Alaska: Knowles concedes race to Palin By MATT VOLZ - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Knowles conceded the race to Sarah Palin on Wednesday, calling the Republican to congratulate her on her victory. - Read this Anchorage Daily News Story... www.adn.com - November 8, 2006 Alaska: Palin, Parnell intend to get to work right away on gas pipeline - Sarah Palin's election Tuesday as governor signals yet another new start for one of Alaska's fondest but most stumble-prone economic development dreams -- a natural gas pipeline. - Read this Anchorage Daily News Story... www.adn.com - November 8, 2006 Top Stories U.S. News U.S. Politics Alaska Ketchikan

Ketchikan: Weather Doesn't Hinder Gravina Island Clean Up Volunteers - Although fall weather doesn't provide the best conditions for working outside, work is continuing on the Gravina Island Clean Up. Ketchikan Gateway Borough Code Enforcement Office Jerry Cegelske said there were five dedicated volunteers who braved the rainy weather on October 14th working to make Ketchikan a nicer place to live.

Noting progress with the Gravina Island cleanup, Cegelske said the concrete sailboat which had been cut up was removed from the beach. He said the volunteers also collected additional material such as hoses, ropes, tires, boat wiring and other parts which had been the remains of another boat. Cegelske said, "They also collected a crab pot which had been in the narrows for a long time, as only the stainless steel portions were left as the iron had rusted away. Fortunately the pot was not fishing." - More...
Wednesday - November 08, 2006

Southeast Alaska - Coast Guard, Alaska Marine Lines Fight Fire At Sea - The U.S. Coast Guard and Alaska Marine Lines (AML) have contained a fire on board an AML container barge near Yasha Island in Frederick Sound.

The Coast Guard received notification from AML Monday evening at approximately 7:04 p.m. of a fire on board the barge Baranof Provider.

The barge was being towed from Sitka to Petersburg by the tug Western Mariner when the fire broke out.

Coast Guard Cutter Liberty was dispatched and arrived on scene at approx. 1 a.m. Tuesday to fight the fire and at approx. 4 a.m. the tug Togiak arrived on scene and relieved Cutter Liberty. - More...
Wednesday - November 08, 2006

Alaska: Judge Orders Division of Elections To Preserve Copies of Election Records - Anchorage Superior Court Judge Stephanie Joannides ordered the Alaska Division of Elections on Tuesday to preserve backup copies of the state's 2006 electronic computer database and subsequent tallies of the election results.

The Division of Elections had refused to make backup copies of the Diebold computer GEMS database in response to a request from the Alaska Democratic Party, which on Tuesday sought an emergency court order requiring that copies be preserved of these election records.

"The people of Alaska have a right to have all the public records related to our election. We are pleased that the court has ordered the Division to preserve these records," said Jake Metcalfe, chair of the Alaska Democratic Party.

"What conceivable reason could there be for failing to keep copies of these important records?" asked Metcalfe.

The Division claims it did not keep copies of the 2004 electronic databases as they were modified through the counting process, and they did not maintain a correct copy of the final version or an audit trail that could be verified to determine whether the results are correct, Metcalfe said. - More...
Wednesday - November 08, 2006

National: As voters embrace change, Pelosi vows cooperation By MARC SANDALOW - The last time a Democrat held the speaker's gavel was in January 1995, when then-party leader Dick Gephardt handed it to Newt Gingrich after an election that Republicans branded a revolution.

The politically turbulent period that followed produced a balanced budget, a welfare reform bill, two government shutdowns, an impeached president and ultimately the election of George W. Bush.

The gavel will now be handed back to a Democrat, Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, who will become the first woman and first Californian to serve as speaker, following a coast to coast repudiation of Republican leadership.

The anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-Congress sentiments that gave Democrats their biggest gains in a quarter-century would seem to set up a titanic clash between the liberal speaker from San Francisco and the conservative president from Texas.

