Kids learn water safety in two-day course

An average of 3,960 people die from drowning each year in the U.S. Roughly 35 of those are in Alaska, according to federal statistics.

The Alaska Office of Boating Safety is looking to decrease those numbers through its Kids Don't Float education program, which came to town last Wednesday and Thursday.

Kids Don't Float started in Homer in 1996 as a life jacket loaner program. The stations, now found at different public water access points across the state, hold life jackets that can be borrowed at no cost and returned after use. The Office of Boating Safety joined the effort in 2000 and has si...