Ketchikan: Man struck, killed on Stedman Street by  Leila Kheiry, KRBD - A 68-year-old Ketchikan man was struck by a vehicle and killed Monday night on Stedman Street near the Deermount intersection. - More.... KRBD - www.krbd.org Photo of the Month Ketchikan: Public Meetings Ketchikan: Upcoming Events Historical Ketchikan June Allen Dave Kiffer Louise B. Harrington Ketchikan Weather Ketchikan's Forecast Weather History for Nov. 2017 Ketchikan's Historic Weather Nat Weather Service KTN Ketchikan Tides & Currents Search the News Ketchikan Alaska RSS widget

According the the recently released report by the NTSB, the probable cause of the allision was the ship master's failure to plan, monitor, and execute a safe docking evolution.

The report released on December 15, 2017, said the pilot told investigators that dropping the starboard anchor slowed the motion of the bow toward the pier. The master said that he then ordered chain to be paid out so the vessel could move forward and toward the dock; however, the VDR recording captured the master’s order as “hold the anchor.” According to the pilot, the thrusters and anchor were able to control the bow but “whatever maneuvers they made with the pods weren’t sufficient to hold the ship and it made a hard landing on the dolphins back there.” At 1355, with the after part of the vessel pivoting toward berth 3, the VDR recorded someone shouting, “the stern, the stern!” and, at 1356, the vessel allided with the berth.

The force of the allision opened a 9-inch-diameter hole in the vessel’s port side between frames 231 and 233, about 12 feet above the waterline. It also caused the deflection of vessel structural members. The berth suffered extensive damage to its catwalks and structural members. - More...
Tuesday PM - December 19, 2017

Last week, Governor Bill Walker appointed 15 public members and five ex-officio members of the Climate Action for Alaska Leadership Team, established in October by Administrative Order 289. According to a news release, Governor Walker announced the team following an extensive internal review of nearly 100 applications. The team will focus on mitigation, adaptation, research, and response for Alaska.

“This team is going to cost Alaskans in more ways than one. Limited input from resource industries and large expenses from travel, per diem and salary for the state employees on the commission, all add up to bad news for Alaska,” said Rep. Chenault. 

One member of the team, the climate advisor, is reportedly making $145,000 a year in salary alone - the same as the governor. Cayenne “Nikoosh” Carlo is based out of Seattle, requiring air travel commute, receives per diem and associated costs.  She filled the newly-created position of “senior climate adviser" on Walker’s executive team in September 2017 to advise the governor on climate change. Carlo is an exempt employee and the Administration can get salary overrides to increase her compensation.

"We don't need to import and pay environmentalists from Seattle to tell us how to kill our economy. I'm really disappointed with Governor Walker's priorities," said Representative Chenault. - More...
Tuesday PM - December 19, 2017

Fish Factor: Cod decline blamed on younger fish not surviving warmer ocean temperatures By LAINE WELCH - Kodiak officials already are drafting a disaster declaration due to the crash of cod stocks throughout the Gulf of Alaska. The shortage will hurt many other coastal communities as well.

Gulf cod catches for 2018 will drop by 80 percent to just under 29 million pounds in federally managed waters, compared to a harvest this year of nearly 142 million pounds. The crash is expected to continue into 2020 or 2021. 

Cod catches in the Bering Sea also will decline by 15 percent to 414 million pounds. In all, Alaska produces 12 percent of global cod fish.

The bad news was announced by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council which sets the catches for more than 25 species in waters from three to 200 miles from shore in the Gulf and the Bering Sea. 

“It’s almost like a double, triple, quadruple disaster because it’s not just one year,” said Julie Bonney, director of the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank. She added that the cod decline will decrease revenues for fishermen who use longline, pots, jig and trawl gear and make it more difficult for processors to fill their market demands. It also will be a huge hit to the coffers of local communities which get a three percent tax on all fish landings.  - More...
Tuesday PM - December 19, 2017

Alaska: Marijuana Control Board Revokes Frozen Budz Manufacturing License; Imposes $500,000 Fine - A Fairbanks medical marijuana dispensary's license has been revoked. The Alaska Marijuana Control Board, after reviewing accusations against Frozen Budz, has revoked their license (#10012). That marijuana product manufacturing facility license is held by Destiny and Nick Neade and operated as Frozen Budz. In addition, the board imposed a $500,000 civil fine and ordered all the products made by Frozen Budz to be seized, both from their product manufacturing facility and from all retail stores that have their products.

