Six hours

Six hours. It took the Alaska State Troopers six hours on Sunday before they notified the federal authorities responsible for Search and Rescue operations at sea, when it was abundantly clear that a fishing vessel missing off St. Lawrence Island was in distress. One wonders what is going on with the C Detachment. There is not even a dispatch out that notified the public on the ongoing SAR. Nothing. We learn of DUIs in other parts of Alaska in those dispatches. A woman slumped over the steering wheel, drunk in North Pole. An pot-induced speeding in Nenana. And our region? “C Detachment ...No news reported.” Even when we know for a fact that there is news to be reported from our state troopers. The people of this region deserve better, especially when it comes to timely SAR activation. —D.H.—