COVID-19 DATA SUMMARY Apr. 20, 2022 (Weekly) Reporting data for Apr. 13 - Apr. 19, 2022 SE Alaska Positive Cases: Juneau (86),  Ketchikan (23), Metlakatla (1), Petersburg (14), Prince of Wales-Hyder (2), Sitka (75), Skagway (2) , Wrangell (10) Statewide: 7 new Alaska resident hospitalizations and 7 new Alaska resident deaths reported. COVID-19 DATA SUMMARY Apr. 13, 2022 Reporting data for Apr. 5 - Apr. 12, 2022 COVID-19 DATA SUMMARY Apr. 6, 2022 Reporting data for Apr. 1 - Apr. 4, 2022 COVID-19 DATA SUMMARY APRIL 01, 2022 Reporting data for Mar. 30 - Mar. 31, 2022 COVID-19 DATA SUMMARY – Mar. 30, 2022 Reporting data for Mar. 25 - Mar. 29, 2022 Alert Levels Case Counts Dashboard Information Hub Alaska: Statewide COVID-19 Alert Levels, Updates, Active Cases, Hospitalizations, etc. Ketchikan: Public Meetings Ketchikan: Upcoming Events Ketchikan: Announcements Ketchikan: Classifieds CLASSIFIEDS Publish Your Ad Click Here Historical Ketchikan June Allen Dave Kiffer Louise B. Harrington Ketchikan Weather Ketchikan's Forecast Ketchikan Dec. Weather Ketchikan 2021 Daily & Monthly Data (Choose the Location of Interest) Nat Weather Service KTN Ketchikan Tides & Currents Tideschart Sunrise - Sunset Ketchikan Search the News Ketchikan Alaska SitNews Search

Alaska: Low Emission and Electric Ferry Research Project Selected for DOT&PF Funding; Southeast Conference and Alaska DOT&PF partner on research project. - Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) and Southeast Conference (SEC) are partnering to conduct a Low Emission Ferry Research project. Alternative fuel powered, low emission, and electric ferries could be a game-changer for Alaska’s Marine Highway System, as DOT&PF starts to replace AMHS’s aging fleet in upcoming years. Fuel efficient ferries could increase the range and capacity of the fleet, potentially increasing service to communities and reducing AMHS operating costs.

“Southeast Conference was formed in 1958 to work with the State of Alaska toward the formation of the Alaska Marine Highway System,” said SEC executive director, Robert Venables. “The success of AMHS is still our passion and priority, and we are excited to continue our partnership with the State to pursue implementation of both the Reshaping Committee recommendations and the opportunities that have emerged in the new federal funding programs. This pilot program is well-timed given Alaska’s need to plan for new vessels to replace the Alaska Marine Highway’s aging fleet!”

Southeast Conference will support the project, which will include a detailed examination of the costs, benefits, and overall technical and financial feasibility of low-emission ferry operations within the AMHS service area. Funding for the research comes from a new program through US Department of Transportation to provide grants for the purchase of electric or low-emitting ferries and for the electrification of existing ferries to reduce emissions.

“Revitalizing the Alaska Marine Highway System is so important to us,” said DOT&PF Commissioner Ryan Anderson. “Pushing forward to see if alternative fuels, low emissions, or electric ferries, could make our vessels more efficient, could potentially allow us to add service to our coastal communities.” - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2020

Southeast Alaska: Multi-Agency HIDTA Taskforces Seize Large Amounts of Fatal Fentanyl; Two Separate Operations Seize 4,700 Counterfeit Fentanyl Pills - Two Alaska High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Taskforces seized over $356,000 worth of illegal narcotics in Southeast Alaska and Southcentral Alaska this week. The two seizures are among the largest fentanyl seizures in Alaska history.

On April 27, 2022, at approximately 12:00 pm, investigators with the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) taskforce were notified of a suspected parcel enroute to Craig, Alaska containing suspected narcotics. Investigators tracked the parcel to a residence in Klawock and seized 2,000 counterfeit M30 fentanyl pills and 453 grams of crystal methamphetamine.

Investigators arrested 39-year-old Craig resident Cicely Tupou, 43-year-old Hydaburg resident Shanteh Carle, and 44-year-old Klawock resident Donald Yates on charges of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree and Third Degree for their part in the trafficking of the seized narcotics. Investigators also arrested 40-year-old Hydaburg resident Alva Peratrovich for a Probation Violation. All four were remanded to the Craig Jail. The estimated street value on Prince of Wales Island for the counterfeit pills is approximately $200,000 and the estimated street value of the methamphetamine is approximately $67,900. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

Alaska: Sharp increase in Alaska’s 2021 overdose deaths attributed to rise in fentanyl use - Similar to sharp surges in drug overdose deaths reported nationwide, Alaska has experienced a 68% increase in the number of drug overdose deaths between 2020 and 2021 – from 146 drug overdose deaths in 2020 to 245 in 2021, according to preliminary mortality data from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS).

