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Ketchikan: Lighthouse Family Returns to Guard Island By DAVE KIFFER - From the time it was built in the early 1900s to the time it was automated in the 1970s, dozens of people lived on tiny Guard Island at the northern end of Tongass Narrows near Vallenar Point on Gravina Island. Last year, a family that had lived on the island in 1950s came back for a visit.

The tales of those times are collected in Chris Waugh's new book "Misty Memories of Guard Island, Alaska: Ketchikan's Legacy of A Lighthouse Family."

Waugh was the young daughter who lived on the island with her parents, Dan and Alline Moore from 1952 to 1954. She was less than a year old when she came to Alaska and doesn't remember much of her time on the island. But when the family came back for a visit in 2005, she started collecting her parent's recollections and decided to put them into a book.

In 1901, Congress appropriated $100,000 for eleven lighthouses along the Alaska coast. Guard Island was built in 1903-1904. By the 1920s, the original wooden buildings had deteriorated and were replaced with reinforced concrete ones in 1922.

The original lighthouse keepers were civilian employees of the government but, in 1939, the Coast Guard took over Guard Island operations.

"My dad was transferred to Guard Island for a year in January, 1951," Waugh writes. "They called it 'isolated duty' because the conditions resulted in confinement and because he served long periods of continuous duty."

Dan Moore was the engineer on the island. There were other Coast Guard personnel there as well the Milton Fox and his family. After Fox transferred to Ketchikan, the lighthouse head, Chief Sydney Jackson, suggested that Moore bring his family to join him.

"There were several things to consider," Waugh writes. "Daddy's duty was not over yet and mother and I could only be with him by moving up there (from Vancouver, Washington). They'd be able to save some money because he received isolated duty pay and because most expenses were covered. On the flip side, there was the isolation. Plus they would have a new baby - me. All the factors were weighed, and the decision was made to move the family to Guard Island." - More...
Tuesday PM - September 19, 2006

National: The money chase in Congress never ends By LISA MASCARO - This is the part of Congress you never see - your elected officials alone in a tiny, drab office with nothing but a desk, a phone and one thing on their minds: money.

Elected officials spend a good chunk of their workweeks outside of their offices. Sometimes they are at their party's headquarters, sometimes they are using cell phones on street corners outside the Capitol. But always, they are dialing for dollars - an activity in which ethics rules prohibit them from engaging at their congressional offices.

Instead of working in their congressional offices, they go in search of money while their staffs work on drafting legislation, helping constituents and cajoling the bureaucracy.

The reason is the escalating cost of campaigns. Members need money to win re-election every two years, and their political parties pressure them to raise money for other candidates, said Meredith McGehee, policy director at Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan organization that advocates campaign finance reform.

The Federal Election Commission said congressional candidates raised $1.2 billion in 2003-04, and are on track to raise more in this two-year cycle. For a typical $1 million House race, a member would need to raise more than $1,000 a day. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 19, 2006

National: White House may compromise on terrorism detainees By MARGARET TALEV - With time running out before Congress recesses next week, the White House appeared Tuesday to be offering dissident Republican senators a compromise on detainee legislation that would leave the language of the Geneva Conventions untouched if lawmakers preserve the CIA's terrorist-interrogation program.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, an administration ally, described the proposal in broad terms, saying, "that's essentially what it does," but stressed that "this is still a negotiation in flux."

Cornyn said any deal could hinge on whether the Justice Department can provide the CIA with a legal opinion "that, yes, what you're doing is clearly within bounds and will not expose you to liability."

