Ketchikan’s city and borough mayors have issued a joint disaster declaration after a landslide north of town severely damaged an electric substation on Thursday. There were no injuries in the slide. 

The declaration calls for coordinated efforts between the city and the borough, as well as state and federal assistance, to restore Ketchikan Public Utility’s Ward Cove Electric Substation. Severe wind and rain triggered the slide, which damaged buildings, equipment and fencing at the facility. The estimated cost to repair the substation is about $1.6 million.

The city owns the public utility. Kim Simpson, public information officer for the City of Ketchikan, said the declaration is needed, in part, to stabilize the slide area’s slope. She said that was a top city priority listed in a bonding measure recently approved by voters.

“This is a slide where there could be additional, and so that’s the important part: is getting it stabilized, cleared, and then getting equipment and parts sourced and in here so we can get that repaired within the next few months, before the intense cold hits,” Simpson said.  

The public utility rerouted the substation’s power to two other substations following the landslide. Simpson said the slide did not lead to any power outages. 

The city and the public utility can’t afford the estimated cost of repairs on their own. The state has sent emergency operations personnel and Department of Transportation geologists to assess the site for safety concerns and advise on slope stabilization efforts. 

The storm also damaged drains near the city harbormaster’s maintenance building. 

“So there was a collapse into the ocean where that pipe runs, and then it unfortunately also goes under the maintenance building at the harbormaster,” Simpson said. “So we’ll be having to empty and dismantle the harbormaster building.” 

Simpson did not have a timeline of when the harbormaster damages could be repaired. She also did not have an immediate cost estimate for the project.

Ketchikan’s city council and borough assembly are set to ratify the disaster declaration this week with the harbormaster damages.

Last week’s landslide is one of several Ketchikan has seen in recent years. Last year, a rockslide bisected the island’s main highway. And in 2024, a landslide near borough headquarters killed a city worker and destroyed numerous homes. 

KRBD expects updates on the disaster declaration in the coming days.

Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

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Ketchikan’s South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department fire station is back in operation. That’s after a fire linked to faulty apparatus equipment badly damaged the facility and destroyed five emergency vehicles in 2024. 

The rebuild cost $4.2 million and was largely financed by insurance funds. It included stripping the building and modifying it to code. A new sprinkler system was also installed. 

South Tongass Fire Chief Steve Rydeen said they tried to keep the facility about the same as it was before. 

“We have to make sure that we’re prudent with the taxpayers’ dollars,” he said. “So we didn’t do a lot of changes. We just did what we had to for operational needs.” 

The department is made up of mostly volunteers, and is funded primarily through borough dollars, which helped purchase new emergency vehicles. Some were also donated or loaned from communities around the state. 

The department began operating out of the rebuilt firehouse last month. Rydeen said the department was working out of two different facilities during the rebuild. The fire chief and captain were at the White Cliff building in town. 

“You know, you got a couple guys working here and a couple of guys working down there. There’s not as good of communication,” Rydeen said.  

The department is still organizing equipment and furniture. They’ll soon purchase another ambulance with grant funding. 

The South Tongass firehouse was first built in 2008. Rydeen said they’ll have an open house event for the rebuilt facility next month. 

Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

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The presentation at Southeast Conference’s economic summit in Ketchikan last week largely compared changes from 2024 to 2025. Job growth was most prominent in the seafood, tourism, private health care and construction sectors, with almost 600 total jobs added throughout the region. Petersburg led the way in job growth, largely because of seafood processing jobs. 

Meilani Schijvens is the owner of the Juneau-based research and consulting firm Rain Coast Data and led the presentation. She said the region’s seen sustained job growth over the last six years.

“This means that not only were we able to erase all the losses that we experienced during 2020 during the pandemic year, we lost nearly 6,000 jobs,” Schijvens said. “They all came back, and we’ve added to them, which means – drum roll, please. We are at our peak jobs ever in Southeast Alaska.” 

