ANCHORAGE — An Anchorage poet gets to realize her dream to visit the ghost of a remote western Alaska village where her Inupiat Eskimo ancestors once lived, thanks to funds she raised through crowdsourcing.

Joan Naviyuk Kane far surpassed her goal of $31,000 that she said is needed for a two-week visit for 20 descendants of people who once lived on King Island, a tiny community built on stilts across the jagged face of the island. One benefactor alone donated $32,000 to Kane’s campaign on United States Artists, a fundraising site.

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ANCHORAGE — A Coast Guard panel investigating the Alaska grounding of a Royal Dutch Shell PLC drill barge focused questions Tuesday on a key piece of tow line gear that has not been recovered.

Investigators quizzed a Shell contractor on the condition of a metal shackle in the tow line that connected the Kulluk, a 266-foot diameter barge, to its towing vessel, the Aiviq. When the tow line broke Dec. 27, the shackle was missing and presumed to be on the bottom of the Gulf of Alaska.

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ANCHORAGE — A man suspected of beating an elderly Alaska couple to death and sexually assaulting their 2-year-old great-granddaughter over the weekend had been released from jail just hours earlier, according to Alaska Department of Corrections records.

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JUNEAU — A new report card deems 11 percent of Alaska’s bridges are structurally deficient and 12.5 percent functionally obsolete.

Structurally deficient bridges need maintenance or possible replacement, while functionally obsolete bridges — which might be in good shape — don’t meet contemporary engineering standards, APRN reported. Alaska has nearly 1,200 bridges, according to the report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The group’s executive director, Patrick Natale, said Alaska gets a C-plus grade.

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A 46.5 pound fish took first place in Petersburg’s annual king salmon derby this weekend. Petersburg’s Rich Lowell caught the fish on Sunday afternoon and will receive a 7,500 dollar prize for the catch. Lowell said he felt lucky to catch such a large fish, especially with so many other experienced fishermen in the contest.

“I guess it just goes to prove that even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then,” he said.

Gerry Whitethorn of Petersburg came in second place with a salmon weighing 44.1 pounds, and 12-year-old Gunner Payne came in third with a 37.4-pounder.

We’ll have more on the derby coming up.

Five of Southeast Alaska’s six legislators and the Lt. Governor visited Petersburg for this month’s little Norway Festival. Among them was the state’s youngest lawmaker, Democrat Johnathan Kreiss-Tomkins. The 24-year-old Sitka resident took his seat in the state house in January after narrowly defeating incumbent republican Bill Thomas of Haines. As part of a series of local interviews with visiting lawmakers, Matt Lichtenstein spoke with Kreiss-Tomkins about his decision to get involved in politics in such a big way and his thoughts on Senate Bill 21, which cut taxes for oil companies.

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Joe Miller has filed paperwork indicating he has raised more than $5,000 for a possible run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Mark Begich in the 2014 election.

Miller commented on media coverage of his filing via his website.

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The Kayhi Class of 2013 prepares to graduate.

The Ketchikan High School Class of 2013 celebrated its graduation on Sunday. More than 100 students processed past friends, relatives and fellow classmates to receive their diplomas.

A graduation, as one might expect, is full of speeches about seizing the day or chasing your dreams. While the messages may not resonate with the actual graduates, you can tell they do with some of the older members of the audience, those adults that have already tried, no doubt with varying levels of success, to seize days or chase dreams.

But to those eager, soon-to-be high school graduates waiting in the middle of the Clark Cochrane gymnasium, the honest words and special prop of the their commencement speaker, Inge Kummant, seem to register the most.

“I graduated highschool 40 years ago this month, in 1973, during the Watergate scandal, at the beginning of a recession that would last most of the 1970s,” Kummant says. “The times were not so different from today. When I was asked to give this speech, I wracked my brain to remember what on earth our graduation speaker said to us. I never did remember, thus my visual aid. You may not remember what I say, but I hope you remember the flag.”

Kummant unfurls a bright orange flag with a black square and triangle on the front and tapes it to the front of the podium. She explains that the flag represents the maritime symbol for distress. And that, ultimately, if the graduates remember nothing else from her speech, they’d recall that flag. Forget carpe diem, she seems to say: if you’re ever in distress in life, don’t ever be afraid to ask for help.

