Unalaska, AK – As of today, Unalaskans airing grievances on the Unalaska Advertiser web log will have to sign their names to their postings.

Hundreds of people visit the Advertiser blog each day to read and contribute anonymous postings, frequently sharp jabs taking aim at targets across Unalaska's entire political spectrum, from longshoremen's union representatives to city officials.

But no one has written on the blog since the Advertiser's administrator, Veda Webb, decided to make posters identify themselves this morning.

Webb said her decision was prompted by the increased nastiness of the blog in recent weeks, in the wake of the controversial appointment of interim City Council member Roger Rowland and conflicts involving various local businesses and labor unions.

"So much is going on in this town at this point," she said. "A lot of the e-mails I'm getting are hate towards the unions, and I don't want to be part of that right now."

Webb's blog evolved out of the "Pet Peeves" section of her website, which she started two years ago. Since she began operating the blog, hits on the Unalaska Advertiser site have jumped to ten times what they used to be. Along the way she has carefully guarded the identities of the more then 150 people who have posted their opinions on the blog.

"You'd be very surprised at some of the people that are writing," she said. "And I don't tell anybody where they come from--not even my husband. It's best that way."

Webb said she still thinks that having an anonymous soapbox for the community fills an important niche, particularly as the Dutch Harbor Fisherman has reduced its local presence as a forum for news and opinion.

"There's a lot going on in town, and I think people are really frustrated," she said. "And they're afraid to go to people that can make a difference."

But as blog postings grew more and more vicious in recent weeks, and mediating the site began taking up more and more of her time, Webb said she felt that she had no choice but to put an end to the blog's anonymity.

She said the change may be a temporary one, and is intended to get things under control while she thinks of what permanent fix she could put in place.