Unalaska, AK – The state's Department of Transportation is currently installing the new airport crossing guards, which are aimed to prevent airplane-vehicle collisions. The underground work should be finished by the weekend and project manager Shawn Combs said the railroad-style gates should be installed by mid-October and ready for use.

"They are triggered by an aircraft pilot. They come in and activate the lights. Essentially the warning lights go off for 15 seconds and then the entrance gates you have two gates at each location, one's an entrance the other's an exit so you're entrance gate comes down and shuts off any traffic that can come into the hazard zone."

Unalaska, AK – Community leaders with gold painted scissors stood in the wind to cut the yellow and blue ribbons and mark the official opening of the new south Channel Bridge. The bridge's new official name means "other side" in Unangam Tunuu. The Alaska Department of Transportation's regional director Gordon Keith presided over the event and spoke about the design of the bridge.

"The bridge is designed with a low profile to blend in with the surrounding area and to match up with the scenic beauty here."

Unalaska, AK – The Aleutian and Bering Sea scallop fisheries are now closed for the season after two boats harvested the legal limits. The Ocean Hunter and the Arctic Hunter caught 50,000 pounds of shucked scallop meat in the Bering Sea, mostly in August and September. Alaska Department of Fish & Game area management biologist Forrest Bowers said that area of the fishery is remaining strong.

Unalaska, AK – The Alaska Department of Fish & Game has released this season's Crab TACs for Bristol Bay red king and Bering Sea snow and tanner crabs. The seasons will open on October 15th.

The Bristol Bay Red King total allowable catch (TAC) allows for 20,364,000 pounds, a very similar number to last year.

The Bering Sea Snow Crab fishery total TAC is 58,500,000 pounds, 4.5 million pounds less than last year. ADF&G Biologist Forrest Bowers said some had expected the TAC to go up not down because of previous assessment models.

Unalaska, AK – For 20 years Unalaskans have celebrated the blueberry-filled countryside with the Blueberry Bash baking contest. Community members submit everything from cakes, jams, and desserts to fake blueberries and blueberry jewelry. KIAL's Anne Hillman joined the community as they feasted on this year's bumper crop.

Unalaska, AK – A new study in Science shows that catch share systems, like those used to manage crab and halibut, can prevent the collapse of fisheries. University of California economist Christopher Costello and his colleagues compared fisheries around the world, only one percent of which use catch share management systems.

"The ones that use catch shares are dramatically less prone to collapse than the rest of the fisheries. And what's more, I guess the secondary finding is that the longer a fishery uses a catch share, the less likely a future collapse."

Unalaska, AK – After erupting for over a month this summer, Okmok has calmed down enough for volcanologists to explore the changes within the 5-mile wide caldera. "What used to be a lush green terrace,: said volcanologist Tina Neal, "is now just a grey brown wasteland of ash and mud and sand. There isn't anything green inside the caldera."

Neal studied the new volcanic formations earlier this month to see how the eruptions changed the area. Some new features include a dozen or more smaller craters filled with water and one new large lake.

Unalaska, AK – Fluctuations in seabird populations are often seen as indicators of environmental change. That's why some scientists are worried about high chick mortality and significant population decline in a rare Alaskan bird, the Kittlitz's murrelet. KIAL's Anne Hillman has more.

Unalaska, AK – Most Alaskans should be receiving a big bonus this month a check for $3,269. Pipa Escalante and Anne Hillman asked people in the Dutch Harbor airport how they plan to spend their PFD-energy rebate checks.