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SitNews - Stories In The News - Ketchikan, Alaska
Thursday
November 11, 2010

Front Page Photo by PEACHES (NAONA) WALLIN

Seagull Sunset
Front Page Photo by PEACHES (NAONA) WALLIN



  

Alaska: Write-in ballot count begins in Alaska Senate race By BECKY BOHRER (AP) - Hali Denton's been counting ballots in Alaska for 36 years. She's never been through an election like this - with a Senate race in limbo, its fate hinging on the write-in ballots she's helping sort - and she'll be glad when it's over.

Write-in ballot count begins in Alaska Senate race

Alaska Elections Division Director Gail Fenumiai, right, and Assistant Attorney General Sarah Felix look over a ballot Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, in Juneau, Alaska. Election officials planned to begin poring over more than 92,500 write-in ballots in the Alaska Senate race on Wednesday, in spite of a federal lawsuit that's challenging the way the count was to be conducted.
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

It's not so much the work - tedious, rote, but satisfying civic duty. It's the media attention surrounding the race: a rematch of the GOP primary, featuring tea party favorite Joe Miller and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who ran an outsider write-in campaign in a bid to keep her job.

Still, she sees the hoopla as a positive thing: "We run really clean elections," said the 57-year-old retired state worker, TV cameras and a row of reporters behind her.

She also noted that Alaska elections lack the circus-like atmosphere that surrounded the 2000 Florida presidential recount.

While write-ins led Miller after thousands of absentee and early cast votes were tallied Tuesday, it's only now becoming clear who those votes were for. Murkowski was one of 160 write-in candidates, a roster bloated amid conservative calls to try to disrupt her campaign in the fiercely contested race's final days.

An early tally of 19,203 ballots Wednesday showed Murkowski winning 89 percent of the write-in vote without dispute and another 8.5 percent of ballots were counted for her but contested. There were two write-in votes for "Joe Miller."

The laborious tallying process bore some resemblance to the 2000 Florida presidential recount, though a decade later, it was misspellings and bad penmanship — not hanging chads — that took center stage in Juneau.

Workers, tasked with sorting through more than 92,500 write-in ballots, robotically cast aside ballots with clearly marked choices and paused to scrutinize others with mangled or odd spellings - singling those out for final judgment from the director of the state Division of Elections, Gail Fenumiai.

There were plenty of variations of Murkowski's last name, Murkowsi, Murkowsky, Muckowski; the most common among them were "Merkowski" or "Murcowski." There were even some Lizas.

"It's not labor intensive; it's a little tedious, but it's the process" said ballot counter Dotty Brevik, 61, a retired fire department employee. She added: "I'm glad everyone's watching. It's good for the system, and I'm glad to be a part of it."

It played out in a cavernous building on the outskirts of the city, with the two candidates' lawyers and observers carefully watching it unfold.

Observers for Miller - whose vote total trailed the number of write-in ballots cast in the Nov. 2 election by 10,799 as of Wednesday - were quick to challenge virtually any ballot on which Murkowski's scribbled-in name was misspelled or letters were difficult to decipher. ecipher.

The atmosphere remained calm, with election workers and observers going about their work studiously - getting the routine of scanning each ballot and declaring, "Challenge" or "Leave" downpat — as it aired for a statewide audience.

"This is Juneau, Alaska. This isn't Caracas," said John Tiemessen, a Miller attorney. "I would've been shocked if there would've been anything interesting" broadcast from this. - More...
Thursday AM - November 11, 2010

Southeast Alaska: Johansen criticized for surrendering powerful
House Majority Leadership position
By MARY KAUFFMAN - District 1 Represenatative Kyle Johansen of Ketchikan walked out of a Republican House Majority Caucus organizational meeting last weekend that kept Kenai’s Mike Chenault as speaker of the House.

Johansen left after another Republican representative, Anchorage’s Charisse Millett, was denied a committee assignment she had sought. The two lawmakers, Johansen and Millett, have been described as having a “close personal relationship.”

Wednesday Ottar Mobley, who recently ran for the Alaska House of Representatives in District 1, criticized Ketchikan's Kyle Johansen for surrendering his leadership position as House Majority Leader.

