Multiple power outages over the last 24 hours were caused by power dumps from a “large industrial user,” according to public utilities director Dan Winters.

A sudden drop in power demand tripped field breakers, Winters says, shutting down parts of the grid.

None of the outages lasted longer than 15 minutes. They took place at 8:30 Wednesday night, 4:55 Thursday morning, again at 5:07 and again around 10:30

Courtesy of ADF&G

One of the Aleutians’ smallest fisheries, the Dutch Harbor Food and Bait Herring Fishery, opened on Monday. Three seiners are participating this year -- one each for Trident, Westward, and Peter Pan. Locals may have noticed the boats’ spotter plane flying in and out of port, but those hoping to catch a glimpse of the harvest are likely going to be disappointed.

After 35 years, Doctor Don Hudson is leaving the Iliuliuk Clinic. During that time the facility transitioned from a frontier medical outpost to a modern health center, and Hudson didn’t just watch the transition -- he helped make it happen.

Hudson started working in Unalaska in 1978, right at the beginning of what he calls the “crazy fishing days.”

“In the old clinic, that stretch in front of the school, we used to have fishermen lined up in the street, trying to get in the clinic. It was not unreasonable to see 100 people in a day.”

The fishermen weren’t coming in with runny noses either. Hudson says they saw all kinds of serious ailments.

Top view of the family's eco-friendly sailboat, the Pachamama. (Courtesy of Dario Schwörer)

In 1999, a Swiss climatologist and his wife embarked on a four-year voyage to sail around the world. Their goal was to climb the tallest peak on every continent and to raise awareness about the dangers of global climate change.

Fourteen years, five continents, and four children later, they’re still sailing. The family arrived in Unalaska over the weekend and, as KUCB’s Audrey Carlsen reports, they’re determined to finish what they started.

Diesel accumulating behind first row of boom (USFWS)

The State of Alaska has filed criminal charges against Aleut Enterprise, a subsidiary of the Aleut Corporation, over a fuel spill in Adak.

The spill happened in January 2010, during a fuel transfer from the tanker Al Amerat to Adak Petroleum’s shore-based storage facility. A state investigation concluded that the fuel storage tank was overfilled, flooding a nearby stream.

Now, the state is alleging that Aleut Enterprise and Michael Baker, the facility manager, were to blame for the spill.

A month into pollock B season, fishermen should be ramping up their efforts in the Bering Sea. But instead, they’re slowing down because of high chum salmon bycatch.

Almost 20,000 chum have been taken incidentally since the season started on June 10. In the same period last year, the fleet caught about a tenth of that amount.

But Krista Milani, a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, says it's not uncommon to see high bycatch so early in the season.

Courtesy of Pennelope Goforth

Two years ago, historian Pennelope Goforth discovered six ledgers from the Alaska Commercial Company gathering dust in a friend’s basement. Now, she’s using the "Lost Ledgers" to bring a distant chapter of Aleutian history to life.

The Alaska Commercial Company dominated the fur trade in the Aleutians during the late 1800s. Trading station agents used ledger books to keep careful records of business transactions and correspondences. But the agents didn’t limit their writing to just business.

M/V Tustumena (Nancy Heise)

On Wednesday, the state canceled the Tustumena’s next two sailings to Southwest Alaska.

Six hundred passengers were scheduled to ride the ferry on those trips, and as KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce reports, some of them are struggling to make alternate arrangements on short notice.

M/V Tustumena (Nancy Heise)

For the fourth time this summer, the M/V Tustumena’s return to service has been pushed back. The Alaska Department of Transportation is now saying that the ferry won’t be ready to sail until the end of August.

In an inspection last week, the Coast Guard found deficiencies with some of the welding work on the ship’s hull. DOT spokesperson Jeremy Woodrow says the ferry can’t sail until the issues are fixed.

“The welds definitely need to be watertight, they’re part of the chambers that help the ship float,” Woodrow says.