Fish Factor: Another "best" for Alaska fish By LAINE WELCH - Alaska fish can now claim another "best" on the health front - it is the easiest protein on your tummy. That is the finding of the first comparative study ever done on digestibility of America's most popular proteins.

"Most people have assumed that fish is a superior source of protein but no studies have been done to prove it. We wanted to fill that gap by studying the compositional and digestibility differences between the big protein sources - beef, pork, chicken and fish," said Dr. Scott Smiley at the University of Alaska's Fishery Industrial Technology Center in Kodiak.

Alaska pollock was by far the most digestible protein, followed by Alaska salmon.

"The fish came way out on top. Interestingly, chicken was the least digestible," Smiley said.

They all are high quality proteins, Smiley added, but the main distinction with cold water fish from Alaska is that it also provides omega 3 fatty acids. - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

Alaska: March temperatures in Southeastern Alaska higher than normal - March temperatures were several degrees below normal in Interior and Western Alaska, as well as along the Aleutians. The strongest negative departures from normal were found along the west coast and on the Pribilofs, with mean monthly temperatures reaching from four to 13 degrees below normal, while temperatures in northern and southeastern Alaska were higher than normal.

March temperatures averaged 1.3 degrees above average in Ketchikan in March, with a mean monthly value of 39.7 degrees Fahrenheit. The monthly high temperature was 50 degrees Fahrenheit on March 20, and the recorded low was 27 degrees on March 8. Precipitation was 13.81 inches greater than normal for March, with 24.5 inches reported. Precipitation occurred on all but three days during the month, and the highest daily amount was 3.26 inches on March 24. - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

Alaska: Spring 2010 Revenue Forecast Released - Alaska Department of Revenue Commissioner Patrick Galvin on Friday released the Spring 2010 Revenue Forecast, which provides an update to the Fall 2009 Revenue Sources Book released in December. The department projects the state will collect $5.6 billion in Unrestricted Revenue in FY 2010 and $5.3 billion in FY 2011, this compares to the Fall 2009 Forecast of $4.8B and $5.2B respectively. In February, the department released an interim FY2010 revenue forecast of $5.4B in Unrestricted Revenue.

The department now forecasts Alaska North Slope oil prices to be $75.32 and $77.65 in FY 2010 and 2011 respectively, compared to $66.93 and $76.35 from the Fall 2009 Forecast. Revenue from oil and gas production is expected to provide over 88% of the state's unrestricted revenue through FY 2019.

Oil production on the North Slope in FY2010 is forecast to be approximately 650,000 barrels of oil per day, a 6.2% decline from FY2009, and in FY 2011, we forecast another 4.8% decline, down to approximately 619,000 barrels per day. We anticipate new production coming from the Nikaitchuq field before the end of CY 2010, and continued development in the new Oooguruk field and in Point Thomson. - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

Alaska Science: Way back when, artist believed Alaska was a good deal By NED ROZELL - About 150 years ago, U.S. Secretary of State William Seward was taking some heat for his significant role in the purchase of Alaska. On the day the Russians received the $7.2 million check, a group of white travelers were at Nulato, getting ready for an upriver trip to Fort Yukon to explore this strange land.

Among them was Frederick Whymper, an adventurous English artist who had signed on to help document a telegraph project across North America. In his book "Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska," he left behind some insights into what America was getting itself into.

In his 20s, Whymper left what must have been a comfortable life in London to travel to British Columbia, where he gained the position of artist on the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition. That experience may have whetted his appetite for wild and uncomfortable, because he soon became the artist for the Russian-American Telegraph Project. His job was to document an attempt to string a wire from San Francisco to Moscow.

Though the successful laying of a sea-floor cable between Ireland and Newfoundland killed the telegraph project while Whymper was in Alaska, he and the others had a fine tour up and down the Yukon, and his are among the most detailed descriptions of the time when Alaska became part of America.

