Alaska Man Monday – Explosives, a Great Alaska Kid and a Great Fish

All of you readers who are here in the Great Land, and I know there are a bunch, are probably all sharing my happiness at the return of spring – and the end of this weird, weird winter. I went back and looked through some photos, and at this time last year, we had a foot of snow in the yard. Now the yard is clear, and with that comes another sign of the Alaska spring – the buzzing of light airplanes has picked up considerably. More on that in a bit. Meanwhile…

Boom! Back in the day, my friends and I could have probably written a military field manual on improvised explosives. If something could be made to explode, we’d find a way to explode it. But there’s no match for military-grade stuff, which can be seriously dangerous, so it’s troubling when someone finds one on a beach.

On April 24, 2025 the Alaska State Troopers received a report that an unexploded grenade was discovered on a beach in Ketchikan by a survey crew. After further investigation, Troopers determined that the ordinance was likely still live and located near mile 8 of the North Tongass Highway. Troopers and other law enforcement officers secured the beach area. On April 26, 2025 an explosive ordinance team from the US Army in Anchorage arrived in Ketchikan and moved the grenade to a safe location and detonated it safely.

At least things were handled properly. Nobody tried to, say, shoot at it with a .22 or anything silly like that.

Alaska Man score: 5 moose nuggets. I’d deduct some points for whoever left a live grenade lying on a beach, but we just don’t know who that person was, so there’s no target for our opprobrium.

See Also: Kristi Noem: Notorious Gang Leader Nabbed by ICE Was Trying to Buy Explosives—What For?

Next,  there’s this: Today, all of Alaska is proud of 13-year-old Grace Wilhelm.

An Alaska teenager won the national “Elks Hoop Shoot” basketball free-throw competition in Chicago, the first Alaska teen to win since 1990.

Palmer Middle School student, Grace Wilhelm, 13, competed in the 12 to 13-year-old girl category, claiming victory by hitting 23 of 25 shots in the final.

The last Alaska winner — 1990 Alaska teen winner, Trajan Langdon — attended East High School and went on to play basketball at Duke University and in the NBA. He is currently the president of the Detroit Pistons.

Wilhelm said Monday that she felt a “mix of emotions” when she was declared the winner.

“I met a lot of other new competitors that I became friends with, and it was tough competition,” she said. “They were all really good.”

As many of you probably know, my knowledge of sportsball in general lies somewhere between slim and none. I do know a little bit about basketball, though, as I have a grandson who plays and is reportedly seriously good at it, so I know what is involved: throwing a ball through a hoop. It doesn’t look easy to me. That, to my thinking, lends even more kudos to Grace Wilhelm.

Alaska Man score: 5 moose nuggets. Well done, Grace!

See Also: RedState Sports Report: That’s the Way the Basketball Bounces

Finally, did you know that the hooligan, in addition to being a slang term for a troublemaker, is also a fish? It is, and those fish are now running in the Chilkoot River.

By high tide on Monday, the sky was overcast and spitting rain. Birds circled cacophonously above the Chilkoot River, and sea lions bellowed downstream. Haines resident Sonny Williams was there, too, posted up on the bridge that straddles the river nine miles outside of town.

They were all there for the same reason: hordes of small black fish wriggling through the current below, a telltale sign of spring. Williams pointed as a school made its way upstream. In one swift motion, it spiraled back and merged with another school that was headed back toward the ocean.

“They’re going up and down, up and down,” he said. “Their bodies are acclimating to the freshwater.”

Alaska’s famous for our salmon runs, but the salmon aren’t the only fish to make an annual appearance. The hooligan is a kind of smelt, and while they are often taken by dipnetting, the problem is that they don’t freeze well, and are generally canned or pickled. They can also be rendered into oil, giving rise to the name “candlefish.” Just another great piece of the Alaska outdoors.

Alaska Man score: 5 moose nuggets, because Alaska.

And now, let’s talk about airplanes.

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