Ketchikan: Ketchikan Health Fair to feature the Colossal Colon - The Ketchikan Health Fair, Alaska's largest single site health fair, will take place on Saturday, November 5th, 8am to 1pm at the Plaza Mall. This year the Health Fair will feature the first Alaska visit of The Colossal Colon (nicknamed Coco). Coco's visit is sponsored by Ketchikan General Hospital, First City Council on Cancer, Ketchikan CHARR, and the City of Ketchikan.

Coco, the Colossal Colon Photograph by Bob Juechter Photograph courtesy Ketchikan General Hospital

Cancer of the colon and/or rectum is diagnosed in more than 140,000 Americans yearly. "And this isn't a disease limited to the elderly," said Deborah Aaron, MD, Chair of the KGH Cancer Committee and one of the prime movers in bringing Coco to Ketchikan. "About one in nine cases affect people under age 50", Aaron stated.

At 20-feet long and four feet high, Coco is a replica of a colon that features polyps, cancer and even hemorrhoids. Coco has appeared around the nation at health fairs, state fairs, malls and sports stadiums to draw attention to this often-preventable disease. In addition to viewing Coco, visitors may pick up a variety of information on colon cancer, including colo-care kits. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

National: Death toll for U.S. soldiers in Iraq reaches 2,000 By MARA LEE - The 2,000th soldier to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom died Saturday, but the Pentagon just released his name Tuesday.

It was a grim milestone in the war that began a little more than two and a half years ago. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

National: GOP bitterly divided over federal spending By ZACHARY COILE - Republican efforts to cut billions of dollars of federal spending to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief are dividing the party and sparking feuds between fiscal hawks and members trying to protect programs that benefit their home states.

House GOP leaders had to postpone a vote last week on a plan to increase the proposed cuts from $35 billion to $50 billion after Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo., admitted he lacked the votes to pass it.

But it's not clear that House leaders will have the votes when the measure is brought to the floor again this week. Some Republicans are threatening to defect, saying the plan cuts too deeply into programs such as food stamps, student loans, and health care for the elderly and the poor. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

National: Bush's pick for Fed chief well-received By MARY DEIBEL - In choosing Ben Bernanke to head the Federal Reserve, President Bush has opted for a known quantity and straight-talking economist as Alan Greenspan's successor when the veteran Fed chief retires in January after steering monetary policy since 1987.

Bernanke, a 51-year-old Ivy League economist, is an inflation hawk who was also Wall Street's top choice to succeed Greenspan even though Republican supply-siders were pushing for a more ideological pick devoted to even steeper tax cuts to spur growth. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

National: U.S. death toll in Iraq nears 2,000 By EDWARD EPSTEIN - It's a grim milestone that no one wants to see come about, but the United States is nearing 2,000 military deaths in Iraq.

Thirty-two months after President Bush launched an invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, experts and advocates disagree on whether the looming benchmark will further erode public or congressional support for the war that the president promises to continue until a successful conclusion.

As of Monday, the official Defense Department tally of Americans killed in Iraq stood at 1,987, while the unofficial Web site Iraq Coalition Casualty Count put the total at 1,997. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

National: Support for war in Iraq wanes By THOMAS HARGROVE and GUIDO H. STEMPEL III - Public support for the U.S. military occupation of Iraq has dwindled significantly in recent months even as the fledgling government in Baghdad achieves important milestones toward democratic rule.

