VOL. 20, NO. 14 KODIAK. ALASKA, APRIL 23, 1960 PRICE TEN CENTS
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Mayor Urges Citizen Support of
Clean Up, Paint Up, Fix Up Campaign
Mayor Merrill Coon today pro
claimed 23 April to 1 May Clean
Up-Paint UpFix Up time in Ko
dak and urged every citizen, child
and adult, to participate in the
program.
Mayor Coon pointed out that the
aims of the campaign aid every
one: prevention of fire, safeguard
ing health, promotion of safety,
building the ideals of good citizen
ship, and improvement of prop
erty.
“In asking the cooperation of
every citizen, I remind you lhat
this is the time to take stock of
our community appearance. If
everyone—homeowner, retailer, in
dustrialist, and government—puts
forth an all-out effort, our com
inanity will retain and increase its
reputation as 2 progressive city—
one that is a safe, beautiful and
healthy place in which to live.
ror yourself, your family and
yopr city. Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix
Up,” the Mayor concluded.
All residents of the area are
urged to collect old lumber, car
parts, accumulated debris, and
leave by five side of the road. The
material will be picked up by city
trucks Monday and Tuesday, April
25 and 26, and Monday and Tues
day, May 2 and 3.
The clean up campaign received
the full endorsement of the City
Sanitarian. Richard Pace. "The
Lt. L. Holtms
Rotary Spelter
".An appeal for funds in the an
nual Salvation Army drive was
made at the Rotary luncheon
Tuesday at the 49 Room by Lt. L.
Holmes, who stated the goal for
the Kodiak area is $2,000.
Lt. Holmes touched on the work
•f his group wherever there is
need for it, whether it is with
young people, as in firm me r camp
work, #r with older people in the
Golden Agers program. He
the Salvation Army steps in when
ever there is an emergency or a
need. As one project fdr Alaska,
Lt. Holmes said a Booth Memorial
Horme for unwed mothers will be
built in Anchorage.
“Compassion in action“ was his
description of Salvation Army
work being carried on in 86 coun
tries of the world today. Part of
the money raised will be used for
broad activities and a portion w ill
remain in the community, he said,
te he administered by a local com
mittee. The Kodiak committee
consists of Emil Knudsen, chair
man; Morris Burnham, treasurer;
Roland Vickery. welfare secretary:
and DeWitt Field. Bill Poland rind
Douglas Preston.
Rotary members also saw a
movie of Navy highlights.
Guests were Del Valentine, Rear
Adm. Caldwell, Capt. Strickler,
Capt. Nathan Lincoln. I.es Gruen
ing and Jack Healey, student mom
ber.
BJORN JOHNSON NAMED
JUNEAU LB—Bjorn Gil John
son has been named Alaska Com
missioner of Labor and sworn into
the $15,000 a year post in Gov
Egan’a cabinet.
Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Cam
paign is a specific means to a
healthier environment, Pace stat
ed.
Clean Up Week is an excellent
time to cheek for common health
hazards. Make certain your gar
bage and trash cans are covered,
that woodpiles are away from the
house, and all trash piles removed
so that no food or shelter is pro
vided for rats and mice.”
Speaker Says $23
Million Needed By
State’s ESC Fund
PETERSBURG (*) —Twenty
three million dollars is needed to
restore Alaska’s employment se
curity fund to a financial level
considered adequate by authorities
of the Bureau of Employment
Security, E. C. Boulden, Ketchikan
accountant, says.
He addressed the board of di
rectors of the AH-Alaska Chamber
of Commerce at its spring meeting.
The amount needed, he said, is
an eight per cent reserve of annual
taxable wages.
Boulden pointed out that this
includes repaying the 1 million
dollar indebtedness owed by the
Alaska fund. • ,
B (widen s report' covered five
major points in ESC legislation—
the wage base, tax rate, eligibility
of claimants, benefit formula and
duration of benefits.
He said one fault of the ESC
program is that it fails to con
sider seasonality when arriving at
the annual average wage.
At another point, he said the
present experience rating formula
adopted in Senate Bill 149 is based
on a payroll decline and elimi
nates the incentive for control of
benefit costs.
