Navy and Coast Guard Ships Collide Off Kodiak Island

KODIAK, Alaska - A Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Kodiak boat crew drives a new 38-foot Special Purpose Craft - Training Boat in Womens Bay Sept. 27, 2011. The SPC - TB is the only one of its kind in the Coast Guard and it is now permanently stationed at ANT Kodiak. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen.)

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - Nine people were hurt, including one critically, when a US Coast Guard boat and a US Navy boat collided in Womens Bay, south of the city of Kodiak.

The Coast Guard says the collision happened Wednesday night around 7:30 p.m.

Six people were hurt on the 38-foot Coast Guard boat, and three were hurt on the approximately 60-foot Navy boat. All were taken to the hospital by the Kodiak Fire Department after being brought from the site of the accident to the Coast Guard base, located near the site of the accident a few miles south of the city of Kodiak.

Late Wednesday night, one of the injured was medevaced to Anchorage. According to Capt. Tamara Lawrence, public affairs officer for the Navy, the person is now in stable condition.

The six people on the Coast Guard boat were released from the hospital.

The Coast Guard says both boats are tied up and an investigation is underway to determine what happened. According to Coast Guard Public Affairs Officer Scott McCann, the Coast Guard vessel was on its way to port after a hoist training exercise.

Read the link for the whole story.

I Know Alaska is the Biggest State, But ...

there's no need to go to excess.

After concern new Alaska ferry may be too big, it gets bigger

JUNEAU -- Following complaints that the ferry being built to replace the aged Tustumena would be too big for Kodiak's cramped harbor, the vessel has been redesigned. But the new plan from the [Alaska] Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has the vessel lengthened by 5 feet.

Conceptual drawing of the ocean-going ferry that would replace the Tustumena in the Alaska Marine Highway System. Glosten / Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities 

Yeah, it'll fit at that little shared pier, just fine.

Sigh ...

Kodiak Cuts In

Apparently one ship captain in the Kodiak area is jealous of the Unalaska Police Blotter:

Kodiak police report that a "highly intoxicated" captain of a 152-foot landing craft grounded the vessel on Gull Island outside of Kodiak, and was arrested on charges of DUI, reckless endangerment and assault.

The Kodiak Police Department reported receiving a 911 call at 8 p.m. Sunday from a 25-year-old crew member aboard the Polar Bear that the captain had run the vessel aground while intoxicated. Officers, with assistance from the Kodiak Harbor Master's office, arrived at the scene of the grounding and made contact with the captain of the vessel, identified as 50-year-old Edward Dyer.

"Dyer was found to be highly intoxicated not realizing the vessel was aground," Kodiak police wrote in a press release issued Tuesday.

Years ago, I knew one guy who drove while hammered, eventually getting stuck in an interstate median. He never shut the engine off or took the car out of gear. When the highway patrolmen approached him, he floored the accelerator in an attempt to "get away" from the guys standing around his car.

After they finished laughing, they broke his window, reached in and turned off his ignition. Sounds like this skipper in Kodiak was doing the same sort of thing.

Kodiak Residents Advised to Lock Their Drawers, Er, Doors

There's an underwear bandit on the loose!

There's an underwear bandit on the loose in Kodiak, and Alaska State Troopers are reminding residents to lock their doors.

In the past week, troopers have received a string of reports of burglaries, criminal trespassing and theft, according to a trooper dispatch. Residents say they have returned home to find someone had rifled through or stolen various items. In some cases, the thief took women's underwear, the report said.

Troopers said they believe the cases are connected. While investigating the reports, troopers heard that other Kodiak residents had experienced similar crimes in recent months but did not call law enforcement, the dispatch said.

Kodiak, a quaint little town with a panty-raid problem

Does Kodiak Have Unalaska Envy?

Alaska State Troopers and Kodiak police are seeking two men who claimed to be officers of the law when they approached a teen at a beach on the island last weekend, then fired a gunshot.

In a Monday AST dispatch, troopers say they were informed of shots fired at Mill Bay Beach Saturday evening shortly before midnight.

“Upon arrival, further investigation revealed that two males, dressed in black and wearing ski masks, approached a 17-year-old juvenile near the beach,” troopers wrote. “The subjects claimed they were police officers and demanded the minor to identify himself. When the minor questioned their validity as law enforcement officers, one of the subjects brandished a pistol and fired the weapon.”
The teen wasn’t hurt and the suspects reportedly ran away.

AST spokesperson Megan Peters had little further information available on what happened Monday, saying only that the suspects had claimed they were with “no specific agency” and that troopers have received no other recent reports of similar incidents.

In general, however, Peters says citizens should expect any actual officer using police powers to provide their identification upon request.
“If (a) non-uniformed person claims to be a law enforcement officer, the officer should be carrying law enforcement credentials and they should show the citizen their credentials if asked,” Peters wrote. “The law enforcement officer should be carrying a badge and a photo ID.”

We keep saying it, but Let's. Be. Careful. Out. There.

The Alaska Beat: 7/2/14

I'm still a bit tired from the long miles, long hours, heat, and sleep deprivation of the Appleseed shoot in Tok over the weekend (e.g., it was a great trip!). So here are some local headlines, all copyright stories from the Alaska Dispatch:

Kodiak's "stripper cruise" (an "adult" cruise with exotic dancers) "was shut down over the weekend after authorities were alerted that there were potentially too many people aboard the vessel. Owner and operator Darren Byler told KMXT the vessel was inspected by the Coast Guard, Alaska State Troopers and Kodiak police after an anonymous caller reported the vessel, and the show reopened Monday."

A pilot and his passenger were unharmed when a small plane’s landing gear apparently malfunctioned during a landing at the Talkeetna Airport on Saturday, authorities said ... A red and white 1947 North American Navion airplane was on its belly on the runway ...

And a word about the new header, above: that was taken with my iPhone on the westbound Tok cutoff, in the Wrangell Mountains.


That's about all I've got this morning. Y'all have a wonderful Hump Day, and thanks for stopping by.

Run Over By Her Own Car

Presented without further commentary:

A Kodiak woman was injured by her own car on Monday when it started to roll downhill and she tried to chase after it, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

Amy Watkins, 22, was cut and bruised after she was hit by the driver's side door of her 2002 Subaru Forester on Ocean Drive, troopers said.

The report said Watkins failed to fully set her parking brake when she got out of the car at her residence. She intended to quickly return to the car.

Her car started to roll downhill.

Once Watkins realized what was happening, she started to chase after her runaway car and was hit by the open door, troopers said.

The car rolled nearly 40 yards downhill, finally hitting a large spruce tree. The report said the car is expected to be a total loss.

A Smelly Mess

A front loader scoops fish heads that spilled from a dump truck in Kodiak today. Kodiak is the fifth-busiest fishing port in the U.S. by weight of fish landed. (photo from www.adn.com)

I'm guessing that's not the first time they've had that problem.

De-Pantsification

From the Associated Press, via KTUU:

KODIAK, Alaska—

Two people have been charged with stealing thousands of dollars after ripping the pants off a Kodiak man.

The Kodiak Daily Mirror reports Cynthia Bean and Joseph Iannon Jr. faces robbery and assault charges. They are being represented by the public defender agency, which didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Authorities say the victim called police early Thursday morning, alleging Bean and Iannon robbed him after taking his pants off. He estimated he had between $2,000 and $4,000 on him when the robbery occurred.

... The documents also claim $700 was found stuffed in her bra when she was booked into the Kodiak jail.

Whatever they're drinking in Dutch Harbor* must be making its way 'round the rest of the state.
Just wow.