Southeast Alaska: Petersburg Ranked #1 as Best Town for Young Families in Alaska By MARY KAUFFMAN - The town of Petersburg has been named the 'Best Town for Young Families in Alaska' by NerdWallet. In ranking the top ten towns in Alaska, 46 Alaska cities and towns designated as places by the U.S. Census were included in the analysis. Only places with a population greater than 2,000 were considered.
Featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Reuters, Nerdwest is a consumer-friendly financial literacy website that helps individuals make better financial decisions and set effective financial goals.
Ranked as the 10 Best Towns for Young Families in Alaska are: Petersburg, Cordova, Palmer, Valdez, Unalaska, Homer, Kenai, Nikiski, North Pole and Seward.
The analyst conducting the Nerdwallet study, Mike Anderson, describes the waterfront community of Petersburg -- ranked as number one -- as similar to “a northern European country in both climate and culture. The schools are also excellent. The Petersburg City School District earned a 9 out of 10 from Great Schools and its high school maintains a graduation rate above 90%.”
“Having been raised in Petersburg myself and now raising my kids here, I already knew it was the best town for my family,” said Casey Flint, president of the Petersburg Economic Development Council.
Flint hopes the designation will encourage other young families to consider Petersburg. “Deciding whether to move your family can be a difficult decision, this type of information makes it easier for people to choose our community.”
Stephen Giesbrecht, Petersburg Borough manager, said, “This really recognizes every aspect of our community from local government, our schools to the many organizations that all work to make this a great place.”
Giesbrecht, who moved to Petersburg two years ago from Texas added, “When we considered moving here, my wife and I took a good hard look at the schools, we continue to be impressed with the quality of education our kids are receiving.”
NerdWallet sought to better inform young families and parents-to-be by analyzing towns across Alaska according to five criteria: public school rating from Great Schools, average home value, cost of homeownership, average income, and economic growth. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
Ketchikan: Three pounds of marijuana seized - Thursday afternoon, the Alaska Bureau of Investigation's Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) task force, with the assistance of the Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the Ketchikan Police Department, conducted a search warrant service on a residence located in Ketchikan.
The search warrant was the result of an investigation that was began by the Alaska State Troopers' Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Team (WAANT).
In total, approximately three pounds of marijuana were seized along with a number of items indicative of the commercial distribution of marijuana. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
Ketchikan: FIRST CITY ROTARY TO CELEBRATE 25TH ANNIVERSARY - The Rotary Club of Ketchikan, First City, will mark two major milestones on August 17th. Not only will the club celebrate 25 years since its establishment, but also the 26th anniversary of the landmark United States Supreme Court decision that mandated women be allowed to join service clubs. First City Rotary was the first Rotary Club in the State of Alaska to admit women as members.
Until 1987, service club membership was traditionally male. Motivated by its Board of Directors, Rotary International v. Rotary Club of Duarte resulted in the Supreme Court decision allowed women to join service clubs. First City Rotary formed its organization in 1988 under the sponsorship of Rotary 2000, with an emphasis on encouraging female membership and participation, as well as holding its meeting in the early morning hours to allow more members from various trades who could not attend a lunch meeting. In 1991, Leslie Bartholomew became the first female President of First City Rotary. Today, the club has had eight female Presidents and 54% of the club’s 41 members are female. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
The Arthur N. Wilson, MD Scholarship supports a medical student who graduated from a high school in southeast Alaska and has consistently received academic honors. Established by a bequest of Dr. Wilson, a distinguished resident of Ketchikan, Alaska, the award highlights the critical role of rural physicians in their communities.
Jorgensen will receive a $5,000 scholarship to help defray medical school expenses. Jorgensen grew up in Juneau, Alaska, and graduated as the valedictorian of Juneau-Douglas High School. She received a BA from Harvard University, where her honors thesis focused on public health delivery via ships to rural Alaska from 1945 to 1956. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
Alaska Science: Life recycled on a far-off gravel bar By NED ROZELL - At the approach of a canoe, the wolverine tears into the woods, its claws spitting mud. Seconds later, ravens explode from what resembles two branches reaching from a driftwood log.
A caribou killed by wolves on a gravel bar of the Fortymile River in the Yukon Territory, just east of the Alaska border.
Photograph by Ned Rozell
After the animals flee the Fortymile River gravel bar, the driftwood turns into chewed velvet antlers the size of a folding chair. A fleshy backbone ropes from a skull, extending to rib fragments and a blade of hipbone, its sockets empty. A few tufts of hide lay amid rocks, but the rest of the caribou - so fresh it barely smells - has vanished.
