Unalaska, AK – Yesterday evening, city council met to discuss a number of bond and taxation issues, and it held an extended discussion over a rock tax.

Mayor Shirley Marquardt opened the meeting with a remembrance of Senator Ted Stevens, who died on Monday in a plane crash.

"Of course everybody in Alaska knows by now that we lost Sen. Ted Stevens in that plane crash just outside Dillingham," says Marquardt. "In the truest sense of the word, Alaska lost a family member, and it's just a really sad thing personally to a lot of people."

Unalaska, AK – After leaving the Senate, Sen. Ted Stevens made few public appearances. Every four months or so, he might make a speech to Alaska Industry Support Alliance or show up at a fundraiser for Rep. Don Young.

One of these appearances at was at a United Fishermen of Alaska event back last April. UFA was giving Stevens its lifetime achievement award, and he was being inducted into its hall of fame. Joe Childers was the president of UFA at the time, and he says that support for the award was practically unanimous.

Unalaska, AK – Tonight, city council will be meeting at 7pm to discuss a number of economic issues. First the council will hold a public hearing on an ordinance that would allow the issuance and sale of electric utility revenue bonds that would help finance improvements to the city's electrical infrastructure. The council will also take comment on PCR's new schedule of fees and charges.

During the regular session of the meeting the council will discuss payment in lieu of taxes funding from the Alaska Department of Commerce.

Unalaska, AK – American President Lines' replacement crane arrived yesterday evening at approximately 6 o'clock. The blue crane came in on the Korean cargo ship the Dongbang Giant, and was brought in from Taiwan.

The crane new crane is actually a used one. Mike Zampa is a spokesperson for APL, and he says the new crane is expected to be operational by October.

"We'll need to erect the new crane," says Zampa. "We are also working to connect it to shore power instead of using diesel power so it will be a more environmentally friendly piece of equipment."

Unalaska, AK – The Harbor Crown processing plant is now the Bering Star Fisheries plant. Last week, the Siu Alaska Corporation and Copper River Seafoods teamed up to buy the six-building, seven-acre property, jointly operating as Dutch Harbor Acquisitions.

Scott Blake is the president of Copper River Seafoods, and he says that his company has long wanted to establish a presence in Unalaska. He expects the processing plant to be operational by January after repairs are made to the facility.

Unalaska, AK – The final escapement counts for the 2010 salmon season at McLees Lake are in, and the numbers are higher than they've been since 2004. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports that 32,842 reds passed through their weir. Last year, only 9,370 sockeye salmon were counted

The season started slowly, and Fish and Game actually kept Wislow closed through the month of June. But then, numbers picked up at the end of the month allowing a July opening.

Unalaska, AK – Both Shell and Statoil have received approval from the National Marine Fisheries Service to conduct seismic studies in the Chukchi Sea, thanks to a new decision by a federal court. The oil companies had previously been prohibited from doing any work there because of a court order that blocked drilling. U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline had issued that order in July, but revised it to allow research work. Beistline amended the Shell order on Monday and the Stat Oil ruling on Thursday.

Unalaska, AK – Representative Bryce Edgmon of the 37th district is one of four state legislators being recognized by the environmental advocacy group Alaska Conservation Voters. Edgmon along with Representative Charisse Millett and Senators Lesil McGuire and Bill Wielechowski - all of Anchorage - received high ratings on the groups legislative scorecard.

Edgmon and Millett co-chair the House Energy Committee together, and AVC praised them both for getting a comprehensive energy bill passed. Susanna Orr is the political director for AVC and she explains why Edgmon's political record stood out.

Unalaska, AK – Summertime in the Aleutian Islands means enjoying the subsistence harvest and digging into things like halibut, salmon, king crab - but not clams or mussels. A project undertaken by the Aleutians Pribilof Islands Association has revealed a dangerous level of toxins that could lead to paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, in shellfish across the region.

The group doing this work is called the Response to Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning in Aleut Communities project, and they're funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and managed by APIA. They've found fatal levels of PSP toxins in shellfish from Sand Point to Akutan to Unalaska.