Public Safety

North Star Elementary students and staff were put on alert Wednesday morning after a suspicious wooden box was placed near the building. Cyndy Mika is the Kodiak Island Borough School District Superintendent. Mika says staff notified both Alaska State Troopers as well as the Kodiak Police Department immediately after discovery. Families waiting in line to pick up their children from …

Bayside Volunteer Fire Department, located off Rezanof Drive in the Kodiak Island Borough. Listen to this story; John Kimmel is a member of the Kodiak Amateur Radio Emergency Service – also known as KARES – and coordinates the licensing exams. According to him, the organization tries to hold the exams frequently, but wasn’t able to over the past year. “We …

Listen to this story; Kodiak is currently under a “moderate” risk of fire danger. That means it’s drier than normal and accidental fire could spark somewhat easily. Lee Finlayson is the chief of Bayside Fire Department, which is in the Kodiak Island Borough just outside of city limits. He says there’s currently no fireworks ban in Kodiak, although the dangers …

Listen to this story; Kodiak’s fire hall was packed last Friday evening, as friends and colleagues from around the community filed into the south side of the aging building. A tremendous potluck was taking place in honor of Fire Chief Jim Mullican’s last day in the service. Dave Davis is the chaplain for the city and Bayside fire departments. He …

Some residents in Kodiak city limits experienced a short term power outage midday Wednesday. According to Kodiak Electric Association communications and HR specialist Nancy Sweeney, a branch fell on a power line near Baranof Street, taking power offline for nearly 500 customers in the area. The outage lasted for about an hour, according to Sweeney. “The crew obtained the necessary …

Kodiak school officials say they’re in touch with law enforcement after threats of violence surfaced on social media that’s part of a disturbing nationwide phenomenon. Geoff Smith, assistant superintendent for Kodiak Island School District, says the superintendent decided to ask for increased police presence in Kodiak’s schools. “He made arrangements and contacted local law enforcement agencies: the Alaska State Troopers, the …

Crashed Wag-Aero 2+2 piloted by Derek Leichliter. Federal investigators are heading to Kodiak after a small plane crashed Sunday afternoon shortly after takeoff. Authorities have released few details on the 2 p.m. crash except to confirm that a 39-year-old Soldotna man piloting the plane was killed, a few hundred yards from the runway near Kodiak’s East Elementary School. Kodiak police …

The City of Kodiak decided this week where to build their new fire station. They settled on a lot at 1240 Mill Bay Road, which the city purchased a few months ago. 1240 Mill Bay road will be the location of the new fire station. According to Fire Chief Jim Mullican, the location will work.  “I can support this site, …

January 19, 2021 by Lex Treinen, Alaska Public Media The Robert B. Atwood building and neighbors in downtown Anchorage. (Alaska Public Media staff photo) Several state buildings in Juneau and Anchorage are closed out of an “abundance of caution” due to fears about pre-inauguration violence. The closures were announced in an internal memo from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s chief of staff, Ben Stevens, on Friday. …

Kodiak’s police chief says it’s back to the drawing board for the new tsunami warning sirens, which got their first real test after Monday’s 7.5 magnitude earthquake near Sand Point triggered a tsunami warning. While people in some areas heard the sirens well, in other areas there were complaints that they weren’t loud enough, or that the siren’s voice messages …