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Thursday
April 05, 2016
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Ward Cove Sunset
Front Page Feature Photo By THEO PIMPERTON ©2016
Ketchikan: Dog Involved in Attack To Be Humanely Euthanized - Alaska State and Wildlife Troopers based in Ketchikan along with the North Tongass Emergency Medical Services responded to the area of Christopher Road on Monday afternoon for a report of a black pit bull attacking a man. Upon their arrival 70 year old Jeff Rodger of Ketchikan was being treated by EMS for dog bites to both his legs. Christopher Road is located approximately 14 miles north of Ketchikan in the North Point Higgins area.
According to Troopers, Rodger said he was out for his daily walk when the loose dog confronted him on the street. Troopers remained in the area with EMS until Ketchikan Animal control arrived and removed the dog which was still loose and barking. According to information provided by Ketchikan Animal Protection, this was not the first biting incident invovling this black pit bull dog named Maddy.
According to a press release from Ketchikan Animal Protection, the Ketchikan Borough already had a case pending against Kasha Hamilton for her black pit bull dog “Maddy” for molestation (KGB code 06.40.020(a)). This case involves an incident which occurred on March 9th involving Hamilton’s female pit bull. According to the citation, the pit bull Maddy ran onto the public right-of-way on Christopher Road “attacking multiple children, biting and scratching two of the children.”
The citation for that molestation incident was issued on March 10th. Hamilton was arraigned on April 5th and a trial was set for June 28th at 9:30 a.m.
Based on the March incident, the dog was declared potentially dangerous. Hamilton appealed the declaration and an administrative hearing was held on March 29th. The potentially dangerous declaration was upheld. Hamilton again had the option of appealing the potentially dangerous declaration in Superior Court. She had until May 12th to file an appeal.
Once the animal was determined to be potentially dangerous in March, the dog Maddy was required to be confined in the owner’s home or in a secure kennel on their property. When the animal is in public areas, the dog must be walked by an adult, muzzled, and on a leash no longer than four feet in length. - More...
Thursday PM - May 05, 2016
Southeast Alaska: TFCU To Open New Branch in Wrangell - Tongass Federal Credit Union will be opening a branch in Wrangell this summer. The Board of Directors voted in favor of opeining a branch office in Wrangell at their April meeting. The new Wrangell office will be located on Front Street in the Kadin Building.
President and CEO, Helen Mickel said, “As a community credit union with a cooperative structure, we are able to provide affordable and convenient services. Decisions are made locally by employees that know and understand our members and our communities. I believe the credit union difference will be valued and appreciated in Wrangell. We are very happy to be going to Wrangell where we have already met new friends and we look forward to establishing new community partnerships.”
Tongass Federal Credit Union currently has four branches on three islands in southern southeast Alaska. Their main office and loan center are located in Ketchikan. Other branches are located in Metlakatla, Klawock, and Thorne Bay. - More...
Thursday PM - May 05, 2016
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Alaska: Governor’s Tribal Advisory Council Announced - Governor Bill Walker and Lt. Governor Byron Mallott announced the newly appointed members of the Governor’s Tribal Advisory Council today. The 11 member advisory council met with Governor Walker and Lt. Governor Mallott at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in Anchorage to set goals and priorities for the group going forward.
Governor announces the 11 members appointed to the Governor's Tribal Advisory Council: Chester Ballot of Kotzebue; Gerry Hope of Sitka; Guy Adams of Kotzebue; Harry Brower of Barrow; Jody Juneby Potts, Han Gwich’in Athabaskan of Fairbanks; Melanie Bahnke of Nome; Melissa Borton of Kodiak; Richard Peterson of Kasaan; Ralph Anderson of Dillingham; Victor Joseph is a tribal member of Tanana; and Tiffany Jackson of Sand Point.
Photo courtesy Office of the Governor
“Each of these individuals brings a unique skill set and experiences that will benefit the administration as we address issues important to Alaska’s tribes,” said Governor Walker. “I have tasked this group with providing input on relevant topics and helping our administration to find opportunities for the state and tribes to work collaboratively.”
The Governor’s Tribal Advisory Council (GTAC) consists of 11 members representing tribes’ interests in wildlife and fisheries, transportation, housing, subsistence, public safety, justice, language and culture, economic development, energy and natural resources, healthcare, and education. Members were nominated by their tribes and appointed by Governor Walker.
Governor Walker signed Administrative Order 227 on October 14, 2015, establishing GTAC and beginning the process by which tribal members could be nominated to the council.
“This council provides a forum for open, respectful, and informed dialogue on a full range of issues facing Alaska’s tribes, and recommended actions by both the tribes and the state,” said Lt. Governor Mallott. “It is critical that the Governor and Lt. Governor have direct communication with tribes to meet the unique needs of Alaska’s first people.”
The Rural Governance Commission congratulated Governor Bill Walker, Lt. Governor Byron Mallott and their administration for creating the Tribal Advisory Council. The council's mission is to "identify areas of concern and opportunity shared by the State and the Tribes and to suggest policy, programs and other means and methods for solutions and progress."