“No employer has a reason to
challenge a claimant who files
an unjustified claim as the bene
fits are not charged directly to the
employer's account,” he said.
Boulden also criticized another
point in the ESC law which allows
a worker to work a few weeks
over a period of two quarters and
then draw benefits up to 26 weeks.
There are many short-term part
time workers, who are not family
wage earners but who are draw
ing benefits through this loophole
in the law, he said.
NG En Night Patrol
After several months of class
room instruction, members of Co.
D, 3d BO, 297 Infantry, local unit
of the National Guard, engaged in
a practice night combat patrol re
cently.
Lt. Jacob Lestenkof is the local
Anil's commander. The unit is
seeking more men. All men be
tween the ages of 17 through .’.5
years are invited to join. Anyone
interested is asked to call SFC
Anderson at phone 6913 or call at
the Armory for details.
State Chamber
Favors Bond Vote
To Finance Ferries
The board of directors of the
All Alaska Chamber of Commerce
went on record Saturday in favor
of submitting a bond proposal for
financing ferries and road im
provements to the voters.
The directors passed a resolu
tion urging Gov. Egan to sign the
bill Which would authorize putting
the 23 million dollar bond issue
on the ballot. If approved by the
voters, the money would be used
to finance a ferry system in south
east Alaska and the Kodiak
Homer : un.
Other resolutions passed at the
meeting were:
Urged the State Department to
work towards prohibiting high
seas fishing for salmon as a con
servation measure.
Requested re - examination of
tariffs on sea food products to
protect American producers.
A fulltime office in Juneau
with a manager and a tentative
$50,000 budget were approved by
the directors before the close of
the two-day spring meeting in
Petersburg.
A drive to raise funds will be
held the next 90 days from mem
berships over the state. The office
is expected to be open in June,
President R. L. Jemberg said.
These quotas were set: Anchor
age area, $20,000; Fairbanks, $15,
000; Southeastern Alaska, $10,000;
and the rest of the state, $5,000.
Ketchikan City Manager Robert
Sharp, in discussing the ferry
systems, stated that if the state
votes general obligation bonds to
finance them and they are set up
that by 1970 the bonds should be
paid off and the state have $1,
930,000 in the treasury.
The northern ferry system,
Sharp said, would be served by a
60-car, 260-passenger vessel mak
ing five round trips a week from
Homer to Kodiak. Rates would
range from $9 a passenger from
Homer to Kodiak, to $102 for a
truck over 40 feet long. The route
would be financially feasible with
as little as a 37.7 per cent load,
he said.
159 Bills Signed
JUNEAU UP> — Gov. William
Egan signed into law a bill re
vamping the embryo State Public
Service Commission, one of four
he approved Thursday, raising to
159 the total number of new laws
enacted r,o far.
Still left for action are some 30
others passed by the Legisature.
Egan said he hoped to complete
action on them by Saturday.
GARDEN CLUB TO MEET
There will be a meeting of the
Kodiak Garden Club Wednesday
evening, April 27, at the home of
Mrs. Alice Given. Subjects to be
discussed are ‘Peonies and Their
Culture’ and ‘Easy Plants ior
Dried \ "run envents.’
Guests and prospective mem
bers are invited to attend the
meeting which will open at 7:30
p.m.
Krafts’ Appeal Rise In Assessments
The board of equalization met
Wednesday for the purpose of re
viewing assessments.
First to appear were Walt and
Emil Kraft and Wilton White.
They opposed the rise in assess
ments on property of the company
and various rental properties
throughout the City, which they
said, were made without consider
ation of the buildings or the econ
omy of the town.
As an instance, it was pointed
out, an assessment on a piece of
land was raised from $5,344 in
1959 to $23,927 this year. A 100%
valuation wOuld make this prop
erty worth $23,150, it was stated.
Suggested valuation was given rs
$7,710.
The ar-pealing tax’Tvr-°,rs oointed
out that other buildings were
taxed without giving *mv consider
ation for their condition. A poor
job of cement or cement in a stage
of deterioration were all treated
on the basis of a first class job.
