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Fish Factor: Raw fish tax reprieve, pink funds cut loose; & more... By LAINE WELCH -  One fisheries item that appears to have escaped Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto pen so far is his desire to divert local fish taxes from coastal communities into state coffers. 

Dunleavy’s initial budget in February aimed to repeal the sharing of fisheries business and landing taxes that towns and boroughs split 50/50 with the state. Instead, all of the tax revenues would go to the state’s general fund – a loss of $28 million in FY 2020 to fishing communities. 

“There is a recognition that these are viewed as shared resources, and they should be shared by Alaskans,” press secretary Matt Shuckerow said at the time. “So that’s kind of what this proposal does. It takes shared resources and shares them with all Alaskans, not just some select communities.”

The tax split remains in place and the dollars are still destined for fishing towns, said Representative Louise Stutes (R-Kodiak) who also represents Cordova, Yakutat and several smaller towns.

“It’s general fund revenue and that has been appropriated to the appropriate communities,” Stutes said in a phone interview. “What we can tell right now is it slipped by unscathed because it appears he did not veto that revenue to the communities that generate the dollars. So, it looks like we’re good to go there.”  

What’s not so good is the nearly one million dollar cut to the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game’s commercial fisheries budget.

Stutes and Senator Gary Stevens (R-Kodiak) worry that the shortfall could result in lost harvests. 

“It’s always short-sighted when you cut Fish and Game. It’s just really crucial that we have the personnel we need to manage our resources and to make sure they continue to be there when we need them,” Stevens told KMXT in Kodiak.

Rep. Stutes, who chairs the House fisheries committee, said it does not make sense to cut state money makers.  

“In the long run, that creates revenue for the state because it allows all these different fisheries to stay open longer,” she said, adding that lost oversight due to budget cuts will result in more conservative management. 

“If they do not have the personnel to do the appropriate salmon counts, they’re going to manage very conservatively. And that means less openings or they’ll close the season earlier,” Stutes said. “Those are dollars that the state’s not going to get by the governor vetoing those funds to Fish and Game. It just doesn’t make sense to me under any conditions.”

All the amendments that the Alaska legislature added back into the original ADF&G budget were vetoed,  including a $280,000 cut to  special areas management, which include 12 game refuges, 17 critical habitat areas and three wildlife sanctuaries. Two director-level positions and associated funding from the Habitat and Subsistence Research Divisions will be moved to the Office of Management and Budget and no longer be associated with ADF&G related duties. 

Impacts of the budget cuts were not readily available and all questions are referred to a new gov.pressoffice@alaska.gov address. The questions may be directed back to appropriate staff, but “they want everything to be through that address,” said one ADF&G employee.

“Welcome to our world,” said Rep. Stutes.  “As a legislature, we can’t get answers. We can’t speak to department heads. We get no response. We are required to go through the legislative liaison. I have never seen such a lack of communication between any department or between the legislature and the executive branch.” - More...
Sunday PM - July 07, 2019

Ketchikan: DEC Issues 2nd Advisory for Ketchikan Beaches - The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced an advisory for four coastal areas in Ketchikan due to elevated levels of bacteria in recent samples of the marine water at these locations.

Water samples were collected on July 2, 2019 at 12 beaches. Four of these beaches showed elevated enterococci and fecal coliform levels. These beaches are:

• Herring Cove Beach (north end of Herring Cove)
• Mountain Point Surprise Beach (near Mountain Point boat launch)
• Rotary Beach, also known as Bugges Beach (south of Saxman)
• Sunset Beach (south end of Mud Bay)

Until sample results consistently meet water quality standards and DEC lifts this advisory, people should take precautionary measures when visiting these beaches listed above. DEC recommends beach users take normal precautions to avoid exposure, such as avoid swimming in the water, and washing after contact with the water. DEC recommends that when fishing in these areas people should rinse fish/marine foods with clean water and cook seafood to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit to destroy pathogens.

Fecal coliform bacteria levels were also above state limits protecting consumption of raw fish and shellfish at seven additional beaches: Rotary Pool, Seaport Beach, Thomas Basin, Refuge Cove Beach, Shull Road Beach, South Point Higgins Beach, and Knudson Cove. A recreational advisory is not in effect for these beaches, but cleaning and cooking fish is highly recommended.

Enterococci and fecal coliform bacteria can come from any warm blooded animal, including birds, seals, and dogs, as well as humans. Potential sources of this bacteria on Ketchikan beaches may include wildlife and pet feces, human waste from private and municipal treatment systems, sewer line leakage, and/or boats in harbor areas. - More...
Sunday PM - July 07, 2019

Alaska: Largest “Mail Dumping” Case in Alaska History; Former Postal Carrier Sentenced for Deserting Approximately 49 Plastic Tubs of Mail - In the largest “mail dumping” case in Alaska history, a former U.S. Postal Service employee has been sentenced to federal prison for deserting more than 49 plastic tubs of mail that he was responsible for delivering. 

Thomas Gerald Hilty, 48, of Wasilla, was sentenced July 1, 2019 by Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah M. Smith to serve three years of probation, to complete 300 hours of community service, and to pay a $1,000 fine.  In April 2019, Hilty pleaded guilty to one count of desertion of mail.

According to court documents, over the course of two years, Hilty abandoned some of the mail along the route in unused mail receptacles, kept some of it in and around his home, and even destroyed mail by burning it. The deserted mail included a passport, insurance correspondence, PFD letters, college acceptance letters, child support payments, among other unknown types of mail that Hilty burned.  

