Unalaska, AK – The city council will meet tomorrow night to discuss potentially renewing the energy rebate credit and the funding of the Carl E. Moses Boat Harbor. The meeting was moved from Tuesday night because of council travel. It will not include the second reading of the port tariff increase because two council members will be absent. During the work session the council will discuss the pros and cons of renewing the monthly, $60 energy credit received by each residential electric customer. It was put into place last year to help people with the high cost of fuel. No decision will be made on that issue.

Unalaska, AK – The school celebrated its official construction completion last week with a brief ceremony in the cafeteria next to the brand new kitchen. Voters approved a $4.5 million bond last November to renovate the high school building. School superintendent John Conwell thanked voters, city staff, and the construction crew for making the building improvements possible

"You know to think that just a little over a year ago, the voters of the City of Unalaska approved the bond issue that allowed us to do this fabulous project. And we've known for a long time that these are some improvements, this deferred maintenance that we've needed to do on this building. And it's hard for me to believe that just a year later this has become a reality."

Unalaska, AK – The Iliuliuk Family Health Center is now the first Frontier Extended Stay Clinic in the state and in the nation. Clinic director Sonia Handforth-Kome said they applied for the designation because they do more than a typical health center by providing services like monitoring patients overnight and providing emergency care. Until now, they could not bill for these services because they were not technically licensed to provide them, even though they are necessary for the community and the region.

Unalaska, AK – The Iliuliuk Health Clinic officially switched over to an electronic health record system this week. That means that instead of having your medical data stored in paper file folders, it will be entered into an electronic system so that it is better organized and more easily accessible to the medical providers. Iliuliuk director Sonia Handforth-Kome says the system should improve the quality of health care you receive.

Unalaska, AK – Thursday was the Great American Smoke Out, a nationwide event sponsored by the American Cancer Society to encourage people to quit smoking or help someone else quit. Community wellness advisor Char Gisvold got the word out by speaking with high school students and community members. She said the best way to quit is to stop immediately, but that doesn't always work. The community also offers smoking cessation classes, acupuncture treatments, and other support systems. Gisvold said stopping is important for your health and for your children. It can lead to respiratory problems and accentuate other health issues, like diabetes and heart conditions.

Unalaska, AK – The city's wastewater rates may have to go up. Currently the wastewater utility is looking at a revenue shortfall of $300,000. When the city raised the rates three years ago, the increase amount was based on projections that wastewater volume would be much higher. Financial engineering consultant Michael Hubbard said that rates eventually need to go up 27 percent for all types of customers, metered and un-metered.

Unalaska, AK – Ms. Beatty's high school ESL class is participating in a project called "Outdoors Unalaska," where they interview Unalaskans about their outdoor adventures. In this installment they edited the audio and voiced the piece themselves. Take a listen!

Unalaska, AK – The population of the endangered western stock of Steller Sea Lions seems to be stabilizing overall. Sea lion population data presented this week to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's Groundfish Management Team showed that the pup numbers increased by an average of one percent per year since 1998. However, Alaska Fisheries Science Center director Doug DeMaster said that number is smaller than it should be and is not statistically significant.

Unalaska, AK – It costs about $28 per month to run a large copy machine. It costs around $117 per month to run a small electric heater. How do you know? A Kill A Watt meter can tell you. Now you can check out a small grey box from the Public Library that tells you how much energy each of your appliances and other plug-in units use. City hall staff tested the copier and the heater. City Finance Director Tanya Miller said Cat Hazen suggested that the city make the small units available to community members so they can measure how much power they use in their homes.