Unalaska, AK – Operation Santa has been bringing Christmas presents to children in rural Alaska for over 20 years. This year KUCB's Anne Hillman got to tag along for one of the stops.

Unalaska, AK – The Bristol Bay Red King Crab season is closing up later than usual this year. Fish & Game area management biologist Forrest Bowers said most boats usually finish up by November 15. This year, at least a quarter were still fishing through the beginning of December to catch the 20 million pound TAC. Now, only one of the 78 boats is still on the water trying for the last 75,000 pounds of TAC. Bowers said the catch rate dropped from 28 legal crab per pot last year to 22 this year.

Unalaska, AK – Every year Toyota sends teachers from around the United States on trips to different parts of the world to help them develop creative, internationally inspired projects. This year Unalaska High School math teacher Chris Border joined 29 others on a trip to the Galapagos Islands. KUCB's Anne Hillman spoke to him about his experiences.

Unalaska, AK – District 37's state representative, Democrat Bryce Edgmon, has decided to join the majority caucus. By joining, he will get more staff, a larger travel budget, and more committee leadership roles, including co-chair of the energy committee and chair of the fisheries committee. Edgmon joins three other democrats and most of the bush caucus in the majority republican one.

"Overall I thought it was a good fit and it was a better place to be for the district as a whole," he explained.

Unalaska, AK – The phones are up and working again in Nikolski after being out of service since early November. Technicians fixed the problem with system and are currently working on a root cause analysis to figure out what exactly went wrong. ACS communications director Paula Dobbyns said the technicians think it was a misalignment with the wiring in the circuitry and it is still unclear what parts were having problems. In order to fix the system the company had to fly in a technician from the East Coast.

Unalaska, AK – The City of Unalaska is finally feeling the impacts of the global economic crisis. The market crash is affecting the sale of bonds meant to finance the new powerhouse project. City Financial Director Tonya Miller said the interest rates on the bonds are too high to make the project affordable.

"If we're getting up to close to 8 percent then the rate payers would have to pay rates that are similar to what we're paying now for electricity," she said, "which would mean it was pointless to build a new powerhouse that aims to give us better rates."

Unalaska, AK – Three little chipmunks might get a chill this winter -they're spending Christmas in Unalaska. "The Chipmunk Song" is part of Lynda Lybeck-Robinson's new release, An Aleutian Noel. KUCB's Anne Hillman found out the story of the song and the CD.

Unalaska, AK – A proposed Energy Star rebate program was brought before the city council Tuesday night per the council's request. The council wanted to spend another $225,000 to help residents deal with energy costs. This is in addition to a fuel tax suspension and electric utility bill rebates. The program would give residents money to help buy new energy star rated appliances and energy efficient light bulbs.

Unalaska, AK – Earlier this week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 5,879 square miles of nearshore waters as critical habitat for sea otters as part of their protection under the endangered species act. The area spans from the Western Aleutians to the Alaska Peninsula. KUCB's Anne Hillman in Unalaska found out how this might help the sea otters and affect the region.

For more information and to submit comments, got to the USFW sea otter website.