Ketchikan: Spirits Merry At Annual Christmas Celebration by Tracy Arce - It was a typical Ketchikan day. It was windy with a touch of mist last Friday afternoon. However, the gray skies did not dampen the spirits of all attending the fabulous Christmas luncheon held at the Ketchikan Senior Center. - More...
Thursday - December 23, 2004

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter December 2004 Click on the date for stories and photos published on that day... S M T W T F S 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   Today's Front Page Front Page Archives

National: New forest regulations would eliminate environmental reviews - The Bush administration unveiled new management regulations Wednesday that could open the national forests to increased logging and other commercial activities without the lengthy environmental reviews now required.

Administration officials said the final rules will improve "performance and accountability" in a system that has become mired in lawsuits and environmental challenges. They would give forest managers more flexibility in developing their management plans, the officials said.

Environmental groups say the new rules closely track recommendations from the timber industry and will dismantle wildlife protections on 191 million acres of federal forests that have been in place since the Reagan administration. - More...
Thursday - December 23, 2004

Alaska: Alaska's Air Gets Clean Bill of Health - On December 17th, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Leavitt confirmed what many Alaskans already know - our air is clean.  Alaska meets federal clean air standards for fine particle or PM 2.5 pollution.  "We welcome EPA's announcement.  Alaskans can be proud of our clean, healthy air." said Acting Commissioner Kurt Fredriksson of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). - More...
Thursday - December 23, 2004

University of Alaska diver Shawn Harper takes a water sample from the ocean off Amchitka Island in summer 2004. Amchitka, one of the Aleutian Islands, was the site of three nuclear blasts in the 1960s and 1970s. Photo courtesy Steve Jewett.

Alaska: Diving for signs of nuclear contamination by Ned Rozell - After Stephen Jewett and his diving partners emerged from the chilly waters of the Aleutians last summer, crewmembers of the Ocean Explorer scanned their bodies with Geiger counters. Checking for nuclear contamination isn't standard diving protocol, but they were working off Amchitka Island, the site of three atomic blasts in the late 1960s and 1970s. - More...
Thursday - December 23, 2004

Technology: Hackers turning devious, greedy - The sleuths who track Internet viruses predict hackers will turn cyberspace into a very nasty, money-grabbing place in 2005.

In the Internet's infancy a decade ago, the major threat came from novice hackers experimenting with ways of breaking into someone else's computer for fun. But today's hackers are more malicious and driven to make money from their Internet expertise. - More...
Thursday - December 23, 2004