Marina Cummiskey/KMXT

             Students at Kodiak Middle School have been fundraising for another middle school in Mali, West Africa. The students raised $1,000 – the amount needed to provide electricity at the school in Mali. Students in both countries made an attempt to communicate using Skype early Friday morning. KMXT’s Marina Cummiskey was there and filed this report.
        It’s 7:30 a.m. on Friday and Kodiak Middle School students are in a classroom trying to Skype with their peers a world away. In Mali, students are crowded in a cyber café at 3:30 p.m., hoping to do the same. There were many struggles to connect, but finally a connection was made.
        Still, it wasn’t all that great. You couldn’t hear the students in Mali speaking, and most of the time they looked like colorful blobs rather than people. But even if the students couldn’t communicate very well, that wasn’t important. The real connection came before the Skype attempt, when students in Kodiak raised money with the hopes that the students in Mali could get a better education with electricity.
       

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    This weekend, law enforcement officers and community members in towns throughout Alaska will partake in a 5k run and walk as part of the law enforcement torch run for Special Olympics. The race has a long history, both in Alaska and across the nation.  
    “In the late 1970s the torch run actually started here in Alaska, although it’s not advertised that way, “ said Dan Canavan, community director for Kodiak Special Olympics.
    “There was a group of State Troopers, and Fish and Game folks that started a run that was a fundraiser for Special Olympics here in Alaska. And it was a distance run,” he said. “And then in 1981, when the official torch run started, it was in Wichita, Kansas, and it was law enforcement folks joining together to both raise funds for Special Olympics across the country, and raise awareness of Special Olympics and what they’re about.”
    You can learn more about the Special Olympics Torch Run by listening to KMXT’s Talk of the Rock today (Tuesday) at 12:30 p.m. Canavan will be joined by local law enforcement, athletes and unified partners to talk about what expect during the May 18th 5k, and how to get involved with Special Olympics year round. 

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            A new study found that Kodiak Island Borough salaries are competitive with other boroughs across the state, and with similar-sized towns in the Pacific Northwest. Lori Messer is a Senior Consultant for Fox Lawson and Associates, the company that conducted the compensation and classification study for the borough. Messer presented the findings of the borough’s study during a borough assembly work session on Thursday.
            “When we look at actual salaries being paid at the borough compared to actual salaries being paid in the market, again, in highly competitive position because the borough is leading by almost 1 percent,” she said.
            Messer said the borough remains competitive when employee benefits packages are included in the information. While this is good news overall for the borough, Messer stressed that it is only an average, meaning some positions aren’t competitive.
            “This is based on all of the benchmark positions, so it’s an aggregate figure. So there are some positions that are further below the market, some that are further above. This is the overall results of the study, all positions combined.”

               After presenting the results of the study, Messer suggested a few methods to bring underpaid jobs up to the market salaries. The options range from costing the borough $4,400 to $176,000 each year. She didn’t go into specifics about what those options entailed, which raised some questions later on in the meeting when the assembly began reviewing the agenda for next week’s regular meeting.
            The agenda includes acceptance of the classification and compensation study, but Assemblywoman Carol Austerman asked if that meant the borough would be accepting the $176,000 price tag to bring underpaid jobs in line with the market.

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    The perennially strong Kodiak boys track and field team wrapped up its eighth straight Region III championship over the weekend in Nikiski. The Bears finished with 168 team points, easily outdistancing runner-up Colony’s 123. Soldotna was third, foll0wed by Wasilla, Kenai, and Palmer.
    Kodiak was led by sophomore Levi Thomet, who took four titles – three individual and one team. He finished first in the 800- 1,600- and 3,200-meter events and was on the winning 4-by-800-meter relay, along with Clayton Hannah, Levi Fried, and Cole Christiansen.
    The Kodiak boys also won the 4-by-100 and 4-by-400- meter relays.
    Michael Ma’inifo took first in the long jump at 20-feet 5.5-inches, and the triple jump at 40-feet 8.5-inches. He was third in the high jump at 5-feet 8-inches.
    The Kodiak girls were fifth, with 63 team points. Wasilla was first with 115, followed by Colony, Kenai, and Soldotna. Palmer took up the rear in sixth.
    We have full results after the jump.