The Natives of both Alaska's coast and Interior fascinated Whymper as he wrote of the isolated "perfection" of the aboriginal people here. Here, he describes Interior Natives catching salmon on the middle Yukon River:

"We saw the very pretty sight of a whole fleet of birch bark (canoes), proceeding together as regularly as a company of soldiers. At a given signal the owners of each dipped his round hand-net into the water, and if, on raising it, a big salmon came up struggling to get away, there was a general shout," he wrote. "I saw so much harmless fun and amusement among these Indians, and they evidently find so much enjoyment in hunting and fishing, that I could only wish they might never see much of the white man, and never learn the baneful habit and custom he is sure to introduce." - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

DAVE KIFFER: Thanks for the Memories, Inga / Francine - One of the great things about moving to Ketchikan - or anywhere else in Alaska for that matter - is the fact that you can reinvent yourself if you really want.

Sure, there is always the point that "no matter where you go, there you are." But in Alaska there is a remarkable tolerance for accepting people at face value.

Here you can become what you say you are.

If you show up in town and tell everyone you are a "painter," for example, that's how people will refer to you indefinitely, no matter what your day job is.

You can be a musician, a sculptor, a former bank robber, a novelist (unpublished, of course). Pretty much whatever you say goes.

You can even tell wild tales about your life before KTN (you were Amelia Earhart's cabana boy, cool!) and we won't question it, or even call your references. We will play along indefinitely. - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

MICHAEL REAGAN: Time to Pay the Piper? The First Hint of a European-Style VAT - Democrats in Washington haven't wanted to be terribly forthcoming as to how they intend to pay for the new health care entitlement program and other massive spending programs being passed. It seems our national debt ceiling is now raised every few months, and the federal deficit is higher than it's ever been -- exponentially so.

Well, we can now see why the liberal establishment hasn't wanted to address the issue head-on with the American people. At a private event the other evening, it has been reported that one of the Obama Administration's lead economic counselors, Paul Volcker, indicated the support for a Value-Added Tax (VAT) may be more achievable than in the past.

This statement does not surprise me in the least. You see, in order to fund the record spending of the federal government, hard-working families and small businesses are going to be required to foot more of the billit is that simple. After passage of a nearly $1 trillion health care bill, the Obama administration cannot longer deny this. The only question in my mind has been how much will our taxes be raised -- and when.

A VAT is a tax that is added to a good at each stage of the production process. So when a hypothetical widget's first component is put together a tax is added. That's just the start. At each further stage of assembly, development and distribution, a new tax is added, all the way through until final sale. Not surprisingly, VAT taxes are not borne wholly by the producers themselves. Rather those incremental taxes are passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices. - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

Real Time U.S. Debt Clock http://www.usdebtclock.org/ Public Service Announcements Public Meetings & Info Ketchikan Animal Control Adopt a Dog Adopt a Cat Adopt Another Animal Ketchikan Borough Assembly Agenda and Information Packets Live video stream of current meeting Assembly Meeting Minutes Calendar Ketchikan Planning Commission Agenda, Information Packets & Minutes Ketchikan City Council Agenda & Information Packets Ketchikan School Board Agenda & Information Packets Gravina Access Project SEIS Alternatives Development Gravina Access Website Ketchikan Jobs Ketchikan Police Reports AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Today's Forecast Satellite Today's Weather Images Marine Forecasts AK Weathercams Ketchikan Weather Data Current AK Weather Map CLASSIFIEDS Publish Publish Your Ad Click Here CLASSIFIEDS' CATEGORIES Announcements and       Help Wanted For Sale / Free Stuff Garage Sales Homes / Apts/ Property Pets Wanted Lost & Found Publish Your Ad Front Page Archives Jan. - April 2010 S M T W T F S           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 29 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 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 29 30 31 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 More Front Page Archives

Board of Fish Deceit and the Company Line. By Lloyd Gossman - The Board of Fish recently opened a commercial summer Dungeness crab fishery that had been closed for nearly 25 years because of the waste. They did this under the guise of needing to gather new data. The fishery is going into its second season and no attempt has been made to gather data. That is the deceit. - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

Ketchikan's "Special" Election? By Robert D. Warner - Will the Ketchikan City Council have the courage to recognize that last Tuesday's special election was not a clear mandate from city voters to sell KPU Telecommunications? Major questions about this issue remain. - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

