Compass

COMPASS

EPA guidelines for mineral pollution in Alaska are flawed

Quick question: What is the most polluted state in the union? Alaska -- at least that is the answer you will get if you consult the EPA Toxic Release Inventory figures.

COMPASS

City, state will benefit from new port

Just three years after the Port of Anchorage was built, the 1964 earthquake devastated Southcentral Alaska, leveling harbors in other communities. The earthquake weakened some of the port's pilings, but it stood strong and has continued to serve Alaskans for nearly half a century.

COMPASS

Remembering the man who helped revive Yup'ik dancing

Andrew Paukan, Angalraq, of St. Marys died March 2 this year. After waiting the customary 40 days, his wife, Mary, and family hosted a feast for the village.

COMPASS

Union is to blame for prison dispute

I am retiring after 30 years of public service with the Department of Corrections. I would like Alaskans to know the story behind the efforts of the corrections officers union to have Commissioner Joe Schmidt fired.

COMPASS

All Alaskans deserve relief from sting of energy prices

Like a man dying of thirst in the middle of the ocean, Alaskans are adrift in a sea of state cash while our citizens drown in a tidal wave of unjustified costs for heating oil and electricity for homes and businesses.

COMPASS

Lawmakers get 'A' in renewable energy

This year, a strong bipartisan effort by the Legislature put Alaska at the cutting edge for clean, efficient and diversified energy. With residents in rural Alaska paying up to $8 for a gallon of diesel, this could not have come at a better time.

COMPASS

State corrections chief should resign

State corrections commissioner Joe Schmidt did the wrong thing in dismissing his officers' concerns. His negative comments about his officers are a great disservice to the men and women who work hard around the clock, protecting the public from dangerous offenders.

COMPASS

Do we really need to build such a big port in Anchorage?

The Port of Anchorage plays a vital role in Alaska commerce, and a responsible port expansion project should move forward. However, in just six years project costs for the proposed expansion have ballooned from $146 million to at least $700 million.

COMPASS

Polar bear wasn't only strange beast seen in Fort Yukon

The recent unexpected appearance of a polar bear in the Interior Alaska village of Fort Yukon made headlines across the state. This was not the first time, however, that the residents of that village were visited by an animal not generally seen in that area.

COMPASS

Regardless of income, doors to health care should be open

At Providence, the state's largest private health care provider, we believe that health care is a basic human right and that all people should have access to health care regardless of their social or economic circumstances. This week is Cover the Uninsured Week, which highlights the needs of those in our community who lack basic health insurance.

COMPASS

Governor should OK money for new youth crisis center

The Legislature has produced a record state capital budget. In it are many projects requested by citizens to fund a wide variety of projects both publicly and privately owned. Of course, the media response is "pork," "wasteful spending," "bridge to nowhere," and so on.

COMPASS

It's unfair to compare Pebble prospect to Red Dog Mine

With regard to Bruce C. Switzer's piece about Red Dog and Pebble mines ("Red Dog Mine problems offer small preview of Pebble," April 20), most of Cominco's early problems with water quality issues stemmed from inadequate pre-mine environmental studies. The studies done for an evolving permitting system, and in the light of present permitting, were inadequate.

COMPASS

Nice words don't soothe pain of this 'rate adjustment'

I got mugged the other day. Well, OK, maybe not literally. The mugger is Premera Blue Cross of Alaska. The mugging was their latest "rate adjustment." You know, we don't like to use the nasty word "increase."

COMPASS

How's Alaska doing? Money isn't full measure of progress

Next January, the state of Alaska will celebrate its 50th birthday, and the event is already generating some great introspection about who we are, how we got here, and where we go from here. Central to all of this is the question of how we are doing at present.

COMPASS

Hoist a glass to Prohibition's end 75 years ago in Alaska

Beer drinkers in Alaska require no particular reason to enjoy a frosty mug, but they may nonetheless wish to raise a glass this month in honor of the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the Bone Dry Law. Prohibition in Alaska ended April 11, 1933, making legal, for the first time in 15 years, the sale and consumption of alcohol.

COMPASS

Juneau's plight sounds familiar to Bush

I was sorry to hear about the disaster with the current snow slides and the resultant effect of raising the 11 cent per kilowatt electric cost to as much as 35 to 50 cents per kilowatt for Juneau. As much as I feel Juneau's pain, Juneau residents need to understand that there are thousands of us rural Alaskans who would love to only pay only 50 cents per kilowatt for electricity. We could save almost 30 cents a kilowatt!

COMPASS

Denali KidCare bill deserves passage in special session

Sen. Lyda Green has proposed adding two anti-abortion bills to the special session. The subject would create a divisive environment. Sen. Hollis French, an attorney, believes the bills are unconstitutional under state law. Rep. John Harris says they don't have the votes in the Senate to pass them.

COMPASS

Media image of injured skier is wrong

On March 29, while skiing at the Telepalooza extreme skiing competition at Alyeska, Ben Johnson, 34, of Carlo Creek got himself in a tight spot. What he thought was a good line to ski turned out to be full of ice and rocks, and he was left with a difficult decision: ski the rocky line and risk life and limb, or jump off a cliff and hope the landing would be soft.

COMPASS

Global warming demands action, not ill-informed bickering

Despite overwhelming evidence that humans are causing global warming, the arguments of ill-informed skeptics continue to promote the illusion of scientific uncertainty. Because policy makers routinely cite these arguments to justify inaction, they require rebuttal.

COMPASS

To stay healthy, we need to start talking about safe sex

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that one in four teenage girls in the United States have some kind of sexually transmitted disease, or STD.

COMPASS

Red Dog Mine problems offer small preview of Pebble

Of all the fictions peddled by opponents of the clean water initiatives and supporters of the Pebble mine, few are as fanciful as the fairy tale they flog about Red Dog Creek. According to them it was so naturally befouled that nothing could live in it, but now, thanks to mining, it so teems with trout a weir is required to prevent a fish infestation. Baloney.