Blood Bank of Alaska is pleased to announce our first Seward blood drive in our new LIFEmobile July 2 and 3. The new mobile unit, which will assist in collecting blood donations statewide, is customized with screening rooms, phlebotomy chairs, a cantina area and artwork.

The drive will be held July 2 and 3 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hotel Edgewater. Alaska’s blood supply is dangerously low with a less than one-day supply available statewide. Although Alaska’s need for blood increases in the summer because of increased activity and travel, blood donation rates take a significant plunge. This situation leaves Alaskans at the mercy of Lower 48 blood banks. Please call (907) 222-5630 to schedule an appointment.

The new coach arrived in Alaska after a 5000 mile journey from Tampa to Tok. It was unveiled at an open-house at the Copper River Health Fair in Glennallen, May 10. It will host drives in Fairbanks, Seward and Wasilla. The new LIFEmobile is a 2007 Blue Bird Bus. It is 40 feet long, has a 6 cylinder Cummins 6.7 engine and a 60 gallon fuel tank.

The new coach has hosted more than 33 blood drives since May 16, allowing Blood Bank of Alaska to collect hundreds of pints of blood. Between now and the end of the year, the new coach will complete more than 130 drives statewide, collecting an estimated 2500 pints of blood. Mat-Su Health Foundation, BP, First National Bank Alaska, Combined Federal Campaign, First American Title, The Rasmusen Foundation, and the Safeway-Carrs Employee Giving Campaign have made contributions to help offset the coach’s purchase price of more than $200,000. (END)

I was looking at the city web site this morning and saw a section committed to customer service, how to do business and another section where you can email the city about maintenance and repair. I’m not sure if these were there before somewhere on the website, but they are now prominently displayed on the home page.  These are great! Check them out.

http://www.cityofseward.net/

Please review the “Little readers” information on page 6 of this weeks Phoenix Log. I was so excited to read that the KPBSD has adopted the Headsprout (www.headsprout.com) online reading program and is making it available for FREE to all incoming kindergarteners. I had incredible success using this program last year with my step son who is a late reader. He absolutely loved the interactive online lessons and all the fun headsprout characters. He was 7 when he began the program. I would encourage any other parents of children who are not performing at grade level or parents of young children who are “ready to read” to check out this program out. This is a great way to get them to continue to improve their reading during the summer. I sent a letter to the district encouraging them to extend their offer to any parents in the KPBSD who believe their K-2 students need a little extra help and support. But the cost is very reasonable if the district is not able to expand their offer. There are free online lessons available so your child can give the program a test drive and see if it is a good match.

My wife and I spent some time volunteering on the Parks Project last week. It was a memorable experience and makes me proud to live in Seward, Alaska. What would make me even prouder would be to have a mayor that shared our community experience. Willard Dunham and other council people have stepped forward and they have been doing the job the mayor should be doing. Sure the man has to work, can’t blame him for that. But it is obvious his work and his living in Anchorage have taken precedence over any commitment to Seward. He never attended any of the Muni League Mayor functions, he didn’t lobby in Juneau or Washington DC, he hasn’t attended any community functions, he misses city council work sessions and many have had to rescheduled so he could be there and he still doesn’t make it. He isn’t available to the public. He was a mediocre city manager and now an even more mediocre mayor. So I just have to ask the question: Is it ethical to be the mayor and not do the job of mayor? He promised ethics and we get squat. I think it highly ironic that I got to meet our state representative from Homer and the Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor, but our mayor was conspicuously not there. You proved your point. You got elected, now do the honorable thing and resign.

To end on a positive note - great job parents, kids and citizens and all of the contributors. You made a dream come true.

In our lifetime, one of our hopes and dreams is to own our own home. It’s the piece of the American Dream along with life, liberty and the pursuit to happiness. Are you one of the 31% Americans who cannot afford to live the American Dream of owning a home? Don’t lose heart.

In 2003, President Bush signed into the Law the American Dream Downpayment Act. The objective according to the President, “… was to help many low-income buyers to overcome that hurdle, and to achieve an important part of the American Dream.”

