Police Kill Bear, hurt bystander

By Heidi Zemach
Seward Police shot and killed a medium-sized black bear who had been wandering around the small boat harbor at around 10 p.m., injuring a bystander in the process Thursday night. One of the two shotgun slug-rounds used went through the bear, ricocheted, and struck a man in the abdomen. The local resident received [...]

Seaman’s Mission: Home Away From Home

By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News

Those who work at sea have a welcoming place to relax, escape the ship, and catch up with their families when they arrive in Seward for their cruises’ turnaround. The Seward Seaman’s Mission, at 3001 Third Avenue, has for decades opened its doors to all cruise ship, barge and [...]

Little Sailing Tugboat with big vision

By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News
A group of friendly French Corsican adventurers arrived in Seward recently aboard their unique working tugboat Le Menguier or “The Mango.” They had had recycled and transformed the robust little French naval tugboat, built in 1968, into an alternative boat with sails, solar panels, LED lights, and later, environmentally-friendly [...]

DEC fines Railroad and Coal Facility, mandates dust-control projects

By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News

The Alaska Railroad Corporation and Aurora Energy Services, LLC have signed a compliance order with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation over two alleged violations of air quality regulations concerning dust emissions at the Seward Coal Terminal. The compliance order (based on two Notices Of Violations dated April 13, [...]

Boy Scouts Have Fun and Improve Town

The 2010 Alaska Boy Scout (100th Anniversary) Jamboree took place here in Seward over the weekend. The theme was: A Whale of a Good Time, and by all accounts it was.
Beautiful sunny weather helped keep the mood jubilant throughout.
Some 1600 scouts, and even more parents and siblings filled the town. They packed the waterfront with [...]

First Cruise Ship Marks another Tourist Season

(By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News)
Under gloomy weather, and intermittent rain, the summer tourist season in Seward officially began Sunday with the arrival of the first massive cruise ship, the Ryndam Holland America. It was transporting about 1200 passengers to Vancouver, with stopovers in Haines, Juneau, and Ketchikan.
This summer 57 ships will dock in [...]

Seward Harbor Opening Weekend 2010

Schedule of Events
Saturday May22nd
8:30am 10am Sailor’s Breakfast – Open to the public – Sailing, Inc. Office
10am-2pm Sailors Swap Meet – Sponsored by Kenai Fjords Yacht Club – Sailing, Inc.
Parking Lot
10am-3pm Open House aboard Yachts – Check in at Sailing, Inc. to pick up boarding
pass and list of open boats
4pm Blessing of the Fleet – Uplands [...]

Will We Have a Homer-Like Spit?

By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News

The city-owned South Harbor fill area and breakwater is wasted space, an untapped gravel eyesore just waiting to be put to better use in the summertime. Most summers, the area fills with cars and boat trailers, parked by visiting tourists and locals fishing or putting their boats in for [...]

City tackles harbor and tourism, name-calling

(By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News)

The harbor:
The Seward City Council passed a resolution authorizing the city manager to implement a vessel maintenance and repair policy for the Seward Small Boat Harbor at Monday night’s meeting. The policy governs minor maintenance allowed in the harbor such as varnishing, waxing, sanding, painting, window replacement and other [...]

A Resurrection Day to Remember

(By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News)

What an awesome day Easter Sunday was. My family and I braved snow squalls and bouncy seas to tour Resurrection Bay, hoping to witness the California Gray whales as they begin their annual migration north to the Bering Sea. My family was among 30 passengers traveling on Major Marine [...]

City Council Report: Council to use Eminent Domain Powers, adopt Camera Surveillance Policy

(By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News)
The City of Seward is ready to take by Eminent Domain property along the Seward Highway deemed necessary for the construction of a flood prevention levee. The project was one of several that resulted from a flood mitigation task force, developed at the request of FEMA following major flooding [...]

Experts Plan to Fight Invasive Marine Species

(By Heidi Zemach, for Seward City News)
Marine invaders such as Chinese mitten crabs, European green crabs and the elusive, little understood tunicates, may not have arrived in Alaska yet in significant numbers yet-but they’re on the move. That was the main message of a vast variety of experts on invasive species who gathered at the [...]

Council vote moves fluoridation forward

(By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News)
heidizemach@yahoo.com

(Will this water contain fluoride in the future?)

A divided city council has moved city water fluoridation a step forward. With a 4-2 vote they passed a resolution at Monday night’s meeting “affirming council support for fluoridation of the public water supply to improve oral health.” The resolution directs the [...]

Railroad plans include new restroom, dredging, and undisclosed coal facility improvements

(By Heidi Zemach for SCN)
The Alaska Railroad held an open house at the Breeze Inn in Seward Friday, Feb 19. Alaska Railroad Chief Engineer and Vice President of Engineering Tom Brooks gave an update of the railroad’s capital project program plans for the upcoming year at the Seward Chamber of Commerce, Conference and Visitor’s Bureau [...]

City Council Addresses Coal Issues

(Heidi Zemach for Seward City News)

Coal dominated the Seward City Council meeting Monday, Jan 25th, as nearby, coal-filled trains pulled up to the Seward waterfront coal transfer facility, steadily growing a 90,000 ton-plus coal pile as it was loaded onto a waiting ship. The council unanimously agreed to undertake a community-wide ambient air [...]

Second Installment: KWF’s Seward Connection

The Kenai Watershed Forum (KWF) is a local 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to maintaining the health of the watersheds on the Kenai Peninsula. KWF is recognized as the regional watershed organization of the Kenai Peninsula. KWF is building strong Seward relationships and is working on several projects in the local Seward area. KWF’s mission is working [...]

Council votes to extend Seward Ship’s Drydock lease another 30 years

By Heidi Zemach for SCN
Seward City Council voted unanimously Monday night to authorize the city manager to extend the contract to Jim Pruitt for Seward Ship’s Drydock, Inc at Seward Marine Industrial Center through 2040. Councilmember Robert Valdatta was absent for the meeting, but all of the others voted for a 30-year lease extension that [...]

Good News and Bad for Seward Tourism

(By Heidi Zemach, for SCN)
Three-thousand independent travelers on the website TripAdvisor have given Seward top billing as a tourist destination for 2010. TripAdvisor, an Internet website much used for vacation planning, announced Wednesday, Dec 9 that its yearly travel trends survey of U.S. travelers had chosen Seward first among its top five U.S. Destinations for [...]

Alaska Logistics to expand Seward operation

(By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News)
The Seward City Council has agreed to have City Manager Phillip Oates negotiate a lease with Alaska Logistics, LLC, to construct a large vessel maintenance, repair and storage enclosure at the Seward Marine Industrial Center in support of their Western Alaska Barge Service. Alaska Logistics has operated a barge service [...]

City Passes GF Budget, Will Replace Fleets Aging Vehicles

(by Heidi Zemach for Seward City News)

Photo: budget bloodletting

The “bloodletting” known as the annual budget process has officially ended, and Monday night the Seward City Council approved a $9.8 million General Fund Budget for 2010, and $9.9 million for 2011, which retain the property tax rate at 3.12 mills. The council also passed a [...]

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