KRBD - Ketchikan

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly has rescheduled its regular meeting from Monday to Tuesday, in observance of the New Year’s holiday.

The agenda for Tuesday is a light one. Among the few action items is a public hearing and second vote on changes to the borough’s ethics code.

The proposed changes come from the borough’s Board of Ethics, which had a discussion about conflicts of interest not currently covered in borough code.

Right now, elected officials must declare a conflict only when a matter has a potential financial impact on them or an immediate family member.

The changes would add to that definition.

If adopted, elected officials would have to abstain from voting on issues that financially affect an organization if the elected official serves that organization as a board member, for example.

Officials also would have to abstain in cases of “divided loyalty.”

That applies when there is no financial interest at stake, but the elected official “feels a strong sense of personal loyalty” that would affect their ability to vote in the borough’s best interest.

Tuesday’s Assembly meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. in Borough Assembly chambers at the White Cliff building.

Public comment will be heard at the start of the meeting, and during public hearings.

A 31-year-old Hydaburg man was arrested last week for allegedly threatening a family member with a knife.

Alaska State Troopers responded about 6:30 p.m. Friday to a home in Hydaburg for a reported domestic disturbance, according to an online dispatch.

The man was not there when troopers arrived, but was located about two hours later in another home.

The man was arrested and charged with third-degree domestic assault and was taken to the Craig Jail pending arraignment.

The Alaska Marine Highway announced Tuesday that the MV Kennicott’s schedule will experience some delays starting Dec. 30 because of tides and currents.

The Kennicott will leave Bellingham, Wash., on schedule Dec. 30, but will be about three-and-a-half hours late arriving about 9:30 a.m. Jan. 1 in Ketchikan.

The ferry then will be delayed leaving Ketchikan, as well. It will depart at 4 p.m. New Year’s Day, eight-and-a-half hours later than originally scheduled.

The Kennicott also stops in Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Haines and Skagway. Passengers with reservations will be contacted and notified of the schedule changes.

At right is the entire revised schedule for Dec. 30 through Jan. 3, according to the AMHS.

Every November, just before Thanksgiving, Ketchikan High School’s Rotary Interact club – the high school version of Rotary – organizes a pie auction. Money from the auction goes to the Ketchikan Pioneers Home, and usually the students are able to raise a couple thousand dollars.

This year, they raised the most money ever. In a special ceremony on Thursday, three graduating seniors from Interact handed over a check for Pioneers Home seniors.

Kayhi Interact co-presidents Angie Gomez and McKenzie Harrison, and past-president Alison Blair were all smiles as they presented a gift-wrapped big check – suitable for photos – to members of Ketchikan Pioneers Home’s resident council.

The residents, too, smiled as they unwrapped the early Christmas present. The big check – and the normal-sized official check – was for $3,375. Gomez said they raised that much because they had so many pies donated to the auction by Ketchikan’s generous bakers.

“I don’t even know how many pies we had – there was a lot,” she said. “We had more than we’ve ever had this year, which was great.”

The money will go into the resident council’s activities fund. Pioneers Home activities director Hilary Koch said that helps pay for all kinds of things that aren’t funded through the ever-shrinking state budget: Holiday decorations, for example, and bingo prizes.

“All kinds of supplies,” she said. “Newspaper and coffee supplies – a newspaper subscription. Cat food – we do have a cat, we have two birds, we have probably seven fish – nail polish and spa supplies,” and arts and craft supplies, even furniture.

Koch said the pie sale and the annual Pioneers Home garage sale are two big sources for that fund, along with individual donations from people in the community.

After the brief ceremony, Gomez, Harrison and Blair gave a few more details on the pie auction. They said Marna Cessnun’s pies raised the most money, as they do most years.

“I think it went $200 – almost $300,” Gomez said of the most expensive pie. “That was a cherry pie or an apple pie? (She made both) Her pies both went for a lot, but that cherry (or) apple pie – we don’t know – it definitely went for the highest.”

Harrison said Dick Miller’s pies also went for more than $200 apiece. Those also were classic cherry and apple. In fact, there were a lot of apple pies, and they sold well. But, she said, “We also had some rhubarb pies, cherry, pecan.”

