FOR KETCHIKAN Covid-19 Positive Details By Day, Click Here. KETCHIKAN COMMUNITY RISK LEVEL HIGH (RED) AS OF 08/05/21 LOCAL KETCHIKAN COVID-19 PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATION - NEW CASES, VACCINATIONS, HOSPITALIZATIONS Alaska's Covid-19 Alert Levels at Borough Levels Alaska COVID-19 Data DAshboard Update 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 August Weather Ketchikan July Data 2021 Ketchikan June Data 2021 Ketchikan May Data 2001 Ketchikan April Data 2021 Ketchikan March 2021 Data Ketchikan Feb. 2021 Data Ketchikan Jan. 2021 Data Nat Weather Service KTN Ketchikan Tides & Currents Tideschart Sunrise - Sunset Ketchikan Search the News Ketchikan Alaska U.S. Congress 2020-2021: Bills passed one chamber U.S. Congress 2020-2021: Bills that have passed the House & Senate and become Law U.S. Congress 2020-2021: Bills Introduced

Ketchikan Historical: They called him "Six Shooter"; Grant was town's first 'official' lawman; And once "bought" Ketchikan for $1 By DAVE KIFFER - Any "frontier town," as Ketchikan was in the first two decades of the 20th Century, is bound to have characters.

One of the most colorful in early First City history was a miner, businessman and lawman named Orlando Wells Grant.

At least that was his official name. He was also known around the community as "George" Grant and even more colorfully known as "Six Shooter" Grant. Especially after he became the local deputy US Marshal in 1901.

It says a lot that his nickname was "six shooter" although there is no official evidence that he used his ivory handled revolvers against any criminals. But he was known, reportedly, to fire them in the vicinity of other people when he wanted to get their attention.

Grant was born in 1855 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and came from a "well known" East Coast family according to his 1917 obituary in the Ketchikan Daily Miner. He came to Alaska in 1882 to prospect and originally settled in the growing community of Loring about 20 miles north of Ketchikan. In 1886, territorial Governor A.P Swinford appointed him as a "marshal" and gave him Star #1, according to the 1917 obituary.

According to historian Pat Roppel in her 2005 history of mining in Southern Southeast "Striking in Rich" Grant had mining claims in Helm Bay and Hump Island in 1891 and was involved in several copper claims at Cascade Inlet on Annette in 1894, despite the fact that Father Duncan had banned outside miners from the Annette Island Reservation in 1892.

Roppel wrote that Grant moved permanently to Ketchikan in 1892 and in 1897, he convened a "miner's meeting" at the Clark and Martin store to organize the "Ketchikan Mining District" so local miners wouldn't have to travel 100 miles to Wrangell to record their claims. Reportedly, Grant opened the meeting by saying "let's keep the damned lawyers out of this, okay?"

In 1899 he became superintendent of the Hartford Copper and Gold mining company which had claims in Thorne Arm and elsewhere. including what was originally called Discovery Bay on Gravina where copper was found. It would later be named Grant Cove in Grant's honor. It is also likely that Grant Street in Ketchikan was also named for him as he lived in a house in that area in 1900.

In 1899, Grant also became involved with Henry Strong, who moved to Ketchikan from Wrangell and founded the Ketchikan Improvement Company. which helped develop the town site. Strong would open the store that became Tongass Trading Company, Ketchikan's oldest business, and also recorded several mining claims with Grant over the years. - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

Alaska: Governor's expanded special session scope enables lawmakers to appropriate PFD and restore funding to vital programs -  Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy last Thursday introduced a budget bill to provide for a $2,350 Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) and fully fund Alaska’s student scholarship programs. Following the release of the legislative Fiscal Policy Working Group’s report, and conversations between the Dunleavy administration and legislative leadership about their interest in working toward a long-term fiscal solution this session, the governor took action to amend the call of the third legislative special session by including this funding vehicle. The 3rd special session called by the governor began on August 16th.

“Alaskans are still in recovery mode from the economic impacts of the pandemic. With this in mind, and following recent encouraging conversations with legislators, my administration has put forth a vehicle for the legislature to fund the PFD and student scholarships – two critical programs that directly impact Alaskans,” said Governor Dunleavy. “We recognize there may be other appropriations the legislature will consider as we work collaboratively to finalize the FY 22 budget in this special session; but I am committed to ensuring Alaskans get a fair share of their resource wealth.”

Senate leaders in the Alaska Legislature responded releasing the following statements:

“I appreciate Governor Dunleavy’s willingness to be flexible and work with the Legislature for the benefit of Alaskans. With this addition, we can pay a healthy dividend and fund other critical programs Alaskans rely on every day," said Senate President Peter Micciche (R-Soldotna). "It’s my hope that this positive, collaborative action will help build momentum toward the Legislature and the Dunleavy administration finally solving Alaska’s long-term fiscal challenge, ending the uncertainty that has plagued our state’s economy and divided Alaskans for years.”

