Ketchikan: Jet Crashes In Ketchikan, Pilot Killed By MARIE L. MONYAK - A Czechoslovakian made, but American owned, L-39 MS Jet crashed in Ketchikan on a snowy Wednesday afternoon killing the pilot. The jet crashed at approximately 12:50 PM into a wooded hill where Martin Street ends, adjacent to the A&P grocery store and a small mobile home park.

The pilot of the ill fated flight was Major Stephen Freeman (aka Montana) USMC, Retired. Photograph provided to SitNews by Dave Riggs of Los Angeles

One mobile home was destroyed and a few more may have sustained damage. Several vehicles in the area also sustained major damage either from the jet or the debris. There were only minor injuries on the ground from the fiery crash. The pilot of the jet was found deceased a short distance away from the crash site.

The legal owner of the aircraft is Air USA of Las Vegas, Nevada which is a company that provides foreign military aircraft for aviation enthusiast. The pilot was repossessing the aircraft on their behalf and was returning it from Anchorage.

News spreads like wildfire in Ketchikan so it's no surprise that most people have already heard about the tragic accident. In most cases, newsworthy events involve local residents and as a result, we know who they are, we recognize their names, or we at least know their family or friends.

The man who lost his life in our town yesterday was not known to anyone in Ketchikan. As of Wednesday evening the authorities had not released the name of the pilot. However, a close friend of the pilot was contacted and he gave a brief interview by phone and provided some background information. The pilot's wife had already been notified of her husband's death.

The pilot of the ill fated flight was Major Stephen Freeman USMC, Retired. After speaking with Freeman's friend it became apparent that Ketchikan should know something about the pilot who lost his life because he may very well have sacrificed his own to save the lives of some of our local residents. - More...
Thursday - January 26, 2006

In The News Waterman Trial: Teen had good relationship with the mother she allegedly had killed, witnesses say - The father of an honor student accused of inducing two former lovers to kill her mother claimed Wednesday that he saw no animosity between the teenager and his wife. - Read this CourtTV story & watch the trial... CourtTV.com - www.courttv.com Top Stories U.S. News U.S. Politics Alaska Ketchikan

Alaska: STEVENS URGES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO UNDERSTAND ALASKA'S BORDER NEEDS - Wednesday, during a hearing held by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) expressed his concern about the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) proposed by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State.  Under the WHTI, all citizens of the United States, Canada, and Mexico must have a passport or other accepted secure documentation that establishes the bearer's identity and nationality in order to enter and re-enter the United States.  The WHTI requirements will go into effect on January 1, 2008. 
 
Stevens expressed concern about the impact these requirements will have on Alaskans as they travel to and from the Lower-48.  He told Mr. Jim Williams, director of the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program, "If you go from Hawaii to the West Coast you don't have to go through a foreign country.  If you go from Alaska by land to the South-48 you have to drive through Canada.  If you go through on a ferry you have to go through Canada.  I think special attention ought to be paid to the people who live on the Northern tier because this is really going to cause a lot of problems." - More...
Thursday - January 26, 2006

Ketchikan: Tombaugh Promoted to Position of Fire Marshal - The City of Ketchikan and The Ketchikan Fire Department announced the promotion of Fire/Medic Richard Tombaugh to the position of Fire Marshal. Tombaugh, a 21-year veteran of the fire service, began his career as an aircraft rescue firefighter (ARFF) with the Ketchikan International Airport in 1984. After serving 5 years at the airport, in 1988, Tombaugh changed his focus from airport rescue firefighting to a roll as firefighter/medic with the City of Ketchikan Fire Department.

Jim Hill, Assistant Fire Chief of the Ketchikan Fire Department, said for the past year, the Ketchikan Fire Department has been working on assuming the fire marshal "code enforcement" duties for the State of Alaska's Fire Marshal's Office. This process, referred to as "deferral", will allow for local fire code enforcement and enable the fire marshal's office to better serve local residents and businesses regarding fire safety practices, new construction permits, and eventually, construction plan reviews. Currently local business owners and contractors must have construction plans reviewed in Anchorage. This often results in delays and is difficult for local contractors to manage. The city expects to complete the deferral process by mid-2006. - More...
Thursday - January 26, 2006

Ketchikan: Tongass Unveils New Website - The public has a new opportunity today to take part in management of the Tongass National Forest as the forest unveils a new website. The Forest Plan Adjustment site is chock-full of information related to the update of the 1997 Forest Plan.

The Forest Service is reviewing the Tongass Forest Plan to address a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in August 2005 that identified some procedural shortfalls associated with timber demand projections.

