Ketchikan - POW: IFA Assures Traveling Public of Continued Service; IFA Determining the Effects of No Funding from Alaska Legislature for FY2014 - At the close of the Alaska Legislative session funding for the Inter-island Ferry Authority (IFA), which provides daily passenger and vehicle ferry service between Prince of Wales Island and Ketchikan, was not included in State budgets passed by lawmakers. 

The Inter-island Ferry Authority (IFA) operation is able to cover 75% of its annual 4 million dollar budget through ticket sales but must rely on State and Federal funding for the remaining 25%.  Absence of any level of funding from the State presents a significant financial challenge to IFA management and Board of Directors according to information provided by Dennis Watson, General Manager of the Inter-island Ferry Authority.

Watson said full effort is now being directed toward seeking alternative funding sources and determining what other options are available to this small ferry system that started out as a new idea eleven years ago and has grown into a model for reliable and efficient delivery of public transportation service in rural Alaska. - More...
Monday PM - April 22, 2013

Fish Factor: Most fish bills flopped By LAINE WELCH - Chinook salmon research money made it through the Alaska legislature this session but most other fish bills flopped. 

“The department asked and the legislature funded” said Kevin Brooks, Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game. “There is a little bit of repackaging, if you will, but there is a lot of money in this budget to do some good work on Chinook, and all species of salmon statewide.”

 Last November, in response to drastic reductions in king salmon returns and crippling fishing closures,  Governor Parnell said his FY2014 budget would include $10 million as a first installment of a five year, $30 million research initiative focusing on 12 ‘indicator’ streams statewide. That request was reduced to $7.5 million in the capital budget, Brooks said.

“It is a very specific appropriation for Chinook salmon research, and we have a separate appropriation now for $2.5 million for salmon research, restoration and enhancement initiatives for Susitna River drainages, which is one of our indicator streams, so that one has been pulled out separately,” Brooks explained.  “But those projects together still total $10 million. And then we have a third project for $2 million that was added by the Legislature for Chinook salmon enhancement in northern Cook Inlet. We have some projects identified to make an impact in the short term on salmon stocks in the Mat Su Valley.”  

Only a handful of the other 20 or so fish related measures were passed by the Alaska legislature by the April 14th adjournment. They included a bill about general procurement rules, a resolution opposing federal approval of genetically modified salmon, or to require labeling if it does go to market; and another urging Congress to fund three national security cutters and home port one in Kodiak. An official request asks the North Pacific Council to further reduce the take of Chinook salmon as bycatch by trawlers. 

Fish measures left in limbo include a bill to give a priority to personal use fishing when restrictions are in place, and an Act related to controlling aquatic invasive species and related funding.  - More...
Monday PM - April 22, 2013

Viewpoints
Commentary
Opinions/Letters
Basic Rules &
Freedom of Speech

Pinwheels for Prevention By Diane Gubatayao - Perhaps you are curious about the silver and blue pinwheels spinning around at various locations around Ketchikan. Pinwheels, always a favorite toy with children, have become the new national symbol for child abuse prevention. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Pinwheels reflect the innocence and playfulness of childhood, and yet they represent the fragility and vulnerability of children. Just as you hold a pinwheel in your hands, you hold the protection of children in your hands. - More...
Monday PM - April 22, 2013

Major Environmental Groups Support Tongass Jewel as Wilderness; S.340 - The Sealaska Bill Destroys it By Davey Lubin - The Sealaska lands bill has been re-introduced in Congress as S. 340, and alarmingly, this misguided, highly controversial bill is scheduled for a hearing in Senate Natural Resources on April 25th. - More...
Monday PM - April 22, 2013

Transition to 2nd Growth Reality or Folly By Joe Mehrkens - Back in the heydays taxpayers paid a subsidy of $12,000-$36,000 per Tongass timber job. Based on more recent Forest Service accounting information, this subsidy has grown during the last decade to a staggering $224,000-$510,000/job a nearly 1,400% increase. How can this be? Simply, the Forest Service kept spending like the industry was in its heyday while the industry was in a persistent long-term decline. - More...
Monday PM - April 22, 2013

Herring a Forage Fish By Lawrence Snapper Carson - Spring brings the end of the winter doldrums and the interaction of the blooms of the ocean and the land. Mankind has survived and taken part in Southeast Alaska’s bounty for millenniums of time. The survival and the use of these resources has changed as mankind has moved from a subsistence life style to a greedy, politically managed, and commercially based utilization of herring. - More...
Monday PM - April 22, 2013

Sitka’s Herring Population is Stronger than Ever by Jake Ingman - Last week, Andy Rauwolf sent a letter to Sitnews full of panic and misinformation.  The first of many things that need to be corrected is his assumption that the closure of the herring fishery was because of a lack of herring in the area.  That is false; we didn’t catch our quota because of our responsible and sensible approach to this fishery, but first, let’s talk about herring spawn.  58 nm of spawn has been recorded for 2013.  Compare that to the first recorded year, 1964 and 19 nm, then ten years later, 1974 and 10 nm, and 1984 had 65 nm, and then 1994 and 58.1 nm of spawn.  The amount of spawn in the area is much stronger than 40 years ago when the sac roe fishery started.  All the locals who think that the herring run was so much stronger in their childhood because of what they remember seeing from their house window; the data proves that notion wrong.  It is stronger now, but the amount of sea traffic in Sitka is a factor, the population growth, sewage, and pollution has made other shorelines more attractive to the herring than the Sitka beaches.  Herring don’t spawn on the same spot, they aren’t like salmon returning to the same stream.  Mr. Rauwolf goes on to claim that the state management has failed to maintain the population since the sac roe fishery began in 1976.  Let’s check actual facts and numbers, instead of baseless fear tactics and see what the truth is…. - More...
Monday PM - April 22, 2013

