Alaska:With budget mired in amendments, Alaska House majority cuts off debate By Nathaniel Herz, ADN - The fight over the Alaska House budget, which had been lurching into paralysis, culminated Thursday in an extraordinary decision by the new majority to cut off debate and get the measure moving again. - Read this article... Alaska Dispatch News www.adn.com Alaska: Alaska House, reversing itself, again proposes slashing its own expense payments By Nathaniel Herz, ADN - The Alaska House reversed itself Thursday and approved a sharp cut in its daily expense payments for next year, while one lawmaker introduced a new proposal to let a nonpartisan commission — rather than the Legislature itself — set future rates. - Read this article... Alaska Dispatch News www.adn.com Photo of the Month Ketchikan: Public Meetings Ketchikan: Upcoming Events Historical Ketchikan June Allen Dave Kiffer Louise B. Harrington Ketchikan Weather Ketchikan's Forecast Ketchikan's Historic Weather Nat Weather Service KTN Ketchikan Tides & Currents Search the News Ketchikan Alaska Sitnews RSS widget

Ketchikan: Fast Response Cutter John McCormick arrives in Ketchikan By MARY KAUFFMAN - The Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick (WPC-1121) and its crew arrived to their homeport at Coast Guard Base Ketchikan, Friday afternoon after completing a 6,200-mile trip from Key West, Florida.

USCG BM1 Andrew Statham, a crew member aboard the Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick, greets his family after the Fast Response Cutter and crew arrived at its new homeport during a homecoming ceremony at Coast Guard Base Ketchikan, March 17th,
Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class William Colclough

The cutter will be the first FRC stationed in Ketchikan, Alaska. It was the third consecutive FRC delivered with zero production discrepancies, indicating improved stability and efficiency in the production process.

The cutter is named after Boatswain John McCormick, who as officer-in-charge of the wooden 52-foot motor lifeboat Triumph out of Station Point Adams, Oregon, on the Columbia River, saved a crewman Surfman Robert Bracken who was washed overboard March 26, 1938. Acting with exceptional skill, McCormick maneuvered the lifeboat against a strong current and into the breakers to pick up the drowning man. McCormick received the Gold Lifesaving Medal for his actions that day.

"We are pleased to welcome the crew of the new Fast Response Cutter John McCormick to the Ketchikan community," said Capt. Shannan Greene, commander of Coast Guard Sector Juneau. "The new cutter and its crew will provide greater service and enhanced capabilities for the southeast Alaska area and its maritime communities."

The 154-foot FRC is designed to patrol coastal regions and features advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment; the ability to launch and recover standardized cutter boats from astern or via side davits; and improved seakeeping and habitability. The FRCs, which are replacing the 1980s-era 110-foot Island-class patrol boats, feature an endurance of five days and reach a maximum speed of over 28 knots.

The John McCormick is the first fast response cutter on the West Coast and will provide increased capabilities compared to the smaller 110-foot patrol boats it is replacing.

On her voyage to Ketchikan, the crew of Cutter John McCormick met with descendants of John F. McCormick, the cutter's namesake, while moored in Astoria, Oregon on March 11, 2017. The crew met and shared the cutter with the McCormick family.

The 154-foot sentinel-class cutter was named after Boatswain John McCormick who received a Gold Lifesaving Medal for his actions on March 26, 1938. McCormick rescued Surfman Richard Bracken who fell overboard from the motor lifeboat Triumph at the mouth of the Columbia River.

The vessel's manufacturer, Bollinger Shipyards, of Lockport, Louisiana, delivered the ship to the Coast Guard on December 13, 2016, for her acceptance trials. The John F. McCormick will be commissioned in April 12, 2017 in Ketchikan.

The Cutter John McCormick is the Coast Guard's 21st Sentinel-class cutter, and the first to be stationed in Alaska.

The Sentinel-class cutters are lightly armed patrol vessels with a crew of approximately two dozen sailors, capable of traveling almost 3,000 nautical miles, on five day missions. The cutter is a multi-mission vessel intended to perform law enforcement, search and rescue, fisheries and environmental protection, and homeland security tasks.

On February 07, 2017, the Coast Guard accepted delivery of the 22nd fast response cutter (FRC), Bailey Barco, in Key West, Florida. The cutter Bailey Barco will be the second FRC stationed in Ketchikan. The 22nd fast response cutter is slated for commissioning in July 2017. - More...
Friday PM - March 17, 2017

Senator Sullivan has spoken on the Senate floor weekly for several months recognizing Alaskans around the state who help make Alaska a better place for all of us. By speaking on the Senate floor, his statements become part of the Congressional Record.

