Jury selection will continue this week in the trial of two men accused of beating a co-worker to death in 2012.
It’s the first real test of Unalaska’s new year-long jury pool, which took effect in January.
Statewide jury coordinator Patricia Young says the change has been good news in a town where potential jurors don’t always stay put -- and where big trials aren’t very common.
"It’s a high-profile case," she says. "You know you’re going to need a lot of people because the potential for a lot of people to be excused is great."
The city of Unalaska is falling behind on construction of a new wastewater treatment plant -- and they could face up to $200,000 in federal fines as a result.
The city’s supposed to have the plant’s chlorination and dechlorination system online by the end of the year.
In mid-November, the city is supposed to make a formal request to Alaska regulators to start operating that system.
The Selendang Ayu broke apart a decade ago just off Unalaska Island. (Courtesy: USCG)
For years, shipping safety advocates have called for better protections against oil spills in the Aleutian chain. Now, the plan for a new prevention and response system is finally finished.
The new draft report from the Aleutian Islands Risk Assessment recommends some familiar solutions in new places – all at a cost of almost $14 million a year.
Part of Unalaska went dark early this morning after a malfunction at the powerhouse.
Public Utilities Director Dan Winters says the power outage only affected the Unalaska side -- stretching from the valley neighborhood to Captains Bay Rd.
That area lost power just after 6 a.m., after a cooling pipe broke on one of the engines at the powerhouse.
Jury selection started today in the trial of two men accused of beating their co-worker to death.
Leonardo Bongolto, Jr. and Denison Soria were processing workers at Bering Fisheries back in February 2012 when they allegedly got into a fight with Jonathan Adams. Adams, 55, was found on the steps of his bunkhouse with severe head injuries, and died the same evening.
Bongolto, now 36, and Soria, 42, are now being tried for second-degree murder. They each face a felony assault charge, and both men stand accused of tampering with physical evidence in the case.
Unalaska’s construction companies turned out in force Tuesday night to hear city council take up longstanding issues with contracting.
The council delved into their criteria for selecting contractors, and debated who to hire for one controversial job: the landfill expansion. Council had awarded the contract to Northern Alaska Contractors earlier this year, but they scrapped the agreement after a complication at the worksite.
Alaska’s congressional delegation is pressing for a quick resolution to the country's seafood standoff with Russia.
The politicians sent a letter to President Barack Obama today, asking him to pick up the pace of negotiations so Russia will drop their import ban on American fish. But if diplomats can’t make that happen, the Alaska delegation wants to see a ban on Russian seafood entering the United States.
Unalaska’s city council will consider expanding their power to reject low bidders for city projects at their meeting tonight.
Right now, the council has to explain their reasoning if they award a contract to someone other than the lowest bidder. An ordinance up for discussion tonight would give them more reasons to choose from.
They include a company’s conduct during meetings, or whether a contractor’s asked for ”grossly inflated” amounts of extra payment in the past.
