Mikeetnier/National Marine Mammal Laboratory

For years and years, a legal battle has been raging over the endangered western stock of Steller sea lions. That battle finally made its way to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week. The State of Alaska and the Freezer Longline Coalition petitioned to overturn a lower court ruling that said the National Marine Fisheries Service was justified in restricting fishing in order to protect the sea lions.

During oral arguments, both sides rehashed old points, mostly focusing on the fact that there isn’t much data available about the endangered marine mammals.

For months, Unalaska’s city council has been debating the best way to pay off more than $40 million in upgrades to its utilities. Sales tax hikes and rate increases have both been floated as solutions.

But now, the city’s consultant says the 65 percent rate increase that he described as inevitable as recently as October might not be necessary after all.

That’s what Mike Hubbard, of the Financial Engineering Company, told city council at a special meeting last Wednesday. Hubbard says he knows that the announcement was unexpected.

Workers prepare the buoy for deployment. / Pipa Escalante

When cargo ships run into trouble along the Great Circle shipping route, they often end up in Unalaska. There are plenty of support services in town, but there's only so much dock space. And with Unalaska's rough weather, simply dropping anchor isn’t secure enough.

That's why Unalaska has deployed a new emergency mooring buoy in Broad Bay. Mayor Shirley Marquardt says the system is valued at $10.2 million. But it was almost entirely funded with grants and donations of hardware and professional services.

For the first time in recent memory, the Unalaska Lady Raiders volleyball team is headed to the state championships. The girls placed second in the Borealis Conference tournament in Talkeetna last week, winning three out of five games. The team took the tournament’s sportsmanship trophy and several individual players made the All Conference and All Tournament Teams. Kanesia Price was recognized for academic achievement.

Crushed Containment Dome/Credit:BSEE

Shell Oil has been building and testing equipment designed for the Arctic Ocean in Puget Sound. In September, a key test of underwater oil-spill equipment was a spectacular failure. It forced the energy giant to postpone Arctic oil drilling until next summer.

Shell and its federal regulators have been tight-lipped about the failed test. But a Freedom of Information request reveals what happened beneath the surface of Puget Sound.

Alaska as a whole is a very military-oriented state, with one of the highest percentages of military membership in the nation, but that trend doesn’t extend out to the Aleutians. At least not yet. The commander in charge of Alaska’s Army National Guard is in Unalaska this week, scoping the possibility of forming a unit in the community. Brigadier General Mike Bridges says the trip started with an invitation from Unalaska Mayor Shirley Marquardt:

“The National Guard has never been in the Aleutians throughout the history of the territory and state of Alaska, and so putting all the pieces together logistically, and timing with the community leaders, and school in session and all that, we’re here to do an initial community visit, survey, assessment - all of the above - at the invitation of the mayor and the City Council.”

The Unalaska High School wrestling team will be competing in a regional wrestling tournament in Bethel on Friday. Head coach Steve Gregory says Unalaska will be up against teams from 21 other communities.

“I think they’re pretty well prepared and I’m expecting them to do very well."

Gregory says he expects at least half of the team to qualify for the statewide tournament that's taking place next weekend.

Unalaska’s TWIC office is going through some growing pains as the city prepares to hand off the federal port ID service to a government contractor next spring. Right now, the library hosts the TWIC office. They used to have two agents, but now they’re down to one since assistant city manager John Fulton left his job. That leaves librarian Dan Masoni as the town's only TWIC agent. Normally, he opens the office every other Tuesday, but he’s out of town through mid-December.

In March, council set aside $42,000 for a study of alternative energy resources in Unalaska. Mike Hubbard, a consultant with the Financial Engineering Company of Maine, presented that report to city council at their meeting Tuesday night.

Hubbard examined the feasibility of wind, solar, tidal, and geothermal energy, along with liquid natural gas. His conclusion? None of them are ideal for Unalaska.