News

Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, commander, U.S. Coast Guard 17th District, and Maj. Gen. Thomas Katkus, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, cut the ceremonial ribbon during a ceremony on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Jan. 31. The ceremony was held to commemorate the opening of a new U.S. Coast Guard Sector Anchorage wing of the Alaska National Guard headquarters building …

Jay Barrett/KMXT The Northern Lights Conference wrestling tournament was held at Colony High School in the Valley over the weekend, with the Bears taking third. Andrew Caballa was Kodiak’s only title-winner in the 120-pound category. Four other wrestlers, Joel Valdez, Jay-Ar Small, Kerry Powers and Leo Sega, finished second. Host Colony won the tournament with 321.5 points, followed by Wasilla …

Annie Ropeik/KUCB Unalaska’s lobbyists will be gearing up for a fight to keep the State Trooper patrol vessel Stimson homeported there. At last week’s city council meeting, Unalaska City Manager Chris Hladick said the state wants to relocate the Stimson to Kodiak. He said it would save the state about half a million dollars as part of governor’s proposed budget …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT It’s so far so good for the Kodiak High School renovation project. At least that’s the word from the construction manager Bruce Walter of Wilson Engineering. Walter provided an update to the borough assembly during its work session on Thursday, and said the project is about 30 percent complete. “We’ve contractually been into the contract 10 months and …

Jay Barrett/KMXT It’s the last home-stand for the Kodiak High School boys basketball team this weekend, and the Bears will be hosting the Palmer Moose. With C-team, JV and varsity all playing there’ll be plenty of action starting this afternoon. The C-teams face off at 4 today, with the JB at 5:30. The varsity players hit the court at 7. …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT The city and borough have been without a fisheries analyst for more than three months now, but that might be changing soon. Last night the city council and borough assembly sat down for a joint work session and discussed the potential hire of Heather McCarty from McCarty and Associates. McCarty comes from a broad background of fishing interests …

Austin Roof/KSDP On January 15, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service held an open house in Sand Point as part of a public scoping process to address “unauthorized” wild cattle herds on two refuge islands. Speaking with KSDP before the meeting, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Manager Steve Delehanty said they are visiting Sand Point. Fish and Wildlife Service …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT The city council and borough assembly will come together tonight for a joint work session and discuss a handful of topics affecting both the city and the borough. First up on the joint agenda is a fisheries analyst update. Back in September Denby Lloyd announced his resignation as the city and borough’s fisheries advisor, and both groups have …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT This month’s unusually warm weather is starting to affect local roads these days. This week the Alaska Department of Transportation implemented emergency weight restrictions on the Chiniak Highway and a portion of Rezanof Drive because unseasonal freezing and thawing is making the ground slightly unstable beneath roadways. Jill Reese is the media liaison for the DOT’s central region …

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Senate Education Committee plans to hear a bill that would require school districts to have a strategy in place for addressing reading deficiencies in students in kindergarten through third grade. Districts under the bill authored by Sen. Gary Stevens are also to provide reachable goals for students so they can reach grade level expectations. “What …