After 36 years, Metlakatla OKs observance of daylight saving time

The Metlakatla Indian Community Council authorized the time change last month for the town of about 1,500 people on Annette Island, the Ketchikan Daily News reported.

Residents approved the change that aligns the local time with the state's time zone in a special election in December. The state merged its four time zones into one in 1983, but Metlakatla Mayor Karl Cook said the community opted out.

"We decided as a community not to follow that and just keep our time the same," Cook said. "We didn't fall back, we didn't spring forward."

In recent years, the community's time difference to nearby cities has become a nuisance to some residents.

"For some of the people, it became a problem with keeping track of what time it was here, what time it was in Ketchikan and stuff like that," Cook said. "Some people thought it's more convenient to follow the state's ferry system and airplane flights."

Cook was opposed to the change.

“I don’t think there’s much help springing forward and falling back — I don’t think those things help anything,” Cook said. “Those kinds of things are more of a pain than they are a help.”