Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska City Council will meet tonight at 7 p.m. for its rescheduled regular meeting. The meeting was moved from Tuesday night because of concerns that council members and members of the public would still be out of town for Christmas.

The council will bring back for discussion a couple of issues concerning waste disposal in the community that have been addressed over the past few months. Up first will be the question of what to do about nets and metal in Unalaska's landfill. The moratorium imposed by the city on dumping these materials expires on January 1, and the city council still hasn't decided whether or how much to raise its rates for their disposal.

Unalaska, AK – Twenty-two boats are registered for this year's Eastern Aleutian District Tanner crab fishery, which opens at noon on January 15 in Unalaska Bay and Akutan Bay, areas that were off limits last year. The fishery's guideline harvest level will be 84,000 pounds, with a 13 pot limit for each crab boat.

The Alaska Department of Fish & Game put both Unalaska Bay and Akutan Bay off limits in 2006 over concerns about the abundance of crab there. Makushin Bay and Skan Bay are closed this year for the same reason, according to ADF&G area management biologist Forrest Bowers. Both of the latter areas were last closed in 2005 on account of the nearby Selendang Ayu oil spill, but were fished last year.

Unalaska, AK – The National Weather Service's blizzard warning for Unalaska has been canceled, but weather conditions on the island were bad enough today to shut down the airport and prompt a travel warning from the public safety department.

The biggest factor today has been the wind. Unalaska only got about half an inch of snow since last night, but winds that gusted as high as 64 miles per hour this afternoon have been kicking up the foot of snow that's already on the ground, causing whiteout conditions. That was enough to keep Pen Air's flights from leaving or landing in Unalaska, and the Department of Public Safety issued a Category 2 travel advisement this afternoon, urging residents to only travel when absolutely necessary until conditions improved. But so far, no accidents have been reported on land or at sea.

Unalaska, AK – The community of Adak was able to turn the lights on again at midnight Tuesday night after a day and a half without power. Phone service on the island was still down as of this afternoon, so residents of Adak couldn't be contacted. But other basic services have been restored, according to Sandra Moller, the president and CEO of Aleut Enterprise LLC, which manages economic development on Adak.

Unalaska, AK – The Coast Guard is shifting its emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) frequency, and boaters and fishermen better switch, too. As of January 1, the 121.5 and 243 megahertz EPIRBs will be prohibited, and new digital 406 megahertz models will be required.

The Coast Guard says the change is a result of the unreliability of the old EPIRBs, which produced about 50 false alerts for every one genuine alert.

Unalaska, AK – U.S. attorneys have filed charges against a Bering Sea crab fisherman who packed seal bombs in his luggage on a flight from Unalaska to Anchorage a year ago. Travis Davis goes to trial next month and could face up to three months in jail. KIAL's Charles Homans has more.

Unalaska AK – A project is underway to see if ocean ranching can help restore the blue king crab population in the Bering Sea near the Pribilof Islands. KIAL's Charles Homans reports.

Unalaska, AK – Wal-Mart says it wants to stock certified sustainably harvested king crab by the middle of next year.

The retailing giant's vice president for seafood told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in an article published Tuesday that the company hoped to have crab legs bearing the Marine Stewardship Council's seal of approval on its shelves by summer, and company representatives confirmed that goal via e-mail today.

Unalaska, AK – A 25-year-old man is being charged with car theft and driving under the influence after allegedly stealing a truck from Harbor Crown Seafoods early Sunday morning.

Public safety officers arrested James Fennimore on Sunday after responding to a report of a vehicle blocking Dutton Road. Tire tracks in the snow leading to the white Chevy truck indicated that it had spun out several times on Airport Beach Road, sideswiped the South Channel Bridge, ran off the side of Captains Bay Road and hit a guardrail on Broadway before hitting an embankment on Dutton, according to the police report.