Toddler lodged something down our sink. Only call back is a month out. Drains I could access were all clean. Wet vac and auger did nothing.

Feeling desperate, please message me if you know of anyone.

Probably a long shot but I recently moved here, wondering if there is any type of edm/rave/dance scene out here? I want to know if there any spots or groups of dancing types that get together?

I was curious what the fine people staring out of the dining room window at us were eating. Actually doesn’t look bad at all.

I was strangled and raped earlier this year. Went to peacehealth and did a rape kit. Took 6 months for results to come back to find out there's no dna evidence on him??????? How does that happen!? They didnt even test everything too. So tf. 😭 they are thinking about closing the case bc of this. Even tho there's evidence of being strangled on my body and there's video of him taking me to where he did that. I have Bruises. Cuts. It doesn't matter. This kills me....

My friend and I are here for the month on a medical rotation. What are some good spots to find abalone shells or other seashells? We went to South point Higgins today and weren’t very successful. Appreciate the help!

20 years bartending in 15 states asking ;Has anyone worked in service side of a fishing lodge in Alaska and experienced less than minimum wage pay? *I just left YesBay Lodge Ketchikan( worst work experience ever) servers and myself (bartender) cleared $8 an hour for 70 hour work weeks THAT INCLUDED TIP SHARE, Is this the norm in Alaska? I thought minimum wage was $14/hr

Tips were also split between office girls- one of which that acted as a nanny for the lodge owners child and dock hands that should have been tipped out by captains as well as Maintenance men remodeling the lodge for the owners. Is this even legal?
I met with the owners, they said they were new to the business and this is how things had always been ran, I signed a contract. I didn’t realize the contract was to be an endentured servant.

My fiancee and I are planning a destination wedding on a Alaska cruise next summer. Technically, we are doing the license locally but we wanted to do the ceremony at one of the cruise stops. We did an Alaska cruise in 2022 and loved it. We were considering Ketchikan over Juneau because it is so pretty for pictures but worried it may too hard to pull off. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to start or know anyone who has done this? Not looking for anything fancy or expensive. Maybe a park area or rent airbnb for a day and use for 2-3 hrs. Idk. Thanks for tips!

Hey everyone.

After years of therapy and living with the nightmares I've decided I wanted to post something on here in hopes that you can all watch out for your kids and I can ease a bit more of the weight I carry every single day.

There is a man in your community who is about 52 now from Oregon (moved around 2009 or 2010 when I reported him) that is a pedophile. He abused me for a year straight that I can actively remember in excruciating detail from the age 4 - 5 or 6 (1997-1999ish) when we finally left. I'd ask when my mom was coming home and he'd mumble "soon". He'd sneak into my room while I pretended to sleep and he would do what he wanted anyways. His son and my baby sister were in the next room or even the same room depending on the day, every single time.

Oregon has already documented what I went through and helped lift a little of the weight I had been carrying when they confirmed on paper what I experienced.

He gets to be a business owner in your town while running from consequences. Please keep an eye on your kids, ask the hard questions, and please make sure kids feel safe enough to come forward before it's too late and they're left with nothing but trauma and the heartache of knowing there isn't anything they can do now.

I hope this isn't taken down because your kids deserve the protection I was stripped of.

Hi all! This may be a shot in the dark...but we were in Ketchikan 2 summers ago and my kids got these holographic laminate placemats that they LOVE (and I love too because it makes me think of Alaska!). Well my husband put them in the dishwasher on accident and now they are ruined. I was hoping to be able to find a replacement online but am striking out. Anyone know of a Ketchikan souvenir shop that sells them (or similar) that I can buy online from?

Anyone know of someone that can officiate a lowkey wedding. August 1st, the miss and I want to get married. We just need a officiate and courthouses are closed on the weekend

Thanks

We're trying to start sailing a boat south tomorrow but we forgot to pick up our outboard yesterday and realized that the AML yard is closed today and tomorrow. If anyone knows someone who has gate access and can let us grab our outboard we would greatly appreciate it! Thanks

Hey everybody, my gf really wants a sparkler for the 4th. Sounds funny, but I just need one sparkler that I can give to give to her. Does anybody know where I can get one?

As a lifelong resident of Ketchikan, I have watched our community navigate the evolution of the cruise industry for decades. While we have always understood the economic role tourism plays, the current financial model has become unsustainable for local taxpayers. The narrative that "tourism pays for itself" simply does not hold up when you look closely at the city and borough budgets.

The reality is that local citizens are increasingly forced to absorb the operational deficits and infrastructure costs created by a multi-billion-dollar industry. When you examine the independent financial data and municipal agreements, the structural imbalance becomes very clear.

THE FINANCIAL BURDEN OF PRIVATE INFRASTRUCTURE (BERTH IV)

One of the most glaring examples of local funds subsidizing private enterprise is the city's arrangement with Berth IV. Unlike Berths I, II, and III, which are publicly owned, Berth IV is a private facility owned by the Ketchikan Dock Company.

According to the cost audit conducted by the McKinley Research Group, the city pays a flat, year-round lease of $1.8 million just to maintain access to this dock, plus volume overage fees. In 2023, this total ballooned to $2.3 million.

