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Tuesday
May 28,2013
Lightning!
The beautiful weather & higher temps produced a lightning show later in the evening on Monday. This photograph was taken from Ketchikan City Float.
Front Page Photo by MIKE SMITH ©2013
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FEATURE PHOTOS
Ketchikan: Work still underway to dispose of Susitna Ferry - The Matanuska-Susitna Borough is still working on selling its $78 million Susitna Ferry which is still berthed outside Ketchikan, according to Matanuska-Susitna Borough Public Affairs Director Patty Sullivan. In an email received by SitNews today Sullivan said, "Brokers are still working on selling the ship."
Susitna Ferry
Photo courtesy Mat-Su Borough
On March 29th, a sealed bid was opened from a Dutch marine company for $751,000 to buy the Susitna Ferry from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Also still on the table for consideration, is the transfer of the vessel for free to an eligible government entity in the U.S. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough also remains open to unsolicited bids to buy the one-of-a-kind ship.
“We’re disappointed with the results,” said Borough Manager John Moosey in late March regarding the bids. “But this shows the market demand. We’ll continue to work with eligible agencies and the FTA (Federal Transit Administration) to come to a reasonable conclusion to this story.”
The agile ship has three performance modes: it acts as a barge low in the water, acts as a landing craft and pulls up to shore in four feet of water to offload heavy equipment onto the beach; acts as a twin-hulled vessel and lets the sea pass it by, making rough rides for passengers more comfortable. The vessel also can lift ice and snap it over its twin bows. - More...
Tuesday - May 28, 2013
Fish Factor: From "Boat to Throat"; New rules for hired skippers; IFQ Bids; & Death by Sunscreen By LAINE WELCH - It takes quite a crew to get an Alaska salmon from “boat to throat,” and everyone along the line gets a cut of the catch. How that “value chain” has paid out in the past few years shows some nice gains for Alaska fishermen and processors.
“We often get asked what share the fisherman retains, and how much each segment of the supply chain gets for salmon. The answer depends on the species, and the product you are talking about, and what gear type,” said Andy Wink, a fisheries economist with the McDowell Group in Juneau who compiled the report for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.“
Wink’s report tracks and compares from 2008 – 2011salmon ex-vessel (dock price) payouts for fishermen and first wholesale value for processors, which typically is defined as the value of the product as it leaves Alaska.
The chain illustrates three examples, showing values from high to low returns for fishermen, with troll caught kings topping the list. - More...
Tuesday - May 28, 2013
Southeast Alaska: 2013 Marine Debris Cleanup Projects Announced - The Alaska Marine Stewardship Foundation announced today that it will be conducting eight marine debris cleanup projects throughout Alaska this season with several of the cleanup projects located in southeast.
Director, Dave Gaudet said “We are working with local communities and organizations to remove debris from beaches that are important to them and wildlife.” He went on to explain that working with the local groups is the most efficient manner of conducting cleanups; “They know the area, the location of the debris, and they have the equipment and knowledge to conduct the cleanups.” The cleanups are expected to remove between 150,000 to 250,000 pounds of debris from approximately 100 miles of beach. This is only a fraction of the amount of debris that has accumulated on Alaska’s beaches and a very small fraction of the 44,500 miles of Alaska’s coastline. - More...
Tuesday - May 28, 2013
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Alaska: Research finds wood and plains bison not subspecies By Nancy Tarnai - DNA analysis does not support the designation of wood bison and plains bison as different subspecies, according to recently published research results from a University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist.
Wood bison are kept at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage. An Alaska Fish and Game plan to release them into the wild was halted due to their status as an endangered species.
Photo courtesy AWCC
Wood bison from northwest Canada and plains bison from southern Canada and the Lower 48 have been designated as different subspecies, although scientists don’t all agree that they should be. Wood bison are listed as an endangered subspecies, while plains bison are not.
“This is important because the Endangered Species Act allows subspecies to be listed as species,” said Matthew Cronin, UAF professor of animal genetics. “The ESA is mandated to use the best available science, so thorough assessment of the subspecies status is necessary.”
Cronin and his collaborators found that the animals in some plains bison herds are genetically more different from each other than some plains bison are from wood bison, yet those herds are not identifiable as two distinct groups. They also found that wood and plains bison are much more genetically similar than cattle subspecies and breeds, such as Angus and Texas Longhorn cattle.
The bison herds Cronin studied are located in Alaska, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, New York, Alberta and the Northwest Territories and include plains bison in Alaska at Delta Junction, Chitina, Copper River and Farewell, and wood bison at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Cronin’s findings are published in the online May 10 issue of the Journal of Heredity. - More...
