“Juneau es muy caro (expensive). Si?” asked my Spanish teacher as she aims to have us practice conversation. Immediately my classmates began to name expensive things in Juneau — casas, gasolina, electricidad, frutas. Having just attended a presentation on The 2011 Juneau and Southeast Economic Indicators, I knew this to be true. According to a report prepared by the Juneau Economic Development Council (JEDC) it cost 39 percent more to live in Juneau than the average U.S. city. The cost of housing is 66 percent more expensive, the biggest cost.

Did you know that plastic makes up 80 percent of the volume of litter on roads, parks and beaches and 90 percent of the floating litter in the ocean? Would you be surprised to learn that in every square mile of ocean there are more than 46,000 pieces of plastic? I did not know these disturbing facts about plastics until I read the Voter Information packet that arrived in the mailbox. Reading these facts about plastics prompted me to do some research. This is a sample of what I found:

• Plastic bags are the second most common type of ocean refuse, right after cigarette butts.

No one likes one halibut a day and the 37 inch size limit, particularly the guided sport industry. But unless the Halibut Catch Sharing Plan now before the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is adopted this will become the norm for some time.

Without wading again into the debt ceiling/deficit reduction debate that many of us are getting tired of hearing about, I do want to highlight these words spoken by President Barack Obama — “compromise is not a dirty word”. Hearing his defense reminded me of a time that I was admonished for trying to find a middle of a road solution to a budget dispute. It occurred while I was serving on the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly.