National: Senators question Rice about progress in Iraq By MARA LEE - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told senators Wednesday that Iraq must become a unified democracy because, if Israel also makes peace with the Palestinians, then democracy and prosperity can spread throughout the Middle East.

"If we tire and decide we're going to withdraw and leave the people to despair, Americans will live in insecurity and fear for many, many decades to come," she said. - More...
Thursday - October 20, 2005

International: Hussein's fate hinges on forgotten massacre By MARK MACKINNON - It was a massacre that almost no one knew about, committed at a time when Saddam Hussein was seen by the United States as an ally who should be built up as a bulwark against neighboring Iran.

On the morning of July 8, 1982, during one of the bloodier stretches of the Iran-Iraq war, a group of Shia militiamen staged a daring attack on the dictator's convoy as it left Dujayl, a farming town north of Baghdad. - More...
Thursday - October 20, 2005

National: How Wilma became strongest Atlantic hurricane By LEE BOWMAN - Even though they'd been expecting the Atlantic basin's 21st tropical storm of the season to rev up for several days, the pace and scope of Hurricane Wilma's intensification to the strongest storm on record stunned forecasters Wednesday.

Lixion Avila, the forecaster on duty at the National Hurricane Center while an Air Force Reserve Reconnaissance plane plunged into the heart of Wilma overnight, even warned colleagues that instruments should go through a calibration check before they accepted the hurricane's record low-pressure reading of 882 millibars in the eye. - More...
Thursday - October 20, 2005

National: Gulf Coast businesses left out of Katrina-relief spending By THOMAS HARGROVE - Only a fraction of the $2.5 billion in federal contracts signed so far to help rebuild Hurricane Katrina-ravaged communities is going to Gulf Coast businesses.

The rush to provide federal assistance has produced unprecedented windfalls for hundreds of federal contractors around the nation. Indiana and Georgia, home to several mobile-home manufacturers, leads the nation in Katrina-related contracts, according to a Scripps Howard News Service review of the contracts. - More...
Thursday - October 20, 2005

Alaska: Alaska students on par with nation's students - Alaska's fourth-graders and eighth-graders performed on par with the national average in three out of four tests on the National Assessment of Educational Progress conducted last winter.

The U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics Wednesday released the national and state results for 2005 in what it calls the nation's report card.

Samples of fourth-graders and eighth-graders in each state were tested in reading and math. Their scores are reported by state average so states can be compared with each other and the nation as a whole. Scores also are reported for each state and nationally in four levels of achievement: below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. Scores are not available for individual schools or students. - More...
Thursday - October 20, 2005

Alaska: Governor and First Lady receive flu shots - To encourage Alaskans to get their own flu vaccination, Governor Frank H. Murkowski and First Lady Nancy Murkowski received flu shots Wednesday at the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services' Fairbanks Public Health Center.

"The time is now for Alaskans to be vaccinated against the flu, especially those at greatest risk to develop serious complications - the elderly, young children, pregnant women and those with chronic health conditions," Governor Murkowski said. "We're targeting now those individuals who live with or care for those at high risk - health care workers who provide direct patient care, parents, siblings, and child care providers of infants less than 6 months of age." - More...
Thursday - October 20, 2005

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Coburn's Amendment and Ketchikan's "Bridge -to-Somewhere" By Jacquie Meck - Thursday Myths about Social Security By Brad Spencer - Thursday Open Letter: Thank You By Robert H. Combs - Wednesday Detecting Breast Cancer Early Helps Save Lives By Nancy Murkowski - Wednesday Social Security By Mark Neckameyer - Wednesday BRAVO By Dave Kiffer - Tuesday Harley Riders By June Allen - Tuesday Things don't always change for the good, do they? By Don Hoff Jr. - Tuesday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists The What If Channel Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant Distributed exclusively to subscribers by Cagle Cartoons, Inc. Political Cartoonists E-mail a political cartoon Ketchikan Calendar, Meetings, Events Today's Forecast City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements October 2005 Click on the date for stories and photos published on that day... S M T W T F S 25 26 27 28 29 30 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: First Lady Presents Check to Breast Cancer Detection Center of Alaska - Alaska's First Lady Nancy Murkowski presented a $300,000 check to the Breast Cancer Detection Center of Alaska Wednesday during a luncheon attended by several breast cancer survivors. The funds were proceeds from an annual fundraiser in Ketchikan organized by the non-profit Waterfall Committee.

"We are now in our fourteenth year, with the Waterfall Committee, raising funds for breast cancer awareness, detection, and technology. I am so very pleased to present this check to you today, and again affirm my commitment to not only raising awareness of this disease, but to raising funds to reduce its impact on Alaska women," Mrs. Murkowski said. - More...
Thursday - October 20, 2005

Ketchikan: University Computer System Planned Outage set for Oct 20-26 - The University of Alaska's computer system, known as Banner, will be offline from October 20 to October 26 for a complete upgrade to the system. The web-based student service UAOnline will also be offline during this time period.

The UAS Ketchikan business office will remain open. UAS Ketchikan will take student requests on paper and process paperwork following the outage on October 26.

The University of Alaska is upgrading its computer system to better serve students, faculty and staff. This upgrade will begin at 5:00pm on October 20. All university offices, including Ketchikan, will not have access to the information system during this time. - More...
Thursday - October 20, 2005

John Hall: U.S. stumbles into possible Iraq success - The Bush administration has finally stumbled into something that smells like success in Iraq.

If a few more things can go America's way over the next six months, Iraq may be a little less of a bottomless pit.

The weekend election, on balance, worked. It showed the Sunnis, with 20 percent of the population, that they can get along in Iraq's new democracy even as a minority. That's important to them and to everybody, because otherwise the Sunnis will always just be insurgents, bitter over the loss of their power and wealth. - More...
Thursday - October 20, 2005

Dale McFeatters: Dictator on trial - If Saddam Hussein's trial is to be a show trial, as its critics claim, it is a long way from prime time, based on the opening day.

The video was amateurish and the seriousness of the proceedings was undermined by the mechanics of getting the defendants in and out of the courtroom and Saddam's blustering attempt to question the legitimacy of the tribunal. The little holding pens for the defendants also seemed an unnecessary touch.

It seems everybody - human rights groups, supporters of the International Criminal Court, the Bush administration, foes of the U.S.-led invasion - knows better than the Iraqi government how Saddam should be tried. - More...
Thursday - October 20, 2005