remain strictly confidential.

Weninger added that getting "real" results from the fishing grounds will be more meaningful than from controlled experiments. "Because we will be gathering data from real decision makers where risks are important and the stakes really matter, we think we'll have something to say that is new and exciting," Weninger said.

Results of the two year study, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, will help researchers learn how expectations are formed, how choices are made, and how the level of risk affects the decision-making process. The work can benefit others who work in high-stress occupations, and those who provide support services, Weninger said. - More...
Monday AM - January 16, 2006

The Stardust sample return capsule in a temporary cleanroom at the Michael Army Air Field in Utah. Image credit: NASA

National: Comet dust brought to Earth - NASA's Stardust sample return mission returned safely to Earth when the capsule carrying cometary and interstellar particles successfully touched down at 1:10 a.m. Alaska time Sunday in the desert salt flats of the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range.

"Ten years of planning and seven years of flight operations were realized early this morning when we successfully picked up our return capsule off of the desert floor in Utah," said Tom Duxbury, Stardust project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The Stardust project has delivered to the international science community material that has been unaltered since the formation of our solar system."

Stardust released its sample return capsule at 8:57 p.m. Alaska time Saturday night. The capsule entered the atmosphere four hours later at 12:57 a.m. Alaska time Sunday. The drogue and main parachutes deployed 1:00 and 1:05 a.m. Alaska time. - More...
Monday AM - January 16, 2006

Lucy Kaplansky Singer, songwriter

Ketchikan Arts & Entertainment: Lucy Kaplansky plays Ketchikan By CHRIS WILHELM - Ketchikanites were delighted Friday night by singer/songwriter Lucy Kaplansky.  Playing on the first Friday the 13th of the year, under the first full moon of the year (yes, it was visible ­ with a large ring around it!), on the first night of her 2006 tour of the West, Kaplansky regaled about 300 at the Kayhi auditorium with rich stories,  expressive vocals, and flawless guitar work. 

According to KAAHC materials, Lucy started out singing in Chicago bars.  After high school, she moved to New York City, working with other songwriters and performers including Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, and Shawn Colvin.  She later became a 'huge Greg Brown fan'.  Her long involvement with songs and songwriting quickly became evident in the illustrative lyrics of her music.  With descriptive imagery, subtle repetition of phrasing, and soothing, memorable melodies, she steered the audience into her life for a brief but endearing visit.

Several of the songs gave reference to her recent status shift into motherhood.  Together with her husband, she traveled to China in 2003 to adopt her infant daughter, Molly.  Lucy was only half-joking when she said that while on tour to Ketchikan, she is on the cell phone every 5 minutes to home to get an update.  Molly recently turned 3 and enjoys talking on the cell phone, even when there is no connection.  - More...
Monday AM - January 16, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Importance of Visible Street Numbers By Scott R. Davis - Monday AM At Taxpayers' Expense By Don Hoff Jr. - Monday AM McRoberts' economic development plans By Don Hoff Jr. - Monday AM New marine service center By Beverly Anderson - Saturday 45 Neighbors meet to discuss future plans for NewTown By Bobbie McCreary - Saturday Sanderson Best Choice By Dorothy Nix - Saturday Open letter to KIC citizens: Reasons Tribal members need to vote on January 16th By Rob Sanderson, Jr. - Saturday VERIFY! By Virginia E. Atkinson - Saturday Celebrate Our Civil Rights Leaders! By Janice Jackson - Thursday PM New Postal Rates By Karen S. Hollywood - Thursday PM I Ask For Your Vote For KIC Tribal Council by Tonia J. Nebl - Thursday PM Support Nebl for KIC Tribal Council By Marvelle Lahmeyer - Thursday PM Sanderson For Tribal Council By John Morris Jr. - Thursday PM Efforts Applauded By Frances C. Natkong - Thursday PM Donald Rumsfeld Didn't Send the Rght Message to Iran By Mark Neckameyer - Thursday PM More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan January 16, 2005, 5:30 pm - Ketchikan Borough Assembly regular meeting - City Council Chambers. Agenda & Information Packets January 17, 2005, 5:30 - 7:00 pm - Understanding the Planning Process for the New Town Historical District - Location: Basement of First Lutheran Church. January 19, 2005 - 7:00 pm - Recreation Plan Public Meeting at the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center, 50 Main Street. The meeting will be held in the Learning Center and people should go around to the back of the building to enter. The contact person for the Ketchikan meeting is Karen Brand at 228-4108. Saturday, January 21, 2006, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. - Public Hearing - Petition by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough for Legislative Review - annexation of approximately 4,701 square miles to the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. City Council Chambers, 334 Front Street, Ketchikan, AK Summary & Annexation Petition & Exhibits January Calendar Today's Forecast Current AK Weather Map City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements January 2006 Click on the date to read the stories published on that day. S M T W T F S 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 r 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31         Front Page Archives

