Almost 20 years ago, the Fishermen’s Memorial, city officials, commercial fishing interests, and private landowners came together and mutually decided to locate a memorial to commercial fishermen and women who had died, on the waterfront at Taku Fisheries and Smokeries. We selected the memorial’s location for several reasons:

• It was on the last undeveloped waterfront land downtown on which the memorial could fit.

The following editorial first appeared in the Kansas City Star:

Over the years, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has served in a variety of capacities in national security for administrations of both parties. He has been a steady hand and he will be sorely missed.

But his intention to leave this year was well-known. What was surprising about Wednesday’s news was the sweeping nature of the national-security shuffle expected to be announced by President Barack Obama:

The following editorial first appeared in the Chicago Tribune:

When pro-democracy protesters began rallying a few weeks ago, Syrian President Bashar Assad set out to change their tune. He has succeeded, though not quite as he hoped.

At the beginning, demonstrators wanted the longtime dictator to embrace political reform, and he made some gestures in that direction, such as lifting a 48-year-old state of emergency law. Now, they don’t want him to embrace reform; they want him to leave.

The following editorial appeared in the Kansas City Star:

There are two ways to react to 759 leaked files from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. The first is to recoil. The information included in these documents is lurid, heartbreaking and an additional blot on the Guantanamo experience.