Coming up with 20% downpayment on a $140,000.00 home is difficult for some of you. The banks, local agencies and govt. will not voluntarily give you the information for the best deals in buying a home. . If you have the time and the patience to fill out all the paperwork, you will within a year or two own your own home through this downpayment loan assistance program. If you are skeptical about this program, I suggest you not apply. Currently, the HOP Program is accepting applications. I wish I had shared this information earlier. Here’s the website: http://www.alaskacdc.org/home_opportunity_program.htm

This morning the city council voted to give the electrical department a new truck a vehicle that was not authorized in the 2008 budget.

The Seward City Council did authorize $205,000 in expenditures from the motor pool in the 2008 budget. The 2008 Capital Improvement Plan for the Motor Pool identified the following vehicles for replacement or purchase, so expect to see these additional unauthorized expenditures to come to Council in the near future:

Police: replace 2 vehicles – total for two $72,210 (one authorized)

TYC replace 1984 van $30,000

Public works – dump truck $80,000

Public works – replace flat bed $30,000

Water – Replace Truck $35,000

Electric – Excavator $60,000

Electric – truck for new field engineer position

(during the budget session the City Council was told, when asked, that there was one new position in the budget, a ½ time position in the library)

Electric – Utility Box vehicle $50,000 – Just authorized April 29, 2008 $56,500) unauthorized and over budget by $6,500

Shop- replacement pickup - $40,000

Public works – Sander / Plow Truck - $185,000 (authorized)

Electric mechanic repair truck - $70,000

Total expenditures: $685,210

The administration can take issue with the council but ultimately the council is held accountable by the public. I applaud the council for not simply rubber stamping administration’s requests.

At issue:

Administration stated they did not maintain the truck because they were going to get a new one.

The truck was not an authorized expenditure in the 2008 budget. Yes, it was on the capital improvement plan for 2008 but the council only authorized $205,000 in actual expenditures for the Motor Pool.

The administration did not get any local estimates for repair work on the existing truck. It was NEVER even taken to a mechanic for an actual estimate. Councilmember Amberg brought this point up at the meeting, she did the homework the Administration did not do, but her questions were not satisfactorily answered or even debated. The City Council had every right to question all aspects of the purchase of the truck.

“Penny wise and pound foolish” was the descriptor of those who opposed the purchase of the truck. Council should not be demeaned, humiliated or badgered into making important decisions. I find it interesting that administration feels that it can give unsatisfactory justification, not follow policy about getting bids nor seek local vendors. I find it interesting that the entity “the City” must win at all costs and that it resents the council questioning policies and expenditures. I find it interesting that Mayor Corbridge can cut off and rule out of order anyone who doesn’t agree with him, but let other council members and administration, who agree with his position, ramble with impunity. Abject loyalty to the entity “the City” comes at the expense of the public.

It has nothing to do with winning or losing but everything to do with accountability.

The Seward City Council on a vote of 4 - 3 passed an increase to the sales tax cap from the current $500 limit to a new $1,000 cap. There was a certain misconception in the public that charters, other recreational and hospitality industries, were bypassing paying taxes by charging customers by the boat or by the trip or by the week. As of April of ‘07 the borough changed the rules so that all of these industries must charge per person per day. The increase in the sales tax cap has no impact on these industries due to this change in borough tax computation.

So you may ask who the tax increase impacts. It impacts people who pay rent over $500, which is almost every rental in the city. It impacts people who have high oil bill costs and I would say that is a majority of the citizens of Seward. It impacts businesses who must compute the tax cap on borough sales up to $500 and then compute the Seward tax cap up to $1000. Many businesses have said that finding a software that does all the multiple calculations a near impossibility. The impact, in my opinion, is local.

