Ketchikan: A Family Affair; Bounty of Alaska game enriches family through the generations - Photos provided by the Kubley family - Fifth-generation Alaskan Dylan "Hawk" Kubley 14, downed his first deer at the age of six. When he was 8 years old, he got his first moose under extreme conditions. The following year he bagged his first bear. - Read this Juneau Empire Story... www.juneauempire.com Top Stories U.S. News U.S. Politics Alaska Ketchikan

Alaska: Environmentalists urged to drop Kensington Mine appeal - Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski (R) voiced outrage last Thursday over a decision released by the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals granting an injunction to the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) that will shut down all work on the Kensington Mine near Juneau for at least the current construction season.

"The community of Juneau stands behind this project as an environmentally responsible economic development," Murkowski said. "There are better ways than court action to resolve differences of opinion. Stopping the project through an injunction will have a devastating impact on the Goldbelt Native Corporation, on Juneau and on Alaska."

Among other impacts of the injunction, Murkowski listed the following: - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

Alaska: Governor Murkowski Lifts Hiring Freeze - Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski on Firday lifted a hiring freeze put in place when BP announced on August 6th that it would be shutting down production at the entire Prudhoe Bay oil field. The hiring freeze covered all state jobs except those related to public health and safety and staffing 24-hour facilities.

"At the time we instituted this hiring freeze, we did not know how deeply state revenues would be affected," Murkowski said. "Nor did we know how long the Prudhoe Bay Unit would be out of production. With BP's decision to shut down the field one-half at a time and keep production at about 170,000 to 200,000 barrels per day, we are comfortable lifting the hiring freeze, and are doing so immediately." - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

National: Analysts: Bush's foreign-policy doctrine has failed By CAROLYN LOCHHEAD - President Bush vowed last week that he would never abandon his goal of creating democracy in Iraq, but outside the White House, the foreign-policy world is wondering how to contain a civil war that could engulf the Middle East.

Even Bush acknowledged the debate. "If you think it's bad now, imagine what Iraq would look like if the United States leaves before the government can defend itself," he said Monday.

Analysts across the political spectrum say the Bush Doctrine - preventive war, choking the roots of terrorism by planting democracy and brandishing power to force others into line - has failed. Bush's lofty goals, shared even by his critics, have been set back, perhaps decades, by the Iraq occupation.

Yet for all the criticism, neither the Democratic Party nor the foreign-policy elite has devised an alternative for the post-Sept. 11 world, leaving U.S. foreign policy adrift. - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

National: Concerns raised about proposed privacy-protection legislation By ROBERT GEHRKE - In February 2005, some 140,000 people around the country were notified that their personal information - including names, addresses, identification numbers and job histories - had been stolen from a database run by ChoicePoint.

Now, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, is sponsoring legislation, written with input from ChoicePoint, a data-collection company, that privacy advocates say would override tougher state laws and could keep consumers from ever finding out about future security breaches.

"It's unacceptable to any privacy advocate, and it's unnecessary because we already have constructive compliance nationally with the strongest state laws," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the Public Interest Research Group. "The only purpose in Congress going forward would be to please companies that don't like the strong state laws." - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

National: Democrats pumping gas-price gimmick for all it's worth By MARGARET TALEV - Filling up your gas tank? Don't be surprised if a Democrat is waiting at the station.

With $3-a-gallon gas near the top of the list of voters' frustrations with the status quo, some challengers seeking to unseat the Republican majority in Congress this November have found a gimmick that they think will resonate with voters - and they're pumping it for all it's worth.

In Washington state, Gas Pump Man, a campaign volunteer disguised by a leotard and mask, has been making appearances at filling stations on behalf of Democratic challenger Darcy Burner to accuse the local congressman, Republican Dave Reichert, of being too cozy with the oil industry. - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

Health-Fitness: Study: 1 in 6 working teens injured on the job By LEE BOWMAN - One out of six working teens reported having been injured on the job in a new survey that found some youths were in hazardous occupations they should have been legally barred from due to their age.

The study, published in the September-October issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior, was based on the results of a questionnaire completed by more than 6,800 Wisconsin high-school students in 2003.

Slightly more than half the students reported working any kind of job, with 514 getting injured at work, including 150 injured severely enough that their activities at home, work or school were affected for more than three days. Ninety-seven filed for worker's compensation. - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

Health-Fitness: A promising step in fight against anthrax By LEE BOWMAN - A newly discovered anthrax inhibitor tested in rats shows promise in blocking the toxins' ability to attach to cells, and could be useful in battling other diseases, researchers say.

The findings from a team of American and Canadian scientists were published online Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Anthrax toxins, released by the anthrax bacterium, are made of proteins and toxic enzymes that bind together to damage a host organism's cells. Most current therapies, including antibiotic treatments, try to attack either the bacterium or the toxins directly. - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

Entertainment: Emmys were good, but no match for Capt. Jack Sparrow By RICK KUSHMAN - If you watched TV on Sunday night, you saw drama, thrills, even - dare I say? - greatness. That "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" is a fun movie. It was on ABC. The Emmys on NBC? Let's say it could've been worse.

