 Contact 
Call 617-9696
Webmail
Letters
News Tips
Copyright Info
Archives
Quick News
Search
Alaska
Ketchikan
SE Alaska
Alaska News Links
Columns
- Articles
Dave Kiffer
Fish
Factor
Money Matters
Historical
Ketchikan
June Allen
Dave
Kiffer
Louise
B. Harrington
Ketchikan
Arts & Events
Ketchikan
Arts
Ketchikan
Museums
KTN Public
Library
Sports
Ketchikan Links
Public Records
FAA Accident Reports
NTSB
Accident Reports
Court Calendar
Court Records Search
Wanted:
Absconders
Sex Offender Reg.
Public Notices
Weather,
Webcams
Today's
Forecast
KTN
Weather Data
AK
Weather Map
AK Weathercams
AK Earthquakes
TV Guide
Ketchikan
Ketchikan
Phone Book
Yellow
Pages
White
Pages
Government
Links
Local Government
State & National
|
|
Monday
December 01, 2014
|
Gravina Island: American Kestrel
The American kestrel (Falco sparverius), sometimes colloquially known as the sparrow hawk, is a small falcon, and the only kestrel found in the Americas. This American Kestrel was feeding along the Gravina road on caterpillar-looking grubs. It is also the smallest falcon in North America.
Front Page Photograph By JIM LEWIS ©2014
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Ketchikan: Court Rules Alaska Education Funding Mandate Unconstitutional - A Superior Court Judge has ruled in favor of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough in its lawsuit against the State of Alaska over the state’s education funding mandate.
According to Borough Manager Dan Bockhorst, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough is pleased with the November 21st decision of Superior Court Judge William Carey invalidating the Required Local Contribution statute on the grounds that the law in question runs afoul of the dedicated funds clause of Alaska’s Constitution.
In his ruling, Superior Court Judge William Carey said that boroughs are not required to help pay for public education. In his ruling, Carey said that the Required Local Contribution is, essentially, a tax earmarked for a special purpose, which violates the state Constitution.
Bockhorst explained that under the Required Local Contribution statute, the State has forced the Ketchikan Gateway Borough to annually backfill millions of dollars in Basic Need for Ketchikan’s schools. At the same time, the State has fully funded Basic Need for Alaska’s 19 non-municipal school districts.
The state Department of Education’s budget for the 2013-2014 academic year was $1.4 billion, with $222 million of that coming from required local contributions provided by boroughs and first-class cities.
In just the past 25 years, Ketchikan taxpayers have paid nearly $110 million in these unconstitutional mandates said Bockhorst. He said when the Ketchikan Gateway Borough was incorporated in 1963, voters had been given assurance in State law that “No area incorporated as an organized borough shall be deprived of state services, revenues, or assistance or be otherwise penalized because of incorporation.” Regrettably, organized boroughs have long suffered heavily penalties because of incorporation.
Bockhorst said he was ebullient over Judge Carey’s decision. Bockhorst labeled November 21st, the date of Judge Carey’s decision, as “Keep the Promise Day” referring to the 1963 promise by the State that boroughs would be treated fairly.
On behalf of the Alaska Department of Law, Cori Mills, Assistant Attorney General provided a response to Judge Carey's decision. “We are disappointed with the superior court’s decision invalidating the local contribution requirement for school funding."
According to the press statement, the State maintains that because the local contribution is simply the borough’s share of the cost of educating its students and because the local contribution is funded with borough revenue, the local contribution is not a source of state revenue and is not subject to the dedicated funds provision.
The Alaska Department of Law said, "Alaska has a long and proud tradition of state-local cooperation over education, including significant local control and a requirement of local monetary contributions to the funding of local schools."
Despite the victory on the constitutional issue of the dedicated funds clause, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough was not granted a refund from the State of the Borough’s $4.2 million FY 2014 Required Local Contribution. According to Bockhorst, the Borough is evaluating the Court’s decision on that point and other points. An executive session of the Ketchikan Borough Assembly was scheduled for today, December 1, to discuss legal strategy regarding the matter.
The Alaska Department of Law is pleased that the court agreed with the State that the local contribution does not violate the appropriations and veto clauses of the Alaska Constitution. The Department also agreed with the court’s decision to deny the Ketchikan Gateway Borough’s request for a refund from the State of the local money that it paid directly to the Ketchikan School District.