This week, Senator Sullivan honored Pastor Evelyn Erbele, who has dedicated her life to helping others.

Sullivan said, like most places across our country, Ketchikan has its challenges, and it has a challenge with homelessness, like many communities in America and Alaska. Ketchikan is also home to a very caring community that has set its sights on helping its fellow Alaskans.

Erbele is the copastor with her husband Terry of the First United Methodist Church of Ketchikan. There is a day shelter in the church's social hall, which provides a hot meal, shower, clean clothes, and a place for the community's homeless to go every day of the week.

In recognizing Pastor Erbele as the Alaskan of the Week, Sullivan said, "Oftentimes when we think of homelessness, we think of people not having a place to sleep, but it is also important to remember that being homeless means having no place to go during the day. First City Homeless Services - Day Shelter gives people a place to go during the day. Pastor Evelyn oversees that day shelter. According to the manager of the shelter, Chris Alvarado, who himself has been homeless, she does so with commitment and with kindness and with compassion." - More...
Friday PM - March 17, 2017

An Alaska Department of Fish and Game report on 2017 salmon run forecasts and harvest projections (PDF) pegs the total catch at 204 million fish. That compares to just over 112 million salmon taken by fishermen in 2016.

The catch last season included 53 million sockeye salmon - the fifth largest harvest since 1970—but only 39 million pink salmon, the smallest harvest since 1977.

For this year, the forecast calls for an “average” catch of sockeye salmon at 41 million, 12 million fewer reds than last year. For those hard to predict pinks, a harvest projection of nearly 142 million is nearly 103 million more humpies than last summer.

For the other three salmon species, managers project a catch this year of 4.7 million cohos, nearly 800,000 more than last year. A chum catch of 16.7 million would be an increase of 1.2 million fish.

For Chinook salmon, a harvest of 80,000 is projected in areas outside of Southeast Alaska, where catches are regulated by treaty with Canada.

The total dockside value of the 2016 salmon fishery barely topped $406 million, the lowest in 14 years. The average prices paid to fishermen, however, were up across the board at 88 cents a pound for sockeye salmon; 65 cents for cohos, 48 cents for chums, 24 cents for pinks and $4.40 cents a pound for king salmon.

The 2017 report includes a review of the 2016 salmon season for all Alaska fishing regions. Find it at the ADF&G home page.

Hatchery hit

Last year’s salmon slump also hit state hatcheries hard.

Typically, more than one-third of Alaska’s total salmon harvest and value include fish that start out as eggs from wild stocks reared in hatcheries - mostly pinks and chums -and are released as fingerlings to the sea.

The annual Alaska Fisheries Enhancement Report (PDF) shows that last year only about 27 million adult salmon returned to Alaska’s 28 hatcheries that are dotted throughout Prince William Sound, the Panhandle and Kodiak. That was less than half of the forecast and the lowest returns since 1992. - More...
Friday PM - March 17, 2017

COLUMNS - COMMENTARY

At her age I'm pretty sure my granddaughter doesn't need health insurance for her end-of-life needs.

But what do I know? I'm just a dumb citizen.

According to the architects of Obamacare - if you can call the Democrats who designed President Obama's signature failure "architects" - I can't be trusted to buy my own health insurance.

The architects of Obamacare in Washington, all Democrats, decided six or seven years ago they knew what the best health plan was for everyone, rich or poor, healthy or sick, old or young, Californian or New Yorker.

For them health-care choice was never an option for individual American citizens - it was one-size fits all.

They decided that every American human being, no matter what their sex, age, health or personal needs or desires, deserved Cadillac care for any possible sickness or service. - More...
Friday PM - March 17, 2017

JOHN L. MICEK: Trumpcare: Helping the Rich, Stiffing the Poor -It's taken seven years, but Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration are finally having their "If you like your health care plan you can keep it" moment.

Like President Barack Obama, who saw millions of Americans initially lose coverage under his signature plan, President Donald Trump, who vowed "insurance for everyone," is finding some promises are nearly impossible to keep.

An eagerly awaited report by the independent Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday held plenty of bad news for the new president and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill.

It was also a reminder that, when it comes to healthcare, the White House and Congressional Republicans are singing from very different hymnals.

The biggest blow to the White House?

The CBO report makes clear that the House GOP plan doesn't mean insurance for everyone. In fact, it means insurance for 14 million fewer people next year and then 24 million fewer by 2026.

As The New York Times and other outlets reported, average premiums would rise by 15 to 20 percent in 2018 and 2019 than they would be under the current law. But premiums would be 10 percent lower by 2026, the CBO analysis found.

The GOP bill would also trim Medicaid by $880 billion, dropping tens of millions of people from the rolls. - More...
Friday PM - March 17, 2017