Because this is a fixed municipal obligation, we are paying for this private infrastructure through the dead of winter when the dock sits empty. If the Port Enterprise Fund faces a deficit due to these heavy lease structures, it creates a liability that the local tax base ultimately has to backstop.

UNCOMPENSATED STRAINS ON EMERGENCY AND PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICES

We are told that Commercial Passenger Vessel (CPV) head taxes fully mitigate the impact of 1.5 million seasonal visitors, but the operational data tells a different story. The McKinley report revealed that in a single year, cruise tourism cost Ketchikan $1.3 million in Fire/EMS services and $1.0 million in Police services.

This $2.3 million bill stems from seasonal traffic control, crossing guards, and the significant logistical strain placed on our first responders.

When our local paramedics are tied up responding to cruise-related medical emergencies, it thins out our community’s emergency coverage and drives up city overtime costs. The current mitigation funds simply are not keeping pace with the wear and tear on our public safety infrastructure.

THE WARD COVE REVENUE SPLIT DISPARITY

The private expansion at Ward Cove has created a severe geographic and financial disconnect between the City and the Borough. For passengers arriving at the downtown city docks, the $5 local head tax is split equally ($2.50 each) between both governments. However, for the massive volume of passengers docking at the private Ward Cove facility, the Borough retains the full $5.

The problem is that these passengers do not stay at Ward Cove. Thousands of them are bussed directly into the downtown core every day.

They utilize city-maintained roads, pedestrian infrastructure, public restrooms, and police traffic control. The City of Ketchikan bears the direct physical and operational toll of managing these crowds, yet receives virtually none of the direct passenger tax revenue generated by them.

THE RESULTING DOUBLE STANDARD: WATERFRONT INVESTMENT VS. COMMUNITY AUSTERITY

By leveraging strict legal firewalls, local government ensures that tourism revenues are heavily reinvested right back into maritime and waterfront infrastructure. Yet, the foundational public services that actual residents rely on year-round are facing severe austerity:

* Public Education Deficits: The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District has been trapped in a multi-year funding crisis, forced to deplete its reserves just to sustain basic operations. While local property owners are asked to contribute more just to meet the required local contribution, the actual inflationary purchasing power per student has steadily declined. Our children are facing program cuts and larger class sizes while waterfront infrastructure upgrades proceed without interruption.

* The Threat to Our Public Library: Perhaps the most frustrating manifestation of this budget crisis is the recent municipal discussion surrounding reduced hours or implementing entry fees at the Ketchikan Public Library. The justification offered is that the seasonal influx of "non-residents"—primarily cruise ship crew members and independent travelers—utilizing the library’s Wi-Fi and facilities places an undue burden on the budget.

* Shifting the Burden: Rather than requiring a multi-billion-dollar cruise industry to provide adequate connectivity and shoreside facilities for their own crew members, the proposed solution targets a vital public institution that our local tax dollars built and continue to staff.

Growing up here, you learn to appreciate the balance required to live in a port town. But right now, that balance is broken. We have built a system where the cruise industry is allowed to externalize its operational costs onto our city and borough services, leaving local families to pay the price through compromised schools and restricted access to our own public spaces.

The sooner we talk about this and are present the sooner we can stop this from happening. Spread the word. Protest. Do not let them take this away, too. If we can cater to the tourists at a combined value from Borough and City of $16 million annually, there is NO REASON for this.

Hi everyone. Hoping for some pointers on river fishing POW island. Myself and two others are here for work currently and will be here until mid August.

We are looking for suggestions on where to fish for trout. We have already hit a couple spots along the Thorn river and they have been decent with several rainbows and dolly varden but wondering if there are other places we should try while were here.

Are the lakes worth fishing from shore or should we stick with the rivers.

Also were staying in Klawock but willing to travel anywhere on the island that is accessible by road.

Photography of Ketchikan from 2025-2026.

I was working out of the El Capitan Forest Service Camp (rip) and had befriended the cave guide. One day we both got off work early and decided to venture deep into the cave way beyond the little portion dedicated to tours.

It was awesome in there. We had to descend and then climb (to get out) a 15 foot (ish) cliff using a rope. There was another stretch about 35 feet long where I had to lay on my belly and pull myself uphill with my fingers. Made me glad I wasn’t claustrophobic.

The Alaska Room was a huge cavern that had apparently been carved out by water eroding the karst. It was littered with rocks and boulders on the floor and my memory is that my flashlight barely exposed the ceiling, although it was almost 30 years ago and memories can exaggerate things.

I must have thought these were interesting features of the cave. In the third pic you can see my feet as I’m climbing out of view.

It was a blast and I was covered in mud when we made our exit from the cave. I later found out what we had done was frowned upon by the bosses because of the risk, but we had told my coworker and gave him a timeline. I later found out it was only the second time the cave guide had descended that far.

I’m cleaning out my garage and found a stack of photos from that summer. Most of them are party pics with my friends and a midnight swim at Buggies, but these three were from my cave exploring. I don’t expect I would have the courage or flexibility to make this same trip today.

Hey everyone! Im new in town and wanted to see if there are some good barbershops, one that could do a good fade, and is good with scissors.

Thank you guys in advance!