The Alaska Department of Law will also continue to evaluate the court’s decision and their appeal options.
Bockhorst praised the work of the attorneys who represented the Borough – Scott Brandt-Erichsen and Louann Cutler – and also recognized the work of attorney Bob Hicks who prepared extensive legal and policy analysis for the Borough regarding the matter. - More...
Monday PM - December 01, 2014
|
|
Fish Factor: Alaska’s fishery meetings kick into high gear By LAINE WELCH - It’s the time of year when Alaska’s fishery meetings kick into high gear - with five set for this week alone.
The industry will get a first glimpse of potential 2015 halibut catches when the International Pacific Halibut Commission convenes Dec. 2-3 in Seattle. It’s been a wait and see attitude among fish circles - Will Alaska’s catch limits again be reduced, down already 70% over a decade to just 16 million pounds? Or has the Pacific halibut stock started to rebound as some of the science indicates? Tune into the IPHC meetings live via webinar.
A who’s who of experts will be telling what’s what at the Ocean Acidification in Alaska workshop, Dec. 2-3 at the Anchorage Marriott.
Satellite listening stations for the workshop are being made available around the state.
Upcoming changes to the observer program for small vessels is the focus of meetings set for Tuesday, Dec. 2 in Kodiak and Dec. 4 at Homer. NOAA outreachers will hold similar observer update meetings in March at Sitka and Petersburg.
Salmon, herring and state managed fisheries at Prince William Sound and the Upper Copper/Upper Susitna Rivers will be the focus when the Board of Fisheries gets back to business December 3-8 in Cordova. The Fish Board also will review 57 proposals from region stakeholders. Tune into the meetings live.
Finally, setting next year’s catches and issues surrounding Alaska pollock, cod and other groundfish will take center stage at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting set for Dec 8-16 at the Anchorage Hilton. The Council meetings also are streamed live on the web.
Ocean users guide
Planning and mapping ocean uses, both on and under, is a goal of the National Oceans Policy set in place by the Obama Administration in 2010. It is similar to land use planning, but for marine waters, said Kathryn Sullivan, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“Think of it like in any community when someone proposes to put more houses in, or to set aside a tract of forest as a preserve or establish a new park. When you get a proposal like that, what do you all want to do?” Sullivan said. “You want to come together and say how does that relate to our schools and what impact will it have on our highway system, and where do we run the sewer lines. All those kinds of questions come to the foreground.”
The buzz phrase has become “ocean zoning,” but Sullivan said it is more correctly called Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), and is intended to bring together all ocean users, along with multiple layers of information, so everyone is literally on the same page. - More...
Monday PM - December 01, 2014 |
Alaska Science: Snow-starved Alaska not the normal state By NED ROZELL - During the first 21 days of November 2014, no recordable snow fell in Anchorage, Juneau or Fairbanks. Over an unusual swath of the state, the ground was frozen, dusty and brown. Even extreme parts of Alaska were in a snow drought.
Photograph by NED ROZELL
"No manual observation site has even had 10 inches of snow this month, including the usually snowy places on the south slope of the Alaska Range or northern Southeast," said Rick Thoman, a go-to weather history guy with the National Weather Service in Fairbanks. "The North Slope is the only area with even remotely close to normal snow."
The lack of white that represents Alaska at its most common (much of the state is snow-covered for three-quarters of the year) affects many things.
Some far-north life forms have adapted to depend on that blanket of snow. Both low-bush cranberries and wood frogs can survive cold air, but each would die in a winter without snow. UAF plant person Pat Holloway once found cranberry bushes perish when exposed to air colder than minus 12 Fahrenheit. UAF's Brian Barnes found wood frogs can survive to minus 10 but also cannot take a prolonged hit of minus-40 degree air.
Bearberry, yellowjackets, voles and dozens of other species survive in Alaska and other northern places because of dependable snow cover. Each lovely flake joins spiked arms with others to create an air-trapping matrix above the ground surface. Those who have measured that zone, like Geophysical Institute Professor Emeritus Carl Benson, have found the ground beneath the white blanket remains a consistent 27 degrees Fahrenheit no matter the temperature above.
