Lately there have been several articles coming out of Massachusetts about the filming of a Disney movie called "The Proposal," starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steenburgen and others.

According to the articles — here's one article and here's another — many residents are excited about how the movie crew has made the town of Rockport, Mass., look like Sitka, Alaska. But it's not even close. You can't take a New England town, throw a couple of totem poles, an Alaskan Beer logo and a sign saying "Welcome to Sitka" in it and say it looks like Sitka. It doesn't. It's not even close (click here to see some photos of the movie set).

Sitka has a rich Tlingít history, and it's going to take more than a couple of totem poles to depict this cultural heritage. Sitka also was the capital of Russian America, and our main downtown street has a roundabout that circles the Russian Orthodox church, St. Michael's Cathedral. Where is St. Michael's, or the Russian Bishop's House? I also don't see the O'Connell Bridge, which links downtown Sitka on Baranof Island with Japonski Island, which is where Sitka's airport, Coast Guard base, University of Alaska Southeast-Sitka Campus, Mt. Edgecumbe High School and SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) are located. I ride my bike over the O'Connell Bridge every day to get to work. Sitka has five community-owned harbors just in the downtown area, which is more harbors than most waterfront communities 100 times our size have.

Finally, there are the missing natural attractions of Sitka, such as the dormant volcano Mt. Edgecumbe on nearby Kruzof Island which dominates Sitka's horizon and looks a little bit like Mt. Fuji in Japan. Where is Mt. Edgecumbe? Yesterday I walked the beach and watched three sea lions playing just offshore. Today I looked out my office window and watched about 20 bald eagles soaring overhead. And Baranof Island has more brown bears on it than people (Sitka is the largest community on the island and it has about 8,800 human residents). I bet you won't see any of those natural wonders in the movie, unless the producers buy some stock footage.

I've lived all over the state of Alaska, and Sitka is by far the most beautiful community in Alaska, especially on days like today, when the sun's out and it's not raining. You can see some photos from Sitka in my MySpace page photo section or on my Flickr.com page, or you can see more photos from Sitka taken by neighbor David Dapcevich here or some taken by neighbor Dan Evans here.

Anyway, in a year or two, when you watch "The Proposal," don't believe for a moment that what's pictured is Sitka. It's just like where most of the scenes from the movie "The Guardian" weren't from Kodiak (they were shot in North Carolina) and the scenes from the supposedly Alaska-based TV series "Northern Exposure" were shot in Roslyn, Wash. Alaska gets short-changed in the movie department again. Alaska has some of the best scenery in the world, but most movie makers are afraid to use it. Don't be fooled. Many of them are trying to sell you a bill of goods.

If I’ve seemed a bit melancholy the last couple of weeks it’s because a friend and former coworker is losing his battle with colon cancer. Chris is in his early 40s, younger than the age suggested for tests, and he’s in the final stages. He was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in December, and the cancer spread into other organs. Chris will leave behind a wife and young daughter. Even though I last worked with Chris about 15 years ago, when we both covered sports for the Anchorage Times, Chris left a lasting impression on people. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, so even though the last time I got to see Chris was in 2000 I still got to hear about Chris’ joys (usually coaching his daughter’s soccer team) and his gripes (usually at the state of journalism).

Anyway, March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and that really strikes home with me. I’ve got a colonoscopy (screening test) scheduled in April, so I’ll know where I stand. To learn more about National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, go to the Prevent Cancer Foundation site. This site can teach you ways to reduce your risk to colorectal cancers (cancers of the colon or rectum), and it can tell you the warning signs. Another site with a lot of good information is the CDC’s colorectal cancer site.

Colorectal cancers affect about 150,000 Americans a year, and it hits men and women the same. Depending on where you live, colorectal cancers can be the second or third most diagnosed and second or third most fatal type of cancer. But colon cancer can be prevented and it can be treated if caught early enough. It is a very survivable type of cancer, but you need to catch it early, and that comes through regular screenings since most of the symptoms don’t show up until the cancer has progressed.

Almost all colorectal cancers develop from precancerous polyps, which can be found during a colonoscopy or a sigmoidoscopy (both tests involve a long tube with a light and camera being inserted into the rectum to look for polyps). Screening usually starts at age 50, but people with a family history of colorectal cancers, inflammatory bowel disease (such as ulcerative colitis) or other risk factors should talk to their doctors about screening before they hit 50. I don’t know about Chris’ family history, but he was in his early 40s when they found the cancer. Some ethnic groups, such as Alaska Natives, have higher rates of colon cancer than other groups.

