Alaska: Tanker Seabulk Pride Runs Aground, No Injuries; Tug boats Help Refloat Grounded Tanker - Three tug boats helped to pull a grounded fuel tanker off a beach on the Kenai Peninsula this morning, one day after an ice floe pulled the tanker from its mooring and sent it adrift. The refloating of the tanker Seabulk Pride took about 40 minutes, according to Unified Command. The refloating was timed to coincide with high tide in the Cook Inlet.

The tugs pulled the tanker into deeper water where it will be inspected thoroughly, but there was no indication the ship had leaked any fuel while hard aground on the beach.

Ketchikan: Feds raid local airline, arrest one By TATABOLINE BRANT Anchorage Daily News - A local charter company with links to a fatal jet crash in Ketchikan last week had its Anchorage and Palmer aircraft hangers raided by armed federal agents this morning and one person associated with the company has been arrested. - Read the ADN story... Anchorage Daily News - www.adn.com Ketchikan: Security Aviation: a new controversy By Matthew Simon, CBS 11 News Reporter - The FBI says it arrested a man in Anchorage [Thursday] because he failed to register an explosive device in his possession. - Read this story.... KTVA CBS 11 - www.ktva.com Top Stories U.S. News U.S. Politics Alaska Ketchikan

According to Unified Command, the oil tanker tanker was moored at the Kenai Pipeline Dock (KPL) and was struck by an ice flow Thursday morning causing it to break free from its moorings at 5:25 a.m. The mooring line parted causing the vessel to drift northward and go aground approximately 1/2 mile north of the KPL dock. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006

Alaska: Stevens defends budget earmarks By LIZ RUSKIN - President Bush, with a few words about earmark reform in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, joined the chorus of politicians demanding changes in the way lawmakers add thousands of projects to national spending bills each year to benefit their home states.

Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, who has been spectacularly successful at earmarking billions of dollars for Alaska, defended the practice Wednesday and said he didn't see much need to curtail it. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006

National: Senators square off over wiretapping By JAMES ROSEN - Senators traded bitter barbs over President Bush's wiretapping initiative Thursday, with Republicans accusing its critics of aiding terrorists and Democrats charging its supporters of violating the Constitution.

The heated exchanges at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, four days before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' scheduled congressional testimony on the wiretapping, disrupted a session that was supposed to examine worldwide threats to the United States.

With the government's four top intelligence officials on hand, the hearing quickly became a fierce debate over the scope and legality of the electronic surveillance Bush authorized soon after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006

City of Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein reading the Proclamation... Photograph by Marie L. Monyak

Ketchikan: MAYOR ISSUES PROCLAMATION FOR DAY OF REMEMBRANCE By MARIE L. MONYAK - At the beginning of Thursday night's City Council meeting, Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein issued a proclamation declaring February 3rd as a Day of Remembrance for Steve "Butch" Freeman.

Recently known to local residents as "the man we never met," Steve Freeman was flying above Ketchikan that fateful day a week and a half ago when he piloted his aircraft into the only relatively safe opening in an otherwise crowded neighborhood, saving countless lives at the expense of his own when he ejected mere seconds before his jet crashed.

Mayor Weinstein, reading the proclamation, mentioned the outpouring of letters from local residents to both the Ketchikan Daily News and SitNews, citing their gratitude to Freeman for his heroic actions and their condolences to the family. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006

Ketchikan Homeless Shelter Photograph by Marie L. Monyak

Ketchikan: Homeless Shelter Needs Community Support By MARIE L. MONYAK - If you're an old time Ketchikan resident, you may recall that the Public Health Clinic used to be across the street from the American Legion at 628 Park Avenue. In the early 1980's that building became the Ketchikan Homeless Shelter and remains so today.

The wood and stone building is hardly noticeable unless you read the sign on the door that reads, Park Avenue Temporary Home. The City of Ketchikan owns both building and land and in turn, donates it for use as a shelter.

Without the generosity of the City, those who find themselves in dire straits, down on their luck or in a transition period would have no where else to go in Ketchikan. Unlike larger cities and towns, Ketchikan doesn't have alleys crowded with the homeless living in cardboard boxes or tent cities on the outskirts of town, all thanks to the homeless shelter. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006

Dispatcher Kaejo Brown Photo courtesy Ketchikan Police Dept.

