Klawock Sunrise
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Southeast Alaska: Trump’s grandfather took part in the Gold Rush; Entrepreneur had hotels in Bennett, Whitehorse By DAVE KIFFER - We know that Donald Trump’s grandfather was involved in the Klondike Gold Rush. But like many other stories from that time, some of the details are a little fuzzy.

Friedrich Trump, 1887
Photo courtesy wikipedia.org

It is clear that the fortune that would eventually help propel Frederick Trump’s grandson to the Presidency of the United States had its beginnings in the late 1890s when Trump, a German immigrant, moved to the Klondike, not to mine for gold, but – to use a term common in mining communities – to mine the miners.

Frederick Trump came to the United States as a 16-year-old in 1885 from the town of Kallstadt in the Rhineland-Palatinate area of Bavaria which is in the southwest part of what is now unified Germany

Although the Trump family says that Frederick Trump was seeking economic improvement, recent stories in the German magazine Bild have uncovered documentation indicating that the real reason may have been that Trump was kicked out of Germany for failing to undergo the required military service in Bavaria.

Later when Frederick Trump tried to return permanently to Germany in 1905, the government turned down his request and ordered him deported back to the United States, according to Bild.

1905 was also when Frederick’s son – Donald Trump’s father – Frederick Trump Jr. was born in New York. Frederick Trump Jr. would expand the family fortune through extensive real estate holdings in New York.

According to most historians, Frederick Trump Sr. spent six years in New York City working as a barber and living with his sister and brother-in-law. In 1891, he decided to head west to seek his fortune, eventually ending up in Seattle. He opened a restaurant in either the Skid Row or the Lava Bed sections of Seattle. Historians disagree on the location, although most believe it was on Washington Street.

That restaurant, which also doubled as a barber’s shop was called the Dairy Restaurant, according to an October, 2016 story by Jason Marcusoff in Canada’s Macleans magazine.

At some point, Trump purchased 40 acres of land in the Pine Lake Pines area east of Seattle. It was the first real estate deal for a family that would be known for its real estate holdings for generations to come.

The historical record soon finds Trump applying for a small mining claim in the mining boom town of Monte Cristo, some 50 miles northeast of Seattle. Monte Cristo was thought to be one of the greatest lead and silver deposits on the continent, but did not live up to projections. Meanwhile Trump made a foray into local politics and was reportedly elected Justice of the Peace by a 32-5 margin.

By 1896, most of the mining in Monte Cristo had stopped and, along with most of the other miners, Trump had returned to Seattle and opened another restaurant.

He was apparently still there when word reached Puget Sound of the Klondike gold strike near Dawson in the Yukon territory in the summer of 1897. - More...
Friday PM - November 25, 2016

Fish Factor: Alaska seafood market updates and outlooks By LAINE WELCH - Alaska seafood goes to roughly 120 countries around the world and competes in a rough and tumble commodities market. Looking ahead to next year, sales conditions are looking positive for Alaska salmon, with some mixed market outlooks for other main species.

Alaska produces more than 65 percent of our nation’s wild caught seafood; seafood also is Alaska’s top export to other countries.

Here are some highlights from the Alaska Seafood Industry Updates prepared each fall by the McDowell Group for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute:

The value of Alaska seafood at the docks dropped seven percent from 2011 through 2015 to $4.3 billion.

Salmon was tops for dockside values for 2014 - 2015 at $541 million, 29 percent of the value of all Alaska seafood catches. Pollock ranked second for Alaska seafood value at $477 million, 26 percent of the total dockside value and 54 percent of the volume.

Alaska’s total salmon supply picture for 2016 is down 58 percent.

Global farmed salmon production won’t regain steam until 2019, and reports are circulating widely that the prized omega 3’s are down by half in farm grown fish due to their plant-based diets.

At Bristol Bay, the preliminary value to salmon fishermen increased 66 percent, due to a big sockeye catch and higher prices.

Alaska salmon prices continue to increase at wholesale and the fresh market is growing stronger, especially for sockeyes.

Markets for pollock, cod, flounders and other ‘whitefish’ are likely `to remain steady, but with low prices.

Prices for king and snow crab are expected to set records, but will face stiff competition from Russian imports to the U.S., up 58 percent and 38 percent last year, respectively, valued at over $220 million.

The halibut market is likely to remain flat, or may go down a bit after sustaining fishermen’s prices in the $6 to over $7 per pound range all season.

Global currency markets remain challenging for seafood trade, but have improved.

A concern cited by the report is budget cuts to the commercial fisheries budget which shift the onus to fishermen and processors to fund critical management projects through test fisheries.

Another is the ongoing U.S. food embargo by Russia, now entering its third year. For Alaska, the seafood shut-out adds up to a $60 million hit each year, primarily from lost sales of pink salmon roe and Alaska pollock products.

Almost 90 percent of the king crab eaten in the U.S. comes from Russia, according to market expert John Sackton, much of it caught illegally. The U.S. also buys thousands of tons of pollock, cod and salmon from Russia each year.

“If Russia won’t buy our seafood, we won’t buy theirs,” has been the way Alaska processors and crabbers hoped to hit back on the ban. They have been urging Congress and the President to enact a retaliatory ban on seafood coming into the U.S. from Russia, so far, to no avail. - More...
Friday PM - November 25, 2016

Columns - Commentary

But when it comes to his most ambitious building project yet - a badly needed, $1 trillion upgrade of America's roads, bridges, railways and airports, the nation's incoming 45th chief executive is running into an challenge tougher than winning over even the crankiest of New York City code inspectors:

Finding a way to pay for it.

If there's one thing we know about Trump's agenda, it's that he wants to cut taxes - bigly - punching an estimated $7.2 trillion hole in government revenues over the next decade.

And if there's one more thing we know, it's that building and fixing roads and bridges isn't cheap.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Trump's chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, suggested that the administration's proposed infrastructure plan could be paid for on the back of massive borrowing (Because, let's face it, that's something his boss knows more than a little about). - More...
Saturday AM - November 26, 2016

ARTHUR MARTIN: Purging of the 'Fake News' - Shortly after Trump became President-Elect the Elite Globalists panicked trying to figure out Why Trump won. Before long their answer became apparent: Too. Much. Media. Coverage. Trump not only received free press-coverage but he also completely by-passed the Main Stream Media whenever he wanted by spreading his message on Alternative Conservative news sites, as well as, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

In response to Trump’s effective use of social media, alternative news and free press coverage the elite globalists decided to purge and discredit these news sources by labeling them “Fake News” and banning any people who may have credibility on the Conservative Right.

More specifically Facebook and Google announced last week that they are setting up algorithms to get rid of “Fake News” (which of course are Conservative news) - More...
Saturday AM - November 26, 2016