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Ketchikan anglers can keep more kings this month, even with a slow run
Ketchikan anglers can keep more kings this month even though the run is slow, though area closures still apply and the department hasn't explained the increase.

Murkowski cosponsors bill to let Coast Guard commandant sign local support deals
Sen. Murkowski cosponsored a bill to let the Coast Guard commandant sign local support agreements faster, potentially speeding up infrastructure deals at Alaska installations like Kodiak and Seward.

Kodiak moves to boot Assembly members who don't show up
Kodiak's Assembly may start booting members who miss a quarter of meetings, down from half, tightening the rule on no-shows. One member wants more virtual attendance instead.

Bears have made Cordova's landfill unsafe for workers, and the fence is stuck
Bears have made Cordova's landfill unsafe for workers, and the electrified fence meant to stop them is stalled after the city's engineer request drew zero responses.

Sitka Coast Guard dock switches from steel to plastic fender piles
Sitka's new Coast Guard dock is switching from steel to plastic piles, a change that both speeds up the work and shrinks the zones where pile-driving noise could disturb marine mammals.

FAA retires two Alaska flight routes in a satellite-navigation shift
The FAA will retire two Alaska flight routes Oct. 29 and extend a third, part of a shift from ground-based to satellite navigation over non-radar terrain.

Kodiak has until Oct. 2 to weigh in on Terror Lake relicensing
Kodiak residents have until Oct. 2 to tell FERC what to study as Terror Lake Hydro seeks relicensing — a review touching power costs and the river.

Filing deadline nears for Kodiak's October election, with an Assembly seat already open
Kodiak Island Borough residents have until 3 p.m. Aug. 17 to file for the Oct. 6 election — with seats open on the Assembly, School Board and service area boards, including one already-vacant Assembly seat.

Riding a defense boom, Kodiak looks to send a member to D.C. for funds
Amid a defense boom — icebreakers, a Coast Guard base and missile-defense launches — Kodiak is moving to send a member to D.C. for infrastructure money.

Most of the deer Alaska moved to the Kenai died over winter. The state is trying again.
Most of the 19 deer Alaska moved to the southern Kenai last fall died over a brutal winter, but the state is releasing 15 to 20 more this fall to try to build a future huntable herd.

Kodiak woman, 71, arrested for DUI after crash into parked wildlife trooper vehicle
Uh-oh. I think there's a modest mouse song about this...'Float on' maybe?

Alaska keeps trading its old flight beacons for GPS, one route at a time
The FAA is amending a GPS airway near Kodiak this fall, part of Alaska's slow statewide switch from old ground beacons to satellite-guided flight routes.
Prince William Sound king salmon limit stays at one fish through Sept. 15
Prince William Sound's king limit stays at one fish through Sept. 15, right as the bite heats up near Glacier Island. Four terminal harbors still allow two.

Kodiak's spaceport is expanding as the FAA moves to waive its reviews
Kodiak's spaceport is ramping up for military launches just as the FAA proposes waiving the environmental and tribal reviews that would scrutinize the buildup.

Should every Kodiak nonprofit get the same grant? One assembly member says yes
A Kodiak assembly member wants every nonprofit in a category to get the same grant to avoid favoritism; others prefer need-based amounts. The Humane Society, currently zeroed out, is the flashpoint. Vote Aug. 6.

Kodiak Assembly splits over what a marijuana tax should pay for
Kodiak's Assembly is fighting over what a proposed 3% marijuana tax should fund before deciding whether to even put it to voters in October.

Trident is renewing its tanker spill plan, in waters it has spilled in before
Trident is renewing the spill plan for two tankers that move oil through Alaska waters — and the company has spilled here before. Comment by Aug. 27.

Nearly half of Kodiak's landfill is organic. A resident wants the borough to look at composting.
With 43% of Kodiak's landfill made up of organic waste, resident Marion Owen has asked the borough's waste board to study whether community composting could work.

Kodiak wants dispatch to sound tsunami sirens without waiting for a federal alert
Kodiak may let dispatchers sound tsunami sirens the moment they see the signs, without waiting for a federal alert — a change built for a coast where the wave can outrun the warning.

