National: Katrina recovery will take years, Bush says By MARGARET TALEV - President Bush on Wednesday described Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing floods that have submerged New Orleans, ravaged the Gulf Coast region and left thousands feared dead as "one of the worst natural disasters in our nation's history" and predicted that recovery would take years.

At the same time, the president, in a nationally televised address, vowed to rebuild the historic Louisiana city known as the "Big Easy" and said he is putting the federal government's financial and regulatory resources and manpower behind the recovery efforts. He also called on Americans to contribute cash to charity hurricane relief.

"The folks on the Gulf Coast are going to need the help of this country for a long time," Bush said from the Rose Garden, surrounded by members of his Cabinet. "But there's no doubt in my mind we're going to succeed. Right now the days seem awfully dark for those affected, I understand that. But I'm confident that with time, you get your life back in order, new communities will flourish, the great city of New Orleans will be back on its feet, and America will be a stronger place for it. The country stands with you. We'll do all in our power to help you." - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

National: After levees break, doomed houses By STACY FINZ - When the floodwaters recede, the power is restored and the streets cleaned of debris, hurricane-ravaged New Orleans will have to brace for the next wave of destruction - the wrecking ball.

Much of the historic city, flanked by Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River, is under water because of a pair of levee breaks caused by Hurricane Katrina. Experts predict that few of the homes and buildings that have been inundated will be salvageable. - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

National: Web records wild interest in hurricane By VERNE KOPYTOFF - In the annals of news events, Hurricane Katrina ranked among the most popular for some Web sites and marked another step forward for a new generation of online reporting inspired by blogs and television.

Visitor traffic for Weather.com, the online arm of the Weather Channel, was around 7 million Monday, the second highest in history for the Web site, the company said. - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

Alaska: Murkowski Offers Help to Mississippi, Louisiana Governors; Public can help by donating to disaster relief efforts - Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski Tuesday sent letters to Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco offering Alaska's assistance to hurricane devastated areas in those states.

In the letter, the governor said, "Today, I have ordered my emergency management personnel to prepare to assist you. We stand ready to offer our available resources to assist where we can in response and recovery efforts." - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

Alaska: Governor Signs Internet Security Bill; Bill would ban some spyware, crack down on Internet predators - Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski signed into law Senate Bill 140, an Internet security bill cracking down on online sexual predators and unfair or deceptive practices to include some types of Internet spyware.

"By signing this bill, I am sending a strong message that we will not tolerate those who would use the Internet to dupe vulnerable Alaskans," Murkowski said. - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

Alaska: Wilderness devours the deluded, ignorant and ill By CRAIG MEDRED - Wilderness shows no compassion for those who struggle with life, so we should take a moment to contemplate the sad fate of Richard Hasbell.

The 34-year-old Anchorage man struggling with mental illness disappeared into Denali National Park and Preserve in July. An extensive and costly search for him largely ended earlier in August.

"Our thoughts are with the family, who don't yet have an answer to the question of what may have happened to Richard and where he is," Park Superintendent Paul Anderson said. - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

Election 2005 List of Candidates Filed For Office   Assembly & School Board Updated 08/31/05   City Council Viewpoints Opinions/Letters A WINNING PLAN By Chris Herby - Wednesday Hurricane Katrina By Norman Erickson - Wednesday World run by those who show up By Glen Thompson - Wednesday Airplanes make noise By Ed Elliott - Wednesday Temporary location of Schoenbar at The Plaza By Penny Eubanks - Wednesday Half-cocked By Glen Thompson - Wednesday Schoenbar Plan By Melissa Ausman - Wednesday Alaska education system moving in the right direction By Senator John Cowdery - Wednesday "Historical moment for United Nations" By Dinesh Kumar - Wednesday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Hurricane and Osama Cam Cardow, The Ottawa Citizen Distributed exclusively to subscribers by Cagle Cartoons, Inc. More Political Cartoonists Ketchikan Calendar, Meetings, Events Ketchikan City Council is scheduled to meet Thursday, September 01, 2005. The meeting begins a 7:00 pm in the City Council Chambers. Agenda & Information Packets 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

Alaska: Advocate wants Alaska to legalize card rooms By PAULA DOBBYN - The man dubbed "Alaska's Poker Guru" pitched the Anchorage business community Monday on his efforts to legalize card rooms in the state.

Semiretired furrier Perry Green told an Anchorage Chamber of Commerce lunch audience that poker is a booming industry that Alaska should tap to diversify its oil-dependent economy.

"It's not shady," Green said. "It's a mainstream activity." - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

Alaska: The battle over the last refuge By ZACHARY COILE - Thousands of caribou arrived again this summer at their calving grounds on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a trip they have made for generations.

But will they keep coming when the oil rigs arrive?

Across the rushing water of the glacier-fed Kongakut River, still partly coated in ice, the caribou lift their heads and take a momentary break from feeding on a hillside of golden sedges. - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

Science: Scientists make first comparison of chimp, human genes By LEE BOWMAN - The first comparison of the gene maps of chimpanzees and humans suggests that the two species are 99 percent identical when it comes to functional DNA, although that still leaves researchers some 40 million genetic differences to consider as they seek to identify what separates people from our closest cousins.

Scientists estimate that human and chimp ancestors went down different evolutionary branches about 6 million years ago, and that the genetic code for everything from language and social interactions to walking upright evolved in humans since then.

Looked at another way, there's only about one-tenth of 1 percent difference between the genes of any one person and another human, which is 10 times less than the difference between humans and chimps, the researchers said. - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

John Hall: Sunnis to the rescue - The Sunnis of Iraq now have a better chance than their merciless leader ever gave anyone else.

They have two chances, actually. One comes Oct. 15, when they can defeat the constitution their Shiite masters have written, even though the Sunnis have only 20 percent of Iraq's votes to work with. The Sunnis can pull off this feat by turning out big numbers of voters in the four or more provinces where they have a majority.

Under the rules, if two-thirds vote against the new constitution in any three provinces, it loses. Then, the Iraqis presumably would have to start hammering out another new basic law if civil war doesn't overtake them first. - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

Clifford May: Strategic thinking: Is Zarqawi's better than ours? - If American forces were not in Iraq, they'd have to be sent there.

At least that would be the case if Americans were serious about waging a war against militant Islamism. The fact is that al Qaeda in Iraq is the most active and efficiently lethal branch of that transnational movement. Month after bloody month, its commander, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, deploys suicide bombers, takes hostages and cuts off heads.

It does not appear that Osama bin Laden is nearly so industrious. - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005

Dale McFeatters: And forget the right to speedy trial - In a tacit admission that its planned military commissions were a stacked deck, the Bush administration has approved expanding the legal rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees who face trials before the commissions.

For example, there will be curbs on the power of the commissions to exclude defendants from their own trials and to conceal prosecution evidence from the defense.

The commission proceedings have been on hold since last November when a district court ruled that they violated U.S. treaty obligations, but an appeals court reversed that ruling in July and the commissions are tentatively set to resume in October. So far, only four of the 500 some detainees have been formally charged. - More...
Wednesday pm - August 31, 2005