Murphy's Landing Sunset
Front Page Photo By MIKE GATES

Southeast Alaska: AAHP “Most Endangered” Listing Helps Leverage Funding for Saxman Projects - Located in Southeast Alaska 2.5 road miles south of Ketchikan, the City of Saxman is perhaps best-known as the home of Totem Row Park - an outdoor park which includes 25 Tlingit totem poles. 

U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich travelled to Saxman's Totem Row Park in August of 2011 to assist community members in raising two new Bear Entrance Poles; duplicates of older poles which reached the end of their lifespan.  Saxman looks forwards to raising 5 additional totem poles within the next 2 years.
Photo courtesy City of Saxman

The park was created through a 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps program, which collected totem poles from abandoned villages throughout southeast Alaska, and hired Alaska Native people to carve duplicates.  Saxman is also home to the Chief Kashakes House – the last example of a “balloon frame” clan house still standing in southeast Alaska.  The Kashakes House is home to two early 20th century totem poles, and a Russian cannon dating back to the 18th century.

In 2010, the City of Saxman submitted Totem Row Park and the Chief Kashakes House for consideration for inclusion on the Alaska Association for Historic Preservation (AAHP) “Most Endangered Historic Properties” list.  The Kashakes House and Cultural Items made #1 on the list, due to the advanced decay of the property, and challenging issues of ownership.  Totem Row Park was ranked as the #5 Most Endangered property in the State, due to the difficulty and expense of maintaining wooden totem poles exposed to southeast Alaska’s harsh maritime climate. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Alaska: Troopers Ramp Up Patrols for Halloween Weekend - The Alaska State Troopers will be out conducting enforcement efforts to ensure the safety of Alaskans while they celebrate Halloween this weekend. Local law enforcement agencies will also participate in the enhanced enforcement efforts from October 25th to November 1st.

The ramped up enforcement conducted by the Alaska State Troopers over the holiday will mostly be focused on DUI enforcement for both alcohol and drugs. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Southeast Alaska: AFN NAMES WORL CITIZEN OF THE YEAR; Award is AFN’s highest honor - The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) has presented its highest honor to Rosita Worl, president of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

Rosita Worl
Photo by Scott Areman

At an Anchorage ceremony last Friday during the federation’s annual convention, AFN President Julie Kitka gave Worl its Citizen of the Year award, saying Worl had dedicated her life to helping Native people from one corner of the state to the other.

“I venture to say there’s probably nobody’s life that has not been touched by the efforts that she has put into her work helping the Native community over her lifetime,” Kitka said.

AFN Co-Chair Albert Kookesh said he went to college with Worl, noting she went to two schools to earn her bachelor’s degree quicker, before earning her Ph.D. at Harvard.

“Rosita is one of the most educated people that we have in our midst,” Kookesh said. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Southeast Alaska: Honored Tlingit Elder Receives Award - Alaska Governor Sean Parnell awarded the 2011 Shirley Demientieff Award last Friday to Tlingit elder Ethel Lund at the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) convention in Anchorage. The award is given each year at AFN convention by the governor of Alaska for advocacy on behalf of Alaska Native women and children.

Lund, originally of Wrangell, is one of the founders of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). She has served as its president. SEARHC began in 1975 as a small organization led by an Alaska Native volunteer board of directors – mostly women from remote villages. Over the last three decades, SEARHC has grown into one of the largest health care organizations in Alaska. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Alaska: Former Alaska Legislators Peter Kott And Victor Kohring Convicted And Sentenced For Public Corruption Crimes - United States Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced last Friday that two former members of the Alaska legislature pled guilty and were sentenced in federal court in Anchorage, on charges of political corruption.

Peter Kott pled and was convicted of bribery concerning programs that receive federal funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B). Pursuant to the plea agreement, Kott was sentenced to 17 months in prison, the time he has already served, and placed on three years of supervised release with a curfew for the first twelve months. He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. Victor Kohring was convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs that receive federal funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and similarly sentenced to time he had previously served (12 months in prison) and placed on supervised release for a period of 18 months. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Alaska Science: Alaska creatures without us By NED ROZELL - In Alan Weisman’s book, The World Without Us, the author ponders “a world from which we all suddenly vanished. Tomorrow.”

Songbirds like this ruby-crowned kinglet would probably do better if people flew away.
Photo by Ned Rozell

In last week’s column, a few experts discussed the fate of Alaska structures if Alaskans were to disappear. This week, people who study Alaska’s wildlife donate some thought to the subject.

Alaska’s lack of people has benefited many species, including caribou, which still outnumber Alaskans, and salmon, which torpedo up our rivers with a staggering, wonderful density that was once seen all over the west coast of North America.

Mark Wipfli has spent many hours on salmon streams throughout Alaska, and the University of Alaska biologist has thought many times of mankind’s impact on salmon. If people were to disappear, Wipfli envisions a slow healing of damage done to salmon habitat. In Alaska, that means the recovery from logging and mining of streamside forests that provide everything from fish food in the form of insects to the contribution of dead trees to waterways (for erosion control and creation of eddies and other features good for salmon).

Old-growth forests (with trees aged from 50 to 200 years) provide ideal conditions for salmon, just as those same trees have benefited us with stout building materials. The mining of minerals we use every day has also disrupted life for salmon. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

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