   

Mobley said, “I am profoundly disappointed in Johansen’s choice to not only give up his position as House Majority Leader, but to also leave the majority all together. Considering that his recent campaign platform focused on his power as majority leader, and his relationships in the legislature, it is especially disheartening to learn that he has given those up for what appear to be personal issues.”

According to a press release Monday from House Speaker Chenault, (R-Nikiski), Johansen attempted to trade his leadership position in exchange for a committee chairmanship for Anchorage legislator Charisse Millett, (R-Anchorage), with whom he is reported to have a very close personal relationship, and then, when not successful, left the majority to form a two-person caucus with her."

Chenault said, "Representative [Charisse] Millett wanted to be named as the chair of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, but her colleagues didn't choose her after two rounds of votes. Representative Johansen won re-election by his colleagues to return as Majority Leader, but proposed a deal to give up his position and give Rep. Millett a seat on the House Finance Committee. The Caucus did not like that idea, so both representatives walked out on the organization."

"This is simply a situation where a pair of members did not like the choices their colleagues made concerning the make-up of the Majority Caucus," said Chenault. - More...
Thursday AM - November 11, 2010

Columns - Commentary

Tom PurcellTOM PURCELL: For Veterans Day -- Real Troop Support - Ah, Veterans Day is upon us. What better time to show our support for our men and women in uniform?

But have we really been supporting them?

Sure, we thank them when we see them at the airport.

We attend parades and Veterans Day events to show our appreciation.

And with good reason.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, nearly 42 million American men and women have served during wartime.

Nearly 1.2 million died while serving. Nearly 1.5 million were wounded.

Since 9/11, more than 5,200 have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly 36,000 have been wounded -- many have debilitating injuries that have changed their lives forever. - More...
Tuesday AM - November 09, 2010

 

      

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letter Attention all Ketchikan Physicians and the Ketchikan Scientific Community By Van & Linda Abbott - A large regional garbage and trash incinerator may be built at Ward Cove.  This project creates a facility that will process garbage and trash from all communities in South East Alaska.  We believe that garbage and trash will be accepted at Ward Cove from any municipality willing to send us their garbage which may represent a much greater volume of garbage then what South East Alaska has to offer.  In short, this project could morph in to a giant incineration facility.  - More...
Thursday AM - November 11, 2010

letterOur Representative Did What? By Robert Thompson - What a great way to start the legislative year? Just a week after we in Ketchikan elected our representative to the state legislature, he finally tells us what his priority is. And it is not Ketchikan. - More...
Thursday AM - November 11, 2010

letterCompensation inadequacy By Ken Arriola - Jim Mark's opinion of unfairness by KIC is misdirected. The more accurate focus/blame of Mr. Mark's financial demise should be directed at his source of income, namely his employer. How many of you out there, in your right mind, believes that anyone can make it, in this inflated economy, on $11.50 an hour? - More...
Tuesday AM - November 09, 2010

letterRaw fish tax diverted to the wrong department By Kevin Kristovich - I am writing this in agreement to Mr. Tom Fisher's letter in regards to the Ketchikan City Council members who voted to use raw fish tax funds to hire 2 police ofiicers. After inquiring about this and having it confirmed the $220,000.00 that was taken away from the small harbors fund for 2 police officer positions, that makes an annual salary of $110,000.00 per officer? - More...
Tuesday AM - November 09, 2010

letterIranian Nuclear Weapons Threat By Donald A. Moskowitz - Although Iran continues to claim its nuclear development program is designed for peaceful purposes, U.S. intelligence services believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons. - More...
Tuesday AM - November 09, 2010

letterAttention all Ketchikan Residents Who Care About Their Children’s Health And Their Property Values By Van & Linda Abbott - On November 1, 2010, the Borough Assembly voted to sell the publicly owned Ward Cove Pulp Mill property. The Assembly took this action without apparently having any formal research undertaken on the proposed use of the land and feasibility of the project being presented by Ken Hopen and Ass.  There was no actual evaluation of the significant issues surrounding such a monumental decision; A decision we may have to live with for the rest of our lives.  (The re-run of the dismal Hopen presentation can be seen on KPU CommVision) - More...
Sunday PM - November 07, 2010

