Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly and Kodiak City Council recently put their final stamp on a letter which would provide community input on Gulf of Alaska trawl bycatch management to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Each Kodiak governing body held a meeting Tuesday to review and approve that letter. This last step comes after months of discussion …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT Those who tune into – or sit in ON – tonight’s Kodiak Island Borough Assembly regular meeting will hear members of the public address home construction issues and the assembly address the borough’s budget. As far as house construction goes, Assemblymen Kyle Crow and Larry LeDoux have both championed the need to relax engineering requirements home builders go …

A tactile painting by Cunat Spencer. Photo Courtesy of Cunat Spencer Kayla Desroches/KMXT An artist just received a Kodiak Arts Council scholarship to create a series of white-on-white paintings that use layers and texture to create landscapes viewers can both see and feel. Cunat Spencer says she’d previously steered away from white paintings because she does so many Kodiak landscapes, …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT Some Kodiak residents remember when they could just saunter onto the Kodiak Coast Guard base whenever they wanted. Well, it’s not getting any easier for the average Joe to enter the base, but it will be easier for people who perform services for the Coast Guard on a regular basis. A set of protocols through one program means …

On today’s Talk of the Rock, host Kayla Desroches talks about art in Kodiak with Kodiak Arts Council executive director, Katie Oliver, and Arts Council scholarship recipient, Cunat Spencer. Spencer is working on a tactile art project where she’ll use layers and texture to create white-on-white paintings that enable viewers to both see and feel a landscape.

Chef Bradley Ewing, from the Outdoor Channel TV Show “Alaska’s Wild Gourmet”. Photo by Stacy Studebaker Kayla Desroches/KMXT Locally sourced produce is all the rage in Kodiak – from farmer’s markets to food co-ops, and some residents hope that attitude will extend to seafood. On the first day of Crab Fest Thursday, a collection of local groups joined together to …

Textbooks. Photo by Rob Wall/Flickr Kayla Desroches/KMXT Kodiak College is cutting a few programs which are no longer in demand and draw on unnecessary funds. The suspensions come during a difficult fiscal time for the state, and academic leaders have previously said no program is off the table. Earlier in May, the University of Alaska Anchorage agreed to Kodiak College’s …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak City Council held the first reading of its fiscal year 2017 budget last night at its regular meeting. It’s been a focus of discussion at many council meetings for the last few months, and Councilman John Whiddon pointed out all the hard work that has gone into its final form. “I’m ready to move this forward …

Mary Ruskovich stands in front of her bear lineup illustration at the Frame Shop booth. Photo by Sarah Culbertson Kayla Desroches/KMXT Kodiak is not always Alaska’s sunshiney Emerald Isle, full of bears, birds, and frolicking foxes, but it rose to the occasion on Thursday for the first day of Crab Fest.  It was the kind of Kodiak day one artist …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Crab Festival Grand Parade this weekend means the community will see an officious trail of people, animals, and cars mosey along Mill Bay Road Saturday morning. Chamber of Commerce community relations director and crab fest manager Stephanie DeLaGarza says those are just some of the sights you’ll see in the historic Crab Fest parade. “There’s several horses …