National: Lugar sees progress in speech, but says more needed By MARA LEE - Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Wednesday praised President Bush's attempt to better define his military strategy in Iraq, saying the speech and the 37-page report on the White House Web site explain better what victory will look like. But he added, "Seems to me the president may spell that out some more."

What's needed next, Lugar said, is a "full-court press of information to elevate this debate."

As he followed the Bush speech back in Indiana, Mike Brady of Newburgh agreed. He has two sons in the Army Reserves who are being deployed overseas. His oldest son, who is 24, was mobilized Monday, he said. And if the number of troops is greatly reduced next year, it may save his 19-year-old son from being sent to war. - More...
Wednesday - November 30, 2005

National: Bush tries again to rally public in support of Iraq war By BILL STRAUB - President Bush took yet another stab at convincing a dubious American public that waging war in Iraq was the proper decision, visiting the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on Wednesday to countenance patience but offer assurances that Iraqis are assuming more and more responsibility.

"Some critics continue to assert that we have no plan in Iraq except to 'stay the course,' " Bush told the assembled midshipmen. - More...
Wednesday - November 30, 2005

National: Iraq exit strategies: The pros and cons By LISA HOFFMAN - Stay the course or pull out now? Pump in more U.S. troops or punch up the training of Iraqi soldiers?

In the roiling, increasingly rancorous debate about what America should do next in the war in Iraq, those are some of the options being weighed. - More..
Wednesday - November 30, 2005

National: U.S. racing the clock to find alternate fuels By GREG GORDON - Former CIA Director James Woolsey paints a dire scenario: A terrorist attack causes a months-long, 6 million-barrel reduction in Saudi Arabia's daily petroleum output, sending the price of oil skyrocketing past $100 a barrel.

Industry banker and author Matthew Simmons says the kingdom's oilfields are deteriorating anyway. And a recent New York Times story cited an intelligence report suggesting the Saudis lack the capacity to pump as much oil as they boast they can. - More...
Wednesday - November 30, 2005

Alaska - National: U.S. fishing industry throws back a fourth of its catch By LANCE GAY - While the government is struggling to recover depleted commercial fisheries, statistics gathered by federal marine agencies show that U.S. fishermen are throwing back into the sea more than a quarter of their catch.

Andrew Rosenberg, a fisheries expert and dean of the college of life sciences at the University of New Hampshire, said that the fishing industry's practice of discarding high levels of fish are undermining U.S. efforts to recover depleted fishing stocks off American coastlines.

"We're undermining our own rebuilding efforts," Rosenberg said, contending that most fish discarded back into the sea are either dead or dying. The discarded fish include juvenile fish too small to be brought to market, unmarketable species and species under catch limitations because they are being encouraged to recover. - More...
Wednesday - November 30, 2005

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters A suggestion By Michael Nelson - Wednesday Bridge to Somewhere By Virginia Atkinson - Wednesday Excellent Questions! By Robert D. Warner - Tuesday Permanent Fund Trustees Poised To Change 'No Secrets' Policy By Gregg Erickson - Tuesday The Bridge and Ethanol By Charles Moon- Tuesday U.S. Debt Over $7 Trillion By Jay Jones- Tuesday Discussing differences about public issues By Robert McRoberts- Tuesday ANWR By Morgan Doubleday- Tuesday Alaska Bridges By Don Hoff Jr. - Tuesday Hedge funds and the Permanent Fund By James R. Dahl - Monday Gas pipeline By Ted A. Wright - Monday Open Letter: To the Alaska Legislature By James R. Dahl & Mary Lynne Dahl - Monday ANWR by Glenn Bell - Monday Questions By Peg Travis - Monday KYFL Raffle By Bob Fultz- Sunday Governor faces his greatest challenge By Walter J. Hickel - Sunday More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan Thursday, December 01, 2005 7:00 pm - The Ketchikan City Council will hold a regular meeting in the City Council Chambers. Agenda & Information Packets November Calendar Today's Forecast Current AK Weather Map City Police Report 11/26/05 AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements November 2005 Click on the date for stories and photos published on that day... S M T W T F S     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       Front Page Archives

National: North Carolina to carry out 1,000th execution since '76 By ANDREA WEIGL - North Carolina is set to administer the 1,000th execution in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty almost 20 years ago.

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner granted clemency to a killer who was scheduled to be executed Wednesday. That means North Carolina's execution of Kenneth Lee Boyd, if it proceeds, will be the milestone. Boyd is set to die by lethal injection at 2 a.m. Friday at Raleigh's Central Prison.

Boyd, 57, was convicted in the 1988 shootings of his estranged wife, Julie Boyd, and her father, Thomas Dillard Curry, in their Rockingham County home. Prosecutors say Boyd shot his wife nine times in front of two of his children, pausing to reload. - More...
Wednesday - November 30, 2005

National: First lady unveils 'bright and beautiful' White House decor By ANSLEY HAMAN - The White House halls are decked this year with fresh pears, tangerines, roses and lilies rather than the traditional holly and silver bells.

First lady Laura Bush selected elements of nature to bring light to the season, and chose hot pink, lime and tangerine to adorn the more than 200 boxwood wreaths, 580 feet of garland and 18 trees. She opened her home Wednesday to display decor based on the theme, "All Things Bright and Beautiful."

"Simple, yet elegant, decorations highlight creations from the natural world," she said.

About 45,000 people will walk through the floral wonderland during the holidays, the first lady said. More than 9,000 of those guests will attend one of the 26 Christmas parties hosted by the Bushes. - More...
Wednesday - November 30, 2005

National: White House Christmas tree had mountain roots By MONTE MITCHELL - With roots deep in the North Carolina mountains, the White House Christmas tree acted as if it didn't want to leave .

It took five chain saws to fell the Fraser fir last week at Smokey Holler Tree Farm. The tree was more than 18 feet tall.

Not knowing exactly what kind of tree stand will be used in the White House, workers dug around the roots, leaving the tree looking like it was standing on thick, gnarled tiptoes. Rather than cut the trunk, Buddy Deal used a chain saw to cut through several roots. One root in particular was so tough that people speculated it might have grown around a rock. - More...
Wednesday - November 30, 2005

National: New chef gets cooking in the White House kitchen By ANSLEY HAMAN - Chef Cris Comerford, the first woman to head the White House kitchen, spent months preparing for her first gauntlet of holiday dinners. She presented her menu on Wednesday.

Comerford, who was appointed White House Executive chef in August, unveiled this year's party fare for 26 events in the next 21 days.

"We're so thrilled to have her with us," said first lady Laura Bush, as she presented the White House Christmas menu and decorations. - More...
Wednesday - November 30, 2005

National: Workers beware: Pension reform on way By MARY DEIBEL - Kathi Cooper has a lesson for anyone covered by a traditional pension or considering going to work for an employer who offers one: Study up on the future of the pension system, now that it's a pitched battleground in Congress and the courts.

Cooper, a University of Texas accounting graduate who has worked at IBM for 26 years, ran the numbers when her employer converted its pension to a cash-balance plan, and she figured out the change would leave her $400,000 the poorer in retirement.

So she and 130,000 IBM colleagues sued in federal court, where U.S. District Judge Patrick Murphy agreed with them that cash balance plans inherently discriminate by age because of the way benefits are calculated. - More...
Wednesday - November 30, 2005