The Bush administration wants to ensure that certain harsh CIA interrogation practices aren't ruled illegal, such as "water-boarding," which simulates drowning. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that U.S. treatment of detainees must respect standards of the Geneva Conventions, post-World War II international treaties that guarantee human rights and standards of justice for prisoners of war. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 19, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Open letter to all candidates local, regional, and statewide By Carrie L. James - Tuesday Yes To White Cliff Ballot Initiatives By Laurie Booyse - Tuesday Thank you USPS By Paul Perry - Tuesday Stop Schoencliff 2 By John Beck - Tuesday "Thousands" By Elizabeth Nelson - Tuesday Reply to "Start from Scratch" By Alan Miller - Tuesday Yes to White Cliff By Mary Ellen Haseltine - Monday Vote YES on ballot 1 and 2 By Kerri Roepke Willoughby- Monday White Cliff By Al Johnson- Monday Yes to White Cliff Project By Juanita Diamond - Monday Start from scratch By Don Hoff Jr. - Monday Yes to White Cliff By Elizabeth Nelson - Saturday White Cliff Sales Tax By Jon Hurley- Saturday White Cliff: Join Me In Voting Yes By Charlotte L.Glover- Saturday Whitecliff, old or new By Laura Lowell - Saturday $50.00 Cruise Tax By Wayne H. Farnum - Saturday Let's Be Careful Out There By Dave Kiffer - Friday White Cliff Center Clarification and Why I Support the Project By Kim Judge - Friday White Cliff Center Project -- Why White Cliff? By James A. Van Altvorst - Friday Pipeline Unity Essential By Gov. Frank H. Murkowski - Friday Voting YES on White Cliff By Penny Pedersen - Friday White Cliff Project By Diana Chaudhary - Friday Senior Center Serves Many By Mike Branco - Friday Cruisers tax out By Gabreal A. Easterly - Friday White Cliff: A Community Project By Sara Lawson - Wednesday $50 Cruise Ship Tax By Joe Johnson - Wednesday Cruise Tax By Chris Elliott - Wednesday Voting NO on Whitecliff! By Robert D. Warner - Wednesday Candidate for City Council By Samuel Bergeron - Wednesday White Cliff / Baseball By Scott Klein - Wednesday Not A Critique & Primary Ballots By Charlotte Tanner - Wednesday Cruise Ship Tax By Vic and Judi Vreeland - Wednesday Not a critique By Craig Moen - Sunday No to White Cliff Project By G. J. Williams - Saturday Pride & Prejudice By Jennifer Brewer - Saturday Stop Schoencliff By John Beck - Saturday Admission to Alaska Tax By Doug Irish - Saturday Retort: Divisions By Don Hoff Jr. - Saturday 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 September 2006 Click on the date to read the stories published on that day. S M T W T F S 27 28 29 30 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 Front Page Archives

Alaska: Too many Kenai brown bears die for a hunt this year By BRANDON LOOMIS - Twenty-three Kenai brown bears have died this year, mostly shot by people protecting themselves or their property, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

That death toll is higher than the area management threshold, which will shut down the peninsula's Oct. 15-Oct. 31 grizzly season for the second year in a row.

averaged over three years, with no more than eight of those dead bears being sows older than 1 year. The current three-year average is 19, with seven grown sows killed.

"Many of the bears killed this year and in the recent past are the result of bears getting food rewards around humans," said Thomas McDonough, the department's assistant area biologist for the peninsula. Among the most tempting deathtraps for bears have been poorly secured household garbage, salmon carcasses dumped by the Russian River, fish coolers and backpacks, McDonough said. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 19, 2006

Alaska: Workers' Comp Reforms Lead to Proposed 10.5% Reduction in Rates for 2007 - Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski today said he was very pleased that workers' compensation system reforms proposed by the administration and enacted last year by the Legislature have led to a proposed 10.5 percent reduction in workers' compensation insurance rates for 2007.

"When we took office four years ago, workers' compensation rates were second highest in the nation, second only to California," Murkowski said. "With the reforms we achieved last year, we are now looking at an average reduction in those rates of 10.5 percent. After years of suffering through ever escalating rates, Alaska's employers can now look back and see that the effort was worthwhile. Lower rates will translate into more viable Alaska businesses that will be able to hire more workers."

Murkowski made workers' compensation reform a top priority two years ago and introduced legislation in the 2004 regular legislative session. The bill was finally passed in a special legislative session in 2005.

The proposed reduction is the first overall decrease in workers' compensation insurance rates since 1999. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 19, 2006

Ketchikan: Blood and Bone Marrow Drive - As part of the annual Ketchikan Health Fair, First City Rotary, The Blood Bank of Alaska and Alaska Health Fair, Inc. will be sponsoring a Blood and Bone Marrow Drive. Blood donors must be between eighteen and seventy four years of age. Sixteen and seventeen year olds may also donate with parental permission. Donors must also weigh at least 110 pounds and be in overall good health. The process takes approximately one hour, and all donors can enjoy cookies and juice when they are done.

Bone marrow registration will also be conducted during the health fair. The test is a simple swabbing of the inside of the cheek. Those who wish to add their names to the National Bone Marrow Registry will be able to do so at a substantially reduced rate, thanks to financial support from grants and funding provided by Ketchikan's First City Rotary. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 19, 2006

Ketchikan: Arts this Week - The Friday Night Insights programs begin again on September 22 with "Guard Island: Then and Now" at the SE AK Discovery Center with presenter Chris Waugh. Life on Guard Island from 1952 - 1953 will be highlighted for this talk. 7-8pm at 50 Main Street.

The Ketchikan Community Concert Band plays into high gear for the fall starting on Monday, September 25 from 7-9pm at McPherson Music. They will rehearse very Monday night in the fall to get ready for the Fall Concert on December 10. Call 225-3650 to register and for more information.

The 2006 Winter Arts Faire is just around the corner. Start the 2006 holiday shopping bonanza out right with the 2006 Winter Arts Faire, November 24 and 25 at the Ted Ferry Civic Center. Booth holders from the 2005 faire can reclaim their booth space starting September 22 through October 18. To register or for more information call the Arts council at 225-2211. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 19, 2006

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