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Monday
June 09, 2014
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POW: Spruce Grouse With Chick
Spruce grouse favor the boreal forests of Alaska and Canada, and those on Prince of Wales Island represent an unusual population inhabiting a coastal rainforest. Spruce grouse are found in just a small area of southeast Alaska, on Prince of Wales and a few of the outer islands
Front Page Photo By JACY PIERSON ©2014.
E-MAIL JACY AT ugotgod@gmail.com
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Ketchikan: Former Ketchikan Resident Sentenced To 3-Years, Judge Notes Need to Protect Public - A former resident of Ketchikan with an extensive criminal history and untreated mental health issues was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess in Anchorage to 36 months of imprisonment followed by a three year term of supervised release.
In sentencing James A. Mavromatis, 39, Judge Burgess noted Mavromatis' extensive criminal history, his untreated mental health issues, and a clear need to protect the public as the reasons for sentence he imposed.
On October 21, 2013, Mavromatis was tried and convicted for being in possession of a firearm after being previously committed to a mental institution.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Schmidt, who prosecuted the case, on June 30, 2013, James A. Mavromatis was contact by a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer at the Last Chance Campground located in the Ward Lake area north of Ketchikan. During that contact, Mavromatis was found to be in possession of a fully loaded Czechoslovakian made .40 caliber, semi-automatic handgun. A records check of Mavromatis failed to reveal at the time that the defendant was a person prohibited from possessing a firearm. Later that evening, the officer was advised that the initial information they received was in error and that Mavromatis was actually a prohibited person.
The next day, the officer re-contacted Mavromatis at his campsite and the firearm was recovered and turned over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for further investigation. The investigation revealed that there was a prior court order that Mavromatis be committed to a mental institution on December 23, 2003, and again on November 2, 2009. - More...
Monday - June 09, 2014
Alaska - National: Department of Veterans Affairs releases results from its Nationwide Access Audit - Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released the results from its Nationwide Access Audit, along with facility level patient access data, medical center quality and efficiency data, and mental health provider survey data, for all Veterans health facilities.
Full details made public at VA.gov follow Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs Sloan Gibson’s commitment last week in Phoenix, Arizona and San Antonio, Texas to provide timely access to quality healthcare Veterans have earned and deserved.
“It is our duty and our privilege to provide Veterans the care they have earned through their service and sacrifice,” said Acting Secretary Gibson. “As the President has said, as Secretary Shinseki said, and as I stated plainly last week, we must work together to fix the unacceptable, systemic problems in accessing VA healthcare.
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“Today, we’re providing the details to offer transparency into the scale of our challenges, and of our system itself. I’ll repeat – this data shows the extent of the systemic problems we face, problems that demand immediate actions. As of today, VA has contacted 50,000 Veterans across the country to get them off of wait lists and into clinics. Veterans deserve to have full faith in their VA, and they will keep hearing from us until all our Veterans receive the care they’ve earned.”
In a prepared statement, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today responded to the Alaska results of the Department of Veterans Affairs audit (pdf fact sheet): “The Anchorage findings from the VA’s nationwide audit are encouraging, but it’s important to note these figures only represent a single, momentary snapshot that reflects a number of proactive moves made by the Anchorage outpatient clinic to reduce a backlog that reportedly reached 900 late last year."
Further Murkowski stated, “I am proud that the Anchorage VA leads the system in partnerships with community providers – a strategy I’ve been prodding the VA to adopt since 2006. Not only must we maintain these positive response times, we must make sure that our day-in, day-out commitment to those who served is achieved and sustained across our state at both major facilities and the community based outpatient clinics.”
Also responding in a prepared statement, U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) said of the May 15, 2014 audit & wait times of the Anchorage facility, “I’m reading this report closely but am pleased it shows the VA health care system in Alaska does not have the same significant problems that other states are experiencing. In addition to having fewer veterans on our wait lists, wait times for Alaskan veterans for services are far less than in other states and, in the case of mental health issues, the AK VA essentially achieves same-day-service with immediate assessments. It has taken a lot of hard work and tearing down some bureaucratic hurdles along the way, but we owe it to our veterans to provide proper access to the services and care they have earned – and that is what I have been fighting for since day one in the Senate. While there is still work to do, today’s numbers reflect great improvement in the performance of the AK VA in recent years and point to Alaska as a model for successful programs that can be implemented in other states.” Alaska results of the Department of Veterans Affairs audit (pdf fact sheet).
