All is quiet on the home pond. Three male mallards are lined up, next to each other, on the edge of the last bit of ice; they preen their feathers and seem to be entirely amicable.

"Careful on that slippery rock," he said. "There's no easy way out if you fall in." I tip-toed along the mossy granite outcropping, hoping my Xtra-tuffs would hold against the slimy nature of the algae and evening frost.

On the edge of the Arctic, on Alaska's coastal plain and on the banks of the Tanana River two elite Army units assemble daily for a unique mission. On their report day the orders are simple, to heal.

Remember Kipling' story about the Elephant Child and how his 'satiable curiosity kept getting him into trouble with other animals? The Child asked so many questions, of so many different animals, and the impatient adult animals would just spank him.

The ice is just starting to melt on my home pond, so there is a little open water at both the inlet and the outlet. As soon as there were a few square yards of open water, a pair of mallards moved in.

RAMADI, Iraq - Sunni protesters are camped out in dozens of tents festooned with tribal banners on the edge of this one-time Iraqi insurgent stronghold. They are digging in and growing more organized, vowing to keep up their demonstrations...

...And without affordable energy, the future he painted for Alaska's present and future citizens was bleak."We are on the edge, and many communities are already over the edge, of an energy crisis in Alaska - we have an energy crisis in Alaska...

State geologists are mapping Alaska's mineral potential from the land and air. They are paying specific attention to the strategic and critical minerals peppered throughout state land.

LONDON, Ontario (AP) - The Queen has reclaimed her crown. Back at the World Figure Skating Championships for the first time in two years, Olympic champion Kim Yu-na looked as if she'd never been away Saturday night.

Juneau faces a housing crisis and the Willoughby District isn't helping. Yet. The 35 acres of flat land that makes up Willoughby accounts for barely one-quarter of 1 percent of Juneau's zoned residential parcels and its 120 housing units make up less than 1 percent of Juneau's current housing inventory.