The Rezoning of Residential land in town to Heavy Industrial and Unrestricted Commercial By Amanda Mitchell - I am concerned again about the attempt to rezone our valley into heavy industrial. This issue keeps reappearing and is making residents weary of the constant disregard of their health and rights on their own property.  Who wants to live in an industrial area? - More...
Thursday AM - January 30, 2014

Drugs in Ketchikan By Bonnie J Abbott - I completely agree with Kevin Kristovich's letter on Sitnews, but I also believe first time offenders should have a chance to go to treatment and better themselves! Addiction is a Disease as Cancer is!! It needs to be treated properly by an addiction specialist, not out-patient either!!! - More...
Thursday AM- January 30, 2014

Chloramine in Our Drinking Water: Coming to a Faucet Near You By Amanda Mitchell - Chloramine is extremely toxic to marine life, reptiles and amphibians. There is a potential that our local marine life will be directly affected and harmed. Chloramine can have a half-life of up to 23 days. It has already been seen that if a pipe does rupture it can kill the local fish. Cedar Rapids was fined for killing the fish when a water main broke. The original paper article said only ‘chlorine’, but further investigation concludes that Cedar Rapids was specifically using  chloramine. San Mateo private utility was fined for chloraminated water contaminating Polhemus Creek killing the Steelhead. And there are more examples out there. - More...
Thursday AM - January 30, 2014

Chemical in water By Ed Plute - We now have a new chemical that will be added to our water. It is chloramine. I've heard if they use this chemical Wal-Mart will not take Ketchikan fish. - More...
Thursday AM - January 30, 2014

Re: Focus on maintaining political clout By A.M. Johnson - Regarding all the wondrous accomplishments of having Senator Bewitch reelected.   "My Good Friend"(That is how the political opposition always addresses the other side!) Mr. Tom Schulz  District 36 Chair Ketchikan, Alaska. - More...
Thursday AM - January 30, 2014

Focus on maintaining political clout By Tom Schulz - All too often we only hear bad news in the media.  The fact is that lots of good things are happening in Southeast Alaska thanks to work by our Senatorial delegation and some local representatives. - More...
Wednesday PM - January 22, 2014

Let me know when the war on drugs starts By Ken Lewis - Drug Problem? Come on people, problems should be solved not managed. What came first the drug test, or the American who chose not to do dope? With all due respect to those who think drug testing little pockets of certain types of employees is the solution to the problem, you're wrong. If drug testing were a solution to our state/national drug problem, DMV would be used and make drug testing mandatory to operate a vehicle. Time out, not fair, what about my rights, can you hear them marching in solidarity. Them being the ones not tested, who think its funny to see a highly paid ball players go down the tubes for failed Pee-Pee samples, and then excuse the coolness of the other entertainers and artists that blatantly use enough dope to kill a horse. - More...
Monday PM - January 20, 2014

State Legislative Seat By Peter Bolling - Dan Ortiz, a resident of Southeast Alaska for almost 50 years, is running for the District 36 House seat. I can think of no better person to represent the diverse communities of Southern Southeast Alaska. Dan has lived in Ketchikan and Hydaburg and his work has brought him often to Metlakatla and Wrangell. - More...
Monday PM - January 20, 2014

Delete some Federal Holidays By A.M. Johnson - There is little doubt among my acquaintance that I harbor fear from my Government. There is excess overreach by the Federal government into our personal lives far beyond what Natural Law represents. when something comes along that tugs at my frustration with a bit of common sense it is accepted with as a moment of fresh air. The Governor of Maine, Paul La Page is purported to have said in a public speech regarding following Federal laws. - More...
Monday PM - January 20, 2014

Open Letter: LAND USE; WATER RIGHTS By Rick Gustin - To all Senators and Representatives who have supported HB77 or may support it's Senate bill counter part, I wanted to see if I could change your mind on how you vote regarding HB77.  I understand the previously stated reasons for supporting this bill.  I get that industry and perhaps some of the people in state government see our current permitting system as, complex, sometimes confused, perhaps at times overbearing and above all slow.  I realize that many state employees and business leaders would like to see quicker more wide spread resource development throughout the state.  This is seen as providing more jobs and more revenue for the state which is seeing declines in tax revenue and jobs in the oil industry.  I totally get all of that. I also feel that there are many citizens of this state, that do not understand the permitting process, may not care about it, but do care about the natural resources that they use each year, (may take them for granted but will sure bitch like hell if they are gone). - More...
Monday PM - January 20, 2014

10% “Tithe” Tax By Stephen C. Eldridge - Mr. Brooks and the FairTax machine continue to spew out mere propaganda! The “Fair Tax” is a Fraud – we need a 10% “Tithe” Tax! - More...
Monday PM - January 20, 2014

Stop wasting our time By James R. Donnell - A 2011 study by noted economist Art Laffer estimates that U.S. taxpayers wasted 3.16 billion hours and shelled out $431.1 billion just to comply with the income tax code. This excludes the opportunity costs due to lost productivity, and it costs our economy $216.2 billion annually. - More...
Monday PM - January 20, 2014

WHAT CAN YOU DO? By Diane Gubatayao - Last October, Dr. Andre Rosay from the UAA Justice Center released data from the Alaska Victimization Survey done here in Ketchikan. Shockingly, the results revealed that 50% of adult women in Ketchikan report being victims of domestic or sexual violence in their lifetimes. That means, statistically speaking, that one out of two women that might be shopping at the store, or attending a Kayhi basketball game, or living in your neighborhood, has been a victim of DV or SA. One out of two! Most of us know someone who has been a victim, and we often ask ourselves, “what can I do?”. - More...
Wednesday PM - January 15, 2014

Open Letter: Unemployment By Forrest A. Mackie - Attn: Lisa Murkowski and Don Young and all Alaska Yahoo politicians; I am an unemployed yahoo who worked the better part of my life working my way up to one of the best jobs at Ketchikan Pulp Company! KPC was the largest employer in this territory and later the state, and the fishing and the logging and the pulp industry were the largest revenue producers for 30 plus years!!  Now I am 70 years young, and due to the whim of you politicians that I watch on TV, now I am constantly disgusted by what I see going on in the Whitehouse in the guise of politics. I am totally bewildered at what I see!! - More...
Wednesday PM - January 15, 2014

US Congess shows its True Colors By Michael Spence - Having just read about the approval of the budget omnibus bill in which the US House of Representatives approved a "over 1 Trillion Dollar" spending bill out of which there is 520 billion dollars in discretionary defense related spending. - More...
Wednesday PM - January 15, 2014

There's a FIX to the U.S. decline in the Economic Freedom Index By Wiley Brooks - The 2014 Index of Economic Freedom reveals that the United States has dropped out of the top 10 freest economies in the world. Five years ago the U.S. was ranked 6th. Now it is 12th. The FIX is called the FairTax. - More...
Wednesday PM - January 15, 2014