According to the Rural Governance Commission, the state working directly with tribes is an exciting step. The Rural Governance Commission recognizes the challenges that lie ahead and appreciates this positive action in overcoming past acrimony. - More...
Thursday PM - May 05, 2016
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Alaska Science: Yukon River breaking up with a whimper By NED ROZELL - As the pilot of a chartered Cessna 206 curved in for a landing above the Yukon River, his passengers squinted at white river ice that clung to the south bank near town. Chocolate brown open water filled river channels both upstream and downstream of the ice.
River ice fills a channel of the Yukon River near Circle a few hours before breakup.
Photo by Ned Rozell
In the seat behind the pilot, Ed Plumb of the National Weather Service scribbled in a notebook. Kerry Seifert of Alaska’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management looked downriver, toward an S-curve notorious for catching ice. Pilot Dave Lorring, who has flown these ice-observing flights for more than a decade, summed up their thoughts.
I’ve never seen it this broken up before at this time of year,” he said over the intercom.
Two days before the end of April, the men were flying over the big river as part of River Watch, a mission funded by the state and flown each year for the last few decades. A hydrologist and emergency manager fly the river each day in spring when ice could pose a threat.
This year, in a thermal breakup, warm spring temperatures have weakened the ice.
“This is just a really bizarre year,” Seifert said as he stepped from the plane. “It’s like a backwards breakup this year (with open water downriver of ice sheets).”
Circle, the town at the end of a gravel road that terminates at the Yukon River, has been under water a few times. A metal support post in the store has five labels stuck at floodwater levels. The label-maker tape for May 19, 2013 is just above the door handle. May 3, 1989, is five feet above the floor.
Those years, the Yukon had a dynamic breakup, when ice jammed in river channels and backed the river into town. - More...
Thursday PM - May 05, 2016
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Columns - Commentary
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PHIL KERPEN: Congress Must Stop Obamacare Bailout Scheme – Again - The biggest victory for taxpayers in the Obamacare fight so far was the enactment in late 2014 of language prohibiting the Risk Corridor program from being transformed into an open-ended bailout for big insurance companies.
Unfortunately that language is now being sidestepped by a scheme in which the Obama administration invited the big insurance companies to sue the government, which in turn is likely to take a dive on the lawsuit and then make the bailout payments anyway.
It's outrageous and must be stopped.
At the time Congress debated the funding restriction, both the Congressional Budget Office and the White House Office of Management and Budget agreed that the provision neither spent nor saved any taxpayer money. That was because the administration maintained the program would, as Obamacare supporters had always claimed, be run in a budget-neutral fashion, paying out to insurance companies only what the program itself had already collected from other insurance companies.
Congress thought it was important to cement this budget-neutrality promise into statute, just in case.
Shortly after they did it became clear that, contrary to the administration's claims, if Congress had not acted the program would have been transformed into a massive multi-billion dollar bailout. - More...
Thursday PM - May 05, 2016
PETER FUNT: Newspapers Embrace Billionaire Buffs - The circle of life for America's newspaper industry began over three centuries ago in the hands of men driven largely by political posturing and outsized egos. If, as many predict, the business is now in its waning stage, it appears destined to wind up much as it began — as a tool, for better or worse, of wealthy individuals.
The most recent move was the purchase of Utah's largest paper, The Salt Lake Tribune, by the Huntsman family. The players are Paul Huntsman, son of billionaire Jon Huntsman Sr., and Paul's brother Jon Jr., the former governor and presidential candidate.
A few months earlier, Nevada's largest paper, The Las Vegas Review-Journal was scooped up by the right-wing billionaire Sheldon Adelson.
This is happening during a period of consolidation and desperation among established publishers. The Tribune Company, for example, is entertaining a bid for properties including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune from Gannett, owner of USA Today and dozens of dailies large and small.
But while some deals are among corporate giants, an intriguing number now center on men like Huntsman and Adelson, who share a fondness for newsprint to the point of being billionaire buffs. - More...
Thursday PM - May 05, 2016
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Editorial Cartoon: Trump runs over GOP
By Dave Granlund ©2016, Politicalcartoons.com
Distributed to subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.
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 Outrageous Spending of Local Tax Dollars By Douglas Thompson - Let me start this letter by thanking you for providing a needed forum so that citizens may address abuses by the power structure. It is Ketchikan's only avenue for open discussion. - More...
Thursday PM - May 05, 2016
Part 7: “OIL COMPANY” WALKER, “OIL CAN” ORTIZ, AND OIL COMPANY SOCIALISM By David G Hanger - As the crow flies the distance from Ketchikan to Anchorage is about the same as that from Denver to San Francisco; from Alaska’s First City to the oilfields of the North Slope is the distance from D.C. to Los Angeles. Throughout the 1980s, ‘90s, on into the twenty-first century Ketchikan has had its issues, economic and otherwise, upon which the locals have legitimately been focused, so paying much attention to what is happening in an oil patch almost a continent’s distance away has not really been on anyone’s agenda around here. - More...
