Rejoice in the blessings of today
When I arrived in Alaska more than 30 years ago, it seemed folks looked more on the brighter side of things. We rejoiced at a January day above freezing; now we forecast gloom and doom. When folks got strapped for cash, they grabbed a snow shovel, rake or chopping ax; now they grab a cardboard sign and head to the nearest corner. Sure, kings are getting hard to catch, but there are plenty of reds, not to mention berries growing everywhere.
But confusing to me is we are telling OPEC what to do for a change, paying reasonable gas prices at the pump, looking at a couple bucks left in our wallets after paying utility bills and now many of us want to agonize over potential budget shortfalls!
I say rejoice in blessings of today and worry about tomorrow later.
Maybe it's time to put down the tablet, turn off the screen and take a nice walk down our coastal trail.
— Chuck Agate
Anchorage
Moore has no clue on Keystone
In reference to Shannyn Moore's column about our Sen. Lisa Murkowski and the Keystone XL pipeline, I don't know whether Ms. Moore is that naive, misinformed, or blindly anti-Republican. The fact is that when it comes to Sen. Murkowski or the Keystone XL pipeline, Ms. Moore simply doesn't know what she is talking about.
— Bob Lewis
Wasilla
Resist the urge to feed the ducks
The Jan. 20 front-page photo of a child walking through a huge flock of mallards with the caption "Everything's just ducky at Cuddy Park" is one of those "awwww" pictures. However, everything is not ducky in the Cuddy ponds, where these ducks are living year-round in large numbers because humans feed them. Feeding waterfowl — or any wildlife for that matter — is not good for them nutritionally, and it's not good for us.
Neighborhoods downstream on Fish Creek, of which these ponds are a part, are the recipients of high levels of fecal coliform in their creek water that comes, in part, from excessive duck poop. Anchorage Waterways Council regularly tests local creeks for fecal coliform which could indicate pathogens that can be harmful to humans. Hundreds of ducks are now crowded into small areas of water where the possibility exists of them contracting or spreading diseases rapidly due to close contact, and there is increased fecal contamination to our waterways.
We need to look at the ducks (and geese during the summer), enjoy them, take pictures, but stop feeding them entirely. Wild creatures know how to fend for themselves.
— Cherie Northon
executive director
Anchorage Waterways Council
Municipal revenue sharing a good idea
Contrary to a statement in your recent story about a proposal to cut funding for municipal revenue sharing, the program was not launched to help municipalities when oil prices are high; rather, it was launched to share the state's wealth with government at the local level. Unlike the trickle-down economics of giving back hundreds of millions of dollars to profit-making oil companies, the revenue sharing program is an example of legislation that our elected officials got right. It benefits residents in every municipality throughout the state; it helps local communities provide police, fire, and public safety departments, road maintenance, and other essential services; and it also helps reduce local property taxes.
It is a wise and effective use of state resources for the people of Alaska, unlike the short-sighted, misguided, and far more costly oil tax giveaway that was vigorously supported by the previous administration and many of our current legislators, but with damaging effects we must now deal with.
— Andy Durny
Fairbanks
Police not enforcing speed limits
Officers ought to be ashamed!
I've lived here three years and love Alaska. What I don't love is my commute between Chugiak and work. I'm totally mystified why the Anchorage Police Department and Alaska State Troopers allow complete disregard for speed limits and safe driving during morning commute hours.
Speeds well in excess of 10 mph over the posted limit are the norm, not the exception. Not a morning goes by that I don't have multiple drivers dangerously tailgating me when I'm doing the speed limit, regardless of which lane. Drivers show no regard for construction decreased speed limits in Eagle River nor is it enforced. What makes matters worse is the disregard for safety of some of the police officers while the roads, especially entrance and exit ramps, are so icy. Several officers have parked at the Thunderbird Falls curved ramp onto the Glenn Highway with their lights off, in the dark, right in the curve where cars trying to get on the highway could easily slide into them.
The "frosting on the cake" for me was the recent morning when a black, unmarked car refused to yield as I was trying to carefully accelerate and get on the highway. Not only would it have been a simple courtesy but expected safe driving from someone who should set an example. I truly do not understand the lack of any enforcement of speed limits and construction zones during the most dangerous time of the day.
— Susan Connell
Chugiak
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