Ketchikan: Youth Artists are the STARS; Youth Art Auction Coming June 6th - Another opportunity presents itself to contribute, enjoy and acquire art works created by Ketchikan's teens and 20's youth artists. On Saturday, June 6th at 5:30 pm, the Plaza Mall will host a YOUTH ART AUCTION sponsored by Ketchikan Youth Initiatives (KYI). A week prior, art works will be displayed in mall windows. On the day of the auction the art will be available for viewing throughout the mall. The theme is Alaska, honoring our 50th Year Anniversary; however, all youth art works will be accepted. All young artists are urged to get their art works in the show and to register now. (Call 225-2250 to register.)

This event builds on the successful auction held by Ketchikan Youth Initiatives (KYI) on December 18th as part of the 2nd Annual KYI Activity EXPO and Potluck said Project Coordinator Bobbie McCreary. The concept of staging an art auction started with a desire to find a good home for the mural boards installed on the Bernard Passman building. For over five years members of the community had collaborated, under the guidance of local artists and coordinated by Bobbie McCreary, to brighten the boarded or vacant windows of downtown stores over the winter months. Project Ketchikan, as this endeavor was called, focused particularly on showcasing the skills of youth and young adult artists.

When the downtown business owners chose to discontinue boarding windows, the eight murals created by Revilla High students under the artistic direction of Mary Ida Henriksen for the Bernard Passman Building, were available for new ownership and thus was born the idea of an Art Auction featuring works of youth artists.

Project coordinator Bobbie McCreary said the inspiring support of Ketchikan's community members who showed up to bid on the young artists' work was very encouraging to these artists. Following this event a core group of junior high and high school students and young adults met several times to connect around their common art interests. They created four different art postcards that have been marketed to local tourism businesses (and which art works will be part of the auction.) McCreary said they also have taken the first steps of forming an Art Club that will gladly receive donations of art supplies (all types) to help out the young artists. These artists also welcome the participation of adult artist mentors and anyone who wants to help make the art auction event on June 6th a smashing success said McCreary. - More...
Monday - May 11, 2009

Alaska: Probable case of H1N1 (swine) flu detected on ship in Alaska waters - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notified the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) this weekend that a crew member onboard the Serenade of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean ship currently traveling through Alaska waters, is recovering from a probable infection with H1N1 (swine) flu. Testing was performed at the Washington State Public Health Laboratory because the patient became ill while the ship was in the Washington area. The CDC is in the process of validating the laboratory's results. The crew member, whose illness began on May 2, is taking antiviral medication and has been in isolation since the ship left Washington. She will remain isolated throughout the duration of the ship's voyage in Alaska waters.

"The Serenade of the Seas medical staff members have done an excellent job in caring for the patient, following strict isolation procedures in order to prevent spread to others onboard the ship, and notifying state and federal health officials of the patient's illness," said Dr. Jay Butler, Alaska's Chief Medical Officer. - More...
Monday - May 11, 2009

Fish Factor: Wounded Warriors to be treated to Alaskan seafood buffet and high honors By LAINE WELCH - Several hundred Wounded Warriors and their families will be treated to an Alaskan seafood buffet and high flying honors next month in Olympia, Washington.

"We're going to have about 300 soldiers with their families, and we're going to give them some good Alaskan seafood. Then some war birds will do some static and a couple of fly bys for the crowd, and World War II planes will fly in 'missing man formation' to honor the soldiers," said Mark Kandianis of Kodiak Fish Company, who has almost single-handedly rallied the tribute.

The Wounded Warrior seafood event, set for June 19, ties in with the annual air show sponsored by the Olympia Flight Museum. Kandianis said donations (tax deductible) of time, money and seafood are being volunteered by industry stakeholders and many others.

Kandianis said he got the idea after spending time with friends who flew helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I just thought it was a way to let these warriors know it's a worthy cause and we're still thinking of them and we haven't forgotten them. The TV coverage may have dwindled after the election, but these guys are still walking around with lost limbs and scars that reflect a lifetime of misery, and we want to let people know they didn't do this for nothing," he said.

It's not the first time someone from Kodiak has rallied special recognition for the troops. For the past three years, dozens of wounded soldiers have been brought to the island for fishing trips, camping, four-wheeling and other outdoor recreations. Local businesses and residents and the Coast Guard have helped organize trips, and cover the costs for travel, hotel rooms, fish processing and other amenities. They also have made sure the soldiers were matched with special reels and gear for amputees, and boats with roomier sterns to accommodate wheelchairs. The Kenai River Sports Fishing Association has picked up the tab and purchased king stamps for the veterans visiting Kodiak.

