KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska

Jay Barrett/KMXT Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. the convicted killer in the 2012 Kodiak Coast Guard murders will be sentenced. James “Jim” Wells was convicted 10 weeks ago of killing two of his co-workers, Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Petty Officer Richard Belisle, at the Kodiak Coast Guard Base communications station. Prosecutors contended Wells, also a …

Jay Barrett/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough School Board is seeking a new member. Todd Hailey, the board’s treasurer, has resigned and moved out of town. The board is taking applications from interested borough citizens until next Monday, and plan interviews and an appointment in two weeks, on July 21st. Interested applicants can submit a letter of interest to the school …

Jay Barrett/KMXT If you’ve noticed a slight decline in your electric bill this year, it’s because very little diesel fuel is used to generate power, according to KEA boss Darron Scott: “Just got some recent numbers, so for the first half of this year, we’re at 99.6 percent renewable. Which has just been great. The third turbine has been a …

Jay Barrett/KMXT Kodiak’s Brother Francis Shelter for the homeless is receiving a $231,126 grant from the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. Director Monte Hawver says the shelter has been receiving this yearly grant since the mid-90s. “And it’s an over-umbrella grant that basically oversees the entire structure of the shelter. It pays for everything from food to staffing to our homeless …

Coming up this week, the feds are recommending more seafood for young children and pregnant women; there’s still no radiation contamination to Alaskan seafood from Fukushima, and a water problem in Emmonak has a ripple effect for processors and fishermen. All that, and an exotic repurposing of a legendary crab boat in Kodiak, all coming up on the Alaska Fisheries …

Jay Barrett/KMXT Around 60 people who attended Kodiak High School in the past dozen years or so that did not receive a diploma at graduation are now eligible for that piece of paper, thanks to the education bill that passed out of the legislature this year. Superintendant Stewart McDonald explains: “Because the state had put in place this exit exam …

Jay Barrett/KMXT If you noticed some heavy equipment working right up to the sidewalk on Mill Bay Road recently, it’s the new headquarters for Kodiak Electric Association. KEA CEO Darron Scott: “The board decided in early May to move forward with the new building design we‘ve got going on. It’s right over there by Ardingers on Mill Bay, and it …

Jay Barrett/KMXT As we heard on yesterday’s Talk of the Rock, there is a small nuisance in Kodiak that is growing and growing. Not larger, but in number. “When they hear ‘bed bugs’ they think it’s only in the bed,” according to B.J. Johnson, a pest control expert in Kodiak. “Well, unfortunately, that’s just not true, because bed bugs will …