Liz Ruskin/APRN The U.S. Senate today (TUESDAY) voted to confirm Betsy DeVos as Education secretary. DeVos is the only one President Trump’s cabinet nominees so far to face serious trouble on the Senate floor. Senators were evenly divided, 50 to 50, and Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaker in favor of confirmation. Alaska’s two senators were split. Like the …
Read More »Manager Questions Borough’s Past Budgeting Practices
The Kodiak Island Borough government is pretty new at the top, with the mayor, manager and finance director all coming aboard in 2016. As a result, the budget under consideration for the fiscal year that begins in July is somewhat new ground. “I’m trying to think of the best way of putting this,” said Borough Manager Michael Powers at last …
Read More »Assembly Modifies ‘Robert’s Rules’ For Borough Meetings
At Thursday’s regular meeting, the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly took five minutes out of the four-hour-long meeting and performed some housekeeping on the portion of the borough code dealing with their own procedures. The assembly voted to allow the postponing of “action items,” that is, things on the agenda that need to be voted on – for farther into the …
Read More »Alaska Fisheries Report Feb. 2
Coming up this week – how good of a guy do you have to be to get endorsed for a new government job by both the draggers and community fish co-op types? I mean really? Alaska’s pink salmon disaster continues to make its way up the flagpole, and you, yes you, could get your crewman’s license for free this year. …
Read More »Air Station Crew Tracks Down Crashed Missionaries
Three survivors aboard a downed Cessna 180 pose for a photo with the Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60T Jayhawk crew who rescued them near the Chakachatna River on the west side of Cook Inlet in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, Jan. 30, 2017. The three survivors, pilot Josh Smith, his daughter Danielle Smith, and John White reported no injuries. …
Read More »City Turning Extraction Site into Collection Site for Clean Fill
Pillar Mountain gravel pit, center, from Google Earth. The gravel quarry about a half-mile beyond the City of Kodiak’s water treatment plant on Pillar Mountain Road could soon see a re-purposing. Action taken at Thursday’s city council meeting authorized a contract with engineers to design a way to use the site as a spot for clean construction fill – that …
Read More »Salvation Army Stands Ready in Kodiak
Majors Dave and Lola Davis. Salvation Army photo Right about now, on the tail end of a cold snap with holiday bills coming due and taxes around the corner, many families on the edge might find themselves struggling financially. At last week’s Kodiak City Council meeting, Major Dave Davis reminded the community that the Salvation Army can help. “The Salvation …
Read More »Missile Agency Seeks Comments on Environmental Impacts
Kodiak residents could see military missiles launch from Narrow Cape at an unprecedented rate, starting as early as late summer, according to an article published Wednesday (Jan. 25) in the trade publication “Inside Defense.” Kodiak Island has not seen a missile launch attempt since an Army rocket exploded on liftoff in 2014. On January 13 the Missile Defense Agency published …
Read More »Alaska Fisheries Report – Jan. 26, 2017
Painting of F/V Aurore Marie, the second boat Lawrence Bahovec purchased and named after his niece. The life-long Wrangell resident turned 100 years old on Jan. 4, 2017. (Aaron Bolton, KSTK News) Coming up this week, a disaster is declared, a meeting is held, and what could the new president mean for the future of the Pebble Mine project? All …
Read More »‘Stripper Boat’ Owner Fined for Environmental Crimes – Avoids Prison
Whether the sentence handed down by a U.S. District Court judge on Monday ends the years-long saga of Kodiak’s so-called “stripper boat” remains to be seen, but as it stands, the owner will not be jailed for his environmental crimes. Darren Byler, who, with his wife, owned the Wild Alaskan, a crabber converted into a bar and strip club that …
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