“It’s important to share this data broadly because while this deadly trend has become known in communities and regions like Mat-Su, Ketchikan and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, it’s a danger in every Alaska community,” said Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink. “This increase continues to be driven primarily by fentanyl, a very powerful opioid often found in counterfeit pills and a variety of illicit drugs, with six out of every 10 drug overdose deaths in Alaska involving fentanyl.”

Opioid overdose deaths can be prevented. “We can save lives by ensuring you are only taking medications prescribed for you, seeking treatment if you are using illicit drugs, and for every Alaskan – but especially those at risk and their friends and family – carrying naloxone which can reverse an opioid overdose and provide a chance of recovery,” Zink said. “Fentanyl test strips are another important tool; they test for the presence of fentanyl in a pill or substance and are free and available here in Alaska.”

Naloxone, a nasal spray that is available for free and easy to administer, quickly reverses an overdose by blocking the effects of opioids. It can restore normal breathing within two tot hree minutes in a person whose breath has slowed, or even stopped, because of an opioid overdose.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid and a deadly substance that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine and is linked nationally to an increase in drug overdoses. Fentanyl may be added to counterfeit pills that are made to look like prescription opioids like oxycodone (Oxycontin®, Percocet®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), and alprazolam (Xanax®); or stimulants like amphetamines (Adderall®). - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

Alaska: Governor Dunleavy Calls Upon Legislature to Prioritize PFD, Savings and People First Initiative Bills - Friday, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy asked the Legislature to prioritize a fair Permanent Fund Dividend amount, to place surplus into State savings, and to take action on the People First Initiative bills introduced earlier this session.

“I ask the Legislature to pay every eligible resident a PFD this year of at least $3,700,” said Governor Dunleavy. “We have this tremendous opportunity to provide a 50/50 PFD while having enough to place into savings. The more money in the hands of Alaskans, the better it will be for everyone. These are dire times for Alaskans who are paying at the pump while the government benefits from high oil prices. We need to be putting the money back in our constituents’ pockets.”

In March, Governor Dunleavy reported a projected $3.4 billion increase to the Spring 2022 Revenue Forecast over this year and the next. According to the Alaska Department of Revenue, the forecast is consistent, and the State is still projecting a multibillion-dollar surplus for 2022 and 2023.

In addition to the PFD, the administration’s priority is to rebuild savings with the surpluses in the range of $11 billion over 10 years, based on a conservative forecast of $70 plus per barrel to 2031.

According to estimates from Bloomberg Economics, the average American household can expect to pay an extra $5,200 this year – $433 per month – compared to last year due to inflation rising at a historic rate during the Biden Administration. The economic policies put in place by the Biden Administration are hitting low-income Alaskans the hardest, where they do not have a cushion of savings to protect them from rising prices.

Governor Dunleavy added, “We have the resources we need to make this PFD happen, so we wait on the Legislature to make their decision. Rural Alaska is going to see, potentially, $17/gallon of oil in some places. Alaskans should benefit from the State’s resources.

Governor Dunleavy added, “We have the resources we need to make this PFD happen, so we wait on the Legislature to make their decision. Rural Alaska is going to see, potentially, $17/gallon of oil in some places. Alaskans should benefit from the State’s resources.”

The Alaska House is proposing a PFD of $1,200 and $1,300 to address high fuel costs. On April 21st, the Alaska Senate Finance Committee passed legislation to change the PFD formula. Senate Bill 199 would change the PFD formula to align with a 50/50 split of the annual POMV draw. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

Alaska: Governor Dunleavy Demands Federal Recognition of State-Owned Lands - Last week, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy announced a lawsuit that asks the courts to recognize the State’s ownership to submerged lands within Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, an ownership granted at Statehood but not yet fully recognized by the federal government. Governor Dunleavy also announced Notice of Trespass and cease-and-desist letters recently sent to the Agriculture and Interior Departments for federal infrastructure, such as docks, that lacks permits on State-owned submerged lands. Both actions are part of Governor Dunleavy’s “Unlocking Alaska Initiative,” which began a year ago to secure Alaska’s submerged lands and navigable waterways.