Tuesday - May 28, 2013
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Alaska: Per Student Public Education Spending Decreases for First Time in Nearly Four Decades, Census Bureau Reports; Alaska among top spenders - Fiscal year 2011 marked the first decrease in per student public education spending since the U.S. Census Bureau began collecting data on an annual basis in 1977, according to new statistics released last week (dollars not adjusted for inflation). The 50 states and the District of Columbia spent $10,560 per student in 2011, down 0.4 percent from 2010. The top spenders were New York ($19,076), the District of Columbia ($18,475), Alaska ($16,674), New Jersey ($15,968) and Vermont ($15,925).
Total expenditures by public elementary and secondary school systems totaled $595.1 billion in 2011, down 1.1 percent from 2010. This is the second time total expenditures have shown a year-to-year decrease, the first time being 2010.
The findings come from Public Education Finances: 2011. These statistics provide figures on revenues, expenditures, debt and assets (cash and security holdings) of the nation's elementary and secondary public school systems for the 2011 fiscal year. The release includes detailed statistics on spending — such as instruction, student transportation, salaries and employee benefits — at the national, state and school district levels.
Of the $595.1 billion in total expenditures for public school systems, $522.1 billion is comprised of current spending (i.e. operational expenditures, not including long-term debt). Expenditure for instruction amounted to $316.3 billion (60.6 percent) of the total current spending, while costs for support services amounted to $178.7 billion (34.2 percent). Instructional salaries were the largest expenditure category for public elementary and secondary education, accounting for $208.8 billion in 2011. - More...
Tuesday - May 28, 2013
National: Wal-Mart Pleads Guilty To Federal Environmental Crimes And Civil Violations And Will Pay More Than $81 Million; Retailer admits violating criminal and civil laws designed to protect water quality and to ensure proper handling of hazardous wastes and pesticides – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. pleaded guilty today in cases filed by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco to six counts of violating the Clean Water Act by illegally handling and disposing of hazardous materials at its retail stores across the United States. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company also pleaded guilty today in Kansas City, Mo., to violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) by failing to properly handle pesticides that had been returned by customers at its stores across the country.
As a result of the three criminal cases brought by the Justice Department, as well as a related civil case filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Wal-Mart will pay approximately $81.6 million for its unlawful conduct. Coupled with previous actions brought by the states of California and Missouri for the same conduct, Wal-Mart will pay a combined total of more than $110 million to resolve cases alleging violations of federal and state environmental laws.
According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, from a date unknown until January 2006, Wal-Mart did not have a program in place and failed to train its employees on proper hazardous waste management and disposal practices at the store level. As a result, hazardous wastes were either discarded improperly at the store level – including being put into municipal trash bins or, if a liquid, poured into the local sewer system – or they were improperly transported without proper safety documentation to one of six product return centers located throughout the United States. - More...
Tuesday - May 28, 2013
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 Thank You Ketchikan By Peggy Pollen - Dear People of Ketchikan, You have an amazing group of citizens in your community. They are called Rotarians. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013
Re: Taxes & Local Government by Ken Bylund -
Ketchikan, and government in general, caving to special interest groups? Isn't as simple as bending to the will of the majority; government is clearly "the special interest group." ... is the obvious really that hard to understand? To look, to see that we have been asleep as an overweighted minority of power claims the apportionment of taxes as their own; thousands of specific descriptions of property sinking in the quicksand of [fill in the blank] self proclaimed predominant party; reasons this Republic was assembled in the way it was; now orchestrated ignorance proclaims The Constitution is a "living document" obsolete, needing change, to be discarded, for the social benefit of the children... Pathos trumps Logos. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013
Hummingbirds By Fred Bassett -
I am a hummingbird bander who will be doing migration research on hummingbirds in Ketchikan from 2 to 5 June. I am looking for hummingbird hosts with good numbers of hummers who will allow me to band at their homes. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013
Wage Reduction vs. Change Tax System By Anthony Gasbarro -
Jobs have been lost in this country for over 30 years due to our lack of competitiveness. It's cheaper to go out of the country for most manufacturers than to make products here. People who haven't lost their jobs are squeezed to do more with less. Sound familiar? - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013
Enough! By Tilli Abbott -
I was raised in Hoonah, graduating from high school the same year ANSCA passed Congress. Never paid attention to the corporations until I was 40. Ran for the board, made it and continue to battle "them" as I observe reverse discrimination. That's what I see... racism and discrimination hidden within the walls of the Native Corporations. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013
Fair Tax By Patrick R. Burkett - Recent news regarding the IRS targeting certain political groups and their members for harassment via tax exempt applications and tax return audits provides further reason why we the people should vote to disband the IRS. Legislation in the form of HR25 and S122, titled The Fair Tax Act, does just that and awaits hearings in the U.S. House of Representative's Ways and Means Committee and the U.S. Senate's Finance Committee respectively. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013
Filipinos in Ketchikan By Joey Garcia -
This topic is my concern after the recently concluded elections in the Philippines that make concern to the Filipinos in Ketchikan, Alaska, in my personal opinion. This commentary is based on pronouncements of the scenario to clarify who, where, when, and how, for understanding comprehensively and in comparison to where the real Filipino roots are. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013
RE: Taxes & Local Government By Suzan Thompson -
In response to Rodney Dial's recent letter, wherein he makes a number of valid points, I'd like to point out that the photos at the conclusion of his letter may be misleading for some people. The photo of the Juneau library is actually that of a branch library located in a mall; their main library is much larger. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013
Taxes & the Local Government By Rodney Dial -
If you read the newspaper on May 21st, you are aware that Ketchikan Borough Leadership caved to special interests and passed a property tax increase. If you are keeping track, this is the third property tax increase (City and Borough) in the last two years. The latest tax increase was done to appease those asking for yet another education increase… after years… and years… of large increases. - More...
