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Ketchikan: Ketchikan Man Pronounced Dead at Scene of Apartment Fire By MARY KAUFFMAN - The Ketchikan Fire Department was dispatched to a report of an automatic fire alarm activation at Tongass Towers reported by the alarm company Tuesday night at 11:19 PM. The first unit to arrive heard the audible sprinkler alarm and requested a call for additional responders. While searching the building, they encountered light smoke and water in the hallway on the 11th floor and requested mutual aid from North and South Tongass Fire Departments.

Pictured left to right: FF/Medic Terry Roberts, Assistant Chief Scott Brainard, Senior Medic Greg Karlik, & Captain Dave Breitkreutz
Photo courtesy of Gretchen O’Sullivan, Senior Medic, Ketchikan Fire Department

Firefighters made entry into the involved apartment and began a primary search, they immediately located and removed one occupant from the apartment who was unharmed. A second occupant, 49-year-old Weston Scott Davis, was subsequently located and removed by the responders from the room of the fire's origin. According to information provided by the Ketchikan Fire Department's Chief Abner Hoage, despite efforts to revive him, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Weston was a long time resident of Ketchikan. He is the son of Ketchikan resident Cheri L. Davis who served the local district as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1989-1992. Weston is also survived by two brothers, Ryan James Davis of San Diego, CA and Glenn Thomas Davis of Sunnyvale, CA.

Davis' body was turned over to the Ketchikan Police Department and will be sent to the State Medical Examiner for determination of cause of his cause of death. A third building occupant not from the involved apartment was also evaluated for medical issues and released at the scene. Names of the surviving first and second occupants were not released.

In all thirty-one firefighters and Emergency Medical Service providers with ten apparatus responded from Ketchikan Fire Department, South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department, and North Tongass Volunteer Fire Department, as well as three officers from the Ketchikan Police Department. - More....
Wednesday PM - January 11, 2017

Alaska: State-of-the-Art Analysis Reports No Fukushima-Related Radiation Detected in Alaska Seafood - Following the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, there have been ongoing public concerns about potential impacts on Alaska seafood from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), in conjunction with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and other state, federal, and international agencies, continues testing Alaska seafood for any potential impacts resulting from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. Testing performed in previous years showed no detectable levels of Fukushima-related radionuclides. Testing in 2016 also confirmed the quality and health of Alaska seafood has not been impacted by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Fish species were chosen for testing based on their importance to subsistence, sport, and commercial fisheries and because they spend part of their life cycle in the western Pacific Ocean. These species include: king (Chinook) salmon, chum (dog) salmon, sockeye (red) salmon, pink salmon (humpies), halibut, pollock, sablefish, herring, and Pacific cod. Samples of fish were taken by DEC Environmental Health Officers during regular inspections of commercial fishing processors throughout the state. The results of testing conducted on Alaska fish in 2016 showed no detection of Fukushima-related radionuclides Iodine-131 (I-131), Cesium-134 (Cs-134), and Cesium-137 (Cs-137).

Alaska was selected in 2016 as the first state test site for implementation of a field deployable gamma-ray analysis system to analyze fish for radionuclides. This unique pilot project was organized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the system was installed at DEC’s Environmental Health Laboratory in Anchorage. - More...
Wednesday PM - January 11, 2017

Alaska: Would the Arctic still be the Arctic without the polar bear? Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan Draws Mixed Reaction from State By MARY KAUFFMAN - Two great bears are emblematic of the Arctic: Ursa Major – arktos in Greek – the constellation from which the Arctic derives its name, and the polar bear, which has lived beneath the northern stars for hundreds of thousands of years. It’s hard to imagine the region without either of them, but the future of the polar bear is being jeopardized by the rapid loss of its sea-ice habitat.

Male Polar Bear walking on pack ice near the open water.
Photo Credit: Eric Regehr/USFWS (March 21, 2010)

Its fate is not determined by the stars, but by our willingness and ability to address climate change. While the international community grapples with that long-term challenge, U.S. government agencies, Native communities, private organizations, scientists and subsistence hunters have collaborated on a plan for improving the polar bear’s immediate chances of surviving in the wild.

This final Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for the polar released this week by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, outlines actions that will help this revered symbol of the Arctic persist in the wild in the near-term, while also acknowledging the primary threat to the bear will entail longer-term actions.

“This plan outlines the necessary actions and concrete commitments by the Service and our state, tribal, federal and international partners to protect polar bears in the near term,” said Greg Siekaniec, The Service’s Alaska Regional Director. “But make no mistake; without decisive action to address Arctic warming, the long-term fate of this species is uncertain.”

The Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan, finalized Monday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was received by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game with a mix of support and lingering disappointment. Developed with input from the department and other stakeholders, the plan serves as the USFWS’s guiding document for polar bear recovery under the Endangered Species Act.

"We agree with many aspects of the plan, including recognition that the primary threat to polar bears is the loss of sea ice habitat brought on by climate change," said Alaska Division of Wildlife Conservation Director Bruce Dale. "We also strongly support the plan's goals to maintain sustainable subsistence harvest, appropriately manage human-bear interactions, and minimize restrictions to economic development and other activities."

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the plan was developed by a diverse team of experts and partners and reflects input on the draft plan submitted during the 2015 public comment period. It calls for reducing human-bear conflicts, collaboratively managing subsistence harvest, protecting denning habitat, and minimizing the risk of contamination from oil spills. Most of these actions are already underway, in partnership with Alaska Native communities, nonprofit groups, and industry representatives who participated in the plan’s creation. The plan also calls for increased monitoring and research to determine whether the actions in the CMP are being effective or need to be modified.

While the Conservation Management Plan focuses on management actions for the two U.S. subpopulations of polar bears that live off the coast of Alaska, it contributes to efforts to conserve polar bears in the other four range states of Norway, Greenland, Canada and Russia. - More...
Wednesday PM - January 11, 2017

Ketchikan: New visiting Ear, Nose and Throat specialist coming to Ketchikan - Nathan Christensen, MD, has joined PeaceHealth Medical Group in Ketchikan as a visiting ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist. He is an experienced otolaryngologists who works fulltime for PeaceHealth at a clinic in Eugene, Oregon, and will now begin visiting Ketchikan regularly to provide specialized care for patients with issues such as hearing loss, chronic sinusitis, and tumors.

Nathan Christensen, MD

Dr. Christensen attended medical school at Oregon Health & Science University and then went on to the University of Rochester where he completed his internship in general surgery and his residency in otolaryngology. Dr. Christensen first joined PeaceHealth in 2013 after serving for four years in the United States Air Force. - More....
Wednesday PM - January 11, 2017

Ketchikan Entertainment: "Travelin’ Music” a Winter Concert - The Ketchikan Community Concert Band will present “Travelin’ Music”, a Winter Concert on Sunday, January 15th at 3:00 PM in the Ketchikan High School Auditorium.

"Alaska’s Flag" will open the concert, and the band will then perform “Inventions from the Sacred Harp”, based on Appalachian religious camp-meeting and revival spiritual songs from the 1800’s.

“Allegory” follows, with “Nexus” next featuring trumpet soloist, Jeff Karlson. Next is “Serenity”, which is based on a work for choir and violin/cello, called “O Magnum Mysterium”. One of Aaron Copland’s most celebrated works, “Appalachian Spring” is a ballet score transcribed for band.

“If Ever I Would Leave You” and “March from Camelot”, two songs from the medley from “Camelot”, will be recognized from the musical of the same name.

William Walton has composed the “Crown Imperial March” commissioned for the coronation of King George VI in 1937 – thematic material returns several times before a dramatic finish. - More...
Wednesday PM - January 11, 2017