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SitNews - Stories In The News - Ketchikan, Alaska
Monday
January 02, 2012

Front Page Photo By JIM LEWIS

Reflections
Rotary Beach, Ketchikan
Front Page Photo By JIM LEWIS

Ketchikan

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Fish Factor: Biggest Fish Stories of 2011 By LAINE WELCH - Alaska’s seafood industry continued its mission to ramp up its message to policy makers, especially those from rail belt regions who tend to overlook its economic significance.

How important is the seafood industry to Alaska and the nation? At a glance:   62% of all U.S. seafood landings come from Alaska, as does 96% of all U.S. wild- caught salmon. Seafood is by far Alaska’s #1 export, valued at nearly $2 billion (next in line:  zinc and lead exports at $785 million); and Alaska ranks 9th in the world in terms of global seafood production.

The industry provides more than 70,500 Alaska jobs, more  than oil/gas, mining, tourism and timber combined.  The seafood industry is second only to Big Oil in revenues it generates to Alaska’s general fund each year.

Alaska’s abundant and sustainable fishery resources are the envy of all other seafood producers, and its fishery management is regarded as a model around the world. 

Here are some fishing notables from 2011, in no particular order, some of which are included in the annual ‘fish picks and pans’:

Halibut catches continued to tumble – the Pacific coast-wide catch limit was cut by 19 percent to 41 million pounds.  Fishery managers put the industry on notice that catches could be reduced drastically in the very near future. 

Kodiak toppled Homer as the #1 halibut port for landings for the first time since 1996. 

 Polls continued to show that a majority of Alaska voters oppose the Pebble Mine project, and lack trust in both foreign mining and Alaska’s permitting process.   

It took six years, but NOAA Fisheries/ Financial Services Branch finally began accepting loan  applications for skippers and crew who want to buy into the Bering Sea crab fisheries. 

For the first time, researchers caught sperm whales on video  biting long lines at one end and shaking the fish free, similar to shaking apples from a tree.   The video is part of SEASWAP, the  Southeast Alaska Sperm Whale Avoidance Project.   Video of sperm whale depredation on longline gear.

The Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released draft national aquaculture policies that aim to “increase the U.S. supply of healthy seafood

For the first time, fishery managers set a cap on the number of salmon that can be taken as bycatch by Gulf trawlers.

 Recycled Seawater began warming the Ted Stevens Research Institute in Juneau instead of oil.

The value of Alaska fishing permits and catch shares took a big jump along with fish prices.    At Bristol Bay, most drift permits were being offered at $160,000 – up from $132,000 in 2010, and more than double the price in 2009    In prime fishing regions of Southeast Alaska and the central Gulf, halibut shares ranged from $30 to $36 per pound. - More...
Monday AM - January 02, 2011


Alaska: Miller keeping options open regarding elective office -  Saturday, Joe Miller tweeted a link to an article entitled, "Judicial Watch’s Top 10 Corrupt Politicians: Alaska’s Don Young worse than Charles Rangel, Barney Frank & John Edwards."  Regarding the post, Miller responded to a number of inquiries made about whether he has decided to run for the House seat for "all Alaska" in 2012. 

According to a press release, Miller's position on Alaska's 2012 congressional race remains unchanged:  although he is disappointed in the Congressman's record absenteeism over the last year and is concerned about continuing allegations of Congressman Young's corrupt activity, Miller currently has no plans to run for Congressman Young's seat.  Nevertheless, Miller is keeping all of his options open regarding elective office. - More...
Monday AM - January 02, 2012

Alaska: Chefs Wanted for 2012 Great Alaska Seafood Cook-Off - The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is looking to crown the next king or queen of Alaska seafood. The institute is hosting the Great Alaska Seafood Cook-Off May 14, 2012 in Anchorage and inviting chefs from around the state to enter the competition to compete head-to-head for the honor of representing Alaska this August at the Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans.  

