A week ago Saturday, I had the distinct privilege of serving as the Master of Ceremonies at the Juneau Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner at Centennial Hall.

This week’s toe toon.

President Obama, a self-declared “big newspaper junkie,” fears he might be forced to go cold turkey. “I am concerned that if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, that what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding,” he said last month to newspaper editors who asked about the crisis that threatens their industry and journalism in general.

The Crimson Bears volleyball team fed off the energy of senior night at Juneau-Douglas High School as they grounded the Falcons in three games Saturday night.

Juneau residents show off fabulous frights on Saturday night.

Longtime Juneau resident Mark Harold Brodersen died the afternoon of Oct. 25, 2009, in Juneau. He was 61.

Former Juneau resident Kenneth Richard Wicks, of Ocean View, Hawaii, died peacefully on Oct. 28, 2009, at Queens Medical Center in Honolulu. He was 78.

Former Juneau resident Jorma K. Krook died on Oct. 26, 2009. He was 56.

I’m thrilled with the waste management progress being made by the Juneau Assembly as indicated in Thursday’s Juneau Empire. Everyone I know has been concerned about the nasty garbage heap growing in Lemon Creek. The coming improvements are indeed welcome news.

As a community, Juneau has an opportunity to come together and support local heroes, improve a community system and make Juneau a healthier place to live.