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Tuesday
August 12, 2014
Driver pulled to safety before fire
by good samaritans
Crew of Ketchikan Fire Department shortly after their arrival engaging the fire at the crash site.
Front Page Photo By MATHEW BEARDSLEY ©2014
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Ketchikan: Driver pulled to safety before fire by good samaritans By MARY KAUFFMAN - A Ketchikan man is safe after his Ford Explorer crashed into a rock wall in front of Hometown Furnishings and burst into flames Monday afternoon. The driver, identified as John Hamilton, was driving south on North Tongass Highway when the crash occurred.
Mathew Beardsley, a witness and among the first on the scene, said he saw the crash but didn't know exactly what had happened. Beardsley and another man stopped and helped Hamilton get out of his SUV. At first, Beardsley said he wasn't sure if Hamiliton was penned, but then could see Hamilton trying to get out and Hamilton's hand reaching out of a window. Beardsley said the car was smoking as they were helping Hamilton out. The back window burst out and flames erupted shortly after Hamilton was helped out of the wreckage said Beardsley. - More...
Tuesday PM - August 12, 2014
Ketchikan: Tongass Advisory Committee Establishes a Vision for Forest Management in Southeast Alaska - The Tongass Advisory Committee (TAC) held its first meeting last week to kick off the process of developing recommendations on forest management on the Tongass with an emphasis on young-growth management.
Over the course of three days last week in Ketchikan, the group discussed operating procedures and goals for the process; developed a vision; nominated co-chairs; and identified information needs and activities to assist with future deliberations. Throughout the discussions, the members worked to acknowledge the importance of the diverse values and interests represented within the group, and laid a foundation for a productive and collaborative tone as they discuss important issues facing the Tongass National Forest.
Wayne Benner of Thorne Bay, Alaska and Lynn Jungwirth of Hayfork, California were nominated as co-chairs for the Committee. Both were recognized for their experience and community focus. Benner offers a strong local perspective as city administrator for Thorne Bay since 2010 and a member of the Prince of Wales Community Advisory Council. Jungwirth brings over 20 years of experience with community forestry and collaborative approaches to natural resource management throughout the nation. With experience from other regions and forests, Jungwirth brings a valuable perspective that scales beyond the region. The Committee recognized the value of the complementary experiences that the co-chairs offer on the local and national levels.
The members expressed a strong commitment to supporting Southeast Alaska communities through their recommendations. They developed a vision in which “Southeast Alaska is comprised of prosperous, resilient communities that have the opportunity to predictably use and benefit from the diversity of forest resources to achieve the social, economic, and ecological health of the region for current and future generations.” Co-chair Benner echoed this vision, “I am very impressed that 15 people can come to consensus and put community at the top of the list. That is the key that holds Southeast together.” - More...
Tuesday - August 12, 2014
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Fish Factor: Republician Candidates for U.S. Senate Say Butt out of Alaska’s mining development decisions By LAINE WELCH - Breached mine tailings dams be damned! As millions of Fraser River sockeye salmon head for spawning beds polluted by a brew of metal toxins oozing from the Mount Polley gold/copper mine disaster in British Columbia, Republican candidates vying for US Senate want environmental regulators to butt out of Alaska’s mining development decisions.
The three men hoping to unseat Mark Begich faced off last week for a Rural Alaska Republican Candidates forum hosted by KYUK/Bethel.
To questions posed by moderator Ben Matheson, candidates Joe Miller, Mead Treadwell and Dan Sullivan all slammed the Environmental Protection Agency for its plans to impose strict water requirements aimed at blocking the proposed Pebble Mine. Each candidate also agreed with legislation recently introduced in the US Senate (by Murkowski and two other Senators) that says the EPA cannot use its authority under the Clean Water Act “pre-emptively or retroactively.”
“To have the EPA come in and take power away from the permitting process is not necessarily going to solve the Pebble problem, and it’s going to hurt mines all over the state,” said Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell. “When I say solve the Pebble problem, this is something that we just can’t say we’re not going to do the science, we can’t say we’re not going to look at a permit. This is a big piece of our state’s statehood bounty and we have to be able to make sure that we’ve got that capability.
“As we go through the Pebble process, looking for an easy yes or no answer can have huge effects on other mining, other resource development projects in the state and we have to be extremely careful. And I believe the EPA solidly over reached on this one,” Treadwell said, concluding with a barb at Sen. Begich, who opposes the Pebble Mine, for “not letting the state make its own decisions and sending the decisions back to Washington.”
