Sergeant Lisa Thompson Photograph by Carl Thompson © 2006

Ketchikan: Sergeant Lisa Thompson Deploying To Afghanistan By Marie L. Monyak - Lisa Thompson, Lisa Thompson, Hmmmm. Like most people in Ketchikan, you hear a name, you recognize it, but for the life of you, you can't put a face with the name or remember where you heard it. Now you remember, you've seen her name countless times as a copyrighted photographer right here in SitNews.

A wife of almost 24 years, stepmother, grandmother, daughter, photographer, full-time worker, diver, business owner, Thompson holds one more title and it's that of Citizen Soldier. That's right, Thompson, 46 years old and not afraid to admit it, is a member of the Alaska Army National Guard.

Whether they are employed or not, many women in Ketchikan are involved in spring cleaning, planting their summer gardens, making ready for Easter or planning a vacation, Thompson's plans are quite different.

It began with an alert order in January that read, in so many words; pack your bags, your country needs you and you're going far away from home for a year or more. Two months later in March, Thompson receives notice that her destination will be Afghanistan. On this day, Tuesday, April 11th, Thompson received an email instructing her that her orders call for her to spend a minimum of 545 days (about 18 months) on active duty service with the possibility of extending that time as needed.
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Thursday - April 13, 2006

Top Stories U.S. News U.S. Politics Alaska Ketchikan

Ketchikan: Car hits gasoline pumps; Troopers looking for driver - The Alaska State Troopers received a report that an overturned vehicle had struck the gas pumps at the Ward Cove Market at approximately 1:16 am today. Troopers along with the Ketchikan Police Department and the North Tongass Fire Department responded to the call.

According to the Alaska State Troopers, an unoccupied 1993 Green Saturn four door was on it's side and resting on the support structure of the gas pump island. One of the gas pumps was struck by the vehicle and was thrown approximately twenty feet. Emergency personnel conducted a ground search for any occupants of the vehicle, none were located. - More...
Thursday - April 13, 2006

National: Iran rhetoric echoes build up to invasion of Iraq By JAMES ROSEN - Sound familiar?

Once more, a member of President Bush's "axis of evil" is denying strident warnings from Washington that it is pursuing lethal weapons amid reports of the United States planning for a military strike if diplomacy fails.

The current gamesmanship between the United States and Iran has eerie echoes of the high-stakes drama that preceded war in Iraq.

Whether the escalating dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions leads to another military gambit in the Middle East depends on a broad range of factors, from Iran's own political makeup to Bush's diminished credibility - at home and abroad - in the wake of the Iraq war.

One key difference between the build-up to war with Iraq and the present struggle over Iran focuses on the United Nations: While the Security Council had passed numerous resolutions demanding that Iraq disarm going back to the 1991 Gulf War, it has passed only one mild measure on Iran - just two weeks ago. - More...
Thursday - April 13, 2006

National:

Alaska: Alaska senator defends stance on mine By PAULA DOBBYN - Sen. Ted Stevens lashed out Wednesday at a national Democratic group that recently dubbed him a "radical environmentalist" for strongly opposing the possibility of an open-pit mine near Lake Clark National Park.

Stevens, who has a long history of supporting development projects in Alaska, said he was offended by the ironic moniker, given him by the Senate Majority Project, a group that targets Senate Republicans.

But the state's senior senator, a Republican, said he will continue to oppose the giant Pebble gold and copper project until convinced it will not harm the area's rich salmon runs.

"If that makes me a turncoat from being an extreme developer, so be it," Stevens told reporters in Anchorage. - More...
Thursday - April 13, 2006

National: States to feds: Don't tread on us By LANCE GAY - From legislation that sets new rules for sales of over-the-counter cold remedies to efforts by Congress to establish unified food labels nationwide, the federal government is increasingly encroaching on what traditionally has been left to states to sort out.

