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SitNews - Stories In The News - Ketchikan, Alaska
Monday
June 03, 2013

Front Page Photo by CINDY BALZER

Fishing Lessons
This Merganser mother was teaching her nine
babies to fish Saturday at Ward Lake.
Front Page Photo by CINDY BALZER ©2013
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)

 

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Ketchikan: Timothy Forbes Leads Derby With 44.6-pounder By MARY KAUFFMAN - The second weekend Of the Annual Ketchikan CHARR King Salmon Derby saw multiple lead changes.

Timothy Forbes Leads Derby With 44.6-pounder

Week Two: Timothy Forbes weighed in a 44.6 pounder at the Mountain Point Boat Ramp Station
Photo courtesy Ketchikan CHARR King Salmon Derby

First weekend derby leader Brian Thompson was ousted during week two by Bill Pattison when Pattison landed a 41.0 lb king on Saturday, besting Thompson’s leader salmon by a pound.  But Pattison's king stood atop the leader board for only 27 minutes before Timothy Forbes weighed in a 44.6 pounder which held the top spot for the rest of the weekend. Anglers will have one more weekend to try and do to Forbes what he did to Pattison -- claim the lead on the board and the grand prize.

The largest fish of the 66th Annual Ketchikan CHARR King Salmon Derby carries a $10,000 cash prize.  Others that place on the derby ladder will have their pick of the prize categories based on their placement on the ladder.  

The second weekend of the 66th Annual Derby saw 272 total fish turned in with a total of 872 anglers checking out from one of four derby weigh-in stations.   The weigh-in stations are located at Knudson Cove Marina, Bar Harbor Boat Ramp, Clover Pass Resort and Mountain Point Boat Ramp. This year's weigh-in station charities are: Rotary 2000 (Clover Pass Resort Weigh-In Station), Society Of American Foresters Dixon Entrance Chapter (Knudson Cove Marina Weigh-In Station), Ketchikan Lion’s Club (Bar Harbor Weigh-In Station) and Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad (Mountain Point Weigh-In Station). Society Of American Foresters Dixon Entrance Chapter is celebrating their 25th consecutive year as derby judges this year. 

Top 10 on the adult ladder after week two are as follows: - More...
Monday - June 03, 2013

Fish Factor: Hot button fisheries topics By LAINE WELCH - Salmon set net families were streaming out of Kodiak all week, heading to their summer sites to get ready for the June 9 season opener. Their departure wrapped up a busy week of Memorial Day festivities on “the rock,” including festivals, fleet blessings, a landslide on Cannery Row and visits by both of Alaska’s US Senators.

I caught up with Sen. Lisa Murkowski over a beer at Kodiak Island Brewery; she spoke candidly on several hot button fisheries related topics.

It’s well known that Murkowski and the rest of Alaska’s congressional delegation are strongly opposed to genetically modified salmon (aka Frankenfish), and have led the charge to derail its approval for dinner plates by the FDA. The “AquaAdvantage” salmon, tweaked to grow three times faster than normal, would be the first animal approved for human consumption. The public comment period recently closed on the issue, and Murkowski said the FDA decision should be announced “in seven months or so.”

Should Frankenfish get government approval, it will require no labeling to alert consumers they are buying a man-made salmon instead of the real thing. The GMO process is categorized under ‘veterinary procedures’ and as such, no labeling is needed. 

Last week, Murkowski was the only Republican to vote for GMO labeling requirements at a Senate hearing; the measure failed to pass by a wide margin.  The US is one of the few nations in the world that has not either banned GMO foods outright, or requires labeling.

“What does that say to the American people, at a time when they clearly are concerned about food safety and what they are putting into their mouths?”  I asked.

“It says we don’t think it’s important for Americans to know,” she retorted, adding that the thumbs down by the Senate is “not a final straw.”

Murkowski said she is extremely concerned that the US’s lack of GMO labeling will be met with backlash by world commerce.

“Most of Europe says no to GMOs, so if we continue to have this attitude we will lose those markets,” she said. 

Senator Murkowski revealed that people at recent Arctic summit meetings were “shocked” to learn that the US is so slipshod about GMO products.

“Especially those from Norway. They told me straight out ‘we will not buy any US salmon if we are not sure it is not GMO,” she said. “It will crush our wild salmon market.”

“Speaking of wild salmon,” I quickly interjected. “Senator, are you ready to take a stand on the threat posed to the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery by the proposed Pebble Mine? Alaskans are waiting to hear more than the stock response of ‘they must be allowed to go through the process.’”

