Gateway City Realty - Ketchikan, Alaska

Leslie Becker for Alaska State House - District 36 -  2020

Ketchikan Area Arts & Humanities Council - 2020 Blueberry Arts Festival T-shirts

Coastal Real Estate Group - Ketchikan, Alaska

Legacy Real Estate - Ketchikan, Alaska EST 1970

Scanlon Gallery - Ketchikan, Alaska

Alpine Real Estate - Ketchikan, Alaska

PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center - Ketchikan, Alaska

Ketchikan Cares Crisis Line - Ketchikan, Alaska

United States Census 2020 (Alaska Dept of Labor)

Lighthouse Service - Ketchikan, Alaska - PetroOne

Rendezvous Senior Day Services - Ketchikan, Alaska

Rainforest Ridge Condos For Sale - Ketchikan, Alaska - Call for details

Schmolck Mechanical Contractors - Ketchikan, Alaska

PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center - Ketchikan, Alaska

Greater Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce - Ketchikan, Alaska

POW Report - Prince of Wales Island News  & Events

Shop Local & Advertise Local with SitNews - Ketchikan, Alaska

arrowContact
arrowWebmail Letters
arrowNews Tips
arrowCopyright Info
arrowArchives

Quick News Search
arrowAlaska
arrowKetchikan
arrowSE Alaska

Columns - Articles
arrow Dave Kiffer
arrow Money Matters

Historical Ketchikan
arrowJune Allen
arrowDave Kiffer
arrowLouise B. Harrington

Sports
arrowKetchikan Links

Public Records
arrow FAA Accident Reports
arrow NTSB Accident Reports
arrow Court Calendar
arrow Recent Filings & Case Dispositions
arrow Court Records Search
arrow Sex Offender Reg.
arrow Public Notices
arrow Alaska Recall Alerts
arrow Recalls.gov
arrow AST Daily Dispatch
arrow KTN Police Reports
arrow Juneau Police Reports

Weather, Webcams
arrowToday's Forecast
arrowKTN Weather Data
arrowAK Weather Map
arrowAK Weathercams
arrowAK Earthquakes

 

SitNews - Stories In The News - Ketchikan, Alaska
Monday
August 31, 2020

Front Page Photo By STEPHEN SPEIGHTS

Rainbow
Photographed from the float plane dock at Ketchikan Airport.
Front Page Photo By STEPHEN SPEIGHTS ©2020
To have your photo featured on the front page,
email your photo(s) to editor@sitnews.us


October 06, 2020 - Tuesday
Ketchikan Regular Election

For almost two decades, SitNews has provided a section at no cost for individuals running as candidates for the local Assembly, School Board and City Council.

All candidates are encouraged to participate and provide your future constituents with your candidate's statement to included this required information:

1. Why you are running for office.
2. Experience and education.
3. Identify at least two significant issues and challenges facing our community and your approach in addressing and solving these challenges. This does not just mean that you will be open to public input. Be specific about the issues and challenges and your specific ideas to address.
4. Photograph.
5. Email your information in text format and photos (jpg) to editor@sitnews.us

Additional comments are allowed.
Please submit your candidate's information for publication by September 11, 2020. Candidate's information will be published as received and will not be edited by the SitNews' editor. (Posted: August 31, 2020)

Ketchikan Borough Assembly - 3 Year Term (3 Seats Open)
Photo Jeremy Bynum
Filed 8/3/20
Photo Amanda (AJ)Pierce
Filed: 8/3/20
Photo Sheen Davis
Filed: 8/4/20
Photo Matthew Merrill
Filed 8/19/20
Photo Judith McQuerry
Filed 8/24/20
Photo Trevor A. Shaw
Filed 8/25/20
Ketchikan School Board - 3 Year Term (2 Seats Open)
Photo

Diane Gubatayao
Filed: 8/2/20

Photo Ali Ginter
Filed: 8/04/20
Photo Paul Robbins Jr.
Filed 8/11/20
Ketchikan School Board - 1 Year Term (2 Seats Open)
Photo Tom Heutte
Filed: 8/3/20
Photo Nicole Anderson
Filed 8/6/20
Photo Kim Hodne
Filed: 8/6/20
Ketchikan City Council - 3 Year Term (3 Seats Open)
Photo Jai Mahtani
Filed 8/3/20
Photo Richard Coose
Filed: 8/3/20
Photo Abby Bradberry
Filed: 8/3/20
Photo Riley Gass
Filed: 8/6/20
Photo Dave Kiffer
Filed: 8/21/20
Photo Spencer Stassburg
Filed 8/21/20
Photo Joey Jean Tillson
Filed: 8/21/20
Photo Lisa Scarborough
Filed: 8/25/20
 