There also are ways to reduce the risk through lifestyle changes. Eating a healthy diet, one low in red meat, can play a big part in cancer prevention. So can getting regular physical activity, especially since obese people have a much higher risk of getting colon cancer. One of the biggest prevention methods is to quit tobacco, and if you don’t use tobacco you should avoid places where there are heavy concentrations of tobacco smoke.

Right now my prayers are with Chris and his family, and I wish him God speed. One way we can honor Chris is to get regular screenings and to do what we can to prevent colorectal cancers. Thanks.

SEARHC hosts comedian Susan Rice in benefit shows

SITKA and JUNEAU, Jan. 29, 2008 — Did you know humor is beneficial to your health? Studies have shown that laughter improves blood flow, reduces pain, strengthens immune function and decreases stress.

In order to share a few laughs while raising money for a serious cause, the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) Health Promotion Department and the WISEGUYS men's health group in Sitka are hosting the second annual "Healing Power of Humor" comedy show with Portland comedian Susan Rice. Last year's show in Sitka was so successful a second show was added in Juneau, so this time there will be twice as many laughs.

Juneau's show takes place at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 28, at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center (the old armory), while Sitka's show is at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, at the Sheet'ká Kwáan Naa Kahídi. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens. Proceeds from the Sitka show benefit Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV), while the Juneau show benefits AWARE Inc. (Aiding Women in Abuse and Rape Emergencies).

"Susan Rice comes highly recommended to us by Kermet Apio, the comedian who performed in last year's sold-out show in Sitka," SEARHC Health Educator and WISEGUYS Coordinator Doug Osborne said. "It's going to be fun, and because of our generous sponsors we're confident we'll be able to raise some money for two very deserving local non-profit organizations."

Susan Rice is a veteran comic who has appeared on national shows suce as A&E's "An Evening At The Improv," HBO's "Comedy Central," ShowTime's "Comedy Club Network" and CBS's "Pat Sajak Show." She also has headlined at comedy clubs around the country and on cruises. Her observational humor is PG rated and this is a non-alcoholic event. Local acts will open each show.

For more information about the Sitka show, contact Doug Osborne at 966-8734 or by e-mail at doug.osborne@searhc.org. For info on the Juneau show, contact Cachet Garrett at 463-4092 or by e-mail at cachet.garrett@searhc.org. Local businesses are invited to help sponsor the shows, so more money goes to SAFV and AWARE.



SEARHC home page

Susan Rice's MySpace page

So which celebrity look-alikes work best for me? Kind of scary some of the matches. George Galloway, whoever he is, is the only guy to show up in both collages.

A friend of mine just sent me this poem about Sitka by a Duluth, Minn., poet named Louis Jenkins. It's the sea lions in Sitka Sound, not the seals, that are named Earl, though.


EARL

In Sitka, because they are fond of them,
People have named the seals. Every seal
is named Earl because they are killed one
after another by the orca, the killer
whale; seal bodies tossed left and right
into the air. "At least he didn't get
Earl," someone says. And sure enough,
after a time, that same friendly,
bewhiskered face bobs to the surface.
It's Earl again. Well, how else are you
to live except by denial, by some
palatable fiction, some little song to
sing while the inevitable, the black and
white blindsiding fact, comes hurtling
toward you out of the deep?

-- by Louis Jenkins, from North of the Cities.


Here's an interview with Louis Jenkins from Minnesota Public Radio.


Here's a link to his book.


Here's another poem from the book:

BIG BROWN PILLS


I believe in the big brown pills, they lower cholesterol and improve digestion. They help prevent cancer and build brain cells. Plus they just make you feel better overall. I believe in coffee and beet greens and fish oil, of course, and red wine, in moderation, and cinnamon. Green tea is good and black tea, ginseng. I eat my broccoli. Nuts are very good and dark chocolate, has to be dark, not milk chocolate. Tomatoes. But I think the big brown pills really help. I used to believe in the little yellow pills but now I believe in the big brown pills. I believe that they are much more effective. I still take the little yellow ones, but I really believe in the big brown ones.

