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SitNews - Stories In The News - Ketchikan, Alaska
Friday
May 14, 2010

Front Page Photo by BILL MECK

Ketchikan: Redbreasted Sapsucker
Front Page Photo by BILL MECK

Ketchikan: Ketchikan Veterans Invited to Town Hall Meeting - The Alaska Veterans Advisory Council will host several upcoming town hall meetings throughout the state to address veterans' concerns with the goal of improving veteran services in Alaska.

Officials in attendance will provide guidance in the areas of healthcare, home loans, education, benefits, and disability and compensation, as well as address any specific personal issues veterans may be facing. Veterans, military service personnel and family members are encouraged to attend and participate.

A town hall meeting is scheduled for May 18th in Ketchikan and will be held at the American Legion Post #3 from 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM.

After these town hall meetings, the AVAC, a group of 13 veterans from across the state appointed by current and past governors, will relay concerns and questions to the Joint Alaska State Legislative Veterans' Caucus and the State of Alaska Veterans Affairs office. This information will be used to establish agenda items for the annual Veterans Summit June 24 in Wasilla. The Veterans Summit brings together a large number of key veterans who assist state legislators in establishing changes that affect veterans in Alaska. - More...
Friday - May 14, 2010

Governor Sean Parnell signed HB 14 Wednesday making the Alaskan Malamute the official state dog.
Photo courtesy Office of the Gov.
Alaska: Governor signs bill making the Alaska Malamute Alaska's state dog - Over four hundred students, teachers and parents joined Governor Sean Parnell and Representative Berta Gardner (D- Anchorage) Wednesday as the governor signed House Bill 14 into law, making the Alaskan Malamute the official state dog. The signing was the culmination of three years work by students at Polaris K-12 School in Anchorage.

Three years ago kindergartener Paige Hill brought the idea to school. After some preliminary research, two first grade classes decided the Alaskan Malamute merited the designation and asked Rep. Gardner to carry the bill on their behalf. By the time the bill was introduced in 2009, the project had grown into an all-school project. - More...
Friday - May 14, 2010

Ketchikan: Ketchikan General Hospital Named Top Hospital For Traveling Nurses In National Survey - Ketchikan General Hospital has been named the top traveler-friendly hospital in the country. Over 4,500 travel nurses were surveyed by travelnursing.com and ranked KGH at the top of the list in staff friendliness, nurse managers, orientation and RN staffing levels.

In the article written by Jean O'Brien, a traveling nurse who worked in Ketchikan, she said, "Staff friendliness was, by far, the best I have experienced. The staff-including nurses, managers, midwives and physicians were all very friendly and accommodating to travel nurses. The housing provided was perfect and within walking distance to the hospital."

"Each person entering the hospital is treated like a treasured friend returning home from a long absence," said Patrick J. Branco, CEO and Chief Mission Officer of Ketchikan General Hospital/PeaceHealth. "Patients, families, staff (both permanent and traveling), and visitors are always welcome and warmly greeted. We know travelers tell our story to other communities, resulting in some becoming permanent employees." - More...
Friday - May 14, 2010

Southeast Alaska: SEARHC offers free health checks in Craig, Hydaburg - The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) Health Promotion department is hosting free health screenings for adults age 18 and older this month in Craig and Hydaburg.

The free health screenings will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 27, at the SEARHC Hydaburg Health Center, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Friday, May 28, at the Craig Community Association Office, 1330 Craig/Klawock Highway. Participants are encouraged to make 20-minute appointments for their health screenings, but they can be seen as walk-ins (be aware there may be a wait for walk-in patients). - More...
Friday - May 14, 2010

Laser light, GPS, Subaru used for precise glacier measurement

Geophysical Institute graduate student Austin Johnson, left, and glacier researcher Chris Larsen install a GPS laser system on top of Larsen's Subaru Legacy on the UAF campus.
Photo by Ned Rozell

Alaska Science: Laser light, GPS, Subaru used for precise glacier measurement By NED ROZELL - As Chris Larsen drives his 1997 Subaru Legacy wagon around the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, the jutting apparatus bolted to his car's roof rack draws a few stares.

The glacier researcher at UAF's Geophysical Institute is chauffeuring a sophisticated GPS laser-measuring system that in one week will be in the belly of an airplane flying over the Stikine and Glacier Bay icefields in Southeast Alaska.