Ketchikan City Council - Two Year Term (One Seat Open)
Photo Grant Echohawk
Filed: 8/5/20
Photo Mark Flora
Filed: 8/7/20
Photo Mary Stephenson
Filed: 8/24/20

Last day to register to vote is 30 days before the election. Register by September 03, 2020. Register online at https://voterregistration.alaska.gov

You may vote as early as 15 days prior to a Borough election: early voting in person, absentee by mail, or by electronic transmission.


Alaska COVID-19 Daily Updates - Case Counts, etc.

All Alaska Health Mandates: COVID-19 Health Mandates, Office of the Governor

Ketchikan COVID-19 Daily Updates: Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center COVID-19 Dashboard, updates & alerts...

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Center for Disease Control (CDC) Situation Summary Updated Frequently

Ketchikan: Public Meetings
Ketchikan: Upcoming Events
Ketchikan: Announcements
Ketchikan: Classifieds

CLASSIFIEDS

arrowPublish
Your Ad

Click Here

Historical Ketchikan

arrowJune Allen
arrowDave Kiffer
arrowLouise B. Harrington

Ketchikan Weather

arrow Ketchikan's Forecast
arrow August Daily Records 2020
arrow Ketchikan July 2020 Data
arrow Ketchikan June 2020 Data
arrow Ketchikan May 2020 Data
arrow Ketchikan April 2020 Data
arrow Ketchikan March 2020 Data
arrow Ketchikan Feb. 2020 Data

arrow Ketchikan Jan. 2020 Data
arrow Nat Weather Service KTN
arrow Ketchikan Tides & Currents
arrow Sunrise - Sunset Ketchikan

Search the News

arrow Ketchikan

arrow
Alaska

U.S. Congress 2019-2020: Bills that have passed the House & Senate and become Law

U.S. Congress 2019-2020: Bills Introduced (Over 5,000 in the House and over 3,000 in the Senate)

Ketchikan: Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce Announces New Executive Director - The Greater Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors announced that Michelle O’Brien has been named the new Executive Director. O’Brien is a familiar face around Ketchikan, having been very active in the community for over a decade.

Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce Announces New Executive Director

Michelle O’Brien
SitNews File Photo

“The Board is very excited to have Michelle take on this role.”, commented Ben Edwards, President of the Board of the Directors. “Michelle brings to the position an incredible passion for our community and its citizens. She is a proven leader and the Board is confident that she will take the Chamber in an exciting direction – delivering even more for our members and Ketchikan.”

O’Brien was most recently the General Manager of the Ketchikan Radio Center, as well as formerly serving a key role in promoting the community at KPU Telecommunications through KPUtv’s local television. She has a long history of working with businesses and nonprofits throughout Ketchikan and the state of Alaska. Additionally, she has extensive Chamber of Commerce experience which was gained through serving as a Chamber Board member and helping to plan many Chamber sponsored events. - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020

Fish Factor: Alaska Fishing Industry Faces Millions in Covid-related Costs By LAINE WELCH - Alaska seafood processors are paying tens of millions of dollars extra to cover costs from the Covid pandemic, and most of it is coming out of pocket.

Intrafish Media  provides a first, in-depth look at how costs for providing protective gear like masks and gloves, testing thermometers, extra staff to handle sanitizing demands between work shifts, and modifying worker lines for social distancing are playing out in the nation’s seafood processing sector.

At Bristol Bay, for example, where around 13,000 workers from outside Alaska come to work on fishing boats and in 13 plants of varying sizes, it’s estimated that all major processors combined likely spent $30 million to $40 million on Covid-related costs during the two peak fishing months of June and July this summer.

Alaska processors covered extra costs for putting up employees in hotels and other 14-day quarantine sites, as required by the state. That alone added up to an estimated $3,500 per worker.

Seafood companies also paid for pricey charter flights to isolate workers from passengers on commercial flights.

Most medium to large processors had medical professionals onsite for the duration, at a cost of $30,000 to $60,000, Intrafish said.

Workers were tested multiple times for the virus, with costs amounting to $175 per test.

Intrafish cited testimony by Silver Bay Seafoods CEO, Cora Campbell, at a virtual U.S. Senate committee hearing on July 29.