Ketchikan: Officers & Civilians Honored For Good Work In Crash Response - Ketchikan Police Department officers and civilians were recently honored for their good work on January 25, 2006, in response to the jet crash.

Ketchikan Deputy Police Chief John Maki said that about 1:00 pm, the police department began receiving numerous emergency 911 calls regarding the plane crash behind the A and P Market. Kaejo Brown and Falene Dossman were the on-duty dispatchers who suddenly had their day go from answering standard calls for service to chaos.

Maki said while Dossman answered phones, Brown handled emergency radio traffic in a calm, steady voice that has been shown to decrease stress in such situations.

Hearing about or seeing the number of emergency vehicles, off-duty dispatchers Cambre Skaggs and Trudie Murphy voluntarily ended their time off and went to the police department to assist. Heidi Welk, Administrative Secretary and Carol Duckworth, Evidence Custodian put their normal duties on hold and also went to the dispatch center to assist in any way possible. They formed a team to efficiently and effectively get the job done said Maki. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Dear Freeman Family By Jeff Hendrickson - Friday Steve Freeman By John Apodaca - Friday Steve Freeman By Mark Weidhase - Friday Butch Freeman By Nancy Pretzer - Friday A Healthy Community By Diane Gubatayao - Friday Bridge Alternatives By Doug Barry - Friday So-called "childish" behavior of Democrats By Ted Wright - Friday Creek Street History By Robert Patton - Friday Reasonable? By Jennifer Brewer - Friday Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw those Serbians By Iliya Pavlovich - Friday Regarding Democrat's Behavior during State of the Union Address By Doug Barry Seems really clear to me...COMMUNICATING WITH THE VOTERS By Bobbie McCreary - Friday To my fellow Ketchikan area residents By Renee Schofield - Wednesday PM Officers and dispatchers deserve our support By Kristina M. Townsend - Wednesday PM Dear residents of Ketchikan and readers of Sitnews By Mike Daudet - Wednesday PM Butch By Rob Holston - Wednesday PM Major Freeman By Tori Jackson - Wednesday PM Democrats at State of the Union Speech Acted Outrageously! By Theresa Cullen - Wednesday PM A Reasonable Pactice? By Mark Neckameyer - Wednesday PM Summer business has helped our downtown By Rich Elliott - Tuesday PM To the citizens of Ketchikan By T. Ernest Freeman - Tuesday PM ON EDUCATION By Jerry Cegelske - Tuesday PM Vote Yes By Thomas Ferry - Tuesday PM Dear People of Ketchikan By Paula Pemberton - Tuesday PM Major Freeman By Ted B. Grant - Tuesday PM Crash Story By John Mooney - Tuesday PM Elizabeth Peratrovich Day By Janice Jackson - Tuesday PM Border incursions By Frank Verderber - Tuesday PM KIC Election Rules/ By-laws By Elroy Edenshaw - Tuesday PM Big Winners By David J. Nelson III - Tuesday PM Thank you to all who have expressed concern... By Cathy Pruett - Tuesday PM Major Freeman By Al Johnson - Tuesday PM This is our home. By Dennis Pope - Monday TAKES BOTH TO MAKE IT HAPPEN By Bobbie McCreary - Monday Thank you Ketchikan By Teresa P. Richardson - Monday Port Renovation Project By Chris Parks - Sunday PM Thank you Ketchikan By Carolyn Pedison - Sunday PM Dear People of Ketchikan By Doyle Cowart - Sunday PM Major Stephen Freeman By Jerry Sandel - Sunday PM Steve Freeman By Leslie Whitmire - Sunday PM More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan Teleconference meetings - Legislative Information Office - Check the Calendar January Calendar Today's Forecast Current AK Weather Map City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements February 2006 Click on the date to read the stories published on that day. S M T W T F S    30 31 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         Front Page Archives

National: Government withholds 'sensitive-but-unclassified' information By LANCE GAY - Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal calls them "secrecy orders" - nondisclosure agreements that the federal government is requiring citizens in his state to sign before they can see plans for a liquefied-natural-gas station on scenic Long Island Sound.