“Lots of apple, though,” Gomez said.

“There was a freezer one – a s’mores pie,” Harrison added.

Gomez said, “We had some cheesecakes too.”

“Another surprising seller, you could call her and ask her to make a certain type of pie, so it was an empty pie dish,” Harrison said. “That was a good seller. It ended up being an apple, though.”

Getting hungry? Let’s talk about something else, then. Like TAFCOM. That’s a non-profit organization in Tanzania. Here’s Gomez, explaining how Kayhi’s Interact helps that group: “There’s different groups in TAFCOM – there’s the education one and we mostly fundraise for the education: Schools and supplies and whatever they need for their schools.”

To do that, Gomez said, women in the Tanzanian villages make various items, such as scarves and bags. Interact sells those items here in Ketchikan, and then sends that money to TAFCOM for specific projects.

“We just recently sent them $1,500 because they need to furnish a school that they haven’t furnished yet, so that’s going to desks and school supplies and whatever else they need,” she said.

Blair said helping others is part of why she has enjoyed her four years with Interact.

“I like giving back to both the community I’ve grown up in and also our global projects we do, especially in Tanzania,” she said. “It’s just an amazing feeling you get when you help others.”

Gomez said she especially enjoys the various opportunities for community interaction.

“The activities that we do – the pie auction is one of my favorites – the Winter Arts Faire just gets you in the feeling for the holidays, TAFCOM is an amazing organization,” she said. “Just being able to say what we do and how it affects people; it’s really just great.”

Harrison said she feels blessed to be able to help others, and she appreciates the ongoing community support of Interact’s efforts.

“I would like to thank everyone who donates money, time and pies, also with buying the items,” she said. “I know sometimes it’s kinda the same items every year but people still tend to support us and we’re very grateful for our community’s help.”

This is the last year of Interact for the three seniors, which made the pie auction’s success somewhat bittersweet.

There is a college version of Rotary called Rotaract, which they say they might try to organize if their colleges of choice don’t have one already.

Area residents who love a white Christmas will be happy to hear they’ll probably get one – but not until the afternoon.

Wes Adkins from the National Weather Service in Juneau said forecasters there are watching a system that should be bringing warm, moist air on top of a cold break, which generally leads to snow.

“We’re looking for the front to arrive just offshore of the panhandle Christmas Day and steadily move eastward,” he said. “So, potentially, Christmas afternoon into that evening, we’re looking at a potential snow event.”

That event would affect most of southern Southeast, including Ketchikan, Metlakatla and Prince of Wales Island.

The snow could last through midnight Sunday, and Adkins said it then should switch to rain.

It’s still a little early to give an accurate prediction, he says, but he wants people to know before the holiday weekend that potential bad weather is on the way.

He said the total snowfall could be anywhere between 1 and 4 inches. While that’s not a lot by some standards, the upper end of that is more than Ketchikan usually gets in one storm.

“Our winter storm watches and winter storm warnings are derived from known impacts, and we have lower thresholds for the southern panhandle, with the exception of Hyder, than the rest of the panhandle, because we don’t get as much snow down there,” he said.

The National Weather Service has not as of Friday issued a winter storm watch or warning for the area.

They’ve instead issued a cautionary statement that significant snow is “possible” Sunday.

A house fire Monday morning in the 300 block of Deermount Street, Ketchikan, was caused by a resident trying to thaw some frozen pipes. No one was injured.

Ketchikan Fire Marshall Chris Grooms said the fire was called in at about 9 a.m. Monday.

“Well, the initial call was for smoke coming from an outlet. Shortly thereafter, we got a second call for smoke coming from several outlets,” he said. “Smoke was showing when the fire department got there. We found later that the fire was very small, and underneath the house and was caused by inappropriate methods of thawing pipe.”

Grooms wouldn’t elaborate on the method used, but said it essentially created too much heat.

“If something used to thaw pipes is too warm, it might start something smoldering that you don’t even notice,” he said. “The best way is to either call a plumber, or use something like a hair dryer that’s got less heat to it.”

There were some flames when firefighters arrived, which were quickly extinguished.

Grooms estimated damage to the home at about $5,000.