This weekend is the Fourth of July. And while that often means a time of celebration with family or friends, it’s also a busy weekend for emergency responders. 

Rick Hines is fire chief for the City of Ketchikan. He said that over the last few Fourth of July’s, the department has responded to fires caused by fireworks and ATVs. One year, he said the fire department received 24 calls within 24 hours. 

“You know, it’s I think wanting to have a good time, combined with sometimes the lack of vigilance that most people normally have to help prevent those things,” Hines said.

If lighting fireworks, Hines suggests doing it somewhere with plenty of space, like a beach or field. He advises against lighting fireworks in neighborhoods, as many of Ketchikan’s homes are made of old, dry wood. 

Hines recommends taking into account where a firework could land before igniting it. 

“Make sure the fireworks are kid-age appropriate, make sure you’re following all the safety precautions on the side of the fireworks, and just use common sense,” he said.

Hines also said traffic accidents seem more prevalent around Fourth of July weekend. He recommends taking your time on the roads and allowing plenty of distance between you and other vehicles. 

Hines says don’t drink and drive. If under the influence, opt for a cab or catch a ride from a sober friend. 

“A little bit of preplanning, I think, and a little bit of self-responsibility goes a long way,” Hines said.

If you drive in Ketchikan on the Fourth, southbound Tongass Avenue from Carlanna Lake Road to Jefferson Street will close at 10:30 a.m., until after the parade ends at 1:30 p.m. Side roads from Jefferson to Deermount Street will also be barricaded during the parade. Hines said be prepared for crowds, especially near roadways.

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.

The post A look at July Fourth safety recommendations appeared first on KRBD.

Ketchikan City Councilmember Jai Mahtani has resigned from his position on the council, effective immediately. Mahtani submitted a letter to the city clerk yesterday. The move comes just weeks after the state of Alaska announced he will have to pay a $10,000 settlement for misrepresenting products at his local jewelry store, Gold Rush.

Several council members and some community members have called on Mahtani to resign in recent weeks. At a council meeting June 18, the council directed staff to look into the circumstances of the lawsuit.

“I’m extremely disappointed in the council member’s actions and that they remain sitting here at the table,” councilmember Abby Bradberry said at the meeting. “It does reflect on our community, it reflects on the council, and it truly does not uphold the oath that we all take when we sit here.”

Mahtani has publicly apologized and said he takes full responsibility for untrue or misleading statements.

Mahtani has served on the city council since 2021 and was reelected in 2024. His term was set to end in 2027.

The council seat is now vacant, and any eligible citizen can apply to fill the seat by submitting a written application to the city clerk within the next week. The Ketchikan City Council meets again tomorrow night.

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Filing forms for this year’s Ketchikan Gateway Borough Election are now available. The borough assembly will have three seats available – all for three-year terms. The school board will have two seats available, also for three-year terms.

The filing forms can be picked up today, but must be completed and submitted to the borough clerk between Aug. 1 and Aug. 25.

On the school board, the seats of Judy Leask Guthrie and Katherine Tatsuda will be available. Assembly members Dan Ortiz, Sharli Arntzen and Kathy Bolling will also have seats up for grabs.

To qualify as a candidate, citizens must be a Borough registered voter 30 days prior to the election. To qualify as a candidate for the assembly, citizens must also have lived in the Borough for one year prior to the election date.

Filing forms include a declaration of candidacy with signatures of at least 10 Borough voters, as well as an official financial disclosure statement.

There are also three open seats on the Ketchikan City Council, all for three-year terms. Candidates must be qualified city voters and have lived within city limits for one year. Terms for councilmembers Jack Finnegan, Riley Gass and Judy Zenge are ending this fall.

The election is Oct. 6.

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JAG Ketchikan landed a $99.6 million federal contract this month that will expand operations at the local shipyard. The contract is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to fund upgrades to the Henry B. Bigelow ship, a fisheries research vessel based in Rhode Island.

While JAG operates the shipyard, it’s owned by AIDEA, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which is a state-owned corporation. AIDEA expects the project will bring more jobs to Ketchikan.

