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Brianna Gibbs/KMXT The Kodiak City Council will hold a regular meeting tonight (Thursday) in the borough assembly chambers. On the agenda is a vote on the prioritized state capital improvements program list. The city will also vote on accepting the compensation and classification report detailing how competitive city salaries are with similar jobs across the nation. The Kodiak Island Borough …

Jay Barrett/KMXT There were noticeably fewer foreign students working in Alaska salmon processing facilities this past season. That’s because of uncertainty that surrounded the student guest worker program known as the J-1 Visa. The state department had threatened to end the program abruptly during the months leading up to the salmon season, which did not give processors enough lead time …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT The Kodiak City Council met for a work session last night and talked at length about the proposed bike path from downtown Kodiak to Deadman’s Curve. The project received legislative funding in 2011 for $384,000 that would match a city contribution, but this was when the estimated cost of the project was somewhere around $2.9 million. City Manager …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT Between her role as language manager at the Alutiiq Museum and as assistant professor of Alutiiq language and culture at Kodiak College, April Laktonen Counceller is very busy. Now she can add another title to her list as a newly appointed member of the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council. It was created by Governor Sean Parnell, …

Jay Barrett/KMXT The resident registration hunt for mountain goats in two areas on Kodiak Island have been closed by emergency order – even before they start. Fish and Game biologist Larry Van Daele issued the order Tuesday, closing the Crown Mountain and the Hidden Basin-East Terror Lake areas. The closure was implemented because four goats have been taken in each …

Jay Barrett/KMXT A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak medevac’d a diver from a 48-foot fishing vessel in Alitak (AL-attack) Bay late last (Monday) night. The unidentified 24-year-old was suffering from shortness of breath and was in and out of consciousness when he was lifted from the fishing vessel Patricia Kay at about 10:30 p.m. The crewman reportedly …

Jay Barrett/KMXT The makers of Alaskan’s favorite rubber boot have responded to calls from Alaska’s junior senator to improve their product and consider moving back to the United States. Currently, Xtra Tufs are made in China, where production was moved last year by Honeywell Corporation. Earlier this year fishermen started noticing a decrease in quality and an increase in failure …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT The Kodiak Arts Council is getting a new director in the coming months, and it’s someone many Kodiak residents already know. Katie Oliver is currently the executive director of the Baranov Museum and will say her goodbyes to the organization in late November when she’ll join the Kodiak Arts Council as executive director. Oliver has worked at the …