Somebody posted a bootleg copy of Michael Moore's new movie "Sicko" on their MySpace page, so I just got through watching the movie. It probably won't hit Sitka for a couple of months, if at all, so I wanted to make sure I saw the movie even if it took three hours to watch a two-hour flick because of all the pauses for buffering.

As someone who know works in the health care industry, I've got to applaud the movie. Yes, I believe there's some spin and a few things were staged (like the Cuban fire hall visit), but I'd say there's a lot of truth to the rest of the film. I found it a pretty scathing indictment of the American health care system, and hopefully it's enough to spark some reform. That's the thing about health issues, they affect Democrats and Republicans with no discrimination.

As much as I think there might have been a bit of spin involved in this production, I've had personal experience with nationalized health care in a foreign country. I remember spraining my ankle playing soccer when I was going to school in Scotland (1984) and not even having to pay for my x-rays or medication. About a year later spraining the same ankle when I was back in Alaska and I wasn't able to afford to pay for any treatment because I had no insurance. Since I couldn't afford to miss any work from a commission sales job where I was on my feet all day, I kept working even though I barely could stand up. It took three months for the ankle to heal, where if I'd been able to take a couple of days to treat and rest it the healing would have been a lot faster.

America's health care system is broken, and it needs to be fixed. The tribal health care organization I work for has been trying to make a big shift toward disease prevention, and we're probably one of the few health care systems that can make this switch right now because our Native American clients are part of the system from cradle to grave and they can't be dropped because of chronic disease.

With some of the commercial health care systems, making the switch to prevention hasn't been possible because insurance companies won't pay for front-end treatment. Insurance companies are more willing to pay for a diabetic foot amputation that costs $25,000 than they're willing to spend $100 for a couple of months worth of glucometer test strips that can help a diabetic monitor his glucose and possibly avoid the amputation.

I spent several years with no health insurance or insurance that was so limited that I let a lot of health conditions get worse than they should have because I couldn't afford to pay for treatment. I'm so happy to be working for a health care organization that has a substantial health care benefit that makes health care nearly free for treatments I get in our hospital. I've probably had $10,000 worth of health care over the past two years, due to diabetes and other health issues that were neglected, and I think I've paid about $500 out of pocket (and my flex plan took care of some of those expenses). I can't afford to quit, or get fired, especially since diabetes and some of my other health issues mean automatic denial of benefits by some insurance providers. It's way past time for health care reform.

It's after midnight on the night of June 21, the morning of June 22, as I write this, and that means it's time for one of the most unique baseball experiences in the world. The 102nd annual Midnight Sun Game currently is underway, the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks just scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning but still trail the Oceanside (Calif.) Waves 5-1. That's right, it's after midnight and they're playing baseball. Without lights. Only in Alaska could they hold a baseball game of this magnitude.

This unique game started as a bar bet, as did nearly all of Alaska's more interesting sports events. Back in 1906 two Fairbanks bars -- the Eagle's Club and the California Bar -- decided they'd challenge each other to a game, and they decided to play it at 10:30 p.m. There's been a baseball game of some sort starting at 10:30 p.m. on the Solstice every year since. Back about 1960, the Alaska Goldpanners came into existence and they became the home team of the game. About 1964, they became a showcase team for college all-stars, such as USC pitcher Tom Seaver, Arizona State 1B/OF Rick Monday and San Diego State infielder Graig Nettles. This was the first team of the modern Alaska League, which has put about 600 players into the majors (the league's alumni list includes Dave Winfield, Chris Chambliss, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, a couple of generations of Boones, among others, even Alaskans like Chad Bentz of Juneau).

Not too many baseball fans know about the Alaska League, but it's been one of the top amateur baseball programs for decades. Since the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in 1969 became the first Alaska team to win the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan., Alaska teams have gone on to win 16 titles -- six by the Goldpanners (1972, 73, 74, 76, 80 and 2002), five by the Glacier Pilots (1969, 71, 86, 96 and 2001), three by the Kenai Peninsula Oilers (1977, 93 and 94) and two by the Mat-Su Miners (1987 and 97) -- and take second place 15 times (dating back to 1962). There have been six all-Alaska championship games.