The region’s top sector, tourism, accounted for 19% of all of Southeast Alaska’s jobs last year. The industry grew in both wages and employment, despite little increase in visitors to the region. Cruise ship passenger counts in Southeast this year increased by an estimated 10.7%, and is expected to reach over 2 million passengers for the first time next year.

But job growth wasn’t across all industries. Employment declined in the government sector by about 1% last year. Schijvens said that’s a change from the year prior, when employment in the government sector increased.

“Last year, I was so excited because every single form of our five different sectors of government were up,” Schijvens said. “This sector, unfortunately, small declines. But municipal, tribal, federal, and state jobs were down. Coast Guard was up.”

And while overall Southeast job growth was up last year, the region’s population is largely declining. The population fell by about 20 people last year and has decreased by about 4,000 people in the last decade. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development projects that Southeast will lose about 15,000 residents, or 22% of the region’s total population, by 2055. 

Schijvens said in the last decade, the working age population has declined by 5,700 people, even as total jobs have increased. And the senior population has grown by 4,000 people. Schijvens said this widens the gap between Southeast’s workforce supply and demand. 

“We’ve got more jobs than ever. We’re doing great on jobs, but we just need enough people here to fulfill the jobs,” Schijvens said. “And so the way to do that is non-resident workforce.”  

According to the latest data, 31% of Southeast Alaska’s workforce are non-residents. And seafood processing was the top sector for non-residents. Schijvens said non-residents make about 15% of wages in the region. 

And wages in the region last year also reached a new high, growing by 7% and outpacing inflation. Construction wages grew the most, increasing by 14%. 

And while Southeast Alaska last year built the most housing it’s seen in about a decade, Schijvens said housing is still the region’s number one priority going forward. That’s according to a five-year strategic plan developed by Southeast Conference. Other top priorities include meeting childcare needs and strengthening the ferry system. 

Schijvens said the region also needs to invest in its schools and social services that keep working-age families here. 

“We need to strengthen the local businesses that support our communities,” Schijvens said. “We need to attract new residents and make it easier for young people to return home. And we need to celebrate our quality of life and recreation opportunities.” 

Other priorities listed in the strategic plan include further developing markets for Alaska seafood, supporting local tourism ownership, and reducing energy costs. 

Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

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More than a dozen people took to the podium during Monday’s Ketchikan borough assembly meeting to speak in favor of the code change before it passed unanimously. 

Emily Edenshaw is the tribal administrator and CEO for Ketchikan Indian Community. She said the planning commissioner’s comments against the tribe did more than just cause harm. 

“But what troubles me even more is the idea beneath them: that KIC, our tribal citizens, or Native people in general, are somehow a burden on this community,” Edenshaw said. “So let me answer this very clearly – we are not a burden. We are a blessing.” 

Edenshaw went on to say that the ordinance provides accountability. Several members of the civil rights groups, Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood, literally stood in solidarity behind Edenshaw as she spoke. The groups were in Ketchikan for their annual convention. 

The municipal code update stems back to a Ketchikan planning commission meeting on September 15, when commissioner Darlene Dollimont-Svenson said, “how much more do white people have to pay for KIC in this community?” The remark, which was made at the end of the meeting during commissioner comments, followed a vote on a variance request for the tribe’s planned support center for locals facing housing insecurity. That variance was approved by the commission in a 4-1 vote, with D-Svenson voting against. 

Both the borough assembly and the planning commission have publicly condemned D-Svenson’s comments and asked her to resign, which she has not done. According to an information packet from this week’s borough assembly meeting, D-Svenson’s comments “have rendered manifest the need for a defined process for removal of an individual appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Assembly.”

The previous borough code did not provide a mechanism to remove individuals who serve on borough boards, committees, or commissions. 