“I’m glad the Governor has added appropriations to the call. There are some vetoes that can now be restored, and providing a dividend this year for Alaskans is crucial. Many Alaskans are struggling, communities throughout Alaska are in a recession, and we are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Senate Democratic Leader Tom Begich (D-Anchorage). “I appreciate that the Governor has added this to the call so Alaskans can be sure that we will address not only the recommendations of the Working Group, but also fiscal uncertainty.”

Speaker of the House Louise Stutes released the following statement in response to the governor's decision: "Today’s decision by the governor to allow work on a budget bill means we now have the tools to get the job done—keeping the state on track toward a resolution that will provide Alaskans with a dividend, and restore funding for vital programs like Alaska Performance Scholarships and WWAMI, which is the only program that trains doctors who want to launch careers in our state."

Stutes said, "We’re committed to working toward a resolution on every proposal that has consensus as we continue to seek a compromise that will end Alaska’s structural budget deficit once and for all."

Quoting a news release from the Office of the Governor, the governor's budget bill includes critical appropriations to help the legislature finalize a structured fiscal solution for Alaska, provide Alaskans with an equitable distribution of the state’s resource wealth, and fully fund student scholarship programs: - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

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Fish Factor: Nutrition, Native ways and knowing where your fish comes from. By LAINE WELCH - That multi-message forms the nexus of a new partnership of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, salmon fishermen and Bambino’s Baby Food of Anchorage.

Bambino's launched the nation’s first subscription service with home delivery of frozen baby foods in 2015, and was the first to bring the frozen option to U.S. retail baby food aisles (devoid of seafood). 

Wild Alaska seafood has always been front and center on the Bambino menu since the launch of its baby-sized, star-shaped Hali-Halibut portions, sockeye salmon bisque and fillets in 2015. Sockeye salmon teething strips are the newest addition. Those items became an instant hit and are shipped to customers in every U.S. and in Canada. 

Each outgoing box now contains recipes from the people of Bristol Bay, stories of how traditional foods are rooted in Alaskan culture and other information about the region provided by the new outreach network.

“We’re looking forward to partnering with Bambino’s and BBRSDA to share the stories of why salmon is so crucial to our region and our shareholders,” said Jason Metrokin, president and CEO of BBNC. “Salmon is a fundamental part of our cultures and our values, from protecting the waters they spawn in to ensuring our shareholders are able to fill their freezers every year.” 

“We want to ensure that people everywhere and of all ages not only reap the nutritional benefits of Bristol Bay sockeye salmon but are also aware of the origin and sustainability of the region,” said Lilani Dunn, marketing director of BBRSDA, operated and funded by the fleet of nearly 1,800 driftnet fishermen by a 1% tax on their catches. 

“Bambinos has really built up her business and her brand and it was no secret that her sockeye product was performing really well. And we saw a huge opportunity to tell our stories focusing on the Native families and culture of Bristol Bay and for ourselves in the marketing program,” Dunn said. “I feel very passionate, along with our partners, about the nutritional benefits of sockeye salmon, especially in young infants and toddlers.”

“The beautiful nature of all of this is that we all care about our environment and the health and wellness of our families, and we all want to know where our food comes from,” said Zoi Maroudas, Bambino’s founder and CEO.  

“It just brings a lot of depth to the Bristol Bay region to have the synergy between BBNC and ourselves and to work with an Alaska company,” added BBRSDA’s Dunn. “It’s definitely something special and I'm really excited for it.”

Bambino’s was selected as Alaska Manufacturer of the Year in 2018. All of its products are produced in Anchorage and can be found at Safeway/Carrs and other grocers throughout Southcentral Alaska and on Amazon. - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

Alaska: COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine granted full FDA approval; Alaskans who are not yet vaccinated are encouraged to do so Posted & Edited By MARY KAUFFMAN – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted full approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for individuals aged 16 years and older. The vaccine had previously been authorized under an emergency use authorization (EUA), which allowed the vaccine to be used during the pandemic while more data continued to be collected and analyzed. The EUA will continue for individuals aged 12 through 15 years and for the administration of a third dose in immunocompromised people.

“Robust clinical trials have shown that the COVID-19 vaccines were safe and effective when they were first authorized in December of 2020. Now we have even more data supporting the benefits and safety of the Pfizer vaccine – enough to grant full licensure,” said Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink. “Alaskans have important questions about the vaccines, and we know some people have been waiting for full approval. We hope this instills confidence and encourages more Alaskans to now get vaccinated.”

“The FDA’s approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. While this and other vaccines have met the FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. “While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated. Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.” 