She responded: “As a policy maker who spends most of my days saying there is a process we need to follow, I have a tough time telling the State to chop it off at the knees. But I’ll tell you one thing - Pebble isn’t doing itself any favors by not giving more definition to its plans. They have documents to the moon, but no images or mine plans. The best thing Pebble could do is lay it on the table so we have something real to deal with.”

“As an Alaskan, I don’t like how this has pitted neighbor against neighbor, town against town, Native against Native,” Senator Murkowski added. “The longer it’s delayed, the worse it gets. We’ve got enough issues facing us, and if we are not working together, it will be tough to get anything accomplished.” - More...
Monday - June 06, 2013


Columns - Commentary

DAVE KIFFER: Of Block Parties and Lightning Bolts - Ketchikandians (!) are a partying bunch as a whole, but one thing that we don’t usually have are those big outdoor, area-wide things that they have elsewhere, block parties.

Maybe it’s the fact that we really don’t have “blocks” like they do elsewhere. Oh sure, there are some traditional “blocks” in Ketchikan. Of course they generally tend to cling to hillsides. The house next door may actually be down a pretty steep cliff.

And then there is the problem that while we have far fewer “blocks” than more traditionally sited communities, we do sadly seem to have a larger proportion of “blockheads.”  That , of course, is fodder for a very different column.

As usual, I digress.

At any rate, we don’t have a lot of “block parties," but I thought it was I interesting to note four recent non-block parties that happened in In Our Fair Salmon City.

They all took place in May.

First, we had a marvelous floating “block party.”

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Alaska Marine Highway, some 400 Ketchikanites played hooky from work and school to go around Revilla on the Malaspina. The weather, of course, wasn’t perfect, leading to numerous comments along the lines of “that’s why they call it Misty Fjords.”

But really, what is better than 11 hours floating lazily along Behm Canal with no phone calls, no computers and no work or school to intrude. In a future life, I plan to become a “floating novelist” riding the Alaska Marine Highway hither and yon while cranking out bestsellers in my stateroom.

 I can’t imagine a more perfect Heaven than a quiet stateroom and that big pile of books that I am always gonna get around to reading.

The second party was not nearly as relaxing, although it was “Ketchikan” to its core, or heel as the case may be. How about getting together with almost 2,000 other Ketchikakanucks, slapping on some extra-tufs and going for a little run on the Third Avenue Bypass. Last year, the great rainboot race fell a few "feet" short of the world record for shins shod in soggywear, but this year we appear to swished the record. Best of all, we proved the “Great Wall of Ketchikan (AKA the most expensive mile of concrete in Alaska) can hold up to all that foot pounding. - More...
Monday - May 03, 2013

      

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Questions, please contact the editor at editor@sitnews.us or call 617-9696
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letter Thieves Among Us By Tina Singer - This past weekend, someone stole a beautiful orange blossomed hanging begonia from my front porch on Baranof Avenue. Not only did they steal from me, but, as this was a mother's day gift, they've also stolen from my son. - More...
Monday PM - June 03, 2013

letter RE: Taxes & Local Government By Rodney Dial - Thank you Mr. Harrington for the kind words about me.  I too appreciate most of your past efforts on the Assembly as one of the more moderate members…. however, regarding your statement about my letters: - More...
Monday PM - June 03, 2013

letter Property Tax By Hans Holum - Mr Harrington misses a major point in his own argument about property tax comparisons around the state. A lot of the listed places are both the city and borough tax load i.e. the entire tax for real property in the area. If you add the city tax portion to the borough rate, the people of Ketchikan are right up there with Fairbanks and are only topped by the North Slope Borough. - More...
Monday PM - June 03

letter More Than Just a Sealaska Shareholder By Frank Hopper - I was born in Juneau, although I have no memory of ever living there. My family moved to Seattle when I was only two. My Caucasian father never explained why, except to say there were too many "rednecks" in Juneau who didn't approve of his marriage to a Tlingit woman. - More...
Monday PM - June 03, 2013

letter Why we don't want to simplify the Income Tax code. By Jim Donnell - Congressman Tim Griffin [AZ-02] appeared on Fox News today to talk about the effort in the House Ways and Means committee to simplify the income tax code, eliminate loop holes, lower the rates, etc. He said that the Senate Finance committee is in similar agreement to which the Fox reporter replied, "I can't imagine any American would be against that..." - More...
Monday PM - June 03, 2013