Dan Sullivan, former state Attorney General and DNR Commissioner, said “the pre-emptive veto is another example of this Administration acting in a lawless manner,” and he questioned if the EPA even has the legal authority to act.
“When a company comes in and is asked by the state to explore the resources, which is what happened in the Pebble case, they should be allowed to go through the permitting process,” Sullivan said. “It’s state land, a project they haven’t seen the details of yet, and they are saying they have pre-emptive authority under the Clean Water Act – I don’t think they do. This to me would set a bad precedent all over the state. And I’ve been someone who’s had a career of not only talking about the EPA, but who has actually taken them on and gone to court against them.”
Joe Miller agreed, saying the EPA “has been used as a hammer against the state.”
“We have to push back against the EPA at every point we have,” Miller said. “It’s a state issue and the state should be in charge of it, and the state should do it in a way that the people direct.”
And that is exactly what has been done, sirs.
The candidates disregard the fact that the EPA came to Alaska to assess the impacts of large scale mining to the Bristol Bay region after two years of urging by more than a dozen First Alaskan groups, plus thousands of commercial and sport fishermen and other residents. - More...
Tuesday - August 12, 2014 |
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Alaska: Matanuska-Susitna Borough is still undecided about Susitna options - The Matanuska-Susitna Borough is still undecided about what to do about the Susitna Ferry which was built in Ketchikan at a cost of some $78 million, with most of its cost paid for by the U.S. Navy.
The ferry is at Wards Cove in Ketchikan while the Matanuska-Susitna Borough figures out what to do with it. The Federal Transit Administration has asked the borough to repay $12.3 million in grants.
Photo courtesy
Matanuska-Susitna Borough
The Susitna Ferry is a half-scale prototype of a landing craft for the U.S. Navy. The Susitna Ferry is the world’s first ship that is two ships in one, a twin-hulled ferry that handles rough swells but that can also lower its deck to operate in barge mode to land on beaches. The ship is also built to lift ice and snap it over its bow, another first for a twin-hulled vessel. The Susitna is berthed outside Ketchikan at Wards Cove.
The Federal Transit Administration sent a letter to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough on Aug. 5th requesting repayment of $12.3 million in federal funding for the Susitna Ferry project. The Borough has 30 days to repay the grants.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly Members met in executive sessions this evening, August 12th, and decided they need more information in order to consider the options for the outstanding federal grant monies for the Susitna Ferry. The Assembly will continue their meeting on Aug. 21st, at 3 pm in the Assembly chambers at 350 E. Dahlia Ave. in Palmer.
The ferry was intended to link the Mat-Su Borough with Anchorage by ferry traffic on a two-mile stretch of water between opposite shores of Knik Arm. It was also part of emergency response plans: a rescue vessel for a potential downed passenger aircraft in cold Upper Cook Inlet near Ted Stevens International Airport; and an alternate water route during an overdue devastating Alaska earthquake, which would likely break the single ribbon of highway connecting the Muni and the Borough.
“After ten years of working to bring the project to fruition, MSB has been unable to implement ferry service in accordance with the requirements of the grant agreements. Over the past year, FTA has collaborated with the MSB on acceptable methods for disposing of the ferry vessel and recouping the federal investment. Unfortunately, MSB’s many efforts to dispose of the asset, or to find a public use for the ferry, have been unsusccesful. … I regret that MSB has been unable to find a public agency with a need for the vessel, nor able to put the funded asset into use for public transit,” wrote Therese McMillan, Acting Administrator with the Federal Transit Administration in the FTA letter.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough Manager John Moosey said he was not surprised to receive the FTA letter, having met with FTA officials on many occasions. “I expected this [ferry crossing] to be done much easier but this is a challenge. We’ve been dilligently looking for solutions to this issue for the last 2.5 years. If we had ferry landings, I’m confident we would not be here today,” Moosey said. - More...
Tuesday - August 12, 2014 |
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Alaska Science: Late summer arrives in the boreal forest By NED ROZELL - It's early August, 118 miles from the Arctic Circle. Time for a walk to work.
It’s mushroom time in middle Alaska.
Photo by Ned Rozell.
The last time I wrote about hiking through the North Campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, summer was a puppy crashing into your shin. Now it has a white muzzle.
I note this maturity while moving through a nice chunk of boreal forest in the mile between my workplace and my home. For a lot of reasons, I'm lucky to be able to commute on foot, bike or ski some days.
