Hello, everybody. Lots of stuff to get out of the way, so let's get cracking.

First up...the Justice Department today reversed the conviction of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. As you know, Stevens was indicted and later found guilty for lying about receiving gifts and home renovations, and he lost his bid for re-election last fall to Mark Begich.

In a statement, Stevens said "I always knew that there would be a day when the cloud that surrounded me would be removed. That day has finally come. It is unfortunate that an election was affected by proceedings now recognized as unfair."

And from Gov. Sarah Palin: "Senator Stevens deserves to be very happy today. What a horrible thing he has endured. The blatant attempts by adversaries to destroy one's reputation, career and finances are an abuse of our well-guarded process and violate our God-given rights afforded in the Constitution."

Even though it's way too late, I think the feds did the right thing in turning the original conviction around. Last summer, it was a federal appeals court that threw out the original FCC fine imposed to CBS over the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake "wardrobe malfunction" incident at Super Bowl XXXVIII. But then again, we've had a slew of political corruption scandals with Rod Blagojevich being the most recent.

The slumping economy has now claimed another victim, as department store Gottschalks will be going out of business later this year. The chain, which has 55 stores in the Western U.S. (five here in Alaska), filed for bankruptcy in January and liquidation sales will begin this week.

For many of us who've bought our wardrobe there over the years it will be the end. But...who will pick up where Gottschalks will leave off? Rumors are flying that as far as our Fairbanks store is concerned, we may be seeing Nordstrom taking over. Besides, they had a store here from the '70s to around the time I moved back here in 1985.

And the Sears store on Airport Way? Once upon a time, it was The Center for Entertainment, with a bowling alley, movie theater, nightclub, a few restaurants, and a skating rink; I used to hang out there on occasion. Unfortunately, it opened at a very bad time: 1986, when oil prices dropped and Alaskans moved out. It closed its doors in 1991, only to see Sears take it over. It caught me by surprise when I returned the following year for the long haul. Don't forget JCPenney; its downtown location stood vacant from 1998 till Sadler's furniture occupied it in the early 2000's.

Now, it'll be Gottschalks who's biting the dust. If this keeps up, even with Fred Meyer, Sears, and Wal-Mart still around, the only place we'll be doing our upscale shopping will be Anchorage!

And last but not least...President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle are taking over Europe by storm, starting off with the G20 summit tomorrow in London. But before that, the First Couple had some photo-ops with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Queen Elizabeth II.

Unlike the Bushes, Europe welcomed them with open arms; it was like that last year during the campaign when Obama spoke in front of 200,000 in Berlin. The president will be in Europe for a few days before returning home to Washington. But in a couple of weeks, they'll be dining in style along with other celebrities in their first White House Correspondents dinner. I wonder who'll show up in attendance...anyway, so long and stay strong.