Recent News

Former Medical Examiner Testifies in CommSta Murder Trial

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A former state medical examiner says the two men killed in 2012 at the Coast Guard’s Kodiak Island Communication Station each suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Dr. Meredith Lann testified Thursday in the trial of 62-year-old James Wells, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Petty Officer James Hopkins and retired …

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Bear Valley’s Last Tee Time May Be This Summer

Jay Barrett/KMXT Because of federal budget concerns, two military amenities in Alaska that are also widely enjoyed by civilians are facing an uncertain future. Both are golf courses – the one at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, and Bear Valley here in Kodiak. The courses will open this summer, but unless something changes, it will be their last season of …

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Beaufort Testifies About Finding Bodies at CommSta in 2012

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Coast Guardsman who discovered the bodies of two murdered men nearly two years ago says he thought at first they were playing a prank on him. Petty Officer Cody Beaufort testified Wednesday in the trial of James Wells, who’s charged with shooting to death retired Coast Guardsman Richard Belisle and Petty Officer James Hopkins at …

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Stutes Announces State House Run

Jay Barrett/KMXT The field is starting to get crowded in the race for House District 32. In an announcement posted online Friday, former Kodiak Island Borough Assemblywoman Louise Stutes stated her intentions to seek the seat currently held by Representative Alan Austerman. While HE has not declared his plans for re-election, Austerman’s daughter Carol announced last month her plans to …

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Kodiak High School Basketball Champs Get Key to City

Jay Barrett/KMXT At the last Kodiak City Council meeting the coach and many of the players from the state championship-winning Kodiak High School Bears girls basketball team were in attendance, where they received the key to the city. Mayor Pat Branson praised the team, which went 27-0 while sweeping through the state tournament last month: “We are going to look …

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CommSta Murder Trial Underway

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An attorney for the Kodiak man charged with killing two co-workers at Coast Guard Base Kodiak’s Communication Station says his client was elsewhere when the fatal gunshots were fired — a Kodiak airport bathroom. Federal defender Rich Curtner says James Wells suffered from intestinal issues after gallbladder surgery. Curtner says Wells on April 12, 2012, detected …

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Kodiak’s Most Famous Madam Remembered

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT If you lived in Kodiak during the 1960s and 1970s, you might remember a woman named Dee Barbero. Mrs. Barbero, or “Madam Dee,” as she was known, passed away in December – closing a chapter in Kodiak’s boomtown history. After Madam Dee left Kodiak, she moved to Florida with her husband, Martin Barbero. Mr. Barbero said his wife …

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