The public is now evenly divided over whether to begin an immediate troop withdrawal before the Iraqi government is stable, according to a survey of 1,005 adult residents of the United States conducted by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

International: Frosty forecast for Syria's democratic 'Arab spring' By MARK MACKINNON - The man seen as the de facto leader of Syria's opposition took a few rapid puffs on a cigarette as he considered the question: Are the country's democrats ready to challenge President Bashar Assad's hold on power if international pressure succeeds in weakening it? - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

National: Estimates vary on amount of flu vaccine By LEE BOWMAN - Even as federal health authorities lifted recommended restrictions on who should be in line for flu shots Monday, their estimates wavered for how much vaccine will be available this fall. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

National: California researchers seek help battling dog flu By EDIE LAU - California veterinary specialists are hustling to get a handle on a new form of flu that infects dogs, identified only a few weeks ago and which since has been found in pets from coast to coast. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Front Page Photo: Shaggy Manes By Penny Eubanks - Tuesday PM Only for cruise ship issues? By Walt Bolling - Tuesday PM We can't allow more bungling... By Patrick Jirschele - Monday PM Response to Question By Marty West - Monday PM KHRA Toy Run and Dance By Jen Brewer - Monday PM Mission Possible By Gary Ridenour - Monday PM Ketchikan's future By Glenn Bell - Monday PM Re: Peddling Fear By Dave Kiffer - Sunday Dock development By Thomas Ferry - Sunday Open Letter To Ketchikan City Council: Please Answer the Question By Robert D. Warner - Sunday Federal Agencies Obligated To Address Issue With Tribes By Randy Williams - Sunday Born to Read By Charlotte L. Glover - Sunday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political cartoons Ketchikan Calendar, Meetings, Events Today's Forecast City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements October 2005 Click on the date for stories and photos published on that day... S M T W T F S 25 26 27 28 29 30 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

Bonnie Erbe: America's wrong wing - Consider the bedrock principles of Reagan conservatism as worshipped by America's wrong wing as recently as the dawn of the 21st century: low taxes, small government, free marketeerism, jingoistic patriotism, state's rights and a strong military.

Consider now Bush conservatism and how five of those six principles have been so abundantly altered as to defy recognition in actuality if not in name.

Let's start with low taxes. Yes, President Bush pushed lower income tax rates through Congress. But four years into his tax cut plan, few Americans have seen their tax bills reduced. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

Dale McFeatters: White House confidential - Following Monday's Cabinet meeting, a reporter asked President Bush if the White House was working on a contingency plan for the withdrawal of Harriet Miers' nomination.

A number of influential conservatives wish the president would do just that to avoid a brutal confirmation fight over a Supreme Court nominee they consider unqualified. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

John Hall: The job that keeps on growing - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wouldn't answer a senator's question whether U.S. troops will still be in Iraq even 10 years from now.

Not appropriate, she pleaded. Not the question, but answering it, of course.

One answer she could have given, but didn't, is that in 10 years she will not be secretary of State anymore; thus, she would have no say in the matter. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

Marsha Mercer: White House, Titanic, much in common - The Titanic, at the bottom of the Atlantic for 93 years, is disintegrating more rapidly than expected.

That news last week naturally led some in the nation's capital to think about President Bush, who has been in deep water for some time. His deterioration in the polls also has accelerated.

The president had a 90 percent approval rating after Sept. 11, 2001, the highest in the history of Gallup. Bush's popularity now has sunk to his lowest. Only 39 percent of people approve of the way Bush is handling his job, the latest USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll reported. Other polls confirm the slide. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

Ben Grabow: What's so great about owning a home? - I'm never going to buy a house.

I will rent forever. I will move from apartment to apartment like some kind of hermit crab, forever seeking a shell that will accommodate all my stuff. I will never mow a lawn or rake a leaf. I will call a landlord every time something breaks. I really don't need to own a home. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005

Steve Brewer: Poll finds Dad's approval rating slipping - Despite recent vows to improve his performance, Dad has seen his approval ratings slip to the lowest level in years, according to the latest household poll.

Just 25 percent of the population thinks Dad is doing an "excellent" or "good" job, poll results show. Fifty percent - largely teenaged sons - find his performance to be lacking. The canine portion of the household refused to comment.

Dad fared best with the lone female respondent, although her approval was pegged not so much to his overall job performance but to the more ephemeral quality of "hunkiness," the survey found. - More...
Tuesday - October 25, 2005