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Thursday
June 05, 2014
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Bears
The photographer unfortunately found this mother bear and offspring attracted to her yard while weed whacking. The bears apparently liked the grubs stirred up -- they were digging in the grass and loving it. Be bear aware!!
Front Page Photo By SUSAN HOYT ©2014
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Ketchikan: AK Democrats Opening a Field Office in Ketchikan - The Alaska Democratic Party is opening a campaign office in Ketchikan on Saturday, June 7th, as part of Alaskans’ effort to fight Outside attack ads with a grassroots campaign. The campaign office is located at 123B Stedman Street and will be used by local volunteers who are reaching out to their friends and neighbors. Senator Begich will attend the field office opening on Saturday.
"We will be working hard to make Alaska voices heard in support of Senator Mark Begich and Byron Mallott," said Tom and Mary Schulz, long time Democrat activists in Ketchikan. - More...
Thursday - June 05, 2014
Ketchikan: Ketchikan Selected for 2014 Governor’s Family Picnic
- Governor Sean Parnell announced this week that Ketchikan will host the 2014 traveling Governor’s Family Picnic. The Ketchikan picnic will be held on July 24 at Ward Lake from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
“Sandy and I look forward to joining the great people of Ketchikan and Saxman for the 2014 traveling Governor’s Family Picnic.” - More...
Thursday - June 05, 2014
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Alaska: Alaska Tribes Sue DOI, FWS Officials for Denial of Emergency Road - King Cove residents, Alaska tribes and two local governments sued U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and several U.S. government officials in federal court Wednesday.
King Cove is located on the south side of the Alaska Peninsula, on a sand spit fronting Deer Passage and Deer Island. It is 18 miles southeast of Cold Bay and 625 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Picture by Felix Canez, NMFS/ADFG Fish Biologist
Photo courtesy
city-data.com
The lawsuit was filed because of the Department of Interior’s denial of a road (that was otherwise authorized by Congress) to connect the City of King Cove (one-third Alaska Native descent) with the all-weather Cold Bay Airport. The community has been seeking the road for decades in order to medevac seriously ill or injured patients during frequent periods of bad weather, which makes crossing Cold Bay and the Pacific Ocean by boat or plane, impractical and dangerous. The Secretary refused to allow the construction of a one-lane gravel road for such medevacs, claiming that a landing craft was a sufficient alternative.
“This is about protecting the lives of human beings,” said Della Trumble, spokesperson for the Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove and the King Cove (Native) Corporation. “Secretary Jewell’s decision has violated her trust responsibility to protect the health and well-being of Alaska Natives. We are insulted by the Secretary’s finding that Alaska Natives, who are critically ill or injured, should be required to take a flat-bottom landing craft many miles across dangerous open water to the Cold Bay Airport where they would then be medevaced to an Anchorage hospital. Anyone who has seen newsreel footage of our brave troops landing in Normandy on D-Day knows that the Secretary’s reasoning is greatly flawed and her concern for Alaska Natives is seriously lacking. We had no choice but to sue. We are determined to move forward to protect our people.”
“We have explained the need for the road to Secretary Jewell and why a landing craft is not adequate to cross Cold Bay and the Pacific Ocean in bad weather, which we frequently experience here,” said Aleutians East Borough (AEB) Mayor Stanley Mack. “We traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with her in late March. She promised us a reply of some sort. We have delayed this litigation for more than four months while waiting for that reply, but have heard nothing from Secretary Jewell. This is intolerable, and it seems she does not care about our safety or health. We are very disheartened and insulted by her decision and by her failure to even respond to us.”
AEB Mayor Stanley Mack gave examples of why the road is needed for emergency situations:
Leff Kenezuroff, an elder of the Native Village of Belkofski and president of the Belkofski Village Corporation, was medevaced from King Cove to Cold Bay four times due to heart attacks. On one of those occasions, planes could not fly because of severe weather, so he was transported across Cold Bay in a crab boat.
“When we got to the Cold Bay dock, I couldn’t climb up the ladder, so they hoisted me up in a crab pot,” said Kenezuroff. “It was terrible.”
More than a year ago, Etta Kuzakin, a lifelong resident of King Cove and president of the Agdaagux Tribe, was medevaced from the remote community by the Coast Guard in harsh weather and 60 knot winds while 34 weeks pregnant.
“Had I not been able to get out of King Cove, I would have hemorrhaged. My baby and I would have died,” said Kuzakin. “I would have had to say goodbye to my husband and two older daughters.”
The King Cove clinic is not equipped to perform many medical procedures, including childbirth and those involving traumatic injuries. Fortunately, Kuzakin made it to at an Anchorage hospital in time and gave birth by cesarean section.
“How can anyone look at our children, our elders and at me, and say, we’re not worth it?” Kuzakin said. - More...
Thursday - June 05, 2014
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Southeast Alaska: Angoon, Mt. Edgecumbe top in 2014 Alaska KidWind Challenge - Two Southeast Alaska high school teams placed first in their divisions during the 2014 Alaska KidWind Challenge.