“State submerged lands are how many Alaskans access health care services, visit family or friends, recreate, shop in other communities, and hunt or fish. You should be able to enjoy our waters without being harassed by the federal government,” said Governor Dunleavy. “Yet despite two unanimous Supreme Court rulings and defining law from 63 years ago when Alaska became a state, the federal government continues to act in a manner contrary to law. When it does, we’re going to assert ourselves. I will fight for every acre owed to Alaskans.”

To date, the federal government has acknowledged the State’s title to only nine percent of Alaska’s submerged lands under 800,000 miles of navigable rivers, and 16 percent of Alaska’s submerged lands under 30 million acres of navigable lakes.

Alaska Deputy Attorney General Cori Mills said the federal government remains evasive on requests for title. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

FY 23 State Contracts Announcements and How to Bid Successfully
RSVP: info@ketchikanchamber.com
Ad Paid for By Grow Ketchikan

Ketchikan: Partnering for Salmon Stream Restoration and Workforce Development; Ketchikan Indian Community works with Southeast organizations to restore streams and build job opportunities. - A stream restoration project and workforce development training are taking place this May.  Ketchikan Indian Community(KIC), the United States Forest Service, and Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition(SAWC) are hosting a stream restoration training in Ketchikan to support work being done to restore Margaret Creek on Revillagigedo Island this summer.  

Workforce Development Training 

“The first peoples of the Ketchikan area have been stewarding these lands since time immemorial. These trainings provide a few modern tools to locals, so they can get jobs continuing this work,” said Tony Gallegos, Cultural Resources director at Ketchikan Indian Community.

The stream restoration training and workforce development event is May 17 through 19 on Cape Fox land on the Ketchikan road system (see attached flier). This event is aimed at young adults interested in a career in natural resource management, stream restoration, or other laborer positions, as well as general laborers looking to diversify their skillset. 

The training will be instructed by the U.S. Forest Service and SAWC staff. The training will cover using tools, like winches and chainsaws, to perform in-stream restoration. It will also cover site identification and identifying quality fish habitat.

Looking for Watershed Workers

“By teaching people how to restore salmon streams, we’re creating jobs and fostering stewardship of salmon,” said Rob Cadmus, SAWC’s Executive Director.

Positions are now open for seasonal stream and forest restoration laborers this summer. Work will take place from May 16 through June 20 (see Attached Flier). Workers will first participate in the stream restoration training described above as well as an additional week of training before heading out for two weeks of work at a remote site at Margaret Creek (camping required).  This opportunity is for anyone thinking about getting into natural resource management or looking to diversify their skillset and are paid positions from $20 to $25 per hour. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

Alaska: Alaska EMS offers new pediatric life-saving tools statewide - Through the State of Alaska’s Office of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), a new system will soon be available to all state-licensed, ground-based, 911-responding services in Alaska to help improve emergency pediatric care. 

Alaska EMS is partnering with Handtevy, a company specializing in EMS pediatric technology, to offer EMS agencies a pediatric resuscitation system plus a mobile application for use during pediatric medical emergencies. The mobile application provides medical information for EMS responders within seconds as well as pediatric medication dosing and tools to help responders perform CPR and defibrillation and document care. 

“This new technology puts crucial, life-saving technology at the EMS team’s fingertips, enabling clinicians to deliver consistent and safe pediatric emergency care with confidence,” said Renee Escamilla, manager of the state’s Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program. “Pediatric patient calls can be especially stressful for EMS responders because of the unique medical needs of children and their physical size. Having the right tools in the field is critical.” 

The pediatric EMS system has already been implemented by several states, including Utah, Virginia, Idaho and Florida, as well as by six of Alaska’s EMS agencies, including the Anchorage Fire Department.

This contract with Handtevy, which allows up to 66 EMS agencies in Alaska to use the technology for one year, will cost the State of Alaska $54,000. Rollout of the new system will be paired with Handtevy’s educational courses, which have been extensively reviewed and approved by EMSC. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

Precipitation helped drive distribution of Alaska dinosaus
BY ROD BOYCE
Sedimentary rocks of the Cantwell Formation, representing a prehistoric floodplain environment, are shown in this June 2017 photograph. Dinosaur tracks are visible at the base of the thick, upper sandstone bed.
Photo by Paul McCarthy

Alaska: Precipitation helped drive distribution of Alaska dinosaurs By ROD BOYCE - Precipitation more than temperature influenced the distribution of herbivorous dinosaurs in what is now Alaska, according to new research published this month.

The finding, published April 2 in the journal Geosciences, discusses the distribution of hadrosaurids and ceratopsids — the megaherbivores of the Late Cretaceous Period, 100.5 million to 66 million years ago.

The work can help scientists project what the Arctic region might look like in the years ahead if the climate turns similarly warm and wet.

