Search Tip: Use quotes to find results containing your phrase Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé sophomore June Troxel catches a pop-up during the Crimson Bears’ 10-5 loss to Ketchikan at Dudley Field on Friday Sometime in April, a friend alerted me to some odd ball-shaped structures… Continue reading Purple mountain saxifrage has been… Army bomb squad from Anchorage was dispatched to Ketchikan on Saturday to deal with two separate explosives discovered in the same area Ketchikan police executed a search warrant on April 23 at a U-Haul storage facility on North Tongass Highway near the Refuge Cove marina a few miles north of town Ketchikan Police Chief Eric Mattson said it was part of a joint drug investigation into a 50-year-old local man named Joey Ellis Conn Mattson said they raided multiple properties belonging to Conn and found nearly 60 grams of methamphetamine the detectives came across a pipe bomb that was discovered in the storage units right there owned and run by the U-Haul,” Mattson said in a phone call “That prompted a phone call to the feds which we typically do to help with any type of explosive material.” Mattson said they closed off the area and waited for federal explosive experts a survey crew discovered a live grenade along the tideline at a beach nearby They called it into the Alaska State Troopers “Troopers coordinated with getting the U.S Army explosive ordnance disposal unit from Anchorage down to Ketchikan That just required both agencies – the troopers and KPD – to sit on both of the locations until they could show up and render both places safe,” Mattson said Army bomb squad arrived from Anchorage two days later and took the pipe bomb at the storage unit and the grenade from the beach to the local landfill where they were safely detonated.  Mattson said the grenade was found “within proximity” of the storage unit but it is “just a coincidence.” “These two were not related at all,” Mattson said of the grenade and the investigation into Conn Trooper spokesman Austin McDaniel echoed this in a phone call investigators believe these were two separate and unrelated incidents – a twist that Mattson agreed can only be described as pretty convenient for an out-of-town bomb squad and glad that they were able to come and do that this wouldn’t happen without either the troopers or the U.S McDaniel said there is no active investigation into the origins of the grenade the man accused in connection with the drugs was taken into custody on April 23 and is being held without bail He is charged with six counts of third and fourth degree possession charges for controlled substances and weapons Internet Explorer lacks support for the features of this website please use a modern browser such as Chrome A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States NOAA Fisheries has received a request from the City of Ketchikan for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the Berth III Mooring Dolphins Project in the Port of Ketchikan in the Tongass Narrows NOAA Fisheries requests comments on its proposal to issue an incidental harassment authorization to incidentally take marine mammals during the specified activities NOAA Fisheries also requests comments on a possible one-time 1-year renewal that could be issued under certain circumstances as described in Request for Public Comments at the end of this notice NOAA Fisheries will consider public comments before making any final decision on issuing the requested MMPA authorization and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision April 29, 2025 by The Alaska Folk Festival wrapped up earlier this month in Juneau The festival was celebrating its 50th anniversary Pickers and folk fanatics flocked from all over the state and country and packed into Centennial Hall and other bars and stages around the Capital City the president of the festival’s board of directors told the crowd on closing night that they’d had a record-breaking week selling Alaska Folk Festival merchandise And they weren’t the only ones that broke records during the festival Ketchikan band Dude Mtn headlined shows at the Crystal Saloon and the Alaskan Bar. The shows, which also featured Juneau pop-punk band the Rain Dogs broke both bars’ all-time records for alcohol sales Its been a big year so far for the psychedelic rock trio recorded during a show at the Mean Queen pub in Sitka and a headlining gig lined up at Southeast Alaska State Fair in Haines this summer and drummer Kalijah LeCornu sat down with KRBD’s Jack Darrell to talk about their run in Juneau and the ups and downs of trying to tour in Southeast Alaska Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity Jack Darrell: So you guys are fresh off of Folk Fest We got to hang out with all of our music homies from around Southeast Alaska and the Interior and all converge on one city KRBD: So you guys broke a couple records with beer sales Cullen McCormick: One would think it’s maybe “tearing down the house,” but I think a lot of it has to do with just the vibe that’s going on in the room the vibe that’s going on in the room when we’re playing is like – We make sure that we cultivate a specific vibe in our shows where everybody feels comfortable Have you noticed the Alaska Folk Festival scene change over recent years Chazz Gist: Obviously, there’s gonna be a lot of folk music in Juneau for Folk Fest. So, us coming up there and having just a vastly different kind of sound has always been part of the draw. It was just a couple years ago when we first – we’ve been breaking records pretty consistently at The Alaskan at the very least This is the first year that we broke both our own sales record at the Alaskan and also broke the record at the Crystal Saloon which is usually held by another band also at Folk Fest We’ve just been doing very good in Juneau for a long time And this was a bigger Folk Fest – the 50th annual And so I think numbers are just bigger all around for everybody KRBD: Do you guys feel like the broader music scene in Southeast Alaska is different than when you started Kalijah LeCornu: People are paying more attention to it now Everyone has been so artsy in Southeast Alaska I feel like forever it’s been such a rich environment for people to create and everyone consumes in in Southeast Alaska I think we just are more of a part of it now I think the scene has been growing regardless of if we’re all along for the ride or not Chazz Gist: But interconnecting a lot more than it has in previous years we’re gonna get out and we’re gonna do this and we’re gonna do that.’ Then COVID ended we would just lock ourselves in a garage and and literally jam for hours I think there’s been a big bloom of artists who have just been waiting The artists who are really starting to do the thing in Alaska have bloomed out of COVID and into this thing that they wanted to be you guys have said in the past that when you guys first started the band was called the Dude Mountain Boys And you changed that to kind of get away from the “O Brother KRBD: Was part of that distancing at all from folk and Americana because it was outside of your sound Obviously Alaska Folk Festival is kind of stepping back into that Did you kind of change at all for Folk Fest Cullen McCormick: I think we dropped the “boys” because we wanted to take ourselves more seriously We’d wear overalls all the time and and then it was like And in regards to the folk thing – we don’t play folk It was because there was that volcano that happened too that really just kind of helped our little fan base in Juneau mainly because there was no other bands that could make it And it’s something I could have never imagined coming from a little COVID band Cullen McCormick: I was tweeting at Alaskan Brewing Company during our first Folk Fest because I was like and they were toying with the idea but they were just fooling about and asked if they can make us a beer and we said absolutely Southeast Alaska is like a totally different country to people up north KRBD: Touring in Southeast Alaska must be an incredibly How do you schedule a show when you can barely schedule a flight half the time You know how it sounds and how it operates it’s like driving somebody else’s car for a week and it can be a pain because a lot of it is overweight and we have a lot of gear and a lot of road cases And so Alaska Airlines is charging $100 for each overweight item especially for other bands who are just starting out it’s just nothing to pack up your gear in the van it’s about trying to factor in those costs into our pricing I would highly recommend bringing friends along because it just makes everything so much easier with extra hands around and extra vibes Kalijah LeCornu: That is the key right there [Alaska Folk Festival] is the best thing in Alaska that they put on every year KRBD: And are you guys writing music at all We actually did write a song about the milk run while we were at Folk Fest Hoping to record an album in the fall and put it out by next spring Chazz Gist: We got a live album in the works from our Dec KRBD: Do you guys have any favorite stages or audiences that you have played or play consistently Kalijah LeCornu: Personally, I think it’s the Alaskan The sound is – I can’t hear a thing up there I think the Alaskan is probably my favorite too throw me into the Arctic Bar in the corner with the boys and let us rip for three or four hours Chazz Gist: I really like the Crystal Saloon up there you have these sheets of light going above And they just get tighter with the sound and tighter with the lights every show I have to give up on being able to hear everything I have to give up on being able to control certain aspects of it Like we said, we broke sales records when we were the headliner. But in each of those shows, we had a few bands before us. Every time we go Juneau, we have our friends, the Rain Dogs. Jack Darrell, KRBD: You guys brought the Rain Dogs to Ketchikan for the first time this summer, right? Cullen McCormick: Yeah, I loved it. That was so much fun. Jack Darrell, KRBD: That was a great time. It shut the electricity off. Jack Darrell, KRBD: Any parting advice for a young band coming up in Southeast Alaska? Cullen McCormick: Practice hard. Love your homies. Kalijah LeCornu: Kiss your homies. They need it. They’ll definitely be kissing you back later, and it’s nice. Cullen McCormick: Can we start that one over? Chazz Gist: Meet other bands. Whenever bands are coming through, try and hang out a little bit. See their show and talk about what you’re doing. Just make those connections. Jack Darrell, KRBD: Okay, last question. Where do you feel like Dude Mtn is going to go from here? Cullen McCormick: I see Dude Mtn taking over the state of Alaska, and after that, taking over the rest of the U.S., and after that, travel all around. But my end goal for the band, and I think these boys too, is to literally just be able to travel and play music comfortably. If I can make music with my friends and make some money while doing it, that is a dream I could have never imagined. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week Copyright © 2025 KTOO Public Media Tlagóo! We\'re rolling out some improvements to the layout and design of KTOO.org. Read more boulders and debris tumbled onto the North Tongass Highway at Wolfe Point just north of the Ketchikan International Airport on Thursday morning with schools in session and at least some residents away from home The slide area cut off road access between the city and schools and an area to the north that holds at least 3,000 residents as well as a Walmart and subdivisions around Shoreline Drive according to Ketchikan Gateway Borough spokesman Anthony Pio The highway is Ketchikan’s only road between the city and the north end of Revillagigedo Island “There was no way around it,” Pio said of the slide this week “It wasn’t like it was just inconvenient to go to a side road Ketchikan is no stranger to the destructive power of precipitation and unstable geology. A landslide last August killed a city worker and injured three other people Last week’s slide measured 80 feet wide and 80 feet high and included four huge boulders anywhere from 20 to 30 feet in diameter a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities It occurred in an area slated for a summer slope stabilization project to reduce rockfall hazards the state initially planned to move the debris and restore traffic on the main road But unstable conditions gave way to the discovery Monday of a large crack in the rock Crews focused on drilling in the area to release water from the rock and minimize any additional movement KPUtv drone footage of the opening of the single lane bypass road at approximately 6:30 am Monday morning The road reopened Monday to essential travel only on one lane of the bypass during limited hours Construction on a two-lane bypass was still in progress Tuesday afternoon with a 90-minute travel window scheduled for 6 p.m Officials said they hope to open up the bypass for two lanes of travel Local school officials planned to tour the site Tuesday afternoon to check the route for compatibility with bus traffic Schools are scheduled to open on a two-hour delay Wednesday morning “to allow time for the completion of work on the road,” the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District said in an update Tuesday evening “This delay ensures the road is open and safe for travel and gives bus drivers and staff adequate time to report to work and begin their day safely.” Local officials declared an emergency the day of the slide a coalition of private boat owners volunteered to ferry stranded people and students around the slide Dubbed the “Ketchikan Navy,” the boat corps gave way to an official water shuttle operated by several local businesses to get residents between the north and south sides of the blockage The water shuttle was expected to run until 10 p.m The borough’s transit system was planning to provide services to get pedestrians around the slide area starting Wednesday morning, according to a borough update. Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. Contact her at zhollander@adn.com. Opens in new windowADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTMost read by subscribers1 organized by the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce Colony swept the Wasilla Track and Field Invite on Friday and Saturday with the Homer girls and boys both finishing… The Ketchikan boys won the Kenai Invitational Cup and the Wasilla girls won the Homer Soccer Tourney to headline soccer… Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Riley Fick throws a pitch during the Crimson Bears’ 10-0 victory over Ketchikan at Norman Walker Field on Friday the Federal Subsistence Board on Wednesday reclassified Ketchikan as rural for the purpose of federally regulated subsistence activities The change means Ketchikan residents will be able to hunt and fish in many areas that were once closed to them.   Residents of nonrural communities in Alaska can’t hunt and gather under federal subsistence rules That right is reserved for people who live in rural areas who need to practice traditional hunting and fishing to survive.  the Ketchikan Indian Community has argued that Ketchikan’s nonrural designation prevented tribal citizens from practicing their traditional subsistence way of life And they argued that Ketchikan is not urban in the same way that a larger community like Anchorage or Fairbanks is.  “This is life changing,” Ketchikan Indian Community President Gloria Burns said in a phone call we couldn’t think about co-management we couldn’t think about the ways that we could help support and bolster up these resources and really take care of the land the way that we wanted to This is going to open like a million acres of land in our own area that we can go ahead and now subsist off of.” which went against a regional council’s recommendation And some subsistence users in the region say they are worried about the pressures the change could place on fish and game populations That means people from Ketchikan couldn’t subsistence hunt or fish anywhere near their homes on the large stretches of federal lands covering the island or on nearby Prince of Wales Island or the Unuk River Ketchikan residents being able to harvest more wildlife would have the most “significant anticipated effects” on deer on Prince of Wales Island and southern Southeast Alaska’s salmon populations The report stated that the Office of Subsistence Management was neutral on the proposal saying that the analysis of Ketchikan’s rural-ness was “inconclusive” and that there was reasonable evidence to support the area being both rural and nonrural.  things looked grim for the Ketchikan Indian Community going into this week’s final decision She said she was shocked when the board decided in Ketchikan’s favor “This is a fight that has been going on for years Ketchikan Indian communities fought this fight two other times and lost.” This decision doesn’t just mean that Ketchikan’s tribal members are now federally qualified subsistence users It means that all residents of the Ketchikan area and nearby Pennock and Gravina islands can now hunt and fish for food on federally managed lands and waters.  Many Prince of Wales Island residents spoke out against the proposed change  before the Southeast Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council voted against the proposal last year They said new subsistence users from  Ketchikan would put a strain on the island’s already limited deer population.  That’s what I’m here to do,” Ketchikan Indian Community member Clarence Peele testified at the time Peele lived in Ketchikan but grew up on Prince of Wales Island He said that communities on Prince of Wales didn’t have many affordable grocery options “I don’t have anything against Ketchikan but 13,000 people going over to Prince of Wales Island If we are going to put stress on our smaller entities most of the council members said they supported the Ketchikan Indian Community reclaiming their subsistence rights in principle but they still couldn’t support the proposal.  I know Ketchikan is hurting – the Indian Community – and I feel for them,” council member Ted Sandhofer said during deliberations at the October meeting “It was said many times that it’s not their fault that the city of Ketchikan grew up around them.”  he said the change would also mean that thousands of Ketchikan’s non-Native residents would get those hunting and fishing opportunities and he couldn’t reconcile that impact.  smaller communities like hers are already having to compete for the area’s resources.  “With the pressure that’s going to be out there now it’s going to make it very difficult to get what we need,” said Tazia’s grandfather Louie Wagner Jr. who also serves on the regional advisory council the federal board’s decision was a slap in the face.  “The regional advisory councils were put in for a reason,” he said “The board has taken away what we were trying to protect “We have this responsibility now – particularly to our neighbors and to ourselves – to get this right,” said Burns adding that the next step for the Ketchikan tribe is to learn subsistence best practices again “We don’t have the statistics in the way the other places have because we haven’t been designated as a subsistence area for such a long time So we need to start collecting that data.” Burns said she hoped Ketchikan’s non-Native residents would also learn to act as responsible stewards of subsistence resources.  “We would really hope that our neighbors who are not [Ketchikan Indian Community] members take up the traditional aspects of going into other people’s land,” she said “I would never go to Klawock myself and hunt something from Klawock unless I was with somebody from Klawock who had asked me to be there.” Before the federal board made its decision Ketchikan residents and tribal citizens testified at the meeting The study from the Office of Subsistence Management was also presented to the board The study notes that Ketchikan has increasing poverty and declining growth rates consistent with other rural communities Burns said the federal board’s decision focused not on resource concerns but on whether or not Ketchikan fits the definition of a rural place The Federal Subsistence Board approved the decision 7-3 March 20, 2025 by A rockslide near Ketchikan on Thursday morning has blocked the island’s main road leaving people who live north of the slide cut off from the city and its airport It’s not clear when the road will be open again but city and borough officials are urging residents to make plans for an extended closure “We understand how frustrating it is,” said Alaska Department of Transportation spokesman Sam Dapcevich and we’re hoping to get it reopened as soon as possible so that people can get where they need to go.” near Wolfe Point just north of the airport ferry terminal a construction company contracted by the Transportation Department has been doing blasting in recent days along the hillside where the slide occurred as part of a hazard mitigation project to improve the slope’s stability Dapcevich said it’s too early to say if that caused the slide “I do know that the construction work at that area was to mitigate the hazards that already existed So there’s been rock slides there in the past and that’s why they’re working there,” Dapcevich said SECON spokeswoman Marianne Kordowski directed questions to the  Transportation Department City and borough officials said in a press release that they can’t begin clearing the road until state landslide experts can assess the stability of the hillside But Dapcevich said Department of Transportation geological engineers have already begun the assessment while they’re in transit “They just want to make sure that the risk is low of more material coming down before they start sending people in there,” he said Allen Marine Tours is shuttling trapped residents across the slide area with a tour boat which is going back and forth between Taquan on the south side of the slide to The Ketch on the north side There are two fire stations north of the slide but the island’s only hospital is south of the slide Officials say they have a workaround in place to transport hospital patients across the slide zone Borough transit services are suspended for areas north of the slide The state Department of Transportation wrote on social media that the slide location is “complex and unsafe,” but that they would work to clear a single lane for emergency vehicles once geologists give the OK The city and borough has launched a joint emergency operations center, similar to last August’s fatal landslide in the White Cliff neighborhood. Emergency responders are currently setting up lights in preparation to work through the night. As Ketchikan’s school district considers hard choices to make up budget shortfalls parents have been making their displeasure known — and administrators have been a common target the School Board heard from a long line of frustrated residents.  Amie Toepfer was one of the first to speak argued that the proposals would have unacceptable consequences for students “The proposals are sacrificing our children’s education and well-being to maintain administrative luxuries,” she said Toepfer also took issue with a recent Facebook post from the district “I just want to touch on the tone-deaf social media post that the school district put out last week congratulating administration staff,” Toepfer said “I hope that this board addresses that with administration and ensures that it never happens again.” But Schoenbar Middle School assistant principal Jason House took to the podium to defend his colleagues “Maybe you all remember last spring when the board made the difficult decision to cut nearly 20% of our already small admin team,” House said “There was literal applause and celebration in this very chamber as four of our friends neighbors and colleagues lost their jobs.” who’s also president of the union representing the district administration suspected the negativity came from a lack of understanding about what administrators do.  ‘What do you wish people knew about the work you do?’ And here’s what they said: ‘I wish people knew how much time we spend worrying about our staff and students I wish people understood how much work we do just so that teachers can focus more of their energy on teaching I wish people realized that we also have our boots on the ground right alongside our staff,’” House recounted One speaker reminded the audience that there are bigger forces at play than the community-level disagreements Dan Ortiz is the current House District 1 representative and former Ketchikan High School teacher He’s served in the Alaska Legislature for nearly a decade but decided not to run for reelection this year He acknowledged that the state has its own financial troubles but said the Alaska Constitution mandates adequately funding education “What’s absolutely essential under the constitution is that the state fund public education and that they fund public safety get your voices heard and demand that the legislature do this.” The board had an extended discussion about the proposals but took no action on them They addressed some community concerns and ideas like taxing cruise passengers for education But the borough is already funding the district to the “cap,” the maximum amount allowed under state law.  School Board president Michelle O’Brien said they likely won’t make a decision on next year’s budget proposals until February Disclosure: Jason House is a member of KRBD’s volunteer Board of Directors Michael Fanelli is the News Director at KRBD March 5, 2025 by Alaska’s state development agency is ending a two-decade partnership with the operator of the Ketchikan Shipyard throwing into question the future of the multimillion-dollar state facility The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority notified Vigor Alaska last week that it would not exercise the final ten-year extension to its public-private partnership with the company. AIDEA cited poor performance by the operator as its reason for ending the agreement in a four-page letter to Vigor dated February 28 “After reviewing Vigor’s long-term economic performance and other documentation relating to the Shipyard AIDEA has reasonably determined that Vigor has not demonstrated its ability to fully utilize all of the Shipyard’s economic capabilities,” AIDEA Executive Director Randy Ruaro wrote He also cited “inadequate” contributions to a repairs and maintenance account Vigor’s agreement with AIDEA will expire at the end of November though Ruaro said AIDEA was “willing to discuss” extending the end date to March 1 Ruaro and AIDEA’s deputy director did not respond to interview requests. The Ketchkan Shipyard is one of six projects the agency owns outright. The federal and state governments have spent a combined $80.1 million on the facility, according to AIDEA Vigor took over operations when it acquired Alaska Ship & Drydock in 2012 later overseeing construction of the state’s two so-called Alaska Class ferries “AIDEA’s unexpected announcement impacts nearly 100 family-wage jobs in Ketchikan with no clear understanding of who might take over or whether the facility will even continue to operate as a shipyard,” Vigor Public Affairs Director Benton Strong wrote Local officials in Ketchikan say the news took them by surprise too — but they say tensions between AIDEA and Vigor have been simmering for some time “There’s been a lot of conversation over the years about the performance from the yard,” Rep “Halving the number of jobs at the Shipyard over a decade is strong evidence that Vigor