It hasn’t been an easy year in Ketchikan. Things fell apart. But so many things were also put back together again. We have a tradition here at KRBD as we close out the year. We reflect on the past year in news. Here’s a look back at 2024 with KRBD’s Michael Fanelli and Jack Darrell. Listen here:
Jack Darrell: And what a year it has been in Ketchikan. Where to start?
Michael Fanelli: Well, let’s just start in January.
JD: I mean, this year was a pretty big election year across the board. That was apparent even in January. House District 1 candidates began to file, the state delegates were campaigning. I don’t want to dwell too much on crime but local and state authorities carried out some huge drug busts in January and February, seizing over $2 million total of meth and fentanyl.
But! It was also a big winter for the arts in Ketchikan. The annual Wearable Arts show in February was one for the books. Local artist Ray Troll published a new book. Also in February, a local-born artist, Jackson Polys, son of world renowned local carver Nathan Jackson, received a United States Artists Fellowship which was really cool.
MF: While we’re on the subject of carving, I think we’d be remiss not to mention one of the big stories of this spring.
“We don’t want these fake poles here made by a non-native person in Minnesota brought to our community and put up in Tlingit land. And I’m surprised that our local politicians would put up with that.”
That was KIC president Norm Skan, speaking at a protest in May against the raising of inauthentic totem poles carved by a Minnesota man with a checkered past. That story came to a happy ending though, as the local Native leaders were able to sit down with the owner, who agreed not to raise the poles.
JD: While all this was happening this spring, we saw some power outages and pole fires on the Ketchikan electric grid. That was a big story this year and I think probably will be for many years to come.
“The infrastructure is a serious thing that people aren’t going to realize until something fails. And something is going to fail. Everything is so past its lifespan, it’s going to start burning up and it has been more and more often. It’s past critical now and people need to pay attention.”
That was lineman Nick Kufner at a city council meeting in January. The City Council heard many pleas from Ketchikan Public Utilities Electric Division about the state of the city’s aging electric grid and lack of linemen, an issue that is far from resolved.
MF: Many of the biggest stories across the state and here in Ketchikan this year revolved around education.
Local budgetary concerns came to a head this spring, when the school district issued more than 50 layoff notices to educators.
“My high schooler calls me this morning in tears, because teachers that she has made close relationships with, that make her want to go to school, that make her want to go to college, that make her want to be a teacher are leaving, because they’re getting the pink slip tomorrow.”
That was Jolene Thomas, one of dozens and dozens of residents who spoke out at School Board or Borough Assembly meetings. Most of those pink slips were subsequently recalled, but the district still cut a number of programs, teachers and administrators.
JD: We also tragically lost a couple beloved educators in the district at the beginning of the school year.
MF: The district is now considering consolidating elementary students by grade level or cutting things like librarians, music and P.E. teachers. The School Board doesn’t expect to decide on next year’s budget until at least February.
JD: And then, there it was. Election time. The state voted out our U.S. representative in Congress Mary Peltola in favor of Nick Begich III and our region ushered out Rep. Dan Ortiz, our representative in the state House, who sat in that seat for a decade. We ushered in our new representative Jeremy Bynum. City Mayor Dave Kiffer was replaced by new mayor Bob Sivertsen. Vice Mayor Janalee Gage termed out of the council and Dick Coose was voted in. Assemblymember Grant EchoHawk transitioned off the Borough Assembly, replaced by Bridget Mattson. Of course, so did Jeremy Bynum but that was after the election so we won’t know who will be taking his seat until January.
Also this fall, Ketchikan was the home for a couple big region-wide meetings. Folks from all over the world flew in for Seagriculture, a conference on seaweed farming and mariculture. That’s your bread and butter, Michael.
MF: Yeah it’s an exciting time for mariculture in Alaska, there’s a lot of national and international interest and investment coming into the state. Alaska’s already the number two seaweed producer in the country, but there’s huge room for growth there if we can get past a few industry bottlenecks. Look out for more seaweed reporting in the new year!
JD: Then there was the Southeast Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council meeting in October. Proposals revolving around state and federal subsistence hunting regulations across the region were discussed and the biggest one, in terms of discussion, was changing Ketchikan’s designated subsistence status to rural. A debate that has raged for years. After hours of public testimony and board discussion, they voted not to recommend it – meaning Ketchikan city residents, and specifically the Ketchikan Indian Community, who made the proposal, will not be opened up to any new local subsistence hunting opportunities in 2025.
That may be staying the same but Ketchikan saw a lot of changes this year — and I mean physically. The city is different going into 2025. The New York Café got a facelift, the Potlach Bar got a remodel, and, devastatingly, the South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department burned this spring.