Since JAG Marine Group took over the shipyard last September, employment has increased from 20 to around 150 workers. JAG expects the project will lead to longer term, year-round employment rather than seasonal maintenance work for the Alaska Marine Highway System.

Ketchikan Mayor Bob Sivertsen supports the project. “The continued growth of work at the Ketchikan Shipyard means more family-supporting jobs, more opportunities for young people to enter the trades, and a stronger economic foundation for our community and Southeast Alaska,” he said in a statement.

The project comes as JAG Marine Group has been in talks with the Borough of Wrangell about building a shipyard there. Earlier this year, the city and borough signed a three-year lease agreement with JAG to begin construction of a large-scale vessel shipyard. It’s expected to be the biggest in the region and serve as an overflow of the Ketchikan shipyard. Wrangell Borough Manager Mason Villarma has said the biggest challenge in making that successful will be securing enough housing to support the new jobs. But he expects it will bring an increase in population and in the local economy, if they can pull it off.

The contract between NOAA and JAG Ketchikan is just under three years and ends in April 2029.

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On a cloudy morning at the Prince of Wales Shooting Club last month, Emma Garrison, a ninth grader from Thorne Bay, was shaking a bit as she pointed her gun at the center of a target.

She and eight other students, armed with rifles and safety gear, lined up on yoga mats under a three sided shelter. Garrison had been taking the Hunter Education certification class all semester. She was finally putting her studying to the test.

“I was really nervous,” Garrison said. It was her second time ever shooting a gun. The first time was the day before, camping with her family.

There were over 30 students from the Southeast Island School District taking their Hunter Education field test.

This was the first year the district incorporated Hunter Education into the curriculum, with a goal to get every student from sixth to twelfth grades certified. The certification, which is through the state Department of Fish and Game, is required for most Alaskans to legally hunt. And for many people in small Prince of Wales Island communities, hunting is a key part of the lifestyle.

The Southeast Island School district is spread out, with around 150 students in seven remote schools across Prince of Wales and Baranof Islands. But all the students at the shooting club spent the last semester taking the course.

Ellen Hannan, a retired teacher and a volunteer with Fish and Game, has been teaching Hunter Education in Southeast for 25 years. When she asked how many students had ever shot a gun before, most of them raised their hands.

Hannan says that’s why the class is so important — she knows many of the students are around guns from a young age, and she wants them to be safe. The number one rule that they instill during the course: always treat guns as if they are loaded.

There were a handful of adult volunteers at the field test. Some of them were teachers with the district. Almost all of them had stories of preventable gun accidents. That’s part of why they teach safety before anything else.

Hannan helped the students hold and load their guns, shooting targets in different positions, like laying down, sitting and standing.

Down toward the clubhouse, students were taking a walk through the forest. It was part of the field test to identify cardboard animals and discern when, how and if it’s ethical to shoot them.

One of the students was Wyatt Farr, an eighth grader from Coffman Cove. He’s been hunting with his family for years.

“You get to enjoy the meat you processed, and I like it. Like deer meat spaghetti is good,” he said. “I just like being outdoors and actually doing things, instead of sitting there playing video games.”

Farr said he also likes how calm and quiet it is outdoors. The Hunter Education course also includes basic survival skills, wildlife conservation and respect for other hunters. That’s part of what he likes about it.

“So there’s not just like clueless people going out walking in the woods and getting hurt and stuff,” he said. “It’s also teaching the generations to come how to properly do things.”

Every teacher teaches the class a little differently. Melissa Dougherty, a teacher at Thorne Bay with a background in biology, designed the curriculum so it blends with broader outdoor education. She knows the outdoors are a big part of her students’ lives and she wants them to be aware of their surroundings.

Killing an animal is a serious thing, Dougherty said, and she wants her students to be thoughtful and observant when they’re out in nature.

“I think it’s really important to spend time thinking about how you fit into your environment and gaining an appreciation for the world around you,” she said.

Some of the class includes sitting outside and observing. That can be noticing deer droppings, or just taking note of different ecosystems.

“We’re learning how to just quiet ourselves down and really look and see what’s there, and observe, and then ask questions and take notes,” Dougherty said. “Because observations should always lead to questions. Questions should always lead to learning, and then that leads to more questions.”

