In our first recap of Tuesday night’s Borough Assembly Candidate Forum, five candidates for three assembly seats discussed their views on the economy, education, and consolidation. KMXT’s Jared Griffin overviewed the candidates’ positions on non-profit funding, village cooperation in borough decisions, COVID-19, and conflicts of interest. Even though borough financial support for non-profits makes up …

Mike Wall presents the Midday Report featuring an update from the Kodiak Emergency Operations Center, and state and local stories on: City of Kodiak annexation plans Sustainability and food security in Old Harbor plus, Alaska Fish Radio, updates from Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game,and the weather forecast and community events.

By Joe Coleman, KNOM – Nome Last month, as classes around the state moved online, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration announced plans to contract with the Florida Virtual School to provide online classes to students for free. The program could cost the state more than $500,000. Alaska’s contract with the online school followed former Florida Gov. …

With populations ranging from 30 to 250 people, Kodiak’s villages aren’t taking risks when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most have shut the communities down to nearly all non-resident travel and implemented strict social distancing measures for residents. “Here in Akhiok, we’re making it. Everybody’s on board [that] we should stay the course,” said …

Last week, Koniag announced a $50,000 donation to support COVID-19 response efforts for Alaska Native tribes and other beneficiaries on the Kodiak archipelago. President of Koniag, Shauna Hegna, says the corporation has met with tribal leaders and village corporation leaders four times since the beginning of the pandemic, and narrowed down their top concern to …

Kodiak received its first shipment of COVID-19 rapid test kits on Wednesday evening. The kits, which can be processed on island, are expected to accelerate the turnaround time on results from days to minutes. Previously, tests had to be shipped to a lab on the mainland for evaluation. Elise Pletnikoff is a physician at Kodiak …

Most of us have them. Dusty old boxes, totes, hard-drives, shoeboxes of photos, many containing people we can’t even identify. Yet, there seems to be an urge to hang on to the past, to that connection to family and old friends, even if we don’t know who they are. KMXT’s Maggie Wall has this …

Kodiak Island’s last ferry of the season pulled away from the dock on Saturday, and there won’t be one returning until April. Aging vessels in need of repairs and cuts to the Alaska Marine Highway System budget have extended the service gap this year, making life for village residents more difficult in the meantime. M/V …

Kodiak’s Coast Guard Air Station celebrated its 46th Santa to the Villages program this December, delivering the children of Kodiak’s villages toys, fruit and a visit from Santa and his elves. KMXT’s Kavitha George followed them out to Larsen Bay and Karluk, and has this story. Coast Guard volunteers get ready to visit children in …