Jay Barrett/KMXT In a flurry of last-minute activity, a number of Kodiak residents were appointed or re-appointed to Alaska boards and commissions by outgoing governor Sean Parnell three days before he left office. In a Friday afternoon announcement, Parnell made appointments to 30 different panels. Kodiak City Mayor Pat Branson was reappointed to the Marine Transportation Advisory Board. It works …

Jay Barrett/KMXT     The Alaska Department of Fish and Game test fishery for walleye pollock using seine gear in the Cook Inlet starts today (December 1).     Last year the Alaska Board of Fisheries approved the test, which will run three months, until the end of February, or when the harvest limit has been reached.     Fisherman …

Jay Barrett/KMXT The Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) has announced the recipients of its 2014 Leadership in Clean Energy Awards, and not surprisingly Kodiak’s 99-percent renewable electric generation was one of the honorees.  The 2014 awards recognize eight  state programs and projects that have accelerated the adoption of clean energy technologies and strengthened clean energy markets. Winners were chosen by …

  Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO     Gov.-elect Bill Walker and Lt. Gov.-elect Byron Mallott will be sworn into office on Monday at Juneau’s Centennial Hall. The public inauguration ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m. and is expected to last about an hour.     Lindsay Hobson, Walker’s daughter and a campaign spokeswoman involved in the transition, says they’ve reserved hundreds of seats …

  Coming up this week, rules are changing for fishing around the Western stock of Steller sea lions, and even though they’re not a food-fish, could Sea Star Wasting Disease be a harbinger of things to come in a warming ocean? And do you remember last week when we had all that rosy news about next year’s salmon forecast? Well, …

Marina Cummiskey and Jay Barrett/KMXT You may have heard the AP wire story this week that pegs Kodiak as number three on the list of communities with the most expensive Thanksgiving Day dinners in the nation. It ranks Hilo, Hawaii as the most expensive at $79.11, Honolulu at $76.73, and Kodiak at $65.12, just five cents above Juneau. Of course, …

  Jay Barrett/KMXT It’s not just students that receive report cards – entire schools can get them too. At their last meeting, the Kodiak school board was updated by Ron Bryant about the Report Cards to the Public. Bryant is the director of school and student services; he used Peterson Elementary, a recently-named “Blue Ribbon School,” in his example to …

  Jay Barrett/KMXT You have until Friday to help the Kodiak Community Foundation decide the five organizations or causes that will get a share of the group’s first distribution of cash. The first award will be given a week from tomorrow, according to Sarah Harrington, on what has come to be known as “Giving Tuesday,” in response to the rampant …

  Joaqlin Estus/KNBA Over the weekend, Walker-Mallott transition teams met at the University of Alaska Anchorage campus. Some 230 Alaskans were grouped by topics such as oil and gas, education, fisheries, fiscal policy and health care. Their task was to work toward consensus on goals, priorities, and recommended actions for incoming Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott.

Jay Barrett/KMXT A representative from U.S. Army Missile Defense Command said it is unlikely that the organization will be able to send someone to the next Kodiak Local Emergency Planning meeting. In a letter to Kodiak Island Borough assistant planner Jack Maker, the public affairs specialist from the Missile Defense Command said that they would prefer someone not from the …