Festive holiday lights are appearing daily throughout the Ketchikan community. These colorful gifts of lights are provided by families for the enjoyment of all. Carl Thompson is traveling the community to capture these colorful light displays to share with the Sitnews readers.

Photo Gallery 10 - Dec. 20, 2003	Photo Gallery 9 - Dec. 19, 2003
Photo Gallery 8 - Dec. 15, 2003	Photo Gallery 7 - Dec. 15, 2003
Photo Gallery 6 - Dec. 13, 2003	Photo Gallery 5 - Dec. 11, 2003
Photo Gallery 4 - Dec. 10, 2003	Photo Gallery 3 - Dec. 10, 2003
Photo Gallery 2 - Dec. 07, 2003	Photo Gallery 1 - Dec. 04, 2003

Dancing Again... Linda Gilson and Bruce Schwartz, MD photo courtesy KGH

Ketchikan: A special patient takes home a holiday gift from KGH; Bilateral knee joint replacement: a patient's experience in Ketchikan - "Knees creak and crack, someone asks you if your hip hurts; you are walking funny. And aerobics class hurts this year. For me, that was the beginning of six years of degenerative arthritis that began in my knees. As an Advanced Nurse Practitioner, I knew that eventually those knees would need to be replaced," said Linda Gilson, long-time employee of the Wilson Clinic. Gilson had some success in alleviating the pain through water aerobics, yet her knees continued to degenerate. Her gait became difficult; climbing stairs was impossible without bringing one foot up to meet the other. Both work and family activities had become more and more difficult. "Eventually I admitted to myself after 35 years of taking care of patients, now I was the one who needed help; that's when I went to see Dr. Schwartz." - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

December 2003 Click on the date to read the stories & to view photos published on that day... S M T W T F S   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  31       Today's Front Page Previous Stories & Photos

Ketchikan: KGH enters 2004 with cutting edge telemetry - Ketchikan General Hospital (KGH) announced that its patient monitoring equipment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the telemetry in the Medical/Surgical Unit have been upgraded to cutting edge technology. "It's state of the art point-of-care equipment. You can't get anything newer than this," stated Rick Watson, Lead Biomedical Engineer at the hospital. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

Alaska: Stevens rejects criticism over investments; 'If they think I am going to resign because of a story in a newspaper, they're crazy.' - The Senate's senior Republican on Friday disputed a newspaper report that said he had used his powerful position in Congress to enrich himself and others. - Read this story...
Anchorage Daily News - link posted Saturday - December 20, 2003

Alaska: Nation's Largest Taxpayer Group Tells Alaska Lawmakers: Reject Governor's Call for Tax Hikes - Governor Frank Murkowski's proposal to boost a variety of taxes in Alaska drew a sharp rebuke Friday from the 350,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU). The group has over 1,200 members in Alaska. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

Alaska: Alaska Joins 49 Other States in Signing Amicus Brief in Newdow Pledge of Allegiance Case - Attorney General Gregg Renkes announced Friday that Alaska signed on to an amicus curiae, or "friend of the court" brief, filed with the United States Supreme Court by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. The brief urges the court to uphold the constitutionality of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

Alaska: State's Preliminary Fall 2003 High School Exam Results Released by AK DOE - About half of test takers on the Fall 2003 High School Graduation Qualifying Exam passed the reading test. Of the students who took the fall test, most were juniors and seniors, although a few second semester sophomores also did. Of the juniors and seniors who took the test, about half passed the reading test; about 60% passed the writing test, and about 40% passed the math test. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

Alaska: Alaska Legislators' Concept Becomes Federal Law - Senator Hollis French (D-Anchorage) and Representative Harry Crawford (D-Anchorage) said Thursday that they are pleased the U.S. Congress included a requirement for free annual credit reports in recent legislation. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

Alaska Science: Daniel Fahrenheit, Anders Celsius Left Their Marks by Ned Rozell - It's deep, dark winter, time to pay homage to Alaskans' favorite scientific instrument--the centrifuge. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

National: Teen Drug Abuse Declines Across Wide Front - HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, on Friday released results of the 2003 Monitoring the Future survey, showing an 11 percent decline in drug use by 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students over the past two years. The finding translates into 400,000 fewer teen drug users over two years. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

National: NHTSA Says Drunk Driving Deaths Increased In 17 States - U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta on Friday announced that alcohol-related traffic death rates decreased in 32 states but increased in 17 during the last five years. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Norman Y. Mineta signs a flight certificate, Friday, Dec. 19, 2003, giving Santa Claus the green light to fly to points throughout the United States Christmas Eve . In the background, Santa Claus greets Cameron Brand (hat) while, from left, Colleen Terry, Joshua Adams and Billy Harris look on. Photo courtesy Robin Weiner/U.S. Newswire...

Holiday: Santa Cleared for Christmas Flight - Kris Kringle, d.b.a. Santa Claus, got the green light Friday from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to engage in air travel to various points throughout the United States the night of Dec. 24-25.

An order granting a flight certificate and signed by U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta finds that Santa Claus is "exceptionally fit, joyfully willing and uniquely able to engage in the interstate air transportation for which he has requested a certificate." The Secretary added that Santa has a 100 percent on-time arrival record, having never failed to deliver all of his toys by Christmas morning.

Santa also disclosed that he has had some help with the arduous task of delivering packages. He notes that for the better part of the last century he has been greatly assisted by the results of the wonderful invention of the Wright Brothers, who 100 years ago put together a flying machine, now refined and operating with capabilities almost as good as Rudolf. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

Dick Morris: Hillary's Veepstakes - Especially now that the capture of Saddam Hussein could turn the Iraq war into a positive for George Bush, Howard Dean may turn to Hillary Rodham Clinton to be his vice presidential candidate. And, especially now that Al Gore has un-retired, Hillary might just accept. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

Mike Reagan: The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy Nuts - If the Democrats who spent years making fun of conservatives by ridiculing them as right wing conspiracy nuts look up they will see a fleet of black helicopters hovering overhead. - Read more...
Saturday - December 20, 2003 - 12:45 am

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