letter ObamaCare cost By A.M. Johnson - Sorry, I am unable to contain the frustrations of watching our elected officials handling the uproar of mind boggling scandal(s) and inability to see the forest for the trees or worst yet, not able to see the tree for the forest! It is obvious not matter the party, the intent of ObamaCare while good intentioned, is a debacle mess and will only become worst as the depth and consequences gain more momentum towards the final implication date. Can it be stopped? Yes, Man (Lisa) makes laws Man (Lisa) can change or remove laws. Not that she can do it single handed, but it would surely help if she started shouting and making noise. There are Senators who ARE doing so. Her absents supports the suspicion that her RINO status is golden!. Anyway Editor, I have submitted my frustration to Senator Murkowski. A copy of this frustration is submitted to Sitnews. - More...
Monday PM - June 03, 2013

letter RE: Taxes & the Local Government By John Harrington - I appreciate the role Mr. Dial fulfills with his letters regarding fiscal restraint, and living within our means. He provides an excellent balance for the ‘Tax and Spend’ faction in our community. However sometimes he neglects to provide all the information. That is, of course, a strategy that is useful when trying to make a point emphatically. So even though I value his point of view, and acknowledge the need for more restraint on government, I am going to provide a little more of the information that Mr. Dial left out. - More...
Thursday PM - May 30, 2013

letter Post Graduation Party 2013 By Joey Tillson - Four years of hard work and preparedness for our graduates of 2013 have come to another chapter closed in this book of life. Each of these students have come so far and plan to succeed even further in their endeavors. Over 100 businesses in Ketchikan have donated to our graduates. From gift certificates to whole building spaces, fine jewelry to barge line tickets, the vendors and community members have donated precious time and valuables for our kids. I would like to extend a sincere thanks to the community and businesses who continue to support our children. And of course a few words of wisdom to our graduates as they head off to their futures. - More...
Thursday PM - May 30, 2013

letter A solution to present woes with the IRS and taxation By Glen E. Terrell - The income tax code is complicated beyond comprehension. An institution like the IRS has no place in a society of free people. The power that came to congress with the income tax and 16th amendment has so corrupted our Congress and the IRS that we must start over. - More...
Thursday PM - May 30, 2013

letter Thank You Ketchikan By Peggy Pollen - Dear People of Ketchikan, You have an amazing group of citizens in your community. They are called Rotarians. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013

letter Re: Taxes & Local Government by Ken Bylund - Ketchikan, and government in general, caving to special interest groups? Isn't as simple as bending to the will of the majority; government is clearly "the special interest group." ... is the obvious really that hard to understand? To look, to see that we have been asleep as an overweighted minority of power claims the apportionment of taxes as their own; thousands of specific descriptions of property sinking in the quicksand of [fill in the blank] self proclaimed predominant party; reasons this Republic was assembled in the way it was; now orchestrated ignorance proclaims The Constitution is a "living document" obsolete, needing change, to be discarded, for the social benefit of the children... Pathos trumps Logos. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013

letter Hummingbirds By Fred Bassett - I am a hummingbird bander who will be doing migration research on hummingbirds in Ketchikan from 2 to 5 June.  I am looking for hummingbird hosts with good numbers of hummers who will allow me to band at their homes. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013 

letter Wage Reduction vs. Change Tax System By Anthony Gasbarro - Jobs have been lost in this country for over 30 years due to our lack of competitiveness. It's cheaper to go out of the country for most manufacturers than to make products here. People who haven't lost their jobs are squeezed to do more with less. Sound familiar? - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013

letter Enough! By Tilli Abbott - I was raised in Hoonah, graduating from high school the same year ANSCA passed Congress. Never paid attention to the corporations until I was 40. Ran for the board, made it and continue to battle "them" as I observe reverse discrimination. That's what I see... racism and discrimination hidden within the walls of the Native Corporations. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013

letter Fair Tax By Patrick R. Burkett - Recent news regarding the IRS targeting certain political groups and their members for harassment via tax exempt applications and tax return audits provides further reason why we the people should vote to disband the IRS. Legislation in the form of HR25 and S122, titled The Fair Tax Act, does just that and awaits hearings in the U.S. House of Representative's Ways and Means Committee and the U.S. Senate's Finance Committee respectively. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013

letter Filipinos in Ketchikan By Joey Garcia - This topic is my concern after the recently concluded elections in the Philippines that make concern to the Filipinos in Ketchikan, Alaska, in my personal opinion. This commentary is based on pronouncements of the scenario to clarify who, where, when, and how, for understanding comprehensively and in comparison to where the real Filipino roots are. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013

letter RE: Taxes & Local Government By Suzan Thompson - In response to Rodney Dial's recent letter, wherein he makes a number of valid points, I'd like to point out that the photos at the conclusion of his letter may be misleading for some people. The photo of the Juneau library is actually that of a branch library located in a mall; their main library is much larger. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 28, 2013

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