The meeting after the council passed the tax cap increase, the city administration placed a brand new truck, not to exceed $63,000 on the agenda. This truck was not budgeted in the 2008 budget by the city council. Administration stated that it had been budgeted in the 2006 budget but never purchased. The Electrical Department head stated his workload was too heavy in ‘06 and he did not get around to it. He also stated that the old truck had not been maintained because they were going to purchase a new truck. Documentation was presented to the council for repairs to the existing truck for $20,000 and the department head stated the new truck cost went down to $55,000. So where am I going with this? I would like to ask the city council to not authorize repairs to the truck or purchase of a new truck (new truck again on upcoming council agenda for April 28). I would ask them to wait until John Bird does a complete audit of city vehicles, including but not limited to best usage policies, maintenance policy and maintenance schedules and maintenance records. Good stewardship of the public’s money is an expectation of good government.

So if you would like to sign the tax roll back petition, please call me at 224-7172 and I will refer you to the nearest circulator, or stop me on the street. I have it in my purse.

Besides Three Bears, Safeway grocery store is the only big chain supermarket in town.  It’s the 21st century hunting ground for most of us living in Seward and surrounding areas. We sure have it easy as long as the Seward Highway is open. The food comes all packaged, cleaned and ready for consumption without having to wrestle it to the ground.  However it all comes at a price.  So, How do you know if you’re getting a good deal for the buck?

Safeway salivates over shoppers ,young and old, who are more interested in piling up the shopping cart or the basket without spending the time and the hassle viewing what’s on sale. I don’t blame the shoppers.  I get headaches crunching the nickels and dimes I would save from marked down item prices, taring coupons and scrounging through the 0.75 cent carts.  Labels like “buy 2 and get 3rd one free” really stresses me out.  By the time I am ready to use the 3rd item, it goes bad on me.  However, at the end of the day the savings are worth the dizzy spells.

The average American spends more than 30 percent of their monthly budget on food, according to the Economic Research Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The reality is 29 million Americans are using food stamps and additional millions of American who can’t afford to pay top dollar for healthy foods. Our community is no exception to that reality.  We can all agree that everything is costing more, so if you’re asking  yourself, ” TO SAVE OR NOT TO SAVE,”  I encourage you TO SAVE.   If you don’t have the patience, at least teach your younglings so they grow up learning to budget money and spend it wisely.  There’s a saying, that a measure of a young man or women is influenced by his/her parents. 

Here is a dry run for legally busting Seward Safeway.  (WARNING!  Do not let the bright lights, aroma of freshly cooked food, baked bread, Starbucks and friendly staff stray you from your mission). 

1.Be cool and calm when  walking over to the stand by the entrance for the weekly ad specials which is updated every Wednesday.  Also make sure you have a Safeway club card which is issued free of charge at the check-out counter.  Safeway online http://shop.safeway.com is a definite place for savor coupons.  Secondly,  Look for any marked down prices throughout the store especially the dairy, poultry, meat and perishable item aisles.  Milk and other dairy products will last 5 days beyond the expiration date and even longer by freezing it, and meat tastes better when it’s more tender.  Lastly, double check your receipt and smile at the camera.  If the savings don’t satisfy you then go extreme by dumpster diving around the back of Safeway. 

I guarantee you will save minimum of 30 percent every time you shop which is worth the effort, the time and most importantly the food tastes much better.   Safeway has officially been busted. 

At Monday’s Council meeting on March 24th, Phillip Oates announced that former part-time interim Seward City Manager Marvin Yoder now back in Galena, will be coming to Seward to present information on energy from a small nuclear power plant at a to-be-announced work session.

Galena has been investigating this Toshiba Model 4S Power Plant, the first in Alaska for a town, since at least 2004, and continues its deliberations.

Toshiba offered to donate the reactor and power plant to Galena to serve as a reference site and get operation experience. Otherwise, if commercialized, it would cost about $25 million.

Personally, I can’t think of a better place for a nuclear power plant, buried 100′ down in our seismically active town, complete with its steam plant and toxic liquid sodium circulation system. We could put it right where the coal plant was supposed to go so everyone could see it in our viewshed, and handy to the adjacent flood plain, and tsunami zone.