State lawmakers say they are concerned about the increasing reach of federal authorities into their jurisdictions - especially by a Republican-controlled Congress elected on a platform that promised to lessen Washington's influence over the daily lives of Americans. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) counts 72 measures in this Congress that would usurp state authority - a 35 percent increase over measures the group counted in January. - More...
Thursday - April 13, 2006

Mark Everett, senior pastor of Juneau's Victory Foursquare Gospel Church, presented a $7,000 check to the Rev. George Silides of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church during Palm Sunday services.

Juneau: Victory church gives Holy Trinity all it can; Juneau church donates entire savings to help rebuild burned Holy Trinity facility - A small Juneau congregation with no building of its own has turned its entire bank account over to a church that lost its home in a fire.

Mark Everett, senior pastor of Juneau's Victory Foursquare Gospel Church, presented a $7,000 check to the Rev. George Silides of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church during Palm Sunday services.

About 25 members of Everett's congregation joined 80 or so members of Holy Trinity during one of the larger church's two April 9th services at the St. Ann's Parish Hall. Silides and Everett preached back-to-back sermons, after which Everett handed over his church's savings.

"Honestly, I believe it was a move of the spirit of God. He just spoke to my heart," Everett said.

Everett, formerly an associate pastor, became senior pastor of Victory church just six weeks ago. He said he was building a fire in his backyard so his children could make s'mores when the idea of the donation came to him.

"I was praying for direction for our church," he said. "A transition is a very difficult thing to go through for a church and I've been really seeking the Lord for a direction for us."

He said God's answer was to help someone in need. - More...
Thursday - April 13, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Fancy propaganda ads will not cover the truth By Mike Moyer - Thursday PM Plug into shore power By Carrie James - Thursday PM Legislature in process of limiting personal rights By Carey Crawford - Thursday PM Protect our children By Carrie James - Thursday PM Opposed to the idea of my government deciding By Catlin Rettke - Thursday PM Thanks By Neil Gray - Thursday PM Port Bonds By A.M. Johnson - Wednesday PM It's Time to Help Prevent Identity Theft and Protect Our Data By Sen. Gene Therriault and Sen. Gretchen Guess - Wednesday PM We cannot tax our way into prosperity By Gov. Frank H. Murkowski - Wednesday PM Questions By Neil Gray - Wednesday PM Hawaii Abortion Tourism By Mark Beatty - Wednesday PM Abuse Can Impact Children Negatively For Years By Patrick Cody - Wednesday PM Clarification By Anita Hale - Wednesday PM Ketchikan's youth doing amazing and positive things By Karen Eakes - Tuesday PM "Suddenly Over the Hill" By Kirk Thomas - Tuesday PM Drivers responsible By Greg Harris - Tuesday PM Drug abuse affects everyone in some way By George Jackson - Tuesday PM Thank you By Frances C. Natkong - Tuesday PM More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan April 13, 2006 at 5:30 - Democratic caucus for those interested in developing a local platform and organizing the local democratic party - IBEW building on Stedman, contact Micheal Hyre 617-0238 for information. April 14, 2006 - Friday - 5-7pm - Opening Reception for the 2006 Hummingbird Festival Juried Art Show. Free and open to the public, the reception will be at the Visitor's Bureau, 131 Front Street. Please call Leslie Swada at the Discovery Center at 228-6247 for more information. April 14, 2006 - Friday, 7-8 pm - Friday Night Insight Programs at the SE Alaska Discovery Center:- A Close Look at Southeast Alaska's Songbirds, with Gwen Baluss, bird expert. April 15, 2006 - Saturday, 7 - 8pm - Friday Night Insight Programs at the SE Alaska Discovery Center: Discover Southeast Alaska's Wildlife on the Alaska Coastal Wildlife Viewing Trail: Jamie Karnik will introduce you to the Wildlife Viewing Trail concept. April 17, 2006, Monday - 5:30 pm - Borough Assembly Meeting - City Council Chambers Agenda - Information Packet April Calendar Arts This Week Today's Forecast Ketchikan Weather Data Current AK Weather Map City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements April 2006 Click on the date to read the stories published on that day. S M T W T F S 26 27 28 29 30 31 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

Jason Love: Tattoo Removal - Once upon a time I drank so much tequila that I lost track of ... what's that called ... consciousness. Next morning, I couldn't remember a thing.