Actually, from the standpoint of watching TV, it was a good night. Conan O'Brien is a funny guy and made a slick host for a second time. From the standpoint of giving awards, it was, you know, the Emmys.

The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles was the usual mishmash of deserving winners, how-did-that-happen awards and - an Emmy favorite - repeating winners.

It's nice to see consistency in the world, in whatever form. I guess.

There were, at least, a couple of right-on awards, starting with "The Office" for best comedy and "24" for best drama. Those are two shows as good as anything on TV. - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Last Visit to Alaska By ML Dahl - Tuesday Pit Bulls By Michael Moyer - Tuesday Gatorade is not the problem By Al Johnson - Tuesday Forced Conversion Frees Hostages? By Mark Neckameyer - Tuesday Last visit By Kelly Needham - Tuesday Elkins has earned his place in Ketchikan's roster By June Allen - Saturday Grounded Vessel By Jennifer Brewer - Saturday My last trip to Alaska By Peter James - Saturday Bully breeds By Kelly Needham - Friday Support Your Locally-Owned Businesses By Mark O'Brien - Wednesday Medical Costs By Pat Long - Wednesday Pleased with vote By Douglas J. Thompson - Wednesday Living in a vacuum? By Vicki Harsha - Wednesday Eye of the Beholder Letter By Rob Glenn - Wednesday This Will Only Take A Minute! By Marcia Hilley - Tuesday Gaming? By Lonnie Guthrie - Tuesday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Arts This Week Today's Forecast Ketchikan Weather Data Current AK Weather Map Classifieds & Announcements August 2006 Click on the date to read the stories published on that day. S M T W T F S   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

Dave Kiffer: Studies Are Hazardous To My Health - I read last week that being just a "little obese" can be hazardous to your health.

Never mind the fact that a "little" obese is somewhat of an oxymoron. Like "kinda" pregnant or "sorta" dead.

The Associated Press story noted that being a little obese - one to 29 pounds overweight - can be nearly as hazardous to your health as being truly obese - more than 30 pounds overweight.

For those of you playing along at home, this concerns me because by all the well-regarded bench marks (the size of the mark your bottom makes on a bench) I am "slightly obese." - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

Michael Reagan: English - The Vanishing Language - All across the U.S., hordes of immigrants - legal and illegal - are chattering away in their native language and have no intention of learning English ­ the all-but-official language of the United States where they now live.

Can you blame them? They are being enabled by all those diversity fanatics to defy the age-old custom of immigrants to our shores who made it one of their first priorities to learn to speak English and to teach their offspring to do likewise.

It was a case of sink or swim. If you couldn't speak English you couldn't get by, go to school, get a job, or become a citizen and vote. - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

Preston MacDougall: Chemical Eye on Gold Medals and Rubber Doughnuts - According to The New Yorker, "seventy is the new fifty", so I still have a ways to go before I'm "over the hill". But back in the day, when I was learning bits of machine language for my senior thesis in computational chemistry, 10 was the new 16.

If you are wondering why the geek sitting next to you is laughing, you have to understand hexadecimal numbers to get the joke. You see, unlike the decimal system, which uses 10 digits (0 thru 9) to represent numbers, the hexadecimal system that is used in machine language represents numbers with the 16 digits 0 thru F. - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

Bob Ciminel: The Unreality of Reality - I hate to admit it, but I have not watched a single episode of "Survivor," nor any other reality-based program. I guess that's what happens when you live in the eddy and not the mainstream of life. Truth be told, I don't watch any of the major network prime time shows. Lately however, and much to my wife's displeasure, I have been watching reruns of "CSI - Las Vegas." The computer graphics showing bullets and blunt objects destroying brains and vital organs has got to be the ultimate in voyeurism. CSI is not reality television.

This morning there was a feature on National Public Radio about CBS airing the documentary film "9/11" by the Naudet brothers. This would be the third showing of the film. Of course, the film is being shown now to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 unprovoked killing of over 3,000 civilians by an organization that has declared war on the United States. (Has Amnesty International ever accused Al Qaeda of war crimes?) - More...
Monday - August 28, 2006

Bill Steigerwald: America in Peril - In his latest best-seller, for "State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America," Pat Buchanan makes his case that we must move quickly to erect a stronger, more restrictive immigration policy to stop and reverse the invasion of millions of illegal Mexican immigrants across our southwestern border. If we fail to do so, says the conservative populist, the United States as we know it will disappear in 50 years. I reached the former presidential candidate, political pundit and syndicated columnist by phone on Thursday, Aug. 24 in New York City, where he was in mid-book tour.

Q: You have concerns about the harmful impact of on our economy, our culture and our politics from illegal immigration. What is the most serious problem that needs to be addressed first?

A: The first one -- as in New Orleans, when the 17th Street levee broke ­ is before you do anything, fix the levee and stop flood. Even before you start pumping out the water, even before you start bringing folks back to their homes ­ fix the levee, stop the flood. We need to stop the invasion of this country with a 2,000 mile security border fence, all the way from Brownsville to San Diego. - More...
August 28, 2006