is not fully utilizing the Shipyard’s economic capabilities,” Ruaro wrote. AIDEA also takes issue with the shipyard’s poor financial performance and large maintenance and rehabilitation backlog, according to the letter. The agency says it has seen a payment in only two of the nine years that a profit-sharing agreement has been in place, despite what Ruaro called “significant tax and utility subsidies, and a major advantage in the structure of the Agreement itself.” Still, Vigor argues it did a better job running the yard than any operator before it. “Vigor has been a strong operator of the Ketchikan Shipyard, investing millions in the facility, employing more people and generating more revenue than any previous operator, and triggering profit-sharing with AIDEA for the first time in the yard’s history,” said Strong, the Vigor spokesperson. What the future holds for the shipyard, a major employer in Ketchikan and the only facility of its kind in Southeast Alaska, is uncertain. Ketchikan Gateway Borough Mayor Rodney Dial said in a phone interview he hoped to “make the best of a bad situation.” “We’ll do everything we can to assure there’s an orderly transition and that the jobs are protected,” Dial said. “We’ll also push for whoever comes in behind Vigor to really have a plan to expand that facility and maximize its use and return on investment for the community.” Whether nine months — or a year, if the agreement is extended — is enough time to find a new operator to take over the industrial facility is unclear. But Doug Ward, a former Vigor Alaska executive who worked to expand the facility and is the namesake of the shipyard’s assembly hall, said in a phone interview that he’s optimistic a new operator will be able to take over the facility without a significant interruption to the shipyard’s operations. “We have some very capable operators in the state that are Alaska businesses and would make outstanding operators of the Ketchikan Shipyard,” he said. The actions taken so far include planning by various departments and open house time for elementary staff to tour the other schools The restructuring plan combines the district’s three elementary schools by grade level sending Kindergarten through third grade students to Fawn Mountain Elementary and Point Higgins Elementary and all fourth through sixth graders to Houghtaling Elementary The geographic dividing line determining whether students attend Fawn Mountain or Point Higgins has been moved a few blocks It was originally set at Whitecliff Avenue.  As the plan will require shuffling of teachers the superintendent’s update says that every elementary staff member has now met with administrators to review their options Teachers have also had the opportunity to note the building they’d prefer to work at next year It says teachers will be informed which school they are assigned to by Feb and building administrators will receive assignments the first week of March Open houses for families to visit schools and meet staff are also to be held at some point in the near future District officials say consolidating students will help cover a roughly $1.7 million budget deficit that’s projected to grow in future years more evenly distributed class sizes and more focused instruction The PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center Emergency Department is staffed 24 hours a day The medical center is a “critical access hospital” — if someone comes in badly hurt the goal is to stabilize them until they can get them to a bigger hospital in Seattle or Anchorage It’s often a critical step in keeping people alive.  emergency room physicians went multiple months without pay a nurse practitioner in the PeaceHealth emergency room said the physicians received an email at the end of October saying payroll would be late “Then I found out by just talking to the other providers that they weren’t getting paid at all,” said Hines “So they had been working for free since the end of August NES couldn’t provide them with proof that they had medical malpractice insurance.” NES Health was a third-party firm that staffed PeaceHealth’s emergency department CEO of the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association said companies like NES are basically a one-stop staffing shop  — the hospital pays a fee and the agency provides a group of physicians which is extremely risky for an emergency physician to work without “The group still becomes integrated in the community but it’s a way of basically contracting for services and having them take care of the recruitment and supply of the physicians whose non-profit represents and supports hospitals across the state Kosin explained that it is “very normal” for hospitals to contract with third-party staffing firms especially medical centers in rural or remote locales The California-based company staffed around 35 ERs across the country — everywhere from Ketchikan to Texas to Philadelphia they sent those hospitals scrambling when they announced that they didn’t have the money to pay their doctors.  In the October email from CEO Jose Aguirre’s office NES blamed the missed paychecks on transitioning to a new billing company It’s just a “temporary shortfall,” they said “Rest assured that everyone will be paid and made whole.”  there was a deep sense of unease among the staff because that’s their whole livelihood at stake,” Hines said “And then we have some new providers who just recently moved to Ketchikan to cover and help us out They were going to be long-term providers here If you’re not getting paid for doing your job and ultimately can affect your ability to be there and be present in that situation,” he said “They can’t pay their bills if they don’t have payment,” said Hines “I know these physicians really want to stay here and they want to provide for the community but their hands are kind of tied right now because of NES.” Could PeaceHealth have stepped in to pay the physicians in the interim the laws around how doctors get paid could complicate that.  “I think there would be a lot of compliance and analysis that would have to be done to make sure everything is being done in a way that complies with all the rules and regulations that are in place at the federal level,” he speculated PeaceHealth Ketchikan’s Communications Manager Kate Govaars confirmed that in an email PeaceHealth is not able to provide coverage for work done under NES.” the physician’s group entered into an agreement with the hospital to keep working A staff member who wanted to remain anonymous provided KRBD with a screenshot of a clause in the contract addressing the unpaid wages It said PeaceHealth “desires and intends to provide additional compensation to [Physician] in recognition of uncompensated services [Physician] provided at the Hospital.” However the contract said that the compensation for wages lost under NES was not “addressed in this Agreement.” The Ketchikan Medical Center is one of ten hospitals operated by PeaceHealth The not-for-profit healthcare organization operates hospitals and clinics across the Pacific Northwest.  Govaars confirmed PeaceHealth extended contracts that covered malpractice insurance and compensation but Govaars said she couldn’t comment on the new contract or any additional agreements because “The nuances of individual contracts gets into personnel maters [sic] Govaars also wrote that PeaceHealth is committed to keeping the emergency room open and that hospital leaders “care deeply for our staff and value the care they extend to the community.” “This group we have now is just fantastic,” Hines and our community would really benefit by keeping them here The problem in Ketchikan is we just don’t have a pool of people to pull from.” Hines said the physicians’ last payment from the staffing firm came at the end of September By the time PeaceHealth started paying them at the end of November the Emergency Room staff were out two-and-a-half months of wages with no guarantee they’d ever see that money Ketchikan’s School Board President has resigned Michelle O’Brien announced in an email Thursday night that she is stepping down from the school board O’Brien cited “primary professional responsibilities and recent health concerns” as her reasons for resigning.  O’Brien runs the Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce and the Southern Southeast Alaska Building Association She said in a phone call Friday morning that those roles have to take priority over her work on the School Board had begun to encroach on her career duties.  O’Brien also said in her email that her decision had “absolutely nothing to do with recent or ongoing decisions made by administration or the board.”  O’Brien said over the phone Friday that she hopes whatever comes next for the school district will be a longer term solution to the continuing funding shortfall She said coming up with fixes on a year-by-year basis is “disruptive” and causes angst for the community Jordan Tabb is the School Board Vice President He confirmed in a phone call Friday morning that the board plans to accept O’Brien’s resignation at the next school board meeting and that he will be chairing the board in her absence “I’ve gotten the opportunity to wear that hat at a couple meetings recently,” Tabb said over the phone adding that he “felt good” about leading the board and was grateful for community input at recent meetings Board members have 30 days to appoint someone to fill the vacant seat on the board until a new member can be chosen for a full term during the municipal election in October.  CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that School Board Vice President Jordan Tabb would be assuming the role of board president He will be assuming the responsibilities of board chair while the position is vacant but the president role is elected by the school board and the vice president does not automatically assume it Tabb said that the board is working with the Association of Alaska School Boards for guidance The Rendezvous Thrift Store is filled with gems Montana – “The First Best Place!” – with a strangely ominous message printed on the side by a label maker: “Wilderness makes David better.” $1 a coffee maker that’s somehow also a radio a full antique bed frame with bookshelves and drawers Standing among all of this stuff was the thrift store’s manager “I enjoyed my years here and I’m off to bigger and better things Anderson has worked at the thrift store for nearly 15 years The store is owned by Rendezvous Senior Day Services a nonprofit adult day center for Ketchikan’s elders and disabled The store has also supported other local nonprofits during its tenure and the Ketchikan Reentry Coalition – the thrift store employed the coalition’s clients in the first months after they were released from prison so they could get back on their feet The store also ran a foodbank and donated clothes to the island’s homeless population “It’s done more for the community than it’s given credit for,” said Conner Pope the director of Rendezvous Senior Day Services.  Pope took the helm at the nonprofit earlier this year and said he faced a big problem early on the thrift store had always financially supported the senior center He said the thrift store was in the red and they were taking money away from their senior services to keep it afloat.   “It’s become time to kind of part ways which is a horribly difficult decision,” he said The first was the State of Alaska dramatically slashing grant funding for all adult day services across the state Governor Mike Dunleavy enacted a state budget that cut money for community-based grants for senior services by roughly $2.7 million Rendezvous said that it’s left small town nonprofits like them that are competing with the price of living “squeezed to the point of difficult decisions.”  The other challenge came from within the community.  and a lot of items that should be brought to the dump,” said Pope the amount of things people would donate or drop off outside the store after hours grew to “avalanche proportions.”  “We get microwaves that have food still in them We just don’t have the people or the staff to be able to have one person clean everything top to bottom and put it out,” he said one man’s trash was another man’s headache Anderson said the store sold things for so cheap they were losing money trying to clean the bags of rain-drenched and soiled clothes that greeted them every morning to what they were paying for dumpsters and trash removal “I believe the last time I checked it was roughly $16,000 for the year is what we’re paying,” he said about their trash removal bill Pope said they tried to work something out with the city’s waste disposal to deal with the secondhand trash for years but it fell on deaf ears and I was told there wasn’t much we could do,” he said it definitely does,” he said about the store he managed for so long “We got a letter from the Rendezvous stating that they were going to close and I was like that’s not happening,’” said Tamra Chenhall She stood in the donation bay of the store sorting bags of clothing and kids toys.  Chenhall has been the store’s assistant manager for years.  “I feel good and nervous and like it’s not real,” she said about her successful purchase of the store.  and I think she’s got nothing but gumption towards making this place the best it can be,” Pope said about Chenhall.  Rendezvous is necessary for Ketchikan as it’s one of the only places to purchase affordable items and furniture in a community that is getting more and more expensive When she found out the senior center was divesting from the store “I’m gonna try to keep it as close to what it is now as possible,” she said Chenhall’s Rendezvous will be a little bit different meaning it won’t offer the community service opportunities the former nonprofit leadership did and they are unable to print off tax slips for donations.  