Unalaska, AK – Unalaska is now officially going smoke-free. The city council unanimously passed the smoking ordinance Tuesday night. It will go into effect immediately and will be fully enforceable in 90 days, on August 9th. Before final passage Dennis Robinson proposed two amendments. The first allows businesses to build separate, stand-alone smoking designated outdoor buildings.
"I thought that given the environment that we're in, it's only fair to allow a company, if they so choose to provide an enclosed area that's separate from any other building for smokers," he explained.
Unalaska, AK – A man was arrested for a felony assault with a weapon Monday night after an incident aboard the Lady Gudny at the Spit Dock. First Sgt. Matt Betzen said the Department of Public Safety was contacted around 10 pm.
"We received a call from a confused, upset person claiming that someone had fired a gun at them and that they had fled the Lady Gudney. We responded. The individual had gotten away from the boat and was near some pay phones on the Spit Dock," Betzen said.
Unalaska, AK – The United States Postal Service is considering closing one of the post offices in town but no decision has been made yet. Postal Service communications specialist Ernie Swanson said a special committee is considering the consolidation of post offices around the state and the country in order to save money.
"The situation in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor is we're looking at both situations to see if we decide to pursue a consolidation, which location would we prefer to stay in, which would be best for our customers, so on and so forth. At this point that's on the table but no final decision has been made."
Unalaska, AK – A new viewing guide released by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game features the wildlife of Alaska's coast between Unalaska and Cordova. The new book tells visitors and residents what kinds of birds, marine mammals, and other animals to look for and where as they travel along the Alaska Marine Highway system, which is referred to as a wildlife trail.
"It's kind of like having a little naturalist in your backpack with you as you travel to these places," said Beth Paluso, the watchable wildlife coordinator for ADF&G. "You can kind of flip through to different places to see what kind of history and animals are in that area."
Unalaska, AK – Trident Seafoods will pay more than $112,000 for not reporting large quantities of hazardous chemicals to the Environmental Protection Agency. The company violated the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act by not telling local emergency response teams that they had large quantities of ammonia, a hazardous chemical, at processing plants in Akutan, Kodiak, Petersburg, and Seattle. EPA public affairs specialist Tony Brown said this endangered the surrounding communities.
Unalaska, AK – The city council discussed the fiscal year 2010 budget at two work sessions on Monday and Tuesday. The city plans on spending $41.3 million on capital projects during the next fiscal year. That includes $2 million for the PCR community center expansion project, $6.75 million for the Ballyhoo road paving project, $6.1 million for the Carl E. Moses boat harbor on Little South America, and $2 million for city housing. It's currently unclear where $11.9 million of the proposed total will come from. A line by line description of the operating budgets is available on the city's website. The total operating budget for 2010 has a 3 percent increase from last year's budget for non-personnel related expenditures from the general fund. The first reading for the budget will take place at the May 12 council meeting at 7 pm in the council chambers.
Unalaska, AK – Each year Unalaskans participate in the community clean-up week. But some take the project to a deeper level. KUCB's Anne Hillman joined the Unalaska Divers Association as they cleaned beneath the surface a week before the official clean-up starts on May 10.
Unalaska, AK – The city council unanimously passed the first reading of an amended smoking ban Tuesday night. After almost an hour of public comment the council decided to change the smoking ban so it does not apply to any employer-owned bunk housing. Many community members, including those who own their own private residences, said regulating smoking in bunkhouses infringes on people's private lives and it would be too difficult to enforce. All but one council member agreed.