“I believe it is prudent also for this body to develop a clear policy for addressing situations in which an appointed commissioner fails to meet the basic expectations of the role,” said assemblymember Sharli Arntzen during a September 21 assembly meeting, when D-Svenson’s comment was condemned and resignation was requested. Borough Mayor Austin Otos later called a special meeting to review code changes. 

The code change required two public hearings, and went into effect this week. The new code states that an appointed official can be removed by the borough mayor, with approval of the assembly for “good cause.” According to the code, that means “one based on a showing of unfitness to hold a position of public trust, or a lack of competency or performance to the detriment of the public interest.” An assembly vote to remove D-Svenson from office could occur as soon as the next assembly meeting on October 20. 

If the assembly votes to remove an appointed official, they’ll notify the official and send a notice of decision with an effective date of removal to the body from which the individual is being removed. That person may file an appeal with the borough clerk within 10 days. If that happens, the assembly will hold a hearing within 30 days of the appeal.

Some who spoke in favor of the code change before it passed at Monday’s assembly meeting said it’s not enough. Stephanie Swink Weddle is the president of Sitka’s branch of the Alaska Native Sisterhood. She said she hopes the assembly considers future options so something like this “doesn’t ever happen again.” 

“Everything that we stand for is kind of swept under the rug with statements like Darlene made,” Swink Weddle said. “It is hurtful, it is unconscionable to think that someone in a public position working for the community would say something like she did.” 

Another person who spoke in support of the code change said it’s not going to “help heal these wounds.” Another said government officials should take the time to research racial bias. And a representative of the Alaska Native Brotherhood claims that the commissioner’s discriminatory statement violates civil rights laws. 

In the weeks following D-Svenson’s comments, leaders across the region have come forward to condemn them, including Ketchikan’s city and borough mayors, the mayor of Saxman, House District 1 Rep. Jeremy Bynum and others. 

Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

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Tuesday was Ketchikan’s municipal election, and preliminary results are in. Polls were open most of the day, although some people voted early. 

Residents in city limits voted in both the city and borough election. For the borough, the unofficial ballot count was 2,048 ballots. The city tallied 1,040 ballots. Voter turnout was 21% and 19%, respectively, and includes absentee, special needs and questioned ballots. 

Voters were asked about two ballot measures, one in the borough and one in the city election. Borough voters were asked if they’d like the borough to take over library powers from the city, which would transfer all library operational responsibility and debt to the borough immediately. That failed by a difference of 204 votes.

On the city ballot, voters were queried about spending powers for electric utility upgrades. That initiative, which passed by a difference of 514 votes, will authorize the city to use up to $25 million in bonding authority for these upgrades. 

There were three three-year seats up for grabs on Ketchikan’s borough assembly, and four candidates were running. All three incumbents were reelected, beating out newcomer Tim Montgomery. Dan Ortiz received 1,230 votes, Kathy Bolling got 1,260 votes and Sharli Arntzen 1,130 votes. 

Ketchikan’s school board will see two new members: Frances Klein and Marissa Medford. Klein received 1,051 votes, and Medford received 979 votes. They beat out Vicki OBrien and Rob Holston, and will serve three-year seats on that body.

Ketchikan’s city council will also see a new member. Newcomer Spencer Strassburg received 401 more votes than former city councilmember Jai Mahtani. Strassburg will serve a one year seat on the council. 

There were also three three-year seats up for grabs on the council, and seven people ran for those seats. Incumbents Judy Zenge, Jack Finnegan and Riley Gass were reelected, receiving 550, 522, and 484 votes respectively. They beat out Tommy Haugum, Ashley Snyder, and Michael Fitzgerald. They also won over Sven Westergard, who dropped out of the election after the deadline to withdraw. 

Election results will be finalized on October 20. 

Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

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A Ketchikan man was hospitalized for hypothermia after being rescued from a remote area northeast of town last week. 

Alaska Wildlife Troopers were called an area near Saddle Lakes, about 25 miles via gravel road from Ketchikan on Wednesday evening. They were responding to an SOS activation from a satellite communication device. According to Troopers, the man’s truck and ATV were found first. 