At the end of the field test, students piled in buses and vans to go home. Everyone passed their field test and received their signed certificate.

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An eye care clinic in Ketchikan is now offering two first of its kind laser procedures for southern Southeast Alaska.

The Ketchikan Eye Care Center in January started performing capsulotomies, which are often done after cataract surgery when scar tissue makes a person’s vision blurry. That procedure uses a laser to zap a lens capsule, or the thin membrane that surrounds the eye’s natural lens. The laser is also being used for trabeculoplasties, which can prevent glaucoma by reducing pressure inside the eye.

Eye doctor Joseph Johnson purchased the practice last fall. 

“Really, my goal since doing so has been to bring in services to Ketchikan, to keep people from having to travel so far for eye care services,” Johnson said. “So that’s the overarching theme and goal of everything that I’m doing.” 

Like other Southeast communities, Ketchikan is on an island and has limited eye care services. Patients often have to fly to Anchorage or Seattle to receive specialized services. 

Johnson says the first step in expanding his clinic’s services was buying the laser. Both minimally invasive procedures the laser is capable of are painless and can be done in just a few minutes. 

The laser so far has been used on about 60 patients. And not all of them live in Ketchikan. Johnson said some have come as far as Prince of Wales Island or Wrangell to undergo an operation. 

Johnson said the laser saved a recent patient of his from going blind. He said she no longer wanted to travel long distances for eye care.

“We got the laser done for her, and now she’s back to seeing 20/20, and she’s just so grateful,” Johnson said. “That’s so incredibly rewarding to me. That’s everything that I wanted to have in purchasing this practice.”

Eugene O’Brien, of Ketchikan, has undergone capsulotomies in both eyes at the clinic. He said his vision was starting to fog, and he was amazed there was a local option to treat it. He said prep for the procedure took longer than the operation itself. 

“Suddenly, everything, the whole world was brighter,” O’Brien said. “That tissue that was forming around the lens, the artificial lens, had been zapped away.” 

O’Brien said given the size of the region, he wonders why the laser technology didn’t come to Ketchikan sooner. He hopes the city can become a medical hub for other Southeast communities. O’Brien said that could cut down travel expenses for patients. 

“I think this kind of service is a good thing for this community, having not to have that kind of cost,” O’Brien said. “And insurance companies are probably going to love the heck out of that, not having to pay for all that kind of stuff, and we were thankful about that.”

Johnson hopes to expand his clinic to offer other services, too. He’s looking to onboard a doctor who can perform eye injections for diseases like macular degeneration. He said that could happen later this year. 

Johnson also hopes to bring cataract surgery back to Ketchikan. He said it hasn’t been offered locally in over five years. 

“I’m very excited, very excited about what the future has to hold,” Johnson said. “I’m fired up about it. Just hang on for the ride.” 

Johnson said the clinic is working to expand what insurances they take. He said the only other eye care clinic in town is only open part-time. 

Editor’s Note: Eugene O’Brien is a volunteer DJ at KRBD and is not involved with the news department.

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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It was a rare sunny evening on Monday at the Thomas Basin boat harbor, in the heart of downtown Ketchikan. A few dozen spectators cheered on the Northbound Nutters, a team of four men aboard a yellow, multihull sailboat that approached the dock. 

Nigel Oswald stepped off the vessel and rang a bell – marking his team’s completion of the journey. A bystander handed him a well-deserved beer.

Oswald said his Race to Alaska experience started long before hitting the water. 

“It was a huge amount of boat work, prep, and planning, and logistics,” he said. “And to know that we hadn’t screwed it up, and everything worked, and we got here – it was just a huge emotional relief, more than winning or not winning.”

The route from Port Townsend, Washington to Ketchikan traces the Inside Passage – a network of waterways weaving through the islands of the Pacific Northwest coast. The race follows the steps of traders, gold rush steamers and Native people, who have paddled the passage for time immemorial. 

It can be an unpredictable and rough trip – with rain, wind, and heavy currents – all with no motor power. There are also no support boats following along. If people need to be rescued, it can take hours or days. 