If Seward hurries, WE could get this unit for almost free instead of Galena, who is spending way too much time investigating. In 30 years, when we and most of City Council will be either living in Arizona or dead, our children can deal with digging it up to replace the spent radioactive core, and then figure out which geologically unstable SW Indian Reservation or established toxic wasteland would like to receive it for the next million years or so that it will be hot. That’s if we’re lucky and there is no earthquake, tsunami, flood, or other natural disaster to disturb the Toshiba 4S nest of death.

While Seward awaits the next miracle promising cheap energy, it would probably be OK to replace a few incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents, replace the worn weather stripping around the doors and windows, throw some insulation in the attic, and generally try to conserve energy, just in case we’re stuck with reality.

Nuclear-free zone, anyone? See you at the workshop.

Cheerio!
Carol Griswold
Seward

What are Mayor Corbridge, Vice Mayor Dunham, and Councilmembers Valdetta and Smith thinking? At the March 14^th council meeting, the City Finance Director pointed out that there are unexpected revenues of over $200,000 in sales tax and we have a budget surplus. Nevertheless, these councilmembers decided to vote to maintain the increase of the tax cap from $500.00 to $1,000.00. (they had voted to increase in January then brought back for reconsideration in February, then for a few weeks left people thinking they would overturn the increase then back to keeping it) This week, in the Seward Phoenix Log, Councilmember Valdetta said the city doesn’t have any revenue. Look at your March 25^th City Council Packet, Mr. Valdatta, and you will see $19+ million in reserves.

I didn’t know that a vote of the mayor is “provisional” (definition: temporary), and thank you Seward Phoenix Log for pointing that out. How do you have a provisional (temporary) vote? Either this tax cap is in place by 2009 or it isn’t. Please explain what “It came up naked as you will. It was without anything that would keep the balance budgeted.” What does that mean? He then goes on to state that the City would have to “roll back the budget”. Since revenues from this won’t even be collected until 2009 and there is a revenue surplus, why will the 2008 budget have to be rolled back? He also wants to have future work sessions and hopes the council can figure out a way of both reducing the tax cap while finding alternative REVENUE INCREASES. Does this mean the Kenai Peninsula Borough should wait on ordering the $100,000 software they need to accommodate this tax cap increase until these gentlemen finally figure out what they want? That $100,000 cost also comes right out of the taxpayers pocket. Why can’t we reduce the budget rather than increase it? If it is decided to not put the tax increase on fuel, food or rent, isn’t that going to make this a very complicated endeavor for merchants for a gain of about $70,000.00 per year.

Oh, by the way, the city is seeking to purchase a new $63,000 service truck at the March 25^th meeting. This vehicle was not a budgeted expenditure for the 2008 budget.

Thank you to Councilmembers Jean Bardarson, Linda Amberg and Betsy Keller for voting against the sales tax cap increase to $1,000.00. It is unfortunate their side did not prevail. This sales tax increase will have a negative effect on the middle class of Seward who are already struggling with exceptionally high fuel oil costs, electric bills, and other utility increases. These, along with the increase in the cost of food, due to high transportation costs, are truly having a negative effect on the Seward population. The City of Seward needs to learn to live within its means, and increasing the sales tax cap to $1,000.00 is a direct increase to many fuel oil bills. It is amazing that Mayor Corbridge, Vice Mayor Dunham, Councilmember Valdetta and Councilmember Smith did not seem to think that there would be negative effects from this increase on the community. It is their job to ensure the City government is not a burden to the taxpayer. They should be looking at ways to reduce the budget, not increase it. They are not carrying out their responsibility. It was especially astounding that this increase passed when the City said there is over $200,000 in unexpected sales tax revenue in 2007, that the PERS costs were not as much as had been budgeted for, etc. Thank you also to Kevin Clark who was very eloquent at the end of the council meeting. He is correct in that we should be looking for ways to retain families here, not drive them out with the high cost of taxes along with the high costs of everything else.

