Kodiak Island

A man accused of fatally shooting two men at a Coast Guard communications station near Kodiak last year, following a series of personnel disputes, was arraigned in federal court Tuesday. James Michael Wells, 61, pleaded not guilty to all six charges against him including two counts each of first-degree murder, murder of a federal employee or officer, and possession and use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. He was arrested Friday in the murders of Coast Guard Electrician's Mate First Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Boatswain's Mate Richard Belisle.

Alaska State Troopers said a Kodiak Man on a hunting trip died after he fell from a cliff. According to Troopers Spokeswoman Megan Peters, 21-year-old James Monroe fell off a cliff on Kodiak Island near Halibut Bay on Friday. Troopers said he was hunting in the area. The Coast Guard took a call Friday night that a man had fallen and a helicopter found Monroe and took him to Kodiak. Monroe was pronounced dead at Kodiak Providence Medical Center.  

A Katmai National Park's eruption happened a century ago Wednesday -- but it is still the largest volcanic blast in nearly 200 years, easily loud enough to have been audible 290 miles away where Anchorage now stands. On June 6, 1912, the Novarupta stratovolcano produced the biggest volcanic eruption of the 20th century: bigger than the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa (more properly called Krakatau) in Indonesia, as well as Mount Pinatubo's 1991 blast in the Phillipines. It was 30 times larger than the spring 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, which killed more than 50 people in Washington State in the spring of 1980.

The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is now home for an orphaned brown bear cub. The center says the cub's mother was killed last week on Kodiak Island. Officials with the state Department of Fish and Game worked with the center’s staff last week to bring the bear to its new home in Portage. The cub, named Taquka, arrived on Thursday but will not be on display at the center for a while. The center will look after the bear until spring, when he will be transferred to the Carnivore Center in Sweden.

A Minotaur IV rocket was launched successfully Friday from a facility on Kodiak Island. The rocket lifted off as scheduled at 4:24 p.m., carrying 16 experiments on seven satellites. The mission has enabled not only government scientists to participate but university students as well. Students from the University of Texas at Austin, the U.S. Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy and the University of Michigan all took part in the process. The director of the Department of Defense's Space Test Program says the mission is intended to inspire the next generation of astronauts, engineers and scientists.

It has been 48 years since the Good Friday Earthquake that struck Alaska on March 27, 1964 -- but Tay Thomas remembers it vividly. Thomas was at her Turnagain home with her two children when she felt the first rumble; her instincts told her to head outside, and that's what she did. "The ground had started shaking and we were flung to the ground by the shaking, it was so hard. We just couldn't stand," Thomas said. Thomas watched as her home crumbled. The cliff that her house sat on broke off. She says she felt oddly calm as she and her children were also carried toward the water.

We continue to track this impressive low pressure system. It has moved over Kodiak Island and will make its way into the Kenai Peninsula late Tuesday. It will intensify in the morning then weaken by evening. These are the main impacts from this storm for Tuesday: VERY STRONG WINDS: Wind gusts 70-80 mph from the SE will blow through Turnagain Arm, Portage Valley, Kodiak Island and channeled terrain of the Alaska Peninsula. Winds will peak from late morning into early afternoon, then begin to diminish Tuesday night.

Clouds and showers will be the order of the day from Bethel and King Salmon, eastward into Southcentral and the SE Panhandle.  Rain will be steady throughout much of the day in Valdez and Cordova.  Rain will also be steady during the morning hours over SE before decreasing to showers in the afternoon.  While clouds rotating around low pressure near Kodiak Island have spread into the Interior, the lion's share of the moisture is being absorbed...

A warm southeasterly flow from the SE Panhandle through Southcentral and into the Southwest, will continue to bring above-average temperatures.  Bering Sea low pressure is weakening and being absorbed into a trough over the Gulf of Alaska.  An emerging area of low pressure over the North Pacific is bringing heavy rain to the Pacific Northwest coast and coastal British Columbia.  It is moving north and will rotate through the Gulf into the...

Southeasterly flow over the Gulf of Alaska around an area of low pressure will keep clouds and showers around today for the SE Panhandle, PWS, the eastern Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak, and the Alaska Peninsula.  The low is centered south of Kodiak Island.  Areas south and east of mountain ranges (within upsloped regions) will pick up the lions share of the moisture.  This includes Ketchikan, Cordova, Seward, and Whittier. Areas west of the mountains (downsloped regions) are in for mostly to partly cloudy skies and mainly dry conditions.  This includes Anchorage, Wasilla, Palmer, Kenai and Soldotna.

