Ketchikan: Pioneers of Southeast: A Tale of Two Men Named Thomas By LOUISE BRINCK HARRINGTON - In 1909 two men with the same last name-Thomas-lived in the small town of Ketchikan on Stedman Street (then referred to as "Indiantown"). Both men originally came from Canada, worked in the herring business and owned and skippered halibut boats.

Thomas Basin circa 1915 Thomas Basin as viewed from above Stedman Street Front Page Photograph courtesy: Tongass Historical Society, Ketchikan Museums

And both left his name in the Thomas Street-Thomas Basin area.

Who were these men and which one is today's street and boat harbor named for? Well, there's some controversy about that.

Captain Ashton Waylon Thomas

Captain Ashton Waylan Thomas-usually referred to as A.W. Thomas-came to Alaska from Washington State's San Juan Islands, where he'd been in the fish-canning business.

During the gold rush of 1898 he towed a scow to Wrangell and started a transportation business, ferrying prospectors up the Stikine River to the gold fields. When the gold rush slowed down in 1903 he moved on to Juneau and started a new fish business: the Juneau Packing Company. The company operated three fish traps and produced canned sardines and smoked and kippered salmon. - More...
Monday - October 30, 2006

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National: Democrats face a tug-of-war in agenda planning By MARC SANDALOW - It is an article of faith among many liberals that Democrats must advance a bold agenda if they are to win a majority in the House of Representatives Nov. 7.

From expanded health care and scaling back President Bush's tax cuts to withholding money from the Pentagon's war budget and investigating high crimes and misdemeanors, there is enormous pent-up energy to accomplish what could not be done during 12 years in the minority.

Yet as Democratic leaders, including would-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, gear up for an increasingly plausible scenario, they face competing demands likely to temper their liberal ambitions.

The new Democratic majority, should it occur, will consist of a fresh crop of moderate and conservative members whose elections will have been won in part by distancing themselves from the party's progressive wing.

Faced with possible Republican control of the Senate, the president's veto pen and most likely a narrow edge in the House, many Democrats insist they must moderate their agenda and reach out to Republicans to expand their majority and improve their chances of winning the White House in 2008. - More...
Monday - October 30, 2006

National: Nonpartisan political Web sites draw many voters By LAUREN SMITH - In the 11th hour before the November elections, voters are turning to non-partisan, non-profit Web sites that track political money and members of Congress to make a more informed decision on Election Day, according to political experts.

"We have been maxing out our bandwidth for the last week and I think a lot of it has to do with the election coming up," said Massie Ritsch, communication director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a research group that tracks money in politics and its effect on elections and public policy.

Since Oct. 10, the site has registered its biggest traffic days ever, Ritsch said, and hit levels it hadn't seen since the final days of the 2004 presidential elections. - More...
Monday - October 30, 2006

National: Micro-marketing tactics come to political campaigns By PATRICIA LOPEZ - If you've been trying to tune out the political din, hoping no one will find you, don't be surprised if you soon get a phone call, a door-knock or a glossy mailer from some political pitch artist who seems to know your deepest interests and pet peeves - and who has just the candidate for you.

You've just been micro-targeted.

Armed with the kind of lifestyle and consumer information long used by big business to market products, Republicans, in particular, have devised a system that tells them whether you like to golf or go on cruises, drink wine or imported beer, watch cable or network TV, and prefer fancy restaurants or burger joints. They know the size of your mortgage and whether you gamble at casinos.

They don't just know this about people "like" you. They know it about you. You, the one reading this article. - More...
Monday - October 30, 2006

Alaska: Governor Issues Special Session Call - Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski announced in Fairbanks Friday that he is calling the Alaska State Legislature into special session beginning November 13, 2006 at 11 a.m. to consider the implementation of same sex domestic partner benefits for public employees, as ordered by the Supreme Court of Alaska.

Murkowski said his decision is based upon a recommendation from Commissioner of Administration Scott J. Nordstrand that the Legislature would need to address the Supreme Court order of June 1, 2005, requiring the State of Alaska to implement benefits for same sex domestic partners. - More...
Monday - October 30, 2006

Fish Factor: Salmon markets, sealion counts, & fish vs. global warming... By LAINE WELCH - It used to be that the Alaska salmon industry was criticized for "putting all its eggs into one basket," meaning, selling all of its big money fish - sockeye - to one customer, Japan.

That's not the case any longer. For the past decade, the trend has been a steady shift away from that traditional customer toward eager markets in the U.S. and Europe. The latest Seafood Market Report from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute reports frozen sockeye salmon exports to Japan so far this year are 27 million pounds, just 33 percent of the total pack. This contrasts sharply with the past two years when production levels were similar, but Japan imported 66-69 percent of Alaska frozen sockeye. Frozen sockeye is by far the most valuable salmon product produced in Alaska, with first wholesale value of nearly $160 million in 2005.

The sockeye market is of keen interest for the industry, especially since Alaska harvests have topped 40 million reds for three years running. The export and sales patterns since 2004 are the most relevant for illustrating the changing market destinations for Alaska's frozen sockeye, the report said.

Conversely, the market for canned sockeye is facing a glut. While the sales season for all canned salmon begins in September, all indications point to a large carry over of canned reds from previous years, plus above average volumes coming into the market from B.C. Canada.