How could a 300-pound animal disappear so fast? From evidence at the kill site, here’s what might have happened:
Seven wolves, a pack that includes two parents and two pups born in early June, spot a young caribou limping toward the Fortymile River. As the caribou, its right front leg injured in a fall, enters the water to swim across, the pack holds. When the caribou emerges dripping on their side of the river, the wolves move.
The pack descends from downwind, surprising the chocolate-brown bull. With practiced teamwork, the wolves drag down the caribou. The animal gasps its last breath and falls on round rocks powdered with river silt.
There, the recycling of a large mammal begins. Using their teeth with astonishing force, the wolves rip open the caribou’s hide from the puncture wounds on its throat. The wolves tug at hair, flesh and savored internal organs. Crouching at the caribou like pigs at a teat, they gulp down wet, warm chunks. The seven creatures will share most of the caribou, one of many meals that help sustain 100-pound animals in hungry country.
The wolves will not get it all. A healthy black bear with a cinnamon coat wanders in, scattering the now sluggish wolves that retreat and look on a few body lengths away. The bear yanks at the carcass until it pops a hindquarter from the hip socket. The bear drags the 50-pound prize into the spruce. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
Melvin Williams reunites with his dog Kaiser. He will take him home after a two-month separation.
Photo courtesy Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
Alaska:Vet visits Alaska pets in need of medical attention - Furry friends of community members in Galena, Alaska got a visit from the doctor August 10-11 thanks to a team of concerned animal lovers. Dr. Adriana Fisher is a veterinarian volunteering through Alaska Rural Veterinary Outreach Program (ARVO) from the Big Lake Susitna Veterinary Clinic in Wasilla.
“It feels good and I am happy to be giving back to Alaska’s rural community.”
Fisher mentioned that FEMA and ARVO teamed with other organizations to get her out to the remote city of Galena.
“I am very glad to be here because I think the animals often get forgotten in these emergency situations and it’s important to realize that pets are part of society and there is a public health aspect to making sure our pets are healthy.”
Tamra Lewis with AmeriCorps is also assisting with pet needs in Galena and said whether it is food, medical attention, there are plenty of needs for pets in Galena.
“I feel honored to help in any way I can and I’m glad to see these pets are getting the care they desperately need.”
The need was evident as Galena pet owners lined up during the entirety of Fisher’s two-day stay—she cared for more than 80 pets. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
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VOTE YES ON HOSPITAL BONDS By Bill Tatsuda -
PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center, Ketchikan’s largest private employer with over 400 good paying jobs, is very important to our local economy and quality of life. The key to the hospital’s viability is its ability to perform surgeries, which bring patients to the hospital facility thus generating enough revenue to keep the hospital open. The current operating rooms are too old, too small, and inadequate to carry the hospital far into the future. Recruiting and retaining top surgeons in Ketchikan will become more and more difficult if not impossible unless new, larger, modern, state of the art surgical suites are added. The viability of our hospital depends on accomplishing its planned expansion. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
After suing the federal government over Obamacare’s individual mandate, I said “no” to our state designing and building a health insurance exchange to meet Obamacare’s provisions. I challenged the federal government to build and pay for Alaska’s exchange itself. That was the right choice. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
WAKE UP POWERS TO BE AND PAY ATTENTION!!! By Sally Balch - My heart breaks for Cody and Kathy Evans as they are going through the grieving process of losing their wonderful son Jessie. He was a very nice person and this whole situation is mind boggling. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
Guns: Stand Your Ground By Mike Harpold -
In September, Alaska will be blessed with a new law allowing me to use deadly force to stand my ground if I am in a place I have a right to be, like a public park, a street or a bar, and am threatened with serious bodily injury by a bully. Thanks Governor Parnell and state lawmakers, but I think I will pass on this. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
Tansy ragwort By Victoria Mcdonald -
Tansy ragwort continues to grow throughout our hot dry summer. A few of us have been busy picking on the south end, mainly in the Fawn Mountain area. One woman in Bear Valley called with information that she sprayed full strength white vinegar on plants in her driveway and the first year tansy plants died out, (along with surrounding plants so be careful). I've sprayed first year plants as I pick the tall second year growth and will see if vinegar is as powerful as she reported. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
Open Letter: Congressional medical largess By A. M. Johnson -
Senator Murkowski, in case you are not keeping up with the reactions to your recent largess allow me to expose it to you and your staff. Confirmation on reason not to trust my government. - More...
Thursday PM
Past time for citizens of the USA to politically revolt By Glen E Terrell -
It's well past time for citizens of the USA to politically revolt against our elected governing elite, or EGE. The EGE has mal served our country for decades. Congressmen have served their own personal greed and members of both parties have worked to advance their own party's strength. Meanwhile the welfare of the country has been ignored. America is no longer respected around the world, agencies of our government are abusing and spying on us citizens, the national debt and deficit have America on the brink of financial collapse and now Congress has exempted its members and their staff members from Obama care. Enough is enough! - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
Military Cuts Jeopardize National Security By Donald A. Moskowitz - Our national security could be in jeopardy if the $500 billion in sequestration defense cuts are implemented. Our military had to absorb $80 billion in prior cuts and is now cutting $487 billion over 10 years to comply with the Budget Control Act. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
Murder in the street By Claire Natkong -
Zimmerman got away with murder, which is usual these days. - More...