and Anderson hope there will be a cultural change in the community more respect for the store and the quality of donations If you wouldn’t give it to your grandparents it’s probably not right for Rendezvous Couches that don’t have rips or tears or are broken,” said Anderson “They drop off after hours and in the pouring rain and then by the time we get here in the morning Chenhall said people in the community have already offered to help the store dig its way out “I’ve had a lot of support from the community stating that they would help take loads of trash to the dump,” she said Chenhall plans to retain all seven of the store’s current employees She hopes to reopen the thrift store in December But board president Michelle O’Brien doesn’t anticipate a vote on either plan this week unless there’s some surprise to me,” O’Brien said during a phone call Tuesday “And the reason I say that is we are launching into a series of community listening sessions.” O’Brien said they need more time to hear public feedback about these newly presented budget options.  Point Higgins Elementary is located about a half-hour drive north of downtown Ketchikan serving the many families who live at that end of the island Closing the school would cover less than half of a $6 million deficit which would still require cutting 16 teachers plus librarians and athletic staff at the remaining buildings O’Brien said they’re presenting a budget based on what they know now but that could always change if the state approves more funding They haven’t had the respect to give the communities any sort of notice in a timely fashion,” O’Brien said “The prudent thing is to present a budget based on what we know now.” O’Brien said the local decisions need to happen soon and the board will likely vote on the budget during their first meeting in March Delilah Walsh sent her resignation letter to the City Council on Tuesday announcing that she will be stepping down in late February Walsh has been the City’s chief administrator since 2022 after a career as a county manager in her home state of New Mexico Walsh is returning to New Mexico to accept a job at her alma mater New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.  “That’s all official now,” Walsh said minutes after sending her official resignation letter I accepted a Vice President of Administration position with the university Walsh said she is sad to be leaving Ketchikan though and that the decision was not made lightly In an email to city staff about her departure Walsh said “Serving this community has been one of the most fulfilling and rewarding experiences of my career.” She added that she was proud of what city staff had achieved together in her roughly two years in the position Walsh worked for nearly all of her time in Ketchikan under former Mayor Dave Kiffer Kiffer said Walsh was a steadying influence in council chambers “The big thing that she did was to get the council to sit down and say these are our four or five or six priorities These are the things that we want to do going forward,'” Kiffer said over the phone The former mayor said the City Council will likely appoint an interim manager when Walsh departs in February Kiffer said Walsh will not be easy to replace especially since hiring from outside Alaska can be difficult The cost of living is high and salaries often struggle to be competitive “It is a challenge to find just the right person who can deal with the challenges of being the city manager in Ketchikan but it’s also managing the utility,” said Kiffer The Ketchikan City Manager also oversees the city-owned water Walsh said the City plans to post the job opening for a new city manager soon The board interviewed them all at the meeting Other candidates included Sharon Montgomery Thomas said he was a teacher for nearly two decades and spent seven of those years in Ketchikan teaching vocational skills He said one of his biggest concern for the school district was the loss of technical education programs “This is what hurts when budgets get cut The first thing they say is we’ve got to cut vocational programs – music all this kind of stuff,” Thomas said “If it wasn’t for vocational programs I would have never graduated from high school there’s a lot of kids that I know that would never graduate “And I think we need to keep looking at that 70-75% that isn’t going to go to college We’ve got to show them ways to be successful,” he said during the interview Forest Service in the Tongass National Forest He served just under four years on the school board during Covid and is the parent of a student in the district Robbins said as a communications professional he can help the board address what he called their “messaging problem.” coming from the board and the district,” Robbins told the board The board went into a brief executive session after the seven interviews they narrowed the candidates down to three: Robbins Robbins and Thomas were sworn in by school district superintendent Michael Robbins – no relation to Paul Delta Air Lines has pulled its bookings for summer flights to both Ketchikan and Sitka a seasonal service it had offered for nearly a decade That leaves Alaska Airlines as the only major carrier in the two communities Scott Habberstad oversees community relations for the Alaska market of Alaska Airlines During a Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce luncheon days after Delta’s Jan Habberstad gave a presentation and took questions from the audience Habberstad said he was disappointed to see his competitor go But Habberstad was adamant that losing Delta would not affect the cost of flights in and out of Ketchikan “The fares will be the same as they were last year and they’ll be the same next year,” Habberstad said Scott McMurren, the long-time publisher of the Alaska Travelgram newsletter and travel columnist for the Anchorage Daily News tracks the price of Alaska flights for a living He said each time Delta has entered a city previously dominated by Alaska Airlines And since Delta pulled its seasonal flights in Ketchikan McMurren said Alaska Airlines’ prices already look to be substantially higher for the upcoming summer than they were last year “It’s important to just understand that when there is a monopoly in the market “And this is not exclusive with Alaska Airlines But Habberstad insists Alaska Airlines does not intend to raise prices Habberstad said that the apparent increase could be due to sale pricing “It’s possible that there was a sale fare in the market for some reason when you were looking at it and there may not be a sale fare today,” he said the Sitka and Ketchikan flights apparently just weren’t getting enough passengers to pencil out a Delta representative said to better meet demand those aircraft are being reallocated to Bozeman “a market with strong year-round demand from Seattle.” But the airline is continuing to expand in the state’s biggest cities. Delta has recently added a new route from Fairbanks to Salt Lake City and from Anchorage to Los Angeles The principal of Ketchikan High School joined other school district officials from across the state to testify in front of the Alaska House and Senate on Monday Rick Dormer is the principal of the high school in Ketchikan and the head of the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals “We are trending in the wrong direction,” Dormer said during the joint hearing of the state House and Senate education committees at the Capitol “Every school needs quality leadership and quality teachers and Alaska is losing their educational leaders at a very rapid rate.” Dormer was one of a handful of officials and association heads who testified during the hearing from school districts like the Kenai Peninsula as well as the director of the Alaska Educator Retention and Recruitment Center The testimony came as lawmakers mull over how much money the state will put towards education funding next school year Dormer said it’s not just facilities being affected Schools need resources for students’ mental health I can come to you and tell you that just the last month and we had another teen attempt to take their life Alaska leads the nation in teen suicides Dormer testified that nearly 40% of the school’s students have reported feeling so anxious and/or scared every day for two weeks in a row that they couldn’t finish their work Some 41% reported feeling so sad or hopeless that they didn’t want to do the things they normally like doing and we know they have a direct impact on student achievement And we also believe these statistics are consistent across the state,” he said Ketchikan High School has a social worker on staff to help students navigate the depression minefield of being a high schooler That’s actually above and beyond what a lot of students get The School Social Work Association of America generally recommends that schools have at least one social worker for every 250 students Dormer said most schools in Alaska can’t afford to hire counselors or social workers right now and most can’t rely on federal grants I can tell you that hiring a counselor is about impossible at this time And then how can you retain them?” he asked Retention came up a few times in Dormer’s testimony – it was a big part of nearly every testimony during the joint session The officials said Alaska has a problem keeping teachers and continuous budget uncertainties are compounding that Another testifier referenced University of Alaska Anchorage research showing that high turnover costs districts more than $20,000 extra per teacher to recruit Dormer came to Ketchikan in 2022 after over a decade leading the high school in Petersburg But he’s said he’s actively interviewing for other jobs outside Alaska and I don’t have to take the time and expense to get on a Boeing jet to see my family But we’re also highly educated professionals And I can tell you that there are a lot of options out there,” he said Alaska’s teens deserve high-quality teachers and administrators who want to stick around A bill before the state Senate would increase per-student funding for Alaska schools by $1,000. It already passed the House it’ll end up on Governor Mike Dunleavy’s desk Ketchikan senior Jonathan Scoblic shoots under pressure from East Anchorage senior Muhammed Sabally (23) during the Kings’ 43-25 loss to the Thunderbirds on Saturday in the 4A championship game of the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 4A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center 3/21/2025: Tongass Highway will remain blocked overnight following Thursday’s rockslide near Wolfe Point The Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center said in a press release Friday evening that crews will continue removing debris over the weekend State geologists remain on-site assessing the stability of the slope.  rocky game of Jenga,” Alaska Department of Transportation landslide expert Travis Eckhoff said in a prepared statement “Crews must strategically remove the material supporting these boulders to prevent them from falling onto workers or impacting adjacent power lines.” Regional tour company Allen Marine Tours is shuttling trapped residents and workday commuters across the slide area with a tour boat every hour The service is going back and forth between Taquan on the south side of the slide to The Ketch on the north side that water taxi service will continue tonight with the final shuttle departing from the south side of the slide at 9:15 p.m and the last return trip from the north side will be at 9:45 p.m.  The First City Players also announced that they are canceling the opening weekend of their stage production of “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller Friday evening at the Kayhi Auditorium with consecutive performances on Saturday and Sunday Friday 3/21/2025 .: The Alaska Department of Transportation and regional construction company SECON began clearing debris from the Wolfe Point landslide Friday morning according to a joint statement from Ketchikan city and borough officials SECON said in a press release that additional landslide experts from around the state arrived Friday morning to provide continued assessment during the debris removal process and initial cleanup efforts are focused on the north side of the slide area It is currently unclear how long it will take to make Tongass Highway passable.  The Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center is urging boaters to avoid the Wolfe Point area.   Allen Marine Tours was operating a water taxi to transport stranded people and work commuters across the slide zone According to the Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center a shuttle bus service is operating from the Walmart parking lot on the north end of the slide area to The Ketch where the water taxi is departing from officials are urging residents to park at the Taquan Air or Alaska Marine Highway System lots if utilizing the temporary ferry service The Federal Aviation Administration has restricted all non-essential aircraft and drones within a half-mile of the Wolfe Point landslide until further notice saying that unauthorized flights in the area could pose a risk to response efforts UPDATE Thursday 3/20/2025 – 8 p.m.: The Alaska Department of Transportation and the Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center have decided to wait until the morning to begin removing debris from the landslide near Wolfe Point Ketchikan was seeing heavy rains going into Thursday evening and that rain was expected to continue until the morning The Ketchikan City and Borough said in a press release that there was concern that large rocks in the slide zone could shift overnight State geologists are expected to do another site assessment at 6:30 a.m The borough and city mayors signed a joint disaster declaration for the landslide The declaration was ratified by the Ketchikan City Council at their regular meeting Thursday night.  “Our major concerns are we have several large boulders that are going to come down,” Ketchikan Fire Chief Rick Hines told the city council during the meeting about why they suspended clean up efforts until the morning.  Hines said the slide nearly took out a nearby electrical pole which could’ve disrupted power service to residents north of the slide “The guard rail protected the electrical service to the north end of the island with the initial slide,” he said “What we run into now is those big boulders are going to come down It’s taking the time to take them down so we don’t disrupt the power service The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School district closed the island’s schools on Friday in light of the landslide schoolchildren trapped on either side of the slide are able to shelter overnight at their respective schools under the supervision of teachers the northern portion of the airport ferry parking lot is closed until further notice He said it is being used as a staging area for helicopters in the event of a medical evacuation Hines said they are able to continue emergency medical services to the north end of the island.  “We have already completed one EMS medical call within the city north of the landslide,” Hines said adding that the patient was treated by the North Tongass Fire Department before being flown by helicopter to an ambulance on the other side of the slide zone “We’ve also made arrangements with the U.S Coast Guard in the evening time to make sure those operations continue.” Hines said all blasting efforts along the hillside for DOT’s ongoing stability project have been suspended.  “There is still an area that is north of the slide area that’s going to have to be assessed for stability and it may or may have to be brought down while the road is still closed,” said Hines The fire chief expressed gratitude that no one was hurt in the slide.  “A couple things worked in our favor today and there was nobody going past when the slide occurred except some SECON workers that probably had to go change their pants it was probably a pretty scary thing to be that close knowing that the outcome would have been really bad for those individuals,” Hines said When asked when the road could be open again Hines responded that the cleanup has to be slow and methodical and the road will reopen “when it is safe to do so.” ORIGINAL: A rockslide near Ketchikan on Thursday morning has blocked the island’s main road It’s not clear when the road will be open again but city and borough officials are urging residents to make plans for an extended closure.  “It’s divided the community literally and we’re hoping to get it reopened as soon as possible has been doing blasting in recent days along the hillside where the slide occurred as part of a hazard mitigation project to improve the slope’s stability.  So there’s been rock slides there in the past and that’s why they’re working there,” Dapcevich said SECON spokeswoman Marianne Kordowski directed questions to the  Transportation Department Officials say they have a workaround in place to transport hospital patients across the slide zone.  The state Department of Transportation wrote on social media that the slide location is “complex and unsafe,” but that they would work to clear a single lane for emergency vehicles once geologists give the OK.  Roughly three dozen people gathered on the busy corner of Tongass Avenue and Jefferson Way to show support for their coworkers and neighbors and oppose President Donald Trump’s policies People held up signs against the wind and rain as passing cars beeped in support Here’s what demonstrators were saying: Fearing retribution from the federal government many demonstrators did not want to be identified by name in this story School board member Katherine Tatsuda told the Ketchikan Borough Assembly Monday night that the board hopes to begin interviewing potential replacements as early as next month “Especially with Superintendent Robbins leaving and the shakeup in district leadership I am personally concerned about making such a massive change that is so controversial to district staff and the community and the impact on families,” Tatsuda told the borough assembly Robbins announced his resignation to district teachers and staff in a four-sentence email He said he will be resigning on June 30th and looks forward to “supporting a smooth transition in the months ahead.”  True North Recovery is a Wasilla-based nonprofit that has had success in recent years providing services to patients in the Mat-Su and in Fairbanks Karl Soderstrom is CEO of the organization which he described as one that’s challenging the traditional models of substance misuse treatment “We really believe in core pillars of recovery employment and building natural community supports.”  True North will operate a 16-bed inpatient facility out of the same building KAR House used Soderstrom said they hope to work closely with RISE and complement their offerings on the continuum of care While some patients may only need outpatient services Soderstrom said those with more intensive needs typically start in a residential facility and then graduate to outpatient “We’re going to get all the drugs out of your system we’re going to provide shelter for you we’re going to get you healthy again,” Soderstrom said describing their approach to residential treatment “We’re going to teach you some new skills and then we’re going to set a plan in place where we can get you back into your community.” Soderstrom said the facility will have a welcoming environment where people can come in and ask questions before committing to anything or filling out paperwork the Ketchikan School Board voted to move ahead with a previously approved plan to restructure schools The cost-cutting plan will consolidate the island’s three elementary schools by grade level The decision came after some community members floated an alternative plan to create multi-age classrooms The board heard more than an hour of emotional public comments as it has grown accustomed to in recent months Shari Montgomery said if the district separates Kindergarten through third from the fourth through sixth graders her sons would never get to attend the same school “Harrison will never be able to look out for Jack Jack on the playground or the bus,” Montgomery said “They’ll never perform in a Christmas concert together They won’t wrestle on the same team or share lunch table together.” A group of community members then circulated alternate cost-saving proposals and the board subsequently asked staff to examine one of those ideas — creating multi-age classrooms the board considered a motion to implement that multi-age model instead of the school restructuring plan a number of local educators spoke in favor of keeping the restructuring plan.  Dollee Robinson has worked in the district for several years and said she had been hesitant to speak because she didn’t want to lose friends who disagreed with her She said she could see the benefits of restructuring like more streamlined instruction and preventing further cuts to the kind of programs that keep older students engaged “I’m in support of specialization because I don’t want any more cut from secondary,” Robinson said so I’m the whole range from elementary to Kayhi that we as a community can come together and say we’re going to do the best that we can.’” The vote to revoke the restructuring plan in favor of the multi-age classroom model failed 1 to 4 The board plans to interview and appoint two new members during their meeting on Wednesday and present a budget that needs to be submitted to the borough by May 1.  the City of Ketchikan has elected a new mayor and will likely have two familiar names on the City Council The preliminary votes in the three precincts were tallied just before 11pm Tuesday night Bob Sivertsen will be the city’s next mayor The outstanding absentee and questioned ballots aren’t enough to push his competitor Janalee Gage Sivertsen was at the White Cliff Building late Tuesday night when the votes came in “It’s real humbling when you get a turnout and you become the top vote-getter in the race that you’re in,” Sivertsen said “I just love it when we have elections and people turn out but those that voted were informed and and expressed their right to vote.” When asked what the beginning of his term would look like some of it’s going to be catching up to where the council is now and get up to speed with all that but we’re going to turn right around and start looking at the budget real close So I think that’s the first order of business for the city,” said Sivertsen The other seats on the city ballot were for two full terms on the Council The preliminary results show a precise tie between candidates Dick Coose and Jai Mahtani and Michael Briggs trailed by about 100 votes or more making it statistically possible but unlikely for them to overtake either of the two frontrunners Mahtani was also present when the results came in “Thank you for believing in me to continue to do what is right for the city and the whole island of Ketchikan,” he said We’ve got to be careful how we go about the budget I want to make sure we have enough mental health professionals attending to all aspects of our community and also making sure our police are fire and our public work employees electric employees are taken care of.” with an average of 17% of registered voters casting a ballot.  These are not the official results because a total of about 212 absentee and special needs ballots still need to be counted over the coming week and those final tallies have to be certified by the City Council at an upcoming meeting A storm brought strong winds and historically heavy rains to Ketchikan Sunday prompting the closure of the Third Avenue Bypass The Ketchikan International Airport recorded more than 6 inches of rain Sunday shattering the daily record set during World War I Grant Smith is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service so broke it by an inch,” Smith explained “Lots of heavy rain down there in Ketchikan.” “Which means that there’s some mud and some darker runoff,” Robinson said “That’s one of the signs that could indicate that the slope is not as stable.” Robinson said there haven’t been any new slides in the area She said residents should be prepared for occasional closures like this going forward.  “You can’t predict what’s going to happen that another landslide will happen,” Robinson said “But we do know the ingredients that could cause one then we’re going to err on the side of caution.” The city sent a notice Monday afternoon that the bypass would reopen as of 4:30 p.m.  Residents are encouraged to sign up for Nixle alerts by texting the Ketchikan zip code (99901) to the number 888-777 The program sends important community alerts Alaska’s state development agency says it’s in talks with the operator of the Ketchikan Shipyard to resolve a dispute that threatens the future of the key local employer The announcement comes about two weeks after the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority told shipyard operator Vigor it would not renew its contract to run the multimillion-dollar state facility AIDEA said Vigor had not supported enough jobs made enough money for the state or adequately contributed to repairs and maintenance The agency said the operator’s time at the yard would end Nov Now, though, tensions appear to be easing. A joint statement from AIDEA and Vigor dated March 13 commends the operator’s “stewardship” of the Ketchikan Shipyard “AIDEA and Vigor are united in their commitment to preserving this essential shipyard as a cornerstone of opportunity for the community and the state,” the statement said “Both organizations are working together on potential opportunities to extend our working relationship by exploring new opportunities and partnerships to improve the shipyard’s ability to serve Alaska’s maritime needs.” Neither side offered any details on what had changed in the meantime AIDEA said it was willing to discuss extending the end of the contract to March of next year But there’s no mention of the March deadline in Thursday’s statement indicating the pair may be negotiating a longer-term deal AIDEA and Vigor remain optimistic about the Ketchikan Shipyard’s future and its enduring role in the region,” Vigor and AIDEA said “Further updates will be provided as negotiations advance and we anticipate sharing additional developments in the near future.” Vigor is a significant employer in Ketchikan with roughly nearly 100 direct employees and dozens of additional contractors It’s also the only major shipyard in Southeast Alaska and it’s where many of the state’s Marine Highway System ferries About 150 people gathered outside of the big pink Federal Building in downtown Ketchikan on Saturday as part of a nationwide protest of the Trump Administration’s policies Residents held signs saying things like “Economy wrecked no punchline” or “Make America kind again.” Many said things like “No kings,” “No dictators,” “No fascists.” One man waved an upside down American flag Middle-aged men in full fishing gear held up poster boards that said things like “Hands off our constitution.” A younger member of the LGBTQ community held a sign saying “You can’t erase us.”  People also protested the Trump administration’s treatment of Mexico and Canada as well as what they saw as attacks on veterans’ benefits A landslide in Ketchikan on Sunday killed one person injured three others and destroyed multiple homes The landslide tore down a steep slope at roughly 4 p.m crossing the road and continuing downhill into the White Cliff neighborhood a relatively densely populated area near downtown.  