"In the past several months, Alaska seafood processors have spent tens of millions of dollars implementing proactive health and safety protocols to ensure we are minimizing risks to Alaska communities, protecting our seasonal and resident workforce, and maintaining operations," she testified.

"The industry is taking on these costs out of pocket at the same time we are facing severe disruption in key markets and multiple pre-COVID cost burdens,” Campbell told the senators. “While a fraction of these costs may be reimbursed, we face significant uncertainty because there’s no specific congressional directive to support health and safety protocol costs for critical seafood supply chains."

Covid prevention measures have not been included so far in federal relief loans and funds. It is unknown if they will be added into a stimulus relief package Congress could eventually pass when it returns in September from a month long vacation. - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020


Alaska: Historic Bristol Bay, Alaska salmon fishery dealing with latest challenge: COVID-19 By KEVIN BERRY AND BRETT WATSON - Northwest summers mean salmon on the grill. While Alaskans fill freezers with their own catch – our freezers are filled with enough salmon to last until next summer – those grilling elsewhere must buy either farm-raised salmon or wild sockeye salmon caught in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Wild salmon return from the ocean to restart a life cycle that has persisted for millions of years. Wild Alaska sockeye (a favorite species of salmon) is caught over the course of a four- to six-week season, from mid-June through July, when the largest remaining wild salmon population returns to Bristol Bay.

These fish have been harvested by Alaska native peoples for thousands of years. Sockeye have been smoked, filleted, canned and frozen – and given, traded, sold and eaten – for generations.

But the fishermen, seafood processors and communities of Bristol Bay are under threat, and not for the first time. Bristol Bay carries painful memories of the 1918 Great Influenza, which devastated the local indigenous population. Now, the global economy has collapsed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the market for seafood, often eaten at restaurants, has collapsed along with it.

In response to COVID-19, the state of Alaska imposed restrictions on the industry, including quarantines and social distancing mandates. Salmon processors have also imposed their own rules to keep workers restricted to company grounds.

All of this means the processors of Bristol Bay’s salmon catch face higher costs and lower retail prices. This has resulted in a dramatic 48% fall in prices paid to fishermen for their catch.

Fishermen, who must own or rent expensive permits to participate in harvesting, maintain boats and equipment and pay crew, face being forced out of the fishery.

An evolving business

In the late 19th century, commercial salmon fishing first drew fishermen to Bristol Bay from what Alaskans refer to as “Outside.” The fishing was first done via sailboat.

Seafood companies owned the boats, hired the crews and towed them to the fishing grounds, allowing the industry to restrict who fished and where. This control prevented overfishing and protected profits.

Seafood companies resisted modernization of the fleet until 1951, when the introduction of powerboats led to a new arrangement with fishermen, who at that point shifted to working more independently from the processing companies that handled cleaning, filleting and packaging the fish.

Fishermen have informal relationships with processors, to whom they deliver their product before knowing the price they’ll be paid. They receive bonus payments after the season based on market conditions and practices they can adopt that affect fish quality, including chilling fish as soon as they are caught, bleeding them and handling them carefully to protect the quality of the fish.

Disagreements about fishermen safety, unionization or cooperatives, and conflicts about prices have existed as long as the fishery. Fishermen, suspicious that processors were colluding to hold down prices, sued in the early 2000s. Though the lawsuit was settled, skepticism persisted. - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020


 

Alaska: ALASKA CARES Expanded to Help More Small Businesses Posted & Edited By MARY KAUFFMAN - Effective today - Monday, August 31, 2020- businesses that received any amount of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds will become eligible to apply for AK CARES grants, as will businesses that are secondary sources of income. These businesses can apply through the online application portal (www.akcaresonline.org) starting Monday.

This change to the AK CARES program was made possible by the Revised Program Legislative (RPL) submitted to the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee by Governor Mike Dunleavy on Thursday, August 20; and the Committee’s approval of that RPL today.

“I want to personally thank the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee for their focus and prompt response in approving my plan that will provide much needed critical relief to small Alaskan businesses as quickly as possible,” saidGovernor Mike Dunleavy. “I have directed my team to immediately begin distributing these funds.”

The AK CARES program launched on June 1, 2020 and was initially intended to assist Alaska’s small businesses that did not receive any federal assistance. On August 6, the program was expanded to include commercial fishermen, 501(c)6 nonprofit organizations, and small businesses that received $5,000 or less in PPP or EIDL funding. Now that these businesses have had a few weeks to submit applications and the AK CARES program still has funds remaining, the program is being expanded to ensure the State assists as many small businesses as possible.