The thousands of pounds of frozen fish sitting silently in the Alaska SeaLife Center freezers waiting to be pulled, thawed and fed to the animals might not seem to have much to say. However, the stories that can be told by the hardworking men and women who catch the fish and provide them for feeding Center critters shouldn’t be forgotten when the day is done, the last feeding bucket is rinsed, and the last fish scales have been scrubbed off the sink. 

A serious and potentially calamitous fire raged aboard the 276’ foot factory pollock trawler F/T Pacific Glacier Tuesday, February 26. Pacific Glacier is one of the several factory vessels whose owners donate pollock to the Alaska SeaLife Center to feed seals and sea lions. As recently as last April, the crew of the F/T Pacific Glacier harvested over 3,100 pounds of pollock in the Center’s preferred size, and staff reports using just over half of the 50-lb boxes of frosty, goggle-eyed fish so far. Donations from the Pacific Glacier and 16 other vessels have been arranged by At-Sea Processors, a consortium of fishermen and companies. From 1999 to 2007, a total of 223,071 lbs of frozen-at-sea whole pollock has been contributed to the SeaLife Center for animal diets.  

The fiery misadventure aboard should remind us all that while commercial fishing provides a wealth of resources, it is dangerous and toilsome – fortunately this was without loss of human life.

At the risk of being labeled an “extreme environmentalist” I feel I need to reply to Mrs, Andersons letter. I like and repect Mrs. Anderson and freely note her great service to Seward over the years. We all owe her our thanks for many of the good things we enjoy about our town.

Unfortunately she is wrong about some of the issues she is clearly upset about. While Seward has been an economic go getter since the begining of it’s history it has not spent as much time worrying about whether projects are good for the health of the land, air, water, wildlife and people of the area. Money has been the focus and other areas have suffered.

The railroad coal facility, located upwind of the town, is a good example. Time after time backers of this facility have spoken about how good it is for the local economy at council meetings. They did not mention the almost constant flow of dust blowing off the huge coal pile into town and into peoples houses. If you breath in enough microscopic particles of this dust into your lungs it will shorten your life. It is called black lung disease. Many people in town will tell you about finding it in their homes for many years. The Seward coal facility in it’s present condition would not be allowed to operate in most other States and many other countries. The Alaska Department of Enivornmental Conservation agrees.

As to the ship repair facility, after over 20 years of using substandard menthods of cleaning ship hulls, the site has become very polluted. Ship paint contains what are known as antifouling agents. These toxins are placed in the paint to retard the growth of mussels, barnales, etc.. When a hull is sandblasted for cleaning and/or repair the sandblast material picks up paticles of the paint. The sandblast waste should have been collected and disposed of properly. It was not. Today the yard has significant levels of toxins in the soil. These eventually find their way into the Bay. This type of facility would not be allowed in most parts of The US and the world as it exists today. To this day the facility lacks numerous permits required for this type of operation. The Environmental Protection Agency and ADEC agree.

As to the harbor dredging I feel there might be areas of concern there as well. The 1964 earthquake took out several large fuel storage tanks. In those days there was no such thing as oil spill clean up. The material was simply buried. Some of this buried material was recently unearthed during the highway reconstruction work. It was quite near the harbor dredging project and some suspect some of the material being hauled away to other “clean” city property and elsewhere may be contaminated. It would probably not be wise to contaminate another area with this material would it? The jury is still out on this one.

Seward could have a fine rail facility, shipyard and harbor. But they need to be managed properly. This would include insisting that they meet all existing State and federal environmental laws. Considering many make their livelihood from our pristine environment and it’s wildlife it would make economic sense to keep it healthy. In the past the city management has clearly not insisted on this bottomline requirement. That is not an extreme environmental position that is simply citizens asking that the law protect them as it was designed to do and as they have a right to expect. The only shame is that so many citizens have had to fight for it because the city leaders did not.

Tim Sczawinski

Note: This is a speech I gave to the Rotary Club of Seward this week about the Seward City News. I generally don’t like to contribute personally so that no one feels that I am for or against their ideas but it seemed that I ought to share this text.