Since Dec. 11, 2020, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine has been available under EUA in individuals 16 years of age and older, and the authorization was expanded to include those 12 through 15 years of age on May 10, 2021. EUAs can be used by the FDA during public health emergencies to provide access to medical products that may be effective in preventing, diagnosing, or treating a disease, provided that the FDA determines that the known and potential benefits of a product, when used to prevent, diagnose, or treat the disease, outweigh the known and potential risks of the product. - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

Health: The White House Says Boosters for All. Here’s What You Need to Know. By Sarah Jane Tribble - The Biden administration announced plans Wednesday to offer boosters to all U.S. adults as soon as next month, saying that recent data, including some made available only in the past few days, played a role in that decision.

“If you wait for something bad to happen before you respond to it, you find yourselves considerably behind,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a White House briefing. “You want to stay ahead of the virus.”

White House officials emphasized that the rollout of boosters was pending review of evidence by officials at the Food and Drug Administration as well as the advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The rollout would begin the week of Sept. 20. U.S. residents 18 and older who received the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines would be eligible for a third shot eight months after their second dose. The timing would mean that health care workers, long-term care residents and older residents would be first in line for boosters.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you still have a high degree of protection from the worst outcomes — we are not recommending you go out and get a booster today,” U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said. Johnson & Johnson vaccines were not distributed until March and a plan for those booster shots will come later, officials said. - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

Health: ‘We Sent a Terrible Message’: Scientists Say Biden Jumped the Gun With Vaccine Booster Plan By Rachana Pradhan - The Biden administration’s plans to make covid-19 booster shots available next month has drawn a collective scream of protest from the scientific community.

As some scientists see it, the announcement is rash and based on weak evidence, and they worry it could undercut confidence in vaccines with no clear benefit of controlling the pandemic. Meanwhile, more information is needed on potential side effects or adverse effects from a booster shot, they say.

Perhaps even worse, the announcement has fueled deeper confusion about what Americans need to do to protect themselves from covid.

“I think we’ve scared people,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and an adviser to the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.

“We sent a terrible message,” he said. “We just sent a message out there that people who consider themselves fully vaccinated were not fully vaccinated. And that’s the wrong message, because you are protected against serious illness.”

As of Thursday, 51% of the U.S. population was fully vaccinated, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows. Biden administration officials ― citing data from Israel, a study from the Mayo Clinic that is not yet peer-reviewed and new CDC studies ― say it’s necessary to plan for boosters to prevent a worsening of the pandemic as the delta variant powers a surge in cases and overwhelms hospital intensive care units.

In essence, officials are caught between a rock and a hard place ― trying to be prepared while simultaneously not undermining messaging about how well the existing vaccines work. - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

Analysis: What does full FDA approval of a vaccine do if it’s already authorized for emergency use?By JENNIFER GIROTTO - Thirty percent of unvaccinated American adults say they’re waiting for the COVID-19 vaccines currently authorized for emergency use to be officially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has since granted that approval for those age 16 and older for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Aug. 23, 2021. What had to happen for the FDA to advance from emergency use authorization, or EUA, to full approval?

I’m a pharmacist who trains other pharmacists, health care providers and students on why, when and how to administer vaccines. Emergency use authorization, while streamlining the regulatory process so the vaccine is more quickly available to the public, still follows a rigorous process the FDA requires to ensure vaccine safety and effectiveness. The difference is that more time has passed and more data is available for review when a company applies for full approval.

EUA and full approval share similar first steps

For both emergency authorization and full approval, for COVID-19 vaccines, the FDA first requires initial safety studies on a small number of people. Here, researchers document potential adverse events, or side effects, that the vaccine may cause. Researchers also determine the safest and most effective dose of the vaccine.

Once the vaccine is determined to be safe and an optimal dose identified, researchers will create larger studies to ascertain how well it works in a controlled setting where some people are given the vaccine while others are given a placebo.

It is important to note that the number of people who participated in the initial COVID-19 safety studies was similar to that in the safety studies of other commonly used vaccines, including vaccines for tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough and meningitis. Over 43,000 adults participated in the early phases of the Pfizer-BioNTech clinical trial, over 30,400 in Moderna’s and over 44,000 in Johnson and Johnson’s. Half the participants in each study were given a vaccine, while the other half were given a placebo. - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

Health: Why Doesn’t Medicare Cover Services So Many Seniors Need? By Julie Rovner - Sorry, Joe Namath. Despite what you keep saying in those TV ads, under Medicare, seniors are not “entitled to eliminate copays and get dental care, dentures, eyeglasses, prescription drug coverage, in-home aides, unlimited transportation and home-delivered meals, all at no additional cost.” But if Democratic lawmakers in Congress have their say, seniors could soon be entitled to some of those services.

Namath’s commercial is hawking private Medicare Advantage plans, which frequently do offer benefits traditional Medicare does not — in exchange for being limited to certain doctors and hospitals. “Traditional” Medicare does not cover many benefits used overwhelmingly by its beneficiaries, including most vision, dental and hearing care, and drug coverage is available only by purchasing a separate insurance plan — Medicare Part D.

