Free Republic

JUNEAU -- Lauri Waterman heard her killer coming. Lying in bed alone in her Craig home, the 48-year-old mother heard the footsteps coming up the stairs long after midnight. Her husband and daughter were out of town for the weekend, and she had carefully locked the doors, but now she sensed somebody outside her bedroom. Waterman didn't call the police or confront the intruder. She got up and closed the bedroom door. In a Juneau courtroom Wednesday, Ketchikan District Attorney Stephen West offered jurors a riveting account of the night Waterman died, based largely on the confessions of her killers....

WASHINGTON--Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton signed a plan Thursday that would open most of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska's northwestern region to oil and gas leasing, defying environmental critics who said she ignored a chance to bar development from important wildlife areas. Norton's decision concludes a two-year effort by the Bureau of Land Management. The agency finished an environmental impact statement on a few alternative plans late last year. Norton chose the BLM's preferred alternative, with a few changes. She deferred leasing in the southernmost section of the planning area--the Colville Special Area--until other plans surrounding the area are complete....

The president of the lead group opposed to Alaska's latest wolf-control plan exhibited typical behavior Friday when she engaged in a bit of extremism following a sound court ruling that allows the program to proceed. She said she hoped the state would not "rush out and annihilate the wolves." That, of course, is not the state's plan. About three to four dozen wolves in a small portion of the state near McGrath will be killed, with the aim of improving a moose population whose numbers have consistently remained too low for that community's subsistence needs. A few dozen wolves likely...

LOS ANGELES, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday dismissed a $10 million lawsuit filed by Barbra Streisand against a multimillionaire who posted photos of her Malibu estate on a Web site documenting erosion along the California coast. A longtime environmentalist who is also intensely private, Streisand sued Kenneth Adelman in May accusing him of violating California's anti-paparazzi law and her privacy rights. She demanded that Adelman remove her name and the photo of her estate from his Web site, (http://www.californiacoastline.org). But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Allan Goodman on Wednesday ruled that the diva's lawsuit chilled...

Republicans searching to fill Murkowski's vacancyJUNEAU (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski had barely taken office when the search to fill the void in the state House began Friday. The 45-year-old Anchorage lawmaker was named by her father, Gov. Frank Murkowski, to assume the seat he has held for 22 years. Lisa Murkowski had been readying herself to return to Juneau after winning a third term in office and being picked by House Republicans as Majority leader. ''We're going to have to revisit the whole issue again,'' said House Speaker-elect Pete Kott, R-Eagle River. ''There are probably three or four...

| For much of the last century, white Southerners were routinely (and rightly) taken to task for not speaking out against the violent actions of racists. For a time at least, the Klan seemed to be able to lynch and beat black men with impunity. White Southern silence meant tacit approval to many. The South eventually left its racist past behind, but only when its politicians and community leaders spoke out aggressively against the hateful acts of white supremacists. Silence was no longer an option for the majority, for it became clear that the longer violence against blacks continued, the...

State sends out ballots with wrong candidates Rush is on to reprint, mail 132,500 correct regional versions EMPIRE NEWS SERVICES Regionalized election pamphlets began arriving in voters' mailboxes last week, but about 40 percent of the households initially will receive the wrong version because of an error by the state Division of Elections. The candidates for House and Senate races are incorrect in the mismailed pamphlets. The error occurred when workers neglected to change a computer table to reflect the new election district numbers after redistricting. Voters in Eagle River, for instance, got pamphlets with House and Senate candidates for...

<p>An outfit calling itself "Morgan Quitno Press" recently ranked the 50 United States in order of intelligence, and I am TICKED OFF. My state, Florida, came in 47th. Can you believe that? Forty-seventh! How dare they? How dare they suggest that Florida is more intelligent than three other states? No way!</p>

Over the years there have been a host of reasons given by environmentalists for why the coastal plain should not be developed. While some already have been mentioned, the following is a summary of others that require attention: Myth: There's only a 200-day supply there, so why bother. Fact: The truth is that the latest U.S. Geological Survey estimates are that the entire "1002 Area" contains up to16 billion barrels of recoverable oil. If found, this oil could replace all of our imports from Saudi Arabia for more than 30 years! The reserve could prevent our dependence on foreign oil...

<p>Haines teens accused of death plot SCHOOL: Two girls in custody; police say plan was to kill 22.</p> <p>A 15-year-old girl has been arrested on a charge of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder and a 14-year-old girl has been detained for a psychiatric evaluation, Haines police said. The girls were taken into custody Friday.</p>

Patriettes Will Fight Coming Terrorist Crime Wave Leah Heisig Thursday, Sept. 19, 2002 It's only a matter of time. Sooner or later the terrorists on our soil will use up the money that has been supplied to them by their "headquarters" and they'll turn to old-fashioned ways to keep their war chest filled – they'll rob us! Self-professed September 11 organizer Ramzi Binalshibh has recently indicated that al-Qaeda is decentralizing its leadership structure and giving terrorist cells more independence regarding terrorist attacks. We can presume that they were already given a green light on securing funds to pay for housing,...

COLUMN: Steve Sebelius Talking about The Issue When it comes to talking politics with me, there's always The Issue. On most points on the political spectrum, I proudly come down on the left. I don't think government is evil. I applaud spending on programs from highways to welfare, because both are necessary for people in need. I'm not reflexively against all taxes, even if my esteemed colleagues across the page disagree. I believe in the concept of public education. And I think government is acting at its highest and best when it regulates to prevent environmental destruction and capitalist excess....

Senator Joseph Leiberman 706 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 RE: Enron Investigation Dear Senator Leiberman, I watched your Sunday morning appearance on Face the Nation with intense interest. Inasmuch as I own a fair amount of Enron stock in my SEP/IRA, I'm sure you can understand my curiosity relative to your investigation. Knowing you to be an honorable man, I feel secure that you will diligently pursue the below listed matters in an effort to determine what part, if any, these matters contributed to the collapse of Enron. 1. Government records reveal the awarding of seats to Enron ...