Unalaska’s clinic has secured its first big donation from a corporate charitable foundation -- and it’s one locals will recognize.
Shell Oil’s Shell Foundation is giving Iliuliuk Family & Health Services $30,000 to pay for specialists to visit the island over the next year.
The clinic gets money from the state and federal government, but director Eileen Conlon Scott says private donations like this are rare. She says she asked several foundations for help during a recent fundraising effort, and Shell was the only one who responded.
Wide Bay, at top left, would be the primary moorage for the Polar Pioneer. The other two options would be used only as back-ups. (via Shell Oil)
Local officials say Shell Oil has agreed to keep their drill rigs tied up in just one location each in Unalaska, as the company looks to return to the Arctic this summer.
In their request for state permits, Shell listed Wide Bay, Nateekin Bay and Summer Bay as moorage options for the Polar Pioneer.
That had raised concerns with Rick Entenmann of the Alaska Marine Pilots. Now, he says Shell is promising to use Nateekin and Summer Bays only as back-ups.
The barge was already partially ice-bound on Oct. 31, 2014, as seen from a Coast Guard aircraft in Alaska's Arctic. (Courtesy: Cmdr. Shawn Decker/USCG)
It sounds like the makings of a children’s book: the long, unexpected journey of a little barge called the NTAL-2.
The unmanned fuel carrier that got stuck in Arctic sea ice last fall has now made it almost as far as the northern coast of Russia.
It’s traveled almost 1,400 nautical miles without ever touching solid ground -- about the distance from Maine to Florida.
The Coast Guard is holding a cargo ship in Unalaska over alleged environmental crimes.
The Lindavia arrived in port from China a couple of weeks ago. Kevin Feldis, with the U.S. Attorney's Office, says the 600-foot ship was loading up with seafood to take back to Asia. But was detained before it could leave port.
"Right now the crew is still here in Dutch Harbor, and they will be staying there pending further steps in the investigation," Feldis said Tuesday.
A man is facing a felony charge for giving marijuana to an Unalaska teenager, on the eve of the drug’s legalization in the state.
Marcos Flores, 23, was arrested last week after police got a call from a local parent who said his daughter was in possession of marijuana.
The 16-year-old girl told police that Flores had given her the marijuana, plus a THC concentrate called wax. Police chief Jamie Sunderland says he’s never seen the substance in Unalaska before -- though it's the kind of product that could soon crop up in marijuana shops elsewhere in the state.
Longshoremen and their families packed City Hall to hear about plans for finding a new preferred shipper at the city dock. (Annie Ropeik/KUCB)
Unalaska’s dock workers usually spend their Friday mornings pulling mail and groceries from a weekly Horizon Lines container ship.
But that offload went on hold for a few hours this week, as longshoremen and their families packed into a special city council meeting. The council was considering a draft request for proposals for a new, long-term preferred use agreement at the dock that Horizon Lines has occupied for 25 years -- and services with union labor.
"We wanted to demonstrate who we are in the community," said union president Doug Leggett. "We brought as many kids as we could out of the schools and that sort of thing to show that whatever happens, it affects a lot of people."
For the last seven years, Alaska’s offered financial incentives to draw filmmakers and TV crews to the state. But as lawmakers scramble to fill a widening gap in the budget, Alaska’s film tax credit program is on the chopping block.
Governor Bill Walker has proposed eliminating three positions from the Alaska Film Office. Without auditors and accountants to help review information from production companies, the program would essentially go on hiatus.
Unalaska’s city council hopes to pass a basic set of local regulations for marijuana at a special meeting tomorrow.
Council will meet at 9 a.m. Friday to hold a public hearing and take a final vote on a proposed set of marijuana rules, based on the ballot measure voters approved last fall.
The special meeting time is to accommodate councilors who will be traveling starting this weekend.
Suzi Golodoff at KUCB's studios in February. (Annie Ropeik/KUCB)
On this episode of "The Exchange," local naturalist Suzi Golodoff discusses the new course she's teaching for aspiring birdwatchers -- and the "megarare" find she recently made in Unalaska.
