Anchorage Daily News

Our presidential vote means little

I was so thoroughly disheartened on election night when they announced the new president of the United States, I cried. Alaskan citizens were still standing in line to vote. I felt like our presidential vote just did not matter, and does not count, except locally.

Maybe Alaska and other states whose polls were still open can vote a day earlier so as to be a part of the voting process or wait to announce the president until after the polls close. Are we really a part of the USA, or just an afterthought?

-- Frieda Byars

Anchorage

Welcome to the USSA, comrades

Now that we are officially the United Socialist States of America, or USSA, is it appropriate to address each other as comrade?

-- Todd Hathaway

Anchorage

Pebble mine threatens way of life

Mining companies are always saying that they don't know yet if there is going to be a mine. That they are in the exploration stage and for us to wait and see if a mine will be developed. But if we do the wait-and-see and they do develop a mine, it will be too late for us to stop it. So we are doing our own steps to stop the Pebble mine.

When they apply for the permit, it will be too late for the locals who fully oppose the mine to do anything. No, we can NOT do the wait-and-see attitude the mining companies are telling us to do! Our way of life as we know it will be gone when the mine is developed.

I am writing on behalf of my family and my grandson who loves his fish. He will eat fish day in and day out if he can. He lives in Anchorage but eats Native food when we bring it in for them. When we ask what he wants to eat, he wants fish. He loves his subsistence food and I want to be sure he can eat safely. I want him to have the subsistence food to pass on to his own kids so it won't just be a story for them of when we were once able to eat the fish and moose meat and how we were able to eat the berries and plants.

-- Sally Gumlickpuk

New Stuyahok

Story on real estate developers left out donations to community

The front-page story investigating the business affairs between some Alaska politicians and JL Properties was filled with innuendos about possible improper business dealings. The huge amount of newspaper space you devoted to minutely examining real estate transactions and investments uncovered nothing criminal nor unethical, but left the reader with the strong sense that there must be skullduggery involved. Given all the scrutiny given to this matter by the Daily News and others, one would think that "if there's anything amiss someone would have figured it out by now," as attorney Jeff Feldman said.

You were not hesitant to cast the shadow of doubt and impropriety upon Jonathan Rubini and Leonard Hyde, despite the lack of concrete evidence. You do, however, prove yourselves to be not only hesitant but completely remiss in acknowledging the many generous donations made to our community by them and JL Properties. Their contributions to the museum, the Providence Cancer Center, the UAA Consortium Library, the Alaska Dance Theatre, the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, and ANSEP, or UAA Center of Native Science and Engineering Program, to name a few, benefit countless Alaskans.

I guess this is just further evidence of the Daily News publishing what they want to print, hoping to focus on the negative, real or imagined. Your newspaper does a disservice to our community.

-- Gena Columbus

EDITOR'S NOTE: The writer is on the board of an organization which has received a donation from the individuals mentioned in her letter.

Friends and family of John Carlin will remember him as a good man

I've noticed many stories regarding Mechele Linehan, and the person she is, but none about John Carlin.

A good man has died, and his life has been reduced to the catchy title: "cohort of a stripper mom." With snotty indifference, people seemed to look at him through the media lens as if he were an undesirable, a hapless twit who socialized with scum, and as such, deserved the worst of what life had to offer.

Though perhaps far from sainthood, John was a caring, witty man with a sharp mind and a tenacious personality. He was as unique as they come. A quiet man, he was fascinated by odd trivia, loved dogs and had a dry but fantastic sense of humor. He was especially light-hearted about the "Carlin luck" he was so known for having.

I can hear him now, he'd probably laugh indifferently about this whole mess and say "well that's just the old Carlin luck." It was this sense of humor that got him through. Never one to throw himself a pity party, he was always sympathetic to others and remained hopeful that he would come home to us on appeal. While sadly, this will never happen, his friends and family have committed themselves to remembering him for what he was -- a good man.

-- Laura Moeller

East Lansing, Mich.

Time change saves no energy here

In his recent letter, Stan Jones' argument to keep using daylight saving time is not based on saving energy. Saving energy is the reason the federal government allows DST to be used by the individual states, including Alaska. No utility in Alaska has ever testified that use of DST saves energy. Do your utility bills show a savings when we use DST?

Mr. Jones is arguing for a time zone change, which is a completely different concern. However, if our Legislature would end the use of DST in Alaska during the upcoming session, I believe that Mr. Jones and I could both be happy, because we both could quit changing all our timekeeping devices twice each year and suffering state-sponsored jet lag each spring and fall.

-- Lynn Willis

Eagle River

Ordinary citizens keep city safe

Before attending a Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting with Police Chief Huen recently, I read a School District e-announcement "Watchful school neighbor leads police to burglary suspects" (Oct. 21). The Dimond High neighbor who had notified 911 was at the meeting and explained how State Rep. Bob Buch had been the catalyst for her neighborhood's recently organized Crime Watch.

Representative Buch has been educating constituents about this successful program while walking door-to-door. Sand Lake (District 27) currently has the highest concentration of Crime Watch neighborhoods in the municipality. That's a good thing! Of more than 9,000 residential and commercial burglaries in the last six years (2002-2007), only five occurred in NCW areas according to Director Wade Lacey.

Preventing crime and reporting suspicious activity is everybody's business. As assistant school superintendent George Vakalis said, "School buildings belong to the community and we are grateful for neighbors who act as our eyes and ears outside of the school day." Ordinary citizens are key in keeping our town safe.

-- Kitte Miller

Anchorage

Thanks for Maggie's new home

Hooray for Maggie! It's so wonderful that Maggie finally has a good home and a better environment than here in the bitter cold of Alaska. Plus she has companions that took her in as one of their own. Also I would like to give thanks to PAWS, Bob Barker and all the other sponsors and supporters who rallied for Maggie's well-being. Thank you. Makes me wonder how Annabelle survived those long years at the Alaska Zoo.

-- Rob Lee

Anchorage

We sure showed outsiders

Way to go fellow Alaskans! We sure showed those outsiders that we don't do things their way! We do it the Alaskan way, the right way. So let those Lower 48-ers flounder around in search of honest representation.

We showed them all that we Alaskans won't fall for that weakness; no sir! We'll take a convicted felon and a corrupt buffoon anytime. We know what's right for Alaska.

-- Harry D. Fox

Chugiak

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