Discuss!on on concrete work in
the city brought out the fact that
cement work here is considerably
higher than elsewhere. It was
pointed out by the City Manager
that assessments are based on a
number of factors, the cost of re
placement being one of them.
In remarks made earlier in the
evening Mayor Coon stated: “We
have enjoyed prosperity for the
past fifteen years and it was about
time we paid- foi* *
• • - ' 1
Walt Kraft, in his appeal statat
“No consideration has been give*
in determining valuations to the
economy of the town. This, I thipk,
should be considered.” Emil Kraft
voiced a similar view, , when he
said that land values are not I*
line with the economy of Kodiak..
The board of equalization i*
eluded Mayor Coon, and Council'
men Fields, Frost, Brechan and
Worth.
Decision on the appeal was held
over until a later date, in order 1»
give the Council members a
chance to view property ini dispute:
Appeals were heard the follow
in? evening from Wilton White
ar.d Bob Acheson.
rei3rs, Roebuck
Pijyin Office Here
'•'re Roebuck & Co. plan to
a -en r* catalogue office in Kodiak,
- .'0'-':r.>T t0 word received thi*
• « f-om Anchorage from "Wil
7'a n Nugent, area supervisor.
Location has not been a»
noun red as yet, but tentative date
set for onening is sometime, to
June of this year. ,
» -- \
BABY PICTURES
Photographs of the king and
queen in the VFW Auxiliary baby;
show will be found on page Id
of this issue of the Mirror. .
Photographs were taken by G. C.
Ameigh.
. . J
* '*
Senior Class Play44 January Thaw”
Opens Tonight at the HS Gymnasium
The sound of hammering and
the smell of fresh paint have been
escaping all this past week from
behind drawn curtains on stage
at the high school gym, as mem
bers of the senior class re-created
the interior of the old colonial
house which is the setting of "Jan
uary Thaw.” This heartwarming
comedy, taken from the novel by
Bellamy Partridge, will be pre
sented by the senior class at 8
o’clock tonight and tomorrow-night
at the high school.
An extremely amusing situation
is presented, in which a foxy old
New tEnglander and his family
wage war on a city family and the
newfangled innovations they have
introduced into his mansion in his
absence. Both sides have their de
serters, and the solution is not
only humorous but gratifying.
“January Thaw” has been very
successful as a high school play,
as evidenced by the following re
Candidates File
For State Seats
The number of candidates for
Alaska’s August 9th primary con
tinued to increase as political
hopefuls moved to meet the May 2
filing deadline.
From the Kodiak area, Sen. Al
Owen has filed for a Senate seat.
Present incumbent Pete Deveau
has filed for a seat in the House
of Representatives. It is not known
if Rep. Henry Haag will again run
vealing comments by directors:
“Best attended, most talked of,
best received play this season”—
California; “Unquestionably the,
most enthusiastic reception fronr
the townspeople that, we have ever
had for a high school play. The
fresh, unexpected humor kept the
audience chucking.” — Massachu
setts.
W ■ I I ■ '■ ' ■' ' — ' —..
ALL TRAILERS SUBJECT
TO LICENSE—POLICE
All two and four wheeled trail
ers drawn over the public streets
and highways of the State of
Alaska are subject to be licensed,,
according to Jim Hussey, State
Police officer.
Authorization for licensing is
under the Motor Vehicle Act,
Chapter 134, ACLA 1959, Sec. 4.
This includes but is not limited to
boat trailers, house trailers, etc.
_ _
for office. One woman, Eudora
Preston, has filed on the Demo
cratie ticket for a seat in the
House. Several others are known
to be planning to file.
Irene Ryan, Anchorage Demo
crat, filed for reelection to the
State Senate, seeking a four ^ear
term. Thomas Stewart, .Juneau
Democrat, filed for reelection to
the Senate in his district, Juneao
Yakutat area. Others included
Charles Franr, Port Moller Demo
crat, for reelection to Aleutian
Islands District 14; Marvin L. Wil
liams, Egegik Democrat, "or Dis
♦. let 15 JJouse seat which was held
in the first Legislature by Repub
lican Jay Hammond of Naknek.