"We're examining our Forest Plan to determine the adjustments needed to comply with the court's decision," said Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole. "The ruling also gives us a great opportunity to review and fine-tune other aspects of the plan to keep it up to date, ensuring the long-term ecosystem health of the Tongass and sustainability of southeast Alaska communities." - More...
Thursday - January 26, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Seatbelts, please use them! By Chief Dave Hull - Wednesday Thank you Coach Craig By Debra and Michael Dundas - Wednesday Weaning ourselves from "feel good liberal" programs? By Charlotte Tanner - Wednesday The children are watching By Susan Walsh - Wednesday Finding ways to "reorganize" By Neil Gray - Wednesday Budget Discipline Vital by Rep. Vic Kohring - Tuesday AM Emerald Bay Appeal By Jacquelyne and Robert Hunley - Tuesday AM Steelers fan By David M. Korkowski- Tuesday AM GO STEELERS!!! By April van Berkum Thank You To The KIC Membershi By Rob Sanderson, Jr.- Tuesday AM Thank You By Gigi Pilcher- Tuesday AM Are we losing control? By Robert McRoberts - Tuesday AM Loss of Alaska Guardsmen By Richard Heller - Monday AM No justification By Dave Kiffer- Monday AM NOT ABOUT BLAME, BUT ABOUT BUILDING TRUST AND PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE By Bobbe McCreary- Monday AM Forgiving By Charlotte Tanner- Monday AM STEELER FANS UNITE By Pat Long- Monday AM More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan Teleconference meetings at the Legislative Information Office - Check the Calendar 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 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31         Front Page Archives

Alaska: Young wrote letter aiding Abramoff clients, paper reports By LIZ RUSKIN - The Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal has reached Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young.

The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported Wednesday that Young sought to intervene "on behalf of American Indian tribe clients of lobbyist Jack Abramoff" in the lease of a historic building in downtown Washington.

Young and Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, wrote identical letters in September 2002 to the head of the General Services Administration asking that the federal agency give priority to certain disadvantaged businesses when the GSA considered development options for the Old Post Office Pavilion. - More...
Thursday AM - January 26, 2006

National: Judge orders release of pre-9/11 attack assessments By GREG GORDON - A federal judge has ordered the government to turn over to Zacarias Moussaoui's defense lawyers pre-Sept. 11 documents assessing the threat of an al Qaeda attack, calling the material "critical" to his upcoming trial, it was disclosed Wednesday.

It could not immediately be determined whether the ruling by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of Alexandria, Va., will create a significant, 11th-hour snag over protection of classified data in the only U.S. prosecution to stem from the suicide hijackings.

The ruling could create a legal showdown, for example, if it requires intelligence agencies to produce classified information that they consider too sensitive to release, even to defense lawyers with government security clearances. - More...
Thursday AM - January 26, 2006

National: New weapon in the works: An energy bolt to sting enemies By LISA HOFFMAN - A car moves toward a checkpoint in Iraq, and U.S. troops order it to stop. It doesn't. Fearing the vehicle is a suicide bomb waiting to happen, a soldier aims his weapon.

Using an invisible ray that travels at the speed of light, the soldier zaps the driver with a bolt of energy that feels like a body-wide bee sting. The beam's punch, which leaves neither a burn nor residual pain, instantly stops the driver.

When the soldier approaches the car, he finds not an insurgent intent on attack but a confused civilian who didn't understand the order to halt. If the beam had been a bullet, an innocent Iraqi would be dead. - More...
Thursday AM - January 26, 2006

National: Cyber-criminals adopting new strategies, experts say By LANCE GAY - After a decade of untold havoc wrought by worms, viruses, Trojan horses and spam, something curious is going on in the Internet's netherworld: the volume of attacks is beginning to fall off.

That's not at all good news for government and industry security experts, who say the declining number of spectacular attacks shows the architects of Internet instability are adopting a clever new strategy of heading undercover to avoid exposure, and forming into groups to better accomplish their goal of stealing financial secrets.

"We have a significant cyber-risk in this country," warned Andy Purdy, acting director of the Department of Homeland Security's cyber security division. - More...
Thursday AM - January 26, 2006

Science: Partisans not swayed by facts, study reveals By LEE BOWMAN - A new study using functional brain imaging confirms what pollsters and consultants have believed for years - debates and facts don't really sway the partisan opinions of hard-core Democrats or Republicans.

Scientists at Emory University studied a group of committed Democrats and Republicans during the three months before the 2004 presidential election.

In each test, subjects were given a reasoning task in which they had to evaluate information that was threatening to their own candidate, while functional magnetic resonance imaging recorded what parts of their brain were active. - More...
Thursday AM - January 26, 2006