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Ketchikan: Zipping and Paddling for A Cause By JARED GROSS - The Farewell to Summer Ketchikan Volunteer Hospice fundraiser was held on Sunday, September 3 by Southeast Exposure. The Fundraiser was attended by 68 locals who participated in Southeast Exposures most popular tours; the Eagle Island Sea Kayak, and Rainforest Ropes and Zipline Challenge. Southeast Exposure's 15 guides volunteered in the afternoon event. Over 2,500 dollars was raised for the Hospice.

The fundraiser was the idea of Southeast Exposure guide Rob Mueller who wanted to commemorate the first anniversary of his brother Matt's passing from cancer. Mr. Mueller visited with Jerri Taylor-Elkin, Ketchikan volunteer Hospice coordinator in July and the two came up with the idea of an active fundraiser.

Guide Sarah Rennick enjoyed volunteering for the Hospice and says "this event shows that people from Ketchikan can really come together for an event such as this, and maybe in the future the community will continue to support this event." - More...
Tuesday - September 05, 2006

National: Democratic Congress no longer a long shot By MARC SANDALOW - There are two competing storylines for the 2006 midterm elections.

Nine weeks before election day, Democrats are poised to make their biggest gains since the post-Watergate elections more than three decades ago.

Discontent over the war in Iraq, falling wages, corruption on Capitol Hill and President Bush's sinking popularity have led experts to forecast a perfect storm that will return Democrats to a majority in the House for the first time since 1994, and make San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi the speaker.

The experts give Democrats a shot at winning control of the Senate, a possibility that was regarded as unthinkable when the summer began, and say the party's prospects of taking over more than half of the nation's governorships are near certain.

Yet even as they foresee the strongest Democratic election in a generation, these same prognosticators see sharp limits to the party's potential gains. - More...
Tuesday - September 05, 2006

National: Surveys differ on effectiveness of anti-drug campaign By RICHARD POWELSON - Regional and national surveys differ on whether the federal anti-drug ad campaign over several years helped reduce illegal drug use among youths.

A recent analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office looked at a national survey by a contractor, Westat Inc., and concluded that there was "credible evidence" that a national TV, radio and print campaign "was not effective in reducing youth drug use" from 1998 to 2004. About $1.2 billion was spent over those years, the GAO found.

By contrast, a four-year regional survey of Tennessee and Kentucky students, grades 4 to 12, found that the ad campaign targeting marijuana use in 2002 and 2003 had a significant effect on youths.

In that period, the percent of frequent substance abusers reporting marijuana use in the past 30 days dropped from about 18 percent to 13 percent, the study found. - More...
Tuesday - September 05, 2006

Fish Factor: Crab industry fed up with being pinched By Laine Welch - Alaska's Bering Sea crab industry is fed up with being pinched by Russian poachers who are flooding U.S. markets with illegally caught king crab from the Barents Sea. Industry leaders are joining international efforts to crackdown on the illegal fishing, and also are asking for help from Congress.

The Barents Sea, which straddles Norway and Russia, is home to the world's biggest new crab boom. Both countries have been conducting a legal fishery there for less than five years. King crab was transplanted to the Barents Sea by Russians about 60 years ago. Today, the largely untapped resource is estimated at 12 million legal size king crabs and it is growing fast.

The Norwegian share of the king crab quota last year was 240,000 crabs (about two million pounds); the Russian quota was three million animals (22 million pounds). While there is no evidence of wrongdoing by Norwegian crabbers, fisheries officials estimate the Russian poaching rate topped 44 million pounds of king crab in the past year - two times the legal catch quota. A similar illegal catch is also projected for 2007 and 2008.

Most of the poundage is ending up in the U.S., according to Arni Thomson, director of the Alaska Crab Coalition (ACC), a Seattle-based trade group that is leading the charge to curtail the crab influx. Thomson discussed the problem last month with fisheries and marketing officials in Norway, and took his findings to the U.S. Congress.

"It is clear that almost 30 million pounds of processed crab would not be available on the world market, were it not for illegal fishing in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea. We believe the bulk of that comes into the U.S.," Thomson said. Based on current prices, the illegal king crab has an estimated wholesale value of $225-$250 million.

There is no doubt that the illegal tonnage is displacing markets and driving down prices for Alaska's crab industry, said market analyst John Sackton. "It is a serious problem. The U.S. king crab supply has increased by about 60 percent due to the Barents Sea production. As a result, market prices could be 15 ­ 25 percent lower for the Bering Sea industry this year," Sackton predicts. - More...
Tuesday - September 05, 2006

Wrangell Golf: Muskeg Meadows Golf Tournament News - The 9-hole Muskeg Meadows Golf course located in Wrangell is the first regulation golf course in Southeast Alaska. The facility is operated by the Wrangell Golf Club which is a non-profit organization created by local golf enthusiasts.

