With just three days to file for candidacy, few people have stepped up to run in October’s municipal elections. Three spots on city council, three school board seats, and the mayor’s office are all on the ballot.

Unalaska airport. / Credit: Stephanie Joyce

Executives at Alaska Airlines and Peninsula Airways admit that their service to Unalaska isn't perfect. Lopsided demand for flights and rough Aleutian weather already complicate their operations -- but Arctic development could make it even tougher.

Bundles of khat. (Courtesy of the DEA)

A UniSea processor is facing a felony drug charge for possession of khat -- an East African plant that’s chewed to induce euphoria and alertness.

According to the charging documents, a UniSea security officer discovered a sandwich bag containing the leafy green plant under 28-year-old Yusuf Aadan’s bunk in late June. The security officer confiscated the bag and handed it over to the Unalaska Department of Public Safety. A state crime lab identified it as khat, and Aadan was arrested on August 3.

Unalaska Airport (Stephanie Joyce)

Flight delays are a common occurrence in Unalaska, and this spring was no exception. Passengers stranded at the Tom Madsen Airport in May had not one, but two airlines to complain to, but that didn't get them anywhere. 

KUCB’s Lauren Rosenthal is examining the future of air service to Unalaska in a three-part series this week. In part two, representatives from both Alaska Airlines and Peninsula Airways explain why flying to Unalaska is so difficult. 

Tuesday was Linda Snow’s last day as city manager of St. Paul. Snow announced two months ago that she would be ending her 28-year career in Alaska to move closer to family in the Lower 48.

Unalaska airport after several days of flight cancellations. / Credit: Stephanie Joyce

For the past nine years, Alaska Airlines and Peninsula Airways have partnered to provide regular passenger air service to Unalaska. That service has been plagued by delays, and has also suffered from the airlines’ failure to communicate -- with passengers, and even internally, with each other.

This week, KUCB’s Lauren Rosenthal explores the airlines’ partnership, and what it means for Unalaska’s future, in a three-part series. In part one, the view from the ground.

The rules for accessing Humpy Cove are changing. The land is owned by the Ounalashka Corporation, but the Qawalangin Tribe recently signed a 99-year lease on the property.

In a blast fax last week, the tribe announced that as a result, OC land permits are no longer valid for accessing the area. Instead, people need to get permission directly from the tribe.

Grand opening of the Dryland Warehouse. From left to right: Glacier Fish Company founder Erik Breivik, city mayor Shirley Marquardt, Glacier Fish Company CEO Mike Breivik, and Delta Western president Kirk Payne. (Courtesy of Kirk Payne)

A brand-new warehouse has sprung up in a matter of months along Unalaska’s shoreline. Last Thursday, the building’s joint owners celebrated its completion. They’re holding it up as an example of how cooperation is key when land is limited.

A crowd of locals and business executives gathered next to Delta Western’s fuel dock on East Point Road for the building's grand opening. Behind them, the paint still fresh, was the new 40,000 square-foot Dryland Warehouse -- the result of a joint venture between fuel supplier Delta Western and Glacier Fish Company.

Four years after closing, it’s looking less and less likely that Unalaska’s child welfare office will be reopening.

Community leaders have repeatedly asked the Office of Children’s Services to restaff the position, but field supervisor Travis Erickson says the numbers just don’t pencil out.

“Right now, I think we’ve had three reports in the last six months or so. So a very, very low workload," Erickson says. "So we’re exploring how best to service the area, but right now we’re not planning on having staff full-time in Unalaska.”