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Thursday
January 09, 2014
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Ward Lake Reflections
Front Page Photograph By ROSALIND UTTERBACK ©2014
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Southeast Alaska: Modest job growth for Southeast Alaska in 2014 - According to the latest issue of Alaska Economic Trends, Southeast Alaska is forecasted to add about 100 jobs in 2014, for a mild growth rate of 0.3 percent.
Mali Abrahamson, a Department of Labor economist in Juneau, found that relatively small government job losses in Southeast Alaska will mostly offset scattered private sector gains during the year. Abrahamson specializes in the employment and wages of Southeast and Southwest economic regions.
In the absence of any large foundational changes to the Southeast region’s economy in 2014, Abrahamson reported that three main factors are expected to influence 2014’s numbers: 1) lack of population growth, 2) disproportionately retirement-age workers, and 3) piecemeal ongoing recovery in several private-sector industries.
Southeast’s economic strengths in 2014 will be fishing and tourism, while government and surprisingly health care will be weak spots she reported. The mild growth will be a directional change from 2013, when Southeast lost jobs for the first time since 2009.
Between statehood and the early 1990s, Southeast added jobs at about 800 per year reported Abrahamson. In the last two decades, which included the declines of the timber and pulp industries and the population loss that followed, growth slowed to about 150 jobs a year on average. - More...
Thursday PM - January 09, 2014
Alaska: Campaign to Regulate Marijuana in Alaska Submits More Than 45,000 Signatures to Division of Elections - Backers of a statewide ballot initiative to regulate marijuana in Alaska submitted more than 45,000 signatures to the Division of Elections in Anchorage on Wednesday. Approximately 30,000 signatures are required to qualify the measure for the August 2014 primary ballot.
"Regulating marijuana in Alaska will allow law enforcement officials to focus on violent and otherwise harmful crimes instead of adults who are simply choosing to use a substance objectively less harmful than alcohol,” said former Department of Corrections Deputy Commissioner Bill Parker, one of the primary sponsors of the initiative. "Marijuana prohibition has been just as big a failure as alcohol prohibition. We are confident that voters will agree it is time for a more sensible approach that honors the ideals that unite us as Alaskans; protecting personal freedoms and a commitment to personal responsibility.”
In summary, the proposed initiative makes possession of limited amounts of marijuana legal for adults 21 years of age or older and establishes a system in which marijuana is regulated similarly to alcohol. - More...
Thursday PM - January 09, 2014
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Ketchikan: First X-class flare and coronal mass ejection of 2014: Active auroras should be ignited - According to NASA, the sun's Jan. 7, 2014, X-class flare was also associated with a coronal mass ejection or CME. Coronal mass ejections are another solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later. These particles cannot travel through the atmosphere to harm humans on Earth, but they can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground and make for some nice aurora.
This picture combines two images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured on Jan. 7, 2014. Together, the images show the location of a giant sunspot group on the sun, and the position of an X-class flare that erupted at 1:32 p.m. EST.
Photo credit:
NASA/SDO image.
Aurora forecasters at the Alaska Geophysical Institute are predicting high auroral activity on January 9th and 10th - as far as Ketchikan in Southeast Alaska, weather permitting. - More...
Thursday PM - January 09, 2014
Alaska: Gill Net Initiative Rejected - Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell rejected an initiative this week to prohibit shore gill nets and set nets in nonsubsistence areas of the state. Lt. Gov. Treadwell took action on the advice of the Department of Law, whose 12-page opinion called the proposed measure (13PCAF) a prohibited appropriation under Article XI, Section 7 of the Alaska Constitution.
The Department of Law’s conclusion was based primarily on the Alaska Supreme Court’s 1996 decision in Pullen v. Ulmer, a case holding that salmon are assets of the state which may not be appropriated by initiative and that the preferential treatment of certain fisheries may constitute a prohibited appropriation.
