'Annette
Island Sunset'
Front Page Photo by Dick Kauffman
Profile America: On this New Year's Eve, some 295 million
Americans of all ages are ready to greet the year 2005.
Fifty years ago, the U.S. population
was just over 162 million; a century ago, it was 82 million.
To show how fast the nation is growing, by this time tomorrow,
there will be some 84 thousand new babies on hand to welcome
the New Year.
Not only is the population
growing, it is moving to new locations. For several years, the
fastest growing states have been in the West. The population
of Nevada jumped almost 9 percent in just two years, followed
by Arizona at over 6 percent. Four states added nearly 5 percent
-- Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Texas. Source: U.S.
Census Bureau
World: The
world is emerging from 'the year of disasters - The tsunamis
that devastated southern Asia this week bring to a close a year
of natural disasters that left hardly a corner of the planet
unscathed.
The year began in the wake
of a massive earthquake in the ancient city of Bam in Iran, on
the day after Christmas 2003, that killed about 30,000 people
and destroyed 70 percent of homes, schools, hospitals and businesses.
It closed with the most powerful
earthquake in recent decades sending walls of water crashing
ashore in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and eight other
countries, killing more than 116,000 people, a total that rises
daily.- More...
Friday - December 31, 2004
National: Alternate
Social Security plan emerges in Congress - As Congress prepares
for contentious debate next year over major changes in Social
Security, an alternate plan has emerged that would slowly but
steadily trim benefits by $4 trillion over 75 years. - More...
Friday - December 31, 2004
Pacific Northwest: 'Clusters'
of earthquakes yield an ominous scenario - The newest
studies on the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coast of the
Pacific Northwest have identified a "clustering" of
great earthquakes of the type that would cause a major tsunami,
yielding a historical record with two distinct implications -
one that's good, the other not. - More...
Friday - December 31, 2004
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