Deer Mountain Sunset
Front Page Photo by Jim Lewis
Ketchikan:
Ketchikan General Hospital Cancer Program re-accredited - Ketchikan
General Hospital was surveyed by The Commission on Cancer of
the American College of Surgeons through an on-site visit in
September 2005. Surveyors reported that several record-keeping
processes needed to be updated. That has been completed, and
the official re-accreditation was received this month.
This achievement was made possible
through a consistent commitment by the staff and administration
to improve state of the art care for cancer patients at the community
level. KGH utilizes the video teleconferencing capability of
PeaceHealth to affiliate its program with St. Joseph Hospital
in Bellingham, Washington. St. Joseph oncology specialists and
sub-specialists participate in diagnosis and treatment plans
for Ketchikan cancer patients through regular tumor conferences.
- More...
Wednesday - November 22, 2006
Alaska: Murkowski
Forwards Budget Recommendations - Tuesday Alaska Governor
Frank H. Murkowski, along with Office of Management & Budget
Director Cheryl Frasca, announced that the administration has
transmitted its FY 08 budget recommendations to Governor-elect
Sarah Palin's transition team. Ms. Frasca also broke down the
preliminary revenue forecast from the Department of Revenue,
which highlighted an increase in state revenue thanks to the
new Petroleum Production Tax (PPT) and higher oil prices.
"The PPT has increased
our financial footing dramatically," Murkowski said. "When
you see surpluses - even for the current fiscal year - in the
billions of dollars you realize the impact of the oil market
on revenues to the state. It cannot be understated: Our administration's
action to change the oil taxation structure has left the incoming
administration in an extremely better situation than the one
we faced four short years ago."
The Department of Revenue's
preliminary forecast, to be finalized for release in early December,
shows an additional $1.5 billion more for the current fiscal
year and an additional $1.4 billion for FY 08 when compared to
its forecast last spring. Of those amounts, $1.9 billion is the
result of enacting PPT. - More...
Wednesday - November 22, 2006
Alaska: In
Legislature's Request for More Time on Same-sex Partner Benefits
for State Employees, Governor Supports Letting Alaskans Vote
- Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski on Tuesday gave the following
statement regarding the Legislature's passage of HB 4001 and
HB 4002, bills that would affirm that the Commissioner of Administration
does not posses statutory authority to implement same-sex partner
benefits for state employees, and requiring a statewide advisory
vote to be held in April where Alaskans would be asked whether
they want the Legislature to place a constitutional amendment
on the November 2008 ballot:
Murkowksi said, "The Legislature
clearly wants more time to thoroughly deliberate the issue and
widen the debate to consider how the state should move forward
on providing employee benefits." - More...
Wednesday - November 22, 2006
Ketchikan: McLavey
Named KGH Employee of the Month - Patrick McLavey, Maintenance
Engineer, was named Employee of the Month by a committee of his
peers.
McLavey has been in his position
for the past three years. His job includes operating and maintaining
emergency generator power systems, steam boilers, as well as
heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. He is also
called upon to do numerous carpentry projects and repairs. -
More...
Wednesday - - November 22, 2006
National: A
Russian roulette of food poisoning in American states By
THOMAS HARGROVE - More than 50,000 people got sick or died from
something they ate in a hidden epidemic that went undiagnosed
by the nation's public health departments over a five-year period.
Americans play a sort of food-poisoning
Russian roulette depending on where they live, an investigation
by Scripps Howard News Service found. Slovenly restaurants, disease-infested
food-processing plants and other sources of infectious illness
go undetected all over the country, but much more frequently
in some states than others.
Scripps studied 6,374 food-related
disease outbreaks reported by every state to the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention from Jan. 1, 2000, through
Dec. 31, 2004. The causes of nearly two-thirds of the outbreaks
in that period were officially listed as "unknown."
The findings translate into
an alarming potential for tragedy. If health officials are unable
to connect illness to food, victims who might eat from the same
poisoned source cannot be warned. If food is known as the culprit,
but the specific disease lurking within is not diagnosed, the
victims may get even sicker or die without proper treatment.
The poor track record of so
many state labs also raises chilling questions about their ability
to spot or deal with a food-borne terrorist attack. - More...
Wednesday - November 22, 2006
National: Who
dies from food illness By SRUTHI KUNNEL - Infectious intestinal
diseases from food- and waterborne illnesses were diagnosed as
the cause of death for 3,142 Americans in a one-year period,
according to an analysis of death records provided by the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The actual number of Americans
who die from food poisoning is a matter of conjecture. Statisticians
at the CDC in Atlanta have estimated that at least 5,000 Americans
die every year from something they ate.
But doctors and medical examiners
have been increasingly likely to list intestinal diseases as
the primary cause of death in recent years, suggesting a growing
sensitivity to the threats posed by food- and water-related diseases.
According to federal records
based on death certificates, only 1,370 Americans died of infectious
intestinal diseases in 2000. Food- and water-based deaths rose
to 1,586 in 2001, to 2,496 in 2002 and to 3,142 in 2003, the
most recent year available.
"That is just the tip
of the iceberg," said Ewen Todd, director of the Food Safety
Policy Center at Michigan State University. - More...
Wednesday - November 22, 2006
National: 14-year-old
bride calls wedding 'darkest time' of life By BROOKE ADAMS
- A woman who claims she was forced at age 14 to marry her cousin
in a polygamous sect testified Tuesday that the experience was
"the darkest time of my entire life."
Her testimony came during a
preliminary hearing for sect leader Warren S. Jeffs, who is charged
with two first-degree felony counts of being an accomplice to
rape. He allegedly officiated at an arranged marriage between
the then-14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old first cousin.
Fifth District Judge James
L. Shumate will decide if there is sufficient evidence to order
Jeffs to stand trial. After a full day of testimony, the preliminary
hearing adjourned until Dec. 14.
The witness - known as Jane
Doe IV, who is 20 now - said she didn't dare defy the order to
marry the man, whom she described as a name-calling bully. -
More...
Wednesday - November 22, 2006
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