Kodiak Daily Mirror - Daily newspaper of Kodiak, Alaska
  
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Hank Pennington
Outdoor Kodiak: Fresh fish on the table
We dropped into a favorite restaurant for dinner last night, and their special was fresh halibut. Now I remember! Frozen halibut that’s been carefully packaged is excellent, but fresh is even better. That’s true for most fish. You can have dandy e...
May 21, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Outdoor Kodiak: Getting started with Dolly Varden
I’m tired of waiting! The winter was long, and it’s time to start catching Dolly Varden in rivers. I can’t be sure they’re leaving their winter lakes yet, headed downstream to the ocean. But they should start any day and I plan to be on the river ...
May 14, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Outdoor Kodiak: Gearing up
We were all set. I spent this past Saturday finalizing boat preparations and sorting tackle. When the alarm sounded early Sunday morning, I bounded from bed ready to launch the boat for our first venture offshore for kings and halibut. I started t...
May 07, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Marion Owen
What are the roots of this kale seedling telling you? "We need space!" Roots that are crowded and poking out the container holes need to be transplanted in the garden or at least potted up into the next size container. (Marion Owen photo)
Garden Gate: Solve your pot problems by picking up a larger container
It’s late May and I have seedlings with roots poking through the bottom of the containers. They need to get into the ground, but it’s chilly at night. What should I do? Occasionally your seedlings will outgrow their containers before you are ready...
May 20, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Trays of seedlings at Strawberry Fields Nursery await homes in local gardens. (Marion Owen photo)
Garden Gate: Preparing for summer’s garden
Long days are here, thank goodness, and it won’t be long before warmer days follow, beckoning us outdoors. Getting your garden in order early will help make the summer a little less hectic. Clear raised beds, containers and landscapes I know, I k...
May 13, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
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Herbs are easy to grow in Kodiak. To get a jump on the growing season and to keep a steady supply at your fingertips, start herbs from seed. From left to right: parsley, dill and peppermint. (Marion Owen photo)
Garden Gate: More thought on herbs
There are 55 — count them — 55 hoophouses on Kodiak Island. For the first time in the island’s history, residents have a sure-fire way to grow local vegetables that is not directly affected by the whims of the weather. Still, with all the emphasis...
May 06, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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Laine Welch
Fish Factor: New tech preserves salmon for months without ice
National Maritime Day on May 22 is a holiday created by Congress in 1933 to honor America’s seagoing industry. It marks the day when the SS Savannah set sail from Georgia on the first trans-Atlantic voyage by a steamship. As celebrations are unde...
May 20, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Fish Factor: International currency variations affect seafood markets
Between 60 and 70 percent of Alaska’s seafood is exported to customers around the globe, and the strength of foreign currencies against the US dollar plays a big role in annual sales. Tracking by the Juneau-based McDowell Group for the Alaska Seaf...
May 13, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
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Fish Factor: Time for salmon season
It might still feel like winter but Alaska’s 2013 salmon season will officially get underway on May 16, when the first runs of reds and kings are scheduled to arrive at Copper River. The season’s first fish will attract the usual media hoopla — h...
May 06, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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Mike Rostad
Lois Stover and Braxton Dew get the fire going at the Syttende Mai picnic. (Mike Rostad photo)
Tapestry: Norwegians gather for early celebration of Syttende Mai
The other day a fellow Norwegian had the urge to share his obligatory “Sven and Ole” joke. It had something to do with the guys burying their friend, Thorvald, at sea with a shovel. Lest those outside our circle form their opinion about Norskies t...
May 17, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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Joe and Carolyn Floyd greet Brent Cunningham at the Kodiak Baptist Mission Heritage Center. (Mike Rostad photo)
Tapestry: Overnight celebrity heads Young Life conference in Kodiak
For a fleeting moment in the grand scheme of things, Brent Cunningham gained national fame. But what ultimately matters to this statewide director of Young Life, a Christian ministry that works with high schoolers, is the eternal. Cunningham, who ...
May 10, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
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Tapestry: Bell choir concert rings out for Orthodox Easter
Historically, bells have announced news that soars the height and plumbs the depth of human experience: the birth of a child, the death of elders, the crowning of a sovereign, marriage, war and invasion. In Kodiak, the bells of Holy Resurrection C...