August is a wet time for us here in Fairbanks. A somewhat predictable shift in the jet stream shuttles airborne moisture through the green alley between the Kuskokwim Mountains and the Alaska Range. In other seasons, snow and rain slam into mountain walls, keeping us dry.
This summer has been different from remembered ones, with twice the average amounts of rain falling on my little world in June and July. This has swelled the sluggish creeks that ooze through this 1,000-plus acres of spruce, birch, and Labrador tea. On days of heavy rain, wood chips carted in to enhance trails have floated in unison, a regatta sailing on.
In addition to requiring more labor from the attentive trail groomers who work for the university, the coolness and inches of rain in June and July have resulted in the following observations. - More...
Tuesday - August 12, 2014
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Political Cartoon: Iraq Exit
By Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News
Distributed to subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.
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 True Tongass ‘transition’ would increase local jobs per log cut By Malena Marvin - In its latest statement on the direction of the much-awaited Tongass transition, the Forest Service says the future is now for the Tongass National Forest. We couldn’t agree more, and we’re happy to see the agency working with local people to chart a course toward a more prosperous and sustainable future for Southeast Alaskan communities. - More...
Wednesday AM- August 13, 2014
My rights are like "a child asking for candy" By Janalee Minnich Gage - Last Thursday night I attended the Ketchikan city council meeting regarding the integrated access to the new performing arts center, and it is hard to imagine how it is that after 24 years that we still have no concept of what ADA law is or about. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 13, 2014
Thank You By Chere Klein - Thank you to Metlakatla Indian Community, Mayor Hudson & the entire Metlakatla community for being so welcoming to all the visitors at your Founder's Day celebration events & feasts. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 13, 2014
Tax Increases By Greg Harris - I hope this finds you all healthy and happy as its been a couple years since I've been on the rock. After reading Mr. Dial's letter concerning tax increases proposed and passed I couldn't help myself, I just had to comment. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 13, 2014
Fed Up! By Susan Cody - I have lived in my Ketchikan residence at the dead end of a city street for over 4 years. There are more than 10 trash cans near the front of my house for the residents that live in this area. For the past 3 summers I have drilled holes in all of the trash cans, paid for and installed reinforcements to keep the bears from spreading garbage. Although 3 of my neighbors are bear proofing and helping the situation, the majority of my neighbors don't. They simply do not take the 2 seconds to latch them. For the last couple summers I would just pick up all of the garbage, but this year I am fed up with it all. It seems as though they expect me to continue cleaning it up. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 13, 2014
Chere Klein for District 36 By Peggy Wilson - I’d like to tell you why I am ENDORSING CHERE KLEIN for District 36 House of Representative; and why it’s important you vote for her August 19th over other candidates currently running. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 13, 2014
Vote for Klein By K.A. Swiger - I will be voting or Chere Klein on August 19th. I hope you do too. I have known Chere for many years, serving on chamber committees with her and have seen her many community involvements. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 13, 2014
Moran for State House By Steve Ortiz - I believe that southern southeast Alaska would be well served by electing Agnes Moran as its State Representative. Agnes brings multiple years of leadership, experience, and dedication to District 36. Her work history with the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and previously Cisco Systems demonstrates that she produces innovative actions and an ability to solve difficult issues for large organizations. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 13, 2014
Vote for Chere Klein By Renee Schofield - I'll be voting for Chere Klein. As a small biz owner, she understands the need for diversity, clarity and simplicity in laws that affect small businesses. That matters a great deal to me. As a small business owner, incorporated in Alaska, but working nationally, I need representation that will grow with me. I think Chere can do that. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 13, 2014
FairTax By Kathleen Perera - I agree with Wiley Brook's letter to you dated August 6, 2013. Our country was able to be financial stable for over half of its life WITHOUT the IRS and income tax. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 13, 2014
The Fair Tax By Pat Burkett - Wiley Brooks letter of August 6, 2014, is informative and timely. It is of interest to me that the writers of our Constitution rejected taxing income and believed that a tax on consumption was the proper way to fund government. Taxing consumption puts individuals in charge of their money and the amount of taxes they pay because there is no tax on spending for basic necessities due to the rebate provision of the Fair Tax. Therefore, it is discretionary spending that is taxed, and that spending is under our own, immediate control, not that of the IRS to take out before we ever get our paychecks. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 13, 2014
Machinations, part II By Rodney Dial - I wasn’t going to write another letter again so soon, but couldn’t believe what happened between my last letter on June 24th and the Ketchikan City Council meeting on July 24th.
