Ketchikan Rep. Kyle Johansen's House Bill 327 would make it illegal for retailers to sell DXM, an ingredient in many over-the-counter cough medicines, to anyone younger than 18. DXM products would be required to be clearly marked on the shelves, or moved to a secure location, such as behind a pharmacy counter. Read more...

There is a piece of legislation pending in the Alaska Legislature that might not be there but for the efforts of a Ketchikan woman who saw a problem and worked to resolve it. And more important, because of her efforts, many more people in our community are aware of the problem. Read more...

Rarely do we think someone was over-penalized. If a murderer gets 99 years, we accept it. It's only when a sentence seems insufficient that the general public responds, at least when the murderer is a stranger. Family and friends of victims and suspects often react. Read more...

Alaska's penalties for crimes committed should be increased based on the crime, not the motivation, if they need to be increased. Some might argue that increases are overdue. We've all wondered at some of the penalties handed out for particular crimes, thinking to ourselves: That one got off too easy. Read more...

We remember back to when "No. 1 seed" and "Kayhi's boys team" in the same sentence was thought to be at least an improbable dream. Both the boys and girls teams had to deal with circumstances (we'll reserve "adversity" for life's more severe challenges) that had the potential to put the teams off track a bit for the year. Read more...

We welcome home Ketchikan High School's participants in the Southeast Region 4A basketball tournament with thanks - not just for great tournament play, but for a magical season. There were some long faces in the deflated Mt. Edgecumbe High School gymnasium in Sitka, especially Saturday night, as our boys' team's hopes to move on to state ended so suddenly at the end of a great game. Read more...