The QUESTION IS WHY? By Bobbie McCreary - Thanks Marvin Hill, for coming out to take away the TWO vandalized Port-A-Potties out at the paintball field on Revilla Road.   WHY? when a well-meaning non-profit like Ketchikan Youth Initiatives places port-a-potties at the paintball field for ANYONE to use that comes to the paintball field or drives on to other beautiful recreational areas,  DOES SOMEONE BREAK THEM APART SO THEY ARE UNUSABLE? - More...
Thursday PM - April 18, 2013

RE: Warning! Is your money really going to the septic system or is it going downhill? By Mike Carney - First of all I would like to say I normally would not respond but this is so far off base I felt it needed a response. Mr. Plute needs to do his homework. The 6.2 to 7.2 is the City tax not the Borough. As for the $35,000 I dont know where he gets his information, but I run a department that sends people for travel and training every year and you could take my department and two others and never total $35,000 let alone for one person. - More...
Thursday PM - April 18, 2013

The Sealaska Bill Should Die By Rebecca Knight - Most SE Alaskans are united in opposition to S. 340 (formerly S. 881 & S. 730), the Southeast Alaska Native Land Entitlement Finalization and Jobs Protection Act. These are real folks whose lives will be directly impacted including sport, commercial and subsistence fishermen as well as hunters, recreationists and the hundreds of residents of nine communities that will suffer the direct hit of this horrible, forest high-grading bill. - More...
Thursday PM - April 18, 2013

The Truth About the Herring By Terri Wenger Anderson - Please disregard the propaganda about the herring. I believe the gentleman that wrote this letter to get every environmentalist's panties in an uproar must be related to Al Gore. Maybe he is trying to get a federally funded grant to study herring, well being in Ketchikan is not going to help him. - More...
Thursday PM - April 18, 2013

China Hacking Into U.S. Computers* By Donald A. Moskowitz - Based on the activities of Chinese Army Unit 61398 Communist China continues to wage cyber warfare against the U.S. by hacking into the computers of U.S. corporations. - More...
Thursday PM - April 18, 2013

Bowl for Kids' Sake By Joann Flora - I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the people and businesses of Ketchikan for their support of Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids' Sake event on March 30th. Without a bowling alley, this is a very complicated event to stage, and we couldn't have done it without the help of a great many people. Particularly important to our event is Susan Wall and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Parks and Recreation Department. Thank you for the use of your facility and the great staff cooperation. Thank you Trina Elliott and the Kayhi Choir for your labor as our 'Pin Set & Ball Return' team. I wish to thank the wonderful businesses who helped us with cash sponsorships and donations of prizes and food. Thanks also to the registered teams who raised money and the members of the public who came out and participated. - More...
Tuesday AM - April 16, 2013

Ketchikan Community Chorus By Judith Green - Thank you Community Chorus! Steve Kinney, Musical Director and the KCC Board! - More...
Tuesday AM - April 16, 2013

Unborn should be protected By Rob Holston - Ruth Marcus displays collective and popular ignorance of the day in her recent article published in the Ketchikan Daily News: “.....politics of ?Roe? “. Her premise, that the Supreme Court should protect certain rights that the democratic process may unwittingly deny, is one I agree with. But, villainizing states like Arkansas and North Dakota for protecting human life at 12 and 6 weeks, reeks with the stench of left wing self righteousness. - More...
Tuesday AM - April 16, 2013

Warning! Is your money really going to the septic system or is it going downhill? By Ed Plute - Your property taxes have grown from 6.2 to 7.2. Oh and by the way, do you realize we spent $35,000 in travel and expenses for one person, to go where? Did you also realize, that our own borough manager has a $15,000 door replacement/ cabinet? Is it made of gold? - More...
Tuesday AM - April 16, 2013

The Price of Cheap Beer By Alexander R. Cohen - America's top beer-ocrat goes to the Senate today (April 16th). Bill Baer, the head of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, is forcing Budweiser's corporate owner AB InBev to give up a big piece of the value of its purchase of the half of Corona brewer Grupo Modelo it didn't already own. Today, Baer will join FTC chair Edith Ramirez in testifying before the antitrust subcommittee. The two agencies share the power to review corporate mergers before they're completed. - More ...
Tuesday AM - April 16, 2013

Intolerance By Jonathan Tully - It's difficult to ignore the disturbing views presented in the SitNews Letter to the Editor by Michael W. Jarvis. I'm not gay, African-American, Jewish, or a member of any other group that has suffered horribly in the past due to the likes of him. I can, however, recognize the self-righteous, disgusting intolerance that is a danger to any society. - More...
Tuesday AM - April 16, 2013

Eliminate personal and business income taxes By Beverly Martin - In the call for reduced government spending, the Mortgage Interest Deduction has a target on its back. At a cost of $90-108 Billion annually, (Goozner, The Fiscal Times; Kort, USA Today) who is benefiting? Only 1/4 of taxpayers filing returns claim the MID. A third of that money is claimed by people with annual incomes of $200,000 or more. 42% is claimed by those earning $100,000-$200,000 annually and 4.3% is claimed by those earning less than $50,000. (Goozner). Those earning $200,000 or more saved $1,862. Those earning $49,777 or less saved $120. Hardly an equitable distribution. - More...
Tuesday AM - April 16, 2013

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