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Saturday
September 26, 2015
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Close Encounters of the Critter Kind
AN 8-month-old Yorkie named Bosco appeared to be surprized when making close contact with this doe; the doe appeared just as curious about Bosco.
Front Page Photograph By HONEY SUCKINAW ©2015
Click Here to select your Favorite Front Page Photo(s) of the Month
(Submit your photograph to be featured on the SitNews' front page. Email photo to editor@sitnews.us include your name and a brief photo description.)
Alaska: Natural Gas Pipeline a "Must-Have" Says Governor; Calls Special Session By MARY KAUFFMAN - Alaska Governor Bill Walker issued a proclamation Thursday calling the Alaska Legislature into a special session next month to consider legislation to move a project forward to get the natural gas on the North Slope to market. Efforts to to commercialize North Slope gas dates back to the 1970s.
In a short video address to Alaskans: Governor Walker explained the urgency of North Slope gas production.
Photo: Screen shot from video.
Addressing what the Governor describes as the urgency of North Slope gas production, Walker called the special session to be held in Juneau on October 24th.
“With a $3.5 billion budget deficit, this gasline project has gone from a wish-list item to a must-have,” said Governor Walker. “Under the negotiation process I inherited, very little has been accomplished on the commercial agreements. It is time to make the necessary legislative changes so a single party cannot delay the production of Alaska’s natural gas resources and sway our destiny.”
Part of Governor Walker’s legislation package, which will be introduced before the start of the special session, includes a proposal to buy TransCanada’s share of the gas pipeline and gas treatment facility. Governor Walker said this is absolutely critical to ensure Alaska has a seat at the negotiating table. The legislation package will also include a bill to reinstate a reserve tax on North Slope resources in the ground that are not developed. In 1975, Governor Bill Egan signed a similar piece of legislation allowing the state to collect oil revenue prior to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline being built.
“For far too long, Alaska’s gas has been treated like milk with no expiration date, and it never gets to the front of the cooler,” Governor Walker explained. “Without this insurance policy, Alaska runs the significant risk of never monetizing our gas resources for the benefit of all Alaskans and future generations.”
Governor Walker also released his administration’s review of the Alaska LNG project Thursday, which provides a brief history of the state’s prior efforts to produce North Slope gas, and explains why Alaska must take a more aggressive role in future gasline negotiations. The report summarizes the results of a review of the AKLNG project process, and highlights the challenges the project faces under the negotiating framework that was established by SB 138. Governor Walker noted the importance of releasing this report in time for the special session as it lays out the necessary changes to finally bring North Slope gas to market and to Alaskans.
“This legislation will vastly improve the probability of an Alaska gasline being built,” Governor Walker said. “It ensures that, if one or more producers delay construction of the gasline, Alaska still receives critical tax revenues from our natural gas resources. But only if we have the political will and courage to do so.”
Senator Cathy Giessel (R-Anchorage), Chair of the Senate Resources Committee, reacted to the Governor's Executive Proclamation to convene a special legislative saying, “While the Senate is enthusiastic about moving a natural gas project forward, and having a special session to accomplish this goal, the governor’s legislative priorities will make achieving that goal elusive,” Senator Giessel said.
The governor has asked the Alaska Legislature to consider a proposed tax on natural gas reserves and to consider an appropriation request to buy-out the interest of TransCanada, a pipeline company that has stood in for the State of Alaska’s interest on part of the project, according to Giessel.
“While the policy discussion of whether or not to terminate the State of Alaska’s relationship with TransCanada is timely and appropriate, proposing a reserves tax is something the administration has a tremendous burden to justify,” Senator Giessel said. “We have held over a dozen hearings on the topic of a gas project this year, and not once was a gas reserves tax seriously discussed in any of them. To see it on the call, frankly, takes me by surprise.”
The Alaska LNG Project is the framework the state has pursued since 2014, enshrined in Senate Bill 138, which passed the Legislature by a combined vote of 52-8. The state has partnered with ExxonMobil, BP, ConocoPhillips and TransCanada to finally create a North Slope natural gas project that brings gas to Alaskan homes, businesses, and to world markets, said Giessel.
According to Giessel, the governor’s proclamation did not include other elements the Legislature stands ready to consider and are within the purview of the administration. Missing elements include a property tax bill based on the framework negotiated with Department of Revenue Commissioner Randall Hoffbeck and mayors, whose districts sit along the proposed project corridor; a determination by the Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Mark Myers as to whether the state will take its gas royalty in kind or in the form of payments; and the selection of the five take-off points for natural gas to Alaskan communities along the pipe corridor, among others. - More...
