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Ketchikan: WHEN DID KETCHIKAN BECOME THE RAINFALL CAPITAL? National magazine article extolled First City Rain in 1947 By DAVE KIFFER - Ketchikan has been known in the national consciousness for a few things.

For generations, the community has styled itself as the salmon capital of the world, based mostly on the two dozen salmon canneries that dominated the local landscape from the 1920s to the 1940s.

In the mid 1920s, Ketchikan made headlines across the nation when officials – including Alaska’s territorial representative to Congress – called Ketchikan “wicked” and a “violent pest hole” among other things.

In the 2000s, it became famous as the home of the “Bridge to Nowhere,” a not good sign of government spending.

Through it at all, Ketchikan has been one of the rainiest places in the United States and today, it is the unofficial “capital” of the rainforest that is the Tongass National Forest, part of the largest remaining temperate rainforest in the world.

But at what point, did Ketchikan’s rain become a national “story?”

Perhaps it was November 1 of 1947, nearly seventy years ago.

It was then the Saturday Evening Post, one of America’s largest circulation magazines ran a story called “It Always Rains in Ketchikan.”

At its peak, The Saturday Evening Post – now primarily remembered for many iconic Norman Rockwell covers - was read by more than 30 million people each week, nearly one third of the United States population at the time. When those readers opened the November 1st issue that year, it was hard to escape the conclusion that Ketchikan was one of the rainiest places in the country, if not the world.

The article itself was written by a well-known journalist and soon to be politician, who himself knew a bit about the rain. Richard Neuberger was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and had been a national correspondent for the New York Times. He would later go on to be a Congressman and U.S. Senator from Oregon.

“The next time you complain about the rain, think of the people here In Ketchikan, who inhabit the rainiest sector of North America,” Neuberger began his report, noting that Ketchikan’s most recent 151 inches of rain in 1946 was nearly four times more than New York and six times more than San Francisco. “When you consider St. Louis, with 36 inches of rain, must occasionally cancel ball games, imagine the difficulties confronting Ketchikan’s City Baseball League. Once, in order to make up postponed games, they scheduled a triple header. It was rained out.”

After noting that places elsewhere in the world got more rain than Ketchikan, he reported that they got it in short duration monsoons which were much different that Ketchikan’s “constant drizzle” and that even August in Ketchikan was wetter than Denver year-round.

“Out of last year’s 365 days, Ketchikan had 33 clear ones,” He continued. “This is why Alaskans, instead of joking about the fellow who tried to sell iceboxes to Eskimos, speak of a salesman peddling suntan lotions in Ketchikan.”

Neuberger notes that the residents are surprisingly sanguine about the rain, appreciating the runoff in the creeks that support the salmon industry and the fact that the population has grown steadily over the past several decades.

As support for his thesis, he quotes Ketchikan Chronicle publisher William “Bill” Baker.

“If a newcomer stays a week, he’s stay forever,” Baker told Neuberger. “He accepts the rain and never gives it another thought. Putting on my raincoat is now as much second nature as lacing my shoes.”

Neuberger also notes that the federal weather observer Joseph Strachila once worked in Nevada and prefers Ketchikan’s wetter climate.

“Ketchikan’s Chamber of Commerce boasts of its rain, contends that it makes possible the 80-pound salmon, unlimited pulp timber, and Alaska’s lowest hydroelectric rates.” - More....
Thursday PM - August 17, 2017

Sitka Black-Tailed Deer
Front Page Feature Photograph by KIMBERLEY DEAN ©2017

Harbor Sunset
Recent sunset overlooking Pot Latch Harbor
Front Page Feature Photograph by RACHELLE LYNN SPEIGHTS ©2017

Ketchikan: DEC Reports Bacteria Levels on Coastal Areas in Ketchikan Have Decreased - The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today it has confirmed enterococci bacteria levels have decreased, but are still above water quality criteria at two coastal areas in Ketchikan.

DEC recently collected water quality samples at nine coastal areas, including: South Refuge Cove Beach, Seaport Beach, Rotary Beach also known as Bugges Beach, Thomas Basin, Beacon Hill, Knudson Cove Marina, South Point Higgins Beach, Sunset Beach, and Shull Beach. Earlier sampling showed seven of these coastal areas as having bacterial levels above what is considered a safe level.

