From utility upgrades to new roads, Unalaska is gearing up for a jam-packed construction season this summer.

But before the work can get under way, the city has to award about $40 million in contracts.

As KUCB’s Lauren Rosenthal reports, one city councilor is expressing concern about a possible lack of interest in local construction projects from Outside companies.

Unalaska’s new wastewater treatment plant will cost at least $19 million dollars. The city received four bids for the project. Public works director Nancy Peterson opened them at a public bid hearing Tuesday afternoon.

“The apparent low bidder for this project is Alaska Mechanical at $19,270,000," Peterson told the assembled crowd.

Credit: Alaska Department of Fish & Game

It pays not to kill crab. Or at least that’s what Unalaska’s smallest fish processor is banking on for a new business venture.

Bering Fisheries started shipping live crab across the globe earlier this month.

As KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce reports, initial results have been mixed, but the processor isn’t giving up just yet.

Courtesy of Melanie Magnusen

Two Unalaska athletes set world records at the Native Youth Olympics state competition in Anchorage last week.

Dylan Magnusen set a new record in the kneel jump, leaping 67 inches. Steven Ugale’s record was in the toe kick, which measures forward jump. Ugale jumped 96 inches, or 8 feet, beating the world record by four inches. That record had been on the books since 1980. 

Unalaska’s Steven Ugale broke a 33-year-old world record in the toe kick at the Native Youth Olympics state competition in Anchorage this week.

Courtesy of Nancy Heise

When the Tustumena ferry went in for repairs this winter, it was supposed to be fixed up in time for the 2013 season. But as KUCB's Lauren Rosenthal reports, it’s still not ready.

That's forced the Alaska Marine Highway System to cancel service to western Alaska for the entire month of June. 

This month, Alaska’s legislature wrapped up one of the most productive sessions in recent memory, passing 71 bills and a capital budget before gaveling out on time. It’s no exaggeration to say that the laws that were created during this session could drive the future of the state.

It was Rep. Bob Herron's first session legislating for the Aleutian and Pribilof islands, along with the Bethel region. He spoke with KUCB's Lauren Rosenthal to recap the year.

Questions about oil and gas exploration have contributed to a minor delay in city council’s long-range budget planning. Instead, council tackled the 2014 operating budget at a meeting this week. 

Credit: Transportation Safety Board of Canada

The Bering Sea pollock catcher-processor American Dynasty collided with a Canadian navy frigate Tuesday morning in the British Columbia port of Esquimalt.

Cindy Harnett is a reporter for the Times Colonist, a daily newspaper in Victoria, BC, and has been following the story.

Harnett spoke with KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce about the incident.