Steve Pratt

Inflammatory rhetoric and hurtful words are nothing new in politics, but animosity is neither healthy for crafting sound policy nor an invitation to build consensus.

It was about 9:30 p.m. on a dark, drizzling, late October night. Erin, my 17 year-old daughter, had finished her shift at Red Robin on Dimond and was driving home in our S-10 Blazer. Southbound on the Seward Highway, she was about to get a lesson in Alaska highway dangers.

Increasing legislators' base pay created windfalls for some in the form of a significant increase in future pension payments.