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• For this mission, the goal isn't to leave the planet (gravitational escape). It's just to get up in orbit around earth, so the stuff will still be trapped in the gravitational field. But to be able to "kick" the rocket out into space from an orbit, it is better that you do this from the equator. To save fuel of course.
• The advantage of launching from this location is its wide-open launch corridor and an unobstructed down-range flight path. The location is ideal for launching expendable launch vehicles with payloads requiring low-Earth polar or sun-synchronous orbits. A look at an overwiev of the launch complex gives some more understanding. Because of the earth rotation, the rocket will fly out over the Pacific.
• The weather on Kodiak Island is similar to that of the northwest region of the U.S. with an average rainfall comparable to Cape Canaveral in Florida (which is favorable :).
• Along with an excellent geographic location for aerospace operations, Alaska is in the world's most active trading hemisphere and is positioned as the crown of the Pacific Rim. This strategic location, combined with a fully developed transportation system, allows for efficient logistics and worldwide distribution. Alaska has a long history of aerospace activity, and with the wealth of technical resources and skilled personnel in our state, is leading the way for an emerging commercial aerospace industry.

They've taken an interesting approach to dealing with the weather. It looks like they can prep the rocket for launch indoors, and then rotate the surrounding structure away prior to the launch.

How far does something like this go toward getting a launch in bad weather?

Browsing around the Alaska Aerospace corp. page, I got the distinct impression that the launch facility is privately-owned; in fact, they specifically mention that they're the only commercial launch complex without an adjacent federal facility. Yet NASA is sending up the first rocket (or so it seems..). Does anyone here have a clear idea as to the ownership/control of this and other American space launch facilities?

Maybe it's not so bad as you (and I) are expecting, at least not according to the PR from the folks who built the Kodiak site:

The weather on Kodiak Island is similar to that of the northwest region of the U.S. with an average rainfall comparable to Cape Canaveral in Florida. Because of warm Japanese currents, the climate of Kodiak Island is more moderate than its northern latitude would otherwise dictate. Kodiak has a yearly mean temperature of 40F, and in only three months of the year do the normal temperatures fall below 32F. Visibility and prevailing winds compare favorably with those at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California.
Quote from this link.

Ahh - here's the answer to my question about polar orbits, and some other interesting info on the launch site, at this link

I had no idea what a polar orbit really was. I guess it really does get full earth coverage.

The Alaska Aerospace website is really interesting, and nice looking too.

• The satellite is called PCsat (Prototype Communications Satellite, went cheap on the name, too, I guess)
• Information on the Kodiak Launch Complex
• Information on Starshine III, the "1,500 hand-polished mirrors that will study orbital decay" satellite