After months of back and forth with the city’s commercial vehicle users, city council unanimously passed regulations meant to reduce damage to the Unalaska’s roads.
The ordinance was just one of many items tackled before council takes a six-week break. The new rules would prohibit most uses of tire chains by truck-trailers and would require those vehicles to operate with the fifth wheel in the bottom position.
Two kayakers attempting to paddle the length of the Aleutian Chain suspended their trip late last week. The paddlers made it about 175 miles west of Unalaska, as the crow flies, to Herbert Island, one of the islands of the Four Mountains. After being pinned on Herbert for a week, the two gave up on crossing Samalga Pass. They hailed the passing vessel Pukuk and arranged an at-sea pick-up.
In an email, paddler Keirron Tastagh said the two were reflecting on what they’d achieved during the trip and making plans for another attempt in 2015.
When Unalaskans go to vote for their state legislators this fall, their choices will be limited. The election filing deadline passed on Friday, and no one save the incumbents signed up to run for State Senate or the State House of Representatives.
Sen. Lyman Hoffman, of Bethel, has served the region for almost two decades. Hoffman is a Democrat, and he chairs the Senate’s powerful finance committee.
City Council will meet tonight to vote on new traffic regulations and the fee schedule for the coming year.
The meeting will open with a public hearing over those two issues. The road ordinance has been a contentious issue previously, and if passed it would create a prohibition on the use of tire chains by truck-trailers, barring any special exceptions by the Department of Public Works. That ordinance would also require commercial vehicles to operate with fifth wheels in the bottom position. The purpose of the amendment is to reduce wear and tear on the city’s roads.
The crab fleet is suffering from a bit of female trouble.
In the past week, five fishing vessels have received citations for possessing female snow crab. That’s an unusual number of violations for the 40-boat fleet, says Sgt. Robin Morrissett with the Alaska Wildlife Troopers. Three citations were issued on Tuesday and two more were given on Thursday. Morrissett adds that the take of female crab can lead to trouble for the fishery.
“Because they’re females, they’ve got a lot of eggs on them,” says Morrissett. “Those are the breeders and those have to go back to the bottom.”
After more than a hundred years in the Smithsonian Museum collection, the remains of two people from St. Paul Island have been returned to the community.
In 1868, just a year after the purchase of Alaska, the Revenue Cutter Wyanda visited the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands. The trip was a reconnaissance mission to find out what kinds of riches the territories held.
“So, there was a doctor on board, Dr. Thomas Minor and I believe that the Smithsonian did interact with him prior to this trip, you know, ‘if you find anything of significance then bring it back,'" says Aquilina Lestenkof, the cultural program coordinator for St. Paul’s tribal government.
On Tuesday, the governor created a new, statewide council tasked with saving Alaska Native languages. In the Aleut community of St. Paul, efforts to revive Unangam Tunuu have been ongoing for decades. KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce reports on the challenges of bringing a language back from the brink of extinction.
Transcript
SJ: At 86, Ludmilla Mandregan still vividly remembers the punishment for speaking Aleut in school.
Over a million tons of Japanese tsunami debris is still floating on the ocean's surface, and a good bit of it is expected to hit North America’s shores over the next few years. Things like sporting goods, fishing gear, and even a motorcycle have already been spotted.
In Unalaska, bottles and household cleaning items with Japanese text on them have started popping up on the beaches, serving as a reminder of the disaster's scope and also creating an odd sort of scavenger hunt. Resident Nick Butryn stumbled across one item that might have come from the tsunami when he was beachcombing in April.
About a hundred Unalaska residents braved brisk weather to remember lost fishermen, veterans, and loved ones at Memorial Park on Monday.
The Memorial Day ceremony was a somber one, and it honored those who served in the military and more. Particular attention was given to the service the Coast Guard provides in the Aleutian region. Marine Safety Detachment supervisor Derek Gibson provided a history of the Bering Sea patrol, as flags whipped in the wind.