All of the wounded soldiers invited to next month's Alaska seafood bash hail from the Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis.

"Down the road if we can raise enough money, it will go into the Madigan Foundation,' Kandianis said. The Madigan Foundation supports many veterans' projects, including the Remote Warrior Care Program, which enables wounded or ill soldiers to be treated in their hometowns.

"Without this funding many of the wounded, injured and ill soldiers would not be able to afford the costs associated with their recuperating at home," said WA Senator Patty Murray in a letter of support for the Foundation. Sen. Murray's father is a decorated World War II veteran.

While the Alaska seafood tribute will only last one day, Kandianis said the effects will be felt long after. "You know, the political mission goes on, but these are the guys who stand up and actually take it to them. People talk about supporting the troops, and this is a way to actually show that we care about them and their sacrifice." - More...
Monday - May 11, 2009

TOM PURCELL: Middle Aged and Annoyed - I turned 47 a few weeks ago. Boy, am I getting cranky.

Now in middle age, I'm less able to suffer fools gladly (including this fool). Many things annoy me:

A girl in her early 20s goes into a beer store. She buys a case of beer and lugs it back to the car.

Inside the car sit two young men, bigger and stronger than she. It never occurs to either louse to get off his duff and carry the case for her.

It never occurs to younger men to open the car door when they take a girl on a date or to be gentlemanly or chivalrous in any way.

Some call that "progress," and that annoys me.

It annoys me that many are afraid to use the words "right" or "wrong." Many fear the words "good" and "evil."

But there is right and wrong; there is good and evil. Some people are good and some are evil. Some organizations are. Some countries are. Some political systems are.

The American political system is mostly good -- though imperfect -- whereas other political systems, such as the one in Communist Cuba, are mostly bad, though they have some good elements.

Nonetheless, the fellows who founded America had better ideas than those espoused by, say, Karl Marx.

Whereas freedom and representative government have unleashed unimaginable wealth in America, our current downturn aside, Marx's ideas have failed everywhere they've been tried.

In a sane world, that would be beyond debate. But the world is not sane, and some are still trying to impose their wrong-headed ideas on us -- and that annoys me. - More...
Monday - May 11, 2009

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Responses to my letters By Charles Edwardson - For some reason some of my letters make it to this publication and some do not. I do not know if they are screened or not but it seems that some of my more polite letters make it on right away and some of the more sarcastic letters do not make it at all. In any case sarcasm is not a reason to discount the content of an opinion. - More...
Tuesday - May 12, 2009

The Theft of Taan ta Kwaan Lands in Ketchikan By Aan Kadax Tseen aka Don Hoff Jr. - The low tidelands around Ketchikan, Alaska belong to the Taan ta Kwaan (Sea Lion People), also known as the Tongass Tribe. Encroachment or theft of Native lands in Ketchikan actually started during the Alaska gold rush in the late 1880's with so-called mining claims like Venetia Lode and Schoenbar Lode. It was during this time that Alaska Natives were unable to make mining claims on their own lands, because they were not citizens of the United States. - More...
Monday PM - May 11, 2009

ANOTHER CLIFF HANGER by Ken Bylund - Mr. Hanger, do you believe that defending your political religion with the fervor of Pope Gregory IX is persuasive, or productive? Many, especially non-partisans, non-believers [like me] have had enough of this religious inquisition rhetoric from all sides... leaves a bitter history, all this constant sniping, the compulsive disorder to shout down, accuse, and pitch divisive epithets; peculiar [as it is repulsive], is the tone, that hollow echo of past totalitarianism. My recommendation; provide logical, persuasive arguments for specific concepts, [scientific method] to be studied, tested, and proofed; resist all the blustery energy aimed at destroying the reputations of them who disagree with you [not very scientific]. Listen and think about what skeptics are saying, much of it is justifiable, offer reasonable, constructive alternatives. - More...
Monday PM - May 11, 2009

Thank You By Julia Guthrie - My son Christopher R. Stacy was involved in a single car accident on South Tongass Highway on May 4th. My family would just like to thank the South Tongass Fire Department, the Alaska State Troopers, the Ketchikan General Hospital, Guardian Flight, Harbor Veiw Medical Center, our friends and family, and all the people of Ketchikan who offered their support to our family. - More...
Monday PM - May 11, 2009

