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Week In Review By THOMAS HARGROVE: Journalist Jill Carroll released in Baghdad after 82 days

Freelance reporter Jill Carroll, 28, was freed Thursday by captors who held her in a small house in Baghdad for 82 days while demanding the release of all female prisoners in Iraq. "It is important people know I was not harmed," Carroll said in a television interview shortly after her release. Carroll was working for the Christian Science Monitor when she was abducted Jan. 7 in western Baghdad while preparing to interview a politician. Her translator was killed in the attack.

American Muslim gets 30 years for Bush assassination plot

American Muslim Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was given a 30-year prison sentence Wednesday following a federal trial in Alexandria, Va., for plotting to assassinate President Bush. Saudi Arabian security authorities arrested him in 2003 while he was taking exams at the Islamic University of Medina. Abu Ali claimed his confession was made under torture. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee said 30 years was sufficient since Abu Ali's actions "did not result in one single actual victim."

Former DeLay aide admits conspiracy in bribery case

Tony Rudy, former assistant chief of staff to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy Friday and vowed to assist with the FBI investigation into bribery and lobbying fraud centered on disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has already admitted to bribing federal officials. Rudy admitted he received payments from Abramoff five years ago and then helped to block an Internet gambling bill Abramoff wanted stopped. Rudy faces up to five years in prison, but U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle said his sentence will depend on how much assistance he gives the investigation.

Bush names new White House chief

President Bush, bowing to Republican calls for staff changes at the White House after a politically difficult year, on Tuesday appointed Office of Management and Budget chief Joshua Bolten to replace Andrew Card as White House chief of staff. The president called Bolten "a creative policy thinker" and "a man of candor and humor and directness who's comfortable with the responsibility and knows how to lead." Card stood impassively next to Bush as he made the announcement. He promised to stay on for a few weeks until Bolten settles into the new post.

Senate begins sensitive immigration debate, sparking protests

The Senate Wednesday began contentious debate on an immigration bill that divided Republicans over President Bush's call for a "guest worker" program for illegal aliens. Senate Republican leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said Bush's plan "goes too far" and issued his own plan even as GOP moderates and Democrats applauded it. Tens of thousands of Hispanics, including truant public-school students, took to the streets throughout California and parts of Arizona to object to proposed tougher criminalization of illegal immigration.

Bush pushes for immigration reform at conference

President Bush urged Congress to pass "a comprehensive bill" to reform immigration Friday while attending a North American summit meeting in Cancun, with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The leaders promised to improve trade throughout the continent and to address common threats like avian flu. "You can't achieve a standard-of-living increase for your people unless you have a prosperous neighborhood," Bush said. - More...
Sunday - April 02, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Service to our country; It's now your generation's challenge By Mike Harpold- Sunday Move the Capital or save a life? By David Hull - Sunday Support bond with YES vote on April 11 By Mike Dooley- Sunday Ketchikan, an adventure of a lifetime By Vicki O'Brien - Sunday Re: Time for a draft By Ken Lewis - Sunday DEAD LEFTIES By David G. Hanger - Sunday Troubled Youth By Ericka Heard-Rabon - Sunday Alternate energy source needed By Karl Themann - Sunday Support bond with YES vote on April 11 By Zig Ziegler - Saturday AM Time Right to Move Legislature? By Mike Moyer - Friday PM Democrat majority in 06? By Mike Isaac - Friday PM RE: Tom Proebsting/Katrina By Neil Gray - Friday PM RE: Some Just Don't Get It By Robert McKinstry - Friday PM Child abuse: Weak reply By A.M. Johnson - Friday PM Regarding the Moose lodge permit, and tax collections... By Ty Rettke - Friday PM RE: MARIJUANA LAWS By David G. Hanger - Friday PM Ketchikan has a reputation for being very friendly By Marie L. Monyak - Friday PM Not to worry... By Charlotte Tanner - Friday PM War on Drugs/War on Terrorism. By Virginia E. Atkinson - Friday PM Some just don't get it. By A.M. Johnson - Wednesday Denial of the Moose Lodge permit By Charlanne Heath - Wednesday Balance by Rep. Ralph Samuels - Wednesday Open Letter to Senator Elton By A.M. Johnson - Wednesday Financial abuse? By Carol Deaton - Wednesday Katrina Victims Face Insurance Nightmare By Tom Proebsting - Wednesday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan April 11, 2006 Special Election Port of Ketchikan Improvements Project - Detailed Project Description; Ask A Question, Get an Answer; Special Election Information; and much more... April 13, 2006 at 5:30 - Democratic caucus for those interested in developing a local platform and organizing the local democratic party - IBEW building on Stedman, contact Micheal Hyre 617-0238 for information. March Calendar Arts This Week Today's Forecast Ketchikan Weather Data Current AK Weather Map City Police Report 03/31/06 AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements March 2006 Click on the date to read the stories published on that day. S M T W T F S 26  27 28 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 29 30 31   Front Page Archives

