Unalaska, AK – Investigators looking at last week's city election say they could be finished with their work by the end of this afternoon.

City attorney Brooks Chandler is conducting the inquiry along with City Clerk Debra Mack and City Manager Chris Hladick.

"My impression is that we've made enough progress that we would be able to complete it today," Chandler said.

The legitimacy of last week's election was called into question in a letter sent to the city Monday by City Council candidate Randall Baker, who alleged that a large number of voters who cast ballots last Tuesday weren't Unalaska residents or, in some cases, U.S. citizens. Baker later explained that this was directed mostly at the seasonal workers who are employed by Unalaska's processing plants.

Unalaska, AK – Today was the first day of an investigation into misconduct in last week's city election, and investigators spent most of it looking through voter registration rolls and interviewing processing plant managers. Meanwhile, the parties who filed last week's challenge say they're disappointed with how the process is unfolding so far.

City Clerk Debra Mack, City Manager Chris Hladick and City Attorney Brooks Chandler spent all day seated around a table in the Unalaska City Council chambers at City Hall. The vast majority of that time was spent sifting through registration data for the past two elections, trying to discern which voters could be considered temporary residents.

Unalaska, AK – [Note: This is an updated version of a story posted earlier today.]

Local officials will begin their election investigation proceedings tomorrow morning, in a 9 a.m. meeting that will be open to the public.

In a letter to the city on Monday, City Council candidate Randall Baker challenged the results of last week's election, alleging that large numbers of voters who cast ballots in Unalaska were technically ineligible to vote.

Unalaska, AK – Local elections officials say that by late this afternoon they'll release a document outlining how an investigation into last week's election will proceed.

In a letter to the city on Monday, City Council candidate Randall Baker challenged the results of last week's election, alleging that large numbers of voters who cast ballots in Unalaska were technically ineligible to vote.

Unalaska, AK – After taking a beating last season, Bering Sea crab fishermen are hoping to secure a better price for their red king crab before they start fishing this month.

Negotiators for the Bering Sea crab-harvesting co-ops posted a minimum starting price of $4.35 a pound on Monday. That's well above last year's opening price of about $3.50 and closing price of about $3.93.

Fishermen have good reason to be optimistic. Last year's prices were driven down mostly by Russian imports, which caused Alaskan prices to fall a third below what they were in 2005. But Greg White, a Seattle-based negotiator for the Inter-Cooperative Exchange, which represents the fishermen, says that a recent crackdown on widespread illegal fishing off of Kamchatka has allowed Alaskan fishermen to aim for a higher price this year.

Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska City Council will open an investigation this evening in response to questions raised about last week's city office elections.

On Monday, council candidate Randall Baker filed a formal objection to the election results, arguing via his lawyer that "substantial numbers of non-residents were allowed and perhaps encouraged to vote" on October 2. Baker said in an interview yesterday that he was referring specifically to the employees of the processing plants in Unalaska, many of whom registered to vote.

Unalaska, AK – A City Council candidate is challenging the results of last week's election, alleging that large numbers of voters who cast ballots in Unalaska were technically ineligible to vote.

In a letter sent to the Unalaska City Clerk's office today, a lawyer for candidate Randall Baker alleges "that substantial numbers of non-residents were allowed and perhaps encouraged to vote" in last week's election. The letter calls for the results to be declared invalid, and for a new election to be held.

Unalaska, AK – Shirley Marquardt has officially been reelected mayor of Unalaska.

After local elections officials counted the 46 outstanding absentee and question ballots, Marquardt defeated Shannon Morrison by five votes, 283 to 278. Katherine McGlashan came in third with 138 votes. Of the newly counted ballots, 20 went to Morrison, 18 to Marquardt and eight to McGlashan.

Those numbers made the election incredibly close. If just three people who cast their ballots for Marquardt had voted differently, it would've been enough to either win the race for Morrison or send the election to a runoff between Marquardt and Morrison. A runoff is triggered when neither candidate gets more than 40 percent of the vote; as it stands now, Marquardt received 40.3 percent.

Unalaska, AK – A freight barge ran aground early this morning at Humpy Cove on Unalaska Island, northeast of the town of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor.

Tugboat crews were working this afternoon to pull the 271-foot vessel loose from the shore, where it drifted after breaking free of a nearby mooring buoy early in the morning. Coast Guard Public Affairs Officer Kurt Fredrickson said that while local Coast Guard personnel had yet to fully inspect the vessel, what damage they've found so far has been minimal.