PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) – Kirk Greenfield and 24 guests from the Mid-Ohio Valley began their 12 days trip to Alaska on Friday, July 5th.

Starting with a 4 AM wake up, Kirk and hcompany assembled at the Baymont Inn in Marietta to board the motor coach, and begin their 3 hour trip to Pittsburgh International Airport. The trip went well with all arriving on time, and the flight left at 11 a.m. for a connection in Chicago.

Starting with a 4 AM wake up, Kirk and company gathered at The Baymont Inn to board a motor coach for the three hour ride to Pittsburgh airport. We ran on schedule and all went well, meeting our tour director Sherry.
A short hop to Chicago for a connecting flight gave some a chance for shut eye, and then a four hour flight to Seattle was next. This plane was also full. Eventually, the Rocky Mountains came into view, and we were thrilled to see snowcapped mountain ridges sail by. The largest mountain by far was Mount Rainier, which can be seen most anywhere from Seattle, including our hotel for the night.

Some chose to go right to bed, while others decided to find a bit to eat either in the hotel restaurant or across the street as a variety of smaller eateries, including Subway, the 13 coins Steakhouse, the Hawaiian Hibachi and more.

I have always said that the first day is the hardest, in part because of working the evening shift, and then having to turn around and drive to the pick-up point before dawn. The good news is that our Holiday Vacations Tour Director is very experienced and has it all under control. In addition to our 24 MOV travelers, there are six more coming from Chicago and a family of ten who will also be with us, for a total of 42 on this trip.

We are all excited to start our three day cruise with Holland America on the inland waterway tomorrow, Saturday and visit Canadian and Alaskan ports of call all the way up to Skagway. But more on that later. It’s time for some much needed shut-eye.

*(One small sad point: We were disappointed to discover that our favorite T-Rex skeleton “Sue” at the Pittsburgh airport is not visible while reconstruction work is going on. It’s a favorite landmark that we had been hoping to snap pictures of and shoot a video for the folks back home. Perhaps another day of upon or return.)

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Updated: 15 minutes ago Published: 15 minutes ago

Alaska U.S. District Court judge Joshua Kindred abruptly resigned from the federal bench this week without explanation.

Kindred, 46, was appointed to the District Court of Alaska by former President Donald Trump in 2019 and confirmed in 2020. Formerly an Anchorage prosecutor and an attorney at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, Kindred was 42 when he became a federal judge, making him among the youngest of a wave of judges appointed by Trump.

Federal judgeships are lifetime appointments, and resignations are rare. It’s not clear why Kindred is stepping down.

Kindred wrote a one-page letter to President Joe Biden on Wednesday, giving his formal notice of resignation. The letter gave no reason why he was resigning. It’s effective on July 8.

Questions to Kindred’s chambers on Friday were directed to Candice Duncan, chief clerk of the U.S. District Court of Alaska. Duncan said in a prepared statement that all of Kindred’s cases would be reassigned on July 5.

Kindred was picked by Trump to replace U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline in 2019. He was deemed qualified by the Alaska Bar Association but was rated 16th of 20 applicants. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski told Alaska Public Media at the time that Trump was looking to appoint younger judges to the bench.

The U.S. District Court of Alaska has three active district judges, four “senior judges,” who are in semi-retired status, and a handful of magistrate judges assisting. With Kindred’s resignation, Chief Judge Sharon Gleason is the only active district court judge serving in Alaska.

Former Alaska Chief Judge Timothy Burgess resigned at the end of 2021 when he reached the minimum retirement age of 65 for federal judges. Burgess has been a senior judge since then, which allows him to take cases if the court’s active judges are unavailable.

Burgess’ seat on the court has remained vacant since 2022. Federal judges are nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. By convention, the names of potential nominees are often chosen by home-state senators.

U.S. Sens. Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Mary Peltola did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday on Kindred’s vacancy or the effort to fill Burgess’ seat.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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(CNN)– Alaska Airlines’ flight attendants are about to get a big pay boost as part of a tentative agreement for a new contract.

According to the Association of Flight Attendants, union members will get at least an 18% raise.

They will also now get paid while boarding passengers on flights.

The tentative agreement comes after nearly two years of negotiations.

The union also made a deal on pay for raises that were missed while those negotiations were ongoing.

Union members still need to vote on whether to ratify the agreement.