Dave Kiffer - Alaskan Poet, Historian, Humorist

  Charcoal Point : From One R to the Three Rs Pre-Prohibition roadhouse became school For children of Ketchikan's north suburbs There have been several long-time schools in Ketchikan. Ketchikan High School has operated for more than a century in two locations, Main School Hill and Fourth Avenue in the West End. White Cliff Elementary was open from 1927 to 2003 before it closed. It is now the Ketchikan Gateway Borough office building. Both Schoenbar Middle School and Houghtaling Elementary schools have been open since the early 1960s when Ketchikan was in rapid expansion after the opening of the Ketchikan Pulp Company Pulp Mill. But one of the shortest-lived schools seems to have had enough notoriety that some 90 years after it closed, it lives on in the community memory. From the beginning, Charcoal Point School was notorious. It was located outside the northern Ketchikan city limits, which was Washington Street in the 1910s. A...

  SOUTHEAST LOG 5-22-21 No Chilkoot eulachon run? HAINES - The Chilkoot River Eulachon run has yet to arrive and officials think whatever does return could be the lowest on record. Researchers say that cold water could be the culprit and it's possible the Chilkoot run returned to the Chilkat River instead. THE CHILKAT VALLEY NEWS Local mail goes to Juneau first PETERSBURG - Local mail is taking a little longer to transit the community because it is now being processed in Juneau. USPS officials say local postmarking equipment is not operational and may not be replaced. THE PETERSBURG PILOT NCL donates to towns SKAGWAY - Norwegian Cruise Lines is donating $2 million to Skagway as part of its "humanitarian" donations to Alaskan communities hit by the loss of tourism in 2020-21. Juneau, Hoonah and Ketchikan are also receiving $2 million each and Seward and Hoonah are receiving $1 million. THE SKAGWAY NEWS Two stores ro...

  Smile . For the next 40 years. As another school year winds down, students will soon take part in that honored tradition: The receiving of the school yearbook. Granted, it's not as big a deal as prom or graduation or even that last walk-through the door into a glorious summer of "no more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks". (Shout out to Alice Cooper!) To be honest, at the time, it seems that the only people who really care about the yearbook are the students who work on it and the always harried advisor that "pushes them like a rented mule" to make the deadlines. But if you jump ahead a couple of decades, the yearbooks suddenly take on a very significant role in the mythology of our high school experience. In the same way that living in a small town guarantees that you will make the make the newspaper at least a few times (birth, marriage, death) in your life, the yearbook turns o...

  SOUTHEAST LOG 5-15-21 King derby to return WRANGELL - After a three-year hiatus because of low king salmon returns, the Chamber of Commerce has announced there will be a king salmon derby this summer. The shortened derby will run from June 15-30. THE WRANGELL SENTINEL Graduations to be invitation only CRAIG - High school graduations on Prince of Wales Island will be by invitation only. The dates are Klawock (May 19), Hollis (May 21) Craig (May 21) Thorne Bay (May 25) and Naukati (May 28). THE PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND POST First Buckwheat, now Dyea Dave! SKAGWAY - Residents are remembering "Dyea Dave" McClelland who died last month at 75. "Dyea Dave" was known for tooling about the community in his red and white 1960 Metropolitan mini car while wearing a top hat and red and black checkered shirt. THE SKAGWAY NEWS Font named after river PRINCE RUPERT - Microsoft is considering five new fonts to becom...

  MY UNLIVED LIFE There it was, A sudden sheen Washing over me, Oil on the sea. Only oil doesn't always Calm the waters, Does it? So, there I was In a place I had thought Far, far behind. Just a place, A fugitive beat, That probably No longer exists. But it did, once And now I felt Something Very long dead. Something Reminding me We can regret The undone. When I chose A direction I would not Choose, today.