“Because it’s so unpredictable you just don’t know where you’re going to be next and how long it’s going to take to get there,” said Jeanne Goussev with Northwest Maritime, a nonprofit devoted to educating and engaging people with nautical culture. The nonprofit sponsors the race. Goussev is also a former race champion. 

“It’s a lot of reading the weather in motion, and making calls as you’re going through the course,” Goussev said.

The Race to Alaska began a little over a decade ago, when its founder was figuring out a way to get more people to explore the Inside Passage. And as it turns out, if you give them a reason to go, they’ll go. Race Boss Jesse Wiegel said traveling the waterway without an engine brings a whole other level of commitment to the race. 

The first place winners get a $10,000 cash prize. Second place gets a set of steak knives. 

“Those prizes have not changed since the start, because it turns out that’s enough to convince people that they should go do this dumb thing,” Wiegel said.

The race is held every two years and begins with a 40-mile jaunt to Victoria, British Columbia. Teams that make it across in 36 hours or less can continue on to Ketchikan, where they could encounter any number of hazards. Past teams have run into rocks, beached themselves or even capsized. 

“So you really have to be able to be prepared for whatever happens,” Goussev said. “Whether that’s hitting a log, being dismasted, having an injury on board – you really have to prepare yourself to be ready to handle any emergency for some period of time.”

More than 300 teams have participated over the years. Interested participants must apply to compete before hitting the water. About 60 teams or individuals are competing in this year’s race, which is the most ever. And not all of them are using sailboats. Some are faring with rowboats or paddleboards. 

One of the only rules of the race is that teams cannot prearrange help along the course route. Anything not planned in advance is okay. Goussev said participants can only use what is brought on board their vessel. 

“It is a bit unique to not have the tools staged along the way, but it’s also part of the beauty of the race,” Goussev said. “The fact that it’s out in nature and that you are in really remote, untouched, amazing, incredible, wild places.”

Race Boss Wiegel said the race isn’t always about winning, but rather the experience of being in nature and working with a team. 

“I mean, the race exists because there’s too many rules in everything else,” Wiegel said. “The race exists because the world has just a lot of signposts that say ‘No, you can’t do that.’ That’s not what Race to Alaska is. Race to Alaska says ‘This is here, go do this thing.’”

Back at the Thomas Basin boat harbor, a sleep-deprived Oswald was enjoying his beverage and chatting with fans. He’s a veteran Race to Alaska participant, and said he and his winning team wanted to take on the challenge to see what they were made of. 

Oswald didn’t make it to Ketchikan last go around. He’s proud his team this year was able to finish in a boat that was built for much shorter journeys. 

“But huge sense of accomplishment getting that boat that isn’t designed for this kind of thing with these guys to here, just feels awesome,” Oswald said.

Despite some challenging conditions throughout the race, Oswald’s team, which had a former Race to Alaska champion on board, made it to Ketchikan in five days, eight hours and four minutes. He and his teammates plan to celebrate with pizza, beer, and much-needed sleep. 

The remaining teams are expected to trickle in, or tap out, over the next few weeks.

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 City of Ketchikan has hired its new manager after over a year of searching. The Ketchikan City Council approved the city manager contract for Abner Hoage at its Thursday night meeting. 

Hoage’s contract was approved in a 4-3 vote, with council members Riley Gass, Abby Bradberry and Jai Mahtani voting no. Hoage will oversee municipal government operations and Ketchikan Public Utilities, which includes city-owned water and power.

Hoage has most recently served as interim city manager of Unalaska, where he previously served as fire chief. He was offered a permanent position as city manager in Unalaska but turned it down earlier this month.

He also served as Ketchikan’s fire chief and emergency manager from 2014 to 2021. He has a Master’s degree in management and public administration from the University of Phoenix. 

The city has struggled to fill the manager position since 2024. In December, the council narrowed down a list of over 40 applicants and flew two finalists out for in-person tours and interviews. The candidate they selected withdrew his application hours before the council was scheduled to approve his contract. In January, the council voted to start that process over again. After narrowing the hiring pool down to four finalists in April, one of them being Hoage who interviewed remotely, the council selected another candidate, Glen Adams. 