Angoon, Mt. Edgecumbe top in 2014 Alaska KidWind Challenge
Photo courtesy of C. Pike - Alaska Center for Energy & Power (ACEP)
“Team Turbine,” consisting of a single high school student from Angoon High School, and “Team ANT Squad,” a team of three high school students from Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, scored first place in their respective divisions for highest power output in the competition.
The Alaska KidWind Challenge is sponsored by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Center for Energy and Power with contributions from The Shell Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. The challenge is an Alaska-specific statewide competition in which students use innovation, teamwork and creativity to design a wind turbine, which is then tested against turbines designed by other participating schools across the state.
“It was inspiring to observe the creativity and problem-solving strategies that the students used to come up with their designs. They helped each other out and took pride in their creations as they tested them and described them to me,” said Christopher Pike, 2014 KidWind Challenge judge and staff researcher with ACEP. “Each of the winning schools brought their own twist to the competition, which really helped them stand out. The Angoon High School students admirably mentored the elementary students in performing their own KidWind Challenge, and the Sitka students utilized a 3D printer to print their designed turbine blades. Both schools should be very proud of their level of participation. It's great to see the next generation of Alaskans at work.” - More...
Thursday - JUne 05, 2014
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Ketchikan - Statewide: More Alaskans Live By Themselves; 28% of Ketchikan Households 1-Person Dwellings - Have you ever wondered how many people live alone in Ketchikan or in your community? Eddie Hunsinger a demographer at the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development in Anchorage has crunched the numbers and reported his findings in the June 2014 issue of Alaska Economic Trends.
According Hunsinger, more than 65,000 Alaskans live alone, representing 10 percent of the overall population and a quarter of households statewide. Though for some this might conjure images of a cabin-dwelling sourdough or a researcher at a remote outpost, most who live on their own are a diverse group living mainly in the state’s population centers according to Eddie Hunsinger a demographer at the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development in Anchorage.
Still, some demographic characteristics stand out, including that more men live alone and that the rate of living alone increases with age reports Hunsinger in the June 2014 issue of Alaska Economic Trends.
Since 1980, Hunsinger reports the share of Alaskans statewide living alone has grown by just 2 percent, but the composition of the group has shifted, with an increasing percentage age 65 or older.
Hunsinger found that about 25 percent of Alaska's senior citizens live alone compared to just 9 percent of the population as a whole — and because Alaska’s 65-plus population is on a rapid rise, the state will likely have more single- person households in the future.
Statewide Husinger reports, Alaskans in their 50s make up more than a quarter of those who live by themselves. They are part of the large cohort of baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, who also make up a large share of Alaska’s total population.
With the increasing tendency to live alone with age, the baby boomers’ children — another large cohort — will also someday make up a much larger share of the living-alone population writes Husinger.
Statewide, there’s also a smaller, temporary living-alone peak among those in their mid-to-late 20s reports Husinger. This age group lives alone at a rate of 10 percent, often as they’re beginning their careers, compared to more than 20 percent at high ages. For people in their 30s, the rate drops a couple of percentage points.
Between 2000 and 2010, more 25-to-34-year-olds in Alaska and nationwide lived with their parents, which likely muted that temporary peak writes Husinger. - More...
Thursday - June 05, 2014
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Southeast Alaska: Pinbone Wizard technology licensed to Juneau business By DIANA CAMPBELL - Several patents for the use of the Pinbone Wizard, a fish bone removal machine, has been licensed to a Juneau-based company by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Tim Manning, GI Machine Shop assistant manager, demonstrates the Pinbone Wizard machine in this 2007 photo, while manager Greg Shipman looks on.
“It’s a pretty cool machine,” said Mike Bell, owner and president of Freeman-Bell, the Juneau machine shop that bought the license. “Whoever developed this is awesome.”
The Pinbone Wizard is the brainchild of Larry Kozycki and Greg Shipman, the respective former and current managers of the UAF Geophysical Insitute Machine Shop. The two made the machine in the late 1990s after then-Gov. Tony Knowles appealed to Alaskans to help Alaska’s fisheries compete with farmed fish.
After many prototypes, the final machine is an electricity-powered, foot-controlled box with an opening in the top from which metal discs protrude slightly. When the user positions a fish fillet over an opening, the discs pull the pin bones out without damaging the flesh.
The small, versatile machine could be useful for not only individual fishermen but also operators of mid-sized processing plants.
Bell’s purchase includes the design plans and two machines ready for market. He hopes to manufacture and sell the units. Freeman-Bell already has several interested customers. - More...
T
hursday - June 06, 2014
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 RE: My Kid is not fat By Ken Lewis - In response to this subject of child obesity and how Ketchikan turned down a chance to have Big Brother show us the way to healthier life styles for our children... Please, not just Ketchikan, but SE AK wake up. Bill Sheffield, the worst governor in AK history, consolidated time zones for the railroad that he worked for. In so doing, he stole an hour of afternoon (according to the clock) recreational daylight from SE AK's families! The sound science of time zones was ignored for the convience of a few. And nobody asked our kids if they would prefer to do less after school, nor did SE Alaska voters, vote to give time to this PHAT CAT. - More....
