Ketchikan: President of Republic of Singapore Visits Ketchikan By MARIE L. MONYAK - People from all over the world and from all walks of life find Ketchikan an attractive place to visit as was demonstrated Saturday morning when Ketchikan received an unannounced visit by the President of the Republic of Singapore who arrived aboard the Princess Cruise Line ship the Coral Princess.

Ketchikan Is Visited By President of Republic of Singapore President SR Nathan as he exited the Horse Drawn Trolley tour. Front Page Photo by Marie L. Monyak

President Sellapan Rama Nathan and his wife Urmila Nathan were accompanied by several unidentified persons. The Office of the President of the Republic of Singapore's website reports that Mr. SR Nathan and his wife have a son, daughter and three grandchildren. It appeared that those unidentified persons accompanying the President may likely have been family members along with several security guards.

President Nathan is currently serving his second term as the sixth President of the Republic of Singapore since his re-election in September 2005. Known as a city-state, Singapore became an independent Republic in 1965 and has since achieved enormous economic growth as Southeast Asia's most important seaport, as a financial center and a manufacturing hub which provides her people with one of the world's highest standards of living. It should be noted that Singaporeans enjoy a long life expectancy (males: 81 years and females: 84 years) and has one of the world's lowest infant mortality rates of only 4 deaths per 1000 births. - More...
Monday - June 19, 2006

Top Stories U.S. News U.S. Politics Alaska Ketchikan

National: Democrats, divided on Iraq, turn to domestic politics By MARGARET TALEV - Unable to agree on a strategy for addressing the Iraq war, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are trying to change the subject, retreating to the domestic front with a focus on pocketbook issues for the middle- and working-class voters.

They pledged if voters return their party to the majority in the November midterm elections, they will: - Raise the federal minimum wage, from $5.15 per hour to $7.25.

- Cut in half the interest rates on student loans and make college tuition tax-deductible.

- Instruct the federal government to negotiate lower prescription drug costs with pharmaceutical companies.

- Pass legislation that could discourage oil companies from raising prices.

- Prevent privatization of Social Security.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, along with their respective whips, Rep. Steny Hoyer and Sen. Dick Durbin, made their pitch at a news conference Friday at the Capitol, shortly before the House voted 256-153 for a resolution opposing any timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq on the grounds it would endanger national security interests.

"The American people want a new direction," said Durbin, D-Ill. "The Democrats are telling them: We're ready for this election. We have the message, we have the candidates, and we're bringing that message to the American people." - More...
Monday - June 19, 2006

National: Stars and strife on Capitol Hill By LISA HOFFMAN - Morning broke with fog so thick the Army helicopter pilot couldn't see the tips of his Huey's rotors. It was Jan. 6, 1968, a very bad day for U.S. soldiers near Chu Lai in South Vietnam.

But neither the perilous weather nor fierce enemy fire kept Maj. Patrick Henry Brady from accomplishing what nine other medical evacuation helicopters had tried but failed to do: Fly six times into the breach to rescue 51 severely injured troops, many trapped under attack or scattered in a minefield.

Brady went through three UH-1H helos on those missions, including one he managed to fly even after part of its controls had been shot away. By nightfall, the three aircraft bore more than 400 holes from shrapnel and weapons fire. For his valor and "intrepidity in action" that day, Brady would later receive the Medal of Honor.

Now, 38 years later, Brady, 69 and a retired Army major general, is engaged in another all-consuming mission, this one to save the American flag from those who would abuse it. Ask him why, and he tells you his motivation is the same as that which fueled him in Vietnam - serving and protecting America, its freedoms and ideals.

"The flag is the physical embodiment of those values," said Brady, who, for the past decade, has been chairman of the Citizens Flag Alliance, a coalition of more than 140 veterans, fraternal and civic groups dedicated to amending the Constitution to allow Congress to outlaw burning or any other physical desecration of Old Glory. - More...
Monday - June 19, 2006

Fish Factor: HALIBUT, COD & SEAFOOD TRENDS By MAGGIE WALL - It used to be that halibut prices would drop each summer when other fisheries got underway. But no longer - prices for halibut started off in early March well over three dollars a pound in most ports - and there they've remained.

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute reports halibut prices remain at or above $3.50 per pound for most ports.