The council was not able to reach an agreement with Adams. The city then revisited previous applicants and selected Hoage late last month. 

Hoage’s contract begins July 9 with an annual salary of $235,000. 

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A Ketchikan jeweler will have to pay a $10,000 settlement to the state of Alaska for misrepresenting their products. Jai Mahtani, the owner of Gold Rush, told undercover investigators that all of the products in the store were “locally sourced” when they were not mined in Alaska.

Mahtani says he never claimed his products were locally made. They were purchased in Alaska, he says. He told KRBD he takes full responsibility for his statements.

Mahtani, a Ketchikan City Councilmember, also allegedly misrepresented gold quartz during an undercover investigation in 2023. The State said in a press release that it was later identified as “likely fake.” Mahtani told KRBD it was a legitimate piece but had the incorrect certificate of authenticity.

Assistant Attorney General Ian Engelbeck was the lead attorney on the case. Engelbeck says misrepresentations of origin aren’t uncommon in Alaska, but they are working to hold business owners accountable.

“Folks come up here for a trip of a lifetime, and they want to buy something from Alaska, and it is a bad thing that people come away instead with something that isn’t from Alaska at all,” Engelbeck said.

Englebeck says if a sale seems too good to be true, there’s a chance it probably is. The settlement comes just over two weeks after another jewelry store in town, Miner’s Gems, had to pay a $20,000 settlement to the state for misrepresenting the origin and authenticity of gold quartz.

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The Ketchikan Visitors Bureau is working to revamp a program that encourages local feedback on the tourism industry. It’s called the Tourism Best Management Practices. It’s an initiative modeled after one in Juneau. 

The Tourism Best Management Practices committee partners with cruise lines and tour operators to come up with best practices for all parties to agree on. The goal is to minimize the negative impacts of tourism on residents, while also improving the experience for visitors.

Kirby Day is with Princess and Carnival Corporation group. He visited Ketchikan this week to spread the word about tourism best management practices. He’s been managing the program in Juneau for almost 30 years. 

“It’s far from city regulation,” Day said. “It’s voluntary guidelines that the cruise industry and tour operators sign off on.”

He said when it initially started in Juneau, the concerns were mostly about road congestion. Now, there are over 100 best tourism management guidelines in the city. 

People can submit complaints, compliments or concerns to the Visitors Bureau on how they’re seeing tourism affect their lives. Day said community buy-in is key. He encourages people to call the hotline to make complaints or ask questions, so the Visitors Bureau can work with people and agencies directly involved.

Mariah Dodd with the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau is implementing this locally. The Tourism Best Management Practices program started in Ketchikan in 2021 but quickly died off. Dodd said it’s important to bring it back, and she wishes it had been sooner.

“I kind of view myself as a communication conduit,” she said. “Some people may have concerns about a specific company in town or tourism, and you don’t know who to call, you don’t know what the company is, you’re just going to call an office. If you send that complaint, compliment, or concern to the hotline, I am then able to identify the company and reach out and contact them.”

Dodd said when people call the hotline, a response is guaranteed within three days. Some best practices include cruise lines not playing music when they’re docked, or tour buses not going down certain roads. 

This year, she’s had a couple calls concerning tour buses on the Third Avenue bypass — which, she said, is allowed as long as there are no passengers on the bus and the main roadway isn’t blocked. Other concerns have included parking issues at Rotary Beach and Herring Cove.

All concerns are posted anonymously online. And the process is ongoing, Dodd said. Feedback is used to develop the best practices guidelines. She wants residents to feel heard and know they are not being pushed out of their community. It’s a way to come together and create solutions respectfully. 

“It would be good to add some positivity to it as well, because ultimately that’s what we’re trying to do,” Dodd said. “We’re trying to find resolutions. We’re not going to make everyone happy. We’re not going to solve every problem, but we can try and figure out how to fix what we can fix.”

The practice exists, in some form, in communities across Southeast including Skagway, Wrangell, and Sitka. 

Ketchikan’s Tourism Best Management Practices hotline is 907-225-8267. Comments can also be submitted online. 

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