Unalaska, AK – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration completed this year's Bering Sea pollock survey. Most of the fish are in the northwest and their distribution is being affected by the cold water. KIAL's Anne Hillman has more.

Unalaska, AK – Unalaska's soap box derby champions recently returned from the All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio. Emerson Winters competed in the super stock division and Ethan Mahoney in the stock. Both were eliminated in the first round.

It was ten-year-old Mahoney's first time to Akron. With his soap box derby car freshly adorned with new decals, he met his father in Anchorage for their first trip alone together. Mahoney said the race was very different than the one in Unalaska.

Unalaska, AK – Unalaska's commercial salmon season opened over the weekend with four fishing vessels seeking pinks in Unalaska and Makushin bays. The area has opened to commercial salmon fishing every year since the early 1980s, but Alaska Department of Fish & Game biologist Forrest Bowers says it's not always fished.

"There's been about two roughly five year periods since 1982 when we haven't had a fishery," he explains. "And that wasn't necessarily because the fishery was closed, that's just because people didn't come out to the area to fish."

Unalaska, AK – A screening of the Bristol Bay documentary Red Gold will take place in Unalaska tomorrow. Aurah Landau from Alaskans for Clean Water says the film was produced by Feltsoul Media and focuses on salmon and mining in Bristol Bay.

"It's a celebration of the salmon way of life in Bristol Bay. It also explores Alaskans' opinions on the proposed Pebble Mine," she says. "It's a visually stunning, beautiful film that goes well beyond the questions of the conflict of the mine and gives fair voice to commercial fishing, subsistence fishing, sport fishermen, and to mine officials."

Unalaska, AK – Local telephone provider TelAlaska has been purchased by American Broadband, a North Carolina-based company that owns and operates phone, internet, and cable providers in rural Missouri, Nebraska, and now, Alaska. The shift in ownership became official last month and TelAlaska CEO Brenda Shepard says it should not affect local operation of the company.

"They have a standing policy," she says. "They keep the local company intact with the current employees. They like to maintain that community involvement."

Unalaska, AK – Two individuals were charged with felonies after attempting to enter a home with a gun. According to court documents, Edwin Gomez, age 28 of New York, got into a fight with his girlfriend around 3 am on Sunday morning. He then left the area and returned with Wesley Sandel, age 22, of Unalaska and a semi-automatic pistol. After residents of the home would not let them in, they broke a window and left. Residents told police they were afraid for their lives. Both men are charged with class C felonies. When police searched Sandel's residence, they also found traces of methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and assorted drug paraphinalia in his room. He is also charged with a drug related class B felony.

Unalaska, AK – Senator Ted Stevens was indicted last Tuesday on seven counts of failing to disclose gifts from the oil company VECO. KIAL's Anne Hillman gathered reactions from around Unalaska.

Unalaska, AK – This is the second in our new radio series, Community Crossroads, wherein we speak with Unalaskans from around the globe about their lives, their cultures, and their communities. The is a profile Kristjan Laxfoss, originally from Iceland. KIAL's Anne Hillman has this.

Unalaska, AK – Nearly 180,000 square miles of the northern and western Bering Sea will be closed to bottom trawling starting on August 25. The new regulation enacted by the National Marine Fisheries Service protects areas that have not previously been affected by the fishing method.

"This is a real precautionary and ecosystem based management approach," said Jon Warrenchuk, an Ocean Scientist for the environmental group Oceana. "One thing you want to do is prevent damage to habitat, especially habitat that things like fish and seafloor invertebrates rely on. And we know that bottom trawls damage habitat along the sea floor."