On this week’s Talk of the Rock, host Kayla Desroches sits down with former Alutiiq Museum Executive Director Sven Haakanson to speak about building the historic open boat, the angyaaq. Haakanson made some finishing touches on a full-sized vessel with members of the Akhiok community this summer. He’s also researched and built one in Seattle, where he serves as Curator …

Guirec and Monique. Kayla Desroches/KMXT Kayla Desroches/KMXT A Frenchman who sailed into Alaska via the Northwest Passage stopped in Kodiak last week. Guirec Soudée’s boat has dents from ice on its side and a portrait of his traveling companion, Monique, on the bow. It’s called Yvinec, after the island in Brittany where Soudée was born. Monique the chicken climbs onto …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly finalized its nonprofit funding last week after much deliberation, and some organizations emerged without any funding at all. It’s a blow to small groups already suffering due to the state’s fiscal situation. The assembly chose to fund 10 nonprofits that it deemed “priority” or “essential services,” like Brother Francis Shelter and the Kodiak …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT Chickens and chicken coops are common in the backyards of Kodiak residents both in the borough and within city limits, but they’re also against borough code in some areas. The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly addressed that issue at its regular meeting last night. According to the meeting packet, keeping chickens falls under the umbrella of ‘agricultural activities’ which …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT How does a crafter construct a vessel without any blueprints? How about a boat that hasn’t been built consistently since the mid-19th century? That’s one challenge a group of curious, crafty people faced in the village of Akhiok this summer. Former executive director of the Alutiiq Museum and current Burke Museum Curator of Native American Anthropology, Sven Haakanson, …

Two Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak helicopter aircrews rescue three people after their float plane crashed in the vicinity of Uganik Lake.U.S. Coast Guard video. Kayla Desroches/KMXT Details are slowly coming to light surrounding the crash last week of a floatplane flying for Island Air. According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, the de Havilland DHC-2 …

Keyboard. Clare Black / Flickr Kayla Desroches/KMXT A group of local industry leaders which originally set out to analyze and improve Kodiak’s job market is making a comeback. Jared Griffin, a professor at Kodiak College, says the Kodiak Workforce Regional Advisory Council was active a few years ago and put together a survey of local businesses to determine patterns, hiring …

Kurt Sodergren at drums. Photo Courtesy of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Kayla Desroches/KMXT A big band that might get the audience to jump, jive, and wail is swinging into town to play the first installment in the Kodiak Arts Council’s performing arts season. According to the band’s website, “Big Bad” has been together for 20 plus years and tours full …

On today’s Talk of the Rock, host Kayla Desroches talks with two representatives from the Kodiak Workforce Regional Advisory Council, Alan Fugleberg and Jared Griffin, about the council’s past and present plans.

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough and City of Kodiak are applying for a grant to fund community fisheries research. The assembly is leading the grant application process and it’s seeking funds through NOAA’s Saltonstall-Kennedy grant program, which supports fisheries projects. The community applied for the Saltonstall-Kennedy grant last year, but failed to win that funding. Now, armed with the …