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            The Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository will dabble into literary works this fall when it plans to sell two different books that celebrate Alutiiq culture and heritage.
            The first book is a hefty catalog of Alutiiq artifacts. Sven Haakanson is the executive director of the Alutiiq Museum and said the book was a collaborative project with another museum in Russia.

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            The Kodiak City Council will take a more comprehensive look at parking downtown in meetings to come. The council heard from Police Chief T.C. Kamai during last night’s work session about the lack of long term parking near the downtown “mall.”  
             “Now I think if you study this slide real closely, you’ll see, you’ll come to the same conclusion that we did," Kamai said, "that there seems to be a demand for long term parking and not so much for short term.”

             The slide Kamai refers to was the break down of parking usage on a daily basis. The information was collected by the Kodiak Police Department in July. Much of the parking downtown is designated for two hour spaces, but based on the study, those slots aren’t being used very much. What is being used is long term parking, or nine- to 12-hour parking spots. Kamai said a reason for this is because many of the employees at businesses downtown are often left with nowhere to park for their eight hour work day.
    During the public comment period at the beginning of the work session a handful of downtown employees spoke up about the need for long term parking, including Bob Polasky, the CEO of Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak, whose tribal center is located downtown. Polasky said Sun'aq has more than 25 employees that often receive parking tickets because the only available parking is in a two hour time slot. He said their tribal van has also received tickets

State Board of Education Chairman Jim Merriner

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            The Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development is holding its September meeting here in Kodiak, starting today. Chairman Jim Merriner will ring in the proceedings this morning at 8 a.m., over in the borough assembly chambers. It is open to the public.
            The first item on the agenda is public comment, and not all of it will come from Kodiak – the meeting is being teleconferenced to a number of Legislative Information Offices around the state, including Anchorage, Barrow, Bethel, Fairbanks, Juneau, Kenai, Ketchikan, Kotzebue, Mat-Su, Nome, and Sitka.
            Mount Edgecumbe High School items will occupy the first session, including going over the math curriculum with the school principal and math teachers joining via video conference.
            Later in the morning Education Commissioner Mike Hanley will give a briefing on the schools requesting a waiver from the national No Child Left Behind law. President Obama offered schools the opportunity to opt out of the national program, though the schools will still have to meet state standards.
            The meeting continues after lunch with discussion about operating expenses and later a business meeting. The meeting will recess at 3 p.m. and resume tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. Thursday’s session will be dominated by reports from directors and state officials, with Commissioner Hanley’s report at 10 a.m. The meeting is scheduled to adjourn before noon, when the board will tour area schools.

            The 411-page agenda is available here (PDF).

Coast Guard police officers Joe Lovette and Rachel Ranstead raise the POW MIA flag and Coast Guard ensign while Coast Guard fire fighters Luke Nymeyer and Patrick Callahan raise the National Ensign and firefighter Daniel Smith renders honors for morning colors in front of assembled Coast Guardsmen at Coast Guard Base Kodiak, Alaska, in observance of Sept. 11, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012. A moment of silence was observed following the colors ceremony. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis