Ketchikan: ‘Likely that we’re out of business’: Rock slide severely damages Ketchikan grocery store By ERIC STONE KRBD- An early-morning rock slide Thursday may put a century-old Ketchikan grocery store out of business. No one was hurt in the rockfall. - Read or listen to this KRBD story... www.krbd.org - 02/27/20 Ketchikan: Public Meetings Ketchikan: Upcoming Events Ketchikan: Announcements Ketchikan: Classifieds CLASSIFIEDS Publish Your Ad Click Here Historical Ketchikan June Allen Dave Kiffer Louise B. Harrington Ketchikan Weather Ketchikan's Forecast Feb. Daily Records 2020 Ketchikan Jan. 2020 Data Ketchikan Dec. 2019 Data Ketchikan Nov. 2019 Data Ketchikan Oct. 2019 Data Ketchikan Sept 2019 Data Ketchikan Aug. 2019 Data Ketchikan July 2019 Data Ketchikan June 2019 Data Ketchikan May 2019 Data Ketchikan April 2019 Data Ketchikan March 2019 Data Ketchikan Feb. 2019 Data Ketchikan Jan. 2019 Data Nat Weather Service KTN Ketchikan Tides & Currents Sunrise - Sunset Ketchikan Search the News Ketchikan Alaska U.S. Congress 2019-2020: Bills that have passed the House & Senate and become Law U.S. Congress 2019-2020: Bills Introduced (Over 5,000 in the House and over 3,000 in the Senate)

Southeast Alaska: Mine waste dams threaten the environment, even when they don't fail By CHRISTOPHER SERGEANT & JULIAN D. OLDEN - Scars from large mining operations are permanently etched across the landscapes of the world. The environmental damage and human health hazards that these activities create may be both severe and irreversible.

Many mining operations store enormous quantities of waste, known as tailings, onsite. After miners excavate rock, a processing plant crushes it to recover valuable minerals such as gold or copper. The leftover pulverized rock and liquid slurry become tailings, which often are acidic and contain high concentrations of arsenic, mercury and other toxic substances.

Mining companies store tailings forever, frequently behind earth-filled embankment dams. Over the past 100 years, more than 300 mine tailing dams worldwide have failed, mainly due to foundation weakening, seepage, overtopping and earthquake damage.

We are research scientists studying how humans affect rivers. In our view, the damage caused by stored mine waste often outweighs the benefits that mining provides to local economies and the technology industry.

This issue is especially urgent now in a region of the Pacific Northwest where Alaska and British Columbia meet. This zone, known as the Golden Triangle, is studded with mineral claims and leases. We believe that rivers in this area could be severely damaged if proposed mega-projects are allowed to proceed.

Catastrophic failures renew old worries

Tailings dam failures range from the 1966 Aberfan disaster that buried a Welsh village to multiple spills over the past decade in Canada, China, Chile and the United States. The International Commission on Large Dams, a nongovernmental organization, warned in 2001 that the frequency and severity of tailings dam failures was increasing globally.

Two catastrophic and highly publicized failures at the Mt. Polley dam in Canada in 2014 and the Brumadinho dam in Brazil in 2019 finally catalyzed a response. The International Council on Mining and Metals, the United Nations Environment Programme and the independent organization Principles for Responsible Investment drafted a “global standard for the safe and secure management of mine tailings facilities.” The first public review of the standard was completed in December 2019, and its authors plan to finalize their recommendations by the end of March 2020.

The standard aspires to achieve “zero harm to people and the environment and zero tolerance for human fatality.” Reducing the likelihood of future dam failures and minimizing damage if one does break are appropriate goals, but our research suggests that the concept of “zero harm” is false and potentially dangerous.

Why? Because once in place, tailings dams and their toxic reservoirs require maintenance forever. Even if there is no catastrophic failure, these dams and their surrounding infrastructure can cause ecological harm in multiple ways. They require artificial water diversions and releases, which upset natural flow patterns in surrounding streams and modify water temperature and concentrations of metals. And polluted groundwater seepage from unlined reservoirs or failing liners is often hard to detect and treat.

These ecosystem modifications directly affect organisms on land and in the water downstream. Every decision to allow a mine to proceed with a tailings storage facility indelibly transforms rivers and their ecosystems for hundreds to thousands of years.

