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Inequities in the current system of funding our K-12 schools By
Gary Wilken - I am writing to express my appreciation for the outstanding effort of a group of Ketchikan High students in producing a YouTube video describing the inequities in the current system of funding our K-12 schools. Led by Mr. Sean Powell, teacher, these students ably tackled a complicated provision of our Foundation Formula. This provision penalizes Alaskans living in "Organized Alaska" (i.e. boroughs) by requiring a local contribution to their schools while those in "Unorganized Alaska" are required to pay none, regardless of ability to pay. In the video, which I encourage all taxpayers across the state to watch the students scratch their collective heads and ask "Why?" - More...
Friday PM - May 06, 2011
Where is the death certificate, Mr. President? By
By Jimmie L. Foster - Osama bin Laden is dead. Of that, I have no doubt. To question this statement one would have to question the skill and bravery of the Navy SEALS and believe that the master terrorist who occasionally appeared in propaganda videos and audio recordings was capable of perpetually eluding all human and technological intelligence. - More...
Friday PM - May 06, 2011
The Great Alaska Cluster of 2011 By Tara Jollie - A budget showdown in the last days of this special session defines what Alaskans mean when we use the term cluster. I appreciate the power struggle the Senate is grappling with, but having checks and balances is a good thing. Having one or two people in the Administration making critical decisions that impact us all is not a good thing. This is a fight worth fighting. - More..
Friday - May 06, 2011
An Observation By
Rod Landis - You know those provocative moments when you see or hear something that suddenly makes crystal-clear some previously elusive truth? I had one Tuesday morning. - More...
Thursday AM - May 05, 2011
Kralis concert By
Wayne Kinunen - I was very fortunate to be in attendance at the 1st annual OrcaFool Don and Lois Kralis Memorial Concert Monday night at the Kayhi Auditorium. The Kayhi Jazz Band, Vocal Jazz Choir, Paddy's Leather Breeches, folkies Sean Powell and Mary Larsen, and the headbangers Buck Up Little Kamper put on a wonderful and emotional performance in honor of two fine people who left us in a tragic accident 11 months ago in British Columbia. - More...
Thursday AM - May 05, 2011
The Second Annual Ketchikan Clean Up By Jerry Cegelske - The Second Annual Ketchikan Clean Up began the morning of April 20, 2011 with Ketchikan being scoured by 550 students from Ketchikan and Revilla High schools. To say the least, the results were remarkable! Ketchikan looks much cleaner today- I hope it stays that way with the effort the students put into the clean up. - More...
Thursday AM - May 05, 2011
Japanese Connection - Koto Concert By Judith Green - There is something beautiful and calming about the Koto instrument - the fashion in which it is played by women in their cultural dress playing with such delicate, soft strokes. - More...
Thursday AM - May 05, 2011
SOME APPRECIATIVE SNOWMACHINERS By
Jerry Cegelske - On March 31, I drove out on Revilla Road and found an electric range someone had dumped at 6.5 Mile. I noted it and was wondering how to get it removed. - More...
Thursday AM - May 05, 2011
CONTINUING A COAST GUARD TRADITION IN KETCHIKAN By
Jerry Cegelske - The U. S. Coast Guard Electronics Support Detachment, Ketchikan, has established a tradition which everyone in Ketchikan should know about. - More...
Thursday - May 05, 2011
KCCB Spring Concert By
Judith Green - Once again, for just $10 and students free, the audience was treated to live performance that was outstanding. I chose to live in Ketchikan. I was raised in a community of great renown for world wide recognition of an orchestra - graduated from a college close to NYC and performed with the chorus in Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center - having access to any number of world known conductors with orchestras and bands and chorus. Yet ... I am absolutely thrilled each time I attend a live performance here in Ketchikan, this small island community that has a wealth of people who give their time and talent to learn and then to share - choral, band, dance, theater, painting, sculpting, writing and the list goes on. - More...
Wednesday PM - May 04, 2011
Need Comprehensive Energy Strategy By
Donald A. Moskowitz - The increase in gasoline prices reflects the instability in the Middle East and attendant speculation in the oil markets. We need to address the huge runup in oil prices with comprehensive policies designed to provide solutions to our energy consumption problems. Unfortunately, past administrations have failed us. - More...
Wednesday PM - May 04, 2011
Request for help with research on Unangan at Ward Lake in WWII By
Rachel Mason - I am writing to request information and suggestions from knowledgeable Ketchikan residents. Lost Villages of the Aleutians is a National Park Service project documenting the history of four villages that disappeared during World War II. In 1942, the residents of three tiny Aleutian villages, Makushin, Kashega, and Biorka, were among those who were brought by boat to stay near Ketchikan at the Ward Lake CCC camp. Some of them died and were buried in the Ketchikan cemetery. After the war, their numbers further diminished by illness and attrition, the residents of those villages were not permitted to return to their homes. Instead, they were resettled in other Unangan (Aleut) communities. - More...
Monday - May 02, 2011
Jerry Galley Memorial Scholarship Concert By
Judith Green - Ketchikan music members did it again! Another evening of great talent giving to the community so much energy - so much wonderful music. - More...
Monday - May 02, 2011
The Proposed Library By
Ken Leland - My God! I can't believe the proposed new Library design. It looks more to me like a place to store Airliners, not books. With those high ceilings it will take a massive heating system to keep that place warm enough for anyone's comfort. Just the cost of fuel oil or electrical power would be enough to heat the entire Plaza. - More...
Monday - May 02, 2011
Coast Guard Waste By
Trygve Westergard - Surplus stuff is supposed to be put on GSA to be sold off. But many people don't want to deal with the trouble of doing it. - More...
Monday - May 02, 2011
Sealaska to take over Redoubt Falls? By
Florian Sever - Sealaska Corporation is due to receive yet another allotment of land, separate and apart from the land that Sealaska is trying to get through the Sealaska Lands Bill. Sealaska has asked the BLM for 11 acres of land surrounding the falls where Lake Redoubt drains into Redoubt Bay, near Sitka. The falls are a popular site for subsistence fishing for sockeye salmon. Many people in Sitka rely on this fishery for a part of their livelihood. I question what Sealaska shareholders have to gain from the proposed conveyance of 11 acres of Forest Service land at Redoubt Falls into private Sealaska Corporation hands. - More...
Thursday - April 28, 2011
Coast Guard Waste: Blame GSA By
Scott Willis - In response to Linda Heiser's post: I could not agree more. The reason the USCG and other Federal Agencies can not donate stuff to local charities is very complicated and to explain "why" would require volumes and volumes of books on the matter. - More...
Thursday - April 28, 2011
Government Waste By
Joe Grady - I agree with prior letters concerning government waste. When I was in the U.S. Army I was astounded by the waste that would go one. - More...
Thursday - April 28, 2011
Coast Guard waste By
Walt Hoefer - The Coast Guard has been doing this for many years. When we lived in Metlakatla (teachers) back in 1959, we observed the Coast Guard burning boxes of meat and other grocery products at the dump. When we questioned this they said a new shipment had come in and there was no room to store it. We asked why not give it to the Tsimshean indian community. "Against the law" they said. - More...
Thursday - April 28, 2011
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