Foster Care in Alaska By Mary Ida Henrikson - I must respond to Matt Jackson's letter. First it must have been devastating to learn that money was the motivation in your foster care. Your letter describing your conclusion is full of emotional pain and confusion. - More...
Monday PM - May 11, 2009

$414,000.00 plus $30,000.00 By Bob Jackson - The people I have talked with believe the council made a costly mistake in the decision to move KPU customer service out of its current location. - More...
Saturday - May 09, 2009

KPU Telecom Sale By Michael Naab - Reading the recent letters from Charles Edwardson and Rudy McGillvray, one might assume that the sale of KPU's Telecommunications Division is a foregone conclusion. Not so. Here are some facts: - More...
Saturday - May 09, 2009

Dungeness Crab in Southeast Alaska By Jackie Tyson - Briefly, I was at the Petersburg Board of Fish (BoF) meeting. I spoke for the people of Whale Pass who wanted to keep the little bay in front of their town closed to commercial crabbers. My husband was trying to get a small area in the Wrangell Narrows by Petersburg closed to Dungeness because it's so depleted. We were shot down. It was not pretty. - More...
Saturday - May 09, 2009

Foster Care in Alaska By Matt Jackson - Today, I learned what really makes the "youth treatment system" go 'round in Alaska. It's not love, it is not about the kids, and no one cares about us. It is the money. I won't go into the many grievances Residential Youth Care and foster care have committed against me. Rather, today I will only talk about the numbers.  - More...
Saturday - May 09, 2009

Speed Limits By Libby Oaksmith - I have read the previous two letters and agree with both of them. In 2000, I wrote a letter to the Daily News asking drivers to please slow down. I too live in the same area as Jennifer, only right across from the ball park. - More...
Saturday - May 09, 2009

ON SECESSION By David G. Hanger - Eileen Small would have us believe that there exists a binding contract between the state of Texas and the United States that allows Texas to secede from the United States if it so desires. That so-called contract language dates to 1845 and was voided and superseded by what is known as the American Civil War. You might have heard of it, Eileen. - More...
Saturday - May 09, 2009

Our children's children's Forest By James Schenk - I have been to the Maybeso experimental forest! For such a place to be chosen as an example of a good one, is beyond my belief. The alder after 60 years in the Maybeso is still profuse, the reprod which was never properly thinned makes human and animal passage difficult at best. The reasoning of destroying our forest for profit of corporations and publicly funded logging should be as dead as a spawned out salmon. - More...
Saturday - May 09, 2009

Coastal Alaska forest regrowth By Louise Clark - I feel an obligation to add my opinion to this discussion of old growth ugly versus new beautiful human managed forests because it is refreshing to know that man in his ultimate wisdom is better at this than God or mother nature.  - More...
Saturday - May 09, 2009

Coastal Alaska Forest Regrowth By Charlotte Tanner - Thank you Mr. Stump for your attempt at "enlightening" me. I tend to agree with you on your assessment of your grandmother, she is over mature. Just as a tree that has fallen and decayed on the forest floor for a few decades could be called over mature, but to call a standing tree "over mature" is rather pre mature in my humble opinion. - More...
Saturday - May 09, 2009

Sidewalk congestion By Julie Grimmer - This morning at the tunnel, I witnessed two women get on their small electric wheelchair-type vehicles and zoom on to downtown, using the sidewalk. Now, these 2 were not handicapped in any way. I saw both of them walking around their vehicles prior to using them, stooping down, one even running down the street to get something. - More...
Saturday - May 09, 2009

Slumlords By Cecelia Johnson - On rent and landlords I really need to add my two cents. I am a homeowner but have been involved with social services which I was an advocate. - More...
Wednesday - May 06, 2009

