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Ketchikan: All Survive Big Goat Lake Plane Crash - Sunday afternoon at approximately 2:22 PM, Alaska State Troopers were notified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of an airplane crash with survivors on Big Goat Lake, located approximately 25 air miles east of Ketchikan in the Misty Fjords National Monument. Both the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad (KVRS) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were notified. 

The pilot, Matthew B. Perron, 30 of Ketchikan was operating the DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver. It crashed into the lake during takeoff.

Perron had a total of six passengers. Two passengers, Tim Friedrich, 40, and Catrin Fredrich, 36 are from Germany. Four passengers, Robert S. Grover, 63, Debra A. Grover, 60, Nicole D. Grover, 30, and Jonathan M. James, 36, are all from California.

The pilot and passengers were able to exit the aircraft and swim ashore. They were treated by Emergency Medical Services when they arrived in Ketchikan and were later transported to the PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center and  treated for minor injuries. 

At approximately 3:35 PM Sunday, the Ketchikan Fire Department with mutual aid from North Tongass Fire Department and South Tongass Fire Department responded to Taquan Air's Ketchikan dock for a report of two planes returning to Ketchikan with seven passengers that were involved in the plane crash near Goat Lake in the Misty Fjords. - More...
Monday PM - June 19, 2017

Fish Factor: Market Potential for Alaska Salmon in China By LAINE WELCH -   China holds big promise to become a top customer for Alaska salmon, and not just for the bright red fillets.

Since 2011 China has been the number one customer for Alaska seafood with purchases nearing $800 million and comprising 54 percent of all Alaska exports to China. 

In Chinese food culture, fish symbolizes abundance and prosperity, which plays into a growing middle class that now earns the equivalent of about $25,000 in U.S. dollars a year. That gives buyers significant disposable income to spend on more high-end foods, such as salmon. Add in increasing public concerns about food safety and pollution, and it means Alaska is well poised to send even more salmon to China. 

A photo-filled Alaska Sea Grant report – called Consumer Preference and Market Potential for Alaska Salmon in China – gives a glimpse of that potential in a country with 1.4 billion people. Researchers from the University of Alaska/Fairbanks and Purdue spent over three months surveying more than 1,000 urban supermarket shoppers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to get their results.  Here’s a sampler: 

Alaska: Nominations Sought for Alaska Summer of Heroes Program; Alaskans Encouraged to Nominate Youth Heroes for Seventh Annual Program Now Through July 17 - The seventh annual Summer of Heroes scholarship program recognizes five young Alaskan heroes, plus one from the Alaska Communications Employee Program, who are making noteworthy contributions to his or her Alaska community. Alaskans are encouraged to nominate Youth Heroes through July 17, 2017.

The Summer of Heroes scholarship program is a partnership between Alaska Communications and the Boys & Girls Clubs - Alaska to promote awareness and support for youth development programs throughout the state.

Each selected hero receives a $1,500 scholarship through the UA College Savings Plan and a trip to a special recognition ceremony at the Alaska State Fair. In addition to the scholarship program, Alaska Communications has pledged to donate $25 to Boys & Girls Clubs – Alaska for every new Unlimited or Business Internet sign up between April 25 and July 17, 2017, up to $15,000 total. - More...
Monday PM - June 19, 2017

Business: 4 Ways to Escape the Rental Trap; New Home Buyers Have More Options Than They Realize  - After living as renters for the first seven years of their marriage, Geoff and Kristi decided it was time to purchase their first house.

They decided to pass on making a purchase earlier in their lives for reasons ranging from unstable job security to high mortgage rates. Whether justified or not, Geoff and Kristi kept making excuses for not pulling the trigger on a new-home purchase. They had no idea of the opportunity they were missing to start building their personal wealth through home ownership.

As time moved on and their family grew, they knew they finally needed to make that move to build some equity and have something to show for the money they were dishing out just to keep a roof over their heads.

“A lot of people have been misinformed, resulting in becoming content to live as renters,” says Joe Puthur, President of Mortgage Coach. “Families have been missing out on opportunities because of lack of knowledge. With today’s mortgage options, people can achieve affordable home ownership wherever they want to live.”