The discarding of tradition seems to be a theme of the ceremony. Marco Torres, the class’s Salutatorian, gave a speech that was equally encouraging and playful.

“So go enjoy college, go enjoy traveling, go enjoy work, go and enjoy whatever it is you want to become and enjoy it to your fullest extent,” Torres tells his classmates. “We can now choose who we want to be without any limits on our goals. The limit does not exist. So carpe diem, seize the day, YOLO, whatever floats your boat.”

Nathan Buendia, a graduating senior, sings a rendition of “Hometown Glory” by Adele Adkins. Speeches are given by Britta Pihl, the class valedictorian and class president, and Superintendent Robert Boyle. And then, led by the sounds of the Kayhi Concert Band led by Deirdre Nuss, the moment everyone is waiting for.

The 116 graduates strut down a red carpet in the gymnasium to accept their diplomas from Ketchikan Gateway Borough School Board President Ginny Clay. Of course, being ecstatic teenagers, they don’t just “walk”. Some rais their fists triumphantly, some contort into splits, one even seems to perform what some football fans know as a “Tebow”.

But despite what you might think by the break of decorum, the graduating Kayhi Class of 2013 is a distinguished one. Superintendent Boyle draws attention to the accomplishments of the class, which has secured more than $7 million in scholarship funds. The class also won a third of the scholarships available statewide in Alaska.

Students from this class will most likely go to college, enter the workforce or join the military. Some will stay in town, and others travel the country or the world.

But, as someone mentions at the ceremony, the class of 2013’s motto is an apt one:

“Together we have experienced life, separately we will pursue our dreams, and forever our memories will remain.”

As the jubilant crowd of graduates exits the gymnasium, lofty rhetoric is no doubt far from their minds. They smile, laugh, take photos with their friends, busy creating those memories that will last them the rest of their lives.

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Brave Heart staff Willow Moore and Amanda Taylor discuss this Friday’s banquet in honor of the organization’s dedicated volunteers, Cupcakes & Kudos (5:30-9PM Fri May 31, Harrigan Centennial Hall, tickets $30 Old Harbor Books). Learn more about Brave Heart Volunteers.

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Land trust, not landlord — Community Land Trust interview series part 3. Skagit River Bridge collapse prompts examination of Alaska bridges. Needy children in Southeast Alaska receive donated clothing.

Fishing partners Grant Hagerman (l.) and Mike Vaughn with Vaughn’s 55.5-pound king.

After the first three days of fishing, the leading king weighed in at over 55 pounds.

Mike Vaughn says this is a lot bigger than last year’s winning fish — and he should know. He caught them both.

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The first possible back-to-back winner in the 58-year history of the Sitka Salmon Derby did exactly what we all do when we catch a big fish: he returned to the very same spot as soon as possible.

What happened next was just as predictable.

“We abandoned it, because there just wasn’t anything there.”

Vaughn and his fishing partner fished all three days of the derby’s opening weekend. With a one-fish bag limit in effect, Vaughn says he was selective, releasing two smaller kings on Monday before hooking the 55-pound monster.

There’s an unmistakable feel to very large fish when they hit sport gear.

“He came to the surface, and then stayed under a long time. You just couldn’t move him, until he tired out.”

Vaughn caught the big king in the early afternoon, and kept fishing through the tide change to give his partner a crack at good fish. Then, he knew it was time to run for town. With $7,000 on the line, you don’t want to cut it too fine time-wise. It turns out time was the last of his worries.

“I couldn’t find my wallet to find my derby entry ticket. It was buried in the boat. So that was exciting for a little bit.”

Vaughn’s king weighed in at exactly 55.5 pounds, over nine pounds heavier than the second-place fish, and 14 pounds heavier than last year’s winning salmon, which he also caught.

Vaughn is a fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game — but he works in groundfish: lingcod, blackcod, and rockfish. He says he has no more insight into salmon than the rest of us.

He got a good tip from a buddy about where the bite was on Monday, and the rest was just fishing.

“Being in the right place at the right time. We do put in a lot of hours and fish hard. But yeah… just lucky!”