Thursday - May 23, 2013
RE: The Whisper App and Your Kids By Dawn Luna -
First off I want to say to Jessica Travis, I commend you on your letter, and I could not agree with you more. I am not a parent, but I am an Aunt, and I am an Aunt who is very concerned with the bullying that goes on in our community amongst our youth. Not a day has gone by in the last month that I have not heard a youth talking about being bullied and/or a parent talking about their child being bullied. WHEN, WHERE, and HOW does it STOP I ask you??? - More...
Thursday - May 23, 2013
No Peace for Israel By Donald A. Moskowitz -
I take exception to the two state solution proposed for Israel and Palestine. Some people, including world leaders, are proposing setting borders for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, a conditional Israeli settlement building freeze, a Jerusalem agreement and a Palestinian relinquishment of the claim for the right of return for millions of Arabs. - More...
Thursday - May 23, 2013
Petition to repeal SB21 oil tax giveway By Jim Stimpfle -
Helping to get the petition signed here in Nome to repeal SB21. If you think our oil partners will fill the oil pipeline with 1 million barrels you better pray hard... or sign the petition and vote yes and then pray that Parnell does not get reelected. - More...
Thursday - May 23, 2013
Open Letter: Eliminate the IRS By A. M. Johnson - Now is the opportune time to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service. A service that was created by Congress, oversighted by the President and corrupted many times by both parties by many many members of Congress, and lobbies who have had rules bent and made illegal in so very many incidents. Always at the expense of the common man. - More...
Monday - May 20, 2013
Sealaska Nobility & Decreased Dividend & By Andre LeCornu -
To say that these Sealaska people are actually avaricious and elitist is a gross understatement. The current lands bill is under fire throughout the state. This corporation has wrought more divisiveness and disunity than unity. It is a corporation and will not and cannot meet our needs as tribal people. It is farcical to think for a moment that the corporate goals are even compatible with our tribal needs. The philosophies of these organized entities are at opposite ends of the spectrum. To have a Sealaska board member as President of the tribe clearly defines contradiction. Even the use of the term"tribal member shareholder" is a cruel joke and nonsensical in the real world. - More...
Monday PM - May 20, 2013
Time for a FairTax By Roy Newsom - The FairTax Plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive national retail sales tax, a prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue replacement, and, through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment. This nonpartisan legislation (HR 25/S122) abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax - administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities. The IRS is disbanded and defunded. The FairTax taxes us only on what we choose to spend on new goods or services, not on what we earn. The FairTax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity of our current tax system. - More...
Monday PM - May 20, 2013
VOTE FOR MYRNA GARDNER By Martha Gallagher -
I urge all family, family & shareholders to vote directed and give your votes to Myrna Gardner. - More...
Monday PM - May 20, 2013
SEAPA Study – Waste of Ratepayers’ Money By Bob Sivertsen -
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) is a nonprofit wholesale power provider, not a monopoly as recently alleged. As a nonprofit, revenues are invested back into the Agency's operations and maintenance, and most years, rebates are given back to the member communities, all of which benefit our communities. Revenues are not pocketed by owners or stockholders. Working through contracts with the member communities, including the Power Sales Agreement, is a standard part of a sound business plan, which is evidenced by the Agency’s delivery of reliable wholesale power to the communities of Ketchikan, Petersburg, and Wrangell at the low rate of 6.8 cents/kWh for over 15 years. Our stable wholesale power rate is the lowest in the State of Alaska and has significantly benefited this region. This is "unique" considering costs for almost everything else have gone up significantly over the same period of time. - More...
Thursday PM - May 16, 2013
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