The restrictions are just another example of government efforts to restrict widespread public release of so-called sensitive-but-unclassified information.

Government agencies have withdrawn from public scrutiny thousands of pages of information - ranging from information on the location of nuclear plants, to plant diseases that could devastate crops, to designs of bridge abutments. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006

National: Bayh criticizes Bush's military, foreign policy By MARA LEE - America's heroic troops "deserve better than the false bravado of 'bring 'em on,' " Sen. Evan Bayh said in a speech Thursday.

Remember "Bring 'em on"? That was the quote President Bush delivered during a July 2003 press conference, assuring reporters that the United States didn't need more allies in Iraq to secure the country. The quote came in the context that the men attacking U.S. troops were wrong to think that violence would force the United States to withdraw from Iraq.

Bayh had a "Bring 'em on" moment of his own in the speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he responded to reports that Karl Rove, the architect of Bush's re-election victory, wants to make the 2006 Congressional elections a referendum on which party can keep the country safer in a post-9/11 world. Rove believes Americans see Republicans as tough, Bayh said, and Democrats as weak. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006

National: Senators examine high unemployment for young veterans By LES BLUMENTHAL - With the unemployment rate for young veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars triple the national average, members of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee said Thursday that the federal programs to help them find jobs may need to be overhauled.

"We have been in this situation for three years and all the VA (Veterans Administration) says is they will look at it," said Washington Sen. Patty Murray, a senior Democrat on the committee. "When soldiers return home, they need to return home to a job." Criticism of the jobs programs, run by the Labor Department and the VA, was not restricted to Democrats, as Republicans also wondered whether veterans were being taken care of. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006

Washington Calling: Grandma's TV ... killer tornadoes ... pigs at the trough ... and more By LANCE GAY - Tell Grandma and Grandpa they are about to lose their TVs.

Under pressure from the digital-TV industry, Congress has set Feb. 17, 2009, as the date when the United States goes digital, and that means an estimated 70 million TV sets won't be able to pick up signals from the air without a digital-to-analog converter box.

Anticipating a backlash from voters by setting a firm cutoff date, lawmakers put aside $900 million in subsidies for the converter boxes, but analog-TV users will still face about $10 in costs for each box to continue to watch terrestrially received TV signals. (Analog-set owners who use cable or satellite services already have digital signals converted.)

X...X...X

Americans want their privacy back. Five years after the 9/11 attacks resulted in tolerance for increased police and government surveillance, most Americas now tell pollsters they don't support routine searches of purses and packages in railroad stations and subway systems. Pollster John Zogby says a growing concern about civil liberties means President Bush faces as tough sell of his anti-terror surveillance program.

P.S. One surveillance technology that still gets wide acceptance: street cameras. Some 70 percent of those asked said they don't have problems with more camera surveillance of shadowy streets and public areas. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006

The Arts This Week - This week is Ketchikan The 20th Annual Wearable Art Show Flashback will once again showcase wearable art pieces from artists both near and far. Showing on February 3rd, 4th and 5th, this Ketchikan success story is unforgettable and wild. Don't miss this opportunity to see these artists shine, and FLASH you with their ideas of grandeur. Tickets for Sunday's show on sale now at TBC, Soho Coho, Madison Hardware, McPherson Music and the Arts Council or by phone at 225-2211. Don't wait, tickets go fast!

Sam Pitcher Music Scholarship applications are now being accepted. Awards of up to $1000 will be provided to a Ketchikan Youth(s) in grades 7- 12 for use at a summer music program. Awards will be paid directly to the program in the name of the applicant. Awards will be based on the applicant's musical ability, goals, motivation and, to a lesser extent, financial need. It is the applicant's responsibility to research programs and provide requested information to the selection committee. Applications must be completed and submitted by Wednesday, February 1st, 2006 at 5pm to the Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Council at 716 Totem Way. Call 225-2211 for more info.

Call for Quilts for Quilting in the Rain XV Quilt Show. Pick up an entry form at Silver Thimble or Rainforest Crafts. Entries due by Feb. 3rd, 2006 at Silver Thimble or Rainforest Crafts. No late entries accepted. Call either store for more information. - More...
Friday - February 03, 2006