Local authorities identified the man who died as Sean Griffin a senior maintenance technician with the city of Ketchikan who was clearing storm drains in the area when the landslide struck “It was his commitment to the community that caused him to respond to the call for assistance during his scheduled time off,” Ketchikan’s city and borough governments said in a joint statement City and borough officials said three other people were injured in the landslide but the extent of their injuries is unclear They said all individuals have been accounted for I have never seen a slide of this magnitude,” City of Ketchikan Mayor Dave Kiffer said in a statement This is the fourth fatal landslide in Southeast Alaska in a decade RELATED: Ketchikan residents describe a chaotic scene in the hours after fatal landslide Ketchikan experienced heavy rains on Saturday night and Sunday leading up to the slide Officials urged the public Monday to avoid the landslide area “There will be no activity allowed in the slide area until after the area has been cleared by geologists,” city and borough officials said An evacuation order also remained in effect Monday for residents on Third Avenue First Avenue and White Cliff Avenue between Austin and Nadeau streets A borough spokesperson estimated that roughly 60 to 65 households were affected by the evacuation order Ketchikan High School is set up as an emergency shelter with water The Saxman Community Center has been identified as a second emergency shelter site Some 12 people stayed at the shelter Sunday night with others stopping by to access resources The city and borough asked evacuees who need to enter their homes to notify the Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center at (907) 228-2383 before returning to the area Crews cleared downed power lines that were interfering with rescue efforts The borough confirmed that power has been restored to nearby homes but power on First and Second avenues in the slide zone will likely be down for an extended period of time The Ketchikan Gateway Borough announced that a secondary area just south of the original slide has been identified that could pose a landslide risk They said response crews are monitoring it.  Mike Dunleavy has issued a disaster declaration for the landslide "All state agencies are directed to provide whatever assistance is needed," he wrote on social media on Sunday "My thoughts and prayers are with the residents of Ketchikan tonight." The division’s State Individual Assistance and Temporary Housing programs are accepting applications from “survivors with damages or emergency expenses” related to the landslide, the city and borough said. Registration is available by phone at (844) 445-7131 or online at ready.alaska.gov/Recovery/IA The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District canceled the first day of classes on Monday for all Ketchikan schools in order to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles. School is canceled through at least Wednesday, the superintendent said Kiffer, the city mayor, said in a statement that the loss of life was heartbreaking calling for help to learn more about the slide’s underlying causes “With the slides we have seen across the region there is clearly a region-wide issue that we need to try to understand with the support of our State geologist,” he said A special borough website has been created to host further information on the Ketchikan landslide The Ketchikan Indian Community just received a $3 million grant to build dozens of permanent supportive housing units for seniors Myrna Chaney directs the tribe’s housing authority and she said the units will be available to elders over the age of 55 “We’re calling the building ‘Yi gu.aa xáx x’wán,’ and that’s a Tlingit name meaning that you have a community standing behind you or it also means ‘to be strong and have courage.’” it is a little heartbreaking,” Chaney said “We want to see them being able to find themselves housed and start feeling a little more dignity and welcome in a space that they can call their own.” where the now closed The Galley restaurant is located KIC also plans to open a navigation center to offer assistance with housing resources and things like hygiene services and basic healthcare.  The housing project is expected to cost around $11 million but Chaney said KIC has also received $325,000 from the Alaska Mental Health Trust and has a few other grant opportunities in the works They’re moving ahead with the permitting process and hope to break ground spring 2025 starting with a demo of the old warehouse on the property The Norwegian Bliss pulled into Ward Cove Thursday morning to kick off Ketchikan’s 2025 tourism season The ship was carrying more than 4,600 passengers Ketchikan Gateway Borough Mayor Rodney Dial and Ward Cove Group CEO John Binkley were waiting for them on the Ward Cove dock to cut the red ribbon The first passengers to disembark this season were a couple from California Tourists milled around the cruise ship berths taking pictures of the mountains and floatplanes coming in for landing.  The Ketchikan Visitors Bureau estimates the First City will see roughly 1.47 million visitors on more than 500 ships this season That number is relatively consistent with last year’s numbers The paving project is expected to continue through Saturday It is unclear how the two-lane gravel detour is expected to impact tourism in the meantime City of Ketchikan Tourism Manager Laurie Booyse couldn’t be reached for comment by press time The governor then proposed an alternative bill that would cut the per-student funding boost and focus more funding on homeschool and literacy initiatives and away from general funds for school districts State lawmakers are convening on Tuesday to vote on confirming or overriding the Governor’s veto A veto override would require two-thirds of the Legislature to vote against the governor Jeremy Bynum sits on the House Finance Committee He was one of three minority-caucus Republicans who voted in favor of the education bill Bynum sat down with KRBD’s Jack Darrell to talk about what happened with the education funding bill as well as the Alaska Marine Highway System and takeaways from his first session in the Alaska Legislature revolutionary changes that we need to have JB: The other thing that we talked about is education Watching this whole process from being on the [Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly] for four years you see how we have this dependency on the state to make sure they’re giving us foundational dollars early on or assurances of what those were going to be We all want to see additional dollars being put into education here in District 1 our schools over on Prince of Wales Island let’s bring in additional or new revenues.’ but one thing that isn’t happening is that those additional revenues aren’t in front of us right now to consider them as possible isn’t really reality when I have to do a budget right now we ultimately ended up with the bill that came to the floor there was policy that was added into that bill that a lot of people were asking for but policies I wanted weren’t in that bill I wanted policies that would really try to protect Career Technical Education (CTE) and make sure that when we put money into the schools that they’re going to these really important programs we talk about – sports programs in the schools all these things that keep kids engaged in school There were policy things in there that some people were able to get on with and so myself and two other minority members supported the education bill leaving the House to go to the Senate Even Governor Dunleavy at that time had put out a tweet or a post on X that said that he felt that the bill was going in the right direction I felt like we might have some possibility that we could actually get a piece of legislation that would be passed and not vetoed There was still a lot of concerns about the cost of the $1,000 BSA that funding is necessary in the long-term And I figured we could figure out a way to put our heads together and make sure that we were going to make that a priority and fund it it’s not about whether we’re cutting the budget – cut It’s about how we’re prioritizing where we put our money it left the House looking like it was on a good trajectory it got over to the Senate Education Committee and they made some changes which I thought were not good because I thought it hurt the bill’s opportunity to actually make it through the process JB: The one thing that they added in there that – it was a political thing that was added that made me think that people just were not going to support the bill – they added into the bill a requirement that if you were doing the public homeschool program – this is part of our public school system – that there was a mandatory requirement that your kid would have to go through the testing process then you wouldn’t get your funding for the homeschool program ‘You do this testing or you will not be allowed to basically get any funding for your allotment.’ that wasn’t something that I think has a big because we don’t have a lot of students in that correspondence program The same thing is true for other school districts within District 1 And people said they absolutely would never vote for the bill with that in there So it was kind of like – for the lack of a better word – a “poison pill” for the bill We knew the governor would also not support that at all ‘Why did you do that if we’re trying to actually get a bill done?’ things changed pretty rapidly over the last month…” we’ve had some things transpire through that process and one of the big things that’s transpired is the economic condition of the state We had a spring forecast that said that we were going to get about $68 a barrel on oil this forecast they do a forecast and a revenue forecast based on that and that’s the amount of money that we have to work with when we go to craft this budget things changed pretty rapidly over the last month there’s some uncertainty with long term forecast We’ve seen some instability in the markets and a big portion of what we get for funding our government isn’t just what the oil does and oil production but also the earnings from the Permanent Fund when we see a big loss of revenue or value is from the fund that has a financial impact on the state as well So there’s a lot of concern right now in the building about how much funding we’re actually gonna have available to us to fund the operating budget and the capital budget All of those financial pressures really caused a lot of concern on the Senate side when the education bill was coming out of the Education Committee and going to the Finance Committee in the Senate ‘We don’t think that there’s the current willpower to try to reduce that $1,000 down to make it more affordable,’ but we also understand that they didn’t think that we could afford it So they stripped all the policy out of the bill ‘We’ll put it to the floor for a vote and send it to the governor.’ And I think everybody already knew what the outcome was going to be There’s some of the policy stuff in there that I like My hope is that it would be good in the sense that we would have a permanent increase it has about an equivalent of a $700 [increase to the Base Student Allocation] the governor said that if we pass that bill ‘Let’s pass that bill tomorrow and let him sign the thing into law.’ I mean we can always continue to work on other policies We can always continue to work on additional funding We can even have conversations about putting some additional one-time funding in given a lot of the uncertainty within the school districts and their funding needs but I think it’d be step in the right direction when I’m looking at where the votes are there’s not enough votes to override ‘Am I making a political vote?’ Do I say I want to override because I believe that this was the right bill?’ We’re not going to win that battle ‘Let’s get something we can get across the finish line and move on.’ I want to see a solution I don’t want to just see political statements being made I kind of feel like House Bill 69 has been a political process and not a real serious process to solve the problem JD: What are your hopes and dreams for the rest of this session JB: We’ve been working on another piece of legislation and I’m calling it the PFD Eligibility Bill for the Merchant Marine Academy this is to help protect our kids going off to the Merchant Marine Academy so they would still maintain their eligibility for the Permanent Fund Dividend just like all the other kids going off to college get It also helps predict our college kids to give some allowable absences for their spring break and winter break There’s some corrective language in there to help people to have medical emergencies when they go to leave to maintain their eligibility I’m pretty proud of the fact that we were able to work across across the aisle and also bicameral with the Senate Some folks had some issues with but that’s okay It’s a pretty strong showing for a freshman bill to get through the process John Smet shut off the engine of his workboat as he approached his go-to wild kelp bed so less kelp was pooling on the surface of the water his business partner Nick Stern noticed a kelp strand within reach cut off a few feet and threw the rest back As Stern held up the shiny seaweed for a photo op Smet explained the basic anatomy of Macrocystis pyrifera Giant kelp is probably what you picture when someone says “kelp,” those flowing golden-brown towers that fish dart through and sea otters like to sleep on top of And this species is what brought the two entrepreneurs to Ketchikan.  After working several years in New York finance the college friends decided to quit their jobs and start a company that could be both profitable and good for the planet so Smet said they wanted to focus on agriculture “We looked at a lot of different businesses “And we thought that kelp was by far the most environmentally beneficial The Pacific Kelp founders think they can help address both of those issues.  