International rivers at risk

Today these decisions loom large in the Golden Triangle, home to the Taku, Stikine and Unuk Rivers – three of the longest undammed rivers in North America. Salmon from these rivers have supported indigenous communities for millennia, generate tens of millions of dollars in economic activity annually and provide a dependable source of food for organisms ranging from insects to brown bears.

We calculate that 19% of the total drainage area of these three rivers is staked with mineral mining claims or leases. This includes 59% of the Unuk River watershed, along with the entire Iskut River corridor, the largest tributary to the Stikine River. - More...
Thursday PM - February 27, 2020

Alaska: House passes supplemental budget to pay last year’s firefighting, healthcare bills, & funding shortfalls for AMHS - The Alaska House of Representatives yesterday passed a supplemental budget that addresses the high cost of last summer’s wildfires, healthcare expenses the state incurred, and funding shortfalls for essential services like the Alaska Marine Highway System. House Bill 234 passed on a 35-2 vote. 

The bill approves spending $298.6 million of unrestricted general funds and an overall total of $526.2 million of state and federal money. The supplemental budget includes:

• $120 million of state funds and $143.4 million of federal funds for Medicaid provider payments, spending necessary due to the governor’s unsuccessful attempt to implement drastic reductions to the Medicaid program;
  
  
• $110.5 million to pay for wildland firefighting costs incurred last summer and fall;
  
  
• $8.6 million to restore Adult Public Assistance to ensure payments for low-income Alaskans, which the governor vetoed last year;
  
  
• $8.3 million to restore the Adult Preventive Dental Program, which the governor vetoed last year;
  
  
• $7.1 million for the Alaska Marine Highway System to avoid a reduction in the operating schedule for the spring and summer of this year;
  
  
• $6.7 million for the Department of Public Safety to address a shortfall within the Alaska State Troopers and Alaska Wildlife Troopers due to a lower than expected vacancy rate;
  
  
• $6 million to help the Alaska Psychiatric Institute increase its capacity;
  
  
• $3 million to address the severe damage caused in Anchorage, Kenai, and Mat-Su by the December 2018 earthquake;
  
  
• $150,000 to re-open the District Attorney’s Office in Utqiagvik.

Rep. Neal Foster (D-Nome), a co-chair of the House Finance Committee, said, “The State of Alaska incurred significantly more costs than the final budget last year funded. This supplemental budget makes sure doctors keep receiving Medicaid payments they’re owed and provides resources for many essential services that have suffered over the past year.”  - More...
Thursday PM - February 27, 2020

Alaska: Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys’ report shows Alaska’s mineral industry healthy - Alaska’s $2.9 billion mineral industry saw exploration and development spending jump nearly 16 percent and 12 percent, respectively, while production values dropped by nearly 8 percent in 2018, according to the Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys’ (DGGS) Alaska Mineral Industry.

The 96-page document is the 38th such annual report, which represents a consistent and factual snapshot of mineral industry activity in Alaska, as well as the authoritative historical record of mining in the state, said DGGS Director Steve Masterman.

“While DGGS produces a lot of highly technical publications that are useful to industry professionals , our Annual Minerals Reports offer the general public a broad perspective on the status of the mineral industry as a whole, which is one of the foundations of our economy,” he said.

The report’s composite calculation of spending on exploration and development, plus the value of the minerals produced, placed the total value of the state’s mineral industry at $2.9 billion in 2018, a 7.7 percent decrease from 2017. - More...
Thursday PM - February 27, 2020

Alaska: Alaska Senate Approves Update of Alcohol Industry Rules – The Alaska Senate unanimously passed a bill yesterday to modernize laws that govern Alaska’s alcohol industry. 

“With a primary focus on public health and safety, SB 52 provides clarity for licensees, local governments, law enforcement and the public, and will result in the common-sense, consistent and less burdensome regulation of Alaska’s alcoholic beverage industry,” said Senator Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, the bill’s sponsor.

Micciche said, “SB 52 is the product of an eight-year, unprecedented collaboration of over 100 stakeholders from a diverse group of public health and safety entities, legislators, alcohol industry representatives, local governments, advocates for youth and the public who collectively volunteered over 13,000 hours and testified extensively to effectively improve the effort. It will modernize and reorganize the 35-year-old hodge-podge of Alaska’s alcohol laws into a comprehensive, effective Title 4 re-write.”  - More...
Thursday PM - February 27, 2020

Fisheries: Billions lost as illicit fisheries trade hurting nations who can afford it least - More than eight million to 14 million tonnes of unreported fish catches are traded illicitly every year, costing the legitimate market between $9 billion and $17 billion in trade each year, according to new UBC research.
 
