On today’s Talk of the Rock, host Kayla Desroches speaks with retiring Borough Manager Bud Cassidy, who’s been a borough employee for roughly thirty years. They talk about the jobs he held before entering local government, how he met his wife, and his memories of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, among other things.

Kayla Desroches/KMXT Library staff and their allies across Alaska are fighting against a cut to a program which funds internet access in state libraries. Its loss would mean another burden on local communities. Kodiak Public Library Director Katie Baxter is one of those to protest the decision to remove funding from a program called Online with Libraries, or OWL. She …

Borough Mayor Jerrol Friend presents plaque to Bud Cassidy at Kodiak Island Borough Assembly regular meeting in recognition of his roughly thirty years of employment with the borough. Photo by Lindsey Cassidy Kayla Desroches/KMXT Kodiak Island Borough Manager Bud Cassidy will soon join the ranks of the recently retired. He handed in his 90-day notice in December and the assembly …

Marijuana strain in California. Dank Depot /Flickr Kayla Desroches/KMXT A number of community members stepped up at the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly’s regular meeting Thursday to speak on the commercialization of marijuana in the borough. One common theme was concern about how marijuana businesses will affect children. Here are some excerpts.    At the regular meeting, the assembly passed an …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT Borough Manager Bud Cassidy attended his last Kodiak Island Borough Assembly regular meeting Thursday, although not in the capacity of borough manager. Borough assessor Bill Roberts will fill that role while the assembly interviews potential applicants to replace Cassidy, who handed in his 90-day notice in December. Cassidy had been serving in the position until just recently, and …

Kayla Desroches and Jay Barrett/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly voted five-to-two Thursday night to opt out of commercializing marijuana in the unincorporated areas of the archipelago for one year as a task force studies the issue. The one-year ban, and any subsequent borough actions, have no effect inside Kodiak City limits, or inside any of the other incorporated communities …

Trash can with Watchman label. Photo Courtesy of Bruce Schactler Kayla Desroches/KMXT The next time you walk into a Kodiak business, you may notice a flailing salmon out of the corner of your eye. That’s one image that now decorates trashcans around town. It’s part of fisherman Bruce Schactler’s plan to turn historic canning labels into beautiful garbage cans – …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT A long-time Kodiak resident and former school administrator recently stepped into the position of Interim Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. Betty Walters began her new set of responsibilities Wednesday. Walters, who is originally from New York City, served as a school administrator in the Kodiak Island Borough School District for more than …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT An eclectic cast of children and adults will bring “The Music Man” to the Kodiak stage starting this Saturday. The musical is about Harold Hill, the bamboozling, lovable fraud who enters a small town in Iowa promising a revolutionary boy’s band. And it’s about all the people he impacts. Mark Anderson, who plays Harold, says the Music Man …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT This weekend, Kodiak residents will be able to shop without the extra cost of sales tax. Sales Tax Free Day means patrons will save 7 percent on retail purchases, and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Trevor Brown says that discount applies to everything from clothing to gas. He says it’s also a good time for people to make …