To save expensive flight time later, Larsen is driving the device around campus in what he calls a "coarse system check." He will soon install it in a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter owned and flown by Paul Claus of Ultima Thule Lodge in the Wrangell St. Elias Mountains.

Larsen and graduate student Austin Johnson, who is blessed with a sense of equilibrium that allows him to peer at computer screens in moving cars and airplanes without turning green, cruise around the UA Museum of the North at 10 miles per hour. Shooting out sideways from the top of the Subaru, a laser bouncing off a spinning mirror sends out 10,000 points of light each second. A receiver gathers the beams reflected off nearby objects as the two researchers create a digital elevation map of campus on their two-mile drive.

"We should be getting survey grade data," Larsen says as he steers past the curvy walls of the Museum of the North. "It's accurate to plus or minus about 10 centimeters for each shot point."

Larsen is checking his equipment before heading out to some of Alaska's wildest country to measure the elevation of glaciers. He and Claus will check the system's accuracy one final time by profiling the airstrip from which they take off. - More...
Friday - May 14, 2010

Outdoor Alaska

Ketchikan: Birds Like You've Never Seen BY M. J. TUREK - The early bird gets the bird. At least that's what I'm hoping for as I fasten on my Carole Sharp beaded hummingbird earrings, scrape 7 A.M. ice off my windshield and head for the airport ferry - with a quick stop at the grocery deli for a stuffed croissant to slip in my daypack. Steve Heinl and Andy Piston of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are leading a Gravina bird walk. This annual April walk has been their tradition since the start of the Hummingbird Festival.

Aboard the ferry, four spotting scopes are resting on tripods on the cardeck. Our first sighting locates four mallards flying north. Two cormorants are in the air as well. We are advised to look for the white flank patches that appear during breeding season and are gone by June. I nod, but the white wispy clouds are easier to discern than fast-moving patches.

There are fifteen of us: Steve and Andy, Teri Goucher, a Ketchikan naturalist who contributes articles to the Juneau Audubon Society's publication, Raven, Karla Hart who has worked with Juneau Fish and Game, a high school science teacher, a librarian, a young man with a super lens on his camera, other serious and amateur birders with notebooks in handand then there's me. I know little about birds. My friend Jim says he wouldn't confuse a sparrow with a raven or eagle. That's my level too.

At the toll booth bottleneck, we all sign in as hikers, giving names, phone numbers and estimated return time. With such a large group we take care not to spook the birds. I practice my smooth, quiet yoga walk. - More...
Friday - May 14, 2010

Ketchikan Community Concert Band Presents Annual Spring Concert;

The Ketchikan Community Concert Band (KCCB), conducted by Roy McPherson during a past practice session.
Photograph courtesy McPherson's Music

Entertainment

Ketchikan: Ketchikan Community Concert Band Presents Annual Spring Concert; Friday, May 21, 7:00 p.m. in the Kayhi Auditorium - The Ketchikan Community Concert Band (KCCB), conducted by Roy McPherson will perform their annual Spring Concert on Friday, May 21st, at 7:00 p.m. in the Ketchikan High School Auditorium. KCCB oboist, Kathleen Light and local siblings, Jamie and Jeffery Karlson will be featured soloists that night.

Alaska's Flag will be the opener, followed by Clifton Williams' "Symphonic Suite" the winner of the distinguished "Ostward Award" for outstanding band composition in 1957.

Jamie Karlson will then be the featured flute soloist, on "Concertino". This beautiful and technically difficult piece was composed in 1910 by Paris born composer, Cecile Chaminade. Jamie was born in Ketchikan and started playing the flute at the age of 10. She also is a tenor saxophonist, and has recently taken up the trombone at the University of Idaho's Lionel Hampton School of Music, where she is completing her junior year, and pursuing a degree in Instrumental Music Education. She was very involved in music and the arts while growing up here, and was chosen for the SE Alaska Honor Band and State Honor Band, and she is a recipient of the Sam Pitcher Memorial Scholarship and the Jerry Galley Memorial Scholarship for high school seniors planning to continue their education in the music/arts field.

