KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska

Jay Barrett/KMXT The Alaska Marine Highway System announced yesterday that the ferry Tustumena needs two more months of work before it can return to service. That means instead of resuming its Kodiak to Homer runs in two months, it will be delayed until June. As a result, the ferry Kennicott will be pressed into service to handle runs from Kodiak …

Coming up this week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska joins the Yup’ik fisherman trials, the Alaska Legislature hears about eco-labels for Alaska’s salmon and small boats in big boat territory. All that and a series of surveys from the Fisheries Seafood Maritime Initiative, coming up, on the Alaska Fisheries Report.

Casey Kelly/KTOO Alaska Senate Education Committee Chairman Gary Stevens will hold hearings on school vouchers, even after Senate leaders pulled a resolution dealing with the issue out of his committee. Senate President Charlie Huggins, a Wasilla Republican, caused a stir last week when he removed Senate Joint Resolution 9 from the Education Committee and referred it to the Judiciary and …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT A handful of surveys are being circulated throughout Alaska’s fishing and maritime community this month. Paula Cullenberg is the program leader for the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program and said the surveys are part of a data gathering stage for a statewide initiative to create a workforce development plan for the fisheries, seafood and maritime industries. Cullenberg …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT Heating a home can be a troublesome and costly endeavor during the winter months, especially if a home isn’t built to conserve energy. Luke Howard is a building science specialist from the Washington State University Energy Program and spoke on KMXT’s Talk of the Rock yesterday about his upcoming presentation in Kodiak. He was joined by Sun’aq (shoo-naq) …

Peter Granitz/APRN U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski says in light of the Kulluk’s grounding, the government needs to look at all aspects of Shell’s Arctic drilling operations. Speaking on Talk of Alaska yesterday, Senator Murkowski called the grounding a “marine incident.” The oil and gas industry, and its supporters in Washington D.C., have labeled the grounding a transportation issue. But yesterday, …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT Jealousy and workplace conflict could have been the motive behind the murder of two men at Coast Guard Base Kodiak last April. And the accused killer, James Michael “Jim” Wells, could potentially face the death penalty. Tuesday marked the first of what will likely be many court appearances for Wells, who was arrested Friday for the deaths of …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT Middle Bay residents can finally rest easy – the city’s proposed composting facility will not be built there. That announcement came from Mayor Pat Branson during a city council work session last (Monday) night. The decision keep the composting facility out of Middle Bay came after more than two hours of presentations and discussion among the council members …