Alaska: Alaska Governor Dunleavy on Permanent Fund Dividend, Recall Effort - Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy of Alaska discussed state budget issues, the permanent fund dividend, and a recall effort aimed at removing him from office. Tuesday he spoke with Bloomberg’s David Westin on “Balance of Power” (Source: Bloomberg.com) - Listen... Ketchikan: Public Meetings Ketchikan: Upcoming Events Ketchikan: Announcements Ketchikan: Classifieds CLASSIFIEDS Publish Your Ad Click Here Historical Ketchikan June Allen Dave Kiffer Louise B. Harrington Ketchikan Weather Ketchikan's Forecast Oct. Daily Records 2019 Sept: Daily Records 2019 Ketchikan Aug. 2019 Data Ketchikan July 2019 Data Ketchikan June 2019 Data Ketchikan May 2019 Data Ketchikan April 2019 Data Ketchikan March 2019 Data Ketchikan Feb. 2019 Data Ketchikan Jan. 2019 Data Nat Weather Service KTN Ketchikan Tides & Currents Sunrise - Sunset Ketchikan Search the News Ketchikan Alaska

Southeast Alaska: Coast Guard assists Troopers to locate two overdue hunters near Klawock – A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew rescued two overdue hunters near Wadleigh Island, in vicinity of Klawock in Southeast Alaska Wednesday. 

Both men were safely hoisted and then transported to Klawock emergency medical services personnel for further evaluation. Both were reported to have been in good condition upon transfer. 

"We located a vessel matching the description of the overdue vessel in a small cove, at anchor," said Lt. Michael Klakring, the co-pilot on the case."Upon circling back to take another look, a flashing light was seen through night vision goggles. One hunter had attempted to hike across the island unsuccessfully overnight. Both were located by flashing their lighters when the helicopter flew over. Thankfully, the Sector Juneau search plan covered this area and they had lighters. The importance of a float plan, signaling device, and personal locator beacon or GPS device cannot be overstated in the Alaskan environment, no matter how close or familiar an outing might be."

At approximately 2:08 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Juneau watchstanders received a report from Alaska State Troopers of a 17-foot skiff with two people aboard that were overdue from a hunting trip. The hunters reportedly departed at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday with plans to proceed to Salt Lake Bay for a hunting trip, with the expectation of returning to Klawock by 4:00 p.m. The hunting location was roughly 20 miles northwest of Klawock. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 30, 2019

Southeast Alaska: Wolf harvest season announced for GMU 2, new process explained  – Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), announce that the state and federal hunting and trapping seasons for wolf in Game Management Unit (GMU) 2 (Prince of Wales Island) will close by emergency order at 11:59 pm on Jan. 15, 2020.  The goal of the new GMU 2 wolf harvest management strategy is to maintain the fall wolf population within the range of 150-200 wolves. 

Management of wolf harvest on Prince of Wales and associated islands, collectively known as GMU 2, was based on a harvest quota and in-season harvest monitoring prior to 2019. When harvest approached the quota, ADF&G and the USFS would close the season by emergency order. This strategy resulted in unpredictable and often short trapping seasons. Trappers noted this strategy limited their flexibility to plan, and at times, has forced them to go out in unfavorable weather conditions to close their traplines in compliance with emergency orders.  

ADF&G worked with the USFS, Fish and Game Advisory Committees, the Alaska Board of Game, the Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council, and trappers to develop a new strategy that would provide the flexibility and responsibility the trappers desired while sustainably managing harvest of this high-profile, wolf population. 

The new strategy manages harvest of GMU 2 wolves by adjusting trapping season length based on ADF&G’s most recent wolf population estimate and its relation to the established population objective. At their January 2019 meeting in Petersburg, the Alaska Board of Game altered harvest regulations to implement this strategy by establishing a GMU 2 wolf population objective of 150-200 wolves, endorsing ADF&G’s harvest management plan, and aligning the opening dates for the state and federal trapping seasons to November 15, 2019.

In August of this year, the Federal Subsistence Board (FSB) approved a temporary special action request by the Southeast Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council to remove regulatory language referencing “a combined Federal-State harvest quota” for wolves in Unit 2 for the 2019-2020 regulatory year. The board also changed the wolf sealing period, the ADF&G monitoring process of placing a tag or seal on harvested animals, in Unit 2 to within 30 days of the end of the season. These FSB actions will promote coordinated management of wolves between ADF&G, and hunters and trappers using the new harvest strategy.  - More....
Wednesday PM - October 30, 2019

Alaska: Alaska: Dozens of Dinosaur Footprints Reveal Ancient Ecosystem of Alaskan Peninsula - Dinosaur fossils are well-known from Alaska, most famously from areas like Denali National Park and the North Slope, but there are very few records of dinosaurs from the Alaskan Peninsula in the southwest part of the state. In this newly released study, Arctic dinosaur expert Anthony R. Fiorillo, Ph.D. and colleagues document abundant dinosaur trackways from Aniakchak National Monument, around 450 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Fiorillo has done extensive research in Alaska during the past two decades, he will never forget his first visit to Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, one of the least-visited places in the National Park System (NPS). Located in the region around the Aniakchak volcano on the Aleutian Range, this 601,294-acre monument is one of the least-visited places in the National Park System due to its remote location and difficult weather. 

