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            Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park has added a little more stretch of trail to its park. What’s new is that it’s not just for pedestrians. Mary Donaldson has more.

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            Long-time Kodiak City Councilman Charlie Davidson has announced he will not seek a sixth consecutive term on the city's ruling body.

            That word from City Clerk Debbie Marlar late yesterday after Davidson informed her of his decision. He had just taken a nominating packet on Tuesday night at the city council work session, but announced the next day that he will not be following through.

            Davidson holds one of two seats on the six-member council that are open for re-election. Tom Walters, who coincidentally was elected the same year Davidson was, also accepted a nominating packet, and is collecting signatures to seek re-election.

            Efforts to reach Davidson yesterday afternoon were unsuccessful.

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          It took until after midday (Wednesday) for all the State House District 36 precincts to report in, but even after the last two did, the outcome of the tight race for the Democratic nomination was no clearer.

              With 14 of 14 precincts reporting, candidates Andy Lundquist and Dave Kaplan are now only seven votes apart: Lundquist leads with 504 votes to Kaplan’s 497.

            Two mainland precincts, Nondalton and the combined Iliamna-Newhalen voting district, didn’t return results until early (Wednesday) afternoon. Before that, Lundquist had a 23-vote lead. Nondalton voted 14-to-5 in favor of Kaplan, while Iliamna-Newhalen went for Kaplan 23-to-16.

              Both Kaplan and Lundquist were amazed at the small margin.

            There are still an unknown number of absentee and questioned ballots outstanding, according to the Alaska Division of Elections. The state has up to 15 days after the election to count all the ballots, but they're shooting to have that done by September 5^th – which is next Friday.

              The election will be certified on or about September 17th. After that date, a defeated candidate OR 10 voters registered in District 36 can request a recount.

            If the difference between the candidates is less than one-half percent, the $2,000 fee for a recount is waived. Currently Lundquist and Kaplan are 7-10ths of one-percent apart.

              Kaplan says the sooner the votes are tallied, the better, so that the winner can get to work at campaigning against his Republican rival.

            The eventual winner will face Alan Austerman, who ran unopposed in the closed Republican primary. He received 1,101 votes.

               Check out the precinct-by-precinct breakdown of votes in District 36 in this updated PDF from the Alaska Division of Elections.

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            There are 19 opportunities to run for local elective office here in Kodiak, scattered between city council, borough assembly, school board and service areas. But as filing deadlines approach this Friday and next, only two people have thrown their hats into the ring.