Landings are also up around the state. Halibut landings in the four weeks between May 8 and June 7 exceeded the previous three-year average by 1.3 million pounds or roughly 13 percent.

This suggests that demand for halibut continues to grow-with prices holding strong despite the significant increase in supply.

Homer leads all other ports for halibut landings, followed by Seward and Kodiak which are neck-and-neck at the number 2 and number 3 spots. Sitka and Juneau round out the top five ports.

As of June 15, Homer saw 4.4 million pounds of halibut cross its dock. Seward had 3.8 million pounds delivered, followed by Kodiak with 3.75 million pounds. - More...
Monday - June 19, 2006

Alaska: Close calls with grizzlies alarm residents By ALEX deMARBAN - Seward, Alaska, residents accustomed to marauding black bears are learning to live with another uninvited guest that's spooking hikers, tromping through neighborhoods and showing up where it never used to.

Grizzlies - the black bear's larger, more powerful cousin - are increasingly wandering into town and other nearby communities along the Seward Highway, putting people and pets at risk, they say.

Some residents blame hunting restrictions that helped the bruins flourish elsewhere on the Kenai Peninsula and expand into new territory. Other possible factors: more people living in remote areas and getting into the wilderness.

Whatever the reason, reports of brown bear sightings are rising between Seward and Moose Pass, 31 miles up the highway, wildlife officials say.

Especially last year, said Jeff Selinger, Kenai-area biologist for the Department of Fish and Game in Soldotna. Residents killed at least three brown bears. A wildlife officer took the life of a fourth nuisance bear. Usually none are killed in the area.

There were more than that, said Daniel Unrein, a 35-year Seward resident. People killed five within a mile of his house, he said.

"People don't say everything, because if they do, Fish and Game may get 'em in trouble," he said. "The bears are just getting way too many near here." - More...
Monday - JUne 19, 2006

Foggy Morning Fishing Front Page Photo By Jodi Muzzana

National: New GOP push for offshore oil - state royalties By ZACHARY COILE - Just weeks after a bipartisan vote to preserve the 25-year-old ban on drilling off most of the nation's coasts, House Republicans have a new strategy: offer states a huge share of billions of dollars in royalties if they allow offshore drilling.

Critics say the measure is an attempt to bribe states to allow oil and gas production in areas that have been off limits. The plan also would force governors in states such as California and Florida, which oppose offshore drilling, to petition the federal government to continue the moratorium on drilling off their coasts.

The debate over royalties is the latest flash point in what is emerging as one of the biggest environmental battles in Congress this year. Drilling proponents point to the need for greater offshore production to address rising energy costs; opponents cite the risks of oil spills to the environment and to coastal communities that depend on tourism. - More...
Monday - JUne 19, 2006

Washington Calling: Last chemical bomb and more Abramoff fallout By LANCE GAY - For all the ink spilled over the buildup of America's chemical weapons arsenal after World War II and again during the Reagan administration, there was hardly any notice June 9 when the Army destroyed the last remaining chemical bomb at Oregon's Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.

The Army once had more than 13,500 chemical bombs. But the chemical bomb era officially passed into the history books with the destruction of the last 220-pound bomb containing liquid sarin. The Pentagon says the facility will now turn to deal with destruction of rockets, artillery projectiles, spray tanks and bulk containers once used in the chemical weapons program. - More...
Monday - JUne 19, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Fireworks on the night of July 3rd? By Tom LeCompte - Monday Structure Fire and Firefighter Training Exercise By Chief Scott R. Davis - Monday Cut fuel use and curb population By John Seager - Monday The flip side of the gas contract; Are we looking at both sides now?  By Sen. Kim Elton - Monday Ketchikan Baseball By Neil Gray - Monday Ketchikan becomes a large Petri dish in the summer.... By Robert Glenn - Monday "Sometimes nothing is really something" By Wayne "Buzz" Allen - Monday Happy Father's Day By Bob Ciminel - Sunday New Agenda for the Democrats - Ideas, not Policies By Tom Proebsting - Sunday Have A Happy, Healthy Tourist Season By Marie L. Monyak - Saturday Why?Why?Why? By Joan Hurilman - Friday Historic Ketchikan Article By Dave Kiffer - Friday Open Letter to the Ketchikan School Board By Shelley Stallings - Thursday Peter York By Gigi Pilcher - Thursday Baseball & Ketchikan's Volunteers By Travis Sharp - Thursday Visiting Ketchikan By Sherry Freeman - Thursday Thou Shalt not Disagree By Alan Lidstone - Thursday Environmentalists Messed Up By Robert McRoberts - Thursday Eminent Domain-Give Me Back My Property, Dude! By Tom Proebsting - Thursday Avian Flu and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness By Jim Hill - Wednesday am School Board members are interested By Tom LeCompte - Wednesday am Please support Mr. Eklund By Connor Pihl - Wednesday am Global Warming By Marvin Seibert - Wednesday am More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan May Calendar Arts This Week Today's Forecast Ketchikan Weather Data Current AK Weather Map City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements June 2006 Click on the date to read the stories published on that day. S M T W T F S 28 29 30 31 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   Front Page Archives

