Heading Home
Miss Dee Dee heading towards home while taking some waves over the bow. This photo was taken in the Mountain Point area.
Front Page Photo By JIM LEWIS

Ketchikan: Creekside Family Health Clinic Expands Hours - Creekside Family Health Clinic has announced that it will expand weekday and weekend hours beginning Saturday, January 14th. In an effort to provide needed services at more convenient times, the clinic will now stay open from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm, Monday through Friday, and 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturdays. In addition, clinic staff will maintain an on-call line Sundays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm allowing patients to speak with a medical professional and make Sunday appointments if necessary.

The change in hours is being offered to meet the needs of patients for appropriately scaled services outside of regularly work hours. "We often hear from patients that it can be difficult to leave work or school for health appointments," said clinic owner and Nurse Practitioner, Lani Hill, FNP-BC. "Hopefully this change will make it easier for people to schedule medical appointments at times that work better for them."

Creekside Family Health Clinic underwent a major expansion in May 2011. It added two new exam rooms and four additional Nurse Practitioners to the medical staff allowing the clinic to accommodate same day appointments and walk-in care. - More...
Wednesday AM - January 12, 2011

Alaska: Senators Introduce Bill To Protect Alaskans From Unethical Billing Practices; Legislation would outlaw the practice of outside companies billing consumers on telephone bills - Senators Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage), Bettye Davis (D-Anchorage), Dennis Egan (D-Juneau) and Johnny Ellis (D-Anchorage) have prefiled legislation to ban third party telephone bill cramming. Cramming is when third-party businesses add charges to a customer’s telephone bill for services they did not order or authorize.

"Phone bill cramming is a scheme to use a consumer's phone number like a credit card," Senator Wielechowski said. "Whether over the phone or on the Internet, consumers are solicited for free trials, coupons or prizes, and they're never clearly told they're purchasing a service and that they'll be charged on their phone bill.”

The FCC estimates that 15 million to 20 million households may have unauthorized charges on their landline bills each year, with charges ranging from $1.99 to as much as $19.99 a month.  The agency says most people have no clue the charges are there because they appear with vague wording such as "voicemail,” "service charge" or "other fees."  On mobile phone bills, the charges may appear as downloads for services that were never actually downloaded, or as subscription charges for what users thought was a single purchase, perhaps for a weather alert or ringtone.

“Consumers often don't spot the small monthly fees, but even when they do getting refunds can be a nightmare,” Senator Wielechowski added.  “The telephone provider that sends the bills often refuses to issue refunds, instead referring consumers to the third-party firms, which are often unresponsive. - More...
Wednesday AM - January 11, 2012

Alaska: Alaska Board of Fisheries to Meet in Petersburg, January 15-21, 2012 - The Alaska Board of Fisheries (Board) will meet January 15-21, 2012, at the Sons of Norway, 23 Sing Lee Alley, Petersburg, Alaska. The Board will consider regulatory proposals for King and Tanner crab, Dungeness crab, shrimp, and miscellaneous shellfish in Southeastern Alaska and Yakutat management areas that have been submitted by the general public, fishing organizations, local Fish and Game Advisory Committees, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The Board received 60 proposals for consideration during this seven-day public meeting.

The Board also invites oral public testimony during the meeting beginning January 15. Anyone intending to testify must sign up at the meeting site in Petersburg by 2:00 p.m. Sunday, January 15. Public testimony will continue until everyone present who has signed up by the deadline has been given the opportunity to be heard. - More...
Wednesday AM - January 11, 2012

Alaska: Calling all Artists: Rasmuson Foundation now accepting applications for Individual Artist Awards - The Rasmuson Foundation just opened the application period for its annual Individual Artist Awards grant program, and it’s more inclusive than ever.

The awards are designed to support Alaskan artists at various stages in their career and creative development working in many artistic disciplines. New this year, the field of presentation and interpretation was added to the fellowship category, opening the award to actors, dancers, musicians, vocalists and other performance artists. The Foundation awarded more than $230,000 in last year’s Individual Artist Awards program, and expects to make a similar number of awards in 2012.

“What makes these awards special is that the money is for the individual artist to pursue their own work,” said Jayson Smart, program officer for Rasmuson Foundation. “It’s not a commissioned award, it’s for the artist to use to advance themselves in their own artistic practice.” - More...
Wednesday AM - January 11, 2012

Alaska: Study: Falls hospitalize nearly 9,000 Alaskans since 2005; Those over 65 have the highest rate - Two studies published last week by the state Section of Epidemiology show fall-related injuries as a frequent reason Alaskans are hospitalized. Close to 9,000 Alaskans were hospitalized with fall-related injuries between 2005 and 2009.

Highest rates were recorded for people over the age of 65, Alaska Native people, and those living in the Northern region of the state. Falls occurred most commonly in the home, and were most frequently due to a slip, trip or stumble. Among seniors, more than half of the hospitalizations were classified as serious or severe, and 5 percent of those hospitalized died during their hospital stay.

“This study gives us an increased understanding of how falls occur in order to help prevent them,” said Deborah Hull-Jilly, the study’s lead author and manager of the section’s Injury Surveillance Program. “Costs for treatment over the five years studied totaled more than $193 million, so obviously preventing fall-related injury is an important mission for public health.” - More...
Wednesday AM - January 11, 2012

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