Newsflash

Kodiak is expecting its busiest cruise ship season this summer since 2019, when 30 cruises visited the island. The first ship of the year, Holland America’s 950-foot Westerdam, docked at Pier 2 early Tuesday morning after sailing from Japan.  David and Lili Fraiberg were among the first group of tourists off the Westerdam. Lili (left) and David (right) Fraiberg seen …

On this week’s episode of Talk of the Rock, host Jared Griffin speaks with representatives of the Kodiak History Museum. KHM Executive Director Sarah Harrington talks about plans for the museum building (Alaska’s oldest), plus museum curator Lynn Walker and board member and exhibit committee member Candace Branson talk about the Native Identities exhibit and other museum programming. Listen here:

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The National Tribal Health Conference got underway this morning in Anchorage. The city of Bethel says the state isn’t helping rural communities access funds meant to help build modern water and sewer systems. And a trial is set to start today in Ketchikan to determine if the posting of a traditional Southeast …

The Kodiak Chamber of Commerce and the local visitor’s bureau, Discover Kodiak, both recently announced new executive directors. The new directors are taking the reins just in time for the busy summer season.  The two bureaus are housed in the same building, and their missions are similar. Each is aimed at making Kodiak a better place. Discover Kodiak focuses mostly …

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A threat of gun violence at John Apangalook School in Gambell resulted in a lock-out protocol for students. The Fed. Subsistence Board is proposing an emergency order drastically reducing the current harvest of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. Representatives from a company seeking to establish a graphite mine in the Kigluaik Mountains …

The search is ongoing for a new chief executive officer for Alaska Aerospace Corporation, which oversees the Kodiak Pacific Spaceport Complex on Narrow Cape. That’s after the state-owned company’s last CEO, Milton Keeter, abruptly left the position back in March.  Kodiak’s Pacific Spaceport Complex on Narrow Cape, November 2022 (Kirsten Dobroth/KMXT) Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe is the commissioner of Alaska’s …

This week on the Alaska Fisheries Report with Terry Haines: This week dual Area M stories, from KUAC’s Dan Bross and KUCB’s Theo Greenly, and KMXT’s Kirsten Dobroth reports on a field trip by Alaska mariculture folk to South Korea, where kelp is king. Katie Basile/KYUK

The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly is primed to select a new mayor next Thursday, May 4, after current Borough Mayor Aimee Williams steps into her new role as borough manager. Williams was selected after several months without consistent leadership from the position. The next  mayor will serve until the next municipal election in October to fill the position in the …

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will reconsider the Pebble Partnership’s permit proposal to build a mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. The Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs have agreed to support the Ambler Road Project. And the Alaska Senate is set to propose a one-time boost to the amount of …

Alaska’s mariculture industry was awarded $49 million in federal funding last year to develop the state’s burgeoning kelp market. Now, industry leaders are looking across the Pacific Ocean for inspiration on how to keep the state’s kelp scene growing. Nick Mangini is a kelp farmer and mariculture director for the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference, which is also known as SWAMC …