That relative warmth, the remnants of summer's heat released as the ground freezes, allows billions of small bodies to survive winter. - More...
Monday PM - December 01, 2014
|
|
Columns - Commentary
DANNY TYREE: Let's Get Serious About Product Recalls - "I've gotta get it right the first time. That's the main thing. I can't afford to let it pass." - Billy Joel.
"Graco recalls almost 5 million strollers in the U.S. due to fingertip amputation hazard." "Craigslist founder dodges questions on recall policy." "Safety agency admonishes Chrysler for handling of Jeep recall."
And that's just a sampling of recent newspaper headlines. Some combination of poorly trained or lackadaisical workers, unreasonable production schedules and careless miscommunications keep the consumer safety folks on constant alert.
For years there has been a rule of thumb about "never buy a car made on Monday or Friday" (because of the danger of either hangovers or preoccupation with the upcoming weekend), but in 2014 (whether we're talking about pharmaceuticals, toys or appliances) we seem to be tiptoeing through a minefield. - More...
Monday PM - December 01, 2014
JEFF LUND: What does a deer look like? - I’ve almost forgotten what a deer looks like in the wild.
My students know I hunt and love showing me photos of huge bucks they killed. I ask them casually where they went, not demanding or expecting much, and I get stone-walled.
The last deer I saw was behind a small grove a trees which separated two streaks of muskeg. It was just after sunrise. I stood for what seemed like half an hour, which was really more like five minutes, then crept out to cross. The deer darted out from behind the cover and took off in front of me, disappearing into a wall of trees and brush.
If it was a buck, the rack wasn’t huge because all I saw was a set of ears. It had a good body, and was a shooter not only for meat by also my self-confidence. But I lost it. I followed the tracks as best I could in the thick frost, but eventually was left marching down the flank of a larger muskeg. - More...
Monday PM - December 01, 2014
|
POLITICAL CARTOON: Congressional Entitlements
By Monte Wolverton ©2014, Cagle Cartoons
Distributed to subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.
|
Viewpoints
Commentary
Opinions/Letters
Basic
Rules &
Freedom of Speech
Questions, please contact
the editor at editor@sitnews.us or call 617-9696
Sitnews reserves the right to edit.
 Sitka Sound herring stock biomass By Jeff Feldpausch - The Sitka Tribe of Alaska (STA) is alarmed but not surprised at the recent press release by Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) that the Sitka Sound herring stock biomass is in sharp decline. The projected biomass of 44,237 tons is a 50 percent reduction from the 2013 post season biomass estimate and a 70 percent reduction from the biomass observed in 2011. - More...
Monday PM - December 01, 2014
RE: Anonymous naming-and-shaming on social media By Rodney Dial - I found Donita O'Dell’s letter on the “Ketchikan parking failures” Facebook page interesting. If the intent of her letter was to promote civil discourse, then on that point I agree; that is something we can all improve on. - More...
Monday PM - December 01, 2014
KPU Tech By Marlene Steiner - I was watching a program on TV Sunday and it went to tiles, then it went black. I tried other channels and it was the same thing. I tried to call the tech people through both local numbers, that did not work. I want to know why someone has to call both local numbers about 5 times and still gets the same thing - dead air. I thought that when a number is publish in the phone book, it should work, not be dead air. - More...
Monday PM - December 01, 2014
Music Around the World By Judith Green - The Saturday night performance of the Ketchikan Community Concert Band was no exception to what one would anticipate - wonderful! awesome! full of grand music and local musicians. - More...
Thursday AM - November 27, 2017
The Three C's - Is It Really Worth it? By Teri Walker - I ask you a simple question this holiday season, is that "deal" really worth it? Is the cost of sacrificing your holiday memories really worth those headphones? - More...
Thursday AM - November 27, 2014
Identity theft By Pam Thornlow - If it can happen to me, it can happen to you. We had customers all summer long telling me they had been told online that we were full and wouldn't you like to stay at one of the other local choices. I couldn't figure it out because we showed availability. - More...