Dave Kiffer: Honey, we shrunk the state! - My fellow Alaskans, our great state in shrinking!

No, I don't mean the total size. It's still around 656,000 square miles including water. But my - and by extension your - portion of the Great Land is shrinking.

It's primarily because we - as a population base - continue to grow. With the exception of the minor volcanic eruption, our land base does not.  

For some time now it has been one of those tenets of life in Alaska that because we are so few and the state is so big that our population density means that there is just about one square mile of land for each of us Alaskanarinos. - More...
Saturday - January 14, 2006

Jay Ambrose: Inquisitors v. Alito - Poor Samuel Alito. He did not tell the Democratic senators who grilled him what they wanted to hear. He did not say he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if he made it to the Supreme Court, and that it would not matter a bit what the specific case was about or what the arguments were. And he did not tell them something else. He did not say he was a bigot.

That's what the first two days of nationally televised hearings of President Bush's nominee were about. The Democrats had one issue in mind above all others - abortion - and they wanted Alito to say something extreme enough to justify their pre-ordained opposition to him. - More...
Saturday - January 14, 2006

John Krist: China and India will determine energy future - Americans practically panicked in late summer when gasoline prices soared past $3 a gallon. The price has fallen considerably since that peak, and although the current figure of $2.32 is still about 53 cents more per gallon than the U.S. average a year ago, the drop has been sufficient to quiet the howls of public outrage, which for several weeks had federal lawmakers trampling each other in their eagerness to address the matter.

The outrage had cooled so much by year's end, in fact, that the GOP-led charge to finally throw open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling ran out of steam just as it appeared to reach the home stretch. A centerpiece of President Bush's energy plan since the fossil-fuel industry drafted it for him, ANWR drilling failed to muster sufficient congressional support even when attached to an unrelated bill funding such can't-lose causes as military support and disaster relief. - More...
Saturday - January 14, 2006

Dale McFeatters: Flying steerage - Carry-on bags are not an issue that you would think might preoccupy Congress, but next month the Senate Commerce Committee plans to wade into the question of how many bags passengers should be allowed to lug on board airplanes.

The committee chairman, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and the flight attendants frame the question in terms of security: By restricting passengers to one carry-on bag, the screeners will have fewer bags to examine and thus more time to scrutinize the ones they do examine.

But there's another aspect to carry-ons. Some passengers abuse the privilege by hauling aboard too many bags or bags that are too large, taking up all the space in the overhead compartments and making other passengers wait while they wrestle their baggage in an out of the overheads.

Stevens suggested as much when he was quoted as saying, "Some of those bags are occupying more space in a plane than I do," although in fairness the senator is more compact than most of his colleagues. - More...
Saturday - January 14, 2006  

Will Durst: 2006 Predictions - It is the beginning of the new year, and typically the time for ink-stained wretches to trot out the tried but true ye olde predictions piece. The wretches who don't resort to trotting out the trite-but-true ye olde resolutions piece that is. Being the average traditionalist wretch with great respect for heritage that I am, (especially lacking any other fertile ideas whatsoever). I am proud to honor this revered journalistic practice. Hence, I have your predictions for the new year right here. Resolutions will show up the next time I get stuck for other fresh and bright ideas. In other words, soon. Happy 2006 everybody. - More...
Saturday - January 14, 2006