Pebble concentrate could travel

If you live in Alaska you have heard of the Pebble mine controversy. One one hand they say there are millions to be made; on the other, the dam holding all the poison could ruin Bristol Bay.

I flew for the Johnny Mountain mine complex in Canada out of Wrangell. That mine was on a bench on Johnny Mountain at 3,500 feet with not enough ground for the holding pond or water to process the concentrate. The mine built a runway and had Northern Air Cargo fly the concentrate to Wrangell, where it was barged to Japan, if I remember correctly.

If Pebble is so rich, why not truck and boat the concentrate to Pedro Bay in Cook Inlet and process it in another country? Making the mining and transportation available for jobs here without the risk of killing Bristol Bay.

-- Joe Polanco

Kodiak

Service teachers should be saved

By next year, Service High School will be losing 10 teachers. In my point of view, they shouldn't have to cut teachers over money issues. It's going to cause a lot of problems next year such as having larger class sizes, students not getting one-on-one time when they need it, less learning and more class distractions.

The community could get involved and put together fundraising projects.

Displacing teachers will save money, but education will decrease over time. It will cause more students to drop out, graduation rates will be lower, and students won't try their best from being stressed out from large class sizes.

If the governor decides not to cut teachers, students will be able to learn more, concentrate better, and teachers will be able to have one-on-one time with the students.

-- Amanda Kalkins

Service High School

Anchorage

Publicity may reduce suicide rate

My class and I have been working on our Project Citizen; our topic is suicide.

Project Citizen is an opportunity for students to make a difference in our community. And we were wondering if you could put a suicide awareness or suicide prevention plan in your daily paper. We think if we get the word out we can help more people from the thoughts of suicide.

Alaska has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. And we want to have the lowest. But we can't do that if we don't get the word out. That's why we need a little help.

Please help us get the word out.

-- Lance Cormier

Gruening Middle School

Eagle River