If Ketchikan learned one thing this weekend in Sitka, it’s not to poke a sleeping bear.

ANCHORAGE – Cody Brunette sat with his feet dangling in the Bartlett High pool Saturday, his face blank as he stared across the shallow warm-up pool intonothingness.

Skis: Kevin Miller looks for a new pair of skis Saturday to replace his old pair he’s had since the 1980s at the annual Ski Sale at Centennial Hall. More than 1,500 people came to the event within 30 minutes after the doors were opened.

Name: Robert Martin Jr.

Juneau resident Johanna “Jo” Marie (Peck) Brensdal died peacefully Nov. 3, 2009, at Cordova Medical Center. She was 74.

I have debated writing this letter for the past two years, but feel something desperately needs to be done. I lived in Southeast Alaska from 1978 to 1991. Currently I live in Oregon, but I visit Southeast Alaska every year.

ANCHORAGE – Suspected swine flu is sweeping a traditional Eskimo whaling village on a remote Alaska island – prompting an urgent medical mission to deliver help.

FAIRBANKS – Alaska probably will see most of its surface permafrost vanish by the end of this century, but researchers believe vast areas of frozen soil will remain deeper underground even as air temperatures increase.

I’ve been deployed to Iraq for the past four months, and I’ve figured out ways to cope with the stress that comes from being thousands of miles away from my family.