will soon have something else to help their industry neighbors: a processing facility Stern stood inside a warehouse just south of downtown Ketchikan we can do about 1,000 kilograms or 2,200 pounds of raw kelp per day,” Stern said pointing to their shredder and other machinery The company is sharing the space with local dive fisherman but say they have plenty of room to process kelp from other regional farms and their own Alaska currently has very few kelp processors which makes it difficult and expensive to get the cumbersome raw product to markets in the Lower 48 Stern said that’s an industry gap they’re trying to fill “We’ve had talks with kelp farmers up in Kodiak and Juneau and distribute and sell it into markets that we have been spending the better part of the last two years trying to cultivate and build.” Part of that market cultivation process is proving that their liquefied kelp extract can be an effective biostimulant Kyle Wickings is one of two researchers they’ve partnered with to conduct field trials to demonstrate the value of their product He’s a Cornell biologist who studies grass (officially called “turfgrass”) and he thinks Pacific Kelp’s fertilizer could help make grass more resistant to stressors like drought and pests And as bans on certain insecticides go into effect Wickings said this extract could help farmers replace them “When you’ve got the potential for a product like a seaweed extract to sort of up regulate those defenses and stress tolerance of the plant what drives a lot of the interest across the whole range of different agricultural sectors,” Wickings said The $500,000 research grant comes from the Southeast Conference a regional economic development organization The goal of the project is to strengthen Alaska’s mariculture industry while contributing to broader agricultural sustainability efforts Stern hopes the research will stir up demand for kelp products by showing that they can save farmers money on things like irrigation and synthetic fertilizer “If every school in the country is spraying kelp on their turf grass they’re using a lot less water and fertilizer but they’re also using a lot more Alaskan kelp,” Stern said Pacific Kelp plans to get their extract certified as a basic fertilizer and onto shelves in the next few months The research project over the next two years will help the company complete the much more rigorous process to register as a specialized biostimulant The City of Ketchikan commissioned a study by McKinley Research Group to look at how much tourism is costing the city.  “So your total costs to the City of Ketchikan related to cruise passenger volume in the city for 2023 was about $8 million,” Raniyah Bakr told the Ketchikan City Council at their October 17 meeting.  That $8 million breaks down to about $5.43 per tourist.  According to a memo from City Manager Delilah Walsh the study aims to hone in on the specific areas where cruise passengers cost the city the most they can better focus on where to spend the tourism revenue and negotiate with cruise lines in the future The research broke down the costs by city departments The Ports & Harbors department and emergency services bore the financial brunt of the nearly 1.5 million cruise passengers that passed through the city in 2023 McKinley estimated the total cost to Ports & Harbors to be roughly $3.8 million followed by fire/EMS and police a big part of that cost to Ports & Harbors is Berth IV All the docks are city-owned except Berth IV which the city leases from Ketchikan Dock Company year-round lease of $1.8 million a year for use of the berth the cruise docks go largely unused in the off-season Ketchikan Dock Company charges additional fees when passenger volume exceeds 820,000 the city paid $2.3 million in 2023 for using Berth IV McKinley first submitted the report to the city back in September McKinley arrived at these numbers by factoring in two specific types of costs One is what they call “marginal costs,” which are the costs that wouldn’t exist if there were no cruise passengers– things like hiring seasonal crossing guards or janitorial contracts The other is “overhead costs,” or the toll that cruise passengers put on city services not specifically geared towards them things like medical supplies and overtime pay for the city’s emergency medical personnel dealing with more calls this calculation largely focuses on “services rendered rather than actual spending.” Walsh said the city doesn’t hire extra employees for the summer months Fire and police department employees just work overtime McKinley said the city doubled that in revenue bringing in more than $16 million from cruisers who also runs a retail business near the cruise docks He said he believed the cost to the city was far more than $8 million “I’m frustrated because this data is inaccurate – just doesn’t apply I think we need to be very careful how we go about using this data,” said Mahtani He didn’t elaborate on specific figures in the data he thought were inaccurate.   Councilmember Mark Flora also expressed concern but with a different aspect of the report Flora pointed to the largest cruise-related expense: the port Flora said the funding for the port was coming out of the city’s general fund which he says means that “the residents of Ketchikan are subsidizing port operations.”  “I hope we’re not looking for ways to sustain what’s going on here because we’re actually asking residents to support expenses directly attributable to visitors,” Flora said City Manager Walsh said she sees where Flora is coming from but said it’s not what the data in this study is pointing to She said the costs shown in the study are not related to port infrastructure but rather what happens when passengers step off the port.  that’s a whole separate cost versus what it costs for a person to get off the ship and impact us also mentioned how Ward Cove fits into the equation Bakr said the cruise port at Ward Cove is responsible for 25% of total passenger numbers Ward Cove recieved about 368,000 passengers in 2023 and about half of them traveled to downtown Ketchikan is owned by a private company called the Ward Cove Group and partially funded by Norwegian Cruise Lines The report factored in the costs to the city presented by these additional passengers but Bakr said she didn’t know the tax structure between the City and the Ward Cove Group or if Ketchikan received revenue from Ward Cove Walsh noted that Ward Cove passengers do impact Ketchikan’s infrastructure and overall costs.  The city will continue to look at the cost of tourism McKinley Research Group said they planned a survey of Ketchikan residents to look into the intangible costs like how it affects locals’ quality of life.   McKinley also acknowledged in the report other intangible costs to the city that they were unable to calculate like the fact that city and state engineers “often struggle to upgrade municipal infrastructure because construction season largely overlaps with the cruise season” or that municipal employees are often “unable to take vacations during the season.” The report also cited cruise passengers using restrooms at local museums without paying admission and commercial charter and tourism boats “blocking the loading zone at the harbor resulting in lost moorage revenues from other potential users.” Ketchikan City Council voted unanimously to accept the report and directed staff to come back with a recommendation on how best to use the data Hundreds of Ketchikan residents recently packed into a parking lot on a chilly Wednesday evening to send off a 74-foot Sitka spruce The massive tree was fully encased inside a tractor trailer only visible through a few plastic windows on the back end But that didn’t deter the impressively large crowd from forming a long line to sign the banners hanging over each side of the truck It’s the first Capitol Christmas Tree to come from the Tongass National Forest The tree made a pit stop in Ketchikan as it began the long journey to Washington Twenty-five-year-old Max Ludwigsen got his turn with the sharpie as local band Dude Mountain played behind him He said he came out for the event because of his connection to the island where the tree was harvested and I grew up hunting Zarembo,” Ludwigsen explained Ludwigsen said he moved to Ketchikan back in grade school but his family still hunts on the small island that lies between Wrangell and Prince of Wales Island not really a spot that people think about,” Ludwigsen said Each year, the “People’s Tree” is sourced from one of the country’s national forests. But in the  more than half a century since the tradition began America’s largest national forest hasn’t made the cut The Tongass spans 17 million acres across the panhandle —  nearly triple the size of the next largest national forest That’s a pretty daunting haystack to search for the one perfect Christmas needle meaning he had the privilege of choosing the handful or so finalist trees to present to the Architect of the Capitol “Essentially what it comes down to is they want a 60 to 80 foot tall Christmas tree,” Roland said “Exactly what you’re looking for in your living room.” Maybe not  exactly like your living room given it’s eight stories tall but imagining a giant Christmas tree is simple enough Even knowing precisely what you’re looking for though where do you start in a forest twice the size of Maryland Roland said modern technology helped. They used  lidar it uses lasers to create detailed digital images The team applied algorithms to existing scans of the forest to look for areas with favorable characteristics number of returns on the lidar scan indicating a full crown Roland said they used ground-based lidar to produce a 3D model of each tree the Architect of the Capitol’s office could get a look at every part of those trees without having to cut down and remove all the finalists the People’s Tree doesn’t have the benefit of walls to cover up aesthetic imperfections “You don’t have a bad corner to hide it in It has to be perfect on all sides,” said Roland Because a lot of the times when you’re growing in a forest setting you end up with a side that’s bald or a side that’s missing branches.” After more than a  year of searching the team found the perfect tree on Zarembo Island where it was barged to Wrangell and then down to Ketchikan to kick off its whistle-stop tour through the Lower 48 Terry Baker is the CEO of the Society of American Foresters the primary sponsor making the US tour happen “Kind of being that facilitator that brings this whole thing together and helps people have some Christmas magic,” Baker said of his organization’s role Baker said there were a lot of partners who donated things like that giant tractor trailer which minimized the tax dollars spent on the project like the people who came out to sign the banner The stop-and-go tour is about honoring the tree’s home state but also letting the rest of the country join in on that community spirit “Being able to have signatures from every stop and I think this tree’s going to have about 17 stops in the Lower 48 so all these communities across the country are going to be connected with Alaska Once those banners collect signatures from around the country they will be showcased during receptions in Washington creating what Baker called “its own unique part of history.” The grade-level restructuring plan is estimated to save the Ketchikan School District about $1.3 million a year helping cover a budget deficit of about $1.7 million with school board member Ali Ginter the sole no vote Member Katherine Tatsuda was excused absent The vote came after the board heard from parents like Elysia Aldrich whose husband serves at the local Coast Guard base She said they had worked hard to extend their family’s time in Ketchikan so that her two sons could finish out high school But they’re now reconsidering the decision to stay astronomy and aviation classes were taken away,” Aldrich said Cutting electives has been part of the school district’s response to flat funding from the state and declining enrollment The proposal passed Wednesday was crafted as a way to help cover projected budget deficits while preserving as many remaining programs as possible Aldrich said the worsening education situation is compromising Ketchikan’s reputation as a Coast Guard-friendly city we are honestly currently looking at positions outside of Ketchikan,” Aldrich said when we were looking forward to our extended time here our six years here would be the longest they have ever lived anywhere Recent cuts for older students was one reason School Board member Jordan Tabb said he is supporting the restructuring plan Tabb said he has middle and high school-aged kids and is concerned about the additional cuts necessary if they didn’t approve the change “While I think we’re right to look at how challenging primary education may be for some families under a specialization model the trade off of not trying to make some savings and changes in how we use those primary schools — the other side is the impact that it has on our secondary kids,” Tabb said Tabb also said that there has long been a concern that the two outlying elementary schools are underutilized and the in-city schools are over-utilized The new plan will help even out class sizes because obviously I can’t go and poll the board,” O’Brien said “A motion had to be made to enter into any sort of discussion whatsoever regarding that item So if I inadvertently upset anyone in the community the board also considered a plan to close one of the elementary schools saying it would only be considered under the worst-case scenario that the state doesn’t approve any new funding Legislators are