Saturday PM - September 26, 2015
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Fish Factor: Threatened Government Shutdown Threatens Crab Fishery... Again By LAINE WELCH - Bering Sea crabbers are again facing the possibility of a delayed fishery as Congressional Republicans threaten to shut down the government, this time over federal funding of Planned Parenthood.
A shutdown two years ago stalled the crab opener by two days, costing the fleet more than $5 million in food, fuel and other fees as the boats stood idly by for a week or more awaiting an outcome.
“It was a huge mess last time,” said Mark Gleason, executive director of the trade group, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “We have a very tight time frame – when the fishery opens on October 15, we need to be out there getting that crab caught, processed and on its way to Japan to take advantage of the holiday market.”
A shutdown means no federal workers are on the job to issue permits for those holding catch shares of the crab. No permits, no fishery.
“You have a situation where you not only have harm to the crab fishermen, but also to the processors in the area. You have an economic impact to a whole region because you don’t have somebody in an agency who is there to pick up the phone, sign the piece of paper to issue the harvest limits, nothing can happen,” said Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski.
The thing is, the Bering Sea crab fisheries are not beholden to federal dollars. The crabbers pay an annual fee each July based on their catches which covers all management and enforcement costs. (Alaska longliners with shares of halibut and sablefish do the same.)
“We’ve made the case that we pay our bills up front, we cover the costs of management, the money is in the bank and because this money is not subject to federal appropriations, the workers shouldn’t be subject to the furloughs and we should have the quotas issue on time,” Gleason said.
In fact, according to the Federal Register, the fee was increased from .65 percent in 2013 to 1.48 percent last year and this year to cover increased costs to maintain and upgrade the permitting and Internet landings systems. That’s yielded more than $3 million in fishery coverage costs.
“This is a program where the user fees cover the costs. It pays for itself, so you don’t need to wait around for a budget,” Murkowski added.
The crabbers are hopeful senior fishery managers get the message, Gleason said.
A government shutdown will have adverse impacts on all federally managed fisheries, meaning from three to 200 miles offshore. More than 80 percent of Alaska’s seafood by volume comes from federal waters. - More...
Saturday PM - September 26, 2015
Alaska: State Plans to Manage Winter Maintenance Efforts With Fewer Resources - With some areas of the state beginning to see winter weather, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced they are preparing to manage Alaska’s roads with fewer resources.
All state agencies, including ADOT&PF, are working with reduced operating budgets due to low oil prices. For Alaska drivers, budget impacts will be most visible during winter storms when the department’s maintenance resources are in demand.
According to ADOT&PF, each winter they maximize its resources to meet the provided operating budget. This winter will be no different. However, the response frequency will be reduced, and response time to all routes may take longer depending on the severity of the winter storm.
ADOT&PF follows a systematic approach to clear Alaska’s roads of snow and ice by categorizing every state-maintained road as one of five priority levels. Each level is based on traffic volume, speed, and connections to communities and other roads within the local transportation network. - More...
Saturday PM - September 26, 2015
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Alaska Science: Arrowheads lost (and found) in time By NED ROZELL - Dave Klein was 47 when he kicked into a scree slope in Atigun Canyon and saw something unusual in the rocks below. He reached down and picked up a three-inch wedge of bone or antler that had been worked into points on each end. One half of it had notched barbs.
An arrow tip ecologist Dave Klein found in Atigun Canyon in 1974.
Photo by Dave Klein
Klein was 88 when he was hiking near Atigun Canyon with students on a field trip through the Brooks Range in June 2015. As he scanned the ground beneath his feet, the UAF emeritus professor of biology and wildlife again saw something foreign. This time it was an arrow with a carbon-fiber shaft and a metal broadhead sporting three blades sharp as a razor.
Picking up the arrow, Klein thought back 41 years, to 1974. Industry prospectors had discovered oil near Prudhoe Bay. An 800-mile pipe and the road needed to build it were coming soon. A possible pathway was through Atigun Canyon, rocky high country preferred by Dall sheep. Bob Summerfield, a graduate student advised by Klein, was studying the sheep before the construction to see what a road and pipeline might affect. (The pipeline was routed out of Atigun Canyon just before Summerfield’s thesis was printed.)
