After a tsunami warning triggered by last week’s powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the sirens that went off Thursday afternoon in Kodiak made some people understandably nervous. Normally, the sirens sound-off every Wednesday afternoon for two minutes. But this Wednesday, they didn’t work properly. The problem?  An upgrade to the Kodiak Police Department’s radio dispatch system. Kodiak’s Police Chief Tim Putney …

There’s been an outpouring of support from across the state for the families of four fishing crew members, killed in a fatal car crash south of Petersburg. The United Fishermen of Alaska set up an online fundraiser — and as of midday Wednesday, 500 donors had contributed about $70,000 to help the family of  21-year-old Siguard Decker and his 19-year-old …

Kodiak’s COVID-19 count has gone up by one more case, the first one in two weeks — which brings the total number of cases reported in the region up to 17 people. The Kodiak Emergency Services Organization says this latest case is travel-related and involves an Alaska resident. More details will be provided at the organization’s community update on Thursday. …

A Catholic school in Kodiak has called off classes for the coming school year. Father Frank Reitter, the Pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church,  says he broke the news to parishioners over the weekend. “We really appreciate the community’s support, and they’re grieving with us,” Reitter said. “Our intention is to look at things and rebuild. We’re suspending. We’re not …

The state has put Alaskans on notice that they have fallen behind in contacting those who have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as their close contacts. In an advisory Wednesday, the state Department of Health and Social Services said, due to a considerable increase in COVID-19 infections, contacts are not being made in a timely fashion – that it …

(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct an error about the need for a ship to go out to sea during a tsunami warning. The original said 200 feet from shore. The sory was corrected to say the ship needs to be in waters 200 feet deep.) People expected to see the Tustumena make her way up the …

The tsunami sirens wailed at about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, just as most of Kodiak was going to bed.   Neighbors checked on each other to make sure they they were in the process of evacuating. Suddenly the town came awake with a stream of cars headed to higher ground. Kim Phillips and her family come prepared with a …

This week, two major retailers in Kodiak will require shoppers to wear masks. The change for Walmart took effect on Monday – and at Carrs-Safeway, today. For these chain stores, it’s part of a nationwide policy change to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Jennifer Foster says mask wearing has changed small town shopping patterns, that friends no longer linger to …

The Kodiak commercial salmon season got off to a disappointing start. James Jackson, Kodiak’s area biologist for commercial fisheries, says the early run of sockeyes was the worst in 43 years. “The harvest is as bad as it gets,” Jackson said. “But we did achieve our escapement goals, so there’s hope for the future.” So far, the harvest is under …

Every Thursday at noon the city manager of Kodiak gives the community an update on COVID-19, broadcast live on local radio stations and streamed on the web. The broadcast typically gives more details about recent cases of infection. This week City Manager Mike Tvenge noted that there have been six more positive cases in Kodiak in the past week, that …