The week ended well in terms of ethics.
“If you do things, there’s consequences.”
Things are moving fast in Juneau, and addressing Alaska’s fiscal gap is our top priority. As session moves on, please continue to keep in touch on matters important to you and your family. I’m here for you and I will listen.
In any contested election campaign we expect the opposing sides to use spin, rhetorical flourishes and selective detail, even when the charge of outright falsification doesn’t apply.
A not-quite-perennial debate sprouted again in July, when Kodiak Island Borough Assembly member Kyle Crow proposed placing “the idea of consolidating” on the Oct. 4 municipal ballot.
Most of the addresses graduating high school students hear at this time of year vary little from town to town across the country. Teachers, community leaders, and valedictorians tell them to work hard, follow their dreams, and take time to enjoy life — as well they should.
With 69 pages of discussion, numbers and color graphs, a draft study titled “Economic Impact of the Seafood Industry on the Kodiak Island Borough” concludes that the industry is important here.
In 1990 Wally Hickel, a staunch Republican, ran successfully for governor on the Alaska Independence Party ticket. He had no interest in actual secession, except in the sense of leading more conservative voters away from centrist Arliss Sturgulewski, the Republican Party’s official candidate.
On April 28, Kodiak will welcome the first cruise ship passengers of the 2016 season for a daylong visit. At the end of the season, we will have seen 14 ships and as many as 21,000 tourists, according to information from Discover Kodiak.
To paraphrase the old saw about pieces of the True Cross, if Abraham Lincoln actually said everything attributed to him on the Internet, he would have to be alive and kicking today, droning along in the 156th year of his stump speech.
Last Thursday, the Daily Mirror reported that Sen. Lisa Murkowski wanted the Senate to carry out its normal “advise and consent” function with the appointment of Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement on the Supreme Court.
This week saw misalignment between Kodiak’s borough and city governments exposed over the question of renewing fishery analyst Heather McCarty’s contract.
A vulnerable member of our community underwent a traumatic experience on Sept. 16, 2015, and in the months since, Kodiak has started to process the incident that looked like our own small-town version of a national big-city issue.
The Communist Party of China finally came out in favor of brotherhood on Thursday.
“Southpaw” (2015) is a conventional, cookie-cutter rags-to-riches to-rags-to-redemption -to-riches film. While a better made film than many of its multitude of lookalike productions, “Southpaw” is, nonetheless, what it is — predictable and pedestrian.
An obscure and controversial trade bill negotiated by the Obama Administration and pending in Congress poses a direct threat to our democracy and to Alaska’s sovereignty.
If you grew up in Alaska, at one point or another you have learned about Benny Benson and the creation of the Alaska state flag. If you are like me, the details of the story became a little faded over the years. So, on Alaska Flag Day, I am revisiting the story of our ‘simple flag’ and I hop…
It takes two to tango. It takes two to engage in a gunfight.
“There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear.“
Fortifying Alaska’s families and building community are priorities of mine as I serve with great honor and deep gratitude as Alaska’s First Lady.
You’ve probably never met Brent Watkins.
Alaska is one of the most productive commercial fishing economies on the planet. More than five billion pounds of seafood were pulled from the waters surrounding Alaska in 2012. This world-class catch generated $1.7 billion in Alaska ex-vessel value and earned Alaska the title of top U.S. se…
"Blaming oil tax reform for Alaska's current budget deficit is just plain wrong"
Less than one week ago, an experimental American rocket blew up shortly after launch.
Last week, Kodiak watched — or rather, didn't — as GCI removed Anchorage NBC affiliate KTUU-TV from its service in Kodiak and other parts of rural Alaska.
As Kodiak waits for the ferry Tustumena to emerge from its unwelcome stay in dry dock, it’s time to look ahead.
Beneath our feet is an amazing network of pipes, conduit and cables.
Fishery catch share programs have gutted the number of boats on Kodiak's waterfront, and the state of Alaska is about to do the same thing to commercial hunting.
In the past week, the Alaska House of Representatives has put on an act worthy of the Oscars as it impersonated South Carolina circa 1860.
The Alaska Legislature is in the middle of an intense debate over the future of Alaska’s oil tax system.
On Tuesday, the Kodiak Maritime Museum formally requested a 20-year lease for a piece of waterfront property in St. Paul Harbor. If all goes as planned, this property will soon be the permanent home of the Thelma C, a restored salmon seiner that will become a permanent exhibit.
Alaska still needs oil.
The new year is beginning with an old debate over genetically engineered salmon.
Last week, the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly named Bud Cassidy its choice for borough manager. In a special meeting, the assembly ordered negotiations between Cassidy and the borough for a long-term contract.
This month, the governor of Colorado signed a constitutional amendment legalizing a regulated commercial marijuana trade within that state. The move is expected to generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for Colorado each year.
On Tuesday, the Anchorage Daily News announced its transition to a paid online system. Readers who view the state’s largest paper online will be asked to pay if they read more than 15 articles over a 30-day period beginning Dec.18.
The city of Kodiak is facing a problem it can’t flush away.
Black Friday is here again, and so is the Christmas shopping season. As we go out to buy presents, it’s important to remember that our buying has consequences.
On Tuesday, Alaskans went to the polls with the rest of the country. More than 220,000 of you voted, 44 percent of the state’s registered voters.
On Tuesday, your most important vote isn't for a candidate.
The Kodiak Island Borough assembly’s mission statement states: “The Assembly members are elected to establish policy for the borough by the assembly/manager form of government to protect and improve the quality of life for borough citizens.”
Last Friday, Kodiak was shocked to learn that two of its own, fishermen Jaime Gallegos and fishing boat captain Leif Bolan, were dead.
In his visit to Kodiak this week, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp stated that none of his service’s newest ships, the national security cutters, will be based in Alaska.
Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it was awarding $250,000 to five states so they can clean beaches as Japanese tsunami debris washes ashore.
Last Friday, the state of Alaska filed suit against the federal government to stop enforcement of new EPA regulations that mandate low-sulfur fuel for ships operating within 200 miles of Southcentral and Southeastern shores.
Shell is on its way to the Arctic Ocean. So is the Coast Guard.
Last month, the Kodiak City Council voted to raise sales tax rates by 1 percent. Starting Oct. 1, Kodiak will have a 7 percent sales tax, one of the highest in the state.
Last week, the Associated Press ran a lengthy exposé about a problem Kodiak residents are already familiar with — marine garbage.
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