Dave Kiffer - Alaskan Poet, Historian, Humorist

  Coast Guard Award Honors Man Who Died On  Gravina  In 1964 Five died when Albatross  crash ed After searching for sinking boat Twice each year at United States Coast Guard air wings across the country, there is a chance for special recognition for service men and women with the awarding of the Lt. Robert A. Perchard Memorial Trophy. The trophy has been given out hundreds of times over the last half century. Through the award, each aviation unit recognizes enlisted crew members for "demonstrating exemplary performance and superior technical, aviation, professional and leadership abilities," according to the Coast Guard. The award has its genesis one horrible night on  Gravina  Island's Dall Head. Earlier in the day, July 3, 1964, the Coast Guard had received a report that the 29-foot fishing boat "Jean" had run aground on Nunez Rocks and was sinking. Nunez Rocks is located about three miles offshore of Cape Chacon ...

  By Dave Kiffer For the Daily News If you got together with   Wes   Loe , you always knew you were in for a good   story . Or two. Or three. So, on March 18 when word of the passing of   Loe , a long time Ketchikan resident, and the unofficial "mayor" of Hyder, started going around social media, that was the common thread of most of the comments. "You always stayed longer than you intended to," said Stewart Mayor Gina McKay last week on podcast produced by the CBC called "Daybreak North." McKay said she had known   Loe   for more than a decade and had enjoyed meeting with him every so often, even before she became Stewart's mayor two years ago. "He told me about growing up in California and serving in Vietnam," McKay said. "It was a huge difference, a different perspective from my life experience. He was a wonderful person to get to know." Loe   was born in 1946, in California and graduated...

  SOUTHEAST LOG 3-27-21 Congrats!! PRINCE RUPERT - Lee Brain is already one of the youngest mayors in Prince Rupert history. But last week he became the first Prince Rupert Mayor to welcome a chjld to his family while in office. His wife Hailey gave birth to Olivia Eleni Brain. Mother, child and Mayor are all doing well. THE PRINCE RUPERT NORTHERN VIEW Risk level drops PETERSBURG - The community COVID risk level has been lowered from red to orange. Officials say that the number of active cases dropped from nearly 70 to around 11 by the middle of the month. THE PETERSBURG PILOT Covid checkpoint closed KITIMAT - A checkpoint to limit access into Kitimaat Village has been discontinued by the Haisla Nation Council. Non-members who don't have business in the village are still discouraged from entering, but the checkpoint will no longer prevent entry. THE KITIMAT NORTHERN SENTINEL Residents stirred by shaker HAINES - Residents had a little rumble last week when a magn...

  ACEDIA   (Copyright 2021, by Dave Kiffer)   Monks knew this fate, To be stuck inside And sick to death Of it.                Acedia The Greeks called it. We've lost that word. It seems to have morphed Into a French one Ennui.   But it's not the same Ennui is a lack Of inner resources, Self-inflicted. Totally.                  Acedia Is imposed upon us As if a world of loons Suddenly shouted "go" And we ran to seek Different chairs And there were none And then we woke up Still in our cells.   A fifth century monk Said it best when He stared out the window And felt the sun Was taking too long To go down.

  A Tale of Two Totems Campbell poles graced downtown Ketchikan For two decades, ended up in Switz erland For more than two decades, a pair of non "traditional" full-sized totem poles stood on Mission Street in front of a local jewelry store in downtown Ketchikan. They were a s much a part of the downtown a s the Welcome A rch a nd a re still remembered by people who lived in Ketchikan between the 1930s a nd the 1950s. Then suddenly, they were gone. Only to show up a gain, nearly 6,000 miles a way in Geneva, Switzerland, where they remain to this day. The poles even had a moment of Hollywood fame, a ppearing in the 1954 movie "Cry Vengeance" which was filmed in Ketchikan the year before. A t one point, one of the main characters is being "tailed" by a nother character. When the tailee stops a nd turns a round, the tailer quickly jumps behind one of the poles to hide, a lthough he has a lready been spotted. Locals ...

  By Dave Kiffer For the Daily News The remains of a former Alaskan resident with ties to Ketchikan who died in World War II have been identified, nearly eight decades after his death. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on Jan. 13, 2021 that Alfred "Freddy" Turgeon 's remains had been positively identified through DNA testing. He will be buried near his sister, Lorraine (Cutler) Bass, in Shoreline, Washington, later this year. Turgeon was a crewmember on the B-24 bomber "Vulgar Virgin" which was shot down over Ploiesti, Romania in "Operation Tidal Wave" on Aug. 1, 1943. Nine of the 10 crewmembers, including Turgeon , died. "Operation Tidal Wave" - an attempt to shut down nine oil refineries north of Bucharest, Romania and cripple the Axis war efforts - is one of the most famous, and tragic, bombing raids of World War II.   In 1943, the Ploiesti refineries were generating 30 percen...