The unique "Brazil: Ceremony, Song and Samba" is based upon authentic Afro-Brazilian percussion rhythms, including the "Maracatu" rhythm that can be traced to the Congo, and the bossa nova, a more familiar style. - More...
Friday - May 14, 2010

      

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Questions, please contact the editor at editor@sitnews.us or call 617-9696.

letterFinal Library Vote - a Travesty By Roberta "Bobbie" McCreary - What a Travesty! Last night's Council vote selected Copper Ridge (at the end of the 3rd Avenue Bypass) as the development site for the new Library for the next 50 years by default, not by choice. Comments made about the public (and the Council) being split down the middle actually reflected preferences for "downtown" or "not downtown" NOT reflecting one-half favoring Copper Ridge. I feel certain about this because I spoke to many people, adults and youth, with an open question, "What do you think about Copper Ridge as a location for the new Library." I estimate 85 to 90% said, in effect, "no way!" - More... (Link Corrected)
Friday PM - May 14, 2010

letterLet the voters decide By Rodney Dial - Apparently a few of my recent letters have upset some people regarding the pool. To those individuals I would simply say that I have never been against a community pool. In one letter I stated my belief that it is an important community asset. - More...
Friday PM - May 14, 2010

letterThe American Flag By Kathy Flora - Monday May 31, is Memorial Day. As we salute the American Flag, and remember those whose coffins were draped by the flag, let us pay tribute to all veterans who served their country, and defended the rights and privileges which we, the living enjoy. - More...
Friday PM - May 14, 2010

letterNew Pool By Chris Barry - For the record, not everyone will benefit from a new pool. I don't even benefit from the old pool, and I am sure there are thousands of locals who, like myself, have never used the pool in the past and plan to never use the pool in the future, old or new. - More...
Friday PM - May 14, 2010

letterRE: Dopey mushers By Margery Glickman - John Suter raised excellent points when he wrote: "The next thing that ITC does not have is drug testing transparency for the dogs on the trail. No one is allowed to see the drug test results. Why is that? How does any one know that the dogs are in fact drug tested?" - More...
Friday PM - May 14, 2010

letterKing salmon bycatch, intercepted as well. By Michael A. Jimmy - This is good news for the chum salmon but for our mighty King salmon which also returns to migrate back to its spawning ground as far as the Yukon Territory in Canada does not do so well for us down here at Emmonak. Most of them, vital for our survival as subsistence and for economic benefit are caught as bycatch or intercepted before they have a chance to make it to the AYK and South Eastern Fisheries. This will be our third year this summer not being able to commercial fish for the mighty Yukon river king salmon. The fat content of this fish far surpasses the chum as well as the coho salmon.- More...
Friday PM - May 14, 2010

letterOceansAlaska Update By David Mitchel - I would like to update the community on progress at OceansAlaska. OceansAlaska Marine Science Center is a community-based non-profit with a volunteer board of directors and a multidimensional focus on education, mariculture development, and the display of local marine species. The Marine Science Center is a way to provide investment in a sustainable, year-around industry, as well as advance our children's education and help Ketchikan become a more attractive place to visit and live. It is infrastructure for the entire community and helpful for growing our economy. - More...
Tuesday - May 11, 2010

letterRE: Something's Fishy Here By Dave Head - I am responding to a view of: Terri Anderson in which she blames environmentalists for 2 recent oil rig disasters. Is there any chance she is related to Sarah Palin? Because frankly I have never read such a load of nonesense in my life. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 11, 2010

letterRE: Something's Fishy Here By Peter Jacob - I would like to present this response to Terri Anderson's opinion letter, "Something's Fishy Here". There are three possible reasons for the coming to the conclusions that you did in your letter: - More...
Tuesday PM - May 11, 2010

letterDopey Mushers By John Suter - ITC has reported that two Iditarod mushers have tested positive on THC. ITC will not disclose the identities of the two dopey mushers. The reason for this is because they are in the good old boy net work receiving special privileges and double standards. You can take it to the bank, that if they were women, natives or other minorities who tested positive on their drug test, ITC would hang them out to dry. This is not the right way, but the white way. It is ITC's different strokes, for different folks. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 11, 2010

letterSupporting a New Pool By Vicki O'Brien - With the dearth of indoor recreation opportunities available in Ketchikan, I find it absolutely crazy that anyone would oppose the construction of a new Borough pool. We talk incessantly about how "there's nothing to do.." yet when the time come to construct a facility that everyone - EVERYONE - in the community can benefit from, there are actually opponents! Young, old, athletic, obese, able-bodied, disabled... there is not a segment of our community who could not benefit from a new pool. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 11, 2010

