Mike Olsen couldn’t have picked a nicer day to turn 50. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday in July when family and friends gathered around him and his sister, Cherise — who also was turning a corner in years — to congratulate them. The party took place at the Buskin beach house on a bluff ove…

There was a time when Kodiak had more bars than churches. But through the years, the scales have been tipped in favor of the Almighty. Some of the churches are relatively new to the neighborhood. Others, such as St. Paul Lutheran Church, have some history here. At least 50 years of it. 

KODIAK — “We all should be like Margaret Hall,” Pat Branson told the crowd attending Margaret’s 100th birthday party Saturday at the Afognak building. Branson, director of the Kodiak Senior Center, worked with Margaret, who was on the board of directors.

KODIAK — Early next month, students and chaperones from Kodiak Island villages will come to town for the very first Regional Learning Academy sponsored by the Kodiak Island Borough School District and Rural Schools and various partners.

KODIAK — The only way Mike York’s two friends could get him to the hospital was to lure him outside of his house, ambush him in a bear-hug lock and force him into his pickup.

KODIAK — Woody Island, a seasonal haven for campers, retreat-goers and land owners, is now a residence for year-long islanders. These new occupants will be happy with a field of grass, a sack of feed, shelter from the storm, and a gentle touch of human kindness from time to time.

KODIAK — With a keen realization that you can’t take life for granted, Donna Bell gratefully counts her blessings this Thanksgiving. She treasures each heartbeat, savors every sunset and seasonal change on the mountains and appreciates all of the organs and limbs of her body, even though the…

KODIAK — Kathrynn Hollis-Buchanan pops up everywhere. She’s at the Kodiak College teaching accounting and helping out at Kodiak Furniture and the Spa, as well as volunteering at KMXT and the Kodiak Christian School. 

KODIAK — For Matthew Van Daele and his wife, Mary Ruskovich, bears have been a significant part of their nine-year marriage. The couple met as students at the University of Idaho (Moscow) on the day that Matt was training bear cubs for a research project. 

Serving inner-kids in Florida, victims of a war in the Congo and the persecuted Christians in Nepal has steeled the faith and softened the heart of Kodiak Assembly of God youth minister Borghy Holm.

KODIAK — Back in the day, Al Burch, Jim Major and Bix Bonney were household names in Kodiak. Al and his brother, Oral, ran the big boats, Dusk and Dawn, and later operated a draggers association. Jim and Bix were cannery operators. Giants of a bygone era.

KODIAK — Hannah Fish has a passion for helping people, and El Salvador was the ideal place to put that empathy into action.

KODIAK — Jeannine Marsh’s life changed drastically with the death of her adoptive father, Joe Jensen in February. Five days after Joe’s death, Jeannine’s life changed even more. She got a call from Diane Nichols of Nashville, Tennessee, who claimed that the two were half-sisters sharing the …

KODIAK - It didn’t take long for St. Paul Lutheran Church’s new pastor, Rev. Mark Behenna, and his wife, Jessica, to acclimate to Kodiak Island life. In a relatively short time, Mark conducted a funeral service in one of the Island villages, made friends with clergy in the Kodiak Ministerial…

KODIAK — A song plays in the music chambers of my head. I can’t come up with a name or specific lyrics, but it has something to do with the sea. The haunting melody makes one think of that vast, endless body of water that is all too beautiful as the sun sinks into the void, but very lonely a…

KODIAK — In Moscow, a city with a population of some 14 million, Jacob Dunlop found individuals who stood apart from the teeming masses, taking the time to answer his questions, share their mutual thoughts on art and culture and show the American high school student that Russia is not a cold…

KODIAK — They’re both Christian authors who’ve written award-winning books. Both are mothers of many children. They’re rural ladies – one fishes with her husband and kids on Kodiak Island and the other raises pigs and wheat on a family farm in Ontario, Canada.

KODIAK — Bill and Roslyn Cogburn were young, madly in love and eager for adventure. And what better place to begin their adventure of marriage than Kodiak, Alaska?

KODIAK — A jubilant Pastor Jun Belen and his congregation at Kodiak Filipino Bible Church were overflowing with gratitude to God and His instruments of love and goodwill as they celebrated the 18th anniversary of their church which has found a permanent home on Selief Street.

KODIAK — Absence makes the heart grow fonder and so does time. Ella (Inga) Torgramsen remembers of her childhood in the village of Old Harbor joyfully, in spite of hard work and going without. 

KODIAK — Even when enshrouded in fog, Kodiak inspired visiting Church of Christ pastor and teacher, Jerry Tallman, to take his easel, paints and sandpaper to capture local sights on canvas.

KODIAK — Noah Koller came back from Africa with tons of pictures, lots of stories and a tattoo bearing the image of a lion. Not just any lion. It’s Malachi, one of three cubs he became friends with at an animal refuge in South Africa.

Anna Cross Vinberg had a palpable foreboding that something bad was going to happen.

KODIAK - President Trump’s slogans have made their way to the Middle East. During the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, visitors Tracy and Pam Hodges saw signs exclaiming “Trump is making Israel great!”