Weak sockeye run tightens fishing at Saltery Creek, twice in two days
A no-show sockeye run at Kodiak's Saltery Creek closes extra subsistence waters and cuts the sport limit from five fish to two, two restrictions in two days.

Kodiak weighs a 3% marijuana tax, and a dispensary owner cries foul
Kodiak may tax marijuana 3% for a community well-being fund — but a dispensary owner says pot keeps getting singled out as the island's sin of choice.

Kodiak Reentry seeks borough funds as nonprofit grant requests outstrip budget
A volunteer-run Kodiak reentry group that helps people leave incarceration for treatment is asking the borough for rent money — in a year when the grant fund is badly oversubscribed.

Kodiak hospital pauses reverse osmosis, steam generator design
Kodiak hospital paused design work on a reverse osmosis system after discovering it may not work with existing sterilization equipment, with a facility evaluation set for August 3.

Whale permit for Ketchikan bridge counts down to the single animal
Federal regulators will let a Ketchikan bridge project disturb up to 63 humpback whales. Last season's number was 62. Nobody filed a comment either way.

Small craft advisories hit Kodiak, Barren Islands waters through Sunday
Strong winds, caution to boats

A Kodiak king salmon collapse is squeezing everyone who fishes
Just 93 king salmon reached the Karluk to spawn last year, against a goal of 3,000-plus. That collapse is why Kodiak's fleet is fishing on the clock.

Kodiak weighs sounding its tsunami sirens the moment a warning hits
Kodiak may set its tsunami sirens to sound the instant a warning hits, and let dispatch trigger them on local signs before any federal alert arrives.

Sitka Assembly reconsiders hatchery lease at Gary Paxton park
Sitka's Assembly takes another swing at leasing a chunk of the Gary Paxton park to a hatchery group, plus two more parcels up for private bids.

Kodiak boats have nowhere legal to store hazardous waste
Kodiak boats make hazardous waste year-round, but the island collects it twice a year — and nowhere on Kodiak can legally hold it in between.

Alaska shakes the most and gets the least warning
California gets seconds of warning before the shaking starts. Alaska, which has more big quakes than any state, gets none — but that's being built.

Nome port's national security designation could save city $132 million in construction costs
A Senate bill could cut Nome's share of its Arctic port project from 35 percent to 10 percent, saving the city $132 million as construction begins this summer.

Rocket Lab wins $266 million DoD contract for suborbital launches from Kodiak spaceport
Rocket Lab won a $266 million Defense Department contract for at least 12 suborbital launches from Kodiak's state-owned spaceport by end of 2028.

ADEC proposes final discharge permit for Kodiak landfill leachate plant
Alaska regulators issued a proposed final permit allowing Kodiak Island Borough to discharge 288,000 gallons daily of treated landfill leachate into a wetland draining to Monashka Bay.

Roald Amundsen brings 530 passengers to Kodiak on August 2
Cruise ship Roald Amundsen docks in Kodiak on August 2 with 530 passengers for a nine-hour port call.

Bayside fire chief wants new career position but warns against a rushed hire
Bayside Fire Chief Scott Ellis says a new career firefighter position is needed but warned the borough board against rushing the hire to avoid splitting the mixed career and volunteer staff.

Four candidates interview for Kodiak Island Borough Assembly vacancy
Kodiak Island Borough Assembly interviewed four candidates Thursday to fill a vacant Assembly seat and must appoint someone by June 25.

Senate bill would fast-track Army Corps engineering for Juneau's glacial flooding
A Senate bill would let the Army Corps of Engineers skip study steps and move straight to designing a permanent fix for Juneau's glacial lake flooding, which threatens nearly 1,900 homes each summer.

King salmon sport fishing closed in Norton Sound fresh waters
Alaska closed sport king salmon fishing in Norton Sound fresh waters and requires immediate release of any hooked incidentally.

Kodiak plans September DC lobbying trip as defense program bid fails again
Kodiak's defense infrastructure program bid failed again, but the borough and city are planning a joint September lobbying trip to pursue $150 billion in federal energy and defense funding.

Kodiak Borough advances marijuana excise tax to public hearing on 4-1 vote
Kodiak Borough Assembly voted 4-1 to advance a 3% marijuana excise tax to public hearing, though a dispensary owner warned the tax targets the wrong product and lacks clear definitions.