People who have been reading my letters know that I have been saying for the last ten years that the excess spending, massive buildings, government parties, waste, etc. would lead to massive debt, tax increases and a City too expensive for our children. - More...
Thursday - August 07, 2014
The Importance of Integrated Access to the Performing Arts Center By Janalee Minnich Gage - I am concerned about Ketchikan's support quality integrated access to the performing arts center. I am an active member of the First City Players, which has been an integral part of my life even while I was out of town working for the past 10 years in public service. In many ways it is my refuge, my release and my savior. The arts keep me grounded and involved as a community member; it is my therapy. First City Players has always been about my ability not my disability. They have strived to be inclusive and have gone out of their way to provide a place for anyone and everyone who wants to be a part of the program. I think the City should want to support this. - More...
Wednesday - August 06, 2014
Thanks with meaning! By A.M. Johnson - A couple of things on my mind that warrants following up on. The first is the line crew of the KPU who are installing new poles on North Tongass. I pass these fellows several times a day. What is most noticeable is the intense attitude of the crew. From the foreman and I suppose the safety watch on the operation to the full crew. There is no slack time. Everybody appears professional with no lost movements. I thank them for their diligent and safe work area that they provide for their selves and the driving public. Good job!! - More...
Wednesday - August 06, 2014
Four Friends By Garnet Dima - Four of my friends are running for the House District 36 seat. All four candidates vying for the House District 36 seat are truly wonderful people. They are longtime residents of Ketchikan who want nothing but the best for souther Southeast Alaska. Each of the candidates is smart and hardworking. - More...
Wednesday - August 06, 2014
Moran for House District 36 By Bobbie McCreary - Vote for Moran, the best person to speak for Southeast. I have observed Ms. Moran's ability to speak with a strong voice for issues or projects she has carefully researched and determined appropriate for the Borough to support. She will make sure she is well informed and then will go to bat to lead the charge for what we need in Southeast. - More...
Wednesday - August 06, 2014
TWO OF THE 3 ALASKA REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR THE U.S. SENATE SUPPORT THE FairTax® By Wiley Brooks - An issue that deserves our attention has recently surfaced in the debates between the Republican Party candidates who hope to unseat Senator Mark Begich in the November 4 General Election. That issue is the 100 year old income tax system which can only be described as a ridiculous complex and intrusive mess. It is burdensome to tax filer, destructive to the economy and custom designed to invite political motivated abuse and corruption. It is broken beyond repair and the time has come to correct a 100 year old mistake. - More...
Wednesday - August 06, 2014
Big business & Ketchikan's dock By Bob Brown - Big business is dictating the dock we load and unload , and the City of Ketchikan is going along with it. On July 29th, I brought my bus down for the tour that I was assigned to wait for. We must give our sellers time to sell enough before loading . I normally would have someone come out to back me but instead the Harbor Master came out and tells me I'm too big to be on the dock while Princess buses are there so was told to remove myself for a time while they get to bring more buses down. This has never happened before this year. WE had all been given a space no matter what. They argue that they should bring their buses down first and make us wait and then let us come on the dock. - More...
Wednesday - August 06, 2014
SB21: ?A Bad Deal for Alaska By Hal Gazaway & Barbara Gazaway - In the oil revenue debate we've heard and read misleading statements and distorted facts. As long time Alaska residents, business owners, and grandparents, we are very concerned about Alaska’s future economy. The “Vote No on Proposition One” group paints an “almost too good to be true” picture if SB21 prevails in August. The group repeatedly alludes to Alaska’s partnership with the oil companies, assuring us that this new deal (SB21) will result in more jobs as well as economic growth. - More...
Wednesday - August 06, 2014
Prop 1 By Paul Hovik - Just say No to "Oiligarchy" - Vote Yes on 1! - More...
Wednesday - August 06, 2014
Women Legislators Weigh In On Oil Tax Referendum By Senator Lesil McGuire, Senator Anna Fairclough, Senator Cathy Giessel, Representative Mia Costello, Representative Lynn Gattis, Representative Lindsey Holmes, Representative Shelley Hughes, Representative Charisse Millett, Representative Lora Reinbold, Representative Peggy Wilson & Representative Tammie Wilson - The discussion around oil tax reform and Ballot Measure 1 has benefitted from many informed and passionate voices from across the state. As women who serve in the Legislature and who voted for the bill that created our new tax policy, we want to lend a unique perspective on why we voted to pass Senate Bill 21 and why we will vote NO on 1 this August. - More...
Wednesday - August 06, 2014
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