Anchorage Daily News

Of course fresher gas costs more

While I am parked in my car pondering the 8-8-08 Daily News article on gross differences in gasoline prices between Alaska and other states, a Wonder Bread delivery truck pulls up and parks right in front of me.

The universe, in its timely wisdom, provides an epiphany: "Wonder Bread. 2000 miles fresher. Baked by Alaskans for Alaskans."

Eureka! Our gas costs so much more because it's fresher! None of that stale imported stuff those poor Hawaiians have to pay so much for. Plus we get half-baked excuses about the pricing for Alaskans by Alaskans. It all seems much clearer now. Thanks to Wonder Gas, I don't wonder any more why Alaskans are getting screwed at the pump.

-- Linda G. Jackson

Anchorage

Tying fuel relief to PFD was unjust

I guess members of the military and their families aren't "real" Alaskans.

An economic relief bill is tied to the Alaska PFD disbursement, but not all Alaska residents receive the PFD. I have at least five years left on active duty, and I choose not to receive the PFD because I cannot definitively say that I will retire in Alaska when I am done. My family qualifies for the PFD by every other measure. Yet by tying the economic relief to the PFD, my family is not eligible.

I am left without relief because I have enough integrity to be honest and not fill out the PFD application.

-- Zacarias S. Costilla

Elmendorf AFB

Anchorage

Pebble too big a risk for fisheries

We must vote "YES" on Measure 4.

I compare this issue to allowing a mad bull in a china shop. What we have in Bristol Bay is the jewel in the crown of the fishing industry. Just hearing of the layout of the Pebble mine, and the proposed use of dangerous chemicals such as cyanide (just to name one), boggles my mind. The worst part, I think, is that Willie Hensley and the NANA Corporation have sold out to a foreign mining company just to get a few token jobs for some of the people in the region.

To trade the pristine beauty and the natural resources of Bristol Bay for what will be the ugliness and the endlessness of the "Pebble Poison Pit" is to myself, and many others, unthinkable. Wake up, Alaska, before it's too late.

-- Bruce Hedlund

Sitka

People's trash brings in the bears

In response to Bill Starr's Aug. 5 Compass piece titled "City needs plan to deal with bears to prevent tragedy," I would like to point out that the city already has a plan in place. The city studied corridors where bears are more numerous, and wrote an ordinance that forbids leaving out household garbage. That garbage is the reason why bears are attracted to the urban area in the first place.

However, so far numerous residents in Anchorage and Eagle River simply will not cooperate. Rick Sinnott, state Fish and Game biologist, has noted that more than half the homes in our area leave their garbage out all week long for bears to find!

How misleading for Mr. Starr to state that the Eagle River bear was teaching her young about their new urban environment. More accurately, he might have said that homeowners are themselves the cause for attracting bears into an urban area, with the odor of their own rotting garbage.

We can do two things right away -- give the city the funds it needs to enforce the existing ordinance, and then follow the example of the residents of Talkeetna. They recently put in bear-resistant containers, which dramatically reduced bear presence in their community.

-- Bryce Timm

Anchorage

Pebble's too sketchy yet to attack

The Alaskans for Clean Water group is currently running an ad that I think deserves scrutiny.

They state, "Every mine on Earth like Pebble has polluted the waters around it." Pebble can't be compared to any mine on Earth yet, as it has yet to be developed and it is still undecided whether it will be underground or open pit or how the tailings would be stored.

This is a misleading claim and is unfair to the voters of Alaska, who deserve facts and not assumptions when choosing how to vote on Prop 4.

-- Dena Kelley

Eagle River

Obama calls us all to dream higher

Why does Barack Obama matter? It is simple: It is not because he is biracial, it is not because he is eloquent in speech. It is not because he came from humble beginnings. It is not because he is a Democrat or an independent thinker. It is not because he is perfect, because he clearly isn't -- after all, there is only One who is perfect. It is because of this: He encourages me.

Barack worked hard for his community, and in later years of his life, when most politicos were well-established, he emerged seemingly out of nowhere. I, like many other Americans, have aspirations to do great things. I am a father, a husband and an employee at a wonderful Alaska Native-owned organization and I've got dreams, basketfuls of 'em.

The Obama story is about dreaming, planning, dedication, passion and service, and that, my friends, is as American as you can get.

-- Timothy Johnson

Chugiak

Bears come with warning systems

With the recent string of bear attacks against humans, I have to wonder. Were the victims listening to what nature was telling them or were they listening to music on their stereo headsets? Many years ago my husband and I were encroaching on some bear territory. The bear gave out some distinctive warnings, such as ground thumping, and my husband and I turned around with that warning. Before you kill the bear, maybe you should ask: Was it the bear's fault?

-- Lynette Watson

Anchorage

Measure will help clean up politics

Ballot Measure No. 3 is Alaska Clean Elections. This important initiative hasn't gotten much attention in this busy election season. But the primary vote will determine the role of political contributions in Alaska's future.

The initiative, if passed, will provide an alternative to our current system where most political campaigns are funded by special interests. Measure No. 3 sets up a public financing alternative for candidates who can raise enough small contributions from their own district. The system is voluntary, and tried and proven in many states and jurisdictions around the country.

Cleaning up Alaska politics isn't going to occur overnight. But Measure No. 3 is an important step in that direction. I've worked on many Alaska campaign finance reform initiatives over the last 20 years, and I'm convinced this is the most important of them all.

-- David Finkelstein

Anchorage

Best to avoid bears' backyards

Sean Farley's research determined that some 36 individual brown bears visit or inhabit Campbell Creek; that research goes back three years. This year, several bad run-ins have occurred. I urge people not to pressure officials to carry the fight to the bears. This year, the odds have caught up with us.

People really should avoid Rover's Run and similar trails that parallel the creek, including Spencer, Moose Ridge and parts of the Rondy trails along the North Fork of the creek. Instead, in the last several days, a brown sow protecting cubs has charged and/or injured people on those trails. Not to be disrespectful to those who've been injured recently, but if we aren't making enough noise to warn a sow/cubs or hungry boar, then we're not upholding our end of the deal.

-- Joe Cantil

Anchorage

Vickers' campaign has precedent

I think the Vic Vickers candidacy for Senate represents a true turning point in Alaska politics. Surely he will go down in history with ... umm ... that guy who ran for governor 10 or 12 years ago ... umm ... what was the name of that goofy crank?

-- John Schwartz

Chugiak

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