Courtesy of ADFG

There will be one fewer fishery to go after when the Bering Sea crab harvest kicks off this month.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is shutting down the St. Matthew blue king crab fishery. This isn't the first time that St. Matt's crab has been declared off limits: It was previously shut down for a decade due to overfishing. 

The stock recovered enough to support a commercial harvest starting in 2009. And last year, fishermen took the entire quota of 1.6 million pounds. But recent surveys have shown that the crab are on the decline again, prompting the new closure.

Crews Attach Chains to Lone Star. / Image Credit: Lt. Daniel Peters, USCG

The salmon tender Lone Star is still submerged in at the mouth of the Igushik river near Dillingham, but salvage crews have successfully moved it. The Coast Guard says that Resolve-Magone crews on Monday pulled the vessel 200 feet to the east shore of the river. That required heavy chains and two cranes.

The Lone Star is still extremely heavy, so to be able to lift it, salvagers must pump out the water and mud in her tanks. The plan is to ultimately make the vessel seaworthy and tow it to Unalaska. The 78-foot boat sank June 30th with 14,000 gallons of fuel on board. A consistent fuel sheen shut down the sockeye fishery at the peak of the season.

Credit: Lauren Rosenthal

Election night stretched into election morning in Unalaska, as volunteers finished tallying ballots around 1 a.m.

Their results aren't official. But according to the tally, Fernando Barrera edged out Denise Rankin for school board seat E by 57 votes. Incumbent Roger Rowland has a slight lead over write-in candidates for city council seat C, including Katherine Labert. Rowland has 198 votes, while there were a total of 173 votes for write-in candidates.

Credit: Lauren Rosenthal

Though there aren't many contested races in today's municipal elections, it could still be an interesting night for Unalaska's election staff.

City clerk Elizabeth Masoni says the voting machine that reads ballots has broken down -- for the first time in years.

"We're going to talk to the people in Omaha, which is where the machine is programmed," Masoni says.

They'll walk through the problem and try to get it fixed before it's time to tally the votes.

It's election day in Unalaska.

In-person voting for municipal elections started at City Hall at 8 a.m. today. The polls will stay open until 8 p.m. tonight. There are a total of seven seats up for election, including mayor, but there are only two contested races.

City councilor Roger Rowland is seeking re-election to seat C, but Katherine Labert is asking voters to write her in. Fernando Barrera is running for seat E on the school board against incumbent Denise Rankin, who was appointed to the seat a few weeks ago. 

Police seized black tar heroin last week. / Image credit: Unalaska Police

Unalaska police have arrested another man in connection to alleged sales of black tar heroin. Thirty-one-year-old Christopher Cordell was arrested this weekend and arraigned Sunday afternoon.

Cordell is being charged with a class A felony. According to court documents, Cordell rented a room at the UniSea Inn earlier this month. He allegedly let 24-year-old Michael Hindman to stay with him.

Unalaska's cross country team in Bethel. / Credit: David Gibson

Raider runners made a strong showing at their regional cross country meet this weekend in Bethel, with one qualifying for the state championships.

Sophomore Ross Enlow clinched his place: He was the top individual finisher in the boys’ race, with a time of 20:17.

There were a total of seven regional cross-country meets this weekend around the state. The top-finishing boys' and girls' teams from each competition are moving on to state, along with the top 15 individual runners for each region.

Shirley Marquardt got her start on Unalaska’s city council in 1994. Almost a decade later, she was appointed to replace outgoing mayor Pam Fitch, and she’s held onto the seat ever since.

Frank Kelty, Denise Furneaux and Phil Hanson raise the "12th Man" flag. / Credit: Ben Matheson

Unalaska has a strong connection with Seattle through the fishing and shipping industries -- and that relationship extends to football with a small but enthusiastic Seahawks fan base.

Three longtime fans cemented that bond Friday when they hoisted a "12th Man" flag at the Tom Madsen Airport. Denise Furneaux brought the flag up from Seattle, where she got it from Terry Fletcher, a former Unalaska resident.