Saxman: New Saxman I.R.A. Council Members Sworn In By GIGI PILCHER - The Organized Village of Saxman, Saxman I.R.A. Council held an oath of office ceremony Friday evening to swear in the newly elected and re-elected members to the Council. The ceremony was held at the Saxman Tribal Office in Saxman which is located just south of Ketchikan.- More...
Saturday - May 21, 2005

Alaska: Governor Addresses Special Session Progress - In his radio message this week, Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski talks about how the special session is faring and about the progress made in the special session toward passage of key legislation.

He also discusses how the tough and enduring session has been stressful for everyone, including the media.  The governor says he continues to remain hopeful that they can still accomplish goals in the days ahead.

In his message the governor addresses the intensive lobbying efforts on the PERS/TERS Retirement Bill and Workers Compensation Bill. Murkowski says the public isn't aware of the lobbying efforts because it isn't reported. "I think that's irresponsible journalism," said Murkowski. Some reporters are pushing the envelop where they do not portray objective coverage, said the governor. - Listen to the entire message...
Saturday - May 21, 2005

Ketchikan: Listen to this KRBD story.... Construction on the Swan Lake-Lake Tyee Electrical Intertie will not resume this summer. The Four Dam Pool says it does not have the money to continue work on the 57-mile transmission line and says funding might not be forthcoming. Deanna Garrison has the story.
KRBD - Ketchikan Public Radio - Saturday - May 21, 2005

Listen to this KRBD story.... Ketchikan City Manager Karl Amylon announced Thursday that he has selected a new assistant city manager and Ports and Harbors director. Deanna Garrison reports.
KRBD - Ketchikan Public Radio - Saturday - May 21, 2005

Listen to this KRBD story.... The Ketchikan City Council Thursday night voted to sue Sitka-based McGraw Construction and Mahlum Architects over problems stemming from the renovation of Ketchikan General Hospital's medical and surgical floor.
KRBD - Ketchikan Public Radio - Saturday - May 21, 2005

Listen to this KRBD story.... The Alaska Marine Highway announced Thursday that it plans to redeploy its two fast ferries this winter to serve a Ketchikan-Petersburg-Juneau route.
KRBD - Ketchikan Public Radio - Saturday - May 21, 2005

Ray Hilborn retrieves otoliths - earbones which carry information about how old a fish is and where it spent its adult life - from a sockeye salmon that has died after spawning in one of the streams surveyed under the Alaska Salmon Program, a part of the UW's School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.

Science: Alaskan puzzles, monitoring provide insight about North Pacific salmon runs - The University of Washington Alaska Salmon Program, the world's longest-running effort to monitor salmon and their ecosystems, has received nearly $2.4 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to expand its sampling scope and sophistication.

The Alaska-based program has applications for Pacific salmon all along the West Coast, providing insights into the fluctuating fortunes of salmon runs and their management. - More...
Saturday - May 21, 2005

Science: Scripps scientists find potential for catastrophic shifts in Pacific ecosystems - Opening the door to a new way of understanding ocean processes and managing and protecting marine resources, a group of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, has developed a groundbreaking analysis of the North Pacific Ocean and how dramatic changes can unfold across its waters.

The study, published in the May 19 issue of the journal Nature, holds implications for a diverse body of groups, from scientists who study physical ocean processes such as El Niño events to environmental managers charged with overseeing and sustaining ecosystem resources such as fisheries. Surprisingly, it relates to many disciplines involving complex webs of mutually interacting parts, such as ecosystems and world financial markets, which have the potential for unexpected collapse and irreversible change. - More...
Saturday - May 21, 2005

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters KIDNEY DIALYSIS PROVIDER NEEDED By Kaaren Kubley - Saturday Their Trash vs. Ours- We Win! By Jerry Cegelske - Saturday Jr. High Soccer By Liz Bruce - Saturday Bridge By Jacquie Meck - Saturday Alaska Undersea Tours By Jessica Mathews - Saturday Dead tree By Leslie Donnelly - Saturday Preserving a little something special in Naha Bay By Lisa Grogan - Saturday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter May 2005 Click on the date for stories and photos published on that day... S M T W T F S 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31         Front Page Archives

Dave Kiffer: "Progress" Progress is the root of all evil, progress is the cause of it all! - Lil Abner, The Musical. - Without progress Ketchikan would look something like Loring. Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing - depending on whom you talk to - but it would certainly be a different thing.

I was thinking about progress earlier this week when I was at a presentation on the history of Ketchikan schools. There was a list of the course offerings for one of the first high school classes in Ketchikan in the early 1910s and it was interesting what was on the list: Bookkeeping, classics, geometry, business, history (current and ancient) and such languages as German and Latin.

I don't know the last time that either of those languages was offered in the Ketchikan School District, but I'm sure it wasn't in my lifetime. Of course, there are a lot of classes available to Ketchikan's students that weren't available in 1915: Computers, auto shop, band, resume writing, etc. But I can't help but wonder how life would be different if students were still required to pass classes in Latin and German to graduate from Kayhi. Notice, I didn't say "better" I said "different." - More...
Saturday - May 21, 2005

Steve Brewer: The likability factor - As a work-at-home dad, I'm always on the lookout for items that help justify my decision to remain unemployed - whoops, I meant self-employed - and a couple of new publications do just that.

One is a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which found that attractive people tend to make more money than their more homely counterparts. The other is a new self-help book by Tim Sanders called "The Likability Factor: How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve Your Life's Dreams."

This is just the kind of workplace pressure I don't need. To become a success, to even get paid as much as the next guy, I need to be handsome and likable? I'm sorry, but that's asking too much. Better that I continue to work alone at home, where I can be as unkempt and unfriendly as usual. - More...
Saturday - May 21, 2005

Stewart Elliott: Life under WWII rationing - The biggest problem of growing old is that you outlive friends and relatives. Someone asked me to tell them what it was like to live under rationing, and I had trouble finding people old enough to discuss it with me.

Randall Hatcher, a boyhood friend from Illinois, was a farmer while I was playing war games in the South Pacific. He remembered rationing very clearly, and reminded me that it lasted for some time after World War II was over.

I asked what a farmer had to do to buy a new repair of overalls. The answer: "They were not available. We had to wear the old ones." That was true of many items. Those on the home front made great sacrifices so we, on the war front, could have everything we needed. Local rationing boards controlled purchases to just the essentials, and merchants checked permits before selling anything. - More...
Saturday - May 21, 2005