Iditarod coverage the greatest
Thank you for all the news coverage, and always welcoming me to your newspage by my first name. I live 2,000 miles away and the only way that I have to stay in touch is through you.
Your coverage of the Iditarod race is the greatest that I have ever known. Thanks again to all, and God Bless.
-- Orval Boehler
Zap, N.D.
Take time to thank a soldier
I am a disabled veteran who moved to Alaska to support my son who is deployed to Afghanistan, and I also have a daughter deployed in Iraq. They are my only children. I find it very hard to read about the deaths over there and I sometimes get very angry that we are still there. But I know it is for a good reason. I want to send a prayer out to all the men and woman who put their lives on the line for us each and every day. And to the parents of these courageous soldiers, I just want to say that they should be proud to have a son or daughter that is willing to sacrifice for us all. Be blessed and stay strong.
Every day I work with soldiers at Fort Richardson and I have to say I am extremely proud to be able to help soldiers with their transition out of the military. I have met such wonderful individuals, who even after multiple deployments still have that zest for life and living. So if you encounter a soldier today, thank them for their sacrifice.
-- Kim Callahan
Anchorage
Teachers, take a tip from AIG
It occurs to me that the teacher unions should look again at the issue of merit teacher pay. This is especially true if such pay is called a "bonus." I bring this up in light of the AIG bonuses being paid to the very employees responsible for bringing their firm to its knees. If teachers allow themselves to work according to the rules that AIG corporate executives do, they could head for the cellar of competency and still expect to receive a considerable level of remuneration.
Teachers would no longer need to worry about how well prepared their charges were before coming into their classroom. There'd be no more concerns about how difficult their students' lives are outside of school compared with students in another classroom or school.
In fact, teachers may find there's a real advantage to wreaking havoc on their class' chances for success when you think of the federal funds that could be expected to pour into a poorly performing school district in order to bail it out. But don't count on any teacher trying for reward in such a manner.
-- Mark Lovegreen
Anchorage
Emergency system flaws ignored
Seven years ago Anchorage was forced to come to terms with the fact that its emergency 911 system was woefully inadequate and near fatally flawed at times. This fact came to public light when the system's flaws caused a 49-minute delay in emergency response to my mother when she lay helpless and bleeding after being shot four times.
When an ad hoc task force was convened to investigate the system's flaws, it became apparent that many of the system operators were aware of these flaws. Yet they never came forth publicly about the flaws, since they had never appeared to cost anyone's life; nor had the flaws otherwise been of consequence.
Until now, emergency room trauma care, which is an integral element to emergency response, had never been uniformly addressed in Alaska. Unlike the emergency 911 system, there is a group of doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel who are affirmatively exposing the flaws in Alaska's trauma care in the hope that it will preempt a sensational and highly publicized, yet preventable, loss of life due to non-standardized trauma care in Alaska.
In Anchorage, only the Alaska Native Medical Center has a trauma designation. The Legislature is currently contemplating a bill to help standardize trauma care in Alaska; it remains to be seen whether it becomes law.
-- Gerad Godfrey
Eagle River
Bring back our missing moose
Our family moved to the Valley in 2000. My wife and I commute to work five days a week. In winter my wife entertained herself by counting the moose as we crossed that long stretch of road called the flats. She would count 30 to 40 moose every day until spring. Every year the numbers would get lower. Now she is excited to see three or four.
So we ask you, where have the moose gone? Think positively about predator control and get our wildlife back!
-- Coy Bailey
Palmer