Ketchikan

@WEST VALLEY over Chugiak 35-12 PALMER over @Soldotna 27-7 @COLONY over Skyview 57-6 @HOUSTON over Valdez 26-0 WASILLA over @Bartlett 21-14 SITKA over @Ketchikan 30-8 @EIELSON over Homer 26-6 @MONROE over Barrow 16-0 JUNEAU over @Thunder Mt. 45-7

A search is under way in Port Protection, about 50 miles north of Klawock, for a 13-year-old girl who did not return from a hike Sunday evening according to Alaska State Troopers. A Monday AST dispatch says Makayla McRoberts was supposed to return from the hike, on a trail near the end of a boardwalk on Port Protection Road, by 5 p.m. Sunday. She was reported missing to Ketchikan troopers at about 9:30 p.m. The trail area was being searched Monday by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, as well as local volunteers and volunteer rescue squads from Ketchikan and Klawock.

A Ketchikan city council member and former mayor was arrested for child pornography last Friday. Jack Shay is charged with 10 counts of possessing child pornography, he was arraigned on Saturday morning. According to Deputy Police Chief Josh Dossett a local computer repair shop alerted authorities to the images on Shay's computer.     "The tech hooked up the printer, both Mr. Shay's, printer to the laptop computer and when he turned on the machine it started printing out images of child porn," Dossett said.

A group of Southeast Alaska voters say it's no longer practical for them to actively continue their effort to recall state Rep. Kyle Johansen (R-Ketchikan). Dick Coose, a Ketchikan resident, said recall supporters met Thursday night and decided that it's really too late to unseat Johansen during his current term in office. Coose said that by the time they get the ball rolling, Johansen would likely be back in Juneau for the legislative session. The Alaska Division of Elections earlier rejected their complaints that Johansen was incompetent or neglectful of his duties when he left the house majority caucus after a dispute.

A group of Southeast Alaska voters, dealt a recent setback in their efforts to recall state Rep. Kyle Johansen (R-Ketchikan), will soon gather to discuss their next move. The Alaska Division of Alections rejected their complaints, that Johansen was incompetent or neglectful of his duties when he left the house majority caucus after a dispute. The state and its attorneys concluded that the recall application failed to outline a sound legal argument. Dick Coose, of Ketchikan, who's helping organize the recall effort, said the setback is dissapointing, and that he's unsure if others are willing to appeal the decision.

The Alaska Redistricting Board is giving Alaskans the opportunity to weigh in on its draft plans. Monday afternoon in Anchorage, the Board held the first of many public hearings. Each person who signed up to testify was given five minutes to go before the Board and give their opinion of the two statewide redistricting plan options the Board revealed on April 13. The Board Chairman says the only difference between the two plans is the Senate District pairings. One would pair the House districts in Ketchikan and Kodiak under the Senate District.

The Alaska Redistricting Board has released its draft redistricting plans and is asking for public input before it adopts a final plan. The process of dividing the state into political boundaries starts with new population numbers from the federal 2010 census. "The state went up 83,000 people between the 2000 and 2010 census, so the ideal size of the districts increased by about 2,500," said Board Chairman John Torgerson. Less than 30 days after census numbers were released, the Alaska Redistricting Board has two plan options that Torgerson says are essentially the same, except for the Senate district pairings.

The Inside Passage’s waterways will be a little busier starting this summer. Disney Cruise Line said Thursday it will make an initial sailing to Southeast Alaska in May, then offer 14 seven-night cruises from Seattle in 2012. Beginning May 28 of next year, the Disney Wonder will visit Tracy Arm, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan, as well as Victoria, British Columbia. The company plans to work with local tour operators to offer excursion packages at ports of call, including glacier tours in Juneau, salmon fishing in Ketchikan and gold panning in Skagway.

Alaska State Troopers arrested a Ketchikan man Monday night for allegedly stabbing a man to death last weekend. Devin Rossiter, 18, is behind bars on a charge of second-degree murder. Troopers initially responded to a reported medical emergency at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Vallenar View Trailer Park in Ketchikan, which resulted in the death of local resident 45-year-old Nick Stachelrodt. Officials say an investigation indicated that Stachelrodt was stabbed by Rossiter, who was taken into custody at about 9 p.m. Monday.

Ketchikan Republicans are planning a petition to recall their district’s only state House member, Rep. Kyle Johansen. Johansen was re-elected and again named House speaker last fall. Shortly afterward, however, he walked out of the House Majority Caucus along with Anchorage Rep. Charisse Millett. Majority members say the two left after a dispute over committee assignments. Johansen promised his constituents he would return to the majority caucus, but his colleagues decided last Sunday they would not let him or Millett return.