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Ketchikan: New Chief Admin Officer of Ketchikan Medical Center Announced - Edward Freysinger will be the next Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) at PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center beginning August 7th.

Freysinger has almost 30 years of executive healthcare experience in both human resources and administration management. Most recently, he served as chief executive officer at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital in Hood River, Oregon, which, like KMC, is a full-service 25-bed critical access hospital. 

Freysinger's nine years with Providence gave him an appreciation for faith-based healthcare systems. He looks forward to continuing to lead an organization with a strong mission focus. PeaceHealth, a Catholic Healthcare Ministry, was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in 1890. 

He began his healthcare career in Michigan with McPherson Hospital in Howell and Oakwood Healthcare System in Dearborn, and then with Exempla Healthcare in Denver, Colorado, before transitioning to Providence. 

Freysinger holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Eastern Michigan University, and a master's degree in health services administration (MHSA) from the University of Michigan. He has been involved in several healthcare-related associations over his career as well as civic and social service organizations. In 2015, he received a Citizenship Award for Hood River by the Helping Hands Domestic Abuse Shelter. - More...
Thursday AM - June 22, 2017

Alaska: Alaska’s credit ratings placed on negative CreditWatch - Governor Bill Walker reacted to Standard & Poor’s (S&P) announcement Monday that Alaska’s credit ratings are being placed on a CreditWatch with negative implications.

S&P’s announcement comes days after Governor Walker called the 30th Legislature into its second special session to focus initially on passing an operating budget so that government services can continue past July 1 of this year.

The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) report cites the lack of a budget for fiscal year 2018, continued reliance on savings to pay for government services, and a lack of new revenues as reasons for the negative outlook. The move means Alaska’s AA+ general obligation (GO) bond rating is in danger of being lowered yet again if a complete fiscal plan is not adopted this year.

The CreditWatch action reflects S&P's view that Alaska could remain structurally imbalanced for fiscal 2018 based on the impasse for budget negotiations regarding adopting fiscal reforms. As noted in prior S&P reports, without structural fiscal reform in the 2017 legislative session, S&P would likely lower the state debt ratings.

Over the next 90 days, the S&P expects Alaska will enact a fiscal 2018 budget. If Alaska uses a significant amount of its reserves again and remains structurally imbalanced, S&P would likely lower the rating. However, if Alaska should adopt a balanced budget with fiscal reforms that does not significantly rely on reserves, S&P may remove the state's ratings from CreditWatch without downward rating action. - More...
Thursday AM - June 22, 2017

Alaska: Study: Halibut charters adapt to economics and regulations By LAUREN FRISCH - Increasing fuel prices and new regulations have caused halibut charter fishermen to change fishing locations, according to a new study by University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers.

The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, highlights the importance of understanding how economics and regulations may affect fishing locations or species preferences in recreational fisheries.

College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences doctoral student Maggie Chan and professor Anne Beaudreau studied how charter fishing locations outside of Homer and Sitka have changed since the 1990s. The analysis is one piece of a larger effort to understand how external factors influence fishing behavior and opportunities.

The researchers interviewed charter fishermen in Homer and Sitka to learn about where they fish, what they fish and how this has changed over time. Fishermen were given a map for every decade in which they had fished and were asked to identify general areas they used. Individual maps were combined to visualize changes across decades.

“Our main goal was to identify any big shifts in where fishermen were going,” Chan said.

The researchers found an individual’s motivations for changing locations were often intertwined with fishing regulations and socioeconomic variables that were outside of a fisherman’s control.

Since the early 1990s, charter fishermen in Homer have consistently traveled about 10 times farther to their fishing spots than Sitka fishermen. This was in part because traveling farther allowed the fishermen to also target salmon, rockfish and lingcod. When fuel prices increased in the early 2000s, though, some charter fishermen started fishing closer to home.

