Sorted by date Results 1 - 8 of 8
Clear skies on Monday morning showed the extent of Sunday afternoon's landslide that swept 1,100 feet down the steep, wooded hillside above a Ketchikan neighborhood, taking out a portion of the Rainbird Trail and pouring across the Third Avenue Bypass before damaging several homes in the Second Avenue area just west of Whitecliff Avenue. The landslide resulted in the death of one person, Sean Griffin, a City of Ketchikan Public Works senior maintenance technician who was on the Third Avenue...
State and federal fishery managers are forecasting a commercial harvest of about 19 million pink salmon in 2023 in Southeast Alaska, which would be a “significant drop” from the parent-year harvest of 48.5 million pinks in 2021, according to this month’s announcement from the federal NOAA Fisheries and Alaska Department of Fish and Game. A 19-million fish harvest would be at the high end of the “weak” range (11 million to 19 million fish), according to the announcement, which added that a harvest of that size would be only about 39% of the av...
Alaska state ferry service between Ketchikan and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, resumed on Monday afternoon. The last state ferry voyage to the Canadian port city was in late fall 2019. The Matanuska made a quick round trip Monday and is scheduled for another voyage on Friday. "(The) Matanuska made a test sailing to Prince Rupert about a week ago and all went to plan," state Transportation Department spokesperson Sam Dapcevich wrote in a Friday email. This summer's service is limited, with...
The Alaska Dispatch News reported this weekend that Juneau’s three lawmakers “are collecting thousands of dollars in public money meant to pay for their lodging and meals during the annual legislative session even as they live in their own homes.” This when Alaska is trying to cut its way out of a multi-billion-dollar deficit. Sen. Dennis Egan and Reps. Sam Kito III and Justin Parish, all Democrats, each get $160 a day in “per diem” payments, according to the Dispatch. The Legislature convened Jan. 17 for a 90-day session. In addition to the pe...
The Alaska Marine Highway System should become — at least in part — a private enterprise. AMHS has been in business for 50 years; like most businesses, it’s had its problems and it’s even come up with solutions within the realm of possibilities. But, its biggest problem, as many Alaskans have known for some time, is that its ever-changing executive doesn’t make for a consistently charted course. A new governor means a new state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities commissioner and deputy commissioners for the ferry system ...
Alaskans know the importance of oil to the state's economy and state government coffers. No question. Oil is huge. But with all the talk of oil, it's easy to overlook other parts of Alaska's economy. Commercial fisheries, for example. Fisheries anchored many Alaska communities years before the start of oil production. And they've continued to do so after oil began flowing through the pipeline. The continuing economic contribution of fisheries is perhaps more apparent in coastal Alaska communities, such as Ketchikan, than in the Railbelt and...
While established Alaska ferries fight for funding, a small startup is about to launch from northern Prince of Wales Island. The North End Ferry Authority based in Coffman Cove has created the Rainforest Islands Ferry, a three stop service that revives a canceled route of the Inter-Island Ferry Authority. Operating four days a week beginning June 14, the Rainforest Islands Ferry will travel from Coffman Cove to Wrangell and Petersburg via the South Mitkof terminal. The ferry authority is overhauling a landing craft, to be named the R...
And the contract goes to . . . Viking Lumber. Hoooooray! It’s wonderful to witness in this day and age a Prince of Wales Island sawmill win the Big Thorne stewardship contract. The mill has survived the industry’s ups and downs, and with a continuing supply of timber, will continue to process logs in southern Southeast Alaska. The sale is designed to provide timber as soon as possible to the mill. The initial small volume of timber will be followed by two smaller volumes to be announced later. This contract should help to secure the mil...
