LISTEN LIVE!
NOW: TURNSTYLES ON APRADIO.ORG - TURNSTYLES ON APRADIO.ORG
NEXT: KSDP Underwriting - APRADIO.ORG
830 AM KSDP – Sand Point, AK - Keeping the Aleutians East Borough informed. - page 15
A man from King Cove is now charged with murder after his parents died earlier this year in Anchorage following a house fire.
Joshua Gould is facing more than a half-dozen charges including two counts of first-degree murder and a count of arson in the deaths of James and Kathryn Gould.
Rumors of Joshua Gould’s detainment have circulated widely on social media in recent months, but charges were not formally filed until Wednesday.
Gould’s parents were longtime residents of King Cove, an Aleutian fishing community, and lived part-time in Anchorage. Their Anchorage home was burned down in February and their death certificates say they died of smoke inhalation and thermal burns.
Gould has a history of violent offenses, and was put on probation for domestic assault in April.
He’s scheduled to appear in court Friday on the new charges.
Peter Pan’s grounds are normally bustling with workers, but the boardwalks and bunkhouses are now empty.
Alaska’s fishing industry has faced major challenges this past year. Low fish prices and high overhead costs have led some of the industry’s biggest players to sell or shutter their processing plants, sending shock waves through the coastal communities who rely on those canneries.
Perhaps no other community has been harder hit than the small city of King Cove, near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, 600 miles from Anchorage, the closest major city.
Its only seafood processor closed almost overnight this spring, and the city is reeling, not only from the loss of 75% of its revenue, but from the larger questions of the city’s survival.
King Cove didn’t even exist until 1911 when a seafood company, Pacific American Fisheries, opened a salmon cannery, and Unangax̂ folks moved in from surrounding villages to work there.
That fish processing plant grew to become one of Alaska’s largest. Peter Pan Seafood Co. employs about 700 seasonal workers at its King Cove facility during a typical summer. That means housing 700 people in company bunkhouses, and feeding those people daily.
The freezers and pantries were packed when the cannery, burdened by debt, closed, just before salmon season, so the company gave the food away to the community.
Ernie Newman, 65, just retired from a lifelong fishing career. Like most folks in town, he’s a company man.
“I fished for Peter Pan all my life, tendered for ‘em,” Newman said.
He was one of about 100 residents who attended the pop-up pantry at King Cove’s old school, filling his shopping cart with canned pineapple and pancake mix.
Community members attended a pop-up pantry on June 14, picking up food left behind by the seafood company’s last-minute closure.
“Peter Pan finally doin’ us a favor,” Newman said. “Oh, dandy.”
City Clerk Cora Rocili helped organize the food drive. Another lifelong resident, her parents met at the cannery, and she grew up living in company housing and hanging around the fish plant with the other workers’ kids.
“They called us the Peter Pan Brats,” Rocili said.
Just about every business in town revolves around fishing. Rocili moonlights as a bartender at MC’s Bar, near the harbor. But she says the bar is empty these days.
Everybody’s affected by what’s going on with Peter Pan. It’s sad to see. It’s definitely something I never expected to see,” she said.
Local business-owner Lillian Sager runs a food truck, and she said her business has been cut in half, forcing her and her husband to make a tough decision.
“We’re moving,” Sager said. “This is our home. This is where you know, our ancestors lived and we want to stay here, but we’re moving to Washington [State].”
Many of the folks in town are direct descendants of the Unangax̂ and European families who founded the town. That includes Mayor Warren Wilson, a third-generation King Cove fisherman who also runs a boat welding service. He said one of his welders has also moved away to find work, a trend he finds troubling.
Mayor Warren Wilson is a third-generation King Cove fisherman. He hopes the city can attract another seafood company to buy the Peter Pan facility.
“Once you start losing your population, you lose your school, and once you start losing your school, you lose children. Once you start losing children, you lose smiley faces, and then you don’t hear the laughter anymore. That’s when your community is going to die,” he said.
Wilson hopes the city can convince another seafood company to buy the Peter Pan facility. An Alaska-based company took over some of Peter Pan’s other facilities earlier this year, but didn’t purchase the King Cove plant. The town is hoping that someone comes along soon. Nobody made an offer in time for the summer salmon season, so folks are hoping it happens in time for fall.
The cause of a fire at Eagles View Elementary School on July 4 remains unknown but does not appear suspicious, according to a Thursday night statement from the City of Unalaska.
“The cause of the fire is currently under investigation, but does not appear to be suspicious in nature,” the statement said.
The Unalaska Fire Department responded to an automatic fire alarm at the school at approximately 11:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Firefighters did not observe visible signs of fire from outside, but discovered smoke and elevated carbon monoxide levels upon entering the building.
A power outage originally complicated the response, but firefighters still managed to pinpoint the fire’s location.
“Fire crews successfully located and extinguished the fire, which originated in an air conditioning unit,” officials wrote in the statement.
The fire was extinguished and the building turned over to UCSD Superintendent Kim Hanisch.
Updated at 8:55 p.m. on July 4, 2024.
The City of Unalaska released a statement Thursday evening saying the cause of last night’s elementary school fire did “not appear to be suspicious in nature.”
The Unalaska Fire Department responded to an automatic fire alarm at Eagle’s View Elementary School around 11:45 Wednesday night.
Original story published July 4, 2024 at 12:35 a.m.
Firefighters responded to a fire at Eagle’s View Elementary Wednesday night shortly before midnight.
As of 12:35 a.m. the fire was still active in the elementary school’s ceiling, with five firefighters inside the building, according to Unalaska Fire Chief Ben Knowles.
The fire’s cause is unknown at the time of reporting and there is no reason to believe anyone was inside the building, as the doors were locked.
Ravn Alaska has a new leader: Southern California businessman Tom Hsieh will take over the regional airline and replace former CEO Rob McKinney. Hsieh is the president of FLOAT Alaska LLC, the parent company of Ravn Alaska and New Pacific Airlines.
McKinney did not respond to several requests for comment.
Tina Hanley, Ravn’s chief commercial officer, said the company doesn’t have an official statement, but confirmed the airline is passing the baton to Hsieh.
Alaska Airlines has suspended its mileage-sharing agreement with Ravn in light of the news. Alaska Airlines Public Affairs Manager Tim Thompson said in an email to KUCB that the decision is the result of Ravn’s recent “transition in leadership.”
Many Unalaskans have recently expressed concern over the reliability of local air service, citing frequent and unexplained cancellations on the airline, which serves nine communities across Alaska, including Homer, St. Paul, Valdez, and St. Mary’s on the Lower Yukon River.
According to Alaska’s statement, travelers can no longer purchase and redeem Ravn flights on their website, or accrue mileage. Thompson said any travel already booked will be honored. Travelers who purchased flights before July 1 on Alaska’s website will still accrue mileage, as long as they include a mileage plan number.