“Good afternoon, my name is Paul Tougas

and I am here to talk to you about the Seward City News

For over a year now it has been my pleasure to manage the SCN

It is a very exciting time now for this social organization

What is the SCN

The SCN is not a newspaper

The SCN is a community communication system of distributed responsibility

It is based on the concept of citizen journalism, where by the members of our community decide what is news and what gets covered

Read More>

Here is a table illustrating the increase in sales tax revenues to the city and borough during the month of January over the past 5 yrs. It is time to rally for a reduction in sales tax charges to Seward Citizens on home heating and food costs. Please petition your City Council members on this issue.

Rhonda A. Hubbard

Kudos to the City Council (especially Council member Amberg) for nixing Mayor Clark Corbridge’s 800 number. We don’t need to spend tax dollars on an 800 number for a mayor to keep in touch with the community. If he really wants to keep in touch, he should live here.

It seems that maybe, just maybe the City Charter needs a modification. I live outside the city limits, but I work in town. I pay sales tax here, I pay utility costs here, I serve on one of the boards, my income is spent in the city at the local businesses, and I am effected by what our Esteemed Council decides to do…. We had Mr. Blatchford, he was not around much as he lived outside of town but remained qualified due to an address in Seward. Looks like Mr. Corbridge is doing the same. I don’t want to call CLARK on the phone in ANCHORAGE to discuss city business, I want to pass him on the street in our fine community and ask him if he has a minute. Seward needs a mayor that is HERE, IN THE COMMUNITY.

Here is what I am suggesting…Alter the city charter to allow all of us in the Seward Bowl (out to Primrose) to be elegible to run for any seat on the council and the boards and commissions that us “out of towners” are inelegible for. If you don’t like that idea go ahead and annex us. An absentee mayor is not what Seward needs.

Let me pose this question- Why was a fellow from out this way not allowed to run when he has the same elegibility as Corbridge or Blatchford? Where is our Mayor’s primary residence? Probably where he works. Seems like it was the same with the other mayor….. Is this selective elegibility? Can someone please educate me?

Extreme environmental factions are restricting economic development and employment opportunities here on the Kenai Peninsula and throughout Alaska.

These groups have a propensity for placing roadblocks on business and development opportunities. In Seward, environmental investigation and impact statement requirements, have been aimed at business from the Alaska Railroad, Seward Ships, The Providence Hospital, Spring Creek Prison, The Fishing Industry, Tourist based businesses, City, State, Federal Agencies and the list goes on.

Do these people realize that Alaska has a resource based economy which has been managed well enough to finances our state government as well as provide every living resident with a Permanent Fund Dividend: which we now consider an entitlement.

Now the world is coming to an end because of global warming? This planet has seen many changes, just during my ¾ of a century life, and it will continue to change throughout time.

An ‘Economic Impact Department’ should be formed so that a community can counter some of the ridiculous environmental challenges and to determine how much of our tax payer dollars, time and energy should be directed towards issues beyond our ability to change.

Currently the contractor that is providing the dredging in the small boat harbor for the T-dock and bullhead repairs is being constantly harassed by one of the environmental activists to the point it is becoming a safety issue for the people preforming the work.

At a recent Council meeting allegations were made implying Seward Ship’s supposed pollution is responsible for incidents of cancer in the community. Contact with the State of Alaska Cancer Registry indicates that Seward has the same rate of cancer among our population as the rest of the state. There is no higher cancer rate here, but someone can imply there is even though that person is not a scientist.

Having been involved in marine related businesses for a good part of my life, I know ship building and marine trades are a difficult business. I am thankful that the community is prosing these industries because they attract business to the community: workers, passengers and tradesmen who buy local goods, stay in local hotels and generate payroll for people of the community who would not consider themselves marine related employees.

The coal dust issue with the railroad keeps the dock manager chasing problems that are climate focused complaints that are beyond our scope to resolve. After the 1964 earthquake, Seward had to really fight for the railroad to be restored and the dock to be replaced. After 44 years we are seeing more year round use of the railroad dock and the many improvements it now encompasses. The terminal building has been made available for many beneficial community events.