In contrast, Sitka fishermen changed locations primarily because of a new regulation. In 1999, a Local Area Management Plan eliminated charter and commercial fishing in Sitka Sound during summer months. This new regulation forced charter fishermen to travel 25 miles or more to catch halibut, even though population numbers in the sound were high. - More...
Thursday AM - June 22, 2017

Ketchikan: Bear situations at Helm Creek and Helm Bay cabins - The Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest, in coordination with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, is extending the closure for Helm Bay Cabin until July 6, 2017, and opening the Helm Creek cabin for reservations, effective immediately. Both cabins were previously closed due to damage sustained by aggressive bears in the area. Initially, it was thought that one bear was damaging both the Helm Bay and Helm Creek Cabins, however, a site assessment showed that two bears had been involved, one at each cabin.

The Helm Creek Cabin, located on the east shore of Helm Bay near the mouth of Helm Creek, sustained significant damage to doors, windows and the outhouse. Last week, the aggressive bear was taken under a state-issued permit and repairs have been made.

The Helm Bay Cabin, located on the west shore of Helm Bay behind Forss Island, also sustained significant damage to doors, windows and the outhouse. Adverse weather conditions and difficulty in finding the bear have made resolution of the situation difficult, necessitating an additional 14-day extension of the current closure. - More...
Thursday AM - June 22, 2017

Personal Finance: Millennials: Plan For Retirement Now Or Pay The Price Later - Millennials are a stressed out generation. 

A study by the American Psychological Association reported that the group of Americans in their early 20s to late 30s came in at a 5.4 stress level on a scale of 1-10, higher than the American average of 4.9.

Among the things keeping them up at night are predictions of being the first generation that will be less well off than their parents – and that includes retirements that potentially will be less secure. No longer do millennials have the pensions to look forward to in retirement like their parents and grandparents before them, and no longer do they have the confidence that Social Security will help at least supplement some of their retirement income. 

“Every generation has had its own set of trials and adversaries to conquer,” says David Rosell, financial professional and author of Keep Climbing: A Millennial’s Guide to Financial Planning. “However, today’s generation of young adults faces a uniquely challenging environment. And saving money for retirement is a luxury that many just can’t afford.” - More...
Thursday AM - June 22, 2017

COLUMNS - COMMENTARY

PETER ROFF: The Jones Act Keeps America Secure - For some time now the Jones Act, a federal law requiring all cargo moved by water between two point in the United States be transported on ships built, owned, and crewed by Americans, has been on the list of items targeted for elimination by reformers looking to save money for the taxpayers.

The argument opponents make, recently echoed in a study conducted by Thomas Grennes for the Mercatus Center, is the act raises the costs of any goods transported domestically by ship. In making the case against economic protectionism he and other neglect the significant national security implications inherent in the matter.

No one would call Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao anything other than a conservative with a strong preference for free market solutions to public policy questions. Yet she recognizes the value of the Jones Act, which earlier this year she called "a very important program that secures national security"

"This is an area that I'm very familiar with," she said. "The national security of the Merchant Marine fleet of this country is part of the way that we are able to be effective overseas and protect this country. So I am a great proponent of the U.S. flag Merchant Marine fleet," something the Jones Act makes possible. - More...
Thursday AM - June 22, 2017

JOE GUZZARDI: Outside the Beltway, No One Cares about Russia - With the media devoting nonstop attention to alleged Russian hacking into the presidential election, President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, and former FBI director James Comey's testimony, zero attention has been given to developments in the White House that could help American workers.

Russia, climate change and FBI rumors consume Capitol Hill insiders; outside the Beltway, people want President Trump to make good on his "Buy American, Hire American" executive order. Across the nation, the order of the day is jobs, not D.C. gossip and fake news.

Among the most frustrating employment roadblocks are the multiple nonimmigrant visas, most notably the H-1B that either keeps Americans from getting jobs or results in their displacement from jobs they already hold. Over the last two years, several headline cases brought H-1B visa abuse into the spotlight. Disney's firing of about 250 Americans, and its replacement of them with foreign-born visa holders, stands out as the most egregious case, and was the focus of a 60 Minutes segment titled "You're Fired."

Often, H-1B applications are fraud-ridden which adds another level of despair for suddenly unemployed Americans. But, in a positive development, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley wrote to the Department of Homeland Security to ask what measures, if any, it proposed to take to eliminate H-1B employer misuse. - More...
Thursday AM - June 22, 2017