The call for entries December 29, 2011 and will be collected until April 1, 2012. A panel of judges will choose the 6 winning chefs that will advance to the live competition in May.  Any professional chef is invited to enter the contest. - More...
Monday AM - January 02, 2012 

Ketchikan: UAS Ketchikan Campus Announces Major Revitalization of its Community Education Program - In response to popular demand, the University of Alaska Southeast’s Ketchikan campus announced a major revitalization of its community education program.

“I arrived here last July,” says Campus Director Anthony Mansueto. “As I began doing individual meetings with key leaders around Ketchikan, one of the desires people expressed most consistently was that the campus offer a wider range of personal enrichment courses – courses which would allow people to explore questions of meaning and value that they lacked the time to engage earlier in life, to learn a new language, or to act on long standing interests such as painting or cooking, meditation or metalwork."

Mansueto said, "We are starting small, with courses that play to our strengths and which don’t duplicate offerings elsewhere in the community, but I think that for a small campus it is actually an impressive portfolio.” - More...
Monday AM - January 02, 2012



Columns - Commentary

jpg Martha CarrMartha Randolph Carr: Happy New Year - It’s time for my fifth annual New Year’s Day tradition where my readers and I get to take a different kind of look at the big picture of our lives. Every year we start out with a less traditional approach to change and come up with a personal theme for the New Year. Last year mine was abundance and another year it was balance.

The old New Year’s method is to create resolutions, which means doing something that requires strength and fortitude. That already sounds like a tough year is just ahead. We’ve all had enough of that lately. No need to create more of it.

However, people everywhere right now are pulling out a list of things they aren’t doing right with some kind of wavering hope that this time they’ll make a measurable kind of progress. The gyms are packed in January and the dating sites will be overrun with new faces. - More...
Monday AM - January 02, 2012

jpg Danny TyreeDanny Tyree: Online Gambling: Don't Bet The Farmville - The Wire Act of 1961 has always left states feeling handcuffed, keelhauled, drawn and quartered, subjected to a Pauly Shore movie marathon...

But no more. The U.S. Justice Department has reversed decades of practice and decided that the law does NOT bar states from permitting online gambling (as long as the gambling does not involved sports events).

State-sanctioned internet lotteries, poker games and the like are set to explode; but this is troubling on so many levels.

For one thing, if the revenue maneuver is successful, reporters will have to come up with new clichés. "Cash-strapped states" won't be accurate anymore. And "comfortable, let's just say I'm comfortable states" just doesn't have that ring. - More...
Monday AM - January 02, 2012


      

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Questions, please contact the editor at editor@sitnews.us or call 617-9696
Sitnews reserves the right to edit.

letter Hundred Million Dollar Penny: Shine the light By A. M. Johnson - Hummm, several favorable comments regarding my post to "Lisa,Mark,Don" post regarding the out of control budget issue.

In response I then offer these responders the following video regarding what 100 Million Dollars represents to our National Debt. So enjoy what has and continues to happen as the blundering continues and our Country spirals towards the European Model. O! The President is on the verge of asking for another 1.5 Trillion dollars. - More...
Monday AM - January 02, 2012

letterRE: Ron Paul By Chris Schelb - This letter is in rebuttal to comments made by Donald Moskowitz that were published by SitNews on 12-28-11 regarding Ron Paul.  

Thank you not again for being the mouthpiece of AIPAC and Israel.  Normally I ignore your propaganda.  Your most recent letter goes to the extreme and reveals your true devotion and patriotism to Israel.  Many of your comments are slanted and appear to be the words of a true neo-con and promoter of war and not in the best interest of the US. - More...
Monday AM - January 02, 2012

letterRon Paul:  Unfit To Be President By Donald A. Moskowitz - Ron Paul disavowed knowledge of anti-Israel, possibly anti-Jewish, anti-black and anti-gay views expressed in his newsletters in the 1980s and1990s, but I assume he knew the contents of his newsletters.  He was the editor. - More...
Wednesday AM - December 28, 2011

