BARROW — The Coast Guard has officially launched aviation operations here, the northernmost city in the United States.

In a place where whale bones are scattered in front yards, pipelines run aboveground, and trash cans are spray-painted with positive messages like “kids are our future,” the Coast Guard is something new.

For years, the 4,200 people of Barrow sailed the Arctic without the Coast Guard. The North Slope Borough search and rescue team took care of its own people, and the Coast Guard was called only in extreme cases. Times have changed.

KODIAK — Dan Farsovitch developed a love for boats at a young age. He grew up in Akhiok and frequently watched his grandfather build wooden boats by hand.

“I was pretty intrigued with that,” he said. “When I was working in a cannery I started out as a helper with the carpenters. They liked me, so they started teaching me the trade.”

Today, Farsovitch runs Eagle Rock Boat Repair, a company that repairs and restores wooden vessels.

KODIAK — Teapots line the walls of the kitchen in Mrs. Potts’ Bed & Breakfast.

The collection of more than 55 teapots features traditional teapots, holiday-themed teapots, and even a musical teapot, among others. Some were new when they were purchased, while others were found buried in antique shops.

They made the journey to Kodiak from India, China, France, Switzerland, the U.S. and Great Britain.

Each one has a story to tell, like their owner Beth Davis, also known as Mrs. Potts, the inspiration for the business’s name.

KODIAK — Garbage and water from the Kodiak Island Borough’s landfill are flowing onto Reed Oswalt’s property on Monashka Bay Road, and the source of the problem may be an ongoing project to expand the landfill.

Oswalt has owned and lived on the 15 acres neighboring the dump since 1976, and has used the property to house his storage business Surf and Turf.

When Oswalt first noticed the water and trash flowing onto his property on Dec. 11, he called the Kodiak Island Borough’s engineering department to report his findings.