KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska

Kodiak’s Larry Van Daele says goodbye to Taquka, an orphaned Kodiak brown bear, now living at a wildlife park in Gronklitt, Sweden. Photos Anders Bjorklund Jay Barrett/KMXT A young Kodiak brown bear that was orphaned here a year and a half ago has a new home in Sweden. Bear expert Larry Van Daele, the former Fish and Game wildlife biologist …

Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska The Alaska Marine Highway System should do well in the federal budget. A recently passed transportation bill sets aside $67 million a year for ferries. That replaces a smaller, less certain amount of money that had to be fought for every year. Ferry chief Mike Neussl says the money is based on a formula, which should help Alaska. …

Girl Scouts, Little Leaguers and their supporters packed the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly Chambers Thursday night to plea for the restoration of grant money. Maggie Wall/KMXT photo Maggie Wall/KMXT A room full of Kodiak youth got a lesson in participatory government last night. And their active participation in the process was the key to saving Kodiak’s Little League and the …

Coming up this week: How ObamaCare may help independent fishing families; processing fish and creating jobs in Kake, and sharing fish on the Yukon. All that, and the Dungy season in Southeast got off to a better start this summer than last. We had help this week from KCAW’s Ed Ronco in Sitka, KHNS’s Margaret Friedenauer in Haines, KUAC’s Dan …

Jay Barrett/KMXT Last week the Rasmuson Foundation in Anchorage announced a round of grants to organizations around the state, including $1.1-million for three projects in Kodiak. KANA received $100,000 for upgrades to its dental clinic, the city got $500,000 towards the new library, and the Brother Francis Shelter got a half-million dollars to expand its building, which serves Kodiak’s homeless …

Maggie Wall/KMXT Local non-profits are set to learn how much funding they will receive from the Kodiak Island Borough during this evening’s regular assembly meeting. As it stands now, the assembly proposes to distribute $360,000 between 28 local non-profit activities ranging from the American Red Cross to the Girl Scouts to the Kodiak Maritime Museum. The annual non-profit funding is …

Jay Barrett/KMXT As the calendar flipped to July the Kodiak area salmon harvest went over 1-million fish. Almost 56,000 were harvested on Sunday, with more than half of those, about 32,000, chum salmon. There was just under 20,000 sockeye and almost 4,000 pinks. Harvests Monday were a little less at 38,000, with more than half sockeye. About 30,000 salmon were …

Jay Barrett/KMXT An organization formed to push for Bering Sea crab rationalization has decided to cease operations this summer and merge with a larger umbrella group of crab fishermen. The board of directors of the Crab Group of Independent Harvesters announced Monday they will join the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. The Crab Group was initially formed to push for a …