In a paper published in Science Advances, researchers from the Fisheries Economics Research Unit and the Sea Around Us initiative, both based at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, as well as the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean at the University of Western Australia, looked at catch losses for 143 countries and found that significant amounts of seafood are being illicitly taken out of the food supply system of many countries, impacting the nutritional food security and livelihoods of millions.

“The overall economic impact related to the diversion of fish from the legitimate trade system is costing us $26 billion to 50 billion globally,” said Rashid Sumaila, lead author and professor in the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. “Further, the substantial economic effects of the illicit trade in marine fish catch is affecting countries in Asia, Africa and South America who can hardly afford this loss. Those three geographic regions combined account for around 85 per cent of total catch losses to illicit trade globally.”
 
“Many species of fish are targeted by industrial fishing fleets including illegal, unreported and unregulated vessels,” said co-author Daniel Pauly, professor and the Sea Around Us principal investigator. “Illicit trade in fish and seafood products contributes to the depletion of a region’s fish stocks. The Sea Around Us research has shown that fish catches are already vastly underreported, and if the catches that enter illicit trade are not also accounted for, we are moving closer and closer to wholesale depletion of this resource.”
 
The potential loss to the legitimate trade system of global marine fisheries catches due to likely diversion into the illicit trade network is equivalent to losing 12 million to 22 million mature cows in weight annually.
 
“Not only is this a huge amount of animal protein that may be traded illicitly, such catches are often processed aboard large foreign industrial transshipment vessels, and directly shipped overseas without unloading and processing in host countries, thereby depriving local economies of revenue, income, jobs, and economic impacts,” Sumaila said. - More....
Thursday PM - February 27, 2020

Alaska: ASEA Files Grievance Regarding State's Proposed Data/IT Outsourcing - The Alaska State Employees Association (ASEA) and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 52 announced this week a class-action grievance was filed on February 14th against the State for what they say is the State's illegal pursuit to outsource Alaska data and Alaska jobs to lower 48 corporations.

Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka started a project called AAPEX, paying a top national firm Alvarez & Marsal $5 million to figure out how to outsource Alaska IT work done by Alaskans. According to ASEA/AFSCME Local 52, Commissioner Tshibaka’s intention is to migrate Alaska’s data servers to “cloud” servers outside Alaska. By engaging in this conduct, Tshibaka violated Article 13 of the State of Alaska’s (SOA) Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with ASEA/AFSCME Local 52, that she recently agreed to and signed in August of 2019.

ASEA/AFSCME Local 52 say Tshibaka’s intentions to move Alaska's IT data to the "cloud" are unclear as there is ample evidence that this move could, in fact, cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in contract fees alone, not to mention unknown costs due to interruptions in government services that rely on data that would be stored on the ‘cloud.’ The CBA requirement for a feasibility study exists to prevent this kind of uncertainty about state services.

Commissioner Tshibaka knows a feasibility study is required because the State and Governor Dunleavy are being sued by ASEA/AFSCME Local 52 for outsourcing state services and work at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute to Wellpath, a Tennessee Corporation, without doing a feasibility study.

ASEA/AFSCME Local 52 stated in a news release, not only is the feasibility study a contract requirement, but it’s also the smart business move for many reasons. First, Alaska needs the best IT services possible for many reasons, with public safety being a top priority. Currently, Alaska data and IT services are managed by excellent Alaska public employees, with quick local response times. Alaskans need to know that outsourcing this work means better and cheaper services. Alaska can’t afford to transfer Alaska data, data that is currently stored in Alaska and that the public relies on, away from Alaska servers unless we know we will have the same or better services says ASEA/AFSCME Local 52. Alaskans also need to know that moving the work of Alaska state and local government employees to strangers at corporations outside Alaska makes economic sense by saving Alaskans money. - More...
Thursday PM - February 27, 2020

Scientists document striking changes in Pacific Arctic ecosystems
By ALICE BAILEY
Russell Hopcroft, a professor at UAF’s College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, and graduate student Alex Poje examine the results of a plankton net tow.
Photo By Seth Danielson

Alaska: Scientists document striking changes in Pacific Arctic ecosystems By ALICE BAILEY - Pacific Arctic ecosystems are undergoing dramatic changes because of warmer ocean water, a multidisciplinary team of scientists reported this week in the journal Nature Climate Change.