Puthur offers first-time home owners the following insight to help find the right mortgage: - More...
Monday PM - June 19, 2017

Southeast Alaska: Digitizing Alaska History: The Sheldon Jackson Papers By Rev. Larry S. Emery - The Alaska Library Network has partnered with the Presbyterian Historical Society to digitize portions of the Sheldon Jackson Papers, a valuable collection of papers and pictures related to the earliest years of Alaskan history under American rule.

Dr. Sheldon Jackson (1834-1909) was a Presbyterian Missionary as well as the United States Government’s General Agent for Education in Alaska for over twenty years. He made a total of twenty-six trips to Alaska, frequently aboard the famous United States Revenue Cutter Bear. Jackson was committed to the spiritual, educational, and economic well-being of the Alaska Natives. He founded numerous schools and training centers that served native people. The Sheldon Jackson School in Sitka, where many Native Alaskans attended from throughout southeast Alaska, was named for him.

One of the complaints about Jackson during his lifetime is that he spent more time and resources on education for the native population than for the white population of Alaska. Also, there has been controversy over his requirement that all education of native people to be in English, though some churches and schools went beyond this and forbid all use of the native languages. He and the commander of the Bear helped import nearly 1,300 reindeer for Native people to use as food, clothing and other necessities. - More...
Monday PM - June 19, 2017

COLUMNS - COMMENTARY

DAVE KIFFER: Technology is a wonderful thing: Or not. - Hi, I am from Technology and I am here to help!

Yes, I know I stole that line from President Reagan's famous quip about "government."

Actually that quote didn't originate with Reagan. 

It was reportedly first uttered by the Aga of Kish when he arrived to convince the hairy potters of Sumeria to switch from hand forming their pots to a new high tech doohickey called a potters wheel - which the Aga called a "robowheel."

And specifically what the Aga of Kish said was... - More...
Monday PM - June 19, 2017

SUSAN STAMPER BROWN: The Painful Reality of 'Love Trumps Hate' - Although longtime Democrat voter and Bernie Sanders supporter James Hodgkinson is the one who pulled the trigger at the GOP batting practice in Alexandria, Va. on June 14, the Democratic Party and its leftist media sidekicks should take a long look in the mirror.

They are not without fault, given their relentless spewing of hate-filled propaganda framing President Trump as a Russian Hitler, his supporters as racists and Nazis and Republican lawmakers as evil villains who want people to die.

Garbage in, garbage out. No wonder Hodgkinson went postal.

Those calling for unity should understand unity is impossible unless those smarmy swamp dwellers slither their way out of the sludge and cap off the sewage they have been gushing since Trump's inauguration. 

Until they do, leftists will do what leftists do, communicating their opinions and demonstrating their frustrations by breaking and burning things... or going on Hodgkinson-style shooting sprees... or stabbing police horses with nail embedded flagpoles like one did in Harrisburg, Pa. - More...
Monday PM - June 19, 2017

WILL DURST: Snowflakes Want Me To Be Nicer to Trump - I need to stop and thank all the nice folk who've been kind enough to take time from their busy schedules to provide this column with some constructive criticism. By the way, moron is spelled with two Os, idiot doesn't have an E and using all caps is frankly, rather rude. 

It seems a segment of my loyal audience has come to the considered opinion that this award-seeking, hard-hitting, investigative journalistic feature needs to be more positive as concerns our 45th president, Donald J. Trump. And they do not mean to hear he is positively a puppet of a dyspeptic alien lizard and our country is now knee-deep in despicable doo-doo and will be for 3 years and 7 more months. 

It is my most recent musings that have been accused by a grammatically-challenged few as skewing towards the contrary, overly focused on the gloomy, and said unsolicited feedback implores me to make efforts concentrating on the uplifting and employing a more optimistic myopia. 

It should be pointed out that the job description of political humorist does entail this sort of mocking and scoffing and taunting no matter the partisan nature of the White House occupant. That's part of the deal. You would think people who supported a guy who called opponents "Little Marco," "Lying Ted" and "Crooked Hillary" would realize that "Stupid Donald" was in the offing. Especially with such low-hanging fruit.  - More...
Monday PM - June 19, 2017