'Murphy's Landing' Front Page Photo by Carl Thompson    Ketchikan Charter Commission Information/Forum Survey Results & Comments Questionnaire: The Ketchikan Charter Commission needs your assistance in naming the new combined government and the service area of the present City of Ketchikan. This questionnaire will close on May 31, 2004. click here Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Run For The Wall by Dan Hart - Ketchikan - 05/24/04 Leland Gardens by Jaydi Raney - Lynden, WA - 05/24/04 Read More Viewpoints Publish A Letter May 2004 Click on the date to read the stories & to view photos published on that day... S M T W T F S 25  26  27 28   29  30 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            Today's Front Page Front Page Archives               Ketchikan: April Unemployment Declines - Ketchikan's unemployment rate reportedly fell seven-tenths of a percentage point in April to 8.5 percent with 6,540 of a labor force of 7,146 employed. Statewide, Alaska's unemployment rate fell five-tenths of a percentage point in April to 7.3 percent and the state added about 1,800 wage and salary jobs. The comparable national rate (not seasonally adjusted) fell six-tenths of a percentage point to 5.4 percent. Dan Robinson, an economist with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, reported the numbers. Four of the state's six economic regions recorded noticeable lower unemployment rates in April, with the biggest decline coming in Southeast where the rate fell from 9.0 percent to 7.4 percent. The Anchorage/Mat-Su, Gulf Coast, and Interior regions all saw smaller declines. The Northern regions' unemployment rate changed very little in April, falling one-tenth of a percentage point from 15.1 percent to 15.0 percent. Unemployment jumped from 12.2 percent to 14.9 percent in the Southwest region due to a normal seasonal lull in the groundfish fisheries. Claims for unemployment insurance, one of the inputs used to calculate the unemployment rate, were down from 15,115 in March to 13,310 in April. The April claims number was also down from the year-ago level of 14,139. Wage and salary employment growth was widespread in April, with the biggest increases coming in construction and the leisure and the hospitality sector. Specifically, the accommodations industry added about 200 jobs statewide while food services and drinking places added 800. Retail trade employment grew by about 600 jobs in April while manufacturing had a large seasonal decline of 2,800 jobs due to seasonal fluctuations in fishing and seafood processing. Over-the-year job growth statewide has been strongest in health care, social services and in retail trade. Jobs in the natural resources and mining sector were down 300 from April 2003 and government employment was unchanged. - More... Monday - May 24, 2004

'Baby Birds' Front Page Photo by Matthew Draper Ketchikan Columnist Dear Crabby: PREGNANT AND SAD and DISGUSTED PICK UP TRUCK OWNERS - I recently married "Harold" and we'll be having our first baby soon. I thought this would be the happiest time in our marriage, but so far it's turning into World War 3. Harold never mentioned a word about this until I was pregnant, but now he says he plans to name the baby after his uncle and his grandfather. The grandfather died years ago. I hate both names, yet in the interest of peace I still tried to compromise. I thought we could use a first name we both liked, and use one of his 'chosen' names as a middle name. - Read more... Monday - May 24, 2004

The June Allen Column is made possible in part by these sponsors. Cick on each name to visit each web site. June Allen Ketchikan's American Legionnaires; Here's to 'the boys' of Post #3 - At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month - Nov. 11, 1918 - the Armistice was signed that ended the Great War in Europe. Almost two years earlier the United States had declared war against Germany and set sail to join the already-fighting British in France. American forces sailed off across the Atlantic to rousing choruses of George M. Cohen's latest Tin-Pan Alley hit, "Over there! Over there! Send the word, send the word over there that the Yanks are comin'! the Yanks are comin'." Those Yanks were from Maine to California as well as from the remotest regions of the Territory of Alaska! Once arrived in Europe, they jolted across the French countryside in careening trucks and marched to the front lines to join in the bloody trench warfare against the German Kaiser. - Read the rest of this story by June Allen... Tuesday - May 11, 2004 Ketchikan's Cruise Ship Industry; A light-hearted look at its origins 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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