letterWreck of the Ancon By John McDermott - In the summer of 1995 I was living in Ketchikan (I was born and raised in Alaska, and lived most of my life in Ketchikan). For no particular reason, I went to the local library. While there, I happened upon a few 'art' books that caught my eye, and so I took a couple of them home. In one of them I spotted a small image of a painting entitled 'Wreck of the Ancon,' which really got my attention when I realized that it was painted by Albert Bierstadt (one of the most talented and legendary painters of the late 19th century), and that it was also a 'local' scene (Loring Bay, near Ketchikan). Somehow, I got the urge to obtain a copy of that painting. But since I couldn't easily find a way to obtain a copy (no internet access in those days), I decided to paint a copy of it myself, in oil paint (I'd been an artist for many years, and had won the 'First Place' blue ribbon in the Professional Painting division at the then-famous annual Ketchikan Arts & Crafts Guild Art Show). - More...
Tuesday AM - December 27, 2011

letterTwo lessons for Lisa, Mark and Don By A. M. Johnson - In the interest of sharing how the National debt sizes up with our personal house hold budget, the following is submitted for public consumption. - More...
Tuesday AM - December 27, 2011

letterHelp Us Fire Congress By Roy T Newsom - The US Congress has continued to bargain away our future with the constant error of logic that compromise is necessary to get along with their political adversaries.  Ninety percent of the incumbents are re-elected every two years.  The same politicians that have caused all our problems are put back in office to continue the same mistakes over and over. - More...
Tuesday AM - December 27, 2011

letter"Over the Top Route Minimizes Natural Gas Benefits to Alaskans" By Bill Walker - Article VIII, Sections 1 and 2 of Alaska's Constitution mandate that "Alaska's resources are to be developed to the maximum use and benefit of its people." - More...
Tuesday - December 20, 2011

letterRe: Tonka timber sale By Alan R. McGillvray - Well folks the eco-communists are at it again, doing every thing they are able to keep people from gainful employment. To make us import our building supplies at greater expense than otherwise needed. Thereby increasing our "carbon footprint" on the planet, but that's probably OK with them, they drive around in their fancy cars, write big checks from money that doesn't come from local sources, just so they can have a pristine playground. - More...
Tuesday AM - December 20, 2011

letterRE: Biometric Scanning By Ken Leland - Why does this not surprise me? We already have "Big Brother" looking over our shoulder and examining our private lives. George Orwell was a true visionary, way ahead of his time.I have always said that 1984 authored by him should be mandatory reading for our students at least by middle school. - More...
Tuesday AM - December 20, 2011

letterRE: Biometric scanning By April Harper - I totally agree with Charlanne Thomas. I was also appalled when I received a letter from my child's school stating that they had their fingers scanned!! What makes them think they have the right to do something of that nature and level of privacy of a minor without the consent of their parents? - More...
Tuesday AM - December 20, 2011

letterThe Gravina Island Cleanup By Jerry Cegelske - The Gravina Island Cleanup began on July 1, 2006 after the Borough was notified that the grant request for a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Grant for Coastal Marine Habitat Restoration had been approved.  The cleanup activities ended on October 31, of this year with a last load of marine debris placed in the dumpster near the Harbormaster’s office. - More...
Saturday - December 17, 2011

letterBiometric Scanning By Charlanne Thomas - First of all, I would like to make it very clear that I am in no way criticizing the staff of Point Higgins School. I realize they have a difficult job and I appreciate their dedication to our children. My complaint is with technology that is implemented without my consent. Biometric scanning has been implemented at Point Higgins school in an attempt to alleviate manual input of student lunch records and supposedly the library. While I understand that we live in an age where technology is expected, this process was completed on my child without my approval. When I discovered that his finger had been scanned and stored as a "10-digit binary code", it was too late. His unique code has been stored and is available, whether it is deleted or not. I'm sure the School District backs up their systems on a nightly basis, and once something is in a system, it's there for years. - More...
Saturday - December 17, 2011

letterRESPONSIBLITY By Pamela Graff - Just before noon today [Thursday] I received a phone call from Houghtaling the school my daughter attends 2nd grade, stated that while waiting for the bus at Ketchikan Lakes Road and Deer Mount around 8am a dog had jumped up on her and broken her front tooth. She was in pain after eating lunch when the food hit her nerve. - More...
Saturday - December 17, 2011

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