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Monday
July 14, 2014
Bear Necessity
Climbing trees is a bear necessity for cubs. Momma bear sent these two cubs up this tree because another bear was in the Herring Cove area. According to information provided by the Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game, black bears need lots of space and space for easy retreat. Stay back, never corner them. Bears are especially dangerous when defending their young or their food.
Wildlife Viewing Ethics: ADF&G
Front Page Photo By CINDY BALZER ©2014
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Ketchikan: Ketchikan School District Awarded Digital Teaching Initiative Grant - The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District will received one of four grants awarded by the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development to school districts to strengthen instruction through digital teaching and learning, both within their districts and across district boundaries.
The Ketchikan Borough School District will receive an $837,744 grant and is partnering with the Craig, Annette Island, Klawock, Hydaburg, and Southeast Island school districts to create Alaska Digital Academies.
The grant awared to the Ketchikan Borough School District is intended to provide an online enrollment portal to high-quality interactive courses for middle and high school students taught by highly qualified teachers who are proficient in distance technology and who understand alternative forms of education. The program will allow students to have access to teachers throughout the school day, after school hours, and when school is not in session. Students will be required to regularly demonstrate mastery through performance-based assessments, assessments during the unit or course, and end-of-unit or -course assessments. Educators will use these student assessment results to support interventions that will provide opportunities to increase student success.
The Digital Teaching Initiative grants were proposed by Governor Sean Parnell and enacted and funded by the legislature in the past session. They will provide funding for three years beginning in fiscal year 2015.
“This is an opportunity to strengthen 21st century best practices in Alaska and provide greater access to high-quality teachers and content for more of our Alaskan students,” Alaska Education Commissioner Mike Hanley said.
The Digital Teaching Initiative is designed to deliver high-quality interactive distance courses to middle and high school students; increase student access to a diverse array of courses; empower teachers to reach beyond their own classrooms; train teachers; and expand school districts’ infrastructure, technology, and staffing. The initiative promotes students’ preparation for career training, college, and the Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS).
The department is awarding Digital Teaching Initiative grants to four school districts, each of which is partnering with other school districts. The other three school districts awarded grants are: - More...
Monday - July 14, 2014
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Alaska: Voter Registration Deadline is Sunday, July 20 - Alaska Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell reminds Alaskans that this Sunday, July 20 is the deadline to register to vote, update voter registration, or change political party affiliation for the upcoming August 19 primary election.
“Voting is a fundamental American right,” Treadwell said. “Protect and exercise your freedom by registering today.”
“I encourage Alaskans not to wait to register or make a change to your registration,” said Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai. “Changes made after July 20, including party affiliation changes, will not be effective for the August 19 primary.”
The party affiliation on a voter’s record on July 20 will determine which political party ballot a voter is eligible to receive during the primary election. - More...
Monday - july 14, 2014
Ketchikan: Man arrested after attempt to elude Troopers - Very early Sunday morning, the Alaska State Troopers attempted to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation near mile 4 of the South Tongass Highway. The driver failed to stop and attempted to elude Troopers.
The Alaska State Troopers pursed the driver into a residential area near mile 3 of South Tongass Highway where the vehicle stopped in the middle of the roadway and the driver attempted to flee on foot.
The driver was arrested and identified as Walter Reichard, age 33 of Ketchikan. - More...
Monday - July 14, 2014
Ketchikan: Three safe after skiff partially submerged - A man and two children are safe after their watercraft partially submerged Friday evening at approximately 7:20 pm in the Tongass Narrows near Pond Reef.
The Alaska State Troopers and United States Coast Guard responded to the report of a skiff sinking in the Ketchikan channel near Pond Reef approximately 100 yards offshore. Upon arrival, Troopers reportedly observed three wet individuals walking on the beach.
Investigation revealed that a 17 foot skiff was occupied and operated by Andrew Shull, age 44 of Ketchikan, and his two minor children. Shull reported that he tossed a crab pot into the water and that the rope of the pot became tangled in the propeller. The weight shift on the vessel, while he attempted to cut the line, resulted in water overtaking the skiff. - More...
Monday - July 14, 2014
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| Southeast Alaska: Steep Creek fish cam is up and running on a live–stream - The world famous underwater camera is again providing the perspective of salmon and other fish in Steep Creek, near the Mendenhall Glacier. Sockeye, in their full spawning colors, arrived a few days ago. The release of water from behind the glacier, a jökulhlaup, and heavy weekend rain created temporarily cloudy stream conditions. Sockeye salmon enter the creek to dig redds (nests), find mates, and spawn through the end of August.