The following locations still exceed water quality criteria:

• Rotary Beach also known as Bugges Beach (located approximately 3.4 miles south of town on South Tongass Highway)

• Thomas Basin (at Creek Street Bridge)

All seven other locations meet water quality criteria. DEC plans to continue weekly sampling until results are within the criteria. Additional sampling at all nine coastal areas is planned for the week of August 21.

Contact with water impacted by enterococci bacteria may cause stomach aches, diarrhea, or ear, eye, and skin infections. Continued precautionary measures are advised. DEC recommends beach users avoid exposure, such as avoiding swimming in the water, washing after contact with the water, and rinsing fish with clean water after they have been harvested from the area. As always, people should cook seafood to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit to destroy pathogens.

The beach sampling program is being funded and implemented by DEC. It is part of a nationwide effort to decrease the incidence of water-borne illness at public beaches under the federal Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act. - More...
Thursday PM - August 17, 2017

Ketchikan: Ed Freysinger takes the reins at PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center - Edward Freysinger, MHSA, has joined PeaceHealth as the new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) at PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center. His first day was Monday, Aug. 7, 2017.

“It’s a very exciting time to be in healthcare,” he said earlier this week. “During this time of change, we have the opportunity to be innovative in how we approach care and enhance access to all.”

While his first day was August 7th, Freysinger has been in town for several weeks; before that, he and his wife Debbie spent time here during the selection process.

“During our visit to Ketchikan and the hospital, my wife and I were impressed with the welcoming nature of the community. We look forward to becoming part of PeaceHealth and Ketchikan and continuing to grow and learn.”

Freysinger succeeded Interim CAO Nancy Tieman after a nationwide search. He has almost 30 years of executive healthcare experience, in both human resources and administration management.

Most recently, he served as chief executive officer at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital in Hood River, Oregon, which, similar to Ketchikan Medical Center, is a full service, 25-bed critical access hospital. - More...
Thursday PM - August 17, 2017

JOE GUZZARDI: Can You Pass an Immigration Quiz? - When the subject is immigration, everyone has an opinion. Illegal immigration is, in most eyes, bad because it violates U.S. law, threatens sovereignty, and displaces American workers. Others think illegal immigration is good because they believe that the people coming are looking for a better life and willing to do jobs Americans won't.

Shift the topic to legal immigration, and there's near unanimity ---- legal is good. The United States, so the talking point goes, is a nation of immigrants. Keeping that tradition alive is important.

But what I've learned after writing about immigration for more than 30 years is that, regardless of how passionately immigration may be endorsed, little is understood about how it actually works. To that end, I offer a list of four fundamental immigration questions. When your summer barbecue banter turns to politics, and specifically to immigration, ask these, and you'll quickly be able to measure your neighbor's knowledge.

1) What, for the last three decades, is the average number of immigrants legally admitted?

2) What is the Diversity Visa, and name at least three countries whose nationals have received the DV?

3) Approximately how many refugees does the U.S. resettle annually? Name at least three countries they've come from.

4) Name the number of times Americans have voted on immigrant admissions, visa issuance, or refugee resettlement. - More...
Thursday PM - August 17, 2017

MICHAEL REAGAN: Learn When to Shut Up, Mr President - As we've said here before, Donald Trump has to learn to just shut up and let things go.

The failure to do that is the worst Achilles heel of a president who seems to have half a dozen Achilles heels.

Because he can't think on his feet, because he doesn't know how to say the right thing at the right time, because he thinks he's got to win every petty argument with the anti-Trump media, the president has mired himself unnecessarily in yet another controversy of his own making. 

This time it's Charlottesville. 

Who didn't know in advance there was going to be big trouble in that Virginia college town last weekend? 

You had the dregs of this country's minuscule rightwing hate sector ---- about 500 white nationalists, the KKK, neo-Nazi groups and assorted allies and hangers-on ---- coming from hundreds of miles in every direction under the pretext of legally protesting the planned tear-down of a statue to General Robert E. Lee. 

You had their violence-prone leftwing opponents ---- organized groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa ---- pouring in from out-of-state to protest the presence of the white nationalists.

The rightwing hate groups marched around the town Nazi-style, chanting anti-Semitic and anti-black slurs, exercising their First Amendment rights and putting their moral and political ugliness on full display.

Who didn't know the anti-Trump media was going to be there en mass to record everything?

Who didn't know the liberal media would seek out a visiting professional racist like David Duke and get him to say something nice about President Trump on camera? - More...
Thursday PM - August 17, 2017