Thursday PM - May 05, 2016
IS KPU A SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS OR A PLAIN AND SIMPLE DISSERVICE? By Joey Garcia - Sorry readers I have been absent for awhile as I was inside the heat wave in my vacation in the Philippines. But I noticed a lot of changes lately with KPU although I am identified as KPU Public, Customer, enemy No. 1. Much to my regret, my honeymoon with the entire KPU is history. Never can a public utility company survive without the so called bailout, "gratuity et amore" from customers who do not feel comfortable with KPU's customer service people, or the way it is run by the incumbent managerial level lineup. - More...
Thursday PM - May 05, 2016
"Oilcan" By A.M. Johnson - Reading the author of the series "Oilcan", the thought comes to mind that we may have the wrong guys in Juneau representing District 1. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2016
The Fireside By Ken Leland - Oh yes, I definitely remember the Fireside. Loved their Prime Rib. I was the Broadcast Engineer at KTKN and lunch time was a snap, hardly even got wet ducking next door from the Station. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2016
Part 6: “OIL COMPANY” WALKER, “OIL CAN” ORTIZ, & OIL COMPANY SOCIALISM By David G. Hanger - Alaska’s Future(.org) is a classic example of an entity that should never be granted non-profit status. It is the dictatorial fiefdom of one Ron Duncan, co-founder and CEO of GCI, and no dissent or questions are tolerated. When our own Mary Kauffman asked as a reporter a routine question (x2), rather than responding the question was simply deleted. Agree with Duncan or else is what this operation is all about. [The question weeks ago: Why are so many opposing comments deleted from Alaska’s Future's FaceBook page?] - More...
Friday AM - April 29, 2016
Europe Under Attack By Donald Moskowitz - Since WWII Europe has welcomed tens of millions of Muslims from Africa and the Middle East who replaced the murdered Jews of Europe. - More...
Friday AM - April 29, 2016
State Sponsored Enabling: Welfare for Life By Rodney Dial - I began researching the information for this letter months ago. The portions of this letter dealing with the State’s Public Assistance/Welfare Program, also called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) were difficult to come by. First, this information is not publicly available and to get it required months of work, contacting various elected officials up to the Governor’s office, filing of Freedom of Information Act Requests and even the threat of a civil suit. As you will see in this letter, I was initially given false and misleading data by the State and only after continued efforts was I able to obtain the following information all Alaskans should be aware of. Most of this letter was written weeks ago when it appeared that the state was refusing to assist me with this research project. I have updated the letter with the new information I received from the state (4/26). - More...
Wednesday AM - April 27, 2016
Remember The Fireside? By June Allen By Debbie Gorzycki - I remember the Fireside. I was stationed at USCG Base Ketchikan in 1983-4. Many of us would walk over to the Fireside to listen & dance to the band on Friday & Saturday nights. - More...
Wednesday AM - April 27, 2016
Boca De Qurada H2O By A. M. Johnson - In reading the recent Ketchikan Daily News article on anticipated shipping of a natural resource, water, from Boca De Quara followed by a second article focusing on the opposition to the endeavor; typically the usual case of anti-anything resource development, leap out in vocal opposition without any details of the concept, none, just a knee jerk reaction to a perceived capitalist project. - More...
Wednesday AM - April 27, 2016
Incarceration Conditions By Vicky Foley - As a community, I believe we need to get a better understanding of addiction. I am not saying I know the answers, but I do think that the way we punish those people that get arrested for drug charges needs to be reassessed. Here in Ketchikan, our facilities are not suitable for retaining a person for very long. - More...
Wednesday AM - April 27, 2016
An Open Letter to the Members of the Alaska House and Senate By Jerry Cegelske - Recently I heard one of you on the radio talk about dealing with the Alaska Permanent Fund in solving the State budget crisis. What was said was "I don't think the Alaskan people are going to accept us using the Permanent Fund to fix this." - More...
Saturday PM - April 23, 2016
Oil Tax Credits By Dan Ortiz - Aaskans are the beneficiaries of the state’s investment. Our constitution requires the State of Alaska to manage our resources to the maximum benefit of the people. Government’s fiduciary duty to its citizens is to make prudent investments and establish a sustainable budget. The State of Alaska must make responsible and wise business decisions, as we are an owner state. The current oil and gas tax credit system, with its many layered and net operating loss credits, does not do that. - More...
Wednesday PM - April 20, 2016
Part 5: “OIL COMPANY” WALKER, “OIL CAN” ORTIZ, AND OIL COMPANY SOCIALISM By David G Hanger - At this moment all Alaskans are being victimized by a massive propaganda blitz designed to deceive you in to believing two out-and-out lies: 1) That low oil prices are causing the State of Alaska’s financial disaster, and the massive depression that is in process of developing; and 2) That the only solution to our dilemma is to spend down the Permanent Fund as quickly as possible. - More...
Wednesday PM - April 20, 2016
Guns on UA campus By Pat Bethel - John Suter and others opposed to guns on U of A campus need to change the Alaska constitution. Article 1; section 1.19 "...The individual right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed by the state or political subdivision of the state...". article 7; section 7.2 "The U of A is hereby established...". - More...
Wednesday PM - April 20, 2016
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