Why is there such an assault on civil rights across the board in this country? The government is dictating religious bias rather than good government. This is an outrage. The people of Alaska pride themselves on environmental protection yet this is front page headlines in Juneau. This needs to be litigated before the courts.
Murkowski moves to kill gay benefits
Governor, GOP senator will try to change Alaska constitution
By ANDREW PETTY
JUNEAU EMPIRE
A long battle is expected in a recent court ruling that requires the state to give certain benefits to public employees with same-sex partners.
Gov. Frank Murkowski and a Republican state senator are vowing to fight Friday's Alaska Supreme Court ruling by changing the state constitution.
Juneau resident Lin Davis, also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the response to the ruling is a step back in the struggle to give homosexual partners the same rights as married couples.
"I think it really puts a mirror up to (Murkowski)," Davis said.
Alaska became the 12th state on Friday to offer same-sex benefits to partners of state employees when the court unanimously ruled that denying benefits violated the Alaska Constitution's equal protection clause.
Sen. Fred Dyson of Eagle River and the Department of Law already are drafting an amendment borrowing language from Ohio's constitution.
It says: "No provision of this constitution shall be interpreted or applied so to require the state or its political subdivisions to extend or assign the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities or effects of marriage to any other union, partnership or legal status."
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/110105/sta_20051101002.shtml
My Turn: Kensington Mine needs environmental safeguards
By MELANIE N. BROWN
I was sitting on the beach at Point Bridget on one of those rare fall days when the sun was shining and the view into Berners Bay was spectacular. In this peaceful setting, I reflected on how this all may change when the Kensington Mine goes into full operation. Will I hear the distant rumble of machinery over the lapping of the waves and the call of the ravens? Will the ferry from Cascade Point for the miners disrupt the feeding behavior of the birds and marine mammals in the bay? Will marine transport activities diminish habitat for spawning herring, an important food source for birds and mammals? Three minor spills at the Kensington Mine have been reported to the state of Alaska since July 2005 (Oct. 4 Juneau Empire). With increased mining activity, how many more spills will happen, and how much can the fragile Berner Bay ecosystem take?
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/110105/opi_20051101018.shtml
Three Southeast towns hope ferry route will attract tourists
Group promotes its communities under brand name 'Alaska's Rainforest Islands'
The Associated Press
A ferry slated to begin sailing Southeast Alaska next spring will create a new transportation corridor in an area usually transited only by floatplanes and fishing boats.
But the three small communities connected by the route hope for more than the marine equivalent of a freeway.
Petersburg, Wrangell and Coffman Cove plan to use the ferry Stikine as the center of a new tourism marketing campaign. The Central Southeast Regional Partnership is promoting its communities under the brand name "Alaska's Rainforest Islands."
Petersburg Economic Development Director Eric Phillips said the towns hope to attract visitors by advertising the area's scenery, wildlife, history, and Native culture.
"Between the three communities, we basically have a majority of the top things people come to Alaska to experience," Phillips said.
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/110105/sta_20051101003.shtml
Coastal environmental document gets little comment
Written statements must be submitted to NOAA's Maryland office by Monday
By TONY CARROLL
JUNEAU EMPIRE
Juneau residents had little to say Monday about a draft environmental review of a state plan to change Alaska's coastal management program, but a state official said the changes are by no means "noncontroversial."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration must publish its final environmental impact statement by Jan. 1 or the state will withdraw from the program, said Randy Bates, acting director of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources programming and permitting division. Although NOAA initially declined to approve the state's coastal management plan, the state got approval for its reworked plan in June.
"We're ready to go now," Bates said Monday.
NOAA representatives held a public hearing on the draft EIS in Monday in Juneau. Only one person spoke, representing Oceana, an environmental conservation group that operates its Pacific Region Office in Juneau.
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/110105/sta_20051101011.shtml
Alaska editorial: Take time to get pipeline deal right
This editorial first appeared in the Anchorage Daily News:
Alaskans agree on several things about the proposed North Slope natural gas pipeline. We want jobs, lots of them.
We want to burn the gas in our homes and offices and electrical-generating power plants, which will mean expensive valves and facilities and pipelines along the route so we can take off the gas at our convenience. But who will front the money for construction and guarantee the operating costs?
We want the tax and royalty revenues that will pay for our schools and roads and public services for years to come, so that we can continue to avoid taxing ourselves for all that we want.
… As they tell gamblers, don't bet what you can't afford to lose.
Our elected officials, our political parties and next year's candidates need to be careful: Don't promise us more than the project can afford; don't entice us with gifts you can't deliver; don't set us up for disappointment when the numbers show what isn't possible.
And one other thing: Don't get so eager to make a deal with the North Slope producers that Alaska comes away with less than it should receive.
