A clerical error could result in the city having to issue refunds to dock users. In June, city council may have unintentionally lowered moorage rates when it approved the 2012 schedule of fees and charges for city services. The ordinance was only supposed to raise PCR fees, but the packet that council received -- and which has been published online since then -- may have changed the ports fees too.

Ports director Peggy McLaughlin explained at Tuesday's city council meeting that since the department didn’t know about the changes, it continued billing dock users at the old rates, which in some cases are about 15 percent higher than the rates in the published document

When fish processors are busiest in Unalaska, the city’s water supply takes a hit. Previous studies have shown that the city would need an additional 2 to 4 million gallons of water a day to meet demand during those peak periods. To get that water, the city would have to drill new water wells.

The Seattle-based environmental consulting firm Shannon & Wilson has researched prospective well sites around town, including Pyramid Valley, where most of our drinking water is produced. Tonight, they’ll present their findings to city council.

Police are investigating a string of harassing phone calls made to Unalaska women over the last week. At least four women have reported receiving the calls, which appear to be targeted. The calls were made from a private number, and the caller asked for the women by name before saying sexually explicit and vulgar things.

A report of a sexually explicit text message also sent last week is being treated as a separate incident. Sergeant Bill Simms says Public Safety doesn’t currently believe the calls and message are related.

Unalaska’s volleyball and wrestling teams competed in the state championships over the weekend. The Lady Raiders came in fifth overall, losing to Su Valley and Klawock, but coming out ahead against Chevak.

The Raiders wrestling team sent four boys to states. Three of them placed fourth in their individual weight classes, with junior Connor McConnell making it to the semi-finals.

St. George Island is getting a new, blue fire truck. The Sitka Sentinel reports that the community has been without a fire engine for more than five years, so when Sitka announced it was trying to get rid of the aging engine “Smokey Blue,” St. George stepped up. The city bought the truck for $1, but will pay to have it shipped out to the Pribilofs. It left Sitka on Wednesday and should arrive in Unalaska later this month. From here it will continue on to St. George.

An Unalaska wrestler will be competing in the state semi-finals Friday night. Connor McConnell will be going up against a Mt. Edgecumbe wrestler in the 220 pound weight class. Coach Steve Gregory says it’s going to be a tough match.

“You know, he’s got a 50-50 chance. He’s going to wrestle a guy with two arms and two legs - that’s what I tell him. And he’s been wrestling pretty good [sic] so far, so we just want to keep it going.”

After a few shaky years, the amount of pollock that fishermen can catch in the Bering Sea is on the rise.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council met up in Anchorage this week to set catch limits for several fisheries. In 2013, fishermen will be going after 1.266 million metric tons of pollock. That exceeds the limit that was pitched to the council by their own advisory team of scientists and fishermen. 

It’s a very different picture from 2010, when fishermen weren’t able to catch their full allotment of pollock, and the stocks were thought to be on the decline. To protect the fishery down the road, fishermen at last year's NPFMC meeting asked for lower limits than what biologists were saying was safe.

The three-person public safety department on the Pribilof Island of St. Paul shut down this week, suddenly and without a great deal of explanation, leaving the Bering Sea island without an on-site law enforcement presence. For the past few months there has been tension between the community and the police department, and there is some indication that the closure is in response to that.

Alaska’s Native languages are spoken less frequently as a steady stream of young Alaska Natives leave their rural hometowns for work or school in Anchorage. But Ember Thomas, an education coordinator with the Alaska Native Heritage Center, says she hears the same question over and over again:

"Where can I learn my native language?"

Thomas says she didn’t use to have an easy answer for that question. But now, the center has received a $200,000 federal grant to track down language resources in Anchorage and throughout the state, and match them with prospective learners.