Anchorage Daily News

STEVENS PARDON BY BUSH HAS SENATE SUPPORT (Politico): Sen. Ted Stevens hasn't yet joined the gallery of notorious felons, small-time crooks and aggrieved innocents seeking pardons from President Bush, but it appears he'll have the support of some of his soon-to-be-former colleagues if he does. "He has served this country for over 50 years," said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), a widely respected member of the Judiciary Committee. "I think most anybody would probably say, ‘Yeah, he should be [pardoned].' "

PALIN A GOP STAR BUT LITTLE LIKED BY CENTER (Politico): Gov. Sarah Palin's flash emergence on the national stage has left her as well positioned as any Republican to make a serious run for the GOP nomination in 2012, yet waning support from the political center may threaten her presidential ambitions, according to a Politico analysis of public polling.

Also: Palin still top GOP pick for 2012 (NewsMax)

EX-ALASKAN PUBLISHES COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES (The New York Times): David Vann, who was born in Adak and spent a good portion of his childhood fishing in Southeast Alaska before moving to the Lower 48, has received a favorable review in The New York Times for his first book of short fiction, "Legend of a Suicide." Most of the stories, some of them semi-autobiographical, are set in Alaska; a nonfiction version of the first story, "Ichthyology," was published in the Daily News in 1992. Read the first chapter of the new book here. Vann's "A Mile Down: The True Story of a Disastrous Career at Sea," a memoir, was published in 2005. His home page is here.

PILING ON PALIN, HATING ON HILLARY (The Daily Beast, Caroline Heldman): Talk of hemlines and hairstyles, child rearing and cookie recipes has dominated media coverage of women in politics since the supposedly post-feminist 1990s. But the sexism directed at Sarah Palin hit a new low. ... As a political scientist who researches sexism in the media, I have studied her pornification and ditzification.

SARAH PALIN: DIGITAL SUPERSTAR (Politico): Four weeks after the Republican ticket suffered a sweeping defeat at the polls, Sarah Palin continues to dominate search engine queries, cable news and online video sites. The only American politician who generates comparable interest is President-elect Barack Obama. No one else is close.

RURAL SCHOOLS LOSE HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS A YEAR (Alaska Newspapers Inc.): State researchers hoping to determine how many people have left rural Alaska for bigger communities report that rural schools lost 1,802 students in the last five years. But hub community schools such as those in Bethel and Kotzebue gained 429 students, and boarding schools increased 109 students.

Also: Counting students a cruel test of reality (Anchorage Daily News)

BIOLOGIST SCARES ALASKA-BOUND SWANS AWAY FROM LEAD (The Associated Press): As the sun set behind Judson Lake near Sumas, Wash., biologist Mike Smith kept vigil in a cramped watchtower with a night-vision scope, a noisemaker and a laser. His mission is to scare trumpeter swans off the lake, away from the shotgun pellets that litter the lake bottom and have killed hundreds of the birds, many of which fly to Alaska in the spring. (with slide show)

NATIVE COMMUNITIES SUE FEDS OVER HOUSING FUNDS (The Associated Press): Metlakatla, which sits on Annette Island south of Ketchikan, says its could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars thanks to a retroactive accounting change made by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

MORE OBAMAS THAN PALINS ON CHRISTMAS TREES (Chicago Tribune): Kimberly Harris of Laramie, Wyo., who sells handcrafted ornaments at etsy.com, says her Barack Obama ornament is outselling her Sarah Palin ornament 7-to-1.

WHEN ‘THE GREAT INFLUENZA' SHUT DOWN KETCHIKAN (SitNews): Dave Kiffer, whose uncle died in the 1918 flu epidemic, revisits the banning of public gatherings and the closure of most stores and offices in Ketchikan 90 years ago in an effort to prevent spread of the flu.

THAILAND-BORN WOMAN AT HOME IN THE SNOW (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner): Aporn Stein doesn't fit the mold of your classic nordic skier. As a child growing up in Thailand, she had always been intrigued by snow. "We saw it on TV, and I wanted to feel what it was like," she said. Then she married an American who took her to Alaska.

Return to Alaska Newsreader through the day for new links.

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‘Spirit' bears subject of animated film (Vancouver Courier)

Navy SEAL candidates learn to fight the freeze (Kodiak Daily Mirror)

Higher pay credited for increase in village public safety officers (Alaska Newspapers Inc.)

Papa Pilgrim's Alaska: The darkest place (Outside)

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