Now, 18 years later, research conducted by the veteran paleontologist has been published in one of the world’s most prestigious science journals, PLOS ONE. The paper documents Fiorillo’s findings of a diverse assemblage of fossils – including birds, plants and many dinosaurs – representing life some 70 million years ago in Aniakchak.

Fiorillo’s studies show that southern Alaska was home to a variety of creatures, and among those were herds of hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs) that cared for their young. The hadrosaurs – that he fondly dubs as “the caribou of the Cretaceous” – were found often in the ancient environments believed to be humid and coastal. 

“Our study shows that despite how remote Aniakchak National Monument is today for visitors, it was home to an abundance of dinosaurs – a virtual paleontological candy store for dinosaur studies,” said Fiorillo. “Also, we found many fossil tracks along the ancient bay and river deposits preserved in these rocks, demonstrating that even dinosaurs enjoyed a day at the beach.”

One of the co-authors on this new study, Dr. Yoshitsugu Kobayashi (Hokkaido University Museum, Sapporo, Japan) adds, “This study provides us a better understanding of the high-latitude dinosaur ecosystems of Alaska.  Such an understanding will help us address important questions such as did dinosaurs survive the winters there and, if so, how did they survive?  Similarly, how did the dinosaurs migrate between North America and Asia during the Cretaceous?”

Fiorillo’s journey began in 2001 when he partnered with the National Park Service, Alaska Region, in search of dinosaur remains on the Alaska Peninsula. The locale was remote and difficult to reach, requiring the service of a float plane and a whitewater raft to circumvent the Aniakchak River. 

After days of unfruitful exploration, a sense of melancholy took over as they neared the end of the river. Time was nearing to break down the rafts and head back to King Salmon.  - More....
Wednesday PM - October 30, 2019

International climate report holds
special value for Alaska
By FRITZ FREUDENBERGER
Seals rest on icebergs near McBride Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park, located in Southeast Alaska.
Photo by Joanna Young

The report details the most up-to-date understanding of climate change, how critical the oceans and frozen parts of the Earth are to our well-being, the rapid changes they are undergoing and what we can do to help build a sustainable future. It includes a plain-language summary for policymakers.

Regine Hock, a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, is a coordinating lead author for a chapter on high-mountain areas. Gary Kofinas, from the UAF Institute of Arctic Biology, was an author on a chapter on polar regions.

“The results of this report are very relevant for Alaska,” Hock said. “It essentially affects every single person in Alaska, one way or another.”

The Earth has, on average, warmed more than 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since pre-industrial times, largely due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. The report shows overwhelming evidence that the consequences are profound.

The ocean, a critical regulator of Earth’s temperature, has absorbed a large percentage of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and more than 90 percent of the excess heat in the climate system. These adjustments help regulate global temperatures, but the ocean can’t keep up.

Oceans are now warmer, more acidic and less productive. As temperatures rise, melting glaciers and ice sheets cause sea-level rise. Extreme coastal events are becoming more frequent.

The report includes extensive work from social scientists who focused on how changes to these systems will affect humans. Oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and contain about 97 percent of the Earth’s water. Ten percent of Earth’s land area is covered by glaciers or ice sheets. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 30, 2019

TOM PURCELL: Halloween Costumes: Free Expression VS. Offense - Everything is offensive now — even Halloween.

In Sandy Springs, Ga., a fellow’s humorous display featured a pumpkin man mooning the street.

“His pants are halfway down, showing his backside which is made up of pumpkins,” reports CBS12.com.

Neighbors complained to their homeowner’s association that the display was offensive, so the fellow altered it.

Which is regrettable.

Halloween is — or used to be, anyhow — a time for stressed-out adults to blow off a little steam and have a little fun.

Long a staple of childhood, Halloween in the past few decades increasingly has been celebrated by adults — for good reason.

Eleven years ago, when Halloween’s popularity among adults was rapidly growing, Robert Thompson, Newhouse Director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, explained why. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 30, 2019

DANNY TYREE: Do You Have A Favorite Halloween Ghost Story? - I’m not proud of it, but I haven’t visited the now-disheveled cemetery on the hillside behind my late father’s childhood home in more than 40 years. 

Willie Nelson was right when he mused, “Ain’t it funny how time slips away?” 

When it comes to missed opportunities, I guess I’m a victim of my innate politeness. (“Hello, Mr. Nap. Stay a while. I promise to make you feel welcome.”)

As a lad, I was a budding history buff, but that country cemetery creeped me out. I didn’t realize the stone cairns atop the ground were an old Scots-Irish tradition. I always feared I was one clumsy stumble away from seeing EXPOSED SKELETONS. Times (and hormones) change. A few years later, I convinced myself that I was one clumsy stumble away from seeing exposed – well, never mind. This is a family newspaper.

But it’s hard to experience the annual pageantry of haunted houses, grinning jack-o’-lanterns and squealing trick-or-treaters without thinking of the eerie adventure my father experienced at that burial place as a boy. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 30, 2019

Political Cartoon: Trump Bags Baghdadi
By Gary McCoy ©2019, Shiloh, IL
Distributed to paid subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.