Thursday PM - August 15, 2013
911 Proposed Call Fees By Andy Rauwolf - Regarding the City of Ketchikan seeking to charge Borough residents a fee for 911 emergency calls outside the city limits. It’s time that the public be informed of the history and perspective on this subject. - More...
Sunday AM - August 11, 2013
On the Death of Our Beloved Son By Cody & Kathy Evans - There used to be a sign painted on the roof of an old barn between Eugene and Reedsport, Oregon. It said “Soldiers of the Cross ARMOR UP.”
For years I drove past that barn and thought just being a good Christian meant being “ARMORED UP.” Over the last few days I have come to realize it means much more, it means war. On 08-03-13, our beloved son died after being tormented by a person he went to Ketchikan High with - used to be buddies with and probably even did some drugs with. His friend has become a drug dealing monster with no soul. He tormented our son, broke into his home and beat him while asleep in bed, but our son refused to press charges, saying “You don’t understand he used to be a friend of mine. Maybe he has it out of his system now.” - More...
Sunday AM - August 11, 2013
KPU By Joey Garcia -
I would like to get a clarification on the kind of billing the Ketchikan Public Utilities (KPU) has for the sake of enlightenment to what I need to know. When my wife forgot to pay a month after receiving a statement from the KPU Office last July 2012, she was appraised of a penalty for late payment of $50 for cable and $50 for internet. Having to note that these penalties chunked down so as to save our hard earned cash for budgeted expenses relevant to the "take it or leave it" Ketchikan style of revenue economy, when I inquired personally, a KPU personnel told me that this penalty can be applied to billings for one year from date of payments, e.i. I have to soften my kind of reasoning to my wife that at least, we can have a rest when July of 2013 comes around. - More...
Sunday AM - August 11, 2013
No Bridge By Samuel E. Bergeron -
I was a proponent of the bridge to Gravina back when the bridge made sense; today it’s laughable to consider putting $250-300 million, or more, into a project of that magnitude. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 07, 2013
Highway Robbery? By Chris Elliott -
My daughter, her husband and my two grandsons recently visited Ketchikan. After driving from Phoenix to Bellingham, they arrived on the M/V Columbia with a camper on their truck and a dog. The round trip cost on the AMHS? I was shocked and appalled. $3,831.00. Thank goodness the driver rides free. Individual fares were $239.00. The dog was $25.00. The camper was $994.00. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 07, 2013
FALSE PROFITS - In the nineteenth and the early twentieth century we brought the “chink” and the “wetback” to the factory via massive in-migration. In the early twenty-first century we have reversed the process and now via outsourcing bring the factory to the “wetback” and to the “chink.” The intent in both instances is, nonetheless, the same, to degrade labor to the point of a peonage as close to slave labor as is humanly possible. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 07, 2013
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia By Barbara Haney -
Please contact the Governor's Office and your state legislators and ask the State to cancel the agreement with Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia (SBAC). While appearing to be a mere vendor for a test, the consortium is a governance structure that ends state sovereignty over educational issues. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 07, 2013
Business deal By Dominic Salvato -
Sealaska's land allotment isn't a Native rights issue. It is a business deal with the intent to make millions for the executives of the Sealaska Corporation. Tlingit,Haida and Tsimshian citizens of the United State already own the land. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 07, 2013
Odds and Ends... By Joey Garcia -
Quoting Mr. Kiffer re Ketchikan as a Fantasy Island is quite absorbing and educational. It doesn't matter who came and visited our Salmon Capital of the World or Gateway City, I already belonged to the group of this Fantasy Island...- More...
Wednesday PM - August 07, 2013
Stand your ground By Duane Hill -
The last letter I sent was on the subject of the murderous thug Trayvon Martin and only incidentally about Stand Your Ground. The editor changing the subject line from "Trayvon Martin" to "Stand your ground" really confused what I was talking about. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 07, 2013
Dr. John McMichael Sloan By Janis Morritt Vodden -
I am seeking information about Dr. John McMichael SLOAN who went to Nome, Alaska in the early days and was there for many years. He was the son of Andrew.W. & Agnes SLOAN. A.W. was an prominent apple grower in the Blyth, Huron Co., Ontario area of Canada. It is my understanding that he went to Nome, Alaska, probably around the 1890s and lived there for many years. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 07, 2013
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