University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute geology professor Paul McCarthy, who is also chair of the UAF Department of Geosciences, is co-author of the research paper written by Anthony Fiorillo of Southern Methodist University in Texas. McCarthy has been studying the region’s ancient past for many years.

“The reason we've been looking at Cretaceous environments up here is because Earth was in a greenhouse state at that point in time, and it offers the potential to provide analogs to what we might see, eventually, if global warming continues,” McCarthy said.

“We can't simulate the rates of change, which are likely to have been totally different in the Cretaceous,” he said. “But we can simulate what an ice-free coast would look like and also see how rivers and floodplains would respond to spring snowmelt from the mountains if everything's not frozen. And we can look at the distribution of plants and animals.”

McCarthy, a sedimentologist and a fossil soils specialist, led the analysis of the depositional environments and ancient soils of three rock formations: the fossil-rich Prince Creek Formation along the Colville River in northern Alaska, the Lower Cantwell Formation in the Central Alaska Range and the Chignik Formation on the Alaska Peninsula.

The three formations are close enough to one another on the geologic time scale to allow for a climate comparison, according to the research paper. They all contain Late Cretaceous rocks that were deposited approximately 83 million to 66 million years ago.

Fossilized plants and animals and ancient footprints get most of the public attention, but fossil soil has equally important information to offer through its preserved features, mineral composition and chemical makeup. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

Harbor Seal Pupping Season Begins! Share the Shore; These pups - often seen alone onshore - are not abandoned.
Premature harbor seal pup born with lanugo (natal fur) in Haines, Alaska.
NOAA Permit 18786. Photo courtesy NOAA

Alaska: Harbor Seal Pupping Season Begins! Share the Shore; These pups - often seen alone onshore - are not abandoned. - NOAA’s Alaska Region has already received reports that harbor seal pups have arrived! Pupping season is typically between May and July, but each year a few pups arrive earlier. During the pupping and nursing season, mother harbor seals will leave their pups on shore for extended periods of time while they hunt and forage. These pups are usually not abandoned, but just resting. 

Harbor seals are pinnipeds, part of the  family of “true seals.” They can be distinguished by their color and absence of ear flaps - they just have a small ear hole. Their color usually follows two basic patterns: light gray sides with dark spots or dark background with light rings. Harbor seals cannot move their hind flippers like sea lions, so they have an awkward gait on land that resembles a caterpillar moving. Adults are around 5 to 6 feet long, weigh between 180 and 285 pounds, and live up to 30 years. They are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Mothers give birth to one pup during the spring. At birth, harbor seals weigh around 24 pounds, but they gain weight rapidly during pupping season. Pups will stay with their mothers for 4 to 6 weeks before they are weaned and able to forage on their own. It is essential these seal pups learn to forage on their own, and during this weaning process, they tend to rest on shore without their moms.

What To Do If You Find a Pup - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

Alaska: Avian Flu Confirmed in Alaska - The first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in Alaska in a non-commercial backyard flock of chickens and ducks in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Alaska’s Office of the State Veterinarian is working with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on a joint response. 

“With this confirmed case, it’s clear that migrating birds have brought avian influenza to Alaska this spring,” said Dr. Robert Gerlach, Alaska State Veterinarian. “We are relying on flock owners to keep an eye on their animals for signs of illness, and to report any possible cases of avian influenza promptly to their own veterinarian or to our office.” 

Flock owners should be concerned if they observe sudden death of multiple birds in the flock, nasal discharge, sneezing, and coughing, or respiratory distress. Other signs include a significant drop in water consumption, diarrhea, lethargy, abnormal behavior or difficulty walking, blue discoloration of the comb and wattles or a swollen comb, wattles, legs, or head. - More...
Monday PM - May 05, 2022

Ketchikan: Bears Are Awake - It’s an official sign of springtime in Alaska: Bears are being seen in town. It’s also the cue for Alaskans to ramp up their “bear etiquette” by cleaning up food attractants around homes and neighborhoods.

Because it’s early in the season, natural foods are scarce in many parts of the state. This can make human- provided attractants particularly inviting to bears. Feeding bears, even unintentionally, is illegal and can result in fines. If we keep bears out of human-provided food now, we can prevent bears from forming bad habits and creating problems later in the summer.

To prevent bear problems this summer, biologists suggest the following: - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

Alaska’s water crop is a natural resource
By NED ROZELL
Map courtesy of U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment
An undersea pipeline, sketched on this 1992 map from the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment, would have carried water from Southeast Alaska to northern California.