Numerous golf tournaments are held at Muskeg Meadows Golf course. The results of the latest tournaments held over the Labor Day weekend are as follows: - More...
Tuesday - September 05

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters SALES TAX SHOULD BUILD A NEW WHITE CLIFF FACILITY By Pete Ellis - Monday Gravina bridge response to editorial By Michael Spence - Monday SALES TAX FOR WHITE CLIFF CENTER - SOMETHING ON WHICH WE SHOULD ALL BE ABLE TO AGREE By Robert McClory - Saturday Theft of Our Lands in Ketchikan - The Dark Days By Don Hoff Jr. - Saturday Gravina Island Clean-up Begins By Jerry Cegelske - Saturday It's a wash... By Chris Elliott - Thursday Farewell By Tyrell Rettke - Thursday Protecting our Rights on the Stikine River By Renee Claggett - Thursday White Cliff Center project By Karen Eakes - Thursday Thanks for your support! By Gregory Vickrey - Thursday James's Last Trip to Alaska By Doug Barry - Thursday WHITE CLIFF DEMOLITION? By Pete Ellis - Wednesday DAHL AND NEEDHAM KUDOS By Pete Ellis - Wednesday Last Visit To Alaska By Neil Gray - Wednesday Responsibility falls on owner By Kelly Needham - Wednesday Last Visit to Alaska By ML Dahl - Tuesday Pit Bulls By Michael Moyer - Tuesday Gatorade is not the problem By Al Johnson - Tuesday Forced Conversion Frees Hostages? By Mark Neckameyer - Tuesday Last visit By Kelly Needham - Tuesday Elkins has earned his place in Ketchikan's roster By June Allen - Saturday Grounded Vessel By Jennifer Brewer - Saturday My last trip to Alaska By Peter James - Saturday Bully breeds By Kelly Needham - Friday Support Your Locally-Owned Businesses By Mark O'Brien - Wednesday Medical Costs By Pat Long - Wednesday Pleased with vote By Douglas J. Thompson - Wednesday Living in a vacuum? By Vicki Harsha - Wednesday Eye of the Beholder Letter By Rob Glenn - Wednesday This Will Only Take A Minute! By Marcia Hilley - Tuesday Gaming? By Lonnie Guthrie - Tuesday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Arts This Week Today's Forecast Ketchikan Weather Data Current AK Weather Map Classifieds & Announcements August 2006 Click on the date to read the stories published on that day. 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 28 29 30 31 01  02 Front Page Archives

Dave Kiffer: It's A Small World - Okay everyone, after me!

"It's a world of laughter, a world or tears
it's a world of hopes, it's a world of fear
there's so much that we share
that it's time we're aware
it's a small world after all."

Yeah., yeah, I hate that song too. One of the highlights of the family trip to Disneyland last January was the fact that the Small World ride was closed. Of course, the song was still playing on the loudspeakers, but you take what comfort you can get in the "Happiest Place on Earth."

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, Charlotte, Liam, Grandpa Vern and I were enjoying the Saturday Market in downtown Portland when a librarian friend of my wife's popped up. He is from Dutch Harbor. The odds of someone from Ketchikan running into someone they know from Dutch Harbor in downtown Portland have to be pretty slim. - More...
Tuesday - September 05, 2006

Preston MacDougall: Chemical Eye on Jacking-up Testosterone - Gretchen Wilson's country music smash hit, "All Jacked Up", wasn't exactly the most ladylike song to take-off from Nashville's Music Row last year. This isn't surprising considering that previously she became famous for confessing to be a "Redneck Woman."

But there may even be a chemical explanation for Ms. Wilson's affinity for mud, trucks and guns, if Floyd Landis's explanation for his failed urine test holds water, so to speak.

His urine sample was routinely taken after the 17th stage of the Tour de France this year, where Mr. Landis mounted an impressive come-from-behind effort in the Alps. After two days of high, but declining performance, he narrowly gave up the lead. More importantly, however, he retook the yellow jersey (which represents best standing overall) and wore it all the way to the Arc de Triumph where a champion's reception awaited - along with a team of analytical chemists. - More...
Tuesday - September 05, 2006

Rob Holston: Sugar Frosted Flakes, You're OOOOOUT! - enjoyed several games from the Little League World Series recently. One of the corporate sponsors of this entertaining series on TV was Kellogg's Frosted Flakes with Tony the Tiger himself. Along with Tony, always a kid's favorite, the ads features Major League player, Derrek Lee. It had been a while since I had eaten a bowl of Kellogg's "SUGAR" Frosted Flakes, so I purchased a box. Is it just my imagination or was this product at one time called SUGAR Frosted Flakes. I suspect "sugar", the word was removed to increase sales and "sugar", the additive was kept, to increase addiction.

Inside my new box of Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes I found a toy. Oh Great! Just what I needed! A skull with a little red light that flashes on and off as if it was a warning. How inappropriate that the skull and red warning light were not attached to the outside of the box to warn parents and children of the impending danger of actually ingesting this product on a regular basis. - More...
Tuesday - September 05, 2006

Bob Ciminel: Another Nail in the Coffin - Would The Last Corporation Leaving California Please Turn Out the Lights? No. Wait. They're Already Off.

The Left Coast is at it again. Having terminated the state's nuclear industry - California will not let its investor-owned utility companies, or any other entity for that matter, build another nuclear power plant until the Federal government opens a spent fuel repository somewhere other than in California. Rest assured, if the Feds ever do open the Yucca Mountain repository, which probably will not occur in my lifetime, California's short-sighted politicians and environmentalist will find another reason to keep its citizens in the dark.

Already suffering from a lack of generating capacity, the state recently passed sweeping legislation to limit the release of greenhouse gases to levels that existed in 1990, thereby hamstringing the companies operating fossil-fueled power plants, as well as its petrochemical industry, most of whose output provides reformulated gasoline sold in California to meet the state's already tight emission standards. - More...
Tuesday - September 05, 2006