Friday
May 07, 2004
'Diamond
Princess'
Front Page Photo by Lisa Thompson
Alaska: Governor
Signs Three Bills, One Resolution - Governor Frank Murkowski
on Tuesday signed three bills into law, including HB 344, relating
to mining claims, SB 289, extending the life of the special education
service agency, HB 356, extending the sunset date on the alcohol
delivery site statute, and read HJR 30, which advocates eliminating
the Social Security offset.
HB 344, by Fairbanks Rep. Hugh
"Bud" Fate, provides a mechanism by which a mining
claim holder who has missed a paperwork deadline may get an extension,
cure the defect, and avoid losing the claim to abandonment.
"This is a good change
to the law, because it gives a prospector the opportunity to
correct an oversight, without losing his or her claim,"
Murkowski said.
SB 289, by Wasilla Senator
Lyda Green, extends the sunset date of the Special Education
Service Agency until June 30, 2013. The agency is responsible
for helping schools and infant learning programs provide required
services for children with severe disabilities where there is
no local expertise.
"The Special Education
Service Agency provides a vital service to outlying areas where
a local school cannot afford the kind of help a disabled child
may need, such as special education technical assistance, help
for parents, or specialized library materials," Murkowski
said.
HB 356, by Kotzebue Rep. Reggie
Joule, extends the statutes authorizing community delivery sites
for "damp" communities, which helps control and track
the importation of alcohol into those communities. The law was
extended until July 1, 2008.
"The Department of Public
Safety believes this law is being used successfully in Barrow,
and could be extended to Kotzebue, Bethel, Unalakleet, and other
damp communities," Murkowski said.
HJR 30, by Palmer Rep. Carl
Gatto, asks the Alaska congressional delegation to support federal
legislation that would repeal the Government Pension Offset and
the Windfall Elimination provision from the Social Security Act.
Current federal law reduces a person's Social Security benefit
if they participate in a pension fund. The offset has created
an obstacle to recruiting teachers who had already met the minimum
qualifications for social security. - Page...
Friday - May 07, 2004
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Alaska: Murkowski
Creates Council on the Homeless - Governor Frank Murkowski
has issued an administrative order that establishes the Alaska
Council on the Homeless in the Office of the Governor.
"Homelessness is one of
the most challenging domestic issues facing the United States
as a nation," Murkowski said. "Alaska is no exception.
Alaska's Faith-based and Community Initiatives Task Force found
housing to be the most commonly identified challenge facing those
in need." - Read
more...
Friday - May 07, 2004
Columnist
Fish Or Cut Bait by Bob Ciminel: Great
To Be Back in Ketchikan! - Boy, it's great to be back in
Ketchikan! It's been about three years since I wrote my last
article for Kanoe, and I have literally felt like a fish out
of water. Writing is like exercising; if you don't do it regularly,
you quickly get out of shape.
For my old readers, here's
a quick synopsis of what I've been doing since Kanoe ceased publication.
I'm still happily married to the former Alice Bourne of Rock
Hill, South Carolina; we are still living in Roswell, Georgia,
Lower Forty. We are the proud grandparents of Evan Robert Meckley,
born April 19, 2001, and now residing in Council Bluffs, Iowa,
a thousand miles too far from his grandparents. - Read
more...
Friday - May 07, 2004
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The June Allen Column
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to visit each web site.
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June Allen Column
 Ketchikan's
Cruise Ship Industry; A light-hearted look at its origins - Tourists
are nothing new to Ketchikan. These seasonal visitors have been
spilling out onto the downtown docks for more than a century
now. They share certain traits: They're thrilled to find themselves
in distant, exotic Alaska; they find Ketchikan quaint and charming;
and, they are wide-eyed and excited as they board charter fishing
boats, or climb into sightseeing coaches to rumble off over the
city's trestle streets. The basic awe most people feel when seeing
our little town remains constant, even after a century. The things
that have changed over the years are the much larger numbers
of ships and visitors visiting each summer and the numbers of
attractions available to them.
At the turn of the 20th century,
brand new Ketchikan was even then being visited by tourists and
journalists. In The Ladies World Magazine of March 1905, travel
writer Myra Drake Moore described the Ketchikan she visited the
summer of 1904: "[Ketchikan] is the port of entry into Alaska
it and its sister towns of Juneau and Skagway are all very much
alike in architecture, and seem to be 'happen-so's'. Ketchikan,"
she archly wrote, "has accumulated itself."
- Read
the rest of this story by June Allen...
Saturday - April 17, 2004
 Ketchikan's
First City Players; Did you hear that applause?
A
biography of Alaska's herring: A little fish of huge importance...
Read more stories by June Allen...
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 2004 Theme:
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