Bill Steigerwald: Dan Senor: Staying the course in Iraq - Before Dan Senor joined Fox News as an analyst, he spent the first 15 months of the Iraq war in Baghdad as a senior adviser and chief spokesman for Paul Bremer, the administrator of the Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority. Senor, who recently married NBC weekend "Today Show" co-anchor Campbell Brown, has worked with the Bush White House and remains a staunch supporter of the Iraq war. I talked to him Thursday by telephone from Washington, D.C.:

Q: Are things getting better or worse in Iraq in terms of our being able to extricate ourselves with honor anytime soon?

A: I don't think we should extricate ourselves anytime soon. I think that would be a mistake. I think there are two trend lines in Iraq right now. One is quite positive and one is murky and complicated and not nearly as positive. - More...
Monday - June 19, 2006

Bonnie Erbe: Japanese whaling: An insupportable practice - Want to buy an island? Follow the Japanese example. They apparently know how better than anyone else in the world.

I'm not talking about the Japanese archipelago. I'm talking about smaller, poorer islands in our own backyard - Caribbean islands.

The Japanese failed in their most recent attempt to overturn a 20-year ban on commercial whaling imposed by the International Whaling Commission. This week the commission held its annual meeting on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. But smitten as the Japanese were by the international community's decision to act humanely toward these sea mammals, the Japanese nonetheless figured out how to ignore the ban entirely. They harvest as many whales as they please, claiming to slaughter them for "scientific" reasons. - More...
Monday - June 19, 2006

Dale McFeatters: A missile test of Pacific Rim patience - Perhaps feeling left out in all the attention being paid to Iran and Iraq, its fellow members of the Axis of Evil, North Korea is threatening to test a long-range ballistic missile theoretically capable of reaching the United States.

A coalition of nations is laboring mightily to see that the test doesn't happen. North Korea lobbed a missile over Japan in 1998 and was so taken aback by the negative reaction of its neighbors that it self-imposed a ban on missile tests that has lasted until now.

As always, North Korea's motives are unclear. "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il has his people in a lather about an imminent U.S. invasion that somehow never materializes and possibly needs to further distract them from their miserable lives. Maybe Kim feels ignored since North Korea walked out on six-nation talks last November. - More...
Monday - June 19, 2006

Steve Brewer: The key to learning is making your parents feel stupid - We were sitting around the dinner table as our two teenage sons discussed their annual federally mandated math tests, and up jumped the subject of quadratic equations.

One son said to the other, "You don't know that formula? That's an easy one. It's - " And he proceeded to spew a series of letters and numbers that, to my untrained ears, sounded like "booga-booga-booga-googly-moogly."

Yes, my sons were showing off. Yes, they know Dad barely passed algebra in high school and that was more than 30 years ago. And, yes, they like to rub his nose in it occasionally.

Being a mature adult, I threw food on them.

Kidding! Instead, I subtly cocked an eyebrow at my wife, in the international parenting signal for: "They're doing it again."

She gave me her usual saintly smile, and we went back to chewing while the boys vigorously debated coefficients.

This incident illustrates one of the Basic Facts of Parenting. Children learn things their parents a) don't know, b) have forgotten, or c) never wanted to know in the first place, and the kids can't keep this knowledge to themselves. - More...
Monday - June 19, 2006