Well, back to the Midnight Sun Game, I just checked the score and it's 6-1 Oceanside in the sixth inning. I'm sure I missed the traditional singing of the Alaska Flag Song at midnight. Anyway, if the Goldpanners don't rally, this will be their first loss since 1992. Anyway, earlier today I noticed the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner had its standard preview story, but I also noticed that Yahoo! Sports sent columnist Jeff Passan to Fairbanks to write about the game. Here's Passan's preview story.


Well, it's still 6-1 in the seventh inning, and it's getting late enough that I need to get to bed. I'll have to look for the score tomorrow (or later today, since it is after midnight).

The recent session of the Alaska Legislature saw a lot of work done on tightening ethics for politicians and lobbyists. But there was a big gap in the ethics bills and it's time the gap was addressed. While there have been several bills over the years to tighten rules for politicians and lobbyists, there has been nothing done about issue campaigns and propositions. It's time to make these issue campaigns and ballot propositions adhere to the same rules as regular political campaigns.

The problem with issue campaigns and ballot propositions was evident during the 2006 election cycle when a group called Alaska's Future -- which according to the group's former president had ties to BP, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil -- refused to reveal its funders and other financial information as it lobbied against an initiative to tax natural gas reserves up to $1 billion a year. Former Rep. Eric Croft, D-Anchorage, and current Rep. Harry Crawford, D-Anchorage, filed a lawsuit requesting the group reveal its main backers, but the Alaska Public Offices Commission and later a judge both dismissed the suit.

This isn't the only case where an outside group has come into Alaska to impact state politics. A few years ago there was a constitutional amendment vote to ban same-sex marriages, and the Mormon Church (LDS) made a late contribution of $500,000 to back the ban. At least this contribution was out in the open, even if it greatly exceeds what can be donated to any individual's campaign. The state's campaign contribution limits in 2005 (before the current rewrite) was an individual could donate up to $500 for an in individual candidate, and a group that wasn't a political party could donate up to $1,000. All donations for more than $100 required a public record showing who made the contribution.

If we have these rules for individual candidates, why can't we have similar ones in place for issue campaigns and ballot propositions? The only people who suffer are Alaskans when donors and even key backers for issue campaigns aren't disclosed. We all suffer when a single out-of-state group is able to donate more than $1 million to challenge a ballot proposition. By making these issue campaigns and ballot propositions play by the same election rules as politicians, we are able to get a better feel for where the state feels on a particular issue.

Every now and then major contributions to an issue campaign or ballot proposition can backfire, just ask the cruise companies that lost a proposition that levied a $50 head tax, even though the cruise industry outspent the head tax supporters more than $1 million to less than $100,000. But many times the outpouring of money can sway a campaign, and it's time to even the playing field.

It's been an interesting week in Alaska politics, to say the least. For those of you who don't follow state politics, a federal grand jury indicted two former and one current state lawmakers on Friday for bribery, extortion and other charges. Getting a chance to check out Juneau's prison accommodations were former Rep. Pete Kott, R-Eagle River; former Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, R-Juneau; and current Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla/Oregon. Add in the similar arrest last December of former Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Anchorage, there now have been four state legislators from the last session for ethics violations. And there could be more arrests in the future. Besides these four, three other legislators had their offices raided by the FBI last year -- Sen. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage; former Sen. Ben Stevens, R-Anchorage (the son of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens) and Sen. Donny Olson, D-Nome.

Throw in some of the ethical issues from the administration of Gov. Frank Murkowski, R-Fairbanks, which included an attorney general lobbying for a company that he owned more than $100,000 in stock, and it's pretty obvious some changes are needed in Alaska politics. Unfortunately, one of the problems has been any time the citizens try to force reforms on the legislature, they'd come back and water it down. For example, a few years ago the Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill that allowed prominent company owners and other big-wigs to spend more time in Juneau lobbying without making them register as lobbyists. And this is what it gets us.

One of the biggest problem lobbyists has been Veco, an oilfield services company owned by Bill Allen that received several fines for improper contributions to political campaigns and improper lobbying practices from the Alaska Public Offices Commission back in the 1970s and 1980s. Veco is at the center of the current legislative mess, although so far it's escaped indictment. That may change. Included in the current indictments are notes that Allen and other Veco reps handed cash and offered jobs to the charged legislators. Sometimes the payoffs were as little as $500. Considering the main topics of discussion last session were a revised oil field tax and a new gas line, I think our legislators were being purchased way too cheaply.