Klein enjoyed getting outside with his graduate students (he advised 66 during his long UAF career). He is also a good observer. When in 1974 he saw what he thought was a weapon point, he picked it up and put it in his backpack. He donated it to the University of Alaska museum when he returned to Fairbanks. It is still there, in a drawer.
The specimen is probably the tip of an arrow, said Josh Reuther, archaeology curator at the museum. Natives in the area used bow and arrow technology since at least 3,500 years ago. Because the upper canyon is somewhat dry, the arrow tip Klein picked up in 1974 could have been exposed for a few thousand years, Reuther said. - More...
Saturday PM - September 26, 2015
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Columns - Commentary
DAVE KIFFER: Just a little sip in the air - Our old family friend Skookum Gregorchuck calls this time of year, the 'eer time. He means it is the time of hunting deer and making beer.
We'll talk about the hunting deer later, but I was reminded about the making of beer recently when I saw a story about Craft Beers and Brew Pubs and all that sort of thing being a big to-do in Alaska these days. Heckfire, there are even books one can buy if one wants to sip their beery way up one side and down the other of Alaska.
It seems that the Last Frontier is even trying to market itself to "beer tourists" who may want to combine a trip to Alaska with the desire to sample the various brews - home and otherwise - of this great state. - More...
Saturday PM - September 26, 2015
CHRISTINE FLOWERS: Pope Francis and the Defense of the Unborn - As pontiff, Pope Francis has led his own stylistic revolution, maintaining the substance of a message two millennia in the making but wrapping it in cloth so dramatically different from his predecessor that some were tricked into believing he'd taken a detour from the established path to salvation.
I'm not afraid to say I've been one of them. The final straw for me was the idea that women who'd had abortions were no longer automatically excommunicated, something announced earlier this month, which clashed dramatically with my understanding of abortion as the greatest sin, the bloodiest wound on the face of humanity.
As other, better Catholics pointed out, this was consistent with a pattern of forgiveness that has existed since the prodigal son wandered off with the little black sheep. Still, the way the media played this up, it angered me to think that we were somehow backtracking on abortion. - More...
Saturday PM - September 26, 2015
TOM PURCELL: The Cause of High College Tuition - Ah, the autumn is upon us. College campuses are buzzing with activity — as college kids and their parents rack up massive debt to cover the cost of high tuition.
The origin of such debt is interesting to trace.
In 1987, reports Slate, President Reagan's secretary of Education, Bill Bennett, published a New York Times op-ed that blamed the growing cost of tuition on "greedy colleges" that raised tuition every time the federal government increased financial aid and the amount students could borrow — funds that were intended to help more kids get college degrees got swallowed up by universities looking to boost revenue.
Boy, did Bennett's theory hold true in 1992. In that year, a sweeping change in federal lending laws greatly increased borrowing limits. The change opened the loan program to virtually everyone. In 1993 and 1994, borrowing increased 57 percent to a then-staggering $24 billion. - More...
Saturday PM - September 26, 2015 |
Political Cartoon: Boehner Quits
By Rick McKee ©2015, The Augusta Chronicle
Distributed to subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.
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 Matt Eisenhower for School Board By Doug Andrew - I am supporting Matt Eisenhower for school board. As the director of community health development for PeaceHealth Matt is in the community talking to people all the time. He is very smart and listens well. Matt is the vice president of Little League Baseball and coaches a junior league team. Matt is also the president of the leadership council for Ketchikan's chapter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Matt has three sons in the Ketchikan school system; Josh is a senior, Nate is a sophomore and Caleb is in 6th grade. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 23, 2015
State taxes? By John Suter - Unless you just came in from Saturn, every one everywhere knows that our state is heading toward a prolonged rescission. The state is looking for ways to raise revenue. We have recently see the Chinese Navy come up to our state. China has a clear desire to have their Navy here. They are willing to pay handsomely to lease some land so they can put in a port here in Alaska for their naval operations. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 23, 2015
A FEW THINGS WORTH KNOWING ABOUT GAS PRICES By David G Hanger - The following are excerpts from a SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS business section article dated September 6. The title of the article is “PRICE OF GAS ON THE SLIDE, EXPECTED TO REST BELOW $2,” By Vicki Vaughan. - More..