A man accused of fatally shooting two men at a Coast Guard communications station near Kodiak last year, following a series of personnel disputes, was arraigned in federal court Tuesday. James Michael Wells, 61, pleaded not guilty to all six charges against him including two counts each of first-degree murder, murder of a federal employee or officer, and possession and use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. He was arrested Friday in the murders of Coast Guard Electrician's Mate First Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Boatswain's Mate Richard Belisle.

The drilling rig Kulluk reached an anchorage off Kodiak Island Monday morning, nearly a week after it ran aground 30 miles away during a winter storm and was taken under tow Sunday, as Shell Oil President Marvin Odum apologized for the incident. In a statement released Monday afternoon confirming the Kulluk's arrival at Kiliuda Bay, Odum expressed both regret for the Shell-contracted conical drilling unit's grounding and relief at the outcome of a towing operation which began late Sunday.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Thursday evening for a man overboard near an island south of Kodiak. Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley says the unidentified crewman was reported overboard from the fishing vessel Flying Ocean, 30 miles northwest of Sitkinak Island, just before 11 a.m. Thursday. The search was suspended at 9:37 p.m. Coast Guard assets committed to the search included the cutter Hickory as well as two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and an HC-130 Hercules search plane.

Alaska State Troopers say two 19-year-old Larsen Bay men have been arrested after they allegedly vandalized a warehouse overnight Thursday by driving a forklift through the wall. According to a Monday AST dispatch, Pete Muller and Derick Hochmuth face charges of second-degree burglary and two counts of third-degree criminal mischief. Troopers were informed at about 10:45 a.m. Friday of the break-in at the Icicle Seafoods cannery in Larsen Bay, on Kodiak Island, which had occurred between 10 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday.

Patience paid off for Mary Whitaker.  She waited three hours for a quick picture with pop star Pitbull. “He was really nice.  I got to kiss him on the cheek,” said the Kodiak Island resident.   “It was really nice how he was taking pictures with everyone here.” Pitbull, whose real name is Armando Perez was greeted warmly by most of Kodiak's residents who were the subject of a prank by Boston writer David Thorpe. Last month, Thorpe led a ballot stuffing campaign through Facebook; whichever Wal-Mart got the most “likes” would host Pitbull.  Kodiak's Wal-Mart edged out a Wal-Mart in the musician's hometown of Miami, more than 5,000 miles from Alaska.

A Katmai National Park's eruption happened a century ago Wednesday -- but it is still the largest volcanic blast in nearly 200 years, easily loud enough to have been audible 290 miles away where Anchorage now stands. On June 6, 1912, the Novarupta stratovolcano produced the biggest volcanic eruption of the 20th century: bigger than the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa (more properly called Krakatau) in Indonesia, as well as Mount Pinatubo's 1991 blast in the Phillipines. It was 30 times larger than the spring 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, which killed more than 50 people in Washington State in the spring of 1980.

A broad stacked low pressure system south of Kodiak Island is responsible for gray skies and areas of persistent rain over southern Alaska. Some of the heavier rain has been in PWS and the eastern Kenai.  Gusty winds in excess of 50 mph through channeled terrain have accompanied the wet weather.  Rain will continue today with highs in the upper 40s to low 50s. Rain and rain showers will continue in SE, also.  Look for highs in the 50s. ...

A large upper level ridge has settled over the state providing sunshine and warming temperatures to all of the Interior and Southcentral regions.  Highs will range from the upper 60s around Fairbanks to the 50s around PWS and coastal Kenai Peninsula. Behind the ridge is a weak upper trough and surface disturbance.  It is nearly stationary over the Aleutian Islands.  A front is swinging through the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island this morning.  Along and behind it, rain showers have increased.  Rain is likely from Bristol Bay to Kodiak west into the Aleutians.  As a result, highs will stay in the 40s for most areas.

FBI and Coast Guard investigators want to speak with anyone in Alaska who may have sold, traded or transferred several models of .44-caliber revolver during the last year, in connection with last month's double homicide at a Coast Guard communications station on Kodiak Island. In a press release Tuesday, FBI spokesperson Eric Gonzales mentions three revolver types of interest: Smith and Wesson Models 29 and 629, as well as any .44 magnum Taurus model. The information is being sought in the April 12 shootings of Coast Guardsmen Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Petty Officer Richard Belisle.

The military's long and important history in the Great Land began at the very moment Alaska became American soil, Oct. 18, 1867. Elements of the Army's 9th Infantry were on hand as the Russian Golden Eagle was lowered and the Stars and Stripes was raised in Sitka, which became headquarters for the U.S. Military District, Alaska. The military has had a presence, even if very small at times, ever since. Charged with maintaining law and order in the new territory, Soldiers helped quell uprisings and built new forts at Wrangell, St. Paul Canal, Kodiak Island and on the Kenai Peninsula.