The investigation revealed that Hilty simply tired of delivering the mail he was entrusted with delivering, and did not want to complete his assigned rounds.  This was the largest “mail dumping” case in Alaska history, as measured by the mail volume and number of victims – there were 467 identifiable victims in this case.  - More...
Sunday PM - July 07, 2019

The Salmon Way’: Author shares Alaska’s salmon stories and ways of life
By MARY CATHARINE MARTIN
Flowing 355 miles from its headwaters in British Columbia, the Stikine River empties into southeast Alaska. The transboundary river supports all five species of Pacific salmon, important to people on both sides of the border.
Photo By Amy Gulick ©2019

Alaska: The Salmon Way’: Author shares Alaska’s salmon stories and ways of life By MARY CATHARINE MARTIN - From the fish camps of the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers, to the gillnets of Bristol Bay, to the bear and angler-packed banks of Juneau’s Sweetheart Creek, salmon connect people to the land, the water, the seasons, and each other. Those connections create a culture that inspired author Amy Gulick’s most recent book, “The Salmon Way: An Alaska State of Mind,” released on May 1.

“Salmon create a generosity of spirit, and generosity creates relationships,” Gulick said. “Relationships create community. When you step back you think ‘Wow, how can a mere fish do that?’ It’s the gift of salmon — not just to people, but to the land, the plants, the fish, the trees. They’re the gift that keeps on giving.”

“The Salmon Way” chronicles Alaskans’ relationship with salmon through six main sections, each one delving into a different theme: salmon as a gift, salmon as seen through the lens of commercial, sport or subsistence fishing, salmon in Bristol Bay, and the future of salmon. It weaves in profiles of salmon people, Gulick’s evolution as a salmon lover and stories of her journeys to fish camps, fishing boats, setnets, smokehouses and salmon-loving homes around Alaska.

Gulick’s first book, “Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska’s Tongass Rain Forest,” published in 2010, delved into the relationship between salmon and the Tongass’ trees.

For “The Salmon Way,” she asked almost everyone she spoke with the same question: What do salmon mean to you?

One woman told her salmon are “like breathing,” Gulick said. People to whom salmon provide different things — subsistence, sport, a paycheck — still answered similarly and in ways that went deep. - More...
Sunday PM - July 07, 2019

TOM PURCELL: Buy a Home! You'll Benefit - But Be Miserable - Why do I want more Americans to buy homes? Because misery loves company.

The Wall Street Journal reports most American renters believe homeownership is financially out of their reach - only 24 percent say it's "extremely likely that they would ever own a home, 11 percentage points lower than four years ago," according to a Freddie Mac survey - and that isn't good for our country.

Look, homeownership brings many benefits. 

For starters, homeowners' net worth is higher than renters' - for the simple reason that mortgage payments, unlike rent payments, eventually build thousands of dollars in equity., 

Homeownership is good for the economy - because many homeowners are always looking to improve their abodes with new furnishings, landscaping materials, construction supplies and so on.   - More...
Sunday PM - July 07, 2019

DANNY TYREE: Slow Drivers: Are They Driving You Insane? -Some people never break the posted speed limit, they gingerly seal it in bubble wrap.

While lead-footed daredevils announce, "Put the pedal to the metal," the contrasting lost-in-their-own-little-world "helium-footed" motorists chant the mantra "Do not violate the pedal's personal space."

Honestly, I don't hate anyone in the whole world, but I can empathize with frustrated motorists who post essays declaring "I Hate Slow Drivers."

Most of the writers are kvetching about slowpokes who take up permanent residency in the passing lane of an interstate highway, but I have encountered more than enough sightseers impeding commuters along country roads.

I know some people like to show up "fashionably late," but if you're so slow that you arrive wearing fashions from the previous decade... 

Perhaps timid drivers stay well below the speeds recommended by safety engineers because they think it's a trap. They envision the engineers sadistically waiting for vehicles traveling 55 miles per hour in a 55 zone to vibrate to pieces. ("Look! They're burning up on reentry into Podunk. Sweet.") - More...
Sunday PM - July 07, 2019

RICH MANIERI: The Dismantling of Joe Biden - I don't know Joe Biden personally. I do know a lot of people who move in the same circles as the former vice president and by all accounts, Biden is a decent person; genuine, affable, earnest.

I disagree with Biden on most political issues and I wouldn't vote for him at gunpoint,but I don't believe he is a lech, a racist or a homophobe.

Yes, he does have a gaffe habit that is killing is presidential candidacy, one misspoken phrase at a time, but he deserves better from his own party and from a media that have decided he's no longer a horse worth backing.

Biden is the closest thing that passes for a moderate among a phalanx of Democrats who want to turn the U.S. into Sweden, Finland, Cuba or any place where the words "personal liberty" are about as elusive as the Loch Ness monster.

Biden has stepped in it twice recently. Actually, he's stepped in it more than that but let's look at a couple of examples.

At Pride fundraiser last weekend, Biden was trying to tout progress on gay rights when he said how, just five years ago, "it was acceptable to make fun of a gay waiter." - More...
Sunday PM - July 07, 2019

Political Cartoon: Dem Air Now Boarding
By Jeff Koterba ©2019, Omaha World Herald, NE
Distributed to paid subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.