Phillip Kovacs, new borough engineering and facilities department director. (Photo by Kayla Desroches / KMXT) Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough has a Engineering and Facilities Department director. Phillip Kovacs joined the staff at the beginning of July and takes over from Bob Tucker, who retired in April. Kovacs has worked in Portland, Oregon and Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and …

Chicken. (Photo byRob Faulkner / Flickr) Kayla Desroches/KMXT A homeowner shot a bear in Bells Flats on Tuesday. Fish and Game wildlife biologist John Crye says the bear had reportedly eaten about 30 of the person’s chickens, and troopers tried to haze the animal with things like non-lethal bean bag rounds and noise makers. “But the bear came back, and …

U.S. Coast Guard members and City of Kodiak emergency medical personnel transfer a man from the F/V Nordic Cross to an awaiting ambulance at Air Station Kodiak. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Charly Hengen / U.S. Coast Guard) Kayla Desroches/KMXT The U.S. Coast Guard medevac’d a man in waters off Afognak Island today. According to a Coast Guard press …

Larsen Bay. (Photo by Kayla Desroches / KMXT) Kayla Desroches/KMXT A few different lodges in Larsen Bay are located in residential instead of commercial zones.  Kodiak Island Borough community development department acting director Jack Maker said one of Larsen Bay’s former mayors noted that lodges in residential zones were also paying residential utility rates. “The mayor took it upon himself …

The coordinator of KANA’s Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, Stephanie Jenkins, joins to talk about World Breastfeeding Week, the benefits of breastfeeding, and some of the cultural taboos surrounding it.

Sheikh Zayed mosque in Abu Dhabi. (Photo bySami Haidar / Flickr) Kayla Desroches/KMXT The former medical director at the Kodiak Community Health Center just visited the island after living for about two years in Abu Dhabi working for the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Paul Zimmer moved to the United Arab Emrites to be regional medical officer at the U.S. …

Bradley Moran (second from right) speaks to Jay Stinson. (Photo by Kayla Desroches / KMXT) Kayla Desroches/KMXT The University of Alaska Fairbanks just announced its intention to place a new faculty member at its facility in Kodiak. The move is part of the growing seaweed industry in Alaska. On Tuesday, UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences dean, Bradley Moran, …

Rocket Lab Electron on the pad at LC-1. (Photo courtesy of Rocket Lab) Kayla Desroches/KMXT A company that launches small satellites into orbit is considering Kodiak as the site of its second launch pad. Rocket Lab has an existing relationship with the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, which has offered support services to the company’s launches in New Zealand. Rocket Lab’s launch …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The City of Kodiak is moving forward with the review of the termination of former deputy city manager and current Kodiak Island Borough Assemblyman Matt Van Daele. Van Daele was fired earlier in the year. The city did not give a specific reason for his dismissal, and the action followed concern surrounding a potential conflict of interest. At …

One of the documents from the tsunami shelter and library plan from a prior borough meeting (Courtesy of the Kodiak Island Borough) Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough hopes to begin excavation at the Chiniak tsunami shelter and library this week. That’s what staff from the Engineering & Facilities Department told the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly at its work session …