“I appreciate the Governor’s leadership in expanding the AK CARES program, and the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee’s swift action to approve the RPL,” said DCCED Commissioner, Julie Anderson. “The PPP and EIDL funds were issued for very specific types of expenses, so being able to offer relief funds to businesses that received federal assistance, but are still in need, is significant for our local businesses and Alaska’s economy.”

Businesses that have received funds through different assistance programs – such as the PPP, EIDL, or a local grant program – can request funds for any eligible expenses under the AK CARES program; with the exception of expenses claimed or paid by other assistance programs. 

The RPL approved by the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee also allows the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED) maximum flexibility going forward, to ensure AK CARES meets the needs of small businesses in the most effective and efficient manner possible. This means DCCED can adjust eligibility requirements and disbursement processes as necessary to allow for full use of the federal funds made available through the CARES Act to assist Alaska businesses.

The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee (LB&A) voted Thursday afternoon to make it so more Alaskans will have access federal pandemic relief money made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Thursday’s vote amends the eligibility requirements of the small business relief program originally approved on May 11 through the Revised Program Legislative proposal. - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020


 

Alaska: Alaska Supreme Court Upholds Ruling to Correct Ballot Measure 1 Summary - The Alaska Supreme Court last Wednesday upheld Superior Court Judge William F. Morse's ruling ordering Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage) to correct the ballot summary for Ballot Measure 1, Alaska’s Fair Share Act, as requested by initiative sponsors. In a two page order, the court rejected Meyer's appeal. The court will issue a longer decision explaining its reasoning at a later date.

Initiative sponsors filed suit challenging Meyer’s initial summary of three of the four key provisions of the Fair Share Act as biased, untrue, and partial. After the initiative sponsors brought suit, Meyer’s revised his summary to correct his characterization of two of the three provisions, but continued to mischaracterize the third provision that required “[a]ll tax filings . . . shall be a matter of public record.” This transparency provision amends the existing law and permits Alaskans to know the revenues, costs, and profits of the major producers in our three major oil fields.

Meyer, who as a state senator was a key architect of Alaska’s current oil tax system, proposed a summary of the transparency provision claiming tax filings would remain confidential--the opposite of its plain language. In his June ruling, Morse agreed that “the phrase ‘matter of public [record]’ is often used as shorthand to mean information or documents are not to be kept confidential but will be available for public inspection.”

Morse also agreed with the initiative sponsors that Meyer’s interpretation should be struck from the ballot summary, holding that “[Meyer] places his finger on the scales and affirmatively states that [the transparency provision] does not mean or accomplish what its sponsors say was their intent or would be the effect of the initiative.” “This affirmative resolution of the dispute over its meaning is not an impartial summary of [the transparency provision]. By siding with the possibility of confidentiality Meyer has engaged in partisan suasion. That is improper.” - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020


Melanie Brown: Bristol Bay Salmon Mama

Melanie Brown: Bristol Bay Salmon Mama
By BJORN DIHLE
Melanie Brown with her children Mariana and Oliver fishing Bristol Bay. 
Photo by Joanne Teasdale


 

 

Alaska: Melanie Brown: Bristol Bay Salmon Mama By BJORN DIHLE - When Melanie Brown was 10 years old, her mom decided it was time for her to begin fishing the family’s setnet site on the Naknek River in Bristol Bay.

“It was exhausting,” Melanie said, remembering that first season. “Once, when I was really tired, my mom told me to go take a nap in the truck. After a short bit, I ended up sleepwalking back to go fishing.”

Salmon runs in Melanie’s blood. She is Yup’ik and Inupiaq - her people have been connected to the salmon, land and waterways of Bristol Bay since time immemorial. Her great-grandfather, Paul Chukan, commercial driftnet fished Bristol Bay during the end of the sailboat era. Commercial fishermen in Bristol Bay either driftnet or setnet to catch sockeye and other species of salmon. Driftnetting involves the use of a boat and allows fishermen to chase fish across different districts of Bristol Bay. Setnetting involves a specific site operated from the shore that, ideally, lies along the trajectory of where salmon are running. Native women, according to the stories Melanie has heard, came up with the idea of setnetting in Bristol Bay. While the men were away driftnetting, women came up with the idea to motor out a net and stretch it perpendicular to the shore. Women negotiated deals with canneries across the bay and were incorporated into the fishery.