Mr. McPherson to the AK High School Hall of Fame By Greg Buxton Jr. - How awesome to find out about Mr. McPherson getting the nod to the Alaska High School Hall of Fame! I was fortunate enough to be taught by him for the first time back in 1980. I was just learning to play the "drums" and had attended the Summer Fine Arts Camp in Sitka, AK. I was truly a novice then, and Mr. McPherson was extremely patient with me. He'd challenged us all to put in the time to improve no matter what abilities we had then. - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

Is this fair? By Rob Holston - When Walmart showed interest in "invading" Ketchikan there was much concern and discussion. As in most small towns, the fear came mostly from small business owners who had invested their lives and quite possibly their homes and 80 hour work weeks into making their businesses successful. The fear of unfair competition was at the crux of the controversy. Walmart paid a fair market value for the property, pays property tax & charges sales tax. Walmart invested THEIR money. However, OceansAlaska uses tax payer's money, public funding, to invest in their mega-tourist-atraction. The government "gives" OceansAlaska 28 prime acres for the government subsidized cost of $1 (ONE) US dollar! - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

S 881/ HR 2099, Response to Steve Lewis By Carol Cairnes - Steve Lewis's solution is to pass the problem on to other folks and keep this treacherous legislation alive. Value is not what is due Sealaska under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, land is. The value rests in what Sealaska makes of it. - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

Coming to you soon in a favorite waterway and anchorage near you! By Betsey Burdett - Did you know that there is a company that is applying with the State of Alaska to run an oyster farm and hardening beaches in and on the Tatoosh Islands? They are called Tatoosh Oysters, LLC and intend to put in floating docks, a floating caretaker cabin, and utilize beaches as a hardening area. - More...
Saturday - April 10, 2010

Tea Party Protest? By A.M.Johnson - As April 15th draws near, I ask if the local Tea Party group will have a "Tea Party" protest at the usual haunt of Jefferson and Tongass? I read of many such events being planned and publicized across America now to encourage interested citizens to participate. As frustrated as I am towards the direction our Country is taking under this administration, I would welcome a local opportunity to share with like thinking Americans. - More...
Wednesday - April 07, 2010

The Sealaska Lands Bill, S.881: A Problem with a Solution By Steve Lewis - Senator Murkowski's Sealaska Lands Bill, S.881, presents a problem to residents of SE Alaska. Few would suggest that Sealaska should not receive the lands due it under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), but there are many who feel that the current bill will cause serious damage to karstlands and the underlying caves, create permanent rifts among Southeast Alaskans, and provide Sealaska with more than it was due under ANCSA. - More...
Wednesday - April 07, 2010

Sealaska Landless By Vernon Grant - As a Sealaska landless shareholder, this is my perspective on this landless issue. First of all if we let the government slide on the promise to fulfill the ANCSA that they have signed and left unresolved to be out voted by communities that have not been awaiting the passed 40 years for this land issue to be finalized, this will be a blow too our own state and give way to a mind set that they can get away with not upholding any and all promises made too any sect or bill. - More...
Wednesday - April 07, 2010

Ice Skating Rink and Dog Park By Tony Gwynn - I'm pretty sure that most people in Ketchikan would love to have an indoor ice rink and an indoor/outdoor dog park. Myself included. So I say this next part with all due respect. If you are passionate about an indoor ice rink or dog park then take the necessary steps to create those two very worthwhile dreams!!! But please don't steal the hard work and vision of the proposed Ward Cove indoor recreation facility. - More...
Wednesday - April 07, 2010

Roy McPherson By Jason Alderson - Way to go Roy!! Some of my favorite memories are going into McPherson Music as a teenager and looking at the drums! Even though I had long hair, jeans with holes in them and a leather jacket (it was the 80's!!) Roy and Tina always treated me with respect and worked with me so that I could purchase the drums I wanted. - More...
Wednesday - April 07, 2010

KPU TELEPHONE SALE: VOTE NO By Pete Ellis - So it is sort of like voting to sell your birthright and the right to choose services to be offered and their cost. A contrary vote is for the unknown. A yes vote results in an inability to provide further input as to any sales analysis, other than the limited opportunity to appear before the Council and urge their rejection or further negotiation of a sale proposal. Voting NO guarantees continued control and input. - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