No matter what the final outcome in the Senate, Democrats now hold the power to put their priorities up for debate, to thwart presidential initiatives and to investigate with subpoena power any policy or impropriety they choose.

But divided government, as Gingrich and President Bill Clinton demonstrated a decade ago, does not necessarily produce predictable outcomes. - More...
Wednesday PM - November 08, 2006

National: Supreme Court abortion hearing disrupted By HANNAH GUILLAUME - A screaming man charged through the main doors of the Supreme Court's chambers during a hearing in a contentious abortion case Wednesday.

"Abortion is a sin," shouted the man, later identified by court officials as Rives Miller Grogan. Four court employees dragged him out of the courtroom.

Grogan's last known residence is in Los Angeles. He was taken to the U.S. Capitol Booking Center before being transported to D.C. Superior Court.

He was charged with creating a noise disturbance, resisting arrest and other related offenses, a Supreme Court spokesman said.

Some spectators left their seats and headed toward the door. None of the justices said anything about the disturbance. Such disturbances are rare in the well-guarded court chamber. Court regulars said the last one they remembered was in1983 when Hustler publisher Larry Flynt shouted obscenities during a hearing in his own case.

In less than a minute, the lawyer who had been speaking resumed her remarks, although the man's screams could still be heard in the hallway.

The court was hearing two abortion cases, Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood, both challenging the constitutionality of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. - More...
Wednesday PM - November 08, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Basic Rules Consolidation By Al Johnson - Thursday PM This Cannot Be Happening! By Valerie Cooper - Thursday PM Ketchikan's High Gas Prices By Kelly Needham - Thursday PM Re: Consolidation Voter Fraud By Dave Kiffer - Wednesday PM RE: COMMON SENSE OR STUPIDITY By Cathy Geer - Wednesday PM Re: Upsetting Halloween Experience By Suzan Thompson - Wednesday PM A Sea Of Blue Across America By Ken Levy - Wednesday PM Civilized? Hate; Greed: And Fear By Steven McLaren - Wednesday PM Hate, Greed and Bush invades Canada By Ken Lewis - Wednesday PM The Piers to Nowhere By Samuel Bergeron - Tuesday AM Consolidation: We All Owe Thanks To Rodney Dial By Dave Person - Tuesday AM Upsetting Halloween Experience By Amy Schmitt - Tuesday AM Voting for the best candidate: Tony Knowles By Michael Spence - Tuesday AM Consolidation Ballot Due By Nov. 21st By Cheryl Henley - Tuesday AM Knowles for Governor By Marty West - Tuesday AM Majority Whip; Does it Really Matter? By Virginia E. Atkinson - Tuesday AM COMMON SENSE OR STUPIDITY By Marie L. Monyak - Tuesday AM Desecration Bridge By Don Hoff Jr. - Tuesday AM Why John Kerry Still Matters! By Robert Freedland - Tuesday AM Pro Knowles By Dave Kiffer - Tuesday AM Heeeere's Tony! By Chris Elliott - Tuesday AM Admiration & Support for US Armed Forces -- from a Veteran By Ronald Lee Lamb - Tuesday AM Time to vote again By Robert McRoberts - Tuesday AM RE: The Real Problem with Families By Janelle Hamilton - Tuesday AM RE: John Kerry By Ben Rosenfeld - Tuesday AM Something fishy in Palin mailer By Kate Sangster - Tuesday AM Power corrupts but this is rediculous! By Mark Neckameyer - Tuesday AM Reponse to Hate, Greed and Fear By Alan Miller - Tuesday AM Revilla Road Trashed By William C Thomas - Tuesday AM More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan Ketchikan Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Today's Forecast Satellite Today's Weather Images Marine Forecasts Ketchikan Weather Data Current AK Weather Map CLASSIFIEDS Auto-post your ad in the proper category, or email your ad & photos to ads@sitnews.us  CLASSIFIEDS' CATEGORIES Announcements For Sale / Free Stuff Garage Sales Homes / Apts/ Property Pets Wanted Lost & Found Local Services SitNews Archives October 2006 Click on the date to read the stories 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 31 01 02 03   More Front Page Archives

Dave Kiffer: Flying the 'Fiendly' Skies - Alaska Airlines is celebrating its 75th birthday next year by printing heartwarming stories from passengers on its website.