currently debating education funding but School Board member Tom Heutte brought a reassuring update from Sen who co-chairs the powerful Senate Finance Committee “He recommended that we make our plans based on a $680 increase in the BSA,” Heutte said ‘So I can go back to my district and say this is the per-student formula the state uses to fund education A $680 increase would be equivalent to the amount schools received last year this is certainly something that I would not want to do,” Sanderson said “I’m hopeful that House Bill 69 will pass and potentially we’ll be able to avoid going this route But this is currently where we’re at.” The state agency that owns the shipyard in Ketchikan has notified Vigor Alaska that the state does not intend to renew the company's lease when it expires in November it also is preparing to advertise for a new operator April 21, 2025 by It’s official: A Ketchikan woman now holds the Guinness World Record for “largest female mouth gape.” That’s how wide you can open your mouth vertically Guinness World Records announced Marie Pearl Zellmer Robinson as the new record holder on April 9. In an accompanying video Robinson narrates as she fits a cheeseburger stacked 10 patties high between her teeth A Ketchikan dentist measured her open jaw at over three inches wide The measurements varied but Guinness reported an average of 7.28 centimeters Robinson said she was able to get up to 7.62 centimeters and may still be widening “I’m pretty sure I can beat my own record in the future as well,” Robinson said in her Guinness World Records video She shattered the 6.52-centimeter record previously held by Samantha Ramsdell “Holding a record for something is like making a fact that the whole world can learn from And people can look at that and think “that’s something that really exists,” she said “Every time I see somebody do something amazing, I’m like, ‘Well, I can’t do that,'” she said. “But this one was one that I could do, and I surprised myself even.” Robinson said if anyone thinks they can beat her world-class jaw, she welcomes the challenge. The winglet flaps of the Boeing 737-700 were stuck in takeoff position after leaving Wrangell An Alaska Airlines jet leaving Wrangell Sunday afternoon declared an in-flight emergency while heading to Seattle The winglet flaps of the Boeing 737-700 were stuck in takeoff position Flight 64 is on what’s known as the Milk Run route which lands in three communities between Seattle and Juneau landing at its routine stop in Ketchikan en route to Seattle Then it kept descending and safely landed at the Ketchikan International Airport Wrangellite Val Massie was on the 24-minute flight and recorded the pilot communicating with the passengers once the plane landed “For precautionary reasons I did declare an emergency,” the Alaska Airlines pilot said “We’re not going to take this airplane to Seattle until it gets fixed I suspect that’ll be quite a delay.”  An Alaska Airlines spokesperson said by email that the aircraft was then cleared to fly to Seattle after a two-hour delay during which their maintenance team inspected the problem.  Massie said she chose to get off the plane and take a different flight to Seattle She said she’s aware of several recent in-flight problems and crashes across the country.  Massie said she was grateful the pilot was transparent even though it’s not something she wants to hear on a flight the president of the festival’s board of directors told the crowd on closing night that they’d had a record-breaking week selling Alaska Folk Festival merchandise And they weren’t the only ones that broke records during the festival and drummer Kalijah LeCornu sat down with KRBD’s Jack Darrell to talk about their run in Juneau and the ups and downs of trying to tour in Southeast Alaska JD: So you guys broke a couple records with beer sales CM: One would think it’s maybe “tearing down the house,” but I think a lot of it has to do with just the vibe that’s going on in the room the vibe that’s going on in the room when we’re playing is like – Kalijah LeCornu: ‘Let’s drink some beer.’ We’ve just been doing very good in Juneau for a long time And this was a bigger Folk Fest – the 50th annual JD: Do you guys feel like the broader music scene in Southeast Alaska is different than when you started KL: People are paying more attention to it now I feel like forever it’s been such a rich environment for people to create and everyone consumes in in Southeast Alaska I think the scene has been growing regardless of if we’re all along for the ride or not CG: But interconnecting a lot more than it has in previous years we’re gonna get out and we’re gonna do this and we’re gonna do that.’ Then COVID ended I think there’s been a big bloom of artists who have just been waiting And you changed that to kind of get away from the “O Brother JD: Was part of that distancing at all from folk and Americana because it was outside of your sound CM: I think we dropped the “boys” because we wanted to take ourselves more seriously We’d wear overalls all the time and and then it was like let’s take it more seriously.’ And in regards to the folk thing – we don’t play folk KL: The first time we had to say something like that because we really didn’t know what to expect Its called “Folk Fest.” Well,and we got in on a fluke too Denali Brewing’s “Dude Mountain Hazy IPA” CM: I was tweeting at Alaskan Brewing Company during our first Folk Fest because I was like That would be sick.’ And Alaskan was like JD: Touring in Southeast Alaska must be an incredibly it’s like driving somebody else’s car for a week it’s just nothing to pack up your gear in the van it’s about trying to factor in those costs into our pricing CG: We got a live album in the works from our December 7 show in Sitka JD: Do you guys have any favorite stages or audiences that you have played or play consistently and though there’s a lot to enjoy there JD: You guys brought the Rain Dogs to Ketchikan for the first time this summer JD: Any parting advice for a young band coming up in Southeast Alaska They’ll definitely be kissing you back later See their show and talk about what you’re doing Where do you feel like Dude Mtn is going to go from here CM: I see Dude Mtn taking over the state of Alaska is to literally just be able to travel and play music comfortably If I can make music with my friends and make some money while doing it that is a dream I could have never imagined “Most people come to us and they don’t really care to know how a heat pump works,” Romanoff explained For the many homeowners in Southeast Alaska who use entirely oil-based heat Romanoff said switching to heat pumps could shave 50-75% off their bill Part of the reason the savings are so dramatic is that many Southeast communities use hydropower for electricity which is much more affordable than other sources Romanoff said the new advisor’s job will be to conduct assessments and provide information to homeowners to help them make decisions “How much heat does your home actually need on the coldest day of the year to stay warm?” Romanoff said “What potential issues exist in your home regarding heat and what are your options as a homeowner to provide that heat in a clean Residents in Ketchikan and throughout coastal Alaska who switch to heat pumps could receive a direct potentially covering the full cost of the install The amount of the incentive varies by income level but even higher income residents can get about half that amount And Romanoff said there are other local and national incentives to bring down the cost “The average home that installs a single-head one-head air source heat pump saves about $1,500 a year,” Romanoff said “We have some homes saving up to $3,000 a year For Southeast towns that run on hydropower that also means that the heating system becomes fully renewable one of the primary contributors of human-caused climate change.  Getting rid of oil heaters also improves the air quality of your home Romanoff said after putting in his heat pump house guests started noticing that it no longer smelled like diesel because I was just used to it,” Romanoff said “So you’ve got all that backdrafting of monitor stoves and Toyostoves into the homes Romanoff said they hope to have the home energy assessor on the ground within the next month or two and to begin funding installations by spring 2025 Potential applicants interested in the assessor job can call 907-500-5050 for more detailed information Heat Smart has already started doing some simpler virtual assessments in Ketchikan You can apply for your own home assessment online at akheatsmart.org Ketchikan and the surrounding region woke up Friday to a surprising amount of snow blanketing the roads The National Weather Service had forecasted little to no overnight snow accumulation but many parts of town had half a foot before breakfast Andrew Park is the meteorologist in the Juneau office who put together those forecasts “Seven inches of snow in Ketchikan was not on my bingo card last night,” Park said said when he took his dog out early this morning and saw it was snowing Juneau saw less snow than the southern panhandle but was also not expecting the few inches it got Park said he knew some of the conditions for snow were in play but their models underestimated the moisture in the atmosphere “I thought the moisture wouldn’t be there “So that was me scrambling out the door this morning trained weather spotters in Ketchikan had measured five to seven inches of snow Park said the Weather Service is grateful for citizen reports and encourages people to contact them if they’re seeing something different than the forecasts.  The main difficulty with accurately predicting Southeast Alaska weather “And that’s just an unfortunate [consequence] of That challenge is compounded by the area’s complex terrain and varying microclimates Their office also doesn’t have all the same forecasting tools as their Lower 48 counterparts A landslide in Ketchikan Sunday night trapped nearly a dozen people on a remote stretch of road north of the city Borough Mayor Rodney Dial said the slide happened around 8 p.m but it is near a paintball field and popular hunting areas — and Revilla Road is the only way in or out.  “We had six vehicles out there containing eight passengers on the other side of the slide area and others were on scene with a backhoe and a loader to remove debris from the road to free the people trapped on the other side the backhoe was able to clear enough of a path through the debris field that most of the trapped victims could leave their vehicles behind and walk across to safety.  “They walked through and were picked up on this side,” said Jerry Kiffer of the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad “There’s one family that still remains behind the landslide but they’ve decided they’re just going to hole up and stay in place and wait for DOT to get it cleared up.” The family that decided to stay with their vehicle was Janet Lydia and her husband and two kids Lydia said in a text message Monday morning that they were on their way back from hunting when they ran into the slide It was at least 20 feet across and blocking both lanes with downed trees and mud Lydia said that’s where they ran into the other people trapped on the far side of the slide with them.  “Five people hiked through the mess to go home last night,” she said but her family didn’t want to “pack their young kids through the deep mess.” They chose to wait for the debris to be cleared but according to Lydia they actually weren’t the only ones that stayed overnight “Two others in a truck are still out the road further,” she said “We last saw them at Harriet Hunt Creek this morning when we finally went for a little drive.” they could hear people on the town side of the slide clearing debris with chainsaws – a group of citizen volunteers and others – and that her husband was currently doing the same on their side of the road.  The Ketchikan Borough said in a press release that a geologist was arriving Monday morning from Juneau to assess the stability of the hillside and slide area before they begin larger-scale debris removal North Tongass Fire and EMS Responders were still on scene Kiffer said Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad stood down but remains on standby since they believed everyone was accounted for.  The borough said that after all vehicles and passengers have made it safely to the Ketchikan side DOT will close Revilla Road to through traffic at the North Tongass Highway junction This slide comes a month and a half after the  fatal landslide near downtown Ketchikan killed one person and destroyed multiple homes The conditions on Sunday were somewhat similar to that late August Sunday when the fatal Third Avenue landslide came down over the White Cliff neighborhood the rain came down hard and lasted the entire day.  During Sunday’s rain storm that preceded the Revilla Road slide officials closed the Bypass again to monitor the slide area a long rocky stretch that now looms above the road like a scar They wanted to see if the heavy rains would cause any further danger Engineers evaluated the slide area at 6 a.m Monday morning and found no hazardous conditions There is very little cell phone service north of town in Sunday’s Revilla Road slide area Dial said that if you find yourself in a situation like this it helps to have a backup form of communication “Just in those remote areas where there’s a lack of communication it can really benefit an individual to have some ability to contact somebody and say “And so we would just really ask that people – if you’re going to go into very rural locations without communication capability – consider either some way of taking some emergency communication device with you or at least leaving a trip plan with family members so they know when to expect you back