Politics

The Alaska Legislative Session started Jan. 16 and Kodiak’s delegation has already introduced a slew of bills on the floor.  According to the Alaska Beacon, Representative Louise Stutes has three bills in the house as well as one house concurrent resolution so far.  HB 18 would have the state help create nonprofit regional fishing cooperatives with the goal to develop …

State Senate President Gary Stevens and Rep. Louise Stutes say they are already preparing for the likely possibility they will need to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget vetoes this year. Kodiak Island’s two state legislators gave a preview of the upcoming 2024 legislative session to the city council Tuesday night (1/9).   Stevens says he has invited Gov. Dunleavy to …

Alaska Aerospace has gone without permanent leadership for most of the past year but could announce a new chief executive officer soon.  Alaska Aerospace runs the Pacific Spaceport Complex at the end of Kodiak’s road system. (Brian Venua/KMXT) Alaska Senate President Gary Stevens is a non-voting member of the state-owned company’s board. He couldn’t give a name but said they’ve …

Voters in Kodiak last week elected Annika Woods to be one of the Kodiak City Council’s newest and youngest members, at just 26 years old. It’s her first term as an elected official.  Woods grew up in Kodiak and is now one of the youngest people to serve as an elected official on the island. She said that’s a big …

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been raging for just about a year and a half, and travel to the country has been restricted. But one Kodiak resident has made his way there, twice.  Thor Johnson is back on the island after helping troops fighting a real war, the one in Ukraine. He said on his first trip to the …

Local candidates for City Council, City Mayor, Borough Assembly, and School Board met in a forum sponsored by Kodiak Chamber of Commerce, Kodiak Daily Mirror, and KMXT. The City Council and mayor forum was held Monday, September 25, 2023 and the Borough Assembly and School Board forums were Wednesday, September 27, 2023. Both were broadcast live on KMXT 100.1FM. Hear …

Alaska’s senators brought Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas to Kodiak this week. Boozman is the ranking member of the Senate’s Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry committee and is on a tour to see what farming looks like around the country.  One of their first stops was the Kodiak Harvest Foods Co-op. They asked staff and volunteers some questions about how the …

Sen. Lisa Murkowski reintroduced a bill and shared support for another, both aimed at supporting coastal communities this week. The legislation is aimed at investing in research and local economies. Murkowski is bringing back the Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act. The bill would designate “Ocean Innovation Clusters” for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Each so-called cluster would become a …

After an eight-month search for a new borough manager, the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly unanimously chose current Borough Mayor Aimee Williams to take the reins after assembly members voted at a special meeting Monday night.  It’s been a tumultuous journey to find a new borough manager. The previous manager was fired last summer, and her predecessor was fired in the …

Kodiak’s City Council and the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly held a joint work session for the first time since September 2021 on Wednesday.  State Rep. Louise Stutes and State Sen. Gary Stevens joined the session remotely from Juneau to share their priorities going into the legislative session. The City of Kodiak sign at the Kodiak Island Borough Building. (Photo by …