Alaska: Alaska’s water crop is a natural resource By NED ROZELL - As much of Alaska’s landmass crosses the magical temperature threshold that turns ice and snow into water, it’s time to consider the state’s richness in a resource more essential to humans than oil or gas.

Clear as gin, brown as iced tea or tinted aquamarine by glacial dust, Alaska’s freshwater supply is so abundant the numbers are hard to comprehend. 

“With an annual runoff of 650 million acre-feet (plus 150 million acre-feet inflow from Canada) Alaska has about one-third the total . . . of the entire United States,” wrote Charles Hartman and Philip Johnson, editors of the 1978 Environmental Atlas of Alaska. An acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, the amount of water it takes to cover 1 acre to a depth of 1 foot.

Those numbers include the outflow of the nation’s third-longest river — the swelling and soon-to-break-out-of-its-icy-shell Yukon, which by itself drains one third of the land mass of Alaska.

The writers of the environmental atlas also pointed out that Alaska has 94 freshwater lakes with a surface area of 10 square miles or more.

Iliamna Lake attracts red torpedoes of sockeye salmon up the Kvichak River in southern Alaska. It is 988 feet deep, spreads over more than 1,000 square miles of the Alaska map and is America’s 10th-largest lake. 

Becharof Lake — which I had to look up despite the fact that it almost cuts the Alaska Peninsula in half — is the 14th largest lake in America, just after Lake Champlain (which I did not have to look up, because I grew up in New York).

Apologies to Minnesota, but Alaska license plates could read “Land of 3 million lakes.” A vast majority of those dark-water basins are unnamed.- More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

DAVE KIFFER: Second grade historians study Ketchikan history - Recently, Katie Sivertsen's second grade students at Point Higgins Elementary School studied Ketchikan history. Each one focused on a different facet of the First City's heritage.

They were encouraged to take on the personas of actual people in Ketchikan history. Then they presented their work at the Tongass Historical Museum. Much of the information they used came from history stories in the SITNEWS archives. Here are the presentations they gave at the museum recently. It is abundantly clear that Ketchikan has a great group of future historians to carry Ketchikan's "stories" forward.

Vanellope - Diaz Cafe

My name is Clara Diaz and I own Diaz Cafe, a restaurant in Ketchikan. Diaz Cafe has been open since 1964 on Stedman Street. Before Diaz was open, the Diaz family had a restaurant in Newtown in the 1950s.

Our family moved to Juneau from the Philippines in 1934 and then to Ketchikan in 1955. Mama Diaz was our first owner, but she got hit by a car in the 1960s and family members took over the restaurant to help her. I became the owner in 1978, after working as a nurse in Ketchikan for 25 years. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

DANNY TYREE: MAMAS, DON’T LET YOUR BABIES GROW UP TO BE BRAINLESS - Millions of young women dream of being honored on Mother’s Day.

Millions of others know in their hearts that they don’t want to have children, or at least not on someone else’s timetable.

Many in both groups run the risk of someday facing an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy.

Society assures us these women always had only three choices: get an abortion, endure 18 years of servitude or go through an emotionally wrenching adoption.

There is another option for these women (and their “lovers”): be proactive and consider displaying a little common sense upfront.

Rape, incest and those doggone substandard condoms are the usual scapegoats when an unintentional pregnancy develops, but those statistics are vastly overrated.

Let’s be honest: we see hundreds of thousands of “surprise” pregnancies year after year after year because (a) people are “dating” under the influence of alcohol, drugs or intense peer pressure, (b) women shack up with lowlife bums who molest their daughters and (c) couples take stupid, stupid shortcuts. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

FINANCIAL FOCUS: How to be a good money manager in retirement Provided By BEN EDWARDS, AAMS® - If you reach retirement with a significant amount of assets, you’ve done a great job of saving and investing. But now comes another challenge – making that money last.

You might think that this task, as important as it is, won’t be as hard as accumulating the money in the first place. Yet, a sizable number of people have reached a different conclusion. In fact, 36% of retirees say managing money in retirement is more confusing than saving for retirement, and 56% say they wish they had budgeted for more unexpected expenses in retirement, according to the Edward Jones/Age Wave Four Pillars of the New Retirement study.

What steps can you take to help you become an effective money manager during your retirement years? Here are a few to consider:

• Set your goals. Your money management needs will certainly depend, to some extent, on what your goals are for the coming years. Will you travel extensively? Stay close to home and pursue your hobbies? Or maybe even open a small business? Once you identify your vision for retirement, you can estimate how much it will cost, which will then dictate much of your spending and saving needs. - More...
Monday PM - May 02, 2022

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Political Cartoon: Happy Birthing Person Day
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Political Cartoon: Disinformation Governance
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