May 03, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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Suzanna Bobo
My only beef with this picnic pack is that it takes an icepick to break into it—and airports frown on passengers attempting to carry such instruments onboard. (Suzanne Bobo photo)
Island Flavor: Picnics on Alaska Airlines. Shortest. Column. Ever?
I was thinking about Snoopy when I ordered it. I’m trusting that at least some of my readers remember Snoopy, the World War I Flying Ace and head beagle in the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles Schulz. The Flying Ace was only one of the fant...
May 24, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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My Asian supreme fogs up the deli container and fills my car with a mouthwatering aroma. I wonder what the fortune inside my cookie will say ... (Photo by Suzanne Bobo)
Island Flavor: Safeway deli’s Asian supreme saves the day
At the Safeway deli, a $7.99 Asian supreme special turns into a $40 expense. But it’s not a bad thing. It’s an effective way to meet the demands of the day. I have a present to send to my mother, and there’s a postal service center inside the Safe...
May 10, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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A generous slab of fresh halibut and homemade pasta salad from Wanda Bryant’s kitchen above the Village Bar saved me from the brink of exhaustion on cruise ship day. (Photo by “Elizabeth”)
Island Flavor: The back door to halibut happiness
Sure, it’s great being a restaurant critic until you get tired of eating. Or, better said, too tired to eat. This is how it was on cruise ship Tuesday. My partners and I shopped, measured, cooked, baked, and packaged for days. We schlepped crates ...
Apr 26, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
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Packing a powerful punch on Near Island. Coffee and exceptional customer service can be found at the little blue shop on a big lot on Near Island. (Photo by Suzanne Bobo)
Island Flavor: Near Island Coffee hits stride in Kodiak
I suppose the mark of one’s maturity is how one adapts to change. Things happen. Opportunity knocks. Challenges confront. External events, even positive ones, poke at our good nature. I was thinking about my own reaction to change this week when ...
Apr 12, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Switgard Duesterloh
Amazing Nature: Carbon dioxide levels reach historic high mark
Four hundred parts per million of carbon dioxide! On May 10, the news went out that for the first time in history, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric observatory on Mauna Loa in Hawaii reached ...
May 24, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Amazing Nature: How fish see the world
Fish, crab and octopus see the world in a different light Looking at a day’s catch of fish triggers a variety of reactions and emotions in onlookers. This week, a group of students from Anchorage on a field trip to Kodiak were treated to the sigh...
May 10, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Amazing Nature: Whales migrating to rich feeding grounds and gray whales getting the mud scoop
Once again, Kodiak is celebrating Whale Fest. To celebrate the occasion and watch some whales, we packed a group of boys into our cars and headed out to Narrow Cape last Saturday. Friday had been a pleasant and sunny day, and I hoped Saturday wo...
Apr 26, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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A hermit crab is seen outside its snail shell. (Switgard Duesterloh photo)
Amazing Nature: Ecosystems connect marine life forms
We all know what an ecosystem is. We use the term all the time. But how is the term defined? How big or small is an ecosystem? Where are the boundaries? What are the factors in an ecosystem and how are they connected? These are questions that Kodi...
Mar 29, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Capt. John Quinn
Another Day in Paradise: An Unexpected Provision
It was another typical Kodiak morning. The temperature was cool and comfortable. The dogs and I began our morning walk as usual. We walked down to the corner by Spruce Haven and dropped back to walk along the beach and enjoy the low tide. The us...
May 24, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Another Day in Paradise: Time for change
One of the most impressive sights to me was many years ago on a visit into Washington, D.C. While my friends and I were touring the Smithsonian museums and the many monuments throughout our capital city, we made our way over to Arlington and watch...
May 10, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Another Day in Paradise: Time to clean up
May is clean-up month. This week, we will pay just a little more attention to picking up the litter that lines our streets and roadways. On Saturday, there will be crews out all over town to spruce up our image one more time before we get overrun ...
May 03, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Another Day in Paradise: The secret's out
This has been a great week to walk the dogs early in the morning. The tide has been out, giving us some beautiful beach time on Mission Beach. Our little dog, Smidgeon, checks out every strip of kelp because she just knows there are some treasure...
Apr 26, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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