Coast Guard

SAN FRANCISCO -- The crew of the Low Speed Chase was a relaxed but adventurous cadre of expert sailors who were fixtures on the Marin County waterfront, friends and family say.

For five of them, the toughest race in local yachting circles -- the Full Crew Farallones Race, held annually since 1907 -- was their last. A towering wave washed them overboard Saturday afternoon as their boat rounded the islands, and rescue efforts by three crew members who survived the disaster were dashed by another wall of water that wrecked the sailboat.

KODIAK, Alaska — The U.S. Coast Guard plans to use explosives to sink a derelict Japanese ship dislodged by last year’s massive tsunami.

The U.S. Coast Guard International Ice Patrol of New London has selected Marine Science Technician Second Class Cliffton Hendry as the unit’s Enlisted Person of the Year for 2011.

Hendry made significant contributions to Ice Patrol in support of the North American Ice Service (NAIS) Collaborative Arrangement, an international agreement comprising the Canadian Ice Service, the Ice Patrol, and the U.S. National Ice Center, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

OGDEN -- The freezing temperatures did little to stem the flow of tears at an emotional Wreaths Across America ceremony Saturday morning at Evergreen Memorial Park.

Before about 20 onlookers, veterans representing each branch of the military laid wreaths at the foot of the corresponding military branch platform markers that have been erected encircling the cemetery flagpole.

Viron Hart Toponce, of Ogden, died of heart failure Wednesday, August 3, 2011. The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, August 11, at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd. The family will meet with friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Thursday at the mortuary. See the complete obituary in the Standard-Examiner's e-edition.

WASHINGTON — A tugboat officer, focused on his cellphone and laptop, allowed his tug to push a 250-foot barge into a stranded tourist vessel on the Delaware River in July, killing two people and highlighting a growing problem with distracted operators on land, sea, and air, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON -- Women should finally be allowed to serve fully in combat, a military advisory panel said Friday in a report seeking to dismantle the last major area of discrimination in the armed forces.

The call by a commission of current and retired military officers to let women be front-line fighters could set in motion another sea change in military culture as the armed forces, generations after racial barriers fell, grapples with the phasing out of the ban on gays serving openly.