Unalaska, AK – With its small population and enormous distance from pretty much anywhere else, Unalaska isn't on most musicians' itineraries. But this Sunday will be the exception to that rule: a group of Filipino pop stars has diverted its American tour from Anchorage to Unalaska.
Kuh Ledesma and Pops Fernandez are the headlining acts. Ledesma is a popular singer in the Philippines, and Fernandez is a movie star and TV talk show host. They'll be joined by comedian Chokoleit and singer Eric Santos for a variety show called Kuh & Pops at the Movies. Ledesma said it will combine a little bit of all of their work.
Unalaska, AK & Washington, DC – Dockside inspections and other measures have improved commercial fishing safety dramatically over the past decade and a half, but the industry still has a long way to go.
That was the message delivered to a Congressional subcommittee in Washington yesterday in a hearing on the issue.
The purpose of the meeting of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation was to look at whether safety statutes adopted 19 years ago have actually improved the safety records of what remains the country's most dangerous industry.
Unalaska, AK – A statewide education project by the University of Anchorage Alaska's Environment and Natural Resources Institute is killing two birds with one stone, teaching junior high and high school students about aquatic biology while gathering useful data about the health of Alaska's freshwater streams. In Unalaska, KIAL's Charles Homans has more.
Unalaska, AK – An Unalaska man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly selling methamphetamine out of his houseboat in Unalaska's small boat harbor.
Harmon Fisher, 49, had his first pre-indictment hearing in Unalaska's District Court today on six counts of 3rd degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, a Class B felony. He was also served a federal arrest warrant this afternoon.
Unalaska, AK – A dispute between city officials and some Public Safety Department volunteers that erupted at last Saturday's special Unalaska City Council meeting is likely to continue at the council's regularly scheduled meeting tonight.
At issue is a memo sent by city administrators to the Department of Public Safety last week instructing fire and EMS volunteers, some of whom are recreational divers, not to fill up their personal air tanks at city-operated facilities. The decision rankled some of the divers, particularly volunteer fire Capt. Roger Defendall. He said he sees the city's memo as the first step toward limiting riskier elements of the training that the department provides its fire and EMS crews, something he said is crucial in attracting new volunteers.
Unalaska, AK – A fisherman who attacked his crewmate with a crowbar last month pled no contest to 1st degree assault in Unalaska's District Court on Wednesday.
Nineteen-year-old Sione Pakalani was sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 150 days suspended, on charges stemming from a fight onboard the fishing vessel Deep Pacific. According to the criminal complaint, crew member Floyd Decker initially threatened Pakalani's cousin with the crowbar in the ship's freezer hold. Pakalani wrestled the crowbar away from Decker and hit him in the face with it, injuring him badly enough that he had to be medevac-ed to Anchorage for treatment.
Unalaska, AK – A 25-year-old man who stole a truck from Harbor Crown Seafoods in December pled no contest to 1st degree attempted vehicle theft and a related drunk driving charge in Unalaska's District Court on Thursday.
Jason Fennimore was sentenced to 180 days in jail with 160 days of the sentence suspended. He was also fined $3,000. Fennimore was arrested on December 17 after Harbor Crown security told Public Safety Department officers that one of the company's trucks had been stolen early that morning. The truck was found abandoned in the middle of Dutton Road, and officers followed footprints and tire tracks in the snow to a house where Fennimore was staying.
Unalaska, AK – The Discovery Channel series "Deadliest Catch" began its third season earlier this month as the top-rated program on basic cable TV. The show follows eight boats fishing for crab in the Bering Sea, and it's made celebrities out of its subjects-- in particular the crew of the Northwestern, led by Captain Sig Hansen. KIAL's Charles Homans visited the Northwestern's crew at the beginning of this year's opilio crab season to find out what it's like to ride the waves of reality TV fame.
Unalaska, AK – Divers have recovered what is most likely the body of a man who disappeared from a processing ship anchored near Unalaska in February. In Unalaska, KIAL's Charles Homans has the story.
