Alaska
Coast Guard investigating
Two crew members of a tugboat were killed and two others were injured in what the Coast Guard described Wednesday as a “confined space incident” aboard a barge moored in southeast Alaska last weekend.
A Coast Guard news release provided limited details about what happened to the four, but said they were in a confined space aboard the freight barge Waynehoe on Sunday when other crew members from their tug, the Chukchi Sea, lost contact with them. The barge was moored about 25 miles northwest of Ketchikan.
The deceased crew members were identified as Sidney Mohorovich and Ben Fowler, according to the Coast Guard. Its news release didn’t identify the surviving crew by name. Coast Guard spokesperson Alexander Ransom later told the Associated Press in an email that both survivors were reported to be in good condition.
The parents of Mohorovich, 28, said they were told by Coast Guard officials there was methane gas present in the confined space.
“We don’t know why the series of events that led to all the people being in the confined space, if they all like went down as a team or in separate stages,” Todd Mohorovich told the AP by phone from his home in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. “I have no information on that, but what I can tell you is that the confined space had high levels of methane gas in it.”
He did not know the source of the gas or why it was present. The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to an email seeking confirmation of the presence of methane gas.
Todd and Eva Mohorovich last spoke to their son Saturday night when he told them about impending bad weather. “He said that the barge was in a spot where they were going to be able to be sheltered from that storm,” Todd Mohorovich said.
The crew planned to perform normal deck duties to make sure everything was secured ahead of the storm.
Federal regulations define “confined space” on a vessel as “a compartment of small size and limited access such as a double bottom tank … or other space which by its small size and confined nature can readily create or aggravate a hazardous exposure.” That could include a lack of oxygen.
Watchstanders at the Coast Guard’s command center in Alaska’s capital Juneau received a mayday call at 9:14 a.m. local time Sunday, informing them that the crew of the Chukchi Sea had lost contact with the barge, the Coast Guard said. The tugboat crew recovered the body of one of the victims and helped both survivors escape the confined space while the Coast Guard was on its way to the scene.
The barge was then towed to Ketchikan, where the confined space “was able to be safely cleared for the recovery of the second deceased crew member,” Ransom told AP.
The causes of death were not released, and the bodies were sent to Anchorage for autopsies.
“Our deepest condolences are with the families and colleagues of the crewmembers affected by this tragic incident,” said Capt. Stanley Fields, commander of the Coast Guard sector for Southeast Alaska, in a statement. “This is a heartbreaking reminder that confined spaces on vessels can contain extremely dangerous, invisible hazards.”
Sidney Mohorovich was one month into his new job with Hamilton Marine Construction.
The company didn’t return a message seeking comment.
Mohorovich, a large equipment mechanic, was on his first job in Alaska. He lived in Deming, Washington, with his fiancee ahead of their planned June wedding.
He previously was a logger and welder, and before that he learned how to build houses and do electrical work. “He could pretty much figure anything out,” his mother said.
“He was loved by so many,” Eva Mohorovich said of her son’s outgoing personality. “Just an exceptional human being, smarty, witty, funny, loving.”
It was in his heart to lend a hand to people in need, and he was unselfish in so many ways, his father said.
“We’re just really thankful for who he was,” Todd Mohorovich said. “I wouldn’t change a thing in the life that we’ve all shared together, regardless of this the tragedy at this time. If we were to change something, it would lead to other changes that we don’t know about.”
A bill seeking to increase civil legal aid for Alaskans who can’t afford attorneys has become law without Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s signature.
The measure, introduced by Juneau Democratic Rep. Sara Hannan, passed earlier this month with support from 27 out of 40 House members and 17 of 20 Senate members.
Under the new law, one-quarter of court system filing fees can be appropriated each year to an existing civil legal services fund, which subsidizes attorneys for low-income Alaskans who need legal representation in civil cases.
In effect, that will direct roughly $400,000 in additional state funding next year toward those legal services, potentially allowing hundreds of additional indigent Alaskans to receive free assistance on matters that include domestic violence protective orders, applications for government benefits, and child support.
The civil legal services fund was created in 2007 and updated in 2018, when lawmakers agreed to appropriate up to 10% of annual court fees toward the fund. Since then, the need for legal aid has outpaced the state’s spending, according to Hannan and other supporters of the measure.
A similar bill passed the Senate but stalled in the House near the end of the 2024 session.
Recent annual appropriations to the fund, which depend on court filing fees and other figures, ranged from $280,000 to $360,000. The new law will more than double the allowable annual appropriation from court filing feeds the fund, to a total of $766,000, according to the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.
The funding goes toward the Alaska Legal Services Corp., the only organization in the state dedicated to assisting low-income Alaskans with civil matters. The nonprofit corporation reported this year turning away half the Alaskans who asked for its help due to a lack of resources.
It reported handling 5,455 cases involving nearly 15,000 Alaskans in 2025, up from 2,880 cases involving just over 6,000 Alaskans in 2016.
The Alaska Legal Services Corp. has an annual budget of roughly $10 million, only a fraction of which comes from the state. Other funding sources include the federal government, tribes and private donations. In addition to its allocation from the civil legal services fund, the corporation has received an annual $400,000 state grant since 2022, down from $450,000 in preceding years.
The corporation’s director, Maggie Humm, estimated that for every additional $100,000 in funding, it can help 182 additional Alaskans.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Williwaw Social, a downtown Anchorage entertainment venue that hosted concerts, parties and community events for nearly 10 years, announced on Facebook that it will close its doors on Friday.
In a post from the venue’s official account, Williwaw Social thanked Anchorage residents, artists, staff and guests for supporting the business over the past decade. The announcement described the venue as a gathering place for live music, celebrations, rooftop events and nightlife in downtown Anchorage.
The post did not state a reason for the closure.
Showdown Alaska, which has partnered with Williwaw Social for events, posted a separate statement saying the closure came as a surprise to its team. The organization clarified that Showdown Alaska and Williwaw Social are separate entities that operate independently.
Showdown Alaska said its Sundown Summer Concert Series will continue as scheduled on F Street. In the caption of its post, the organization said Drake Night and Showdown Throwdown will be rescheduled at new venues, and ticket holders will receive more information by email.
Williwaw Social’s announcement thanked Anchorage for its support and described the closure as the end of a chapter for the venue.
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Avalanche forecasters say spring’s slow-moving arrival in Southcentral Alaska has led to potentially dangerous conditions for hikers heading into the mountains for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The Friends of Chugach Avalanche Center posted an alert Thursday warning of a large slide blocking the road to the Crow Pass trailhead in Girdwood. Many popular trails within the Chugach National Forest, such as Byron Glacier and Crow Pass, continue to pose an avalanche hazard risk “as we can’t quite shake this cold, wet spring,” according to the alert from the nonprofit group affiliated with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center.
Avalanche forecasters last week warned hikers to be aware of numerous large avalanches releasing as spring conditions slowly arrived. Trails will continue to be dangerous as long as there’s snow covering higher terrain, they said.
“One of the biggest hazards during spring is not just traveling on steep slopes, but traveling below them,“ the avalanche center wrote in an alert last month. ”Many popular summer trails pass directly beneath avalanche paths. As temperatures warm, the snowpack weakens and avalanches can release naturally, running all the way to valley bottoms and across trails that appear dry and safe.“
The avalanches can carry heavy, wet snow “capable of burying a person, even far from where the slide started,” the alert said.
The forecast for the Anchorage area calls for continued cool, mostly cloudy and occasionally rainy weather with the potential for sun on Monday.
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