The City of Ketchikan has been awarded a $3 million grant to improve emergency public safety communications on Revillagigedo Island. The congressional funding was secured by U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski in 2024.

The intent of the funding is to evaluate the island’s existing communication system and identify coverage gaps. According to a letter from the Ketchikan Fire Department, the area’s geography, terrain, remote locations and weather “create significant obstacles to maintaining reliable radio communications throughout the island.” The island’s emergency radio equipment is also outdated. 

Fire Chief Rick Hines says each fire department in Ketchikan has their own individual radio setup, and they don’t always communicate well with each other.  

“My goal is just that when the firefighters on the island need to communicate with dispatch or each other on a fire, that they’re able to do so clearly and seamlessly, which are issues that we currently have,” he said.  

Hines said that they’ll work with the island’s fire and police departments to identify strengths and weaknesses in the communications system. Once those are determined, the city will evaluate recommendations for system improvements. That may include upgrading existing radio infrastructure or enhancing its reliability. 

The $3 million grant may not fully cover the cost of assessing or improving the island’s emergency communication network. But in the long run, Hines said the grant could potentially allow the fire department to communicate directly with police or other city agencies. 

“It’ll be a great improvement, and it’ll be big for our safety, just the safety of our members,” Hines said.

The fire department applied for the congressional grant two years ago. The Ketchikan City Council is expected to accept the grant at Thursday night’s meeting.

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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Voters across Southeast Alaska showed up to the polls yesterday, voting for House and Senate candidates in several competitive races, as well as two ballot measures. 

Around 4,700 people in House District 1 cast their ballot this election, compared to nearly 8,700 in 2024.  

Voters chose to reelect incumbent Republican Jeremy Bynum to represent them in the state’s House of Representatives. Unofficial results show Bynum received 61% of the vote. 

There are 10 precincts spanning across House District 1, which covers Ketchikan, Wrangell, Metlakatla, Whale Pass and Coffman Cove. 

John Pearson, chair of the Ketchikan #2 precinct, said he woke up on Tuesday at 4 a.m. to start helping out at the Plaza. 

“Boy howdy it’s been busy,” Pearson said. “And that’s good, we like to see people voting. And we have less precincts than we had in the past. There’s only three city precincts now. At one time, we had eight.”

Jason Mitchell voted at Ketchikan’s Gateway Recreation Center. He says he’s a regular voter. This year, he said he found Ballot Measure 2 especially important, which asked Alaskans if they wanted to eliminate ranked choice voting and remove some “dark money” disclosure requirements for political contributions.

“I like ranked choice and keeping campaign finance laws,” Mitchell said. “I think we need more of them, not less of them.”

51% of voters in the district voted yes to that ballot measure to repeal ranked choice voting. But as of Wednesday afternoon, just over 50 percent of voters statewide chose to keep the status quo. 

Nearly 75% of voters chose to approve Ballot Measure 3, which specifies that “only” U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in elections in the state. It has no functional impact and is nothing more than a language clarification. 

The majority of voters — 51% — in District 1 voted for Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan in the U.S. Senate race against Mary Peltola, who received 43% of the district’s vote. That race has not yet been called. 

In the U.S. House race, 55.96% of District 1 voters had incumbent Republican Nick Begich as their first choice. Independent challenger Bill Hill received around 1,500 votes, or just under 33%.

Nearly 400 people in the district voted for Democrat Eric Hafner, who is currently serving time in federal prison.

For Governor, nearly 48% of district votes went to Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and running mate Zac Johnson. That’s around 2,200 votes, compared to 1,200 cast for Bernadette Wilson and running mate Mike Shower. 

Voters also reelected Superior Court judges Katherine Lybrand and Daniel Doty of Ketchikan.

KRBD’s Hunter Morrison contributed reporting.

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Southern Southeast Alaskans chose to reelect their state representative in Tuesday’s general election.

According to unofficial election results, incumbent Republican Jeremy Bynum won the State House District 1 seat, beating out challenger Grant Echohawk by 1,022 votes with all precincts reporting. District 1 includes Ketchikan, Wrangell, Metlakatla, Whale Pass and Coffman Cove.

Bynum originally took office in January of 2025 and has served on the House Finance Committee. On a call with KRBD Tuesday night, he said he’s looking forward to continuing the work he’s started.

“We know that we still have some tremendous challenges throughout the state, everything from education to infrastructure,” Bynum said. “I’m looking forward to getting back to the challenge of how do we build our state and get people successful in our communities.”

Bynum received 2,800 votes, or 61%. Voter turnout in the district was around 30%. He’s slated to serve another 2-year term.

Incumbent District A Senator Republican Bert Stedman ran unopposed. Official election results are expected to be finalized statewide in the next two weeks.

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The state’s mainline ferry Columbia is delayed in Ketchikan due to a port main engine failure. Around 70 passengers were traveling northbound when it broke down yesterday. 

