Ruth Eddy, KRBD - Ketchikan

A Tlingit totem pole has returned to Prince of Wales Island after a more than 5,000-mile odyssey to Hollywood, Honolulu and back home.

While Mary Maley was kayaking from Ketchikan to Petersburg something unexpected happened, a bear attacked her kayak and then something equally surprising happened. More than 3 million people watched the video of it on YouTube. Download Audio

Sea otters have the thickest fur of any mammal, which makes it a valuable commodity. But there are strict regulations surrounding how to market that fur. Coastal Alaska Natives have the right to sell just the pelts, but only to each other. Non-Natives cannot legally buy pelts, but they can purchase sea otter handicraft. On a recent rainy evening in Hydaburg, local Natives gathered for a sea otter sewing class to expand their marketing potential. Download Audio

Metlakatla, the Annett Island town of about 1,400 has recently seen more visitors through the community’s tourism department. This year may be the first that tourism pumps some noteworthy money into the Tsimshian community, in Alaska’s only Native reserve. Download Audio

Ketchikan’s summer tourism season is well underway. Record low rainfall in May and warmer-than-usual temperatures had a lot OF tourists smiling. But in a place known for rain, is sunshine bad for business?

Just before 1:00 p.m. Friday, five days and fifty-five minutes after leaving Victoria, British Columbia, the three-man crew of the Elsie Piddock sailed across the finish line in Ketchikan. The premise of the race was simple: no motors, first boat to Alaska wins.

Ketchikan High School’s roof has become part of a NASA research experiment that could help scientists eventually predict earthquakes. Download Audio