Vertical storm clouds stacked up quickly over the Eastern Aleutians this weekend. (Lauren Rosenthal/KUCB)
This weekend brought a wintry blast of hail and rain to the Aleutian Islands -- and the potential for a unique kind of storm.
"Thundering snow is not the loud crack or rolling rumble that you hear with normal thunderstorms," says Michael Kutz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "In fact, a lot of people would mistake it for somebody moving something in another room."
Protesters can occupy this stretch of Elliott Bay through June 15. (Credit: USCG 13th District External Affairs)
When Shell’s Arctic drill rigs arrive in Seattle next month, they’ll have company.
The Coast Guard has approved a 2-million-square-foot "First Amendment Area" that protestors can legally occupy in the water next to Terminal 5. That’s the dock where Shell’s rigs will tie up under a new lease with Seattle's port commission.
Environmentalists were outraged by that agreement. Now, a coalition called S-Hell No is recruiting kayakers and rowers to paddle out to the port and show their opposition to drilling.
The project would replace pilings and fill in gaps in the dock to serve larger vessels. (Courtesy: City of Unalaska)
With state funding set to be tight in coming years, Unalaska is turning to the federal government for help financing a $44 million overhaul at the Unalaska Marine Center.
Ports director Peggy McLaughlin told city councilors Tuesday night that she’s planning to apply for a competitive Department of Transportation grant called TIGER.
The program is offering rural communities $100 million in funding this year.
Unalaska is asking for a big piece of that pie -- $27.3 million. That’s a little over half of what it will cost to replace pilings and fill in gaps at the city dock to serve larger vessels.
The city hopes federal funds will help pay for a proposed dock expansion. (Courtesy: City of Unalaska)
Port officials will try to move forward with plans to upgrade the Unalaska Marine Center at tonight’s city council meeting.
That’s after councilors narrowly voted down an open bidding process to find new shipping partners last month.
Tonight, they’ll talk about applying for federal funds to help expand the port. The Department of Transportation’s infrastructure grants program is known as TIGER.
The city has to apply in the next few weeks if it wants a share of $500 million in funding that’s available across the country.
The Polar Pioneer rig is traveling across the Pacific Ocean en route to Washington State. (Credit: Vincenzo Floramo / Greenpeace)
Greenpeace protesters have climbed down from an Arctic-bound drill rig in the Pacific. The activists said rough waters drove them off their high-seas bivouac on Shell’s Polar Pioneer this Saturday -- nearly a week after they climbed aboard.
On Saturday, a federal judge in Anchorage also granted Shell’s request for a temporary restraining order against Greenpeace.
The Bering Sea pollock fleet is about to face tougher restrictions when it comes to salmon. This weekend, federal regulators agreed to tie the cap on Chinook bycatch to the health of Western Alaska’s runs.
Shell's attorneys appeared in federal court Friday afternoon to argue for a restraining order against Greenpeace.
The environmental group sent a half-dozen activists to camp out on one of Shell's Arctic rigs as it's towed across the Pacific Ocean. If Shell gets its way, the group would have to surrender to the master of the Blue Marlin effective immediately.
The playground at the Cold Bay School. (Courtesy: Kerry Burkhardt)
The Aleutians East Borough is closing its second school in three years. The school board voted this week to shut down the Cold Bay School, with state budget cuts looming and enrollment on the decline.
Local parents are worried the closure could put the tiny community in jeopardy.
The Cold Bay School has had fewer than 10 students for four years now. That means it no longer receives state funding, and the Aleutians East Borough School District has been paying for Cold Bay on its own.