The natural gas pipeline is a risky (price of steel, construction delays, future gas prices), expensive ($20 billion and rising) and unique (possible state partnership with three multinational corporations) undertaking that could make Alaskans happy for decades to come. Let's think, let's be realistic and let's get it right.
http://juneauempire.com/stories/102805/opi_20051028016.shtml
The Selma Times Journal
Remembering Rosa
By Cassandra Mickens
Tuesday, November 1, 2005 11:56 PM CST
The Selma Times-Journal
A silent but strong woman.
The Rev. Frederick Reese of Ebenezer Baptist Church will forever remember civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks this way.
Reese joined the front line on March 25, 1965, following Bloody Sunday to march from Selma to Montgomery alongside civil rights icons Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,, Coretta Scott King and Ralph Abernathy.
He met Parks when she joined the marchers as they entered Montgomery. Although their meeting was short-lived, Parks left a lasting impression on Reese.
http://www.selmatimesjournal.com/articles/2005/11/02/news/local/news2410.txt
Harvard students on quest to aid Katrina victims
By Cassandra Mickens
Tuesday, November 1, 2005 11:49 AM CST
The Selma Times-Journal
Ten Harvard Law School students could not stand by and watch Alabama residents lose their homes and livelihoods as Hurricane Katrina swept through the Southeast.
"Watching everything that happened on television, the faces I saw looked like myself," student Chaz Ainett said. "Deep down that was the greatest motivation for me coming here."
C.H.A.S.M. Family Resource Center founders, the Rev. Carl Rawls and his wife Marilyn, are playing host and hostess to the students who are passing through Selma to assist hurricane victims throughout southern Alabama.
C.H.A.S.M., which stands for Caring-Helping-Aiding-Supporting-Mentoring, was contacted by Sanetta Ponton, a Harvard Law Student who was angered as she watched the events of Hurricane Katrina unfold.
"We felt helpless," Ponton said. "We were in a unique situation where we wanted to help but didn't know exactly what to do, how we could assist and we could only give the victims so much money."
With no money to travel to Alabama to help hurricane victims, the students received funding from Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan and the campus Black Law Student Association.
"For most of us, the community in Alabama has been particularly devastated and have not received the same amount of attention as New Orleans and Houston," Ponton said. "We felt that our efforts could be very useful here."
http://www.selmatimesjournal.com/articles/2005/11/02/news/local/news2412.txt
The New Zealand Herald
Australia pushes nuclear power
02.11.05 1.00pm
LONDON - Politicians standing in the way of a nuclear power industry are guilty of "environmental vandalism", Australia's environment minister said today.
Senator Ian Campbell is representing Australia at a major environmental summit in London, comprising the G8 nations, burgeoning powers China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa plus other major nations such as Indonesia.
He described it as "a turning point" in environmental history, with nations becoming increasingly urgent in attempts to curtail the starkly-evident acceleration in global warming.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353211
Microsoft unveils online Windows and Office
02.11.05 1.00pm
SEATTLE - Microsoft has unveiled a new initiative to deliver more of its software's features and services over the internet.
Windows Live and Office Live will give users much of the functionality of the software giant's two most-profitable products, but without the complexity of installing and maintaining the software in computer hard drives, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Ray Ozzie, a longtime software services pioneer who recently joined Microsoft, told reporters in San Francisco.
"Our dream is to deliver a seamless experience where all the technology in your life and business comes together in a way that 'just works' for you," Ozzie said in a statement.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10353201
Hunt for US weapons dump off NZ coast
02.11.05 1.00pm
New Zealand Government researchers have combed the United States Government national archives for information on chemical weapons dumped off the New Zealand coast.
At the end of World War 2, the US Army secretly dumped millions of kilograms of chemical weapons off New Zealand and a dozen other countries.
The dumpings took place as the US was short of space in home-based munitions depots.
US-made weapons litter 30 sites off New Zealand, Australia, New Caledonia, the Philippines, Italy, France, India, Pakistan, Japan, Denmark and Norway, a report by the chemical weapon historical research and response team at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, US, said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353207
Two Koreas to compete as single team at Games
02.11.05 1.00pm
SEOUL - North and South Korea agreed on Tuesday to compete as a single team for the first time at the 2006 Asian Games, and at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, a South Korean official said.
North and South Korea have been bitter ideological - and sporting - rivals for more than 50 years and are gradually building closer relations across the Demilitarised Zone.
"We had discussed making a single team since we jointly marched in such international events six times," Baek Sung-il, a spokesman for South Korea's Olympic Committee, said by telephone from Macau.
"As exchanges between South and North Korea have been progressing, the mood was ripe for reaching such an agreement."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353221
Charles, Camilla view 9/11 sites in New York
02.11.05 1.00pm
NEW YORK - Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, began an eight-day US trip with a visit to Manhattan's Ground Zero and the dedication of the British Memorial Garden to honor victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
After a private tour of the razed site of the World Trade Center's twin towers, the royals spent 10 minutes of reflection among mementos left to honor those who died at the "family room," reserved for relations of victims of the attacks.