If you log on now you can read about "how a flight attendant once brought a blanket for a newborn" or "how a pair of 'big' girls enjoyed their flight to San Francisco" or "how the planes were clean and the flight crews were friendly."

That sure sounds like something to really "warm your cockles" to quote my mother, who likely has her own Alaska Airline stories to tell.

Our family has been flying Alaska Airlines ever since it swallowed up Alaska Coastal -Ellis Airlines in the late 1960s. Not that we've had much of the choice. Over the years there has been sporadic competition from Pacific Northern, Western, Wein Air , Mark Air and a few others, but Alaska has always prevailed. And that's not always been a bad thing, but it did seem a little "cheesy" when they used to say "thank you for choosing Alaska." As if!

In fact, we can even remember back when it was known for its "Golden Samovar Service" and offered "snacks" that were better than other airlines "meals." Now of course, Alaska Air's "meals" are remarkably snack-like.

Come to think of it, we can even remember when Alaska Airlines was actually from Alaska, rather than - to quote the media - a "Seattle-based carrier." - More...
Thursday AM - November 09, 2006

Preston McDougall: Chemical Eye Up in the Sky - In a galaxy far, far away, one of the building blocks of proteins, an amino acid, was synthesized in a chemical reaction that occurred a long, long time ago.

This is not the very, very beginning of the Star Wars fantasy. Rather, it is a typical conclusion that astrochemists might reach after studying data collected, and relayed back to Earth, by the Hubble Space Telescope.

This eye in the sky is affectionately referred to simply as "Hubble", after the American boxer, Rhodes Scholar, and finally astronomer who, in 1929, the year the Stock Market crashed, had the nerve to claim that the entire universe was expanding! Hubble has been orbiting in Earth's sky since 1990, passing in and out of Earth's shadow. For thirty-six of its ninety-seven minute days, or orbits, Hubble is in the dark. When it is shadowed from the Sun by the Earth, and free of the "noise" of man-made light, thanks to its heavenly perch, Hubble casts a sensitive, and deep, gaze on the universe that surrounds us, much farther than the eye can see. During its daytime, Hubble "catches some rays" and recharges its batteries. - More....
Thursday AM - November 09, 2006

Bonnie Erbe: Message to Democrats: Beware hubris - Message to Democrats on winning the U.S. House: this was no mandate. Republican ineptitude handed House control to Democrats, not Democratic superiority.

Just as President Bush deserves Olympic gold for overreaching (he called himself a uniter and governed like a seismic divider) Democrats run the risk of legislating from the extremities and living to regret it.

Democratic candidates who picked up GOP-controlled House seats were centrists, not extremists. As of this writing, five states approved amendments suggesting gay marriages be banned and another five voted to join the roster of states that would require employers to pay higher minimum wages than the federal minimum of $5.15 per hour - all indications of a centrist electorate, not a liberal one. - More...
Thursday AM - November 09, 2006

John Hall: The 'Get It Done' election - The Democrats have scored an impressive victory based largely on public misgivings about a Republican White House and its handling of the Iraq war.

This will put pressure on both the White House and the new Democratic-heavy Congress that begins work next year to produce results on this war.

How are they going to do that? There is no sign so far that either the Democratic leadership or President Bush has a workable plan to disengage U.S. troops under near term honorable conditions.

In the closing days of the campaign, the Democrats let loose a media blitz implying that the election of a Democratic Congress would provide a way out of Iraq.

Without Bush's cooperation, however, the Democrats know that delivering on any contract to end the war will be next to impossible. - More...
Thursday AM - November 09, 2006