letter Lap tops provided By Charles Edwardson - Until my kid came home with a lap top provided by the school (Schoenbar) I never realized or paid any attention to what a stupid idea this was. It was trashed when she got it and it's going to be trashed even more when she gives it to the next kid. - More...
Sunday PM - November 07, 2010

letter Obvious differences By A. M. Johnson - No matter your candidate choice for Senator it is relative easy to view why each was supported and the reasons. In my opinion, if your supported Mr. Miller it was from a philosophical agreement of a simple straight forward program of smaller government, States Rights highlighting the development of our vast natural resources, balanced budgets, no earmarks, and paying down the debt. His supporters agreed with that and asked for no special favors or consideration for their vote and support. - More...
Sunday PM - November 07, 2010

letterUnfair View at KIC? By Jim Marks - My girlfriend went to KIC today and applied for rental assistance because we are having a hard time making ends meet and the lady that my girlfriend met with, denied her saying I make too much money. To put into perspective our financial situation, we recently had our car repossessed because we could not make the payments. I have a full time job making $11.50 an hour and at the moment I am the only one working because my girlfriend recently had to close her business due to the fact that her clients would not pay her. She is trying to find a job but because she owned a business she cannot apply for unemployment benefits. - More...
Sunday PM - November 07, 2010

letter Dog Abandoned at Animal Protection By Margaret Hepler - On Wednesday, November 3 a classified ad was posted about a Golden Retriever needing a new home that was at Animal Protection. On Thursday, November 4 another classified ad was posted about the dog, stating that Animal Protection had euthanized the dog without permission. It is unfortunate that the person posting the ads was extremely dishonest as to why and how the dog was at Animal Protection and why the dog was ultimately euthanized - she left out a few details. - More...
Sunday PM - November 07, 2010

letterRaw fish tax: Shame on the City Council By Tom Fisher - I read with complete dismay that the City Council raided the Raw Fish Tax to fund two police officers. I am not opposed to the two officers however I wonder how can the council pass the red face test. The tourism industry has received all the infrastructure improvements that this industry needs and yet the fishing industry is tying up to worn out floats, and there is obviously no need for basic items like a restroom in Thomas Basin. The Head tax can only be used for tourism related infrastructure yet the fish tax can be used for general government, forget that there are a lot of resident commercial fishermen, that pay sales tax, property tax and contribute dollars to the local economy. - More...
Friday AM - November 05, 2010

letterDenied School By Mekkena Love - I would like to share with you an experience and a point of view about the Ketchikan High School. I was a student at Kayhi in my 9th grade year. Due to a trip that I took, I lost credit for all my classes because I took too much time off. I decided to go to Revilla and try to catch up there but that didn't work for me so I got more behind and tried Fast Track and finally decided I worked best in a normal high school setting with people rather then trying to focus by myself. So I went to Kayhi and I got all the packets filled out and talked to the counselor, met my teachers individually and they told me everything I need for that class. The counselor was awesome and got me pumped for going to school even though I had to go an extra year and I was ready. - More...
Friday AM - November 05, 2010

letterHalloween Events By Rhonda Ball - I just wanted to take the time to write a letter to thank everyone involved in any or all of the fun events that I attended this past weekend with my family.  - More...
Monday PM - November 01, 2010

letter Redistribute the wealth By Patti Fay Hickox - I'm Irish, it's cultural. I agree with Bob McLaughin II. The changes that (THE PEOPLE) made in the presidential election 2 years ago are the first changes to help the poor and middle class in many years. - More...
Saturday AM - October 30, 2010

letter Cutting Public Safety By Darlene Guzman - Every year Public Safety is on the chopping block for positions. I understand the hard times this community is going through but without police officers and firefighters it could be harder times for the citizens who need them. Public Safety is partially funded by sales tax in the amount of $3 million dollars a year split between police and fire. Excluding the proposed fire station, that is nearly half of the fire department's budget. - More...
Saturday AM - October 30, 201

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