COMPASS: RICK WEBB

Vision loss still disabling even if not always total

Not long ago I swerved to avoid running into a man who stepped in front of me as we crossed Fifth Avenue in Anchorage from opposite directions. His response was to berate me, accusing me of being the perfect example of fraud -- taking advantage of the system.

COMPASS: DOUGLAS ABBOTT

Freezing wages of those tipped is cold act

Here we go again. CHARR has managed to rope in the Legislature on the latest pursuit of its longstanding dream of rifling through the pockets of tipped Alaska employees.

COMPASS: JEFF PANTAGES

Holmes' caution applies to warming issue

There is great line in the new Sherlock Holmes movie, but first, an old joke.

COMPASS: MARVIN YODER

US has reasons to spend a lot in Alaska

Julia O'Malley in her column ("Dear feds: We loathe you. Please send money," Jan. 22) implies it is hypocritical for conservatives to complain about federal spending when Alaska receives so many federal dollars. Well, let's examine those dollars.

COMPASS: FRANK BAKER

Lighten up, Alaska -- the sun is coming

Soaring health care costs, an astronomical federal deficit, double-digit unemployment, insidious global terrorism, high energy costs... These and other critical issues pervade our consciousness day in and day out. They claim prime real estate in this newspaper and other news media. They seem to rule our lives.

COMPASS: JOANNE KENEN

Integrated teams here lead way to comprehensive care

The buzzwords of health reform can sound abstract and confusing. Yet ideas like patient-centered medical homes, integrated care teams and chronic disease management are already reality in Alaska, at Southcentral Foundation, a nonprofit health provider owned by, led by, and serving Alaska Natives.

COMPASS: HARRIET DRUMMOND, ELVI GRAY-JACKSON and MIKE GUTIERREZ

Advisory vote is first step to tax relief

The Anchorage Assembly worked in good faith for the past six months with Mayor Dan Sullivan as the new administration fully transitioned into office and completed its first budget. The resulting budget was underfunded by $10 million, resulting in layoffs and unfilled positions, service cuts and polarizing political battles with city unions, all in the name of "tax relief."

COMPASS: JAMES MURPHY, Ph.D.

Endowment may help well-off kids most

One of the many items on the agenda for the new legislative session is Governor Parnell's proposal to establish a $400 million endowment for merit scholarships. Alaskan students will be able to use the scholarship to attend in-state universities or vocational schools. The amount a student receives will be based upon his or her high school grade point average.

COMPASS: STEVE BOYD

Merkley amendment a good thing overall

Recent commentary would lead some to believe that the Merkley amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Coverage Act (HR 3590) will somehow place an onerous burden on construction contractors that will force contractors to close their doors.

COMPASS: MAUREEN SUTTMAN

PFD checks aren't worth the price we pay

As the new year starts, Alaskans begin filing the paperwork to get their beloved Permanent Fund dividend. I hear lots of people talking about how large the Permanent Fund check will be this year and what they will spend it on. Never have I heard or read about not taking the dividend.

COMPASS: SEN. FRED DYSON

Alaska's natural gas can run vehicles too

How ironic that the Legislature spent so much time over the past couple of years trying to figure out how to reduce the price Alaskans pay at the pump for gasoline while continuing to allow our local refineries to earn an acceptable return on their investment.

COMPASS: SEN. MARK BEGICH

First year focused on honoring promises

I marked my first year as a U.S. senator on Jan. 6. With an international recession, two wars and a growing national debt, the past year has been one of the busiest in congressional history.

COMPASS: CLOVER SIMON

To cut abortion, prevent unintended pregnancy

It has been 37 years since the Supreme Court rendered its landmark decision guaranteeing a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy. Abortion existed before the decision known as Roe v. Wade but the choices for women then were incredibly expensive or extremely dangerous.

COMPASS: KAREN L. LEWIS

Womb has become deadliest place on Earth

Everyone realizes that legal abortion was enacted by the Supreme Court on Jan. 22, 1973. At the time this nefarious law was decreed, those judges didn't have a clue about the developing child within the womb. They didn't know about the beating heart at three weeks after conception, or the appearance of the child's fingerprints and brain waves at six weeks into the pregnancy.

COMPASS: MATT WALLACE

Murkowski EPA attack raises questions

We all know that big money buys access and influence in politics -- that's a big part of why so few people trust their elected officials to represent their interests, in Juneau or in Washington.

COMPASS: REP. CHRIS TUCK

Education will keep Alaska growing

As a former School Board member and now as a state representative, I've been showered for years with a number of ideas "for the children" because they are our "most precious resource."

COMPASS: DAVID S. CASE

Lawyers make King holiday a 'day on'

Unlike most holidays, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a day of service--a day "on" rather than a day "off." It is a chance to give something back to our community as a living testament to Dr. King's belief that each person can truly change the world.

COMPASS: DALE FOX

Bill gives power to cap tipped wages

This month, the approximately 8,800 Alaskans making minimum wage receive a pay raise. About half of them earn tips in addition to their hourly wage working in bars, restaurants and hotels.

COMPASS: JEFF SCHMITZ

Keeping walks clear not rocket science

Trips anywhere on sidewalks or multiuse paths this winter have been treacherous for pedestrians and cyclists. Last week I watched as a lady flipped a powered wheelchair at Arctic and Dimond after negotiating a sidewalk berm.

COMPASS: THE REV. LISA A. SMITH

Anchorage's homeless need safe housing

Last summer's high death toll among Anchorage's homeless population highlights the need for new solutions to an old problem. After 55 Native Americans died on Minneapolis streets in the 1990s, a housing facility for chronic public inebriates, Anishinabe Wakaigun, was opened in 1996. It has saved dollars and lives.

COMPASS: REBECCA LOGAN

Backroom health deal hurts contractors

An eleventh-hour backroom deal in the U.S. Senate is sending shock waves through America's construction industry, and could cost thousands of jobs.