Vote "YES" to look for a buyer By Patti Fay Hickox - Voting yes [on Tuesday, April 6th] only means the city can look for a buyer for telecommunications. Ketchikan KPU cannot complete against GCI, AT&T etc. in the telecommunications business. We would need to buy massive equipment to keep up. This would suck out all the money and some day we will have to sell because GCI etc. has a lot more money to build these connections. We cannot keep up with these big outfits. - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

Monty Hall and City Hall By Michael McNally - Sitnews readers of a certain age will remember a once popular game show, called Let's Make a Deal. The classic gimmick of the show was that contestants, having obtained a prize of moderate value, would be offered a chance to trade their prize in, sight unseen, for what was behind door number three. The trick was, only the show s host, Monty Hall, knew what was behind door number three and while it could be a valuable prize the contestants also ran the risk of losing what they had. It was an excellent gimmick for a game show, but it is a poor way to conduct public policy. - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

New terminals in Metlakatla, Part 2 By Steven G. Booth - I would hope that the M/V Lituya would be home ported in Ketchikan unless and until appropriate security infrastructure is available in Annette Bay with the scenario of dismantling the Chester Bay Terminal. - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

Sealaska Bill, S.881 By Bob Claus - I thank Arne Fuglvog of Senator Murkowski's office for traveling to Edna Bay and meeting with the residents there. I was glad to have been able to attend as well, and was impressed by the measured tone and thoughtful responses opposing the Sealaska land selections on Kosciusko Island from everyone who spoke. 100% of the community attended the meeting and opposed S.881. I also heard a great amount of hope and optimism for the future of Edna Bay and our other small communities surrounded by the Tongass National Forest so long as they continue to have community input through the forest planning processes. - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

S.881 is not the solution for Southeast Alaska By Sandy Powers - Community hearings on Senate Bill 881/HR 2099 held in Edna Bay and Point Baker/Port Protection last week reconfirmed that a majority of Southeast Alaskans are opposed to this bill that would give 80,000-some acres of public-owned, roaded National Forest land to Sealaska Corporation. There was unanimous opposition from these three communities, with residents from age 13 to 82 speaking passionately of how their lives and futures would be forever adversely changed by this legislation. Hearings in other communities throughout Southeast were held earlier in the month. - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

Taxpayers asked again to bail out a Corporation By Judy Magnuson - Why is the taxpayer again being asked to bail out a corporation? Why are small communities, the public, and businesses that depend upon public lands for their livelihood and recreation being asked to give it up for a private corporation? Sealaska's Vice President spoke in Ketchikan on March 31st , stating the Corporations need for S-881 to pass quickly, because they only have two years of timber harvest lands left. Whose fault is that? - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

Roy McPherson By Doug Edwards - Thank you for the excellent article about Roy's induction into the Alaska School Activities Association Hall of Fame. - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

Fawn Mountain Track and Field By Miguel Torres - I remember arriving in Ketchikan during the summer 0f '06 and looking forward to the upcoming Kayhi football season. Having lived in Texas for many years and enjoying quite a few Friday night football games, I inquired into the Ketchikan football tradition. I was referred to Blaine Ashcraft, high school football and commissioner to the Ketchikan football youth league.  - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

Performance Scholarships Will Help to Improve our Schools By Larry LeDoux - The Governor's Performance Scholarship proposal would award substantial postsecondary scholarships to Alaska students who take a challenging curriculum in high school and meet thresholds for performance on grades and tests. The scholarships would be used at Alaska institutions, both technical and academic. - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

Holy Name By Brandon Fast - I think more people should go to Holy Name Catholic School. At Holy Name we have a bully free environment and small class sizes. - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

Health Reform By Jim Kempsell - Lamentably, Socratic form of debate (actually listening to an opponent, recognizing they may have some valid points) is virtually non-existent in this age of sound bites and "gotcha". - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

Community By Joey Tillson - The other day I had lunch with an out of town friend. Her and I had gone to school together in Juneau for many years and for 29 years of my life, I lived in Juneau but was born in Ketchikan. It was wonderful to catch up with her and discuss how our lives had changed and progressed. - More...
Monday - April 05, 2010

More Letters/Viewpoints
Webmail your letter or
Email Your Letter To: editor@sitnews.us