The setnet site just upriver from Melanie’s family was fished by Governor Jay Hammond and First Lady Bella Hammond. Jay passed on in 2006, and is remembered a good, fair and respectful leader by Alaskans across the state. Bella lived alone at the couple’s homestead on Lake Clark until last winter, at the age of 87, when she, too, passed. The Hammonds, like Melanie and the majority of Alaskans, were adamantly opposed to the proposed Pebble Mine. Bella is remembered as a private person, except for when it came to protecting Bristol Bay. Now, the Hammonds’ setnet site is operated by their daughter Heidi.

“They were good, down to earth people. Hardworking people like us,” Melanie said, remembering Jay and Bella Hammond.

Many setnet operations are worked by multiple generations of a family. At first, Melanie worked alongside her great-grandfather Paul Chukan. Later, once she became a mother, Melanie started her daughter fishing at age 10, too. Her daughter, now 18, and son, 13, now commercial fish alongside Melanie and her parents. If you were to hang out at the airport in the Bristol Bay town of King Salmon at the start of fishing season, you’ll meet people flying in from locations around the state, ranging from tiny villages to Anchorage - coming “home” to work their family’s setnet operations. Fishing is hard work, but it also serves as a family reunion. For many people, specifically Alaska Natives, fishing Bristol Bay strengthens their connection to their culture, salmon and the land. Pebble threatens that connection, as Melanie and many others point out. - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020


 
Columns
jpg TOM PURCELL

TOM PURCELL: CENSUS 2020: ACCURATE COUNT ESSENTIAL - I hope we get it right.

Data collection for the 2020 U.S. Census ends soon. This census, the 22nd in U.S. history, has faced its share of challenges and controversies.

The goal of the census has remained the same throughout its 230-year history: to count every person living in the United States.

The Constitution requires the federal government to do so every 10 years. The population count determines the number of U.S. House seats each state will have – which can become highly political.

When a state gains or loses seats, the party in power sometimes redraws congressional districts in hopes of making it impossible for the other party to win. That’s why census results are so important to politicians.

The census also determines how much federal funding your neighborhood will receive. The more people counted in a region, the more money that region will receive for roads, bridges and other government programs.

From the start, this census has faced no small number of controversies and challenges.

“From cybersecurity issues to administrative problems to a legal drama over a possible citizenship question, there are plenty of reasons to worry about the decennial head count,” noted The Atlantic in July 2018. - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020

jpg MICHAEL REAGAN

MICHAEL REAGAN (Conservative Columnist): A TALE OF TWO CONVENTIONS (Conservative)- Last week’s Republican National Convention was the best I’ve ever watched.

The locations and settings were great.

Melania did a fine job in the White House Rose Garden.

Vice President Mike Pence praised President Trump remotely from Baltimore’s Fort McHenry.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke from somewhere in Israel.

In addition, the GOP’s diversity quotient was off the charts.

The impressive speakers included Tim Scott (the U.S. Senator from South Carolina whose inspiring life story is summed up by “From Cotton to Congress”), Nikki Hailey (the Indian-American former governor of South Carolina) and young Daniel Jay Cameron, the first black attorney general of Kentucky.

Plus, there were so many women coming to the podium over the first three days you couldn’t count them.

Along with Trump’s daughters, Trump’s counselor Kellyanne Conway and rising star Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota. There was also Kim Klacik, the dynamic young Republican running for Congress who filmed her remarks in the urban ruins of Democrat-run Baltimore. - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020

jpg DICK POLMAN

DICK POLMAN (Liberal Columnist): JOE BIDEN WANTS TO ‘MAKE HOPE AND HISTORY RHYME’ - Given how dangerous Donald Trump truly is, how cavalier he is about torching the Constitution and tallying American casualties, it’s probably a darn good thing he’s stone-cold stupid.

Trump’s whole strategy has been to depict Biden as a decrepit vegetable who doesn’t know where he is or what day it is, some old fossil who drools when he tries to string together a sentence. Contrast that cartoon with the guy who capped the Democratic convention with a performance that was presidential in both style and substance.

Only Trump cultists drunk on the demagogue’s Kool-Aid could possibly conclude otherwise, but those folks aren’t reachable anyway. Thursday night, even some of Fox News’ commentators felt compelled to acknowledge reality. Karl Rove, the former Bush guru, said that Biden gave “a very good speech,” Brit Hume said that Biden spoke “with force and clarity,” and former Bush press secretary Dana Perino said that Biden “hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth. He had pace, rhythm, energy, emotion, and delivery.”

