Solve the problem at the root
On the issue of refugees, the problem is not here, it is over there. If the government wants to help out on this issue, then the government can help out over there where the problem is. Bringing refugees here does nothing to help solve the problem over there.
— John Suter
Chugiak
Volunteer help needed for sleeping mat project
The East High Interact Club thanks the community for all of the plastic shopping bags provided to us. The response has been overwhelming! So much so, we need help processing the plastic bags into the "plyarn," or plastic yarn that we use to crochet the sleeping mats! It's simple to learn how to make plyarn, but it is time-consuming to process the tens of thousands of bags we've received. We are happy that some students from other clubs at East have come at lunch or to our special after-school sessions to assist. Thanks as well to Taku Elementary students who've helped during their after-school robotics club since they were already focusing on the issue of plastic bag waste in our environment.
Additionally, Interact students' families and friends, business partners, East Anchorage Rotarians and senior citizens have offered to make plyarn or crochet for us.
Would you or your service club consider helping out? If yes, please stop by club sponsor Kevin Ratliff's Room 57B at East High School (ratliff_kevin@asdk12.org) to pick up plastic bags and plyarn making instructions, or come assist the East High Interact Club from 10:30 to 11 a.m. on Wednesdays. You can also check out several of the completed sleeping mats! Thank you Anchorage!
— Celia Sheppard
President, East High Interact
Anchorage
Trans people no threat to kids
So, Bernadette Wilson is concerned about the safety of our children being molested by transgender people in Alaska bathrooms and this concerned me too.
I wanted to know how prevalent this problem is in Anchorage and so I Googled it and to my surprise — well, not really — I found no cases of transgender people who have molested children in bathrooms in Anchorage.
I guess this is a solution looking for a problem, not the other way around as Ms. Wilson would have us believe.
Transgender people are not a threat to our children. Ms. Wilson should move on to a real problem and stop perpetuating this myth.
— Denise Van Dam
Anchorage
No one hurt by LGBT rights
I encourage all those citizens who have been adversely affected by the new LGBT non-discrimination ordinance to join together to repeal it.
Oh, that's right, there aren't any.
Never mind.
— Leif Simcox
Anchorage
Founding Fathers would be proud of push for equal rights
I have always felt fighting for human rights is a fight worth fighting so, much like my grandparents who stood up for the rights of women to vote in 1920s and my parents who stood up for the rights of African-Americans in the 1960s, I must speak up for those who are still being discriminated against in the 21st century.
In my mind it is very simple. Saying you are against equal rights for the LGBT community in Alaska is just like saying people of color or females don't have equal rights.
I think if you dissected how terrorism seems to find ways of growing and sustaining in the modern world, both liberal and conservatives alike would agree this doctrine is based on fear- mongering and hate of one sect of people and their ideals.
While I actually hold no religious affiliation, I do consider myself a moral person and I do strongly believe in equal rights for all humans no matter their race, religion or sexuality. You should be able to express your love and affection and bask in the rights as any other law-abiding citizen of this great nation. Some may call me a liberal, but I consider myself a patriot and I believe our founding fathers would be proud of our progress toward equality. I only hope the true Christians and moral people alike outnumber the haters and see fit to continue the good fight by supporting equal rights for the LGBT community.
— Kent Scheler
Anchorage
We all want LNG project and need AGDC board to vote 'yes'
Gov. Walker has been a champion of an Alaska gas pipeline for longer than I can remember. When he decided it was in the state's best interest to become a full partner in the Alaska LNG Project by acquiring TransCanada's share, he asked the Legislature to appropriate the funds, and last month we supported the buyout with a vote of 55-3. Now, the state of Alaska has a seat at the AKLNG table.
On Thursday, as a 25 percent owner in the project, the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. will vote whether or not to approve the project's 2016 work program and budget. It is the next step in a series of project milestones and, perhaps, the most important decision for the project this year. It would become the largest infrastructure project in North America, and Alaska needs the jobs and revenue the gas line would provide. Japan and Korea, not to mention China, need the clean power Alaska's gas can provide. The governor needed the Legislature to fund the buyout, and we need him to lead the project to the next milestone. We all need each other; we all want this project; and with that in mind, I ask that the board members of AGDC to vote "yes" to advancing an Alaska natural gas pipeline on Dec. 3.
-- Sen. Kevin Meyer
Anchorage
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