Governor Walker: Boot the Boogie Man! By Richard Peterson - As a child I lived in terror of the BOOGIE MAN. The Boogie Man was a monster in my imagination who victimized children by frightening them into good behavior. If we misbehaved, we feared the Boogie Man would “get us”. Over time I learned this monster does not exist; he was just a fear based on misplaced and uninformed fiction. - More...
Sunday PM - August 09, 2015

Disappointed By Chloe Joy Lewis - Ketchikan is boring, there is nothing to do! How many times do we hear that from teenagers in every city? Well, it might hold some water in Ketchikan. - More...
Sunday PM - August 09, 2015

RE: Youth Win Big with a Tobacco Excise Tax By Chris Snyder - Regarding Terrence Robbins' letter: First of all thanks for identifying yourself as an advocate. It makes the discussion more honest. It does seem, however, that your advocacy is prompting you to play a little fast and loose with statistics. You say that "not coincidentally" cancer rates are higher in Ketchikan than Anchorage and Juneau because of youth smoking. Given that your risk of cancer and strokes plummets if you quit smoking, isn't the adult smoking rate more relevant than the youth rate? And if the adult smoking rates are similar in our different communities, then there are probably environmental reasons for the cancer disparity...pulp mill, shipyard, water supply, diet...right? That would make the youth smoking rate very coincidental. - More...
Sunday PM - August 09, 2015

Sin Tax By Ken Lewis - Here is an idea? Rather than patting each other on the back for imposing a 75 percent tax on a legal product, let tobacco users form a committee to decide where this 1.2 million dollars a year will go. - More...
Thursday PM - August 06, 2015

RE: Disappointing airline experience By Michael Nelson - I am a bit confused about the Delta woes letter. For the record, I am not an employee of Delta, just a frequent flier (mostly United and Lufthansa). - More...
Thursday PM - August 06, 2015

Youth Win Big with a Tobacco Excise Tax By Terrence Robbins - Ketchikan's leaders on the Borough Assembly and City Council have done a courageous and commendable job of addressing our youth tobacco use crisis with a proposed tobacco excise tax. The Municipalities of Anchorage (1991), Fairbanks (1993), Juneau (2003), and Sitka (2006) have collected similar excise taxes on nicotine products for years and the effectiveness is evidenced through much lower youth tobacco usage rates than Ketchikan's. Not coincidentally, each of these cities also reported malignant cancer mortality rates 29-104% lower than Ketchikan's exceptionally high rate. (AK Bureau of Vital Statistics Report 2012). Our representatives recognize that nicotine is an addictive and dangerous drug, especially to developing brains. They know that 90% of all adult smokers became addicted to nicotine before age 18, and 99% became addicted before they turned 26 (2014 Surgeon General s Report). They understand that youth are price-sensitive, meaning that youth have less disposable income to spend on tobacco than a typical adult has, and so, when retail prices increase, fewer kids start to use, or continue to use, addictive nicotine products. - More...
Sunday PM - August 02, 2015

Against tobacco tax By Rudy McGillvray - Lest someone accuse me of taking 'the easier path', I as a former user of tobacco and other nicotenic products am against this proposed tobacco tax. For a couple of reasons, one, if you end up with your cigarettes and associated products costing what they do in the lower 48 you will have set up a mechanism for the importation of black market tobacco. And, who will enforce the tax? It will cost you more to enforce the tax than you will gain in revenue. Think before you act, Ketchikan councils. - More...
Sunday PM - August 02, 2015

Open Letter to Insurance Company By Amanda Mitchell - Today we received a letter in the mail concerning our daughter’s broken arm and the treatment on which medical benefits were paid out. - More...
Sunday PM - August 02, 2015

Disappointing airline experience By Derek Meister & Jessica Lutton - Initially, many including myself were enthusiastic about Delta arriving in Alaska. I had been so far satisfied enough with Alaska Airlines, but I was optimistic that another airline would bring some healthy market competition and help lower fares. This most recent episode involving a trip I was making with my fiancé to Minnesota for a wedding was without a doubt the most disappointing, baffling, and infuriating airline experience we've ever had to endure. We fly out of Alaska regularly, and will be soon planning at least 4 more flights from Ketchikan, AK this year alone. We have been attempting to remain hopeful that Delta would do everything in their power to do what is announced on their aircrafts every trip; which is to "exceed our expectations" and to truly make us feel like we're part of "the Delta family." - More...
Sunday PM - August 02, 2015

50th Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid By Susan Johnson and John T. Hammarlund - On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law as an amendment to the Social Security Act. Most people who will become eligible for Medicare this year were in high school when this legislation was authorized. Today’s seniors were young adults busy with their lives and families. - More...
Sunday PM - August 02, 2015

Golfing at Fawn Mountain By Joe Ashcraft - We were minding our own business hitting wedges off the 30 yard line at Fawn Mountain on a lovely evening last week. Some guy comes up and asks what we are thinking of. He was pretty obnoxious telling us we would damage the artificial turf. We told him we always changed positions to make sure no one part would wear out too soon; and anyway people kick balls and use cleats all over it. - More...
Sunday PM - August 02, 2015