Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska Raiders boys and girls varsity basketball teams both started off the season with great triumphs. The girls' team played an away game at Sand Point on Thursday and beat the home team 72 to 30. They scored 20 points more than their strongest game last year. The girls will play again Friday and will host Sand Point and King Cove here next weekend.
The boys' varsity team played their first home game this afternoon against King Cove and beat the visitors 50 to 35. Team co-captain Eric Do said it's a positive way to start the new season and shows that they have great potential. "We have pretty good down low posts, and the guards are getting comfortable with handling the ball against pressure, so definitely getting better."
Unalaska, AK – Tuesday the Alaska Seafood Cooperative and other seafood organizations filed suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service to block the new rules aimed at protecting the far western stock of the endangered Steller sea lions. The rule, which went into effect on January 1, closes Area 543 in the western region of the Aleutians to fishing for Atka mackerel and Pacific cod.
Unalaska, AK – This year's participants 19th annual Christmas Bird Count in Unalaska identified 45 different species of birds and 8,436 individual birds in total. Included in the count was one new species - the canvasback. Count organizer Suzi Golodoff said the duck is frequently seen on the mainland, but Unalaska is in the very edges of its range. Another notable point in the count was the number of bald eagles - 840. Golodoff said it's the second highest number they've recorded during the yearly count.
Unalaska, AK – The Alaska State Library is moving ahead with a new plan to expand broadband access to rural communities, and Unalaska stands to benefit.
This month, the Alaska State Library debuted the OWL program, or "Online With Libraries." The project will cost $8.2 million over three years, and is expected to provide speedier Internet to 104 libraries across the state. To receive OWL support, library bandwidth must be slower than 1.5 megabytes per second. In addition to ensuring that libraries are able to achieve T1 speeds with their internet connection, OWL will also provide some communities with technical support and training, as well as videoconferencing and computer equipment.
Unalaska, AK – Last night, city council amended the budget for this fiscal year and discussed the comprehensive plan.
The meeting opened with an update on the powerhouse project. Currently, only one of the two new Wartsila generators is being used, because of warranty issues. The other one is expected to come online once demand for power increases. Council then received a fisheries update from resource analyst Frank Kelty. An extended discussion of the comprehensive plan had been scheduled for last night's meeting. However, the discussion was abbreviated because an ordinance that would move to adopt the plan was removed from consideration during the new business portion of the meeting and tabled until the next meeting.
Unalaska, AK – This weekend, three earthquakes hit the western Aleutian Islands, all of magnitude 5 or greater.
On Saturday at 11:45am, a 5.3 magnitude quake occurred approximately 50 miles from Adak, according to the U.S. geological survey. Thirty five minutes later, a 5.2 magnitude quake hit. A final 5.0 magnitude earthquake then struck at 8:32pm.
Unalaska, AK – Tonight, City Council will meet to discuss the comprehensive plan and the city budget.
The meeting will open with a public hearing on a budget ordinance. The ordinance would create a second amendment to the Fiscal Year 2011 budget in order to transfer funds from the sales tax fund to the general fund and increase funding for capital improvements and maintenance. Council will then vote on that ordinance during the unfinished business portion of the meeting.
Unalaska, AK – The major king crab fisheries wrapped up in December, after opening on October 15.
The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery achieved 100% completion in December, with 5,400 pounds of the 14.8 million pound quota left unharvested. Sixty-four boats participated, and 223 landings were made over eight weeks. The total ex-vessel value of the fishery was over $90 million, about a $10 million improvement on the previous year. While last year's red king crab quota may have been higher at 16 million pounds, a dockside price of $6.25 per pound was a substantial increase over the 2009 price of $4.98.
