Forget fireworks. For one small US town, Independence Day is all about sending cars soaring off a cliff. For nearly two decades, Glacier View in Alaska has celebrated the Fourth of July with a spectacle that’s thrilling and a little bit insane.

While most places light up the night sky with fireworks, Glacier View illuminates the day with the screams of metal martyrs.

“You gotta see cars fly,” one attendee told Alaska News Source.

Videos online show vehicles, some with the American flag painted over them, achieving a brief moment of glory before transforming into crumpled heaps of metal at the bottom of the cliff.

But at least they went out with a bang, as a swan song of rock anthems like Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Fortunate Son’ and Nickelback’s ‘Burn It to the Ground’ blared in the background.

According to Alaska News Source, this year’s event boasted the most airborne automobiles yet, with a dozen taking a one-way trip down the rocky bluff.

Everything from police cruisers to buses dived off the cliff, much to the delight of a thousands-strong crowd that arrived as early as 8:45 am to snag the prime viewing spots.

This quirky tradition, which some consider “the most quintessentially American way” to celebrate the Fourth of July, has become a magnet for thrill-seekers around the world.

For just $20, one can witness automotive acrobatics and witness the kind of freedom that only comes from launching a car off a cliff (safely, of course – no drivers were harmed in the making of this celebration).

So how exactly do these cars fly? According to a report by Roadtrippers, some get a little help from a monorail, while others are launched freewheeling, most with a simple block of wood keeping the pedal to the metal.

The result? Cars soaring through the air, performing daredevil stunts (unintentionally, of course) before meeting their final destination in a hail of scrap metal.

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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