Alaska: Alaska Marine Highway System Announces 2013-2014 Winter Schedule – The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) recently announced the release of the winter 2013-2014 schedule, covering ferry travel from October 1, 2013 to April 30, 2014.

Despite a decreased operating budget, AMHS was able to retain a level of ferry service relatively similar to previous years. This was accomplished, in part, by suspending the “30 Percent Round Trip” travel special for the winter schedule and the “Round Trip Driver Goes Free” travel special during summer 2014. AMHS will, however, continue to offer the “Winter Driver Goes Free” travel special for travel from October through April.

Further savings will be found by modifying the FVF Fairweather spring return to service date to mid May 2014, and adjusting the M/V Taku’s return to service date to July 2014. These changes will be reflected in the summer 2014 schedule, which will be released this fall.

“When we developed the winter 2013-2014 schedule it was critical that we continued to provide as much ferry service as possible for Alaskans,” said AMHS General Manager Captain John Falvey. “We were able to accomplish this by adjusting some of our seasonal travel specials, and making alterations to the schedule of just two vessels.” - More...
Wednesday - June 05, 2013

Ketchikan: ALASKA POEMS CHOSEN FOR TOTEM BIGHT AND CHENA RIVER STATE PARKS - Four poems by Alaska writers have been selected for installation on permanent signs in Ketchikan and Fairbanks state parks, as part of Poems in Place, a collaborative project to install poetry in state parks throughout Alaska.

Later this summer or early fall, Emily Wall’s poem, “This Forest, This Beach, You,” and Ernestine Hayes’ poem, “The Spoken Forest,” will be installed in Totem Bight State Historical Park in Ketchikan. Wall is a poet who lives in Juneau.

Frank Soos’ poem, “The Blue Fish,” and the late John Haines’ “Poem of the Forgotten,” will be installed in the Chena River State Recreational Area near Fairbanks. Hayes is a poet who lives in Juneau. Soos is from the Fairbanks area. The late John Haines, a former state poet laureate, homesteaded southeast of Fairbanks. - More...
Wednesday - June 05, 2013

Southeast Alaska: Have a 'Reel' Good Time During Youth Fishing Days - The Tongass National Forest, partner agencies, groups, businesses, and local volunteers are sponsoring youth fishing events throughout Southeast Alaska. No experience is needed to participate in these events. It is a great way for children to learn how to fish or develop their fishing skills.

Event planners will provide a wealth of experience and knowledge to help the beginning angler get started. At many events, volunteers may teach youth how to clean fish. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and all persons should bring proper footwear and clothing.

The Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District’s annual Kids Fishing Derby will take place at Ketchikan City Park (Park Avenue and Fair Street) on June 15, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Check in and registration is at 9 a.m. (pre-register at the Recreation Center, Forest Service District office [3031 Tongass Ave], or Ketchikan Public Library). Partners are Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery, and Ketchikan Parks and Recreation. The hatchery will stock 2,000 juvenile king salmon. Ages three to 15 may start fishing at 9:30. Half of a pond will be sectioned off for age groups under six years. Activities include fishing, lure making, casting challenge, angler ethics, fish printing (please bring your own washed T-shirt) and prize drawings for registered children. Bring your fishing pole with size 8–10 single hook (no lures). - More...
Wednesday - June 05, 2013

Viewpoints
Commentary
Opinions/Letters
Basic Rules &
Freedom of Speech

Borough Bus System By Rudy McGillvray - I ride the Ketchikan borough buses, as such I feel I have a small expectation they are running at or close to their scheduled times. Even tho it's Tourist Season, and the numbers of them slow the buses down somewhat, I feel that it is the other vehicular traffic that really slows down the buses. - More...
Wednesday PM - June 05, 2013

Thanks Ketchikan By Fred Bassett - Thank you for posting my request to find places to band hummingbirds in Ketchikan. I banded at five homes and met many wonderful, helpful people. I banded 77 Rufous hummingbirds as part of my migration research and could have banded many more if I could have stayed longer. - More...
Wednesday PM - June 05, 2013