The Sitka Salmon Derby has never had a back-to-back repeat champion. Vicki Baggen won the 2009 derby with a 56-pound fish. She also won in 2000 with a 48 pounder.

Three out of the last five years a fish in the 40-pound range has won the derby. Vaughn is a little more confident in his 55-pounder than in his 41-pounder last year. He says, “We’ll cross our fingers.”

Fishing will continue for two more days next weekend. The second-place fish so far was landed by Justin Nevers, at 46.1-pounds. John Roberts is in third with a 45.8-pound fish.

The top prize is $7,000. The total value of all other prizes for hidden weights, total pounds of salmon entered, and door prizes is around $9,000. This year so far 133 participants have turned in a total of 222 king salmon, with an average weight of twenty pounds.

Join us for our next call-in show, Monday, June 3rd, beginning at 8:20 am.  The topic?  Composting.  Maura O’Dell of the Tongass Community Foods Alliance will be on hand to answer questions.  Plus she’ll share her insights on worm composting.

Call 225-9655 or 1-800-557-5723 during the show. Or email your questions in advance to maria@krbd.org.

This will be the second in a series of call-in shows focusing on locally grown, sustainable produce and animal husbandry.

FAIRBANKS — When Carla Beam prepared a report on the so-called “fiscal cliff” for the University of Alaska Board of Regents in December, she found unexpected inspiration in a Looney Tunes clip. Wile E. Coyote’s legs would keep churning in the old cartoons, whether he was running off a ledge or still had the ground beneath him.

Today it looks like a good metaphor for UA, which will need to work harder to claim its share from a shrinking pool of federal dollars.

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SEATTLE — By Michael Hill’s estimation, 90 percent of the people pumping gas at his station just south of the U.S.-Canada border in Washington state are Canadians.

Gas north of the 49th parallel, he said, is about $1.30 per gallon more expensive than in the United States. But that’s not the only product that Canadians seek in visits to Washington state: Beer, wine and milk are significantly cheaper (beer and wine alone are roughly half the price in the U.S.).

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Runners get ready to start the 14th annual Prince of Wales Island Marathon Saturday in Craig.

Prince of Wales Island had a small, but healthy, population boost over Memorial Day weekend for the 14th POW Marathon.

About 300 people showed up to run or walk the annual marathon. While most of the participants are Prince of Wales residents, quite a few traveled for the big race. Within Alaska, they came from elsewhere in Southeast, and further north; others made the journey from Washington state, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont.

Volunteers at an aid station cheer runners and walkers, and hand out orange slices as the athletes run by.

Some ran alone, others ran or walked in pairs or groups. There also were quite a few relay teams, with colorful names like The Klawalkers and Hot to Trot.

And they were all cheerful. Maybe they were anticipating the runner’s high, because despite the early-morning hour, the light rain and the prospect of at least a couple hours of strenuous exercise, there were plenty of smiles.

The volunteers also were pretty cheerful, from registration desk officials, timekeepers and the announcer, to the many local groups that set up aid stations all along the route.

Brandon Richter of Naukati was one of the aid station volunteers, and his enthusiasm was … loud. He yelled encouragement at the racers as he energetically rang a large cowbell.

His station, run by the Naukati Fire and EMS, was one of 14, and they won the best aid

Naukati EMS aid station volunteers hold up their trophy after winning the Best Aid Station Award for the second year in a row.

station award for the second year in a row, an honor bestowed annually by a vote of marathon participants.

There were a couple themes during the race weekend, and cowbells — like the one Richter was ringing  – was among them. Everyone, it seems, wants more cowbell.

Richter and his crew were part of the biggest theme, one that’s universal to any successful event: Volunteers. They were everywhere, and there’s no way the race would have happened without them.

The featured performer at the awards ceremony was Cindi Reeves. She wore traditional Yupik regalia as she sang a duet with her father of her original song, “Alaska, My Home and My Land.”

Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins stands at the finish line as people take photos. He was the first full-marathon runner to cross the finish line.

Alaskans did well in the race. The big winner of the full marathon was Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins of Sitka, who won a different kind of race last fall. He’s the young state representative who ousted longtime Rep. Bill Thomas in a close election. Soon after finishing, he was surrounded by well-wishers as he ate a banana, replenishing some of his potassium.