There were no interruptions to service though and the firefighters and Fire Chief Steve Rydeen have continued giving everything they have to the community.
Some new businesses opened. Like the Star Gallery, Evon Zerbetz’s shop and art gallery that stepped into the space vacated by Michelle and Ray Troll’s Soho Coho, the Red Lantern, the adult boutique and burlesque venue, two new downtown cafes — Island Brew and Ketch Me if You Kan, Alaska Power & Telephone moved their headquarters to Ketchikan, among other things.
Some businesses changed hands. The local Trident processing plant was purchased by Alaska-based Silver Bay Seafood, Port of Ward Cove was purchased by a newly formed local company, the Landing Hotel was purchased by an out-of-state investment firm, the Rendezvous Thrift store – a nonprofit owned staple of affordable items and a hub for so many services to the community – closed but then was purchased by the longtime assistant manager and will reopen as a for-profit.
And unfortunately, some businesses closed outright: like Chinook and Company on Creek Street, 55North Cafe — I mourn their meatloaf sandwiches — and Diaz Café, a staple for great Filipino food and burgers in Ketchikan, announced in November that “it was time” for them to close up shop and that they were putting the business on Stedman St. up for sale. As of now, tough, no offers have been made and they plan to reopen in April of next year unless someone buys it. Also, Akeela, yet another nonprofit behavioral health resource, left the city, and others.
MF: Right, and our only low-barrier homeless shelter, First City Haven, which was providing services and skill-building support for hundreds of residents closed down in June. That came after a long battle with the city that ultimately ended with the city ending First City’s lease on the building.
“What I was able to go through in the time frame that I was able to go through it, in a mildly structured environment, I find that amazing. And find Jesus in the process, I also find that amazing, considering I’m an addict. Moving forward with my life now is much easier,” Nicholas James Ridley Nelson, a shelter resident, told KRBD about what the shelter meant to him.
“You end up having to worry about where you’re going to sleep at night. You’re worrying about all your stuff. You’re worrying about if you’re going to have a meal. You’re worrying about if you can take a shower or finding a place to take a shower. Everything, you know? And it just adds up,” Tristan Gavin, another resident, said about losing the shelter.
On the bright side, True North Recovery just opened a residential addiction treatment facility in town, and the RISE wellness center also started offering outpatient addiction services this fall. Also, KIC just announced that they plan to build a new permanent supportive housing building for seniors.
Of course, though, the thing that changed the physical and emotional landscape of Ketchikan more than anything else this year: the landslide.
JD: In a lot of ways, the Third Avenue landslide at the end of August is the story of Ketchikan this year. The landslide came down on a Sunday above the White Cliff neighborhood. It completely destroyed multiple homes, displaced many others, and claimed the life of one of our own. Sean Griffin.
MF: He was a city employee, clearing storm drains when the landslide happened. Two days later, dozens of city vehicles formed a procession to escort his remains to the airport.
“One of the sayings we have at the union is ‘We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.’ That’s one of the great things about Ketchikan. We’ve always kind of had that mentality of being our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers and its now more important because there are going to be a lot of families and friends that are hurting over this and its going to be a long haul for Ketchikan to recover. Keep an eye out for each other,” Sven Westergard, Griffin’s friend and coworker, told KRBD afterwards.
JD: I think we have to acknowledge that it also shattered a sense of long-held security in Ketchikan. It changed something in our community’s collective consciousness. I think local historian and former mayor Dave Kiffer put it best:
“This is not something you see in Ketchikan. It’s hard to wrap your mind around that. I mean, day-in and day-out we drive past these hills, we look up at the trees and the mountains and how lovely it is and you just don’t think that’s going to come roaring down on you. And now you have to.”
MF: It also solidified something, though, right?
JD: People unified. They came together in this way that is so rare in today’s divided times. So many people came to the aid of the victims. I was there at the site of the slide along with so many people offering rides to safety, clean clothes, warm food. City and Borough staff and others worked around the clock to keep people informed and safe and we got through it, as a community.
MF: Yeah. We also broke a century-old daily rainfall record in early December but ultimately it was a drier year than average in Ketchikan – a little over 120 inches of rain to date. The average is about 150 inches. But through it all, Ketchikan gathered. Through tumultuous elections, while tensions rose and the country fumed across the political aisle, Ketchikanians were largely civil to each other. Through landslides, missing people, joys and tragedies, Ketchikan showed up for each other.
And we here at KRBD have been honored to cover all of it and that so many of you read or listened. And with that, we bid 2024 farewell.
