A group of tribal and government officials from King Cove are back from a week of lobbying in Washington, D.C. -- and they’ve come home with a new assignment.
The point of the trip was to convince Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to reconsider their request to build a road to an all-weather airport in Cold Bay. Residents of King Cove say it would provide easier access to commercial medevac flights.
City managers outlined their goals and financial plans for fiscal year 2015 at city council’s first discussion of the new budget last night.
The city has budgeted for about an eight percent revenue increase and a four percent expenditure increase for fiscal year 2015. That means they’d go into the year with a surplus -- $10.2 million in the general fund.
The draft of the budget doesn’t include any capital funding yet. It also doesn’t account for a potential increase to the local contribution to the state retirement fund. The state is expected to decide on that plan later this month.
At 5:30 Friday morning, Unalaska was struck by a fake tsunami that damaged homes, roads, and docks. Phones went dead and rolling blackouts swept through town -- at least, hypothetically speaking.
Right now, the Alaska Shield drill is still going on in some cities across the state. Communities are acting out a large earthquake and tsunami, so first responders can practice dealing with the fallout from a natural disaster.
Unalaskans can weigh in on a proposal to lower the wharfage fees at the Carl E. Moses Small Boat Harbor at the city council meeting specially scheduled for tonight.
The wharfage change comes from the Ports Department.
They want the fees for loading and off-loading cargo at the small boat harbor to be assessed on a per-ton basis.
Steam at Shishaldin's summit is seen from a PenAir flight to Unalaska on March 20, 2014. /Credit: Levi Musselwhite/AVO
Fake emergencies are overtaking Unalaska this week as part of state-wide disaster drills.
But there are real rumblings going on elsewhere in the Aleutians.
After a week of unrest, Shishaldin Volcano is being put on a higher alert level.
Scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported Friday that they've been seeing explosions inside the volcano and elevated surface temperatures since March 18.
It’s spring in Unalaska, and that means bald eagles are building new nests -- and attacking pedestrians who stray too close.
The eagles are nesting on the rocks across the street from the Iliuliuk Family & Health Services Clinic, on the S-curves of Airport Beach Road and behind the Dutch Harbor post office.
Public safety has put its familiar warning signs back out in those spots. They feature a stencil of a person being swooped upon by one of the birds. And that's exactly what happened to city recreation manager Ben Bolock last weekend.