We as pro development people need to work together to ensure that the balance of power does not shift too far into the hands of these extreme environmental groups. Otherwise none of us will be allowed to live here; it will all be one big park open to no one.

Sincerely,

Margaret Anderson

Mayor Corbridge announced his grand plans for Seward after the election in October. He stated in the Seward Phoenix Log article, “We’re looking for positive change that makes Seward a good place to live.” I guess that change hasn’t happened yet, since our Mr. Corbridge spends the majority of his time working and living in Anchorage.

His absence has been noted at the Alaska Municipal League, the Mayor’s Conference, the 49′ers Ball, and more local events. It is rumored that he will be present to greet Governor Palin when she comes to Seward to commemorate the Centennial of the Iditarod. Otherwise, (Vice) Mayor Dunham has been doing the honors of representing Seward as our ceremonial head.

Mr. Corbridge also said, “Nobody who supported me has asked for anything. They know me. They trust me. They trust my management style.” When you ask for nothing, it’s not hard to meet that expectation. As citizens of this community we have the right to have expectations of of elected officials. I think the very LEAST that can be expected is that the Mayor be accessible and participate in council meetings, work sessions and local events. If our statewide presence isn’t maintained, we cannot expect funding for those projects that require participation by our local officials.

Today, it was announced by the City Clerk that the Mayor can be reached in Anchorage via an 800#, paid for by the citizens of Seward.

The Alaska Railroad cruise ship terminal was full of families that rocked the New Year in! Thank you all for attending this kick-off fund raiser for the Seward Community Library Museum project. It was standing room only as the band Chill Factor with John Tracy played. Chill Factor started their set off with the Alaska Flag song, recognizing the 49^th year of Alaska statehood, and then rocked all evening long!

How do you put on an event like the 49ers’ Ball? It takes months of planning, and lots of volunteers! Volunteers did come to help, the numbers were about 20 for three days of decorating, helping during the event and the clean up! Thank you all! Seward is an awesome place to live!

Here are a few pictures from the ball, do you have some to share? Post some here too!

Happy New Year Seward!

NYE Planning Committee

PS-the 49ers’ Ball logo glasses are available at the Library if you didn’t get one last night!

December 13, 2007

To the City Council, City Manager Phillip Oates, Assistant City Manager Kirsten Vesel, City Clerk Jean Lewis, and staff,

Due to natural gas shortages, Chugach Electric cut Seward off twice in December, forcing the city to run its diesel generators. I understand that this can happen any time that Chugach runs low, excluding Spring Creek Correctional Facility, the largest electricity user.

Given the likelihood of further shortages, it would be smart for every electric consumer, including the prison, City, schools, businesses, churches, home owners, and renters to take immediate steps to conserve energy and increase efficiencies.

The previous City Council turned down a tremendous opportunity to hire a well-known and respected company, Siemens Building Technologies, to do a full energy audit of city buildings that would result in instant and long-term energy savings.

While the individual home and business owner can do a lot to reduce energy use, it is up to our governments at the local, state, and federal level to lead the way.

I urge the City Council to address this issue at its next meeting to authorize a professional audit of all city buildings and implement the recommendations.

Some recommendations for easy ways to save are included below.

Sincerely,
Carol Griswold

Energy Saving Ideas
There are many simple ways to conserve energy and increase efficiencies to reduce the overall electric load and personal electric and fuel bills.

Read More>

If you have trouble watching this video…
Seward’s ho-hum internet connection speed and random clogs in the world wide web may prevent this video from playing, beginning to end, the first time play ( > ) is pressed. The video player may pause ( || ) on a dumfounded seagull in gale force winds. Or the player may pause, play, pause, play, pause, play, pause, play, pause for hours.

Here’s what to do.

Click the big ( > ) in the middle of the screen, then press pause ( || ). Grab a cup of hot cocoa and a peanut butter and banana sandwich. When you get back press play ( > ) and enjoy the show.