Washington Calling: Miserable IRS audits ... elderly scams ... Snow to go? By LANCE GAY - The lower your income, the greater the odds you will be summoned to one of those miserable face-to-face IRS audits.

Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse has found that those reporting less than $25,000 in income were six times more likely to be called into the IRS for a personal audit last year than those reporting income of more than $200,000.

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Caution, seniors: Unscrupulous con artists are after your retirement nest eggs, the North American Securities Administrators Association says. One popular scheme involves inviting seniors to free dinners where unlicensed "senior specialists" persuade the elderly to put their assets into annuities. The annuities are legitimate, but the elderly aren't told about the steep commissions the specialists are pocketing. Note: Anyone giving investment advice has to be licensed with state regulators.

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Topping next-to-go lists in the Bush administration: Treasury Secretary John Snow, White House counselor Dan Bartlett and press secretary Scott McClellan. But don't expect Bush to heed calls from congressional Democrats, who want Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's head for the failures in Iraq . Rummy enjoys his Pentagon office and is in for the duration of this presidency.

P.S. Only three members of Bush's original Cabinet still have their jobs: Rumsfeld, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.

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Quotable: "Keeping serious pork reform out of this lobbying reform bill was like removing alcohol from the agenda of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting." - Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., explaining why he voted against a feel-good lobbying-reform bill that didn't stop lawmakers from slipping special-interest projects into spending bills.

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The National Institute of Standards and Technology is trying to figure out a way of archiving the Internet so social historians two centuries from now can figure out what we were all doing back in 2006. But the agency acknowledges it's not going to be easy: Every 15 minutes, the Internet pumps out as much digital information as is contained in the Library of Congress.

At a recent conference, historians complained that artifacts like the world's first Web page and the first commercial e-mail are already lost in the ethernet.

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The Social Security Administration is thinking about replacing the old paper card that older generations of workers filed away in a top dresser drawer. But it's undecided on plans to recall the 300 million paper cards already distributed to Social Security beneficiaries.

Investigators for the Government Accountability Office charge the agency with foot-dragging on the new security measures required by Congress for such cards. But the agency protests that counterfeit protections were added to cards issued after 1983.

There are millions of older cards issued before 1983 and never recalled because they weren't originally designed to be identity cards.

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Americans spent a record $210 billion remodeling their homes last year, and there's no sign the construction of new additions is abating. The National Association of Home Builders says repair work from last year's hurricanes accounts for part of the increase, but other reasons include home additions, and landlords renovating rental properties.

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An old and very bitter debate over fluoride added to city water supplies is springing back to life with a National Academy of Sciences report that says most cities have sufficient natural fluoride in their waters and don't need the added chemicals.

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California last year replaced Texas as the state with the highest rate of death-penalty sentences.

The Capital Case Data Project says judges in California handed down 19 death sentences, compared with 14 in Texas. There were 24 death sentences in Texas in 2004.

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Countertops are the surfaces in homes kept most frequently clean, the soap industry says. More than half of homeowners say countertops are the surfaces most frequently cleaned in the house during the week. Only 10 percent reported floors, and only 6 percent reported toilets. - More...
Sunday - April 02, 2006