At the nation’s Roman Catholic universities, controversy over the choice of commencement speakers has become almost as regular an annual ritual as graduation itself.

Gov. Sean Parnell has proclaimed May as Bike Month, with May 16-20th as Bike Week. To celebrate, Alaska Safe Routes to School has organized a few events to support healthy lifestyles and the Juneau biking community.

Friday is the official Bike to Work and School Day. To kick off the weekend there will be a free movie that day at Gold Town Nickelodeon theater starting at 5:30 p.m.

One school of thought about the so-called jobless recovery of the American economy blames high unemployment on the federal deficit. But that’s blaming the wrong deficit.

To achieve an authentic recovery that includes new jobs, the deficit we need to cut is in trade.

For 20 years, America’s exports have been surpassed by its imports, with a big bite of that trade deficit composed of oil imports. Addressing the imbalance could have a huge effect on the job market, but only if it goes beyond reducing imports. We need to actively strengthen exports as well.

The following editorial first appeared in the Seattle Times:

The ironic story of two imams forced off a plane taking them to a conference on Islamaphobia might be humorous if it did not expose unfounded and ethnically motivated passenger profiling. This cannot be tolerated in a democratic society.

The case of two Muslim scholars in Memphis confirms the reality of Islamaphobia. This week, we have seen what this fear — if allowed to trump reason — means for America’s Muslim community.