Local organizations and topics
Numbers are stories in the last 30 days.
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Week of Aug 31
None of Ketchikan's $1.65 million in landslide aid has been paid out
FEMA committed $1.65 million for Ketchikan's 2024 landslides. A year later none of it has been paid out, and the window to spend it closes Sept. 30.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
The Forest Service approved logging it says may restrict subsistence hunting
The Forest Service approved Revillagigedo logging its own analysis says may significantly restrict subsistence deer hunting. A tribe and two groups sued.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Week of Aug 24
Alaska has no marine radio examiner, so UAS is asking to become one
No one in Alaska can give the marine radio license exam in person. UAS has asked the FCC for permission to do it at its Ketchikan training center.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Jai Mahtani is running for the Ketchikan council seat he resigned after a state settlement
Jai Mahtani quit the Ketchikan council two weeks after settling a state case over jewelry sold as Alaskan. He filed on the last day to win the seat back.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A Nome jury convicted a 78-year-old man on 28 counts of sexual abuse of a minor
A Nome jury convicted Isaac Ozenna Sr., 78, on 28 counts of sexual abuse of a minor involving nine children abused in Nome between 1984 and 2014.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Ketchikan tribe sues Forest Service over South Revilla logging near Ketchikan
Ketchikan Indian Community sued the Forest Service over logging that would cut 44% of winter deer habitat on Revillagigedo Island, threatening subsistence hunting.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Ketchikan's city filing window has closed, and voter registration ends Sept. 6
Ketchikan's candidate filing window closed Monday and the city hasn't published who is running for council. Three filings are on the record so far.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Ketchikan City Council advances resolution marking two years since fatal landslide
Ketchikan marked two years since the White Cliff landslide with a plaque. The slide killed one person and destroyed homes above the Third Avenue Bypass.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
More from Ketchikan
The Inter-Island Ferry Authority's first boat is getting a refit
The Inter-Island Ferry Authority's original boat, the MV Prince of Wales, is getting a $658,041 refit. It has been the backup since the Stikine took over.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
Ketchikan voters decide who owns the library and who pays for it
Ketchikan voters decide Oct. 6 whether the borough takes over the public library and whether people outside city limits pay twice as much for it.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Tlingit & Haida back a Ketchikan plan to treat addiction closer to home
The Tlingit & Haida tribe backs a Ketchikan plan for a residential addiction treatment center so Southeast Alaskans no longer have to leave the region for care.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Week of Aug 17
Ketchikan faces 2 to 3.5 inches of rain, road ponding through Monday
An atmospheric river crosses the southern panhandle overnight into Monday, dropping up to 3.5 inches of rain on the Ketchikan area and standing water on roads.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A $3.19 million contract will fix roads and fish passage near Ketchikan
The Forest Service is paying $3.19 million for road and culvert work near Ketchikan. Since 1998 it has fixed about 57% of the Tongass culverts inventoried.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Ketchikan's Assembly has fewer candidates than seats, with four days to file
Ketchikan's Borough Assembly has two candidates for three seats with four days left to file. The School Board race has four candidates for two seats.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Three years and three permits later, Ketchikan's airport ferry still has no backup berths
Ketchikan's airport ferry docks at one set of berths with no backup. Three years and three federal permits later, the state hasn't driven a pile.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Overnight drilling comes to Ketchikan's aging viaducts, part of a plan to repair them now and replace them later
Overnight drilling comes to Ketchikan's two 1950s viaducts, which carry 14,000-plus vehicles a day, as the state plans to repair them and replace them later.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Coming up
Alaska Commission on Aging Listening Session - Ketchikan
Community Connections Bess Clark Conference room, 721 Stedman Street, Ketchikan
Meeting
Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly Regular Meeting
Meeting
Loring Service Area Board Meeting
Meeting
Ketchikan Fish and Game Advisory Committee Meeting
Meeting
Ketchikan Gateway Borough Homestead Service Area Board Meeting
Meeting
About Ketchikan
Ketchikan, also called Kichx̱áan, is a city in Southeast Alaska within the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. It is an Inside Passage cruise port known for totem poles, Creek Street and commercial fishing, and the Tongass National Forest surrounds it.
The city council and the borough assembly share local government, deciding questions such as library funding, neighborhood plans, board appointments and elections. Its airport sits across Tongass Narrows on Gravina Island and is reached by ferry, and heavy rain, wind storms and landslide risk shape life in the community.
Ketchikan Indian Community is the local tribe, and Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian culture runs through the town. Neighboring communities include Saxman, Loring and Metlakatla.
More from Ketchikan
Ketchikan's long rebuild of the road toward Saxman inches ahead, with a waterside path and a tangle over land
Ketchikan's rebuild of the highway toward Saxman, adding a waterside path for walkers and bikers, drew more federal money as cost estimates keep swinging.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Where to watch spawning salmon around Ketchikan this month
Want to watch Fish, it's like watching paint dry but consequences… Cool ones!
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Federal charter keeps water sampling going on the Unuk, downstream of three British Columbia mines
A $15,510 charter keeps USGS crews sampling the Unuk River this fall. Three large British Columbia mine projects sit in development upstream.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Week of Aug 10
Hoonah and Ketchikan dock projects renew marine mammal permits without breaking ground
Two Southeast dock projects keep renewing federal permits to make noise underwater. The permits keep expiring. The water remains undisturbed.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A pro-Republican group discloses small ad debts for two House candidates, listing the creditor at its treasurer's address
A pro-Republican group's pre-primary filing disclosed $728 in ad debts for two House candidates, listing the creditor at its treasurer's own address.
by Lucas Brown2mo ago2 min read
Yaadás clan historian says he only recently traced how his clan got the beaver crest
Yaadás clan historian Benjamin Young recently traced two competing accounts of how his Haida clan acquired the beaver crest, one from early ethnography and one from fur trade history.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A heat advisory covers much of Southeast Alaska through Friday evening
A heat advisory covers much of Southeast Alaska through Friday evening, with temperatures in the lower 80s — a real risk in a region where most homes have no air conditioning.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Gillnetters near Ketchikan and Haines get an extra day on the water
Drift gillnetters near Ketchikan and Haines got an extra day on the water this week, with some inlets and canal waters closed off in exchange.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Aug 3
Ketchikan anglers can keep more kings this month, even with a slow run
Ketchikan anglers can keep more kings this month even though the run is slow, though area closures still apply and the department hasn't explained the increase.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Injured hiker rescued by boat along George Inlet near Ketchikan
A hiker injured in a fall near Ketchikan called for help Tuesday afternoon, and Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad reached him by boat and took him to a hospital.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 27
A Palmer sentencing marks another case from Alaska's cybertip pipeline
A Palmer man will register as a sex offender for life after pleading guilty to possessing child abuse material — one of a run of Alaska cybertip cases.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Ketchikan's hospital, its own residents can't get answers
Ketchikan's hospital is losing money it won't fully document and renovating an ER whose bed count its own administrator can't name — while patients wait in hallways.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Week of Jul 20
Whale permit for Ketchikan bridge counts down to the single animal
Federal regulators will let a Ketchikan bridge project disturb up to 63 humpback whales. Last season's number was 62. Nobody filed a comment either way.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Alaska's stacked weekend of BIG EVENTS
Get out of your house. Like, summers gonna be done soon. What're you waiting for?
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
More than 100 land deals stand between Alaska and a safer KGB Road
Alaska can't fix KGB Road until it buys land from 100-plus owners. Elsewhere a Gustavus generator waits on a signature. Everything's sliding to 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Murkowski targets federal conditions on Southeast's hydropower licenses
Southeast's power comes from dams on Tongass land. Murkowski's bill would limit what the Forest Service can demand as those licenses come up for renewal.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Ketchikan Creek opens to dip netting for hatchery king salmon
Kings are closed across much of Alaska, but Ketchikan Creek just opened to dip netting for hatchery Chinook. Wild ones go back. Residents only, net in hand.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Heat advisory in effect for Ketchikan, Hyder, and Annette Island until 7 PM
Heat advisory in effect for Ketchikan, Hyder, and Annette Island until 7 PM tonight as temperatures approach 80 degrees, unusual for Southeast Alaska.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
DNR extends geoduck farm lease near Ketchikan; comment period open
Alaska extended Tom Carruth's geoduck farm lease near Ketchikan for two more years, opening a 30-day public comment period that started June 23.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 13
Three art commission calls open to Alaska Native and American Indian artists close by Aug. 14
Three art commissions for Alaska Native and American Indian artists close by Aug. 14, with two deadlines on July 31: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium seeks proposals for a skilled nursing facility, and Ketchikan's Totem Heritage Center seeks a 50th anniversary design. Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage is also commissioning artwork, deadline Aug. 14. Alaska Literary Awards applications close Aug. 17.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Senate committee advances bill to give land to five landless SE Alaska Native communities
A Senate committee advanced a bill granting 115,000 acres to five landless Southeast Alaska Native communities. The wait is fifty years.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Ketchikan's fishing fleet is stuck without showers in peak season
A collapsed drain pipe left Ketchikan's fishing fleet without public showers during peak season — and nobody's even opened the floor yet. One fisherman gave the harbor board an earful.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Southeast anglers get a bump in the king limit
Nonresident anglers can keep two kings a day in Southeast starting Saturday, up from one, after harvest came in under target — a rare loosening in a tight king year.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min readFrom 
Ketchikan anglers catch a rare break on king limits
Good king news for once: Ketchikan visitors can now keep two a day, and hatchery-fed Herring Bay is basically a free-for-all — while the wild-stock rules stay locked down.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read