How so? Let us count the ways:

He prioritized country over party. Drawing a sharp contrast with Trump (one of many), he said: “While I will be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American president. I will work as hard for those who didn’t support me as I will for those who did. That’s the job of a president – to represent all of us, not just our base or our party. This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment.” - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020


jpg Political Cartoon: Biden Finally Speaks

Political Cartoon: Biden Finally Speaks
By Gary McCoy ©2020, Shiloh, IL
Distributed to paid subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.


      

Real Time U.S. Debt Clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Real Time Alaska Debt Clock
US Debt Clock Alaska: click here

U.S. Inflation Calculator
Easily calculate the buying power of the US dollar & inflation rate from 1913-2020

U.S. Energy Info. Admin.
Heating Oil & Propane Update

Public Meetings & Info

Ketchikan Borough Assembly

arrowLive video stream of current meeting
arrow Meeting Video Archives
arrow Agenda and Information Packets
arrow Assembly Meeting Minutes

Ketchikan Planning Commission

arrowLive video stream of current meeting
arrowMeeting Video Archives
arrowAgenda, Information Packets & Minute

Ketchikan City Council

arrow Meeting Videos
arrow Agendas, Minutes & Information Packets
arrow E-COMMENT ON KETCHIKAN CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS

Ketchikan School Board

arrow Live video stream of current meeting
arrow Agendas & Packets

Police Dispatch

arrow AK Troopers Daily Dispatch
arrow Ketchikan Police Reports
arrow Juneau Police Reports

Ketchikan

arrow Jobs
arrow AK Weathercams
arrow Current AK Weather Map

CLASSIFIEDS

arrowPublish

Publish Your Ad
Click Here

CLASSIFIEDS' CATEGORIES

arrow Public Meetings
arrow Announcements
arrow Upcoming Events
arrow Boats, etc.
arrow Help Wanted
arrow For Sale / Free Stuff
arrow Garage Sales
arrow Homes / Apts/ Property
arrow Pets
arrow Wanted
arrow Lost & Found
arrow Publish Your Ad


Front Page Archives
& Letter Archives
June - Aug 2020
S M T W T F S
31 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
25 29 30 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 39 31 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          

Viewpoints, Analysis,
Op-Eds/Letters

Basic Rules &
Freedom of Speech

Questions, please contact the editor at editor@sitnews.us or call 617-9696

Sitnews reserves
the right to edit.



jpg Opinion

AK CARES Act Changes By Rep. Dan Ortiz = Beginning on June 1st, small businesses were able to apply for AK CARES Act relief funding, which is Federal funds intended to help support local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED) and AIDEA have had difficulties getting the money to applicants; of the $290 million in relief funds allocated by the Legislature in May, only a small percentage of those funds have been distributed to local businesses.

In response, multiple House committees held hearings to take public comment about the AK CARES Act program. The response from Alaskans was heard loud and clear: changes needed to be made.

On August 6th, important changes were made to expand eligibility: nonprofit 503(C)(6) organizations and commercial fishermen are now eligible. The changes also allowed small businesses that had already received up to $5,000 in PPP/EIDL funds eligible to apply. Now, the State has expanded the eligibility of that last point even more. - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020

jpg Opinion

What About Employee Liability Protection? By Mark O'Brien - There have been a few opinion letters published recently regarding the topic of business liability protections. The common thread here is that it is critical for business to be protected from liability should employees fall ill while in their employ.

What seems to be missing in these heartfelt pleas for commonsense regulation is concern for the healthcare options that are currently available to workers. Unless there is a commitment for universal healthcare, banning exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and removal of medical insurance caps; these arguments seem generally self-serving. - More...
Monday PM - August 31, 2020

jpg Opinion

OURPORT By Mike Holman, Chris Parks, Mary Wanzer, Kay Andrew, Charles Freeman and Wally Kubley - OURPORT was formed nearly a year ago by a small group of local business owners who were opposed to the City of Ketchikan’s plan to lease and transfer management of the downtown cruise ship docks to a private company for a term of thirty years. Last winter, over 400 citizens and dozens of additional business owners signed petitions supporting OURPORT’s opposition to the City’s plan. The petitions and much more information about the City’s Request for Proposals (“RFP”) can be reviewed on the internet at ourport.org.

