Ketchikan: ARTScool's JUNGLE A "ROARING" GOOD TIME! By SHARON ALLEN - On Saturday August 13th at Kayhi, some of the kids in Ketchikan went totally WILD!

. . . but not with vandalism or bad language or rude behavior. In spite of the bad press so often written about the youth of today, the wildness I'm talking about was a positive commotion - not a negative one.

I'm referring to the theatre performance of Disney's "The Jungle Book KIDS" by ARTScool. Perfect for even the youngest age group, this play was adapted from the Rudyard Kipling classic entitled, The Jungle Book, and I'm happy to report that everyone there - cast, crew and audience - had a roaring good time.

The lighting by Aubree Danner was perfect, and the sound by Kathleen Jorgensen and Colin Patton was very well done. - More...
Monday - August 22, 2005

Ketchikan: Ketchikan's unemployment rate 4.7 percent in July - Ketchikan's unemployment rate for July was 4.7 percent down from June's 5.9 percent. With 9,170 reported in the workforce in Ketchikan in July, the number reported employed during the month was 8,741.

According to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Ketchikan's unemployment rate for July fell below the state's reported unemployment rate of 5.8 percent and below Anchorage's unemployment rate of 5.0 percent , Fairbanks' 5.1 percent and Juneau's unemployment rate of 4.8 percent.

As expected in July, statewide seasonal employers including seafood processors, construction companies, hotels and restaurants added a significant number of jobs over the month, pushing the rate lower. - More...
Monday - August 22, 2005

Election 2005 List of Candidates Filed For Office Assembly & School Board City Council Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Unlucky Timing By Mark Gatti - Monday Noise! By Bob Allen - Monday Cigarette Taxes! By Bill Ayers Jr. - Monday Bigfoot By Michael Gomez - Monday PIPS: THE END GAME BEGINS By David Hanger - Sunday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Highway Construction Delays Larry Wright, The Detroit News Distributed exclusively to subscribers by Cagle Cartoons, Inc. Political Cartoonists Ketchikan Calendar, Meetings, Events The Ketchikan School Board will hold a regular meeting on August 24, 2005. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm in the City Council Chambers. Agenda (pdf) Today's Forecast City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements August 2005 Click on the date for stories and photos published on that day... S M T W T F S   01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31       Front Page Archives

Laine Welch: New courses about seafood business - Making people more savvy about the seafood business is the focus of new courses starting this fall at the University of Alaska/Anchorage. And students won't even have to travel to Anchorage for a semester to attend them. Interestingly, the need for college courses that teach the "business of seafood" prompted lively discussion during the last legislative session. Obviously, it was not lost on state educators.

The new program is part of UAA's interest in "embracing" one of Alaska's major resource industries - and in servicing more students across the state, said Tom Myers, director of the UAA Business Enterprise Institute. All of the classes feature new "blended" formats, meaning they are available via the Internet. "It doesn't matter if you're sitting in Kodiak, Cordova, Cold Bay or Florida, for that matter. Folks can log on and be part of the class," Myers said. "It won't be a matter of reading stuff and then writing a paper. It's very media rich with video and audio and slide showsstudents will be learning face to face with visiting experts and the UAA faculty," he added.

One of the new courses has the enticing moniker of Alaska Seafood Salesmanship. It will focus on global markets and competition, unique selling points of Alaska seafood, promotions, pricing, invoicing and customer service from deck to dinner plate. "That class will end with a trip to the International Boston Seafood Show," Myers said. - More...
Monday - August 22, 2005

Dave Kiffer: "A Modest Proposal" - I think it's time that we should stop whupping Governor Murkowski upside the head for his desire for an official state jet plane.

If you think about it, it just plain makes sense that in a state the size of Alaska that we have a jet to get to and fro quickly. Truth is prop jets are too danged slow to make it from a fundraiser in Ketchikan to a fundraiser in Fairbanks and still get back to Juneau in time for last call at the Triangle.

Naysayers contend that the jet can only be landed on a handful of runways in the state, but that's just quibbling. Probably a bigger issue to the Governor is how the jet can be "converted" so it can access his favorite Southern Southeast location: Waterfall Resort.

I checked the jet company website and while the Westwind II has more options than a fully loaded Lamborghini, it can not be converted to "floats" without losing significant airspeed.

And after all, airspeed is what this is all about. Those turtle-speeded turbo-props just can't eat up the miles fast enough anymore and that's why the Governor prefers a Westwind II (airspeed roughly 520 mph). Of course, the commercial alternative (an Alaska Airlines 737-400) has an airspeed roughly 550 mph, but let's not be puckish, shall we?

Some cynics might say that the Governor just doesn't want to face the horror of "flying commercial" but I submit the real reason that the "executive" seats on the Westwind are nearly 1" wider than the first class seats on the Boeing. That accommodates an awful lot of government pork, but - once again - I digress. - More...
Monday - August 22, 2005