Railroad: Winter passengers up
The Alaska Railroad is enjoying a nice surge in winter ridership, much of it related to growth in winter tourism, Anchorage Daily News writer Annie Zak reported. The railroad is operating passenger service for 102 days this winter, in contrast with 66 days during the winter of 2012-2013. Winter ridership increased by a third from 2015-2016 to 2016-2017, and tour operators are reporting increasing business. Many winter visitors are coming from China, and the U.S.-China trade war doesn’t seem to be affecting demand. Winter visitors from the Lower 48 states are also up.

Sears to close its Fairbanks store
Sears will close its store in Fairbanks in February, parent company Sears Holdings announced. The company’s Anchorage store closed in early 2018. Both are part of a national corporate restructuring. The Fairbanks store was listed on Fairbanks North Star Borough property tax rolls as having a combined building and property value of $13.6 million. Retail in Fairbanks saw another loss last year when Sam’s Club closed, also as part of corporate changes, but then Costco announced it will open a store in Fairbanks.

Ketchikan gives teachers a raise
Ketchikan’s school board ratified a new agreement with teachers represented by the Ketchikan Education Association, following a long period of negotiations. The new compact grants 2 percent pay raises each year through 2020 and cuts employee health insurance premiums by half, from $235 per month to $110. Employees’ deductables would remain the same. Estimates are the new agreement will require an additional $1.17 million from the Ketchikan Gateway Borough for the current FY 2019 fiscal year. About $681,000 of that is for a one-time retro- active payment for the pay increase. Borough officials are now considering where to get the money.