Gov. Sean Parnell moved to build a small section of a controversial road out of Juneau by announcing Monday a 2.9-mile, $5 million extension of Glacier Highway from Echo Cove to Cascade Point.

Because independent travelers stay overnight, rent cars, eat, shop and spend time in Juneau, their contribution to our city’s treasury is significant. But did you know that 30 percent of independent travelers to Alaska were first exposed to our state on a cruise ship?

I’m writing this letter to voice my thoughts about the homeless situation. One thing people need to remember is that we don’t know what led to most people being homeless.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

The first year of Thunder Mountain wrestling could not be going much better for coach Chad Requa and his Falcon squad as they prepare to send four grapplers to the state meet inAnchorage.

FAIRBANKS – The Iditarod plans to test mushers for drugs and alcohol in March, a change that many mushers don’t have a problem with unless one asks three-time champion Lance Mackey.

Flow through the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline has diminished as the huge Prudhoe Bay oil field ages.

FAIRBANKS – The University of Alaska Fairbanks has halted work at the Susan Butcher Institute, named for the four-time Iditarod champion musher who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 51.

WASILLA – Maurice Bailey lives each day like it could be his last – because it might be.

ANCHORAGE – A state-funded study finds that a multi-billion-dollar Susitna River dam makes less sense for Alaska than a smaller hydro project at Chakachamna Lake across Cook Inlet from Anchorage.