Alaska Marine Highway System spokesperson Gabe Strong estimates the ferry will be back on track this Sunday. The Columbia is 52 years old and runs routes through Southeast’s Inside Passage. Strong said with how consistently it’s running, incidents like this are to be expected.  

“The Columbia… went in in June or something, and since then it’s been just going up and down from Skagway in the north to Bellingham in the south,” Strong said. “That’s a long run, and it’s just continuously doing it over and over and over again.”

Strong said in the meantime, ferry passengers can make travel arrangements with the terminal to fly home and pick up their vehicles whenever the ferry arrives. Many passengers are choosing to stay on board. 

The crew is offering free food and even shuttled a handful of passengers to Ketchikan’s Gateway Recreation Center so they could vote in the general election. 

The Columbia is one of the oldest vessels in the fleet. Strong said the long-term plan is to replace the old ferries to prevent incidents like this, but each ferry costs hundreds of millions of dollars.

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Leaders of the PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center gave community members hospital updates at their annual town hall late last month.

PeaceHealth executives shared multiple improvements made in the last year. The hospital was recently awarded money through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program. Most of that money — nearly $7 million — is funding robotic assisted surgeries in urology, gastroenterology, gynecology and general surgery. The purpose is to minimize the invasiveness of surgeries such as hysterectomies and cystectomies. An additional $200,000 is going towards improving maternal, fetal and neonatal care surveillance technologies.

Ketchikan has seen a healthy portion of the Rural Health Transformation Program funding going towards multiple local nonprofits. House District 1 Rep. Jeremy Bynum spoke at public comment, asking hospital executives to be innovative with the money to best serve the community.

“We did pretty good, but I’m here to encourage you,” Bynum said. “I’m here to encourage you to be creative, and let’s not let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass us by.”

Bynum is running for reelection in Tuesday’s general election. He also commented on the importance of hospital staff retention, which executives say is one of their top priorities for the upcoming year. Chief Medical Officer Jamie Park outlined four guiding focuses going forward: community angst, internal and external communication, staffing and staff morale.

A few staff members spoke with concerns about staff morale and retention. Wages are low, they said, and many departments are stretched thin. That can have an impact on patients.

Caitlin Brady is the president of Ketchikan Registered Nurses, the local nurse’s union, which is currently in active negotiations with the hospital. She said she hopes they reach an agreement that can better support staff and the community.

“We’re seeing an increase in the number of psychiatric patients in the hospital. Those patients are staying longer because there’s nowhere for them to go,” Brady said. “They’re being boarded in the [emergency room] because there are no inpatient rooms available, and this situation is increasingly putting hospital staff at risk of violent behavior from patients. These challenges are happening while nurses are being asked to do more with less.”

Brady said starting wages at the Ketchikan Medical Center are lower than they are at PeaceHealth locations in the Lower 48. She said there may be a nationwide shortage of healthcare workers, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

“The truth is, there’s a shortage of workers willing to work under current conditions, and that distinction matters because nurses want to work, we want to care for our patients, we want to live in Ketchikan, we want to raise our families here and be part of this community,” she said.

Most of the public comment was positive, thanking caregivers for their work and the administration for hosting the forum. This was the fifth annual Community Health Board town hall and was held at the Ted Ferry Civic Center. PeaceHealth administration encourages community members to make comments at any time online.

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The Klawock City School District announced today they are releasing their Superintendent from her contract, effective Oct. 31. Rebecca Stallworth had been in the position for around six months, and served as superintendent for less than three months of the school year. 

The Klawock City School District has one school and serves around 130 students from early childhood to 12th grade. The principal of the school, Chase Cantrell, is stepping in as a temporary superintendent while they work to find someone to fill the role for the rest of the school year. The school board is also looking for a Superintendent for the 2027-2028 school year. 

The district did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

This is a developing story and KRBD anticipates further coverage.

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A Prince of Wales Island health nonprofit was recently awarded about $275,000 to help develop a mobile health program. That’s a model of care that brings health services, like in-person checkups and disease monitoring, directly to patients. 

The grant funding is part of about $250 million distributed to projects across Alaska through the Rural Health Transformation Program. That’s a federal initiative formed last year that looks to strengthen rural health systems around the country. The program has funded roughly 250 projects in Alaska this year. 

Sandy Curtis is board president of the Prince of Wales Health Network, the nonprofit looking to develop the mobile integrated health initiative. She said the funding will help them research health needs on the island through outreach and partnerships. 

“So at this point, what we are doing is we are just looking to see if this is something that’s even feasible for our island,” Curtis said. “We’re pretty sure it is; otherwise, we wouldn’t have pursued the funding.”

Although they’re still fleshing out how the program will look, Curtis said it could be island-wide. But she said the organization is taking its time to develop the initiative so that it’s implemented in a way that makes sense for each rural community. That will include surveys.

They’re also working closely with Ketchikan’s mobile integrated health program to better understand that model of care. 

