Unalaska, AK – A houseboat broke free last night and sank but no one was injured. KUCB's Anne Hillman has the story.

Unalaska, AK – Some community members think a citywide smoking ban will help everyone. Others think the city is going too far and banning smoking in bars will create problems for the businesses and the fishing community's happiness. UCB's Pipa Escalante and Anne Hillman spoke to people around town about their opinions. The city council will discuss the proposed ban during a work session at 7 pm on Tuesday, February 24 and at future meetings.

Unalaska, AK – The Aleutian Islands Risk Assessment management team has selected an advisory panel facilitator. The Nuka Research and Planning Group will help jump start the risk assessment development process by creating criteria for selecting the advisory panel. Coast Guard commander James Robertson said the Nuka Group will take on a large administrative and technical role that the management team cannot handle alone.

Unalaska, AK – Unalaska's public library now has a 4-star rating from the American Library Association and is ranked as one of the top libraries in the United States. Only 256 of the 7,515 libraries in the nation earned top marks, just over 3 percent. The award was granted based on community questionnaires and statistics, including the number of people who use the library, how many interlibrary loan requests are made, and other information. Librarian Dan Masoni said the library did not apply for the award, it was simply granted based on data and it mostly honors his hard working staff.

Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska Raider basketball teams challenged the Cook Inlet Academy for the first tournament games in Kenai. The girls lost 44 to 31 and the boys won 51 to 49. Here are some highlights from the game.

Unalaska, AK – The Environmental Protection Agency is accusing the city of violating their wastewater treatment plant permits. City attorney Brooks Chandler says the permit regulates how much treated sewage can be discharged into the ocean. The city argues that the limit of 900 thousand gallons per day is unrealistic during peak processing times when the population balloons.

"The way that limit was set when the permit was issued was we contend flawed in that it was based on the population of Unalaska as determined by U.S. census figures and did not account for the fact that we have very large seasonal fluctuations in which our local population goes way, way up, way above what that permanent population is," Chandler explained. "And therefore, what's been established in the permit as the limit on the flow is impossible for us to comply with when we have upwards of 10,000 people when full blown processing is going on."

Unalaska, AK – The city is considering increasing water rates. Currently, the city's water services don't quite break even it costs the city $2.2 million dollars to run the water plant and provide water to all of the business and residences, but they only bring in about $2 million in revenues. Additionally, financial engineer Mike Hubbard says the city needs to set rates so that the revenues are about $250,000 above the costs.

Unalaska, AK – The city of Unalaska, a former military base during World War II, plans to sue the federal government for 4 million dollars - the cost to clean up contaminants left at an old military site. KUCB's Anne Hillman reports.

Unalaska, AK – Community members, engineers, and construction workers gathered Wednesday for the powerhouse ground breaking ceremony. Using gold painted shovels, city representatives and others dug into loose gravel at the site of the new building for a ceremonial beginning to a project that took almost 10 years of planning.

"It's important because it signifies that we actually have all the players in place," said Jim Dokoozian, the CEO of SKW Construction, the project contractors. "We have the contractor, the engineering team, the reviewers, the city, the city council, all united and going forward with this. Everything's been signed now the job is for us to go forward and get it done."