When I lived up north, I sometimes covered politics and had the opportunity to meet several of the state's legislators. You could tell there was some outside influence with certain legislators, but it wasn't until I moved to the Juneau-Douglas area that I saw how closely some legislators and lobbyists were working together. I didn't cover politics when I lived in the Juneau-Douglas area, but I saw a lot of politicians, their staffers and big lobbyists hanging out together at places such as the Baranof Hotel bar or Roughhouse Friday boxing matches.

At one point, the connections were so bad that former Rep. Ethan Berkowitz, D-Anchorage, had to call out a couple of legislators on the House floor. This is from a story by KTUU-TV reporter Bill McAllister:

It was late at night in May, on the final day of the regular legislative session, when the House minority leader -- inadvertently or not -- foreshadowed the coming scandal.

"This is our floor. Our floor. No telephone call is supposed to change what we're doing. No lobbyist is supposed to peer over the railing and tell us to change our mind. It never should happen," said Rep. Ethan Berkowitz, D-Anchorage.

Berkowitz immediately was challenged on his assertion.

"That impugns the motive of an individual legislator. It assumes things have happened that are absolutely incorrect," said Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, R-Juneau.

The legislative deliberations underway at the time concerned a new oil production tax. A major player in the debate was VECO Corp., the politically-connected oilfield services company.

So how do we change things in Juneau? The first thing is to enact strict lobbying registration requirements, if you spend more than 20 hours working legislators during a session, you're lobbying and limits are placed on your ability to make campaign contributions to anyone outside your home legislative district.

Next is the adoption of strict campaign finance reform. A few years ago, Alaskans voted to limit campaign contributions to $500 per individual, but the legislature increased the limit to $1,000. What's needed is a move toward the format used in the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Act of 1998, where candidates agree not to accept more than $5 per individual in exchange for a percentage of money available from a pot of public money that comes from traffic fines, fishing licenses and other sources. The leveled playing field has made it so more citizens feel connected to their local representatives and there's been a 60-percent increase in the number of people running for office.

I don't think too many people saw the Democratic Presidential Candidates' Debate in South Carolina a couple of weeks ago. That's understandable, since the election is nearly 18 months away. But there was one person who stole the show -- former Alaska U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel -- a virtual unknown for most of the country, including Alaska.

Even younger Alaskans don't know much about Gravel (pronounced gra-VELLE, not GRAV-el). He served two terms in the U.S. Senate, but lost in the 1980 Democratic primary to Clark Gruening, who then lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski, who went on to spend 22 years in the Senate (notice I didn't use the word "serve" to describe Murkowski's time in the Senate). Gravel is best known for being sued by Richard Nixon all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court because Gravel read the Pentagon Papers on the Senate floor and Nixon thought they should be kept secret.

Since his loss to Gruening, Gravel hasn't spent much time in the media spotlight. I'd even lost track of him until earlier this year when Gravel announced his presidential campaign from his new home in New England. At the time I didn't think much of Gravel's chances, since he'd been out of the public eye for about 26 years (Gravel even told one interviewer he'd been "hiding under a rock" the last two decades). But after the Democratic debate two weeks ago, Gravel has been the media darling of the campaign so far.

One of Gravel's strengths has been his "I'm-mad-as-hell-and-I'm-not-taking-it-anymore" approach to politics. While all the other candidates won't stray from their market-research-supported talking points, Gravel speaks from his heart. He thinks Dubya should be tried for war crimes and we should pull out of Iraq. He is for a universal health care plan. He's basically taking stands on issues the other candidates won't touch, and he's very much against politics as usual (and it doesn't matter if the Republicans or Democrats are running the show).

Some people question why a person who's polling just 1 percent should be allowed in the race, but sometimes we need to hear these voices because they spark the debate on topics others won't discuss. That's why I'm for making it easier for third-party candidates to run for office. One of the requirements for a strong democracy is to make sure all voices are heard, and allowing these candidates in the race gives those voices a chance to be heard. I'm not sure I can vote for Gravel, and I voted for Gruening in the 1980 primary, but I respect the breath of fresh air he's brought to the early presidential campaign. We need more candidates willing to stray from their handlers' talking points.

And now, here's a sample of former Alaska U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel speaking about the issues. This clip is from a Democratic meeting with presidential candidates in February (not the April debate).

Sen. Mike Gravel tells us why he should be president.