Unalaska, AK – Tonight marks the 66th anniversary of eve of the bombing of Dutch Harbor during World War II. Local historian Jeff Dickrell will give a slideshow presentation of the bombing--a blow by blow account that's geared towards locals.

"For instance, last year all the state workers who were working on the bridge came and hated it because they didn't recognize anything. They had just arrived," he said. "Then a month later, I saw them all and they're like 'Woah, that was cool! Now we see when you talked about this or the other thing ' After they learned town a little bit."

Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska City School District wants to launch a pilot program in Unangan education for elementary school students in the fall.

The program will encompass a broad spectrum of Unangan culture, including dance, storytelling and subsistence knowledge of local plants and animals. There is also discussion of partnering with the Museum of the Aleutians, the PCR and other local institutions on multi-day culture camps throughout the year.

Unalaska, AK – The 30 students in Unalaska City School's Class of 2008 graduated on Saturday. The seniors didn't just receive their diplomas they also got a record amount of scholarships for their future endeavors. A whopping 1.6 million dollars were handed out. A million of that was from colleges the students will be attending, but local businesses and organizations also kicked in a record 170,000 dollars, more than 6 times what they gave out just eight years ago. Haley Zuger received the largest share of the scholarships. At a meeting earlier this month, the Unalaska City Council voted to increase its own scholarships for next year, even though the 2009 graduating class is less than half the size of this year's.

Unalaska, AK – The city is considering eliminating or reducing sales tax on food and residential heating fuel. Community member Dennis Robinson is advocating for the change, at least on a trial basis.

"Granted, it's not going to be a whole lot, but the bottom line is it'll be 3% more than they're getting now," he said. "And for single mothers and people on fixed income and people who are working for $12 or $15 an hour, how will they make it?"

Unalaska, AK – Jane Bye represented Unalaska and District 37 at last weekend's state Democratic Convention in Palmer. She spoke with KIAL's Anne Hillman about her experiences.

Unalaska, AK – The City Council reduced the mil rate and passed the fiscal year 2009 capital and operating budgets last night during a meeting that lasted over four hours.

In a 6-0 vote, the council reduced the mil rate, which determines property taxes, from 11.78 to 10.5. Council member Dick Peck suggested the reduction. He says that between the reduced mil rate and the increased property assessments, the city should break even.

Unalaska, AK – A group of pest control experts is in Unalaska this week helping local businesses and waterfront residents learn how to comply with new state regulations for rat control.

The regulations, which were passed by the state Board of Game last year, require boat and waterfront property owners to take steps to eliminate rat infestations from their property.

"Our main message is that effective long term control of rats and other pests is not a simple matter of putting out some traps and putting out some poison and killing as many as you can," said Terry Johnson with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Marine Advisory Program, which is part of the education effort. "It's integrated pest management, which means making the environment as inhospitable to them as you can."

Unalaska, AK – The Aleutian Rod and Gun Club is asking for $6,500 from the city to improve its local shooting range.

Club Secretary Dan Masoni said the money would go toward cleaning up the plentiful garbage in the area, and extending the berms that were built on the site about a decade ago for safety. He said they also hope to set up a permanent shotgun range on the site, by building a shelter for a target thrower, several firing points and other improvements.

Unalaska, AK – Unalaska's Fish and Game Advisory Committee wants the City Council to support its efforts to ban pollock trawling in Unalaska Bay during B season.

"The concern, especially during the summertime, is salmon bycatch," said City Natural Resource Analyst Frank Kelty, who chairs the committee.

As pollock have moved to the northwest during the summer months in recent years, more trawlers have been dropping their nets in the bay, which has been a concern for local subsistence and commercial fishermen. Kelty said he'd like to see everything from Eider Point to Priest Rock and back into the bay put off limits.