A legitimate voice for the people
By James Price I think the Clarion’s opinion piece: “Spending cap ruling the correct ruling” reflects very poor judgement on the part of Clarion management. The founders of our great state trusted Alaska citizens with the power of the initiative. The Kenai court was wrong to toss out two initiatives voted for by the people [...]
Education: Why you just can’t get enough
By Steve Gillon As the economy continues to falter, and jobs become harder to keep, and even harder to find, colleges and post secondary training programs are experiencing significant increases in enrollment. The value of post secondary education is obvious to just about anyone, and when jobs are scarce, empty seats in classrooms get scarce, [...]
America: The land of the free
By Barnabas Firth If you were to ask a person from almost anywhere on the political spectrum what the defining characteristic of America is, they would likely refer to our tradition of freedom. Certainly, that is the greatest element of our American heritage.But what is it that defines the American tradition of freedom?While everyone would [...]
Recycle and reuse electronics: don’t dump
By Nina Faust Our landfill is running out of room. Chances are, the amount of electronics being dumped there is more than last year. With digital TV coming soon, many households have replaced old analog TVs with cool, new flat screens and have replaced obsolete computers with the latest model. Now the question: What are you [...]
Food for thought in tough times
By Diana Jeska When finances are problematic, food is the first to suffer attention. That’s where we at the Homer Community Food Pantry come in. At least one third of clients receiving food relief in Alaska report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or fuel. Hungry people are high school and [...]
Conservation’s goal includes wildlife diversity
By George Matz An article entitled “Abundance-based Fish, Game Management Can Benefit All,” by Corey Rossi of the Alaska Department of Fish & Game provides an articulate explanation of ADF&G’s current approach to conservation, emphasizing abundant big game harvests. But if conservation means looking at both sides of the equation (utilization vs. preservation), then some [...]
Endangered Species Act: A good law that works for Alaska
by John Schoen and Craig Matkin In January, Gov. Sarah Palin announced the state would challenge the listing of the Cook Inlet population of beluga whales under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The state has expressed concern about population models, and objects to decisions based on "extremely small likelihoods of extinction over extended timeline." In fact, [...]
Fishermen fight together to conserve livelihood
by Alan Parks The Alaska fishing industry and the conservation community have aligned often on the same side of policy issues impacting our way of life and the resources on which we depend. This happened during the fight banning high seas drift nets, which indiscriminately caught millions of Alaska salmon. The fight to prohibit fish [...]
Living in ‘La-La’ land
By Mike Heimbuch Last week’s news is our city’s contribution to the growing list of absurd projects for Obama’s stimulus package. Only in the minds of the hopelessly confused could Homer’s wish list help the economy. It’s just another product of thinking that is out of touch with how small our town is and what [...]
Grocery bags aren’t ‘free’ now
By Dan Thorington Complaints I’ve heard about the plastic bag ordinance can be lumped into these categories: Inconvenience, taxation, and no perceived litter problem. I’d like to address each.Inconvenience: Yes, for little while. Shoppers would have to remember to bring bags from home, and remember to take them from their cars. How long did it [...]