letterLand fill By Robert McRoberts - Recently there has been talk about letting S&S Construction dump waste in a borough land fill. Here's the deal guys, by doing this you tell many of us local contractors to bend over. If you're going to open up this area so it can be filled I think you had better take waste fill from every one of us. Make us get a key at the time we dump and lock up when done. We would be responsible for what we dump. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 11, 2010

letterCan't we work this out? In support of the Oceans Alaska Project By Jennifer Castle - I am a Mother with a preschool age child, I cannot tell you how much my son and other families enjoy the small aquarium tank outside the office in the mall. Seeing local sea creatures up close, and being able to ask questions and see them feed is a rare treat for adults and children alike. To me, this seems like just the beginnings of a wonderful relationship between Oceans Alaska and the people of Ketchikan. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterBorough property tax rate By Dave Kiffer - I was surprised to read, in a recent letter to SITNEWS, that the borough property tax rate will go up this year because of the replacement pool project. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterRe: Better management leads to lower taxes. By Ken Bylund - Mr. Dial... always refreshing to watch an effective observer criticize the devil; amazing how the majority of our species don't seem to notice as the current pack of predators skim ever increasing portions of our potential and freedom while they promote some feel-good give-away described as another crisis by our news creators; they and we have been mesmerized, ignoring that snakelike stealth of career politicians moving us toward absolute social fascism. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterSwimming Pool By Jon Hurley - I wish Mr. Dial would attend a swimmg meet with the wind blowing and the rain pouring down. I know that he would love to have the tar dripping on his head and the roof shaking. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterOpen Letter To Ketchikan City Council: Ketchikan Public Library Concerns By Robert D. Warner - The following are basic questions that I feel need to be answered prior to any decisions being made on the future location of the Ketchikan Public Library. This is an important long term decision. The community will have to live with it for many years to come. We must not be pressured into hasty decisions by special interest groups. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterTalent on Revilla Island By Judith Green - Never a disappointment is the music community on our island. We have great talent and not just talent, as my son reminded me, but we have people in Ktn who 'inspire' and encourage all ages and abilities to share that which they have and enjoy. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterThank You Ketchikan By Nicole Esau - Dear Ketchikan Residents, I have been living in Ketchikan for the last 5 1/2 years. I consider it my home. I recently was in a boating accident and spent 3 hours in the cold Gulf of Alaska on my way to fish herring and Salmon. I was traveling on the Northern Belle that went down quickly in the Gulf. It was a both horrifiy and life changing experience. I wanted to write because it was noted in several sources that I was from various places in the Northwest. I have been avoiding national media. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterKayhi and Revilla Class of 2010 Graduation Party By Ginny Clay - Dear Parents of Graduating Seniors, as you know every year the parents get together and throw a graduation party for the Seniors, this year is no exception. There are many fun and exciting things planned for a wonderful event at the Plaza Mall on the night of graduation. BUT we need your help! - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterWithdraw THE BILL By Alan Stein - The new article "Sealaska Logging in Tongass rainforest would imperil rare species" is a very good article with good illustrations. Great writer. - The new article "Sealaska Logging in Tongass rainforest would imperil rare species" is a very good article with good illustrations. Great writer. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterOpen Letter to President Obama: Sealaska Land Bills By Gretchen Goldstein - Dear President Obama, thank you for your muscle and perseverance in getting us some health care reform. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterSomething's Fishy Here By Terri Anderson - Just curious, I know a lot of people all over the country are starting to get a vibe, that maybe some or maybe a lot of our extreme environmentalists might be responsible for the two oil rig mishaps that have happened, with precision timing. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterRE: Trail Closure By Beth Doddridge - While I do understand the position this writer took I feel I must mention the many other trails that are available to the "public" she made reference to. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letter "Ozzy" White Persian Found By Kathy Armey - Our beloved Ozzy went missing April 17th from 12 Mile North Tongass. We did everything we could think of to bring Ozzy home. My husband, Doug got a call yesterday and Ozzy was found under a trailer home at 12 mile. He's in pretty good shape for being out in the elements for two weeks.He's skinny, but otherwise okay, just needs a good brushing out and a bath. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterGulf Oil Spill Response By Marie-Jeanne Cadle - Here is a number you can call if you are interested in volunteering or working on the gulf oil spill response. Right now they are taking names, skills, training and contact info. They do not have any info about housing, travel, compensation, etc. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterRE: Hope this resolves the issue. By Marilyn Catron - There is no need to asked to be excused for giving your opinion here Mr. Jarvi. Isn't that what it's all about? Viewpoints, Opinion Letters? - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 3010