There is a rosier outlook for pink salmon, as fewer of those fish end up in cans. Canned production this year, combined with carryover inventory, add up to the lowest case load in several years, the Seafood Market Report said. "In fact, closer to 55 percent of the pink harvest is now going into cans. That compares to roughly 76 percent in recent years. We're seeing a big shift into higher value frozen pink production," said Chris McDowell of the Juneau-based McDowell Group, producer of the market report for ASMI. - More...
Monday - October 30, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Basic Rules RE: Hate, Greed, and Fear By Steven McLaren - Monday Ketchikan's Bridge By Gov. Frank H. Murkowski - Monday Consolidation - The Wrong Choice by Eric Muench - Monday Missing lumber By John Stewart - Monday RE: "Hate, Greed, and Fear" By Robert Freedland - Monday RE: Hate, Greed, and Fear By Steven McLaren - Saturday PM Bridge By Robert Glenn - Saturday PM RUMSFELD TELLING THE MEDIA/CRITICS TO BACK OFF By DONALD KENEKSE - Saturday PM Hate, Greed, and Fear By Robert Freedland - Thursday PM Free Money is a distraction for local governement By Michael Spence - Wednesday PM Bridge By Jerilyn Lester - Wednesday PM KGB School Lock-Down By Anne Lucas - Tuesday TIME FOR CHANGE By James C. Eakes - Tuesday RE: Tongass Construction By Cathy Geer - Tuesday Promises, Promises: What Do They Mean at UAS? By Robert D. Warner - Tuesday Getting hosed at the pump? By Wayne Kinunen - Tuesday Metlakatla's Choice: A simple Yes or No By Virginia E. Atkinson - Tuesday Martin and John Bugge By Pam Grender - Tuesday RE: Adults think they know all the answers etc. By Frances C. Natkong - Tuesday Gas Prices By Janelle Hamilton - Tuesday SQUEAKY By BJ Orand - Tuesday Hooray!!! for recovey By Patti Fay Hickox - Tuesday Killer of a Whale By Greg Harris - Tuesday Law enforcement in Ketchikan By Colleen James - Tuesday Lots of Failing Parents By Rob Glenn - Tuesday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan Ketchikan Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Today's Forecast Satellite Today's Weather Images Marine Forecasts Ketchikan Weather Data Current AK Weather Map MEETINGS 11/02/06 - Thursday - 7:00 pm - Ketchickan City Council Meeting - City Council Chambers Download Agenda pdf (Click on each item on the agenda to download its information packet) CLASSIFIEDS Auto-post your ad in the proper category, or email your ad & photos to ads@sitnews.us  CLASSIFIEDS' CATEGORIES Announcements For Sale / Free Stuff Garage Sales Homes / Apts/ Property Pets Wanted Lost & Found Local Services SitNews Archives October 2006 Click on the date to read the stories published on that day. S M T W T F S 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31         More Front Page Archives

Dave Kiffer: Seattle's 'Branding' is A Great Big Ouch! - I see in the news that our good friends in Seattle are once again concerned about how they market themselves to the outside world. The Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau has undertaken another "branding " campaign and have spent 16 months and two hundred thousand dollars to get a new "brand."

This is on the heels of another recent Northwest branding. Last year, the State of Washington decided it needed a new "brand" so it spent two hundred thousand dollars and nearly two years as well.

The statewide result - "SayWA" - was roundly panned but they valiantly stuck by it. At least until a few weeks ago, when it was quietly put out of its misery.

I was apparently one of the few people who wasn't totally cheesed off by "SayWa."

Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a stupid idea (you can imagine a serious case of "groupthink" around some conference table scratching their chins and saying 'yeah, you're right. That's not so bad.' Wrong.

I just liked the attempt. At least they tried something humorous rather than the usual overly "earnest" results that come out of most "branding" sessions. (If you don't believe me, ask a steer!)

Wow, that was a serious digression! I started off talking about Seattle and jumped all the way to SayWa! - More...
Monday - October 30, 2006

Preston McDougall: Chemical Eye on Family Traditions - When asked "Hank, why do you drink?", or "Hank, why do you roll smoke?", Hank Williams Jr. has lyrically replied that he's "just carrying on an old family tradition."

In the case of the Earnhardts, you could also refer to more than one family tradition - winning and crashing to name two. Fortunately for him, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has survived more than one fiery crash on a NASCAR track, and is expected to carry on the family tradition of winning for the foreseeable future.

Recent science news has brought to the public's attention another winning family, but one with molecular traditions. Roger Kornberg, a professor in the Stanford University School of Medicine, was named as the sole recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his elegant crystallographic work that revealed - with atomic resolution - the workings of a biomolecular machine called RNA polymerase. - More...
Monday - October 30, 2006

Tom Purcell: Halloween Ban? - Ban Halloween from public schools?

That's right. No costumes. No parades. No parties. It's happening all over America.

But it's autumn. There's a chill in the air. The leaves are a brilliant orange and gold. Kids are supposed to celebrate Halloween at school.

Supposed to?

Look, Americans embraced the Halloween tradition long ago. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says Celtic pagans believed that at the end of the harvest season, Oct. 31, ghosts and evil spirits returned to the Earth. The Celts wore masks to hide themselves from the spirits. - More...
Monday - October 30, 2006

Dale McFeatters: Halloween gets older, more low-cut - It has been true for quite a while that Halloween is not just for kids anymore, but just in the last year it has become truer than ever.

The little kids will still sally forth Tuesday night with their goodie bags, dressed as princesses, witches and Spiderman - the three most popular costumes for youngsters - but more and more the night belongs to adults and retailers.

Halloween revelers of all ages will spend $4.96 billion this year on food, drink and costumes, up an astonishing 51 percent over last year. And the number of people celebrating is up 20 percent over last year. Halloween is now the sixth-biggest retail spending holiday of the year, says the National Retail Federation, which, for obvious reasons, tracks these numbers closely.

The boom is fueled by adults, especially the younger ones; over 85 percent of those 18 to 24 plan to party. And they have introduced a new element into the equation. Do a Google search of "sexy Halloween costumes" and you get over 5 million hits. - More...
Monday - October 30, 2006