National: Bush: hunt for bin Laden continues by Bill Straub - President Bush broke from his custom of ignoring Osama bin Laden in public on Thursday, offering assurance that the United States remains "on a constant hunt" for the Saudi terrorist and that the administration is still vigilant in warding off potential threats. - More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

National: Feds urged to think through anti-bioterror measures by Lee Bowman - Public health officials need to be more forthcoming about the terror threat and the medical risks from preventive measures before attempting another national pre-emptive strike like smallpox vaccinations, an advisory committee said Thursday.

At the end of 2002, the government launched a voluntary smallpox vaccination program with a goal of inoculating up to 500,000 civilian doctors, nurses and other health-care workers. Once protected, these professionals could in turn vaccinate and care for the rest of the population if smallpox were used as a bioterrorism weapon. - More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

'Ketchikan Waterfront' Front Page Photo by Carl Thompson

National: Administration works to keep Social Security reform kicking by Margaret Talev - The Bush administration moved Wednesday to shore up prospects of passing some version of Social Security reform this year - perhaps with revisions to the president's controversial proposal to create private investment accounts - in the face of sinking public support and a jittery Republican majority on Capitol Hill.

President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Treasury Secretary John Snow announced they will spend the next two months crisscrossing the country to sell Americans on the need for immediate changes to the benefits program, which some experts say won't be able to meet its full obligations to retirees and the disabled starting in 2042 unless it is restructured. - More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

Alaska: Adventurers trying round-trip crossing of Bering Strait by Joel Gay - They'll need special clothes, special sleds, special food and navigation equipment, but most of all Troy Henkels and his Belgian partner, Dixie Dansercoer, will need luck to get across the Bering Strait next month. - More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

Alaska: Design picked for new Alaska Capitol by Sean Cockerham - The California architectural firm Morphosis, whose design concept featured an egg-shaped dome, has won the competition to create a new state Capitol in Juneau.

But a new Capitol is far from a reality. Legislators have said they don't want to pay for it, and the public, particularly in Juneau, condemned all four finalists' design visions. - More....
Thursday - March 03, 2005

'Doggone Driver' Front Page Photo by Carl Thompson

Ketchikan: UAS Ketchikan Gearing Up For Women's Paths To Success Conference By Sharon Lint - From all accounts, "I Am Woman, Watch Me Soar" should be the motto for the "Women's Path To Success Conference" scheduled this coming weekend. Presented by the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS Ketchikan), the event will be held at the Robertson Building beginning on Friday night at 6:30 pm and run throughout the day on Saturday. Adequate parking can be found behind the building or across the street.

Wendy Gierard, coordinator of the event and Public Information Specialist at UAS Ketchikan says the women's conference this year is all about success. "This year we decided to focus more on success and how women obtain success, however they define that to be . . . [whether] in your family life, in your career, in your relationships with other people. . ." - More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

Alaska: Alaska's 'Most Wanted' Absconders Now On The Web - The Alaska Department of Corrections has posted a new web site to enlist the public's assistance in locating probationers or parolees who have stopped reporting to a probation/parole officer in violation of parole/probation conditions. - More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

Alaska: Public Comment Period Underway for Alaska's Sustainable Commercial Salmon Fishery Re-assessment and Certification - The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is moving forward with the Marine Stewardship Council's (MSC) five-year re-assessment and certification program of the Alaska commercial salmon fisheries. - More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters New Teacher Evaluation Would Be Fair by Roger Sampson - Thursday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Feb- March 2005 Click on the date for stories and photos published on that day... S M T W T F S     01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 01 02       Today's Front Page Front Page Archives

Preston MacDougall: Chemical Eye on Hockey Sticks and Global Warming - If you haven't heard, the NHL season has been cancelled this year.

I've played hockey on indoor rinks, outdoor rinks, flooded backyards, frozen rivers, frozen marshes, tennis courts, drive-ways and cul de sacs. I've also played on the smooth concrete under the rug of indoor soccer arenas. A pair of ice skates isn't a given either. Before the advent of roller-blades, sneakers worked just fine for ball hockey during the off-season. - More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

Bob Ciminel: Global Warming: Is it really such a bad idea? - The "Kyoto Protocol" (Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) went into effect in February. Fortunately, the United States did not ratify, despite the best efforts of Al Gore and his ilk (I will not refer to them as "tree huggers" because the true supporters of the Kyoto Protocol are more anti-technology than they are pro-environment.). ... More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

James Derk: Tech questions and answers - I have many e-mails and a guilty conscience, so let's get right to the answers.

Q: I heard Yahoo was using cookies to track what people do on the Web, not only on their site but other sites. Is that true or a myth?.... More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

Michael Reagan: Making Heroes out of Felons - There's a case here in California that involves the death of a 13-year-old boy who was shot by a Los Angeles police officer when he smashed his stolen car into a police cruiser. - More...
Thursday - March 03, 2005

Jay Ambrose: The big lie about Social Security - A tax tweak here and a tax tweak there and pretty soon Social Security will be fixed, say any number of economists and pundits who would have done us all a favor if they had completed their homework and understood, for beginners, that one of their basic assumptions is a lie.

The fact is, Social Security is a crisis waiting to happen in about 13 unlucky years, because that's when the revenue from the payroll tax that pays for it will no longer be enough to do the job. Well, chuckle the complacent commentators, that is the point we will start taking money from the trust fund. Tap these people on the shoulder, somebody. Get their attention, and then repeat to them several times: There is no trust fund, there is no trust fund, there is no trust fund. - More...