Unalaska, AK – Tonight, City Council has scheduled a brief meeting to discuss some big issues.

This meeting opens the municipal term, and it will begin with the swearing in of Shirley Marquardt as mayor and Roger Rowland and David Gregory as council members. All three were reelected to office earlier this month.

The meeting will then shift to the discussion of tideland leasing and discussion of the preferential use agreement with Horizon Lines.

Unalaska, AK – On Friday night, the Museum of the Aleutians opened its doors and welcomed community members to explore its new exhibition, "Discovering the Northland Gardens," which tells the story of plant life in the Aleutians.

The gallery is now filled with herbariums containing pressed flowers, replacing the photographs of marine life that filled the space before. The exhibition explores the history of the plants and how they have been used over the years by the people who have inhabited the Aleutian Islands. In one corner, there are woven materials, made from grass covering the island. On another wall, there's a flora index which explains which plants have medicinal properties and which ones are edible.

Unalaska, AK – On Friday night, swimmers of all sorts gathered at the aquatic center for the third and final community meet of the season. Members of the Unalaska Raiders swim team matched up against Aleutian Island Masters swimmers and Coast Guardsmen. Glenn Cole, Unalaska City School principal and activities director, explains why the meets are so vital to the team.

"With limited numbers of opportunities to compete against other schools, it's important that our community really steps up and helps us out," says Cole. "And they have."

Unalaska, AK – Last night, at the Grand Aleutian hotel, a group of about 20 supporters for write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski gathered through the evening to hear the incumbent senator speak and to raise money for her campaign.

The fundraiser was organized by Unalaskans for Murkowski. Frank Kelty and Mayor Shirley Marquardt, who has endorsed her, helped coordinate the event. The group that gathered had ties to the fishing industry, to the Ounalashka corporation, and to City Council.

Unalaska, AK – The spotted seal is now officially in trouble. The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration listed the southern distinct population as threatened, providing it some protection of under the Endangered Species Act.

This population of spotted seals is found in Russia and China. Just over 3,300 spotted seals are found in Peter the Great Bay and Liaodong Bay. Since this population is outside of the United States, what this listing means is that American fisherman are prohibited from taking the spotted seal and that its importation into the United States will now be regulated.

Unalaska, AK – Just a week after her public apology appeared in the Dutch Harbor Fisherman, Cindy Gay Jones of Unalaska has received a summons regarding financial improprieties committed while bookkeeper for the non-profit Unalaska Senior Citizens.

In her capacity as bookkeeper for the group, Jones allegedly began siphoning senior center funds starting in December of last year. Over the course of five months, Jones stole over $8,000 from the group, which operates a lunch program and the Father Ishmael Gromoff Senior Center. She used that money to purchase cocaine and pay off bills.

Unalaska, AK – By the end of November, Unalaska is expected to have its own legislative information office. It willll the be 23rd office in the state, and the first to open in over a decade.

The purpose of the offices is to increase communication between Alaskans and their state legislature, as well as provide information on bills going through the two chambers. The LIOs have a teleconferencing systems that can connect constituents to hearings and they have a library of information on the legislative process.

Unalaska, AK – For four days last week, the Aleutian Islands Risk Assessment advisory panel met in Anchorage to discuss vessel security and oil spill response measures.

Leslie Pearson is an advisory panel facilitator, and she explains the objectives of the meeting.

"The primary focus of the meetings for October is to look at all the types of risk reduction options that might be available to either prevent or mitigate a shipwreck out in the Aleutian Islands region," says Pearson.

Unalaska, AK – Today, local children got the day off from school, and state employees got to stay home from work in observance of Alaska Day. On this date, 143 years ago, the Territory of Alaska was formally transferred from Russia to the United States after being purchased for $7.2 million.

While for many, the day provides a break to play with friends or even just catch up on errands, it also offers an opportunity reflect on the state's history over the past century and a half. In honor of Alaska Day, KUCB's Alexandra Gutierrez spoke to some Alaskans about their memories of the passage of statehood.