The fish cam view from underwater is a unique perspective.
Photo courtesy USFS
Pete Schneider, a fisheries biologist in the Juneau Ranger District, has been the backbone and champion of this project for many years. Schneider was recently recognized for his innovative accomplishments and outstanding public relations at the Rise to the Future Awards ceremony at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
The Fish of Steep Creek went viral in 2013. A live broadcast of spawning salmon, Dolly Varden char, and an occasional black bear captured the attention of internet viewers worldwide when the underwater webcam at Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center beamed live video to the Forest Service’s YouTube site during the salmon run. More than 27,000 people tuned in to the Steep Creek feed and collectively watched 10,314 hours of video. The “fish cam” was far and away the most popular of all Forest Service web videos.
“The feedback from the public is wonderful, positive, and provides us an opportunity to educate others (in the States and around the world) about Alaska salmon. The perspective from underwater is truly unique and is a great way to share with viewers”, said Schneider.
“We in Alaska often take the salmon for granted. We forget many people don’t know much about salmon or that the Forest Service works to manage for their habitat needs. Natural salmon runs are becoming less common in the lower 48 and it’s not surprising so many folks get excited to know places like this still exist,” said Schneider. - More...
Monday - July 14, 2014
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Alaska Science: Migrating Alaska sparrow perform despite lack of sleep By NED ROZELL - Each fall, white-crowned sparrows hop off branches in Alaska and begin journeys toward California, Arizona, New Mexico and west Texas. On their trip of several weeks, flying mostly at night, the tiny songbirds may cut back on their sleep by two-thirds.
A white crown sparrow that researcher Niels Rattenborg captured in south Fairbanks.
Photograph by Niels Rattenborg
Scientists in Wisconsin discovered the sparrow’s apparent ability to perform while cutting rest with the help of a few birds captured in Fairbanks a few years ago. White-crowned sparrows are a few inches tall, with a gray body, brown wings and tail, and black and white stripes in the pattern of a bicycle helmet on their heads. Their seven-note song is a sign of spring for many northerners.
Niels Rattenborg of the University of Wisconsin at Madison visited Fairbanks on summer with a mist net and captured 30 white-crowned sparrows near ponds off South Cushman Street and near his hotel on the Chena River. He brought those birds back to Madison, where scientists watched the caged birds. They found that the birds were restless during spring and fall migration, waking up in the middle of the night to hop around and flap their wings. When compared to times when they normally wouldn’t be migrating, the birds slept about 63 percent less during fall migration. One bird that slept about nine hours at night during the non-migrating part of the year cut its sleep to 1.4 hours during migration times.
Rattenborg and his colleagues wanted to see if the white-crowned sparrows that were sleeping less during migration were punch-drunk while awake, so they set up a test in which birds learned and repeated a three-response sequence of key pecks. The caged birds performed best on the test during fall migration time, when they were getting the least sleep.
Why do living creatures need so much sleep, anyway? It’s a simple question that scientists haven’t answered, though research has shown that just one night without sleeping can make people less alert, more forgetful and less capable of solving problems. Fruit flies and rats deprived of sleep die. - More...
Monday - July 14, 2014
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 Collateral for City Loans By Ralph Marcello - There is one major error in the letter concerning the City's collateral for their loans. The collateral IS NOT the private real estate and personal property of the citizens of Ketchikan. The collateral is the TAXES collected, both current and future, from real estate and personal property assessments. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
Wolf mother deaths threaten pack survival but not population By Richard Steiner - The research on Denali wolves confirms what we have said all along, that the killing of breeding females can result in catastrophic consequences. Indeed, it is absurdly obvious. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
Final is Final By A.M. Johnson - History is established to leave a course for the present to learn from the past not change the past. A case in point is a quote from President Calvin Coolidge. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
Sealaska Shareholders Meeting 2014 By Dominic Salvato - Participating online was a frustrating experience. The screen was blank at one time for almost an hour and still the meeting went on. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
FairTax eliminates need for IRS By David Boone - According to a recent Fox News poll, an overwhelming majority (76 percent ) of Americans believe the Internal Revenue Service intentionally destroyed two years-worth of emails. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
RE: Un-necessary consequences for Marijuana By Casey O'Brien - I'm writing this letter in response to Marvin Seibert's letter regarding marijuana legalization. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
RE: Behind the scenes of City Government By Douglas J. Thompson - Thanks again for another on the mark letter Mr. Dial. I just wonder how many residents know that their property or business within the Ketchikan borough & city boundaries are the collateral used to secure municipal (and all governmental bonds for that matter)? In the event of local bankruptcy your personal property can go to the highest bidder to repay that defaulted bond. Whether fully paid for or not. - More...
