Unalaska, AK – The federal government is buying back four licenses from Alaska's Pacific cod fishing fleet. The licenses amount to about 10 percent of the freezer longliner fleet, which operates in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. In Unalaska, KIAL's Charles Homans has the story.

Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska City Council meets tonight for its regular session at City Hall.

One of the items on the agenda is a budget request for emergency response equipment to prevent shipwrecks. Mayor Shirley Marquardt wants the city council to approve a $35,000 budget amendment for the next fiscal year. The plan is to purchase two emergency tow packages, which would be stored on land for use in the event of an incident like the near-shipwreck of the Salica Frigo tramper a month ago.

Unalaska, AK – Unalaska city officials are in talks with two of the largest geothermal companies in the United States about restarting the Makushin Volcano geothermal project.

City Manager Chris Hladick and financial consultant Mike Hubbard traveled to California and Nevada late last month to meet with representatives of Geothermex and Ormat Technologies, two American firms, about partnering on the project.

Unalaska, AK – Juanita Lewis is resigning from her seat on the Unalaska City Council effective at the end of June. She said she's leaving Unalaska to take a job in Nome in July.

Lewis is the fifth council member to step down in the past year before the end of her term. Greg Hanson, Bill Bradshaw, Alyssa McDonald and Joanna Aldridge all resigned their seats in the past year, for a variety of reasons. Lewis has served the shortest term of any of them, however; she was elected just six months ago.

Unalaska, AK – The 15th annual Unalaska Community Art Show opens Saturday at the Museum of the Aleutians.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Aleutian Arts Council, and except for a two-year hiatus has been held annually since 1991. The show includes pieces by about 30 local artists, working in a wide range of styles. Curator Carolyn Reed said that getting the diverse material to mesh in the gallery setting is a challenge.

Unalaska, AK – A catcher processor fishing for pollock in the Bering Sea pulled up a curious find a few weeks ago. KIAL's Charles Homans reports.

Unalaska, AK – The North Pacific Fishery Management Council decided Tuesday not to look into a merger between two of the largest Japanese seafood companies. State officials had expressed concern that the consolidation of the Maruha Group and the Nichiro Corp. would hurt small fishing communities in Southwest Alaska. KIAL's Charles Homans reports.

Unalaska, AK – Yesterday Unalaskans voted with the rest of the state in narrowly approving a measure giving the state legislature a go-ahead to consider a constitutional amendment barring benefits for same-sex partners.

Yesterday's advisory vote saw a 22 percent turnout statewide, more than half of it in Anchorage, where a municipal election was going on as well. The measure passed, with 53 percent in favor of a constitutional amendment. The legislature considered that idea last fall, but didn't have enough votes for the amendment.

Unalaska, AK – State officials are asking the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to look into a planned merger that would consolidate much of the Alaska seafood processing industry in the hands of a single company.

The Anchorage Daily News reported Monday that state Fish and Game Commissioner Denby Lloyd is asking the council to review the plans by the Maruha Group and the Nichiro Corporation to consolidate their business. Maruha owns both Alyeska and Westward Seafoods, and is already the largest seafood company in Japan. The proposed Maruha Nichiro Holdings Incorporated would be the fifth-largest Japanese food company.