Let’s play nice
As a country, we often complain about the “new lows” candidates sink to when coming to the end of an often fierce and furious campaign. The truth is, we’re simply carrying on a more than 200-year-old tradition that has never done anything but further dig party lines in the sand.
Dual escort tugs are essential
The Exxon Valdez oil spill fouled 1,300 miles of Alaska’s coastline, killed thousands of seabirds and marine mammals, closed fisheries — some of which have still not reopened — and inflicted social and economic devastation upon people of communities throughout Prince William Sound and adjoining waters. Many of the spill’s effects linger 21 years later
What would you trade for salmon?
Scotland, England, Norway, Japan, Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Maine, New York, Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Washington … all used to have wild salmon runs. Those runs have all died out. Overfishing is often blamed, but the single largest factor in losing salmon runs has been ruining the stream and lake habitat in which they need to grow. This has been due to other resource use. Logging brought erosion, hydroelectric dams blocked fish passage, farming siphoned water for irrigation and mining polluted watersheds.
‘I am a pedestrian’
The attitude that was expressed in a letter printed in the paper on Aug. 24 demonstrates a lack of knowledge about roadway privileges, a point of view which appears to be widely shared. Happily, it is not usually accompanied by such a vindictive mean-streak.
Letters – Sept. 1
A little food for thought
Statistics show that one out of every three children is overweight or obese in this country. The Kenai Peninsula Borough is not exempt from this trend, and we — as a family, community, district, state and nation — need to do all we can to halt this trend. We need to [...]
Moral crimes in an immoral society
It seems relatively ridiculous to actually have to sit down and write an editorial that explains why it’s not OK for grown men to have sex with 15-year-old girls.
Yet, here I am.
On Saturday, the Anchorage Daily News ran a front page story of a woman who alleged that former Veco chief Bill Allen “repeatedly paid her for sex, starting when she was 15.”
The U.S. Department of Justice says it won’t prosecute him for those crimes, and won’t say why, according to the Daily News.
HEA draft rate plan chosen
The Homer Electric Association Board of Directors defined the direction it will take in redesigning our cooperative’s rate structure at the Aug. 18 ratemaking workshop. There appeared to be 20 to 25 HEA members in the Homer office and three in the Kenai office for the event. Kudos to those of you who took time to attend or who expressed your thoughts at the previous night’s HEA Board meeting.
Environment needs government attention
As an Alaskan and a fisherman, I must register my sincere displeasure at the lack of leadership of late from our two U.S. senators. Alaskans and their economy face an imminent threat from climate change and ocean acidification, yet Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich appear to prefer the easy playfield of partisan politics to the hard work of writing significant energy policy for our future.
Letters – Aug. 25
Goodbye to a good friend
I wish to say a public goodbye to my friend David Tomaszewicz. He lived with his wife, Janet, in the home they built, along Barabra Creek near Seldovia. We became friends and shared cups of tea and coffee, stories and first trips to Alaska. His was on a bicycle he designed [...]
Something to talk about
No one wants to talk about our days in Homer getting shorter, and darker … and rainier. The change of seasons is inevitable, and — often in the case of summer-to-fall — brings an increase in depression.
No one wants to talk about that either.
Unfortunately, ignoring it can be deadly.
Two weeks ago, a young Homer man reportedly took his own life.
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