Taxes & Local Govt. By Dan McQueen - It's refreshing to wake-up with a cup of coffee and the SIT-NEWS' letters to the Editor. I really enjoyed Mr.Dial's letter of 3 June 2013. - More..
Wednesday PM - June 05, 2013

Thieves Among Us By Tina Singer - This past weekend, someone stole a beautiful orange blossomed hanging begonia from my front porch on Baranof Avenue. Not only did they steal from me, but, as this was a mother's day gift, they've also stolen from my son. - More...
Monday PM - June 03, 2013

RE: Taxes & Local Government By Rodney Dial - Thank you Mr. Harrington for the kind words about me.  I too appreciate most of your past efforts on the Assembly as one of the more moderate members…. however, regarding your statement about my letters: - More...
Monday PM - June 03, 2013

Property Tax By Hans Holum - Mr Harrington misses a major point in his own argument about property tax comparisons around the state. A lot of the listed places are both the city and borough tax load i.e. the entire tax for real property in the area. If you add the city tax portion to the borough rate, the people of Ketchikan are right up there with Fairbanks and are only topped by the North Slope Borough. - More...
Monday PM - June 03

More Than Just a Sealaska Shareholder By Frank Hopper - I was born in Juneau, although I have no memory of ever living there. My family moved to Seattle when I was only two. My Caucasian father never explained why, except to say there were too many "rednecks" in Juneau who didn't approve of his marriage to a Tlingit woman. - More...
Monday PM - June 03, 2013

Why we don't want to simplify the Income Tax code. By Jim Donnell - Congressman Tim Griffin [AZ-02] appeared on Fox News today to talk about the effort in the House Ways and Means committee to simplify the income tax code, eliminate loop holes, lower the rates, etc. He said that the Senate Finance committee is in similar agreement to which the Fox reporter replied, "I can't imagine any American would be against that..." - More...
Monday PM - June 03, 2013

ObamaCare cost By A.M. Johnson - Sorry, I am unable to contain the frustrations of watching our elected officials handling the uproar of mind boggling scandal(s) and inability to see the forest for the trees or worst yet, not able to see the tree for the forest! It is obvious not matter the party, the intent of ObamaCare while good intentioned, is a debacle mess and will only become worst as the depth and consequences gain more momentum towards the final implication date. Can it be stopped? Yes, Man (Lisa) makes laws Man (Lisa) can change or remove laws. Not that she can do it single handed, but it would surely help if she started shouting and making noise. There are Senators who ARE doing so. Her absents supports the suspicion that her RINO status is golden!. Anyway Editor, I have submitted my frustration to Senator Murkowski. A copy of this frustration is submitted to Sitnews. - More...
Monday PM - June 03, 2013

RE: Taxes & the Local Government By John Harrington - I appreciate the role Mr. Dial fulfills with his letters regarding fiscal restraint, and living within our means. He provides an excellent balance for the ‘Tax and Spend’ faction in our community. However sometimes he neglects to provide all the information. That is, of course, a strategy that is useful when trying to make a point emphatically. So even though I value his point of view, and acknowledge the need for more restraint on government, I am going to provide a little more of the information that Mr. Dial left out. - More...
Thursday PM - May 30, 2013

Post Graduation Party 2013 By Joey Tillson - Four years of hard work and preparedness for our graduates of 2013 have come to another chapter closed in this book of life. Each of these students have come so far and plan to succeed even further in their endeavors. Over 100 businesses in Ketchikan have donated to our graduates. From gift certificates to whole building spaces, fine jewelry to barge line tickets, the vendors and community members have donated precious time and valuables for our kids. I would like to extend a sincere thanks to the community and businesses who continue to support our children. And of course a few words of wisdom to our graduates as they head off to their futures. - More...
Thursday PM - May 30, 2013

A solution to present woes with the IRS and taxation By Glen E. Terrell - The income tax code is complicated beyond comprehension. An institution like the IRS has no place in a society of free people. The power that came to congress with the income tax and 16th amendment has so corrupted our Congress and the IRS that we must start over. - More...
Thursday PM - May 30, 2013

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

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