Friday - June 06, 2014
RE: My Kid is not Fat! By Chris Elliott - Bravo, Kevin! I've discussed this health issue many times with the person funded by the grant. There was certainly never any intent to tell parents that their children are "fat." Americans have a real problem with obesity, and all of us should do our best to eat healthy foods and exercise. That starts at home. - More...
Friday - June 06, 2014
Un-necessary consequences for Marijuana By Anthony M. Johnson - I am writing this letter in response to Mr. Seibert. As mentioned in my previous letter, I am a Ketchikan resident and parent of two children. For my children's sake I do support the legalization of Marijuana, please read on. - More...
Friday - June 06, 2014
Surveys By Charlie Freeman - Do I call you dear Sit News? Anyway, I just got off the phone talking to another know nothing conducting a "blind" survey for some unknown group or person interested in either getting elected or getting someone unelected. Considering the questions asked, what kind of idiot would put any faith in the results? I'm sure you've all have gotten at least one. What was your take on the questions? Did you feel the answers you gave represented what you really thought or were you frustrated that none of the little boxes fit your feelings? Moreover, did you know more than half the people mentioned? Bet not. Pretty much an Anchorage show and, outside of Anchorage, nobody much cares about Anchorage but Anchorage, but they care a lot. Sorry about the rest of us. Don't mention we're here. - More...
Monday PM - JUne 02, 2014
MY KID IS NOT FAT! By Kevin Staples - At the beginning of the school year, Ketchikan was lucky enough to receive a grant that was aimed at helping our youth live a healthier and more active life style. All of our children were measured for BMI, and after all of the data was collected letters were sent out letting parents know that some should be concerned about very real risk factors. - More...
Monday PM - June 02, 2014
Unuk River fishery changes By Victoria McDonald - Recently, the Ketchikan Daily News reported that ADFG is concerned about king salmon not meeting escapement goals for the past 2 years on the Unuk River. King salmon fishing in northern Behm Canal is closed from May 27-June 30 and only one king can be harvested per day in eastern Behm. Meanwhile the rest of Southeast has a limit of 3 kings per day. Restricted fishing is bad news for a community that markets itself as “Salmon Capital of the World”. - More...
Monday PM - June 06, 2014
A mother's pride By Bonna L. Booth - I wrote this comment into a review online after having tried civilly to deal with Ketchikan-based airline people via telephone. The situation began on May 16th, after our having had a beautiful flower bouquet of roses and sunflowers (the yellows being part of the school colors) hand-delivered to a Ketchikan-based airline company's freight department and told that they would be on the 3:00 p.m. flight to Metlakatla for our high school graduate to have for her walk of promotion. You could imagine our excitement in anticipation of handing my daughter (and granddaughter to the other two ladies involved in this transaction) this floral arrangement, unexpectedly, for her special night. - More...
Monday PM - June 06, 2014
Name that Team By A. M. Johnson - In these glory days of political correctness the opportunity to poke fun at the absurdly displayed lack of common sense is over whelming. Take the latest waste of stupid. - More...
Monday PM - June 02, 2014
Response to Jail for processing Marijuana By Marvin Seibert - I would like to respond to Mr. Anthony M. Johnson on the prospect of jailing our children for procession of Marijuana. No one is suggesting that some youngster who makes a mistake because he is young and foolish be sent to a penitentiary. I am also for making kids accountable for those actions. Currently in the State of Alaska procession for less than 1oz of this poison named marijuana is a maximum of 90 days and a maximum of $2,000 fine and is listed as a misdemeanor. Now if you are caught with Intent to distribute or selling or distributing and you have more than an ounce it is a felony punishable by a maximum of 5 years and $50,000 fine. The selling of this poison should have stiff penalties. If you can't do the time don't do the crime. - More...
Monday PM - June 02, 2014
Marijuana and addiction By Marie Zellmer - Legalization? It is weird for me to say that i am a former pothead, most people who know me would be shocked. But it's true. In college I tried it for the first time and discovered that it helped me deal with all the stresses I was faced with, and kept me on track to getting an AA with a gpa of 3.75. My grades improved because i smoked, but I was concerned that if i got arrested for it I would lose everything - my scholarships, my grades, my respect. I was fortunate to never get caught buying or selling it because I grew it myself. - More...
Monday PM - June 02, 2014
Repeal the 16th Amendment By Wiley Brooks - I have an answer to the below listed revelations: Repeal the 16th Amendment which will end the income tax and close the IRS doors. Replace the income tax with a consumption tax which will be transparent to everyone who pays for needs and wants at point of purchase. There are now approximately 140 million individual/family income tax filers with only one-half of them paying taxes. Under the proposed consumption tax legislation all 325 million inhabitants on our shores will have skin in the game (legal and illegal residents, foreign visitors, those that prosper in the underground economy and those who never file a return). The proposed legislation in Congress is known as the “FairTax” designated as H.R. 25 in the House and S.122 in the Senate. - More...
Monday PM - June 02, 2014
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