Three proposals were submitted to the City last January. Just as the City was about to undertake a proposal selection process that was originally intended to be complete by June, the COVID pandemic began to change everything. The selection process slowed down when the health crisis took priority. Still, the City has continued to pursue its goal of privatizing our public docks. Although the Council has already rejected one of the three proposals (without explanation); unless they abandon the plan altogether, they will select one of the two remaining proposals in the coming weeks.- More...
Wednesday AM - August 26m 2020

jpg Opinion

Business Liability Protection is Necessary for Alaska’s Businesses By Win Gruening - Alaska is beginning to re-open our economy post-COVID and the economic impact has been particularly felt by our small businesses. Employers have especially valid concerns, since they must concern themselves with their own health and the health of their employees and patrons, but also the future of their businesses.

Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to lawsuits from customers and employees contracting COVID. For that reason, Alaska needs to implement its own business liability protections, as many states have already, without waiting for the federal government to act – businesses need confidence in order to reopen and bring our economy back online.

Small business owners are concerned about liability for their businesses, and for good reason. A NFIB survey found that about 70 percent of small business owners surveyed are concerned about increased liability during the reopening of their states. In states without COVID business liability protections, a single lawsuit could devastate a small business through damage payments and legal fees, even without proving negligence or malice. The mere threat of burdensome legal fees, negative publicity, and dozens of spurious lawsuits will chill the economy. After weeks of mandated closures, it’s a financial risk that many small businesses may be unwilling to undertake. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 26, 2020

jpg Opinion

DIVIDENDS DON'T GROW ON TREES By Ray Metcalfe - When I was seven, I read a book titled: THE LITTLE RED HEN. The Little Red Hen found four stalks of wheat her farmer had dropped. The Little Red Hen thought to herself, "if I plant the grain from these stalks of wheat, the seeds will grow enough grain to make a loaf of bread." One at a time, the Little Red Hen asked the pig, the cat, and the duck, if they would help her plant the wheat so she could make some bread. One by one the pig, the cat, and the duck, all refused to help plant the grain. When ask to help harvest the grain, they all said no, no, no! They refused to grind the wheat into flour and they refused to help make the bread. The Little Red Hen did everything herself. But when the smell of fresh baked bread came wafting through the barnyard, they all came running to help eat the bread. The Little Red Hen said no, no, no, I'm going to eat it myself.

I'm reminded of this story every time I hear that whining sound, "Where's my PFD?" And the loudest echoes of "where's my PFD" seems to be coming from voters who have for decades, voted to elect Senators and Representatives who absolutely refuse to vote to tax for the extraction of the oil we all own.

DIVIDENDS DON'T GROW ON TREES.

Without taxing for the extraction of our oil, there will be no dividends. In 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, I helped the FBI put six of my fellow elected legislators behind bars for taking bribes in exchange for their votes to prevent the State from taxing for the extraction of our oil. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 26, 2020

jpg Opinion

Running for Ketchikan City Council By Riley Gass - Hello friends, family, and fellow citizens of Ketchikan. My name is Riley Gass, and I am humbly asking for your support in this year’s Ketchikan City Council race. I am a life-long resident of Ketchikan and have family ties to Ketchikan on both sides of my family. I’m a proud Christian, proud American, proud Alaskan, and I am a proud Ketchikanite. I believe I’m the right man for the job because I believe in listening, understanding, and compromising, but I also believe our elected officials need to be strong and stand up clearly for what they believe in. There is nothing worse than a politician who beats around the bush and tries to tell everyone what they want to hear without being clear on their stance. With me, you will know what you’re getting. I am a staunch supporter of our police department. I believe we need to run our city budget the same way average citizens run their personal budget, you don’t spend more than you make, and yearly increases on taxes in order to go on major government spending sprees is unacceptable, the citizens should not be responsible for reckless spending within our city government. Year after year we see increases on virtually everything within the city from property tax to utility rates and other fees and charges, this is extremely difficult on citizens and local small business owners. These small businesses are the heart of Ketchikan, and year after year they go above and beyond to fund and support our youth in activities such as Little League baseball, youth soccer, football, basketball, volleyball, track, cross country, swimming, ballet, debate, and much more. That is why it would be my priority to make Ketchikan the most business friendly city possible for our local businesses. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 26, 2020

jpg Opinion

Ketchikan School Board's Decisions By Charles Edwardson By Charles Edwardson - My Name is Charles Edwardson I am writing this publication not representing any organized boards, organizations, tribes, governments, non profits or any other groups or individuals in any way, these are my thoughts and my thoughts alon . Feel free to contact me direct at 254-9000 with any comments rebuttals or criticism or support. I won’t get into a back and forth on this publication.