Family members assisted in the search, which was temporarily suspended early Thursday morning.  

The search resumed later Thursday morning by the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad. According to the organization’s Facebook page, the man found his way to a logging road and met a rescue squad member later that morning. The man was brought to the hospital in Ketchikan and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.  

Troopers did not release the man’s name.

Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

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Two environmental conservation groups and a Southeast Alaska tribe have filed a motion to stop a timber sale that’s part of a logging project east of Ketchikan. 

The Shelter Cove Timber Sale is the first timber harvest in the South Revilla Integrated Resource Project. That’s a plan greenlit by the U.S. Forest Service in July that includes harvesting over 5,000 acres of trees, mostly old growth, in the Tongass National Forest. It also includes construction of new roads, trails, cabins and boat launches. 

The motion for a preliminary injunction was filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday by the Ketchikan Indian Community, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. They argue that stopping the timber sale is “necessary to prevent irreparable harm to Plaintiffs’ way-of-life and interest in the Tongass’s habitat, wildlife, subsistence resources and other important values.” The motion is in addition to a lawsuit filed in August that challenges the South Revilla logging project as a whole. 

The Shelter Cove Timber Sale was advertised last month and could allow the harvest of 4 million board feet of timber. The groups who filed the motion to halt the sale are asking for a court decision before the Forest Service awards a contract. Bids are scheduled to be opened on October 20. 

The larger South Revilla plans were first introduced in 2018 but were paused in 2020. Last year, the Trump administration issued an executive order to expand timber production. 

Following an environmental review, the Forest Service decided that work on the South Revilla project can begin immediately. 

Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

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Five of Southeast Alaska’s lawmakers answered questions from constituents during a legislative forum at Southeast Conference in Ketchikan on Wednesday. Senator Bert Stedman and representatives Jeremy Bynum, Andi Story, Sara Hannan and Rebecca Himschoot attended. 

The legislators kicked off the forum with introductions, and discussed everything from the state’s retirement pension to the ferry system. Bynum, who represents Ketchikan, Metlakatla, Wrangell and parts of Prince of Wales Island, said he wants to see things get built. 

“I want to see us make capital investments to keep our communities moving forward,” Bynum said on Wednesday. “That means investing in our schools. That means investing in our infrastructure and in our community.” 

The legislators then answered questions on education – how they’re going to fix the state’s base student allocation, or the per-student funding formula, and how they’ll inflation-proof it. 

Rebecca Himschoot, who represents Sitka, Petersburg, and most of Prince of Wales, serves as co-chair for the House Education Committee. She said that inflation proofing comes with risks. But she highlighted a provision in House Bill 57, which boosted education funding last year, that formed an education funding task force. It’s charged with making funding and school facility recommendations by the start of the next legislative session in January. 

Himschoot also talked about a one-time funding package lawmakers approved this spring which will cover a bulk of school districts’ energy costs. That’s set to begin next fiscal year. 

“That’s a knowable cost, and right now that also comes out of that BSA pot of money,” Himschoot said. “So that’ll free up money in the BSA if we can make good on our work that we’re going to help with some of those fixed costs.”

Other lawmakers at the forum highlighted the need to fix Alaska’s education funding timeline, and build up communities to prevent declining student enrollment. 

The Southeast lawmakers were also queried on what they think the legislature should tackle first in the upcoming session. Their answers included finding ways to generate more state revenue, investing in capital, and protecting the permanent fund dividend. 

A few of the lawmakers, including Andi Story of Juneau, said the legislature needs to prioritize education. 

“We want to keep our young people, our families here,” Story said. “To do that, it’s got to be – we have to have a strong education system and invest in our kids and our future.”  

The legislators were also asked about mariculture, sick leave, and community revitalization during the roughly hour-long forum. The three-day summit hosted by Southeast Conference concluded Thursday.

Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. 

