Alaska: Floating school on a warmer Arctic Ocean By NED ROZELL - Igor Dmitrenko looks in wonder at satellite images of ice on top of the world these days. After more than a decade of trips to the Arctic Ocean north of Russia, he's noticed open water where icebreakers had to bash through in recent years.

"This year's ice situation is absolutely unique," said Dmitrenko, an oceanographer and visiting associate professor at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. "The Laptev Sea is already open to 81 degrees north. I've never seen that in my life. Usually it's closed to 75 degrees."

The lack of ice covering the southern Laptev Sea, above central Siberia on the map, means that Dmitrenko and 68 others might have easy passage on an icebreaker during a September 2005 voyage. During the trip, a "summer school" organized by the International Arctic Research Center, a group of scientists and students will learn more about a pulse of warm Atlantic water that has invaded the Arctic Ocean and may be eating at the sea ice from below. - More...
Wednesday - August 24, 2005

Alaska: Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer within 100 years, scientists say - The current warming trends in the Arctic may shove the Arctic system into a seasonally ice-free state not seen for more than one million years, according to a new report. The melting is accelerating, and a team of researchers were unable to identify any natural processes that might slow the de-icing of the Arctic.

Such substantial additional melting of Arctic glaciers and ice sheets will raise sea level worldwide, flooding the coastal areas where many of the world's people live. - More...
Wednesday - August 24, 2005

Alaska: Judge rules Alaska port city can tax oil ships By WESLEY LOY - An Anchorage judge has ruled that the city of Valdez has the right to impose a property tax on tankers coming in to pick up crude oil.

But the judge indicated the city probably has overtaxed them, raising the possibility that it will owe refunds to oil companies Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobil. - More...
Wednesday - August 24, 2005

Alaska: Former State Trooper Sentenced for Sexually Assaulting Three Aniak Women - Former Alaska State Trooper Daniel Scott, 45, entered a No Contest plea last week for sexually assaulting three Alaska Native women in Aniak between 2002 and 2004. The plea came on the same day his trial was scheduled to begin in Bethel on those and other related charges.

Under the terms of the plea, Scott will spend four years in jail and must register as a sex offender for 15 years after completion of this jail term and any parole that may be available. - More...
Wednesday - August 24, 2005

Election 2005 List of Candidates Filed For Office   Assembly & School Board Updated 08/23/05   City Council Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Road Improvements By LeiLani Lake - Wednesday Tourist Ghetto Lee Caskey - Wednesday Suggestion on solving two of the thorniest problems By Jim Hadman - Wednesday Money is all gone By Jay Jones - Wednesday Solution to Noise By Eric Moyer - Wednesday Tourism By Janelle Hamilton - Wednesday NOISE By Pat Long - Wednesday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Highway Construction Delays Larry Wright, The Detroit News Distributed exclusively to subscribers by Cagle Cartoons, Inc. Political Cartoonists Ketchikan Calendar, Meetings, Events The Ketchikan School Board will hold a regular meeting on August 24, 2005. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm in the City Council Chambers. Agenda (pdf) Today's Forecast City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements August 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 29 30 31       Front Page Archives

International: Women facing setbacks under Iraq's new constitution By MACKENZIE CARPENTER - One way or the other, Sharia, or traditional Islamic law, will be a presence in Iraq's new constitution, and that means women may have fewer rights in areas of family and civil law than they did under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical regime.

That was the bottom line from experts watching as Iraq's constitutional committee continues to struggle with deadlines and defections. They also cautioned that much depends on what form of Sharia - 1,000 years' worth of Islamic law and tradition interpreted differently over the millennium by different Muslim sects - is adopted, and to what degree. - More...
Wednesday - August 24, 2005

National: ID theft becoming commonplace, survey shows By LANCE GAY - Jeff Weisman was checking the balance in his bank account online from his home when he noticed withdrawals of $494 and $495 that he hadn't made.

The 50-year-old restaurant equipment consultant from Wellington, Fla., found that there were eight unauthorized withdrawals in all over a weekend. The thefts mounted to almost $4,000 before he could contact SunTrust bank and cancel his ATM card.

Weisman doesn't know who took his money, but he suspects his identity was stolen when he gave information to an Internet site to try to win a digital camera. The lesson of his experience: "Do not respond to e-mails, no matter how attractive the offer might be," he said. - More...
Wednesday - August 24, 2005

National: Some military bases may survive Pentagon targeting By LISA HOFFMAN - A lucky few communities around the country will find their wishes coming true this week when a commission votes beginning Wednesday on the dreaded Pentagon military base hit list.

If past base-closing rounds are a predictor, several of the more than 800 major and minor facilities targeted this year to close or shrink will be saved by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which this week is holding marathon public voting sessions that could stretch to Saturday at a hotel in Arlington, Va. - More...
Wednesday - August 24, 2005

Science: Thinking the pain away By LEE BOWMAN - Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that just thinking that medicine will make pain go away prompts the brain to release its own natural painkillers.

Although this "placebo effect" against pain has long been dismissed as a psychological rather than physical phenomena, scientists have recently spotted specific activity in brain centers related to pain after sham treatments were administered.

A new study nails down the actual brain chemistry invoked by a pain-related placebo. Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System are reporting their work Wednesday in the Journal of Neuroscience.

The effort involved brain scans on 14 healthy young men who agreed to let the scientists inject their jaw muscles with a concentrated saltwater solution to induce pain. The injections were done as the men's brains were being scanned through tomography. During one session, the volunteers were told they would receive a medicine (actually a placebo) that might relieve the pain. - More...
Wednesday - August 24, 2005