“We’re really excited about this opportunity, and we really feel like if we can make this work over here, this is going to really be transformational for Prince of Wales Island, as far as the future of healthcare on this island,” Curtis said.  

Other Alaska communities, like Juneau and Anchorage, have formed their own mobile integrated health programs. The model of care can help reduce strain on limited hospital resources and drive down healthcare costs. 

A number of other Prince of Wales organizations also saw funding through the federal rural health program. Whale Tail Pharmacy, in Craig, was awarded over $300,000 to meet healthcare gaps on the island. And the Ketchikan Wellness Coalition received roughly the same amount to expand health advocacy for Filipino families in Ketchikan and on Prince of Wales Island.

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 mayor of Hydaburg won an award last week for his work in preserving the spirit of successful subsistence living. Anthony “Tony” Christianson was presented with the Katie John Hunter-Fisher Award at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Anchorage. 

Christianson has served and represented rural communities on the Federal Subsistence Board since 2012. He’s also the natural resource director for the Hydaburg Cooperative Association.

Karen Linnell, executive director of the Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission, said Christianson’s advocacy for subsistence rights in smaller communities has been paramount. 

“I so appreciate his ability to hear our people when they talk about our subsistence, to understand the vast differences that Alaskan Natives have, and his ability to convey that to the federal representatives,” she said.

The Katie John Hunter-Fisher Award honors Alaska Natives who ensure subsistence living will be carried on in future generations. John was the lead plaintiff in a decades-long federal lawsuit that fought for rural subsistence fishing rights under the Alaska Native Interest Lands Conservation Act. 

Christianson wasn’t in Anchorage to accept the award in person, but his cousin Barbara Blake attended and accepted the award on his behalf. 

“Tony put it simply: to be thought of, shared with, and bonded by our traditional foods — that is what creates community,” Blake said. “Our foods have always done more than feed us; they connect households, they connect generations, and they connect us to the land and waters that have sustained our people since forever. Every jar of fish, every share of harvest, is a way of saying you belong and you are not forgotten.”

Christianson said it was a humbling experience to be recognized, but he doesn’t do the work for recognition. He does it for the gratification of helping his community. 

Other AFN President’s Awards include the Small Business Award and the Roger Lang Youth Leadership Award.

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Ketchikan homeless laws provide police more authority

The Ketchikan City Council last winter approved updates to its municipal code that limit where people can sit, lie or camp within city limits. The changes were met with both support and opposition, with some arguing that they could negatively impact the city’s unhoused population.

Derek McGarrigan is the deputy chief of the Ketchikan Police Department. He said the biggest change the department has seen with the new laws is authority to move campsites that are in public. 

“There wasn’t anything enforceable in place to take care of that specific arena beforehand, and that’s where a lot of the frustration was coming from, from community members,” McGarrigan said.

That code change makes it a violation to camp or use camping supplies on city-owned or leased property, including public pedestrian ways, city-owned parking lots, and transit shelters. It was passed alongside two other ordinances: one that limits sitting or lying in public areas, with some exceptions; and another that deals with trespassing and trespass warnings. 

McGarrigan said the new laws have not directly led to an uptick in arrests. There’s only been two related to the ordinances since they’ve gone into effect. And neither of the arrests were related to the camping law, because violators of that law can only be issued citations.  

Instead, McGarrigan said the new laws, specifically the one that deals with camping, have primarily been used as a tool to move trespassers along. Those camping on city property have 72 hours to leave after police contact them. McGarrigan said most people camping on city property who have been asked to leave have been compliant.

The same is true for the law that limits sitting and lying in public areas, which is a misdemeanor if violated and could lead to an arrest. 

“I can’t think of really any off the top of my head, any cases where somebody calls about somebody laying downtown and we go arrest them for laying in public,” McGarrigan said. “Like I don’t think anybody’s had that occur yet.” 

Outside of offering unhoused people a ride elsewhere, which is sometimes to a shelter, McGarrigan said that the police department’s resources to help them are limited. He said that’s where other community services step in. 

But right now, there are just a few shelters for Ketchikan’s unhoused population to turn to. The city’s main homeless shelter closed in 2024. And the local tribe’s temporary winter warming shelter isn’t yet open for the season. 

According to documents from the city manager’s office, the three ordinances were created to “address health, safety, and economic prosperity within the City.” McGarrigan said the police use the new laws on an “as needed basis.”

“The end goal isn’t to take somebody to jail,” McGarrigan said. “I just don’t want people to be overly concerned that that’s all we’re looking to do and that’s all we’re trying to do.” 

McGarrigan said he’s proud that officers have used their discretion to enforce the new laws. 

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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KRBD’s news team hosted a candidate forum on Oct. 26 for the House District 1 race. Republican incumbent Jeremy Bynum and Independent Grant Echohawk answered questions about healthcare, housing, workforce development, and other issues concerning Southeast Alaska residents.

Listen here.

Read questionnaires for the Southeast candidates here.

For more information on all the candidates running in this election, check out this voter guide.

Election Day is Nov. 3.

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