While you were away (spiking your hot cocoa I saw) Seward City News was busy downloading Seward Weather for your enjoyment.

On Monday at the Alaska Energy Authority’s Technical Conference in Anchorage Randy Hobbs and Marc Marlow of Tiqun Energy proposed five new power plants for Southcentral Alaska. Three natural gas-fired and two coal-fired. One of the coal-fired power plants is once again proposed for Seward. After a bit of research we found out that they never withdrew their Preliminary Permit Application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (PPA with FERC) for the plant they proposed in 2006. Mr.Hobbs and Mr. Marlow both stated unequivocally that if Seward opposes this proposal that they will withdraw it. I urged them to do so, as did Councilman Willard Dunham. If you feel strongly about this proposal I urge you to contact the developers directly and share your feelings on coal combustion in our valley with them. I am also urging the city council to take action and draft a resolution or a specific ordinance banning coal fired power plants within the city limits. Until Tiqun Energy formally withdraws this preliminary permit application the threat will remain. Thank you for all of your efforts on behalf of our environment.

Randy Hobbs, President

Tiqun Energy

(907)229-8176

hobbsalaska@msn.com

Marc Marlow

Vice President

Tiqun Energy

(907)229-8176

marlow@ak.net

Randy Kaer

Tiqun Energy

Chief Financial Officer

(907)382-0027

randykaer@gmail.com

Our mission as a community in regards to this situation should be to investigate why this industrial operation has failed. We need to develop synergies between local municipalities and governmental regulatory agencies such as the EPA and DEC so that they no longer work in organizational isolation and we need to inform the populace about which measures they can take to prevent further destruction of their environment.

We should seek not to place blame, only to understand responsibility. In our efforts to understand why this structure has failed we must look to find what agencies have been tasked with the responsibility of preventing such pollution. Our research indicates that The United Stated Coast Guard is a Primary customer of SSDD and that Seward is actually the home base of the USCG… an organization designed to prevent environmental degradation and ensure compliance with federal laws.

To serve the public, the Coast Guard has five fundamental roles:

Maritime Safety
Maritime Security
Maritime Mobility
National Defense
Protection of Natural Resources

We have found that the Coast Guard has failed on four of their assigned fundamental responsibilities:

Maritime Safety

“As the lead U.S. representative to the International Maritime Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, we are the driving force behind the implementation of international safety and pollution standards.”

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I would like to express my appreciation for the wonderful work of the Boys and Girls Club of Seward.

Thank you for providing an affordable alternative for after school care. But there is much, much more to the Boys and Girls Club than this.

Thank you for the quality time I get to spend with my daughter each evening, you have helped her work on her homework so our home life is less stressful. You have also helped teach her the value of completing her requirements in life. Not just the idea of completing her homework, but helping her to see the value of hard work, commitment and reliability.

Thank you for recognizing the strengths in my daughter and drawing on those strengths as well as rewarding behaviors. In these past 4 years you have helped teach her how to be a strong woman in the future, allowing her opinions and yet learning when and where it is appropriate to express those opinions

Thank you for the manners and respect you encourage in my daughter. By your modeling and techniques, my daughter has learned that everyone has the right to be valued and respected regardless of age, gender or culture.

Thank you for teaching my daughter digital photography and computer graphics skills. Her photos have increased her self esteem and given her an exciting hobby.

Thank you for showing my daughter that helping others is a vital part of life. Empathy is a difficult skill for some children to grasp but I believe that the Boys and Girls Club has encouraged my daughter to see others perspectives.

The saying goes “It takes a village to raise a child.” I don’t want nor expect others to raise my daughter but what it means to me is that there is support for my child as she grows up.

I value that support and appreciate the love that is shown my daughter. Will she be a better person for what she has learned at the Boys and Girls Club of Seward? We will see what the teen years bring but her foundation is pretty strong so I can only hope.

Thank you Boys and Girls club of Seward for giving me just a little bit more hope..