letterAircraft Carriers In Jeopardy By Donald A. Moskowitz - An article in the Navy Times entitled "Strike group mission expands far beyond simple escort" has me concerned. - More...
Tuesday AM - May 04, 2010

letterLet's get behind the aquarium By Larry Jackson - This letter is in response to the efforts of many in the tourist industry to thwart the aquarium's efforts to raise federal grant money.  Although I appreciate their concerns of public money being used in a quasi competitive endeavor I think their efforts are bit shortsighted.  - More...
Wednesday PM - April 28, 2010

letterOceans Alaska Submitted By Kirk Thomas for Various Ketchikan Businesses - We, the undersigned, are writing you this letter to state our strong opposition to Oceans Alaska (formerly known as the Tongass Aquarium) becoming a shore excursion tour operator for cruise passengers here in Ketchikan, Alaska. Oceans Alaska has promoted and represented itself as a research, education and shellfish mariculture facility and has successfully applied for and been granted public seed money for all of the progress they have made thus far. - More...
Wednesday PM - April 28, 2010

letterBetter management leads to lower taxes By Rodney Dial - Mr. Harrington, I am going to assume that your letter and assumption that taxes in Ketchikan would somehow be lower if we consolidated a simple attempt to goat me into writing a three page letter on why you are wrong. I will make that assumption because the only alternative is simply that you as a government official are attempting to mislead the public. - More...
Wednesday PM - April 28, 2010

letterOpen Letter to the Ketchikan Borough Assembly Members By Rodney Dial - You guys know that as soon as you raise the mill rate and increase property taxes I am going to write a rather long letter detailing why several of you lied to this community about being able to afford a 23.5 million dollar pool with no tax increase. Right? - More...
Tuesday - April 27, 2010

letterPerserverance Trail Closure By Heather Muench - The Forest Service is planning to close the Perseverance Trail from May 15 to September 30 for trail reconstruction. While I support the much need trail work, I strongly object to the summer long closure. I agree the trail should be closed on days when helicopters will be moving material to and from the area; but not on other days. - More...
Tuesday - April 27, 2010

letter HEAD TAX: VERY BAD CHOICE OF WORDS By Charles Edwardson - It has always bothered me -- the term HEAD TAX. It sounds like a hunting trip. It should be labeled what it is a PORT AND HARBOR TAX. - More...
Tuesday - April 27, 2010

letterTaxes By Sonia Streitmatter - Tourism is a double-edged sword. - More...
Tuesday - April 27, 2010

letterSealaska lands bill By Sarah Red-Laird - I still have a strong connection to Southeast Alaska, although I now live in Montana for school, through my friends and family that remain in the area, and through my crystal clear memories of all the years I spent there, especially those of my childhood on Prince of Wales Island.- More...
Tuesday - April 27, 2010

letterSealaska lands bill By Judy Magnuson - Senator Murkowski stated not too long ago that the government was the largest land owner in Alaska. I wish to correct that statement. The PUBLIC, not the government, is the largest land owner in Southeast Alaska. We the people, native and nonnative own these lands, we have full use of these lands for any use compatible with public use of these lands. This is not an aboriginal rights issue, it is simply the right of citizens and taxpayers who have added value through their tax dollars, time and energy through their efforts to support, preserve, participate and have a say in the management of public lands. We have the right to retain those lands that belong to us and have cost us dearly during the last 40 years. Public lands, heavily invested in should not be given away to a private corporation in order that only a few may profit from them. - More...
Tuesday - April 27, 2010

letterHigh taxes in Ketchikan By John Harrington - It is interesting that Mr. Rodney Dial is complaining about the high taxes in Ketchikan. Our taxes are indeed too high. Those tax rates are higher than most consolidated city/borough governments in Southeast Alaska. When a group of us were attempting to consolidate the two governments, Mr. Dial led the charge to stop it by claiming it would raise our taxes. We had determined quite the opposite in our calculations. But Mr. Dial prevailed in his anti-consolidation efforts and now have received what he tried to avoid, higher taxes. - More...
Friday PM - April 23, 2010

letterKetchikan is becoming more expensive every day. By Rodney Dial - As our national tax day passes, a few things you may want to consider regarding the future of your family's finances. The following is an excerpt from a Newsweek article posted on 4/15/10 titled "Today is the best tax day of your life", by Robert J. Samuelson. Newsweek tends to be a liberal leaning publication and this is not conservative hype. - More...
Friday - April 23, 2010