Sunday AM - July 06, 2014
This is the rest of "the story" my dearest Paul Harvey. By Heather Herndon - The State of Alaska wants to gamble with your money to support a mining company that has never successfully produced anything. Worse, the company in question, UCore, has failed on its last two mining claims, Lost Pond in Newfoundland and another in Canada. Its sole remaining asset is the Bokan-Dotson Mountain project. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
Move To End Federal Funding Of Alaska Predator Control By Richard Steiner - I realize that public interest in Alaska's predator control issue waxes and wanes, but the issue we disclose here is a new, significant finding, which should be of interest to the Alaska public. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
THE 1967 FAIRBANKS FLOOD By James M. Eagan - Just finished reading The 1967 Fairbanks Flood by June Allen which tells about how the people of Fairbanks managed so well during the flood of 1967. That is not exactly the way I remember it and I was there. The mention of one critical aspect of the story is conspicuous only by its absence. Were it not for the heavy equipment and volunteer efforts of personnel from both Fort Wainwright and Eielson AFB, the city of Fairbanks and nearby communities such as North Pole would have been disaster areas until at least the next spring. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
Don Young By R.K. Rice - So, the penalty for illegal use of campaign funds, and accepting illegal “gifts”, (bribes) is the unbelievably harsh penalty, of having to pay back the amount that was received. Apparently the fox is guarding the henhouse. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
Grant Street Garbage By Vanessa Bruns - As residents of Grant Street we all know that there are bears that love to wander through our neighborhood and they are attracted to our garbage cans. The past two weeks I have gone into the woods and picked up MULTIPLE garbage items that have been ripped out of garbage bags (which are from our garbage cans) by these bears. The bears are not the point of my issue, my issue is with the residents of Grant Street that are not securing their garbage cans appropriately. When confronted about the issue everyone has the "it's not mine attitude" When in fact in some cases, the garbage that I have picked up has mail that has the person's name on it. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
Checking ID, Assumed Guilt and a Lack of Common Sense By Amanda Mitchell - I wanted to bring to light a recent local experience in our town of Ketchikan. My husband and I went into Safeway. After picking up a few items, we walked together into the liquor store where my husband purchased beer. My husband was carded, but he was almost refused beer because I didn’t have my identification on myself. I have been into the same liquor store with my kids to pick up beer and my kids were never carded. As much as I would like to say it, I do not look like I am in my 20's. It was automatically assumed if we are with another adult we are guilty of buying alcohol for minor. However, I literally can have a minor with me, who is not carded, and be sold alcohol. To the cashier's credit, who else gets to decide whether or not the person who is purchasing the alcohol is going to commit a future crime and has the intent of purchasing to/for a minor? The cashier position has just gotten really cool as now the job duties includes being a detective, judge, jury and psychic. Move over, Miss Cleo! - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
RE: Un-necessary consequences for Marijuana By Marvin Seibert - First I need to clarify Mr Johnson's comments, I do not work in a state funded halfway house or in the substance testing industry. I have not lost my job due to Pot legalization in Colorado. I have moved to Ketchikan and still employed in the same industry and company for the past 14 years and it is 0% drug related. I am still trying to figure out how long you need to live here before you should be able to comment on important issues as this. I am a registered voter in Ketchikan.
You suggest that we should not leave our children's future to a judge. That is emotion talking and not reason. What decisions do you want to take away from the legal system. Who will pick and choose what judges are allow to handle. Do we go the way of the anarchist and just let judges rule when we know and like what the outcome going to be. We are a nation of laws ( except in the Whitehouse unfortunately ) not mob rule. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
My idea of tax reform. By Wiley Brooks - Reform serves the purpose getting rid of that which is bad and replace it with something better. That is why I call for tax reform --- real and true tax reform. The present income tax code punishes good behavior, taxes production and jobs, drives jobs, companies and capital out of our economy into off-shore tax avoidance havens, and; it hides taxes embedded in the price paid by the consumer. Without production there is nothing to buy, no improvement in standard of living, no tax base to support government. The cost to all of us who pay taxes to comply with the 75,000 pages of codes is over $440 billion per year. It gives imported goods a price advantage while it rewards domestic special interest by embedding favors in the codes. The system which includes the Internal Revenue Service is corrupt. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
RE: Behind the scenes of City Government By Laura Plenert - Rodney Dial, as ALWAYS is correct. This is a man who has studied and reviewed what is going on in Ketchikan. He is not just shooting from the hip. He digs and knows his stuff. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
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