  Published 5-8-21       By Dave Kiffer For the Daily News At a Borough Assembly meeting many years ago, Len Laurance began by saying that he had many hats. Then he proceeded to don three different hats as he spoke to the Assembly on different topics each relating to a different interest of his. One was as a member of the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau board, one was a member of the Historic Ketchikan board and finally one was as a member of the Inter-Island Ferry board. For good measure as also weighed in for one of the companies that he was marketing at the time. He put on a fourth hat - with the company logo - for that one. At the time, one could have wondered if there was any facet of the community that Laurance wasn't speaking for. After more than 60 years in the public eye in Ketchikan, it's a fair question. Laurance , who died in April after a long illness in Bellingham, where he and his wife Judy had moved for health reasons in 2019, al...

  SOUTHEAST LOG 5-8-21 Tax increase possible PETERSBURG - The borough assembly is pondering a tax increase in FY 2022. Officials say that a decrease in the assessed property values and state funding could fuel the increase to balance the budget. THE PETERSBURG PILOT 2nd Amendment resolution pulled HAINES - A resolution to make the borough a "second amendment sanctuary" has been pulled by the Borough Assembly. The measure was to be introduced at a recent meeting but was withdrawn after receiving significant public opposition. THE CHILKAT VALLEY NEWS Trident won't open facility WRANGELL - Trident Seafoods has notified the borough that its local plant will not reopen this summer. Officials say the projected chum salmon return for the region is just too low this summer. THE WRANGELL SENTINEL Tribe disappointed by herring decision SITKA - The Sitka Tribe of Alaska says it is disappointed that a state judge did not agree with its concerns over the management of the...

  IN YOUR LIFETIME”   (copyright 2011, by Dave Kiffer) My father said to me As we climbed through The torn brush after The loggers had left   I asked the question As we ascended above Our boat waiting in Our favorite harbor   We were chasing a wounded buck slowly through the brush debris   My father swearing At our tardiness And at my inability To kill with one shot   Where do you think I work in the winter He said, grumpily Wiping his head   And your brother And your uncle And your grandfather and you, someday   Later, I used crayons to draw grown back Spruce and Hemlock blood green on pulp-paper

  SONGS IN THE KEY OF ME (copyright 2012, by Dave Kiffer)   Granted, it was a tag My clever wife attached To another musician One who’s talent paled Before his self promotion   Still, I smiled, reveling As all musicians do In the running down Of other musicians Particularly those who   Have received praise Enough to tighten The aching envy gland In our Apollic breasts Like a small hard bird   Cocking its head As another bird pulls A slightly larger worm From the ground to The strains of Gonoud   Sure, I can read that Score, I can wear it Proudly, a neck strap In this collaborative art In which we all   Collaborate in pounding Down the tall poppies A flood of paradiddles Drowning their reed Soaked, practice room egos   Yes, that is the key of This relentless song Of zero sum choruses Of solos after solos Songs in the key of me

  SOUTHEAST LOG 5-1-21 COVID travel restrictions in place PRINCE RUPERT - The Province is cracking down on people who are traveling outside their regions. Officials say that out of region hotel and ferry bookings are to be refused and that highway checkpoints may be set up near the regional borders. People violating the bans face a $575 fine.  THE PRINCE RUPERT NORTHERN VIEW Landslide neighborhood back open HAINES - The Beach Road neighborhood is being opened to the public for the first time since a deadly landslide destroyed several houses in the area on December 2. The borough assembly also received a preliminary report that indicated a low to moderate likelihood of additional landslides in the area. THE CHILKAT VALLEY NEWS Snow melt washes out highway TELEGRAPH CREEK - Heavy snow melt has caused a washout of Highway 51 last week. Officials say they aren't sure when the only road into the community will be reopened. THE TERRACE STANDARD Robbing Peter to pa...

  SPEAKING ILL   (copyright 2014, by Dave Kiffer)       You wouldn’t have been so crass   To have patted the empty seat   And beckoned me to sit, alas   We were more subtle in our treat       We had to find the right moments   To sidle together and share info   That I was always first to sense   And you were first to want to know       Such dirt was always so slyly groomed   The subjects of our gossip clearly doomed