“The board found the acts of this licensee especially egregious,” said Peter Mlynarik, chair of the Marijuana Control Board. “The licensee disregarded marijuana industry regulations and put the public at significant risk by selling products that were not safe, tested, or tracked.” - More...
Tuesday PM - December 19, 2017

Alaska: What caused 39 walruses to wash ashore dead in western Alaska? By PAULA DOBBYN - Four walruses in western Alaska’s Bering Strait region tested positive for biotoxins produced by algae, prompting a public notification to be issued recently from Alaska Sea Grant.

The test results emerged from a dead walrus stranding event in late summer involving 39 animals. After the walruses washed ashore, Gay Sheffield, a marine biologist with Alaska Sea Grant, helped coordinate a collaborative response involving agencies and community members of Diomede and Shishmaref.

An algal biotoxin is a potentially poisonous substance produced by harmful algal blooms. It cannot be seen, smelled or tasted and cooking or freezing does not destroy the toxin.

The walrus stranding on the northern Seward Peninsula prompted Sheffield to ask residents of Diomede and Shishmaref to collect samples of the intestines from four walruses (one harvested and three from carcasses that had washed ashore.) NOAA’s Wildlife Algal Toxin Research and Response Network found low levels of domoic acid and moderate levels of saxitoxin in the carcass samples. A high level of saxitoxin was documented in the harvested walrus—over the federal seafood safety limit for human consumers. The final results for this sample are still pending.

Saxitoxin, which has been documented in the Bering Strait region before, targets the nervous system and blocks nerve function. If high concentrations of saxitoxin are eaten, breathing difficulties and paralysis occur in both humans and marine mammals, a potentially deadly condition called paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP.)

“The findings are of interest because of the large number of walruses and seabirds that washed ashore during August and September of this year,” said Sheffield, a Marine Advisory agent based in Nome. “The presence of algal biotoxins in marine wildlife commonly consumed in the region raises many food security questions and requires additional vigilance.”

What caused the deaths of 39 walruses remains a mystery. With results from only four walrus, scientists have not been able to pinpoint what happened to the animals. Hundreds of seabirds were also found dead around the same time. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found the seabirds were emaciated and are trying to determine the level of saxitoxin in them as well. - More...
Tuesday PM - December 19, 2017

SUSAN STAMPER BROWN: An Alaskan Christmas Story - Americans need a good dose of Christmas. 

As a nation, we are desperately lost, emotionally broken, spiritually deprived and headed for the same fate our "unadoptable" Alaskan husky dog was before my husband and I welcomed her into our home.

It's been four years since we adopted Kenai, a skeletal ball of nerves wrapped in cinnamon colored fur with spotty white "socks."Obviously abused, she had zero trust in humans and no confidence in herself. Animal control officers almost deemed her unadoptable. 

She was literally scared of her shadow, fearing door entryways and basically everything inside our home, including us. She parked herself on our new chair in the living room corner. For three months she ate, drank and napped when she wasn't staring at us and only left her perch when we'd take her outside to walk and potty.

One cold and snowy winter night with near zero visibility, we feared this one-sided love affair had come to an end when she got away and bolted up and around our mountain. The more we called, chased and searched, the deeper into the woods and higher she climbed. Though we were forced to give up our search for the night, we refused to give up hope.  - More...
Tuesday PM - December 19, 2017

JEFF LUND: Contemplating history - There’s a lot of time between us and the shadowy figures climbing Chilkoot Pass, which is one of the iconic images that represents Alaska and Alaskans.

The first waves of modernization that came at the expense of the land’s original inhabitants happened a long time ago. The stories that have endured are fascinating. Stories of the fools, the courageous and everything between.

But because so much time has passed, it’s impossible to understand the context in which these stories were birthed. Maybe it’s cynical, but one has to wonder how much embroidery has been added and how much that actually matters.

Gunner Kaasen delivered the serum to Nome to save the city stricken by a diphtheria outbreak. Or, Balto and the dogs delivered Gunner Kaasen and the serum to Nome. Semantics. - More...
Tuesday PM - December 19, 2017