letterThe times are a changing? By Reed Harding - As the country struggles in the turmoil of unprecedented healthcare reform by the current centrist administration many misguided individuals nash their terrible teeth and groan aloud "we don't want change". I awoke today and realized that I do not recognize my own country. Things have changed so much this past year I can't even point out what has actually changed. In fact, there could have been no change at all but that's not what everyone is saying so it must be a completely new country devoid of any principles and understanding that once existed. I can attest to the validity of the following piece as I wrote it rather than merely copying someone else's opinion. - More...
Friday - April 23, 2010

letterSealaska lands bill By U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski - In a letter concerning the Sealaska lands bill printed on April 14, an Edna Bay resident stated that it was "stunning" that Sealaska had already filed for lands to complete its entitlement under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), as if the matter of filing for lands meant that the current bill is not needed to complete rational land conveyances due Sealaska's 20,000 Alaska Native shareholders. That is not the case. - More...
Wednesday - April 21, 2010

letterOpen Letter to the KGB Mayor & Assembly By Johnnie Laird - Mayor Dave Kiffer and Ketchikan Assembly, I am disappointed that you passed a resolution in favor of the Legislation and didn't join in solidarity in opposition with Sitka, Port Protection, Point Baker, Edna Bay, Hollis, Whale Pass, Thorne Bay, Craig, Naukati, Kake, The US Department of the Agriculture, The US Department of the Interior and many others. - More...
Wednesday - April 21, 2010

letterMay is ALS Awareness Month: Let's STRIKE OUT ALS!! By Linda Kreider - May is ALS Awareness Month!! I will be representing Alaska for the 4th time since 2006, when this disease took my father away from me, my mother, brother and sister and the rest of our family. My sister-in-law, Teri Teal will be travelling with me this year for the 1st time! We leave Ketchikan on Friday, May 7 and will return May 12. We will meeting with our Senators and Representatives on Tuesday May 11. In the past few years, I have been able to have a State of Alaska Proclamation declaring May as ALS Awareness Month for the State of Alaska, and am hoping that we can get the City of Ketchikan, as well as the Ketchikan Gateway Borough to do the same!! - More...
Wednesday - April 21, 2010

letterChanges By A. M. Johnson - As the Country watches the huge social changes imposed by the current liberal administration, many are and more are, becoming concerned as to the Nation holding together with civility. I can not attest to the validity of the following piece, however, even if it were not written by the person listed, it still tells well!! - More...
Wednesday - April 21, 2010

letterTrails and drunks. By Patti Fay Hickox - Where are they going so fast? We only have about 30 miles of road. "What's the hurry, what is everybody hurrying for." Drivers do not stop for people in crosswalks. Remember when most of us walked and smiled and waved at the people going by in cars. People slowed down to wave at their neighbors. I came to Alaska to get out of the cities and a fast pace of life. Now Alaska is moving faster. Everybody going so fast they have no time for their neighbors. - More...
Wednesday - April 21, 2010

letterRe: Married Man's Trail By Laurie Hodne - It was funny timing when I sat down to look at the letters to the editor and the very same subject I was debating on writing about happened to be a "peeve" for someone else. I am not a frequent hiker on Married Man's Trail, but was there when I was searching for the Easter Treasure Hunt and was appalled by the trail and its lack of upkeep. Is that City property? - More...
Wednesday - April 21, 2010

letterMarried Man's Trail and other stuff By Kara McElroy- Steele - Regarding Ms. Susan Coady's letter about Married Mans trail, I have two things to say. Back in the day (if you lived there for 25 yrs you should remember this), it was common place down on the Tongass dock, for homeless drunks to sit and sleep, behind it and in front of it (before it turned into Tourist Central!). You would also see them hangin out around the loop of bars all the way around the corner by Tom Sawyers. - More...
Wednesday - April 21, 2010

letterThanks from The Mainframe LAN Gaming Center By Ryan Avila - I would just like to thank everyone who came down and supported our business this weekend. We hope to continue providing a safe environment for the youth of Ketchikan so that they have a fun alternative to doing drugs and drinking (which is a large problem in Ketchikan). - More...
Wednesday - April 21, 2010

letterHope this resolves the issue By Paul Jarvi - Ms. Catron, Please excuse me for stating an opinion. - More...
Wednesday - April 21, 2010

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