The VA's Hospital Compare website reports very little data available for Alaska VA facilities through 2013. Information reporting medical center quality, efficiency (SAIL) and mental health data for Alaska and all states can be accessed at http://www.hospitalcompare.va.gov/. This website allows veterans and their families to compare how well their local VA hospital cares for its veterans with congestive heart failure, heart attack, pneumonia, and summarizes outcomes in areas such as acute care, safety, Intensive Care and other health measures. - More...
Monday - June 09, 2014 |
| Fish Factor: Salmon prices, Fish watch, & A Fascinating ugly fish By LAINE WELCH
- Salmon prices at wholesale show marked seasonal variations for both wild and farmed fish. It’s a pattern that has been tracked for decades by Urner Barry, the nation’s oldest commodity market watcher in business since 1895. The prices tend to decline through June, July, August and September and they begin rising again from November through the following April or May.
Two things drive the well-established pattern, said market expert John Sackton who publishes Seafood.com, an Urner-Barry partner.
“There’s a growth cycle for farmed salmon when they eat more and grow faster at certain times of the year, and so the harvests, particularly those that come into the US market from Chile for example, really peak in June, July and August, which are our summer months and the winter months in Chile,” Sackton explained. “Then there is the opening of the wild salmon season each summer and all of a sudden you get a lot more diversity and availability of Alaskan salmon.”
Sackton said buyers of both wild sockeyes and farmed salmon are starting to push back a bit on high prices. That’s likely reflected in the $3.50 advances for the first reds at Copper River in mid-May, which was down 50 cents from last year’s starting price.
A big wild card for North American salmon this summer is the projected 72 million sockeye return at British Columbia’s Fraser River. Sackton said Japanese buyers, who have been somewhat priced out of the sockeye market in recent years because there has been so much demand elsewhere and a drop in the yen has made it harder for them to buy, are hoping that a big run will open up more opportunities for them. Even though they’ve been buying less, Japan is still an important part of a three legged stool.
“You’ve got your US fresh/frozen market, the Japanese market and the European customers. If the Japanese part of that equation is a bit cautious because they are hoping to see some big price break at Fraser, they will be slow to commit to contracts for the pack earlier in the year and that can put price pressure on everybody,” Sackton said.
Timing also will come into play – the Fraser River run typically arrives in August, several weeks after the big sockeye haul at Bristol Bay.
“So what this is going to mean this year, in my opinion, is that there will be more uncertainty about what the final price is because you’ve got a run coming in later,” he added. “I don’t know how it will affect the fishing price except that tends to follow where people expect the markets to go.”- More...
Monday - June 09, 2014
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Columns - Commentary
 WILL DURST: Zombified - You see them staggering down our streets, heads bowed as if in prayer, making the occasional grunting noise. Mindless drooling de-animated human husks walking blindly into fountains, crosswalks and lamp posts. Wake up people. We are in the middle of a science fiction movie here. Welcome to the Invasion of the Phone Zombies.
Yes, the Zombie Apocalypse has materialized and we are it. Everywhere you look you find the deathlike trance-frozen faces of we necromantic slaves with twitching fingers, spending endless empty hours mesmerized by our tiny screens. An entire society that can't remember its own phone number, much less that of any significant other. Of course, compared to our magical phones, there are no significant others.
Our smart phones are being manipulated by some very dumb people. Sure, amazing things can be accomplished: check the weather patterns in Outer Mongolia. Translate French past participles into Farsi. Order a chess set made out of imitation crab meat in the shape of the characters from 12 Years a Slave and have it delivered to our house before getting back from work. But in the meantime, we are developing the attention span of high-speed lint. And the personalities. - More...
Monday - June 09, 2014
 JEFF LUND: Running is boring. - At the same time, it is the perfect sport for someone like me who’s mind derails into tangents. I don’t particularly like to run, but rather than let my mind go on a jog while I stand on the deck and drink coffee, sometimes it’s nice to go on a run with it.
In my training leading up to the Prince of Wales International Marathon on May 24, it wasn’t the run itself, it was how I felt after my workout which motivated me. I had run five half marathons and two full marathons before last week, but I’d always looked for shortcuts. This was the first time I really invested time into training and created a daily routine which didn’t feel like a chore. It was liberating.
I don’t like running any more than I did, but I really like the path. I like being in shape. I like mixing in squats, burpees, cleans, pull-ups, push-ups and other exercises from the Workout of the Day my buddy Danny’s Crossfit gym in California (CrossFit Excel) posts daily. I like the idea that being in my prime depends on how willing I am to go get it rather than trying to remember it. - More...
Monday - June 09, 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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