On this week’s Talk of the Rock, host Kayla Desroches speaks with members of Coast Guard Base Kodiak about the upcoming Coast Guard Day.

Steam Trunk owner Mike Johnson. Kayla Desroches/KMXT Kayla Desroches/KMXT A new business in Kodiak is proving popular with those who enjoy flavor in vapor form.  A vape shop opened earlier this month on Marine Way, and the owner says he’s already gotten a lot of customers. Vaping, or the inhalation of vapor through a device, has been called a healthier …

Patrick Saltonstall holds Alutiiq knife. Photo courtesy of Alutiiq Museum & Archeological Repository Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Alutiiq Museum’s Community Archeology program led to the discovery of a knife this week. Alutiiq Museum Curator of Archaeology, Patrick Saltonstall, says they’re in the fourth year of digging the Kashevaroff site at Salonie Creek, and focus on a different spot each time. He …

Blythe Brown (right) and Kelly Krueger hold up crayfish they sampled from Buskin river. Kayla Desroches/KMXT Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak and the Kodiak Soil and Water Conservation District have teamed up to determine just how much of a presence one invasive species has in the Buskin River. Blythe Brown, project coordinator with the Conservation District, says her …

Bill Cope (right) and a butcher shop employee pose in 20th Century Market in downtown Juneau around 1950. Photo courtesy of Violet Cope and featured on cover of Alaska Economic Trends, July 26, Volume 36 number 7. Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough has the highest rent in the state. That’s according to a publication from the Alaska Department of …

Baranov Museum Curator of Collections & Exhibits, Alana Blumenthal. Photo courtesy of Baranov Museum Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Baranov Museum has a new employee to fill the position Anjuli Grantham left behind when she stepped down as curator of collection and exhibits. Alana Blumenthal says she’s originally from Philadelphia and has been working in museums for the last few years. Her …

On this week’s Talk of the Rock, host Kayla Desroches speaks with two researchers behind an ongoing study of berries on the island. Biologist Bill Pyle from the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge and Nate Svoboda from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game join.

Bear eating berries on Otmeloi Way. Photo by Matt Van Daele Kayla Desroches/KMXT A young bear has been wandering around, snacking on poultry in Kodiak. Nate Svoboda, Kodiak area biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, says it’s been spotted around Otmeloi Way, Antone Way, and Dark Lake. “And it’s pretty much hooked on chicken coops and duck …

Left to right, Sam, Karin, and Ben Stahlhut. Kayla Desroches/KMXT Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Simply Awesome Bakery storefront is closing at the end of the week. Owner Sam Stahlhut, who has been running the bakery with help from his brother Ben and mother Karin, says recent developments would make it a challenge to maintain a full-time business. His mother is going …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly is considering an alternative hiring process for the recruitment of new borough employees. According to current policy, borough job notifications are first publicized to borough employees for five days. At Thursday’s Kodiak Island Borough Assembly regular meeting, Borough Manager Michael Powers said the change would be to that aspect of the policy. “The …