The ongoing eruption at Pavlof Volcano is disrupting regional air travel.
Pavlof stirred back to life Tuesday morning, and has since sent up numerous ash clouds. There’s been no reported ashfall in any nearby communities, and none of the clouds have reached above 19,000 feet, but PenAir cancelled its flights to the Peninsula community of Cold Bay Wednesday because of concerns about drifting ash. On Tuesday, they canceled an afternoon flight to Sand Point.
Federal budget cuts are squeezing Alaska’s culture and science camps. The Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska has traditionally sponsored summer programs within the state’s many refuges, but with sequestration, that funding was eliminated this year, leaving some camps scrambling.
Unalaska’s Camp Qungaayux has relied on the Fish and Wildlife Service’s support for more than a decade. Last year, the federal agency contributed $15,000 outright, and $5,000 in the form of an instructor.
It’s official: the Tustumena will be delayed in shipyard through the end of July.
The shipyard’s general manager said last week that he didn’t think the vessel would be ready on time, and now, the Department of Transportation confirms. They’ve canceled the Tustumena’s July 7 run from Seldovia to Unalaska.
After a week-long respite, Pavlof Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula has sent up another ash plume. Pilots flying past the volcano Tuesday morning were the first to spot the cloud, which they estimated at 19,000 feet.
PenAir flight operations manager Lloyd Seybert says the airline cancelled its afternoon flight into Sand Point as a result, but the plume hasn’t affected any other PenAir routes.
Alaska Volcano Observatory geologist Michelle Coombs says this pattern of fluctuating activity is pretty standard for Pavlof, but that it can make monitoring difficult.
Former Unalaska Assistant City Manager and current Bristol Bay Borough Manager John Fulton is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of driving under the influence, and refusing to submit to a chemical test.
According to charging documents, Fulton was attending the Unalaska High School graduation when he was warned by an off-duty officer that he was too intoxicated to drive. He then allegedly left the celebration and drove to the Grand Aleutian Hotel, where two officers found him unresponsive in his truck, with the keys in the ignition and the engine running. Fulton allegedly failed field sobriety tests, and was transported to the police station.
The future of Adak’s seafood processing plant is up in the air. Following an announcement last month that Icicle Seafoods would permanently shutter its operation in the community, the processing plant’s equipment is being auctioned off, and there’s no guarantee it will stay on the island.
In less than six weeks, the Tustumena ferry is supposed to wrap up repairs and set sail to southwest Alaska. But the shipyard says that delivery date isn’t looking realistic.
As the state faces yet another blown deadline for getting the Tustumena back in service, they’ve started looking for other ships to pick up the ferry’s route.
As KUCB’s Lauren Rosenthal reports, it doesn’t have to be a perfect fit.
After months of discussion, city council has approved a plan to raise utility rates.
Water rates will go up by about 22 percent, wastewater rates will go up by 42 percent, and solid waste fees will go up 32 percent.
The extra revenue will help get the utilities operating at a slight profit, instead of a deficit as they've done on and off over the last few years. They'll also help defray the cost of major construction on the plants, to get them up to federal standards.
Around this time last year, it looked like Adak’s jet service was in jeopardy. Alaska Airlines wanted to stop flying there, and it was only after much back and forth that they conceded to continue serving the community, on a trial basis.
Now, the uncertainty appears to be over. Alaska Airlines was the only company that responded to a recent request from the federal Department of Transportation for bids on the community’s Essential Air Service contract, and they’ve agreed to commit for two years.