I am writing to express my appreciation for the City of Ketchikan Alaska’s school board for making the right decisions and standing their ground in an obviously polarized situation and considered what is best for the children of this community and opening the schools to the extent that we can safely do.

I have two daughters who teach in the district, my niece who is like a daughter to me teaches in the district, my wife has been a para for nearly 20 years, and a son in-law who teaches in the district and my sister teaches as well, along with another daughter who is a substitute teacher to help pay her way through college not to mention my three grandkids who all attend school in our district. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 26, 2020

jpg Opinion

Is there an upside to COVID-19 By A. M. Johnson - Is there a possible upside to the Corona Virus Hoax?  Hoax defined as this virus being no more deadly than prior major virus statics resulting in far reaching doctorial  consequences. Having so stated, then the upside.

Recently due to the travel restrictions placed on travelers facing the cost of  air fare (We choose to limit flying) and /or Ferry fares,  the negative disruptive social issues in Seattle, seat of our medical objectives, my wife and I chose to delay or cancel scheduled medical appointments.  Our medical sources in Seattle suggested using 'Zoom' type communications if we were game. We agreed, downloaded the invitation to join and awaited the internet appointment. 

In the meanwhile, in anticipation, we self applied blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar score, and temperature which was passed on to the statistic noting nurse prior to the Doctor's appearance.  The appointment went well, both the medical staff and the patient were comfortable with the exchange. recommendations were offered and prescriptions filled.  A call for blood test through Peace Health here in Ketchikan was made and future appointments scheduled. This particular doctor noted that we had neurologist and oncologist with in the hospital whom we had canceled appointments, suggesting that she contact these doctors and suggest similar internet appointments to which we Hartley agreed as welcome. To this we received within a few days the second of three anticipated  appointments. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 26, 2020

jpg Opinion

Use CARES Act funding to make Alaska elections safer and more accessible By Claire Richardson - I think most Alaskans agree that a cornerstone of our democracy is our right to vote. In this turbulent pandemic time across our state, providing absentee ballots for Alaskans so they can safely vote early at home is more important than ever.

Using federal dollars from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the Governor’s Office said in May that Alaska’s COVID-19 Response Fund (CRF), included $3 million in Elections Support, and further noted, “…funds are used to support modifications to the current elections process in light of the COVID19 public health crisis.”

With additional funding in hand for months, there are important actions Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer, who oversees elections, should have implemented to improve voter safety and accessibility. - More...
Wednesday AM - August 26, 2020

Email letters, opinions, OPEDs to editor@sitnews.us



E-mail your news tips, news
releases & photos to:
editor@sitnews.us

SitNews
Stories in the News
©1997 - 2019
Ketchikan, Alaska

In Memory of SitNews' editor
(1999-2006),
Richard (Dick) Kauffman

1932-2007

Mary Kauffman, Webmaster/Editor,
Publisher...
editor@sitnews.us
907 617 9696

 jpg Mary Kauffman, Editor

Locally owned & operated.

Est. 1997
Est. Commercial 2005-2020
©1997 - 2020

 Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted or redistributed without written permission from and payment of required fees to the proper sources.

E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us

Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so, granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.

 

Davies-Barry Insurance - Ketchikan, Alaska

Whale Pass Cabin Rentals - Prince of Wales Island - Southeast Alaska

Tongass Trading Company - Shop A Piece of History - Ketchikan, Alaska

Tongass Trading Co. Furniture House - Ketchikan, Alaska

Community Connections - Ketchikan, Alaska

First Bank - Ketchikan, Alaska

Alaskan and Proud Markets - Grocery & Liquor Stores - Ketchikan, Alaska

Alaska Travelers - Ketchikan, Alaska - Asisting travelers with lodging in Ketchikan since 1999.

Alaska Car Rental - Ketchikan, Alaska

Southeast Water Services - Bulk Water Delivery - Ketchikan, Alaska

Madison Lumber & Hardware - Ketchikan, Alaska (TrueValue)

Ketchikan Humane Society

AAA Moving & Storage - Allied Alaska - Ketchikan, Alaska

The Local Paper - Ketchikan, Alaska The Local Paper - Ketchikan, Alaska The Home Office - The Local Paper; Ketchikan, Alaska

The Local Paper is
available online.
Click here for this week's printed edition (PDF)

KRBD - Ketchikan FM Community Radio for Southern Southeast Alaska

Shop Local & Advertise Local with SitNews - Ketchikan, Alaska