During an ongoing research program, team members observed conditions more typical of sub-Arctic ecosystems.

“The rate of change over the study timeframe came as a shock,” said Henry Huntington, lead author of the study. “Having a team with the expertise to put together the pieces across the whole ecosystem simply drives home how far-reaching the changes are and how much they matter.”

The northern Bering and Chukchi seas are among the world’s most productive ocean areas. They are home to millions of seabirds and marine mammals, and vibrant indigenous cultures. The region has also long been one of the fastest warming places on the planet.

Some key observations from the Arctic Integrated Ecosystem Research Program include:

• Near-bottom waters that typically remained close to freezing year-round have warmed for parts of each fall and winter from 2014-2018.
  
  
• Sea ice that used to start forming each fall has been absent or sparse into January or February, and the spring ice retreat was earlier than normal in recent years.
  
  
• Juvenile Arctic cod, which dominate fish communities in the surface to mid-depth waters of the northern Chukchi Sea, were substantially more abundant in 2017 than in 2012 and 2013.
  
  
• In 2017 pink salmon numbers increased dramatically in the northern Bering Sea.
  
  
• Bowhead whales, which typically migrate south of St. Lawrence Island, were observed year-round north of the Bering Strait.
  
  
• Ice seals were absent from vast portions of some of their main breeding areas, and dead seals were reported in unusually high numbers on the Bering and Chukchi coasts.
  
  
• Abundance of seabirds in offshore waters declined in 2017-2019 compared to long-term trends. There were also shifts in distribution for some key species, as well as seabird die-offs in the region.

University of Alaska Fairbanks co-author Seth Danielson described the changes as a wake-up call.

“Oftentimes, when significant ecological reorganizations take place, we are only able to try to piece the story together after the fact,” he said. “In this instance, we had the unusual opportunity to be cognizant of change as it was happening so we could purposefully document the process as it unfolded.”

Collaborative research efforts like this allow scientists to monitor changes as they are happening and to provide information for communities and resource managers so they can respond and adapt. - More...
Thursday PM - February 27, 2020

DAVE KIFFER: Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy!!! - I don't drink much alcohol.

Some people think that is the problem with me. For example, every check-up my doctor asks how much alcohol I drink and when I tell her, she always says "you could drink more."

And I still remember one of my oldest friends being grumpy with me (this was back in our late 20s) because I had no desire to bar hop.

"That's your problem," he said. "Everybody drinks. You need to drink."

Well, no, For the most part I don't. Unlike many of the rest of the male members of my family, I just never had the taste for it.

Wine and hard alcohol just put me sleep. Beer tastes....well......not good. I have always been fascinated by the ads for non-beers that note that they have "all of that great beer taste." Really? Must be just me. Drinking non alcoholic beer has to be the equivalent of eating a fat free cheesecake. Why bother?

But note that, above, I said "for the most part."

Last week, I gulped down a Crown Royal at 30,000 feet between Anchorage and Juneau. Flying in Alaska in the winter will do that.

This time of the year, everybody brags about their trips to the warmer climes. I have to stop reading Facebook for days on end because I get sick of "beach" pictures or people lounging in the sun at Spring Training in Phoenix. Yeah, I get it. It's warmer there. It's not warmer here. It's especially not warmer in Anchorage.

But there I went. Yes, it was a work related trip. I will jump at just about any excuse to get off the Rock this time of the year. Every day that I am somewhere else I am not scraping the snow off my driveway. I will even go so far (say about 600 miles) to somewhere the weather is even worse.

So that was how I ended up arriving in Anchorage in the middle of the blizzard that dumped a foot of snow on the Alaskan capital (just kidding!) in six hours.

You knew things were dicey on the ground after the jet had to scream back up into the air just short of the runway because someone in a big snow plow was still on the runway. This after the usual bouncy-bouncy-bouncy descent over the Chugach Mountains. Welcome to Los Skankrage. - More...
Thursday PM - February 27, 2020

Political Cartoon: Democrats Berned
By Rick McKee ©2020, Counterpoint
Distributed to paid subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.