But Democrats in the House and Senate plan to try to change that as soon as this fall. On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released an outline of a coming budget bill that includes a directive to the Senate Finance Committee to expand Medicare “to include dental, vision, hearing benefits.” The catch — all the Democrats in the Senate and almost all in the House will have to agree on the entire budget bill for it to become law.

Still, that raises a question about Medicare: Why has it taken so long to add such obviously needed benefits?

As with almost everything to do with the U.S. health system, the answer is complicated, and a combination of policy and politics.

“Medicare is the kind of program where you’d expect the benefits would be expanded over and over again. It’s popular, and benefits expansions poll well,” said Jonathan Oberlander, a professor of health policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and author of the book “The Political Life of Medicare.” “It’s one of the great puzzles of Medicare politics: why benefit expansions have been so rare.”

In fact, in the 56 years since Medicare became law, only a few benefits have been added to the package, which was created to emulate a 1965 Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan. During the 1980s and ’90s some preventive care was added, like pneumonia vaccines and mammograms. Republicans spearheaded the addition of prescription drug coverage in 2003, when they controlled both Congress and the White House. But they decided to make that coverage separate from the program’s traditional benefit package.

Other efforts to expand benefits have not gone so well. In 1988, a bipartisan effort in Congress produced the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, which would have added drug coverage to traditional Medicare and also would have plugged a hole: the fact that there is no limit on the amount patients can be charged for their share of covered services. That law, however, was repealed just a year later after seniors rebelled against being asked to foot most of the bill for the new benefits via a new income “surtax.” Today, Medicare beneficiaries still face the risk of unlimited expenses.

Medicare is funded by a combination of money paid directly to the government from paychecks and taxes paid by working Americans and their employers. That brings us to another big reason Medicare’s benefit package hasn’t been beefed up more — the cost of the current program.

“When Medicare was created, its architects assumed expansion, both in terms of population and in terms of benefits later,” said Oberlander. “They didn’t anticipate the shift in American politics to the right, and they didn’t anticipate that Medicare would be labeled a fiscal problem and that policymakers would be more concerned with avoiding the next trust fund shortfall than expanding benefits.” - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

RICH MANIERI: A COVID BOOSTER? NOT SO FAST. - Yeah, I’ll get the booster. I might even ask for a double, just in case.

The CDC, which is now running the country, told me I need it and very few, including the media, have the temerity to take on the CDC.

“A booster shot will be needed to maximize vaccine-induced protection and prolong its durability,” the CDC announced Wednesday.

Good enough for me.

Not so fast. This just in, as we say in the news business.

Some other scientists, who are pretty smart and don’t work for the government, are highly critical of the Biden administration’s push for booster shots.

“People are still highly protected against severe disease, hospitalization, and death. This is what vaccines are supposed to do,” said Dr. Anna Durbin, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins University, CNBC reported.Yeah, I’ll get the booster. I might even ask for a double, just in case. - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

DICK POLMAN: IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO END THIS WAY IN AFGHANISTAN - Anyone who professes to be shocked by the Taliban victory in Afghanistan has not been paying attention.

It was always bound to happen. It was merely delayed because Uncle Sam kept his trillion-dollar finger in the dike for 20 years. Were we fated to remain forever, in a land that had already proved fatally inhospitable to the British and the Russians and Alexander the Great?

The harbingers of failure had long been obvious, but most Americans, benumbed by the war, had long ago stopped paying attention. In 2019, word leaked that the U.S. officials entrusted with propping up the Afghan regime were disgusted with their proteges, saying in memos and private interviews that “after almost two decades of help from Washington, the Afghan army and police are still too weak to fend off the Taliban.” - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

FINANCIAL FOCUS: Be prepared for long-term care costs Provided By BEN EDWARDS, AAMS® - Like everyone, you’d like to enjoy a long, healthy, independent life. But the future is unknowable, so it’s a good idea to prepare for a variety of outcomes – including the possible need for long-term care.

Consider the following:

• Someone turning age 65 today has almost a 70% chance of eventually needing some type of long-term care service, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

• The median annual cost for a private room in a nursing home is about $105,000, and it’s almost $55,000 for home health aide services, according to the insurance company Genworth. - More...
Monday PM - August 23, 2021

Political Cartoon: BWAHAHAHA HAhaha!!
by Rivers ©2021, CagleCartoons.com
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Political Cartoon: The cost
by Adam Zyglis©2021, The Buffalo News, NY
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Political Cartoon: New and improved Taliban
by John Darkow, Columbia Missourian
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Political Cartoon: Taliban overrrun Afghan capital
by Dave Granlund ©2021, PoliticalCartoons.com
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