Unalaska, AK – Horizon Lines is planning to expand its operations at the city dock in Dutch Harbor by adding a larger, more powerful crane this fall.

The new crane is expected to arrive in late September, according to Horizon's Dutch Harbor terminal manager, Mike Lynch. Lynch said that as demand for containerized seafood product increases, Horizon's nearly 40-year-old existing crane is being pushed to the limits of what it can do.

Unalaska, AK – A Pen Air plane crashed on takeoff from Driftwood Bay near Unalaska on Sunday.

The plane's two-person crew, the pilot and a mechanic, were the only people onboard. Both were taken to Anchorage for precautionary treatment. Bryan Carricaburu, Pen Air's chief pilot, wouldn't identify the crew members, but said they had been released from the hospital without injuries.

Carricaburu said the plane, which is a Grumman Goose, was knocked over by a blast of wind at about 4 p.m. as it was taking off from the small airfield in Driftwood Bay on a chartered flight. Air Force contractors are currently doing environmental remediation work at the site on the north coast of Unalaska Island, where the military once had a radio relay station.

Unalaska, AK – The U.S. Commerce Department announced its picks for the North Pacific Fishery management Council today, and they don't line up exactly with Governor Sarah Palin's choices.

The department chooses appointees for the council's Alaska-specific seats based on recommendations of the governor, who nominates a preferred appointee and two alternates for each seat. Commerce appointed Palin's nomination for one of the seats, Kodiak fisherman Duncan Fields.

Unalaska, AK – Employees at Delta Western Fuels elected to join the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Friday afternoon. The outcome of a similar election held Thursday at North Pacific Fuels remains undecided.

All six eligible Delta Western employees voted in favor of unionization, although those results have yet to been certified by the National Labor Relations Board. If certified, the vote would put the fuelers under the same union as the employees of the containerized shipping companies operating out of the harbor, APL and Horizon Lines.

Unalaska, AK – Unalaskans made the most of the longest day of the year yesterday in the PCR's annual Summer Solstice Run.

Eric Basset won the men's race, followed by Doug Amidon and Tony Garcia. Melissa Roberts came in first in the women's race, trailed by Jessica Ambrose in second and June Dirks in third. Asia Vernon won the teen girls' race, with Abbygale Jensen and Karina Garay rounding out the competition. Levi Vernon and Amber Vernon were the only competitors in, respectively, the teen boys and youth girls categories.

Unalaska, AK – The first of two votes on union membership at Dutch Harbor's fuel providers has ended in a tie.

Eligible employees at North Pacific Fuels were evenly split in polling Thursday, with five in favor and five opposed to joining the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Four of the ballots are being challenged, which will require a hearing before the National Labor Relations Board.

Unalaska, AK – A 33-year-old man has been charged with third-degree assault with a weapon after allegedly threatening the engineer on a catcher processor in Dutch Harbor with a knife.

Michael Bennett allegedly climbed onboard the fishing vessel Alaska Victory on Tuesday to confront engineer Charles Hamilton, with whom he had worked on a different boat two years ago. He then accused Hamilton of ruining his life and threatened him with a small knife, according to the police report. Several other crew members tackled Bennett and wrestled the weapon away from him before calling the Department of Public Safety.

Unalaska, AK – A former tribal leader on Saint Paul Island has pled guilty to federal charges of illegally selling seal genitalia. Michael Richard Zacharof could face up to a year in prison. KIAL's Charles Homans reports.

(The audio link here is an updated version of the story, including comments from Zacharof's lawyer, posted on June 20.)

Unalaska, AK – With the fate of the illegal tramper Polestar and its cargo still up in the air in Morocco, a second pirate vessel has been spotted near Dutch Harbor.

The vessel Seed Leaf arrived over the weekend, according to Dutch Harbor port officials, and is now anchored in Captains Bay off Unalaska Island. The Panama-flagged tramper was blacklisted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources after it was caught shipping undocumented fish in February of last year. It apparently is owned by Sandnes Dampskibs, a Norwegian shipping company.