Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich held a news conference Wednesday, the morning after the state's Division of Elections determined he had won the U.S. Senate seat occupied since 1968 by Sen. Ted Stevens. Read more...

Tressa Lynn Towne, 21, died Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008, in Muskegon, Mich.

Lonnie Samuel Thomas, Tlingit name Sagooha, 75, died Nov. 14, 2008, surrounded by his partner and family in Seattle after a long battle with cancer.

Former Ketchikan resident Kristina "Tina" Marie Edwards, 33, died Nov. 2, 2008, in Gulfport, Miss.

... all of us. We have neighbors who are willing to take their turns in public service, which they've indicated by filing for office.

Filing for the Ketchikan Gateway Borough election closed Monday, and that left us with the following candidates for borough office, including mayor, Borough Assembly, and Ketchikan School Board - listed in the order in which they filed:

• For borough mayor: incumbent Joe Williams and Dave Kiffer. Thank you!

• For the three, three-year terms on the Borough Assembly: Justin Carro, incumbent John Harrington, incumbent Jim Shoemaker, Todd Phillips, Ty Rettke and Janine Gibbons. Thank you!

• For School Board: Patrick E. Johnston and Dave Lieben filed Monday. Thank you!

School Board members Russell Thomas and Carl Webb did not seek re-election. We thank them, too, for their service on the local governing body.

The local election is Oct. 7. We'll also be electing City of Ketchikan candidates to four City Council seats. But the filing period for city has a week remaining, with the deadline set for 5 p.m. Sept. 9.