Ketchikan - Statewide: New Report Highlights Need for Alaska Hire Policies; Study shows nonresident hire rates and wages grew in 2014 - A new Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development report shows the nonresident hire rate grew in the year before Governor Walker took office, continuing a four-year trend. Some industries created more jobs for nonresidents than for Alaskans, and one industry saw a contraction in Alaska jobs alongside growth in jobs for nonresidents. Overall, Alaska’s nonresident hire rate reached 20.8% and nonresidents took home $2.6 billion in wages.

“This report highlights the need for Alaska Hire policies, and that is exactly what we’re focused on,” said Labor Commissioner Heidi Drygas. “Reversing the growth in nonresident hire won’t be easy but we will do everything in our power to promote Alaska Hire.”

The new study reports a total of 9,569 workers in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough with 64.1% of that workforce number local residents. According to the report, in Prince of Wales-Hyder 65.5% of workers are local residents; in Juneau 73.4% of workers are reported to be local residents; in Sitka 64.9% of workers are reported to be local residents; in Wrangell 51.7% of workers are reported to be local residents; and in Skagway, 29.8% of workers are reported to be local residents. - More...
Wednesday AM - February 03, 2015

Alaska: U.S. Senators Keep Working To Fix Backlog of VA Appeals By MARY KAUFFMAN - As of January 2016, about 400,000 veterans have appeals pending with the Veterans Administration leading to new legislation now being introduced that will establish a new, voluntary five-year pilot program to help reduce the large backlog of appeals made by veterans to the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA).

“It is astonishing to me that an average veteran waits nearly 1,000 days – or almost three years – for the VA to resolve an appeal of one their benefit decisions. Proud veterans across the U.S. – including more than 77,000 in Alaska – should not have to endure these absurd, multi-year wait times just to see their cases resolved. I am hopeful that – with the support of my colleagues – this bill will create a less-bureaucratic appeals express lane through which the VA can resolve its growing backlog of appeals quickly and favorably for all of our nation’s veterans,” said U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK).

U.S. Senators Sullivan, Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Dean Heller (R-NV), and Jon Tester (D-MT) introduced S. 2473, also known as The Express Appeals Act. U.S. Representative Beto O'Rourke (El Paso, Texas) authored The Express Appeals Act in the House, H.R. 800.

The Express Appeals Act would establish a new channel whereby veterans, upon receiving a decision on an original claim by the VA, would have the option to file an express appeal with the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA), in lieu of the traditional appeals process.

The express appeals process would consolidate the traditional process aimed at reducing veterans’ wait times. First, the appeals pilot program would omit the remand process, in which the BVA sends a veteran’s appeal back to the VBA for additional evidence development, saving the veteran an average of 545 days.

Second, the veteran would submit a “Statement of Argument,” detailing how the VBA decided their original claim incorrectly, in place of the VBA’s own time-consuming development of a “Statement of Case,” saving veterans an average of 408 days.

Additionally, entrance into this program would be completely voluntary and a veteran would be able to exit the express appeals process at any time and re-enter the traditional pipeline at the end of the line with no adverse consequences.

U.S. Senator Bob Case said, “Veterans have performed dedicated service to this country and it is our obligation to make sure their benefits process is as seamless as possible. It is unacceptable that our veterans are waiting on average three years to receive a decision on their appeal. With nearly one million veterans in Pennsylvania, it is crucial that we work to ensure that veterans get timely and accurate decisions on their appeals. As co-chair of the Senate VA Backlog Working Group, I am proud to join my colleagues on this important bill which will streamline the process, allowing quick resolve for benefits appeals and addressing the ever-existent backlog that we have been trying to defeat." - More...
Wednesday AM - February 03, 2016

Ketchikan: No Injuries in Van Fire By MARY KAUFFMAN - The Ketchikan Fire Department responded to a 2003 van fire Monday afternoon at 3rd Ave and Jefferson Street and upon arrival the crew found a the engine compartment of a 2003 van fully involved. Ketchikan City Police officer were first on scene and were successful in slowing the fire from spreading using extinguishers prior to the fire crews' arrival.

2003 Van Fire
Photo courtesy Ketchikan Fire Department

According to public information provided by the Ketchikan Fire Department, their fire crews were able to quickly put out the fire, which kept the majority of damage to the front half of the van. The Ketchikan Daily News reported the van driver, Joe Austin, said he was driving in the van when he smelled something buring. Ketchikan Daily News reported the driver said the fire started in the van's fuse box.

Vehicle fires are nothing new and there can be a variety of reasons causing a fire to ignite, as noted in the GMC recall in October of 2015. At that time, General Motors issued its 4th recall of another 1.4 million vehicles dating back to the 1997 model because of oil leaks which they had determined caused engine fires. GMC found that cars that leaked oil can catch fire, in some instances with reported damages to garages and homes if park inside or close by. The October 2015 recall was needed, according to GMC, because repairs from the first four recalls to correct fire problems didn’t work. GMC said more than 1,300 cars still caught fire even after they were fixed by dealers.

In 2010, GMC also recalled 5,000 heavy-duty Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana passenger and cargo vans and halted production and sale of the vans until a fix for a suspected faulty alternator that possibly caused engine fires could be determined.

There are other manufacturers who have issued recalls such as Mercedes-Benz which recalled their Sprinter Vans in 2014 due to fire risks. (To learn more about safety recalls visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration's website Safercar.gov) - More...
Wednesday AM - February 03, 2015