Wednesday PM - September 23, 2015
Gas Prices By Frances C. Natkon - Thank you to Rev. Penisten about correcting the cost of gas on POW. I've been wondering where they get their prices from and why do they charge so much when other companies charge less. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 23, 2015
Bill Egan By Lloyd Prouty- One night while I was on patrol Gov. Egan flagged me down and asked "How's business?" He asked if he could ride around with me for a spell and then asked me to take him downtown to buy the "boys" a round. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 23, 2015
RE: Scoring the Great Debate By Joe O'Hara - I agree with much of Michael Reagan's Sept. 17th assessment of the Sept. 13th GOP Presidential Hopefuls for 2016 debate on CNN, but have added the following exceptions: - More...
Wednesday PM - September 23, 2015
When Politicians Call By Arnold Milton - When politicians ask for donations, I respond that they must first back school vouchers for children of all citizens, good as cash at any school, public or private. Also, they must back a simple consumption tax like the "Fair Tax". This response brings pause, because most want to first address their money problem. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 23, 2015
Open Letter: Dear Delta and Future Delta Fliers By Derek Meister - In the interest of veracity, it will suffice to say here that prior to the writing of this final letter regarding our experiences with Delta Airlines, there were indeed several very bizarre and disappointing events that occurred including, but not limited to, compensatory letdowns and wholly unexplainable phone call redirections to apparently scam-oriented sweepstakes prizes. And then it all changed. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 15, 2015
Matt Eisenhower By John & Jillian Malouf - I am pleased to write a letter of reference for Matt Eisenhower for the position of School Board Member of Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District. - More...
Sunday AM - September 13, 2015
POW Gas Prices By Rev. Edmund J. Penisten - The lead article concerning high motor fuel costs in Alaska incorrectly lists the average price of gasoline on Prince of Wales Island as being $3.32 as of September 8. The least costly gasoline on POW has been $3.879 for the past few weeks, and it is sold by the Alaska Commercial Company gas station in Klawock. - More...
Sunday AM - September 13, 2015
Republican leadership bullied By A. M. Johnson - It's a continued frustration watching Republican members of Congress continue to allow the criminal acts by this President regarding how the three branches of government work without any pushback. And now the complete surrender to the breaking of law, by the President with noncompliance of the 'Corker’ law passed requiring the President to present ALL facets of details included ‘secret side deals’ with or related to the Iran agreement. - More..
Sunday AM - September 13, 2015
RE: "Stop Feeding the Beast" By Wiley Brooks - I'm not going to get into a pxxxing contest with a gadfly who spent his professional life profiting from a politically corrupt, archaic tax system. Much of his rhetoric is laced with demagoguery. Mr. Stephen Eldridge has been discredited by numerous taxation experts. - More...
Sunday AM - September 13, 2015
FairTax marketers By Stephen Eldridge - The FairTax marketers are attacking AK. On the same day that SitNews published my reply to AK FT Director Wiley Broojs' letter, they published two more FT propaganda Letters-I replied to one of those two, Joe' O'Hara's and here reply to Amerogo Cimino's. - More...
Sunday AM - September 13, 2015
Flat Tax vs FairTax By Stephen Eldridge - Sitnews recently published my reply to AK FairTax (FT) Director Wiley Brooks' Letter along with a Letter from another FT marketer Joe O'Hara whose Letter explains NOTHING specific about the FT, but merely offers generic propaganda. - More...
