Kayla Desroches/KMXT The area around Main Elementary is getting a makeover. Parents had voiced concern over the poor lighting around the school and Kodiak Island Borough School District facilities director Jeff Hansel says staff recently acted on those safety issues. “We upgraded the street lighting. They were a 100 watt light. We upgraded three of the lights to a 400 …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly will back a grant proposal that aims to improve bycatch estimates for Chinook salmon through better dock sampling. The proposal, which comes with an estimated budget of $190,000, is up for a 2017 Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant through NOAA, and Kodiak-based Julie Bonney of the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank and Craig Rose of FishNext Research …

On this week’s Talk of the Rock, host Kayla Desroches speaks with Kodiak Strong organizer Merissa Koller Williams and facilitator Doug Osborne. The event brings community members together to pinpoint initiatives that will improve the quality of life and wellbeing in Kodiak. Koller Williams updates listeners on the progress the community made on last year’s goals and talks about Kodiak …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT Nonprofits in Kodiak are turning to Facebook to raise funds. For Giving Tuesday, which is the altruistic alternative to Cyber Monday or Black Friday, Facebook has paired up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to match donations dollar-for-dollar. The Foundation provides the funds and Facebook the platform, which brings the spirit of the holidays into 2016. Sarah …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT One local athlete recently returned victorious from a bowling competition in Anchorage. Chris Kavanaugh, who’s been participating in Special Olympics since he was a little kid, won 2 gold medals and a silver medal at the Special Olympics Unified Sports Bowling State Championships. In an interview with KMXT, Kavanaugh gave some insight into how he reached his peak …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly is on the cusp of deciding whether it will agree to hold conservation easements to Termination Point and Long Island. The contracts would restrict development and otherwise protect the natural resources on the two Lesnoi-owned properties. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council together with the Great Lands Trust have come before the …

Anne Marie LaRosa. Photo by Lisa Hupp Kayla Desroches/KMXT Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Manager Anne Marie LaRosa is exchanging one island for another and retiring to Hawaii. She has an extensive background working for the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, and spent three years as manager at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. She …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT At its regular meeting this week, the Kodiak Fisheries Work Group consulted its fisheries analyst, Heather McCarty, about what effect it could have in the North Pacific Fishery Management Council process. Assemblyman Larry LeDoux said he wanted to know how the work group could make a difference instead of playing a reactionary role. Based on McCarty’s feedback, members …

On today’s Talk of the Rock, host Kayla Desroches speaks with local members of the Alaska Farm Bureau, Lorne White and Marie Rice. They’ll catch up on what the bureau is doing and also speak about some of their most experimental crops.

Blueberry pie. mgstanton / Flickr Kayla Desroches/KMXT Brother Francis Shelter will host its annual Thanksgiving dinner feast for those in need this week. Shelter executive director Monte Hawver says the Spouse’s Association organizes the dinner and the shelter staff serves it. The meal is available for those who don’t have their own table to sit down at. “Some of ‘em …