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Southeast Alaska: TYLER RENTAL, INC. TO ACQUIRE T&S WELDING, INC. BUSINESS AND ASSETS - Alaska based capabilities to support the Welding, Mining, and Industrial supply business in Southeast Alaska are now strengthened as Tyler Rental, Inc. and T&S Welding, Inc. (T&S) jointly announced today their intent to incorporate T&S Welding’s business into the growing Tyler Rental, Inc. Juneau operation.

Tyler Rental, Inc. Juneau

T&S intends to transition ownership of its business and assets to Tyler Rental following completion of an expansion and remodel of the Tyler Rental Juneau facility located at 5295 Glacier Hwy. The privately owned companies hope to finalize their agreement on or before July 1st of this year. T&S will continue to operate its business from its current location until the ownership transition is finalized and the business can be moved to the Tyler Rental Juneau facility.

Tyler Rental will continue to supply the broad range of products and services that have made T&S a respected welding supply business in Juneau for over 30 years; T&S employees and customers will notice little change in day-to-day operations. T&S owner Russell Shivers, a Juneau resident who has directed operations since T&S’s inception, will remain a part of the business in his new role as a technical consultant to Tyler Rental.

“The purchase of T&S will increase the capacity and competitiveness of Tyler Rental in many ways, positioning Tyler Rental as the most significant supplier of welding and compressed gases and industrial supplies with retail operations throughout Southeast Alaska. Tyler Rental’s high level of service to customers, both existing and new, will remain a core value of the company as it expands its participation in the mining, industrial and construction markets in Southeast Alaska,” stated Tyler Rental President, Randy Johnson. “It is truly an honor for Tyler Rental to have this opportunity to carry on the traditional business that Russ and Caroline have worked so hard to build” said Johnson.

Since its inception in 1989 in Ketchikan, Tyler Rental has expanded and diversified its business to offer a full line of Tool and Equipment Rental Services and Industrial Supplies in Southeast Alaska, and the Northwest. Tyler Rental is pleased to expand its investment and position the Juneau Branch for long-term growth and sustainability.

“We see a tremendous opportunity here to work with Juneau and surrounding area residents and businesses to expand product offerings and strengthen our relationship with our customers” said Steve Kikendall, who has managed the Juneau Tyler Rental Branch since its inception in 1996.

Tyler Rental currently operates five locations in Southeast Alaska and one in Washington State. Its current Rental Equipment fleet consists of over 32,000 rental items ranging from small tools to large aerial and earthmoving equipment. The addition of T&S will increase Tyler Rental’s total Welding and Industrial inventory in Southeast Alaska to more than $2.5 Million Dollars. Tyler Rental customers include Homeowners, Construction, Mining, and Forestry businesses as well as commercial fishing fleets and workboats, along with Federal, State and Local government agencies. - More...
Thursday PM - April 28, 2016

Southeast Alaska: Sitka Tribe of Alaska's General Manager Resigns - Michael Baines, Tribal Chairman for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, announced Wednesday that General Manager Lawrence SpottedBird has submitted a letter or resignation and his last day will be June 20, 2016.

Baines wrote in his announcement letter, "Lawrence has been serving admirably at Sitka Tribe for about two years. His enterprise development expertise was very useful in getting several tribal corporations and a new company call Sitka Tribal Sports organized."

Lawrence was also instrumental in helping to turn the tribe around financially said Baines. "After Lawrence assembled a new finance department staff, the tribe went from operating in the red every year to having a small but healthy cash surplus," wrote Baines.

Baines said Lawrence is a great asset to the Sitka Community noting that he was a member of a local veterans group and served on a citizen's task force who task was to make recommendations to the Sitka City and Borough Assembly on financial matters. Lawrence is also active in the Sitka ANB Camp 1. - More...
Thursday PM - April 28, 2016

Southeast Alaska: Volunteers on Prince of Wales Island work and learn - Recently, the U.S. Forest Service and Southeast Island School District, Thorne Bay, partnered together to provide a second annual Alternative Spring Break in Alaska for Linfield College students. The college is located in McMinnville, Oregon. It was a resounding success, according to staff, students and educators. The students elect to be part of this work/learn program each year. Eleven students and one faculty advisor arrived on Prince of Wales Island Sunday, March 21, and their schedule was full the entire week.

The educational theme was sustainability. Alaskans from around the island showed them what Alaskan sustainability means, how it can be different from what they’ve learned about so far, and that it works. Students learned that Alaskan sustainability means many things; personal accountability for what you buy at the store, what you can grow at home, what you do with your garbage or by-products of other work, and how you re-purpose things that would otherwise go in the garbage or recycling bins.

Linfield College students volunteered their spring break time to do brush work at the El Capitan area to open the ocean view to camping visitors.

Service work the group provided for the Forest Service included:

• maintenance work at two cabins, including a thorough cleaning of Control Lake cabin and grounds; sanding and painting of bunks at Staney Creek cabin and some grounds work;
• brushing work at the El Capitan area to open the ocean view to camping visitors;
• laying additional gravel at the Gravelly Creek Day Use Site;
• cleaning up several garbage dump sites along the 20 Mile Spur Trail road and at the Harris River Campground.

“The group worked hard all week,” said Forestry Technician (Recreation) Katie Rooks. “The students were eager to learn and work, and it showed as their smiling faces greeted the coordinators every morning, with a little extra coffee and cookies for them, as well.” - More...
Thursday PM - April 28, 2016

Alaska - National: Life's basic necessities: food, clothing, housing... the federal government - According to a new report from the Tax Foundation, the nation’s leading independent tax policy research organization, Americans spend more on federal income taxes than on housing and clothing combined. Americans will spend approximately $2.6 trillion on these basic necessities in 2016 -- in the same time frame they will spend $3.3 trillion in federal income taxes. When state and local taxes are added to that total, Americans will pay more taxes than they will spend on food, clothing, and housing combined.

This year, 2016, Tax Freedom Day fell on April 24th, or 114 days into the year (excluding Leap Day). Tax Freedom Day® is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year. Tax Freedom Day takes all federal, state, and local taxes and divides them by the nation’s income. In 2016, Americans will pay $3.34 trillion in federal taxes and $1.64 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total tax bill of $4.99 trillion, or 31 percent of the national income.

In 2016, Americans will work the longest to pay their federal, state, and local individual income taxes (46 days). Payroll taxes will take 26 days to pay, followed by sales and excise taxes (15 days), corporate income taxes (nine days), and property taxes (11 days). The remaining seven days are spent paying estate and inheritance taxes, customs duties, and other taxes. - More...
Thursday PM - April 28, 2016

Alaska - Nationwide: Alaska Ranks 49th In Overall Taxpayer Return on Investment - There is an obvious disconnect in the minds of taxpayers between the amount of money we should fork over each April and what we ultimately deserve in return from our government. Tax Day can be a painful reminder of our investment in the operation of federal, state and local governments, but it’s difficult to discern their precise role in our day-to-day quality of life or overall pursuit of happiness.

Perhaps that’s why two out of five U.S. adults feel they pay too much in taxes, and why Americans estimate that slightly more than half of every tax dollar is wasted by the federal government - higher than the amounts they approximate state and local governments squander. One thing we do know is that taxpayer return on investment varies significantly based on simple geography. Federal income-tax rates are uniform across the nation, yet some states receive far more federal funding than others.

Tax season can be stressful for many Americans, especially those who still owe money to Uncle Sam at the end of it. Every year, the average U.S. household pays more than $5,700 in federal income taxes, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And what do taypayers in Alaska and nationwide see in return for their tax investment? - More...
Thursday PM - April 28, 2016