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Ketchikan: Bentwood Baby Box donated to PeaceHealth Foundation - One good thing can inspire another. The truth of that became apparent when a generous donation by Tsimshian artist Ken Decker led to another by Safe and Sound Innovations LLC.

Tsimshian artist Ken Decker.
Sleep and Sound commissioned Decker to create an authentic bentwood cedar chest featuring his designs.
Photo courtesy PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center

The story starts in early 2015, when Women’s Health Clinic Manager Gail Jones first read about Finland’s baby box program. Because these boxes give babies a safe place to sleep when they go home from the hospital, that country achieved one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world. Jones spearheaded a plan to make them available to every infant born in Ketchikan. - More...
Sunday AM - February 26, 2017

Alaska: Attorney General Praises Repeal of Restrictive Mining Rules - Alaska Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth praised Congress for passing a resolution that disapproved of the Stream Protection Rule, recently issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). The Rule took took effect on the final day of President Obama’s term in office (January 19, 2017).

The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overturn regulations that were published in the previous 60 legislative days.

Attorney General Lindemuth and Commissioner Andy Mack, Department of Natural Resources, stated in a news release they are pleased that President Trump signed the resolution. President Trump signed H.J. Res. 38 on February 16, 2017, which disapproved the rule known as the Stream Protection Rule. In early February, the U. S. House and Senate voted to repeal the Stream Protection Rule using a regulation-killing tool known as the Congressional Review Act.

“I thank Alaska’s Congressional delegation for their unwavering commitment to this important issue,” said Attorney General Lindemuth. “Repealing this restrictive rule allows Alaska’s existing coal mining regulatory program, which already includes protections for streams and other environmental resources, to remain in place.”

“We will continue our efforts to protect Alaska’s streams and other critical resources as we pursue responsible resource development activities in Alaska,” said Natural Resources Commissioner Andy Mack. - More...
Sunday AM - February 26, 2017

Alaska: Where the Whales Are; First estimates of whale abundance in offshore Gulf of Alaska find some species recovering while others remain depleted 35 years after whaling By CHRISTINE BALER - A new study provides the most comprehensive information available on whale distribution and abundance in the offshore Gulf of Alaska since historical whaling records.

Humpback whale.
Photo: Brenda Rone, NOAA Fisheries

Current abundance and distribution data are essential for effective management and protection of marine mammals. Until now, what we knew about whales in the offshore Gulf of Alaska came mainly from 19th and 20th century whaling records. Due to its remote location, vast geographic area, and challenging environmental conditions, marine mammals of the offshore Gulf have been largely unsurveyed by scientists.

New research led by marine mammal scientist Brenda Rone of NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center combines data from three years of surveys to provide the most current information on whales and porpoises in the region. Surveys in 2009 and 2013 were designed to find out which marine mammals might be affected by U.S. Navy training exercises. In 2015 the team conducted the first search for the critically endangered North Pacific right whale.

"Information on some species has been collected in the nearshore Gulf of Alaska since 1980, but there was a big data gap in offshore waters," says Rone. "We were excited to have the opportunity to explore an area that had never been surveyed to this extent." - More...
Sunday AM - February 26, 2017

Over $70,000 awarded from KMC Gift Shop proceeds
KMC Gift Shop volunteers deciding on how to use the proceeds from the shop during Saturday’s luncheon, February 18th
Photo courtesy PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center

Ketchikan: Over $70,000 awarded from KMC Gift Shop proceeds - It’s lovely when there are tangible results of kindness.

The women who volunteer at the Gift Shop do that very thing – their hard work morphs into baskets of self-care items for chemo patients, wheelchairs for Long Term Care residents, sleeper beds in the Birthing Center and, this year, a used car for caregivers to travel from the Craig Clinic to other places on Prince of Wales.

Our Foundation Gift Shop volunteers voted for these and 13 other requests at their annual luncheon Saturday, February 18th. They meet yearly to consider requests from PeaceHealth Ketchikan departments and distribute the proceeds from the shop.

Proceeds from the small shop in the Ketchikan Medical Center lobby usually yield about $35,000 for grants. This year was different. The volunteers were able to award over $70,000 to various PeaceHealth Ketchikan departments.

“We went back through the finances from past years,” said Foundation Director Matt Eisenhower. “We had been starting fresh each year but we found not all past year’s grants were distributed plus we had generous donations to the Gift Shop this year.” - More...
Sunday AM - February 26, 2017

COLUMNS - COMMENTARY

DICK POLMAN: No, Obama is Not Plotting a 'Treasonous Coup' - We're all well acquainted with the fake news phenomenon - the Trumpian sewage that's routinely pumped into the brains of the dumb and numb. But the good news is, Facebook has started to fight back, working with a coalition of fact-based media outlets.

Better late than never. The 2016 campaign was festooned with phony scoops like "Pope Francis shocks world, endorses Donald Trump for president" and "FBI agent suspected in Hillary email leaks found dead in apartment in murder-suicide" and "Hillary sold weapons to ISIS." Credulous social media users clicked and shared and were happy to get suckered.

It's no surprise that the con lives on. My new favorite bit of fakery, which has already been shared tens of thousands of times, and re-posted on dozens of websites with names like Angry Patriot and Trump Media, features this eye-candy headline:

"BREAKING. Congress Moves to STOP Obama's Treasonous Coup Attempt Against Trump"

Sigh. These people still can't quit the guy. - More...
Sunday AM - February 26, 2017

JOSEPH COTTO: Washington's Enduring Corruption - Most Americans think that their government is corrupt.

According to a 2014 Gallup study, the number is 75 percent, a jump from 2009, when only 66 percent of Americans believed the same.

When this represents the good old days, where does the present-day stand?

"The perception that there's widespread corruption in the national government could be a symptom of citizen disengagement and anger," Gallup's Jim Clifton wrote in early 2016. "Or it could be a cause -- we don't know. But it's very possible this is a big, dark cloud that hangs over this country's progress. And it might be fueling the rise of an unlikely, non-traditional leading Republican candidate for the presidency, Donald Trump."

You think? - More...
Sunday AM - February 22, 2017