The Norwegian Rat Saloon opened Friday on Airport Beach Road. (Courtesy: Adrien Lively)
Unalaska’s newest bar and restaurant opened this past weekend. The Norwegian Rat Saloon drew a crowd on its first night -- but the bar's still finding its footing in a town where every watering hole has a distinctive character.
On Friday night, the Norwegian Rat was packed. People were pressed against the bar, sitting down to eat, dancing near the DJ or smoking on the waterfront deck.
It was a lively crowd for such a plain, neutral space -- just a few TVs on the walls, and no neon in sight.
Alaska's seafood industry is getting caught in the middle of a power struggle between Russia and western nations.
Ever since Russia seized part of Ukraine this winter, sanctions against it have been stacking up. Now, Russia's fighting back by banning food imports from the United States and a handful of other countries.
Alaska shipped almost $9 million worth of pollock to Russia last year.
The Westward Seafoods plant is tucked away on Captains Bay Road. But the factory -- and two of its former employees -- are drawing heat from federal regulators for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act.
Westward makes its own electricity on-site using three generators. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis says the company has air permits that lay out what pollutants it can emit -- and under what conditions.
Unalaska’s bid to develop geothermal power on Makushin Volcano is over for now.
City council voted last night to transfer its federal geothermal energy grant to the city of Akutan. Unalaska got the $1 million matching grant from the Department of Energy back in 2009 -- but they haven't been able to work with the Aleut Corporation to use it at Makushin.
City manager Chris Hladick says the project isn't practical anymore.
The city of Unalaska is ready to throw in the towel on geothermal energy.
City council will meet tonight to consider forfeiting a $1 million federal grant for developing Makushin Volcano. They’d transfer the money to the city of Akutan for a geothermal project there.
Unalaska received the funding back in 2009. At the time, city manager Chris Hladick said he would try to attract interest from private geothermal companies, and negotiate rights with the land and fluid owners.
When the Interior Department axed a proposal last winter to build a gravel road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, conservation groups cheered.
Now, eight of them are stepping up to defend the government's decision in court.
The Sierra Club, the Audubon Society and Wilderness Watch are among those joining Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in a federal lawsuit. According to a recent filing, the groups will focus their arguments on "protecting the exceptional wilderness and wildlife values of Izembek."
Kashega Village on Unalaska Island was deserted after residents were forcibly relocated during WWII. /Courtesy: UAA Archives
Sen. Mark Begich wants the National Park Service to include sites where Alaska Native peoples were forcibly relocated during World War II.
Begich introduced a bill Thursday, asking the Department of the Interior to study the cost and feasibility of adding Aleut internment-related sites as one or more units of the parks system.
The Arctic Slope Regional Corporation -- and a handful of village corporations nearby -- now have the option to buy into offshore drilling operations in the Chukchi Sea. It’s part of a new agreement with Shell Oil.
But with the future of that company’s Arctic operations up in the air, the deal raises more questions than answers.
Arctic Inupiat Offshore is the new company that’s formed as a potential partner in Shell’s Chukchi Sea operations. Its leader is Rex Rock -- the current president of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.