Sixty-seven Britons were killed in the hijacked airplane attacks that brought the twin towers down, killing 2,749 office workers, rescuers and others.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353217
Zimbabwe rejecting aid for homeless says UN chief
02.11.05 1.00pm
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's cabinet has rejected United Nations' aid for thousands of Zimbabweans still homeless after a controversial government clean-up campaign earlier this year, a UN statement said.
UN officials have for months been trying to smooth differences with Zimbabwe over a stalled US$30 million ($43.4 million) humanitarian relief programme offered after the government demolished thousands of shacks and "illegal" houses.
In a statement issued in New York and distributed in Harare, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Annan urged Harare to address the needs of those still without homes.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353197
Australia reveals 'specific' terror threat
02.11.05 2.45pm
CANBERRA - Australian Prime Minister John Howard said today he had received intelligence about a "potential terrorist threat".
"The government has received specific intelligence from police information this week which gives cause for serious concern about a potential terrorist threat," Howard told reporters in Canberra.
Howard refused to give details about the nature or location of the threat, but said the government would rush through an amendment to anti-terror laws to enable police to respond.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353235
Paris youths rampage for fifth night
02.11.05 9.20am
PARIS - French youths rampaged through a Paris suburb for the fifth overnight running, prompting fresh criticism of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's "zero tolerance" policy towards the violence.
Eleven vehicles were burned and a policeman lightly injured in the latest overnight disturbances in the northeastern Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where passions were raised a day earlier when a tear gas grenade was fired into a mosque.
The violence began following the death of two teenagers of African origin who were electrocuted last Thursday night while apparently fleeing police.
"It was less serious than the previous nights," said an official at the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture in Bobigny, which oversees Clichy-sous-Bois.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353184
Paris youths rampage for fifth night
02.11.05 9.20am
PARIS - French youths rampaged through a Paris suburb for the fifth overnight running, prompting fresh criticism of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's "zero tolerance" policy towards the violence.
Eleven vehicles were burned and a policeman lightly injured in the latest overnight disturbances in the northeastern Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where passions were raised a day earlier when a tear gas grenade was fired into a mosque.
The violence began following the death of two teenagers of African origin who were electrocuted last Thursday night while apparently fleeing police.
"It was less serious than the previous nights," said an official at the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture in Bobigny, which oversees Clichy-sous-Bois.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353184
Mattel rolls out Elmo that 'knows your name'
02.11.05 1.00pm
NEW YORK - This holiday season, the latest toy version of Elmo, the furry red creature based on a "Sesame Street" character, will do much more than sing, dance or giggle when tickled.
This week, Mattel's Fisher-Price unit is undergoing a full rollout to store shelves of its "Knows Your Name Elmo," a doll that can greet a child by name when it is unwrapped this holiday season, even before being taken out of its box.
The new Elmo comes with a CD-ROM and a USB cable that lets parents download personal information about a child - like his or her favorite color or birthday - into the plush doll.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10353186
Giant star of rare brilliance in our sky
02.11.05
By Grant Christie
Buried deep within a rich region of the southern Milky Way lies a monster star of intense interest to astronomers.
Known as Eta Carinae, it first blazed to prominence in the early 1840s when it brightened to become the second brightest star in the sky, outshining even the brilliant Canopus.
Over the period when the Treaty of Waitangi was being signed, Eta Carinae transformed the whole look of the southern sky.
After 1850, this enigmatic star faded steadily and eventually fell below naked-eye visibility. When I began observational astronomy in 1967, Eta Carinae was easily seen with binoculars but has since been steadily brightening until today, when it can again be glimpsed by the unaided eye.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=325&objectid=10353079
US frees 500 prisoners from Abu Ghraib
02.11.05 8.00am
BAGHDAD - Five hundred prisoners walked free from the US military's Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq on Tuesday, released in a goodwill gesture to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The detainees were presented with a Koran and US$25 on their release which marked Eid al-Fitr celebrations. Their release was in addition to 1,000 prisoners set free in October at the start of the month of fasting.
All 1,500, who also received traditional white shirts, were released after their cases went before an Iraqi-led review board and were found not to have committed serious or violent crimes, the US military said in a statement.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353171
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Overcast
-13.0°
Updated Wednesday 02 Nov 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH PATCHY FOG AND ISOLATED SHOWERS THROUGH 3 AM.VARIABLE WINDS LESS THAN 10 MPH.
37 °F / 3 °C
Overcast
Windchill:
35 °F / 2 °C
Humidity:
87%
Dew Point:
34 °F / 1 °C
Wind:
4 mph / 6 km/h from the North
Pressure:
29.56 in / 1001 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds:
Overcast 1600 ft / 487 m
(Above Ground Level)
end