“I just try to – what’s the – let’s see – healthy mind and healthy body,” he said. “In session, it’s awfully hard (to train). I had no idea what was going to happen today, because my mileage was not what one would want before a marathon.”

He ran the full 26.2 miles in three hours, one minute and 40 seconds. Second place in the men’s division went to Andrew Tighe, and Bill Elberson took third. Both are from Ketchikan.

Elberson is an active member of the Ketchikan Running Club, and is well known on POW,

Cindi Reeves and her father sing during the awards ceremony,.

too. He says he’s run every Prince of Wales Island marathon since it began 14 years ago. He’s run other marathons, but, “Prince of Wales is probably the prettiest, and the most involved as far as the community,” he said. “The whole community, everybody on the island they’re either volunteers or they’re just coming by to say howdy, and you’ve got a good chance of seeing a bear.”

In the women’s full-marathon division, Anchorage runner Debbie Cropper, who was the special guest speaker, took first place with a time of three hours, 33 minutes and 49 seconds. She donated her plaque to the community of Craig, along with her race bib.

Cropper, an elementary school teacher, has run marathons in all 50 states. She spoke the night before the race about the power of accepting challenges.

Dianne Cropper of Anchorage won the women’s full-marathon, and was the guest speaker at this year’s POW Marathon.

“Life is a marathon, and I believe the analogy of any training that we do, it’s the same thing you have to do whether it’s 26.2 or a college course, or anything you have to put the power of mind to,” she said.

Most participants weren’t really there to win. They just wanted to finish. Here is Amy Anzueto, a Ketchikan High School junior, after completing her first half-marathon.

“I really wanted to run,” she said. “My auntie has run some marathons, and walked some, and that kind of got me motivated. I really wanted to do my first marathon, or half, at least.”

So, yeah, technically, she didn’t win, but really, as was said again and again by officials and participants, everyone who finished is a winner. Like most challenges in life, the real competition is against yourself, overcoming the mental barriers, and pushing to finish one more mile. And then the next one.

And the next.

Race officials hold up the poster for next year’s POW Marathon.

FAIRBANKS — Pulling on a pair of purple, sterilized, rubber gloves, Angela Linn delicately picked up a small, wallet-sized notebook and opened it to reveal neat handwriting filling the tiny pages.

“The paper is super sensitive to the oils in your hand, and I want to make sure I don’t transfer any oils to the paper,” said Linn, a curator at the University of Alaska Museum of the North, explaining the reason for the gloves.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Navajo Code Talkers are legendary. Then there was Cpl. Ira Hamilton Hayes, the Pima Indian who became a symbol of courage and patriotism when he and his fellow Marines raised the flag over Iwo Jima in 1945.

Before World War II and in the decades since, tens of thousands of American Indians have enlisted in the Armed Forces to serve their country at a rate much greater than any other ethnicity.

Yet, among all the monuments and statues along the National Mall in Washington, D.C., not one stands in recognition.

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ANCHORAGE — A man has been charged with beating an Alaska couple to death and the sexual assault of their 2-year-old great-granddaughter.

Anchorage police said the man was arrested Saturday night as he fled the east Anchorage homicide scene dressed only in boxer shorts and socks

Sgt. Slawomir Markiewicz says the suspect is 24-year-old Jerry Andrew Active.He’s being held without bail at the Anchorage Jail on charges of first and second-degree murder, sexual assault and burglary in the deaths of Sorn Sreap, 71, and his wife, Touch Chea, 73.

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EAGLE RIVER — Throughout his two-decade-long career in the Coast Guard, Cpt. Paul Mehler III has traveled throughout the country and the world.

Now, he can add Alaska to his list.

Mehler assumed command of the Coast Guard Sector Anchorage last June. He’s responsible for more than 35,000 miles of coastline and 4,000 miles of navigable rivers.

“It’s the largest geographic area for command in the Coast Guard,” he said during an interview at his downtown Anchorage office May 9.

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   FAIRBANKS — Pulling on a pair of purple, sterilized, rubber gloves, Angela Linn delicately picked up a small, wallet-sized notebook and opened it to reveal neat handwriting filling the tiny pages.

   “The paper is super sensitive

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