Sunday AM - September 13, 2015
A DISTINCT & PREDICTABLE PATTERN By David G Hanger - The inefficiency, incompetence, and outright corruption that monopolies always bring is once again on display in Southeast Alaska with the now annual “GREAT ALASKA GASOLINE GARGANTUAN PRICE GOUGE & RIP-OFF” in full flood. I am sure we will hear that redundant chiming of excuses why all this has to be, but remember one simple thing: They are all a bunch of damned lies. Every year after the Fourth of July gasoline prices go down, the past two years incredibly dramatically, because of seasonal declines in demand, and generally stay down until after Thanksgiving, i.e. the onset of winter. Everywhere but Southeast Alaska where the rigged deal is in. All evidence indicates our politicians belong to Crowley [shipping], bought and paid for. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
Ketchikan's cigarette tax By Chris Elliott - I'm down to 2-3 cigarettes a day, so a tax on them isn't going to hurt me much, but I think our government leaders are missing out on a real cash cow... BOOZE! If they're just looking for an easy mark, booze is going to bring in a lot of extra cash if a hefty tax is levied on it. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
RE: Are You Ready for Back to School 2015? By Amanda Mitchell - Recently, Susan Johnson, wrote into the Sitnews about ‘tighter immunization laws’ in many states. As a clarification, in our State you are allowed religious and medical vaccination exemptions. Hopefully, one day in our State there will be personal exemptions as well. Yes, some states are moving to take your rights away to define what you can or cannot do with your bodies. Some would like States to have full control to define what is healthy and then force you to do what it defines as best. If you believe you have a right to force someone against their will to inject something into their body or alter it for your safety, well-being or desires, then you incorrectly put your responsibility onto somebody else. (So much for tolerance and acceptance of a way a person is or was born, huh? ) Also, if you believe you are responsible for what I or any other person does with our bodies, then you have deemed yourself to be our master and owned by you. Disturbing to say the least as slavery was abolished long ago, but also this paves a very dangerous path for genetic engineering and transhumanism to eventually lead to genocide for those that don’t quite measure up to the ‘health’ standards defined by man. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
THORNE BAY RESIDENTS BEWARE OF THE CITY COUNCIL By Guy Lane - I filed a complaint against the City of Thorne Bay and spoke against the City Council and Administrator, I am now being harassed by the City to an unprecedented level as they attempt to take my constitutional rights and means to protect my family away, this could happen to any resident who makes a complaint or grievance against the City, "there has been recent complaints from several residents of being intimidated and the City Council refused to hear their complaint during a council meeting and or just belittled them". - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
Terrorists? By Robert B. Hoston Jr. - Hillary Clinton is now comparing Republican presidential candidates to terrorists. Terrorist are known for barbaric acts of taking innocent lives, even beheadings and not caring for women. Clinton is comparing presidential candidates to terrorists as she touts women’s rights to healthcare, i.e. “the right to kill" their pre-born children by abortion. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
Open Letter to President Obama By Brett Veerhusen - The Seafood Harvesters of America (the Harvesters) represents 17 commercial fishing organizations from Alaska, to the Gulf of Mexico and New England. As its Executive Director, a life-long Alaskan fisherman, Bristol Bay fisherman, and the son of a man who has fished for 45 years in Alaskan waters, I [welcomed your recent] visit to this great state. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
Global warming By Duane Hill - Inuit verbal tradition includes stories about warmer years, so "global warming" is nothing new. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
Trump The Loose Cannon By Donald A. Moskowitz - Donald Trump should not be a candidate for President of the United States. He is a volatile "loose cannon" who is out of control, and I am not referring to the immigration issue, which has to be addressed by more logical minds. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
Rebirth of America and the World By Joe O'Hara - There is a multitude of 2016 presidential hopefuls - physicians, business people, politicians, liberals, a socialist, and many conservatives - all claiming to have the best interests of the American people at heart. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
Federal income taxes By Amerigo M Cimino - I am heartily in favor of the Fair Tax. Which I think is the only fair way to finance our Federal Government. The Fair Tax is Fair, because it treats every person as equals! There is no discrimination. as race; color; or creed! The Fair Tax is Blind, exactly as our figure of Justice! - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
RE: "Stop Feeding the Beast" By Stephen Eldridge - Mr. Brooks, the Alaska FairTax (FT) Director continues to spew FT propaganda that is false and misleading. He once again pounds on the evils of the current system which we all agree with, including those of us who favor a very flat income tax. He claims (falsely) that "The IRS would be terminated and collection of consumption taxes would become a state level responsibility." That is false on all levels. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 09, 2015
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Ketchikan
Regular Election
October 6, 2015
For the 13th year, Sitnews will be providing a FREE web page to all local 2015 candidates.
1. Local candidates are requested to provide basic background information, experience and qualifications for the public office for which they seek.
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Borough Assembly
3 Year Term
2 Seats Open
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Scott (Sheen) Davis |
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Trevor Shaw |
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Gabriel Duckworth |
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Kim
Hodne |
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James
Schenk
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Jason
Mitchell
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Felix
Wong |
School Board
3 Year Term
3 Seats Open
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Conan
Steele
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Misty
Archibald |
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Alma
Manabat Parker |
KTN City Council
3 Year Term
2 Seats Open
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Spencer S.
Strassburg
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KTN City Council
1 Year Term
1 Seat Open
Withdrew |
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Julie
Isom
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Withdrew |
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KTN City Mayor
3 Year Term
1 Seat Open
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The Local Paper is now available online.
Click here for this week's printed edition.
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