The Department of Law’s opinion letter also states, “Were this type of initiative permissible, voters could continue to reallocate stocks to any fishery simply by eliminating specific gear or particular means and methods of catching fish – for example, the next initiative might propose to eliminate purse seining, trawling, dipnetting, or catch-and-release sport fishing in particular areas to increase harvest opportunity for other types of users. This would ‘prevent … real regulation and careful administration’ of Alaska’s salmon stocks, contrary to the purpose of the prohibition on initiative by appropriation.” - More...
Thursday PM - January 09, 2014 |
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Alaska Science: Feet on the ground right after Alaska's big one By NED ROZELL - On March 27, 1964, California geologist George Plafker was attending a research conference in Seattle when news came of a big earthquake in Alaska.
George Plafker, here in his Menlo Park, California, office, shows a photo he took in 1964 showing an uplifted Alaska shoreline marked by raised barnacles.
Photo by Ned Rozell.
“It was almost quitting time for the day at the meeting when some guys came back from the Space Needle and said they felt rocking,” Plafker said recently at his office in Menlo Park, California. “We said, ‘That’s a serious earthquake.’”
It was, of course, the second-strongest earthquake in the era of instruments able to measure them, one that would change the direction of Plafker’s career and what people thought about great earthquakes on the Pacific basin’s Ring of Fire.
Plafker, now 84, was then a 35-year-old U.S. Geological Survey researcher who knew a lot about basic geology and mapping, but very little about earthquakes. Then assigned to the “Alaska Division,” he was one of three scientists from the Menlo Park office sent northward right after the earthquake to see what had happened.
He flew to Alaska for a one-week trip after the earthquake. During that time he traveled much of Prince William Sound to inspect the torn, uplifted and sunken landscape. He talked to people who had seen terrible, incredible things. Realizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he and other scientists ended up returning to spend most of the summer of 1964 in Alaska. - More...
Thursday PM - January 09, 2014
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Viewpoints
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the editor at editor@sitnews.us or call 617-9696
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 Tribal Government, What Are You Thinking? By Randy Williams -
Concerning the recen tletter about a government out of control, let me preface this letter by saying I don't believe in recalls. I do believe in the election process and if the voters made a mistake, correct it during the next election. That being said, the employees who signed the petition are absolutely correct. As a former Chairman of Ketchikan Indian Community (KIC), I had our council pass a resolution that prohibited a council member and our governing body from interfering with Tribal administration. I knew as a leader of our government that we hired a General Manager and department managers to do a job and I also knew I was elected to govern and not to run Tribal programs. - More...
Thursday PM - January 09, 2014
RE: Drug dealers in Ketchikan By Kevin Kristovich - I have to agree with the recent letter posted on the recent wave of drug busts here in Ketchikan. The police are deep in the trenches fighting an ongoing battle. Yes it is apparent when one or many get caught, there are more people picking up where others have left off. This is not just a practice being done here in our town, it is everywhere. The meth epidemic has led to a rash of burglaries and thefts in town and I ask when will this all come to an end? - More...
Thursday PM - January 09, 2014
RE: Howling at the fiscal Moon By Michelle O'Brien - While any and all dialogue from community members is appreciated regarding funding of our local educational system, the recent letter submitted by A.M. Johnson is incorrect in one area: "The issue: The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School board has convinced the Gateway Borough to file a law suit against the State to obtain funding that according to the suit, is guaranteed under the Alaska Constitution." - More...
Tuesday PM - January 07, 2014
RE: What's all the howling about? By Shelley Stallings -
Thanks to Jeff Lund for the thought provoking column in Sitnews Saturday on wolf trapping. Rarely do I read a piece that tries to straddle the fence on this highly charged subject, although Lund's comment about wolves and bear decimating deer populations seems to put Lund on the side of believing killing wolves is overall a positive action. - More...
Tuesday PM - January 07, 2014
Drug Dealers in Ketchikan By Riley Gass -
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this, but it seems there is a continuous spell of hard drug dealers getting caught in Ketchikan. Nearly every time I open the police reports on Sitnews there are multiple reports of people being caught with mass amounts of heroin, meth, or some other type of hard drug. The positive to this is that the police are doing a great job in taking down these dealers, but the bad is obviously that they are here. It seems like whenever one gets taken down someone else starts shipping drugs onto our island. - More...