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Southeast Conference’s annual economic summit kicked off Tuesday morning at the Ted Ferry Civic Center in Ketchikan. Industry heads, state employees and tribal entities are set to discuss Southeast Alaska issues ranging from housing, to fishing, to timber during the three-day conference. 

Following a welcome address, representatives from Southeast Conference, the Alaska Municipal League and the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska discussed the state of the region. All highlighted the importance of working collaboratively to advance the region’s needs. 

“I think we’re a very resilient region,” said Tlingit & Haida President Richard Peterson on Tuesday. “I think we’re in better shape because of our partnerships, and as we continue to work together, we will get through whatever hard times we’re facing.” 

Peterson talked about the need for tribal consultation when regional decisions are made. He also spoke about Alaska’s upcoming gubernatorial election and the importance of voting. The conference hosted a gubernatorial forum with four candidates on Tuesday. 

Nils Andreassen from the Alaska Municipal League, which services municipalities around the state, also talked about the resiliency of Southeast Alaska. But he said despite the strengths of the region, there also needs to be a more concerted effort to address affordability, livability and sustainability. He said that will require hard conversations. 

“There is a lot of work to do to make sure that this is a region where people want to be and can afford to stay, and ultimately will be here for generations to come,” Andreassen said.

Speakers also spotlighted challenges the region faces. Southeast Conference Board President and Juneau City Manager Katie Koester said one of the biggest challenges for Southeast Alaska is natural disasters. She said partnering with state and tribal entities can help mitigate disasters, like Juneau’s annual glacial outburst flooding. 

Koester said another regional challenge is aging infrastructure, which she said will require a lot of state investment. But, she said the region’s number one challenge is its aging population.  

“This issue of aging demographics and slowly losing our population, just is, you know, death by a thousand cuts,” Koester said. “It’s something that needs to be the number one issue that we address as a region because we don’t have a future if we don’t have our children.” 

She said shifting populations affect everything from schools to housing to job opportunities. 

Panelists also talked about what they hope to get out of Alaska’s next governor. They mentioned increased investment in state government, more focus on island communities, and a governor who isn’t going to sue Alaskans over tribal sovereignty. 

Southeast Conference will run through Thursday in Ketchikan. 

Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

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A ballot proposition in Ketchikan’s municipal election next month will ask city voters to authorize up to $25 million in spending power. If approved, city officials say the bonding authority would help pay for upgrades and repairs for its electric facilities. 

All city bonding authority must be approved by voters. Using the bond for utility projects then must be approved by the city council. Interest or repayment on the bond will only take shape if the city uses those funds.

Abner Hoage is the Ketchikan City Manager and Ketchikan Public Utilities General Manager. He said the ballot proposition isn’t asking voter permission to draw from a bond right away. 

“It doesn’t mean we’re actually immediately borrowing the $25 million,” Hoage said. “Any projects that are funded under that will still go through the regular council process for authorization of expenditures for the borrowing itself, the actual borrowing of the money.” 

Hoage said the city has $83 million in electric projects on its needs list. Some funding sources, like grants, require a funding match from the city. He said the bonding authority could help with that. 

One of the city’s top electric projects is a diesel generator replacement or repair at the Bailey Powerhouse, which helps power the city when hydropower is down. Hoage said one of its four generators is out of service. 

Several of the city’s electric substations also have aging equipment that needs to be replaced. Hoage said if that equipment failed unexpectedly, costs for emergency replacement would be higher for the city. 

“So we’re trying to stay ahead on those things and replace and repair the components, refurbish the components that are starting to age and wear out, so that we have an even more reliable system than what we already have,” Hoage said.  

Hoage said if the city borrows the full $25 million bond, the maximum potential impact to city ratepayers is an additional 1 to 1.25 cents per kilowatt hour on their electric bills. A kilowatt hour is equal to using 1,000 watts of electricity in an hour. The city currently charges residential ratepayers about 15 cents per kilowatt hour.

Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

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