Fortunately, the tattoo would jar my memory.

The "tribal band" circled my left bicep like a serial bee sting, the om symbol thirteen times. Om is supposed to reveal the fleeting nature of reality. I had decided to honor it with a PERMANENT MARK.

Every tattoo should say the same thing -- "I'm an idiot." That way, when you wake up ten years later and wonder what you were thinking, the answer is right there. - More...
Wednesday - April 12, 2006

Linda Seebach: A book to consider reading before you tie the knot - I remember a Soviet joke about the American traveler to Moscow who bragged to a Russian acquaintance that America was a free country, where he could give a speech sharply critical of the president of the United States and nothing bad would happen to him.

"That's nothing," the Russian retorted. "So can I!"

I had my own domestic version of that joke. I believed that marriage meant I should treat my husband better than I treated anyone else, except our son.

So did he. - More...
Wednesday - April 12, 2006  

Dale McFeatters: Twisting Iran's arm - Over the weekend, stories appeared to the effect that the Bush administration was drawing up contingency plans for air strikes, possibly including tactical nukes, on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Maybe this was an orchestrated leak, heavy-duty saber rattling. We now know this happens in the Bush White House. Maybe it was a for-real leak and there's something to it. Maybe it means nothing at all. The military is constantly planning for various scenarios.

But the Iranians are surely taking this threat seriously. Just last month, President Bush reaffirmed his 2002 doctrine of military pre-emption against gathering threats and, in the same document, named Iran as the United States' most serious security threat. And we happen to have a large, battle-trained army in the neighborhood, next door, in fact, and naval forces offshore. - More...
Wednesday - April 12, 2006  

Bonnie Erbe: Twisting Title IX - When it comes to Title IX, the Bush administration can't figure out if it's pitching or catching. Most Americans associate Title IX with the incredible burst in participation rates for girls in high school, college and ultimately professional sports. Signed into law in 1972, Title IX requires colleges and universities receiving federal funding (few if any refuse all federal support) to spend equal amounts of money on men's sports and on women's sports.

The boost Title IX gave to girls and women has helped them well beyond the bounds of the gymnasium or the soccer field. Experts credit team-sports training with helping women advance in corporations and in politics.

Despite all this, even after three decades, the law never succeeded in leveling the college sports playing field (arghhh - a cliche, I admit). Most estimates are that colleges funnel some 60 percent of their sports funding into men's programs, and around 40 percent into women's sports. Nonetheless, in 2002 the Bush administration made a widely decried attempt to weaken enforcement of Title IX. Washington was deluged with letters, calls and e-mails from angry parents, saying, "Don't touch Title IX." A USA Today poll taken at the time showed that 7 in 10 Americans familiar with Title IX wanted it left alone or strengthened, not weakened. The Department of Education sprinted hastily away from its failed plan. - More...
Wednesday - April 12, 2006

Jay Ambrose: Politics by euphemism - What a difference a phrase makes.

Some years back, when we talked about foreigners sneaking into our land in contravention of the law and then setting up camp for years and years, we called them illegal aliens, which, of course, is exactly what they were.

Says one online dictionary by way of its first definition, an "alien" is an "unnaturalized foreign resident of a country." You can't come any closer than that except by tossing the word "illegal" ahead of the word "aliens" to differentiate them from legal foreign residents.

But some were unhappy with the word choice. They worried that the phrase was insulting because, you see, another definition of alien is a "creature from outer space," and besides, the word as an adjective can also denote strangeness. - More...
Wednesday - April 12, 2006