Tuesday PM - January 07, 2014
A PROMISE MADE, A PROMISE BROKEN By Gary Wilken -
We Alaskans are proud to live under the creed by Robert Service: A promise made is a debt unpaid. Well, Mr. Service right now wouldn't be very happy with our State and neither should we taxpayers. With respect to State funding of education in municipal districts, the State of Alaska made a promise in 1963 then broke it. In FY 2013 that broken promise will cost the Ketchikan Gateway Borough $4,198,727. I'm hopeful that other boroughs will assist the Ketchikan Borough's bold effort to remedy this breech. It's plain and simple tax relief based on matters of fundamental responsibilities, constitutional validity, fairness, and equity. - More...
Saturday PM - January 04, 2014
Howling at the fiscal Moon By A.M. Johnson - The issue: The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School board has convinced the Gateway Borough to file a law suit against the State to obtain funding that according to the suit, is guaranteed under the Alaska Constitution. That local tax base is being used to fund what in effect is a unfunded mandate by the State. This knowing there exist inequalities due to UN-organized boroughs and other mitigating circumstance. All well and good. So, then comes this bit of educational news. - More...
Saturday PM - January 04, 2014
My Vision For Alaska By Byron Mallott -
There is a special pride that comes from being Alaskan: pride in the fishermen helping feed the world; the oil workers coaxing a national energy resource out of the frozen tundra; the small business owners who are creating new jobs and new opportunities; the public employees providing for essential needs; and teachers and first responders who strengthen every one of our communities. As Alaskans, we have always taken pride in bravely facing the challenges of living in this great state. And this year we have some important choices to make. - More...
Saturday PM - January 04, 2014
Open Letter: Taking money from the veterans By A.M. Johnson - As one of the Senate Republicans who voted to end debate with 60 votes allows what Chief Master Sergeant Wooten expounds. To this add that knowing all of you Senators read ALL the content of ALL legislation before voting, you knew of the results that vote contained. You knew that you were dis'ing our service men and women. You knew. Shame on you, double shame on you. - More...
Monday PM - December 30, 2013
Build the damn Road By A.M. Johnson -
The King Cove road issue as reported in your fine publication reflects the sound of howling banshees. The following three quotes by our elected Congressional officials, who in my opinion, couldn't lead a drunk to a beer hall, all sound so condescending, concerned, and promising to do what they should have done many times over. Makes one ill to hear all the bull feathers they stir up after the fact. Heck, any common sense person who follows this Leftist administration could have told them what the outcome was going to be. But never fear, Senator "Murky" Murkowski threatened to with hold she vote and support for Jewell's confirmation, lot of good that did and more so, each and every time she, and Representative "Foghorn" Young reach over the aisle, they have their teeth and as a result, Alaskan's teeth kicked in. As to Senator "Bagman"Begich, being a good Democrat, again talks out of the other side of the mouth. Yada yada yada. - More...
Friday PM - December 27, 2013
It's never too late to do the right thing By Joseph J. Chadwell -
I would like to thank Senator Murkowski for the Christmas Present she and others on Capital Hill gave to America's retired Military Men and Women. I would like to thank her for cutting their Coast Of Living Adjustments (COLA) to their retired pay. Of all the wasteful spending or lack of any attempt at shared sacrifice (chained CPI COLA) for everyone receiving federal entitlement payments; they instead went after America's Defenders of Freedom. - More...
Friday PM - December 27, 2013
RE: Arrest at Fawn Mountain School By Margaret Cloud - To Heather Morris - The arrest of Jason Simpson was reported in the Ketchikan Daily News on December 14. Are you going to complain about that as well? Such silliness. - More...
Friday PM - December 27, 2013
Pot calling the kettle black By John Suter -
Have you noticed in the ADN 12/24/13 page A-8, Izembek: Road supporters say they don’t plan to give up fight. 3rd column over second paragraph down the governor says, “unconscionable” and another “irrational decision by the federal government that denies Alaskans access – in this case access to emergency treatment.” - More...
Friday PM - December 27, 2013
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