Thursday AM - November 27, 2014
Anonymous naming-and-shaming on social media By Donita O'Dell - This letter is written to urge the anonymous owner of the page Awesome Ketchikan Parking Failures to remove this naming-and-shaming page directed at a personal pet peeve of bad parking from Facebook. For those who are not familiar with the concept of naming-and-shaming, it involves publicly identifying people or groups who have engaged in some kind of bad behavior (illegal, immoral, socially unacceptable, etc) to discourage that kind of behavior. In the specific case of the Awesome Ketchikan Parking Failures Facebook page, photos are posted of vehicles around town that are parked in any manner that the publisher deems unacceptable: not adequately within the lines, in a designated no parking area, in a handicap zone without the appropriate decal, etc. - More...
Thursday AM - November 27, 2014
Systemic Problem By Robert Holston - Presidant Obama gives a good speech that misses one key systemic point. Michael Brown had a big problem long before he fell dead in a Furgeson street and long before he bullied a store clerk and stole a box of cigars. Lack of a moral compass and no respect for authority lead to his “suicide” in the streets. The “white cop” not being indicted for gunning down an unarmed “black child” is the media’s focus and thus the President’s. - More...
Thursday AM - November 27, 2014
Ferguson and the Soft Racism of Invisible Barriers By John H. Horst - The safety of a living room thousands of miles away from Ferguson seems to make it easy to turn away from the televised images of violent protest. The conservative orientation toward the rule of law only seems to make it easier to turn away and dismiss the protestors’ refusal to come to terms with the truth. But comments made by President Obama after the grand jury announcement challenge us to step back and consider how terribly different our perspectives have to be to get to where we are today in places like Ferguson. - More...
Thursday PM - November 27, 2014
Time for Alaska to Rise as One By Bill Walker and Byron Mallott - Across Alaska, front yards, car bumpers and jacket lapels are shedding campaign signs, stickers and pins. Air waves, newspapers and social media are focusing again on other aspects of our diverse but connected lives. The heated partisan rhetoric and rancorous debate that dominated these long months should now truly end. The theme, “Rise As One,” of the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention held this year in Anchorage is a fitting aspiration for all Alaskans. It is time for Alaskans to rise as one. - More...
Monday PM - November 24, 2014
Fukushima Radioactivity Detected Off Pacific Coast; Judged Harmless By A.M. Johnson - Regarding the headline on radioactivity resulting from the Fukushima tidal situation of some months past. It is very encouraging to read that the levels of radioactivity are as low in the report. Much as Global Warming, the hype given to the potential excited beyond the end result. On another aspect of this tidal wave was the spectacular reports of the drift debris fields that were in some reports, the size of Texas. These masses of debris were to descend on our beaches in such quantity that a near National disaster was in the preparation stages. - More...
Monday PM - November 24, 2014
AMHS Not Efficiently Managed By Mary Lynne Dahl - My husband and I have a cabin in Smithers, BC. Like many Ketchikaners, we ski at the family ski hill in Smithers every winter and spring. We get there via the AMHS ferry to Prince Rupert, and then drive east for about 4 hours to reach Smithers. This year, as usual, we booked passage on the ferry Taku to Prince Rupert leaving Ketchikan November 24 and returning 2 weeks later on the next ferry to Ketchikan. Round trip with a car and cabin for 4 was $412. Our plans were for our family in Washington to drive up and meet us at our cabin and share Thanksgiving at the cabin, as we always do. Just 2 days ago, only 4 days before we were scheduled to depart, we got a phone call from AMHS informing us that our ferry trip was being cancelled. - More...
Monday PM - November 24, 2014
Thoughts of Ketchikan By Norma (Meanne) Malek - I just want to comment on the Malaspina and on one wonderful Ketchikan pioneer woman that I love dearly and will always call mom. She was mom to everyone and worked on the Malaspina till the mid 2000s and her family racketed the town with parties along with all of my hometown family. Alvina Elizabeth Shayen, the mother I remember at six or seven, as I was the seventh child of my family born on the earthquake day, a few years later. - More...
Monday PM - November 24, 2014
Webmail your letter or
Email Your Letter To: editor@sitnews.us
|
Articles &
photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright
and may not be reprinted or redistributed without written permission
from and payment of required fees to the proper sources.
E-mail your news &
photos to editor@sitnews.us
Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so, granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.
|
|
Weekly Specials |
The Local Paper is now available online.
Click here for this week's printed edition.
|
|
|