Coastal Alaska Forest Regrowth By Keith Stump - Charlotte Tanner has requested me to enlighten her with locations of "better, greener, healthier forests" in Southeast Alaska. OK. First, check out Maybeso Valley on POW where the Maybeso Experimental Forest is located. It was used for experimental logging by the U.S. Forest Service when large-scale logging first began to provide the timber contracted to the two long-term (50 year) sales to the two pulp mills build in the 1950's (Ketchikan and then Sitka). To evaluate and better understand the effects of more significant harvesting of timber (particularly the effects on salmon streams),and the natural regrowth capabilities and processes in Southeast Alaska, over four miles of forests on both sides of the Maybeso Creek were clear-cut logged, and within that area a square mile (after being was first clear cut logged) had all remaining trees (down to just sprouts) removed. In that regrowth (or second generation forest), you will uniformly find an overall "greener" forest canopy (over sixty feet tall about ten or twenty years ago) without the grey dead tops of dead or dying trees found in the or climax forest that was there when the logging began. - More...
Wednesday - May 06, 2009

Old Growth Trees - worthless? By Shelley Stallings - About the only sentence in Mr. Dornblasers letter I can find any agreement with is the one which states that trees, like all living things, grow, mature, then die. After that it becomes more complicated and most of these issues have be hashed and re-hashed many times over in the media and at countless USFS public meetings. - More...
Wednesday - May 06, 2009

Take the Money By Rick Ferguson - I think our governor should get off her high horse and take the money. - More...
Wednesday - May 06, 2009

HELP SAVE OUR DUNGENESS!!!!! By Kimberly Peters - The Alaska Board of Fisheries has decided to open commercial Dungeness fishing in the Ketchikan area on June 15th, 2009. This just happens to be when the crabs are breeding and have soft shells, this hasn't been done since the 80's because they almost WIPED the species OUT!! - More...
Monday - May 04, 2009

25 MPH speed limit neighborhoods By Michael Moyer - I will have to agree with Jennifer Tavares that there is no intelligent reason why the neighborhood streets of Ketchikan should have speed limits as high as 25 mph. I live on upper Water Street and I have witnessed near fatal accidents with pedestrians there including a child who was simply stepping out of his street side home directly into the path of an on-coming car. - More...
Monday - May 04, 2009

Re: KPU (Telephone Division) By Alan R. (Rudy) McGillvray - It has never been incumbent upon the City Council to do anything in governing Ketchikan that would REALLY benefit its citizens and or customers. KPU Telephone Division is the only division in KPU that makes more money than it spends; that would be called, by any other name, PROFIT. KPU Telephone Div, is constantly called upon to give monies to the Electrical Division, if you read the minutes of City Council Meetings very carefully you will note that on occasion the Council is asked by the Managers of KPU to do so and they do. - More...
Monday - May 04, 2009

RE: Enlightment By Jim Dornblaser - Ms. Tanner, I find your choice of words ironic. - More...
Monday - May 04, 2009

High Rent?? By Sonia Streitmatter - I am a homeowner who currently has renters in my home. I'm fairly new to the game (just a few months), but I have to say if anyone thinks I am making money off the deal, they are just plain wrong. The rent covers the mortgage payment, the property manager's fee and the little bit extra goes to paying the increase in insurance from a homeowner's policy to a landlord's policy. If there is anything left, it will go towards a fund for repairs/alterations. - More...
Monday - May 04, 2009

Ketchikan Tea Party By Eileen Small - I thought Mr. Hanger's tirade against Ms. Emmert's letter in support of the nationwide tea parties to be a tad elitist and unjust--a characteristic which that writer shares with many of our currently elected officials and a fact that helped incite the grass root protests leading to the tea parties. I know I am not a racist but I can see unnecessary spending occur and I hate to see my kids and others' kids paying for debts occurred in this generation. Frankly, I hate to pay for it either and if I wanted to own Chrysler or GM I'd buy stock personally! I guess I can determine right from wrong. Why is the "race card" always played when someone disagrees with liberal politics? I think it is silly--sort of like grade schoolers calling each other baby- name-insults on a playground! I don't think Ms. Emmert is a racist either and I am certain of one more thing that neither she nor I are: WE AREN'T SOCIALISTS!!!  - More...
Monday - May 04, 2009

Iranian Nuclear Missile Threat By Donald A. Moskowitz - Iran tested the launch of a Scud missile from a ship in the Caspian Sea, which was designed to provide the capability of launching intermediate range missiles from cargo ships sitting off coastlines. Also, within a few years Iran will have long range missiles capable of striking North America. - More...
Monday - May 04, 2009

Airline Travel Costs By Jerilyn Lester - I have to agree with Chas Edwardson on this one, if Alaska Airlines thought in terms of volume instead of gouging each individual that crossed the Narrows it would be better all around. - More...
Monday - May 04, 2009

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