20 years ago

Flags were flown at half staff for Dr. Milo Fritz, a doctor, pilot and statesman who died Aug. 31, 2000, at the age of 91. Born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and raised in New York City, he came to Alaska with his wife Betsy in 1940.

During World War II he served in Adak, where he earned the Bronze Star for saving a pilot from a burning airplane. He also climbed Mt. Redoubt to help rescue a pilot from a crashed DC-3.

After the war he practiced medicine throughout the state, settling in Anchor Point in 1974. He also served several terms in the Alaska Legislature.

Some people said Dr. Fritz had a brusque style.

“I always take refuge in the fact that little children don’t find me unapproachable, dogs don’t, old people don’t,” he said in an interview before he died.

Helen Fritz said he was just being his honest self. “He didn’t have time for small talk,” she said.

— From the issue of Sept. 14, 2000

30 years ago

Preliminary results for the 1990 census showed Ninilchik to have 10,469 people — a figure a census worker later acknowledged was a bit off. The preliminary figure for Homer was 3,553, below the 1986 Kenai Peninsula Borough estimate of 4,020. The Homer census for 1980 was 2,209. The borough estimate was 40,463, up from 25,282 in 1980.

— From the issue of Sept. 13, 1990

50 years ago

The Sept. 10, 1970, issue is missing from the archives.