Ketchikan: Alaska bridge fund being eyed for other aims By SEAN COCKERHAM - The so-called "bridge to nowhere" in Ketchikan is in big trouble.

Now that Congress has dropped its demand that $223 million be used for the bridge, Alaska legislators are eyeing that money for other things.

State House Majority Leader John Coghill, R-North Pole, said he started taking a closer look at the bridge project after he saw how it was getting slammed all across the nation. He said he thinks there are more important construction needs in Alaska.

"I have not been convinced that it would be the best economic thing to do," the North Pole Republican said. "It's going to be a hard sell (in the Legislature)." - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

National: Iraq's an increasingly tough sell for Bush By BILL STRAUB - President Bush is searching for a way to rally public support for the war in Iraq, but it's an increasingly tough sell.

Hobbled in recent weeks by shrinking approval numbers and a growing sentiment among the electorate that entering the war in Iraq was a mistake, the White House has been searching for a message. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

National: Isolationist sentiment rising in U.S., poll says By PAUL KORING Stirred by fear of another terrorist attack but disillusioned by the war in Iraq, Americans are increasingly turning their backs on the world, a major new survey of public attitudes shows.

Growing isolationist sentiment, now at levels matching those of the grim years after the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, reflects mounting uncertainties about President Bush's war against Muslim extremism and efforts to spread democracy across the Middle East. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

National: Would Bill Richardson be a viable presidential candidate? By KATE NASH - Tom and Donna Hoover leaned in close, watching Gov. Bill Richardson sign their copy of his new book.

At just the right moment, Tom Hoover offered what might be golden words to Richardson: "You'll have to do us all a favor and get a seat in the White House in 2008."

The governor smiled, laughed, mumbled something and reached for the next hard-cover copy of "Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life." - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

National: A move to deny citizenship to U.S.-born kids of illegal immigrants By LISA HOFFMAN - Some call them "anchor babies," and, in a corner of Congress, there is new sentiment to unmoor them.

At issue are children born in the United States to illegal immigrants. Based on longstanding constitutional interpretation, such babies are automatically American citizens by virtue of their place of birth. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

Gold opened Alaska; but what is it good for? Photo Credit: U.S. House Resources Committee

Alaska Science: Gold opened Alaska; but what is it good for? By NED ROZELL - While I was driving the Steese Highway recently, large piles of boulders lining the road--the tailings of a gold dredge that had munched its way through the area years before--inspired a debate on gold.

One passenger spoke of what an absurdity it is that we humans place such a high value upon gold. "If jewelry isn't your thing, what good is gold?" he asked. "You can't eat it. If a space alien were to land here and ask why gold is so valuable, I don't know what I'd tell him." I looked around the car. Except for the wedding rings of my two companions, I saw no gold. Back at home, I once again failed to see any gold.

What good is gold?

My search for an answer led me to the Minerals Yearbook, published by the U.S. Department of the Interior. In the yearbook, Bureau of Mines geologist John Lucas explains that gold is in almost every office and home. Touch-tone phones, for example, have up to 33 electrical contact points made of gold. Take the gold out of the computer I'm now tapping this column into, and the computer won't work. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters "Why not me?" By Brenda Bratley - Monday am THANK YOU By Ken Levy - Monday am Glenn/Metzenbaum debate By David Landis- Monday am To Those Who Criticize... and Patriotism By Gregory Fast- Monday am The Bridge Battle By Don Hoff Jr.- Monday am Better come up with another plan By Robert McRoberts- Monday am To Those Who Criticize... By Dave Henderson - Friday Bridge Battle By Elroy C. Edenshaw Jr. - Friday Camelot By Terry O'Hara - Friday PATRIOTISM By Marie Monyak - Friday Holiday Lights By Judee Mettler - Thursday Imagine a world of increasing communication By Rick Grams - Thursday To those who criticize our commanders By Walter Bolling - Thursday Dumpers are at it again! By Jerry Cegelske - Thursday T&H members Ketchikan area By Elroy C. Edenshaw Jr. - Thursday Overhaul? By Linda Burger - Thursday Question By Nyna Fleury - Thursday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan Monday - November 21, 2005: 5:30 pm -The Ketchikan Borough Assembly will hold a regular meeting in the City Council Chambers. Agenda & Information Packets November Calendar Today's Forecast Current AK Weather Map City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements November 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       Front Page Archives

International: No New Oversight for Internet Management, Summit Agrees By Tim Receveur - The United States and 170 other countries reached agreement on future management of the Internet on the eve of the United Nations-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) being held in Tunis, Tunisia, November 16-18.

The November 15 agreement "reaffirms the importance of technology and particularly the Internet to the world" and "preserves the unique role of the United States government in assuring the reliability and stability of the Internet," said Ambassador David Gross, the U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy at the State Department and chief U.S. negotiator at WSIS. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

National: Plamegate tarnishes Woodward's reputation By ALAN FREEMAN - Ever since Robert Redford appeared on screen playing investigative journalist Bob Woodward in All the President's Men 30 years ago, a generation of journalists has viewed The Washington Post reporter as the epitome of how the profession should be practiced.

But that Hollywood image of the intrepid reporter searching doggedly for truth on behalf of the public is now under a cloud. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

Education: Under IDEA, burden of proof rests with challengers - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday 6 to 2 that the party challenging a child's individualized education program in an administrative hearing has the burden of showing it is unsatisfactory.

The majority ruled that the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act places the burden of proof on whoever brings the challenge -- the parents, as in this case and many others, or the school district. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

National: Plan to use masks as first line of defense against flu criticized By GREG GORDON - The government plan to combat a flu pandemic aims to protect medical workers largely by having them use surgical masks that cost less than a quarter and lack federal approval as a shield against particles the size of viruses.

The decision, which officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say is only a first line of defense, is nonetheless drawing sharp criticism from labor unions and some public health experts. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

National: University leads microscopic battle vs. bioweapons By SUE VORENBERG - Bacteria is nasty enough when it strikes your refrigerator. As a weapon, it can be downright deadly.

The United States until the 1960s and Russia until the 1990s developed at least one type of bacteria - F. tularensis - into a biological weapon. The bacteria causes the disease tularemia, which is transmitted by rodents and acts like a severe form of the flu. It is fatal 30 percent of the time. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

National: House GOP leader vs. American Legion By LISA HOFFMAN - The Capitol Hill curtains parted this week, offering an uncommon view of a behind-the-scenes spat that has pitted a House GOP leader against the chief of a mighty advocacy group and spurred Democrats to take gleeful advantage of the dispute.

And, igniting it all was an office clerk's apparent flub. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005

National: Growing pot an increasing problem in parks, Congress told By BILL STRAUB - There was a time when foraging bears presented the greatest danger to the hikers and fishermen absorbing the natural beauty of Sequoia National Park in central California.

But those days are long gone, in the view of Laura Whitehouse, central valley program manager with the National Parks Conservation Association. The bears have been superseded in the past few years by camo-wearing guards flashing AK-47s and trip wires attached to shotgun triggers, all to protect the burgeoning marijuana crops popping up on public lands. - More...
Friday - November 18, 2005