Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska Horse Gelding Project began castrating the Summer Bay stallions this week in an effort to reduce the growth of the herd. Jeff Hancock, the manager of the project, says the horses are damaging the local ecosystem.
"Among the impacts they have on our local environment are things like causing erosion around stream beds, which causes siltation in streams. If the water is not clear running, it can impact local salmon populations, which are naturally occurring," Hancock said.
Unalaska, AK – The City Council will meet tonight to discuss whether to lower the taxes that Unalaska residents pay on their homes. Also on the agenda is a first discussion of whether Unalaska should consider buying a third generator for the new powerhouse.
The rate at which properties on the island are taxed has been the same for the past sixteen years, even though property values have steadily increased, jumping by more than $30 million in the past year alone. That means that homeowners here have owed the city more money each year, something that has some council members considering reducing the rate.
Unalaska, AK – The Alaska Marine Highway System is accepting public comments Tuesday morning on the proposed fall and winter ferry schedule, which includes the October Pumpkin run. The public comment teleconference starts at 9 am. Call 1-800-315-6338, conference code 3902 # to join.
Unalaska, AK – The Coastguardsmen who rescued the crew of the Alaska Ranger from the Bering Sea on Easter morning will be honored in a ceremony in Kodiak this Thursday.
Rear Admiral Gene Brooks of the Coast Guard's 17th District will present commendations to the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Munro and the crews of two helicopters that participated in the rescue. Forty-two of the 47 people onboard the fishing trawler were saved before the ship sank west of Unalaska early in the morning of March 23.
Unalaska, AK – The Coast Guard icebreaker Healy is in Dutch Harbor tonight after the second leg of its winter cruise in the Bering Sea.
Unlike other Coast Guard ships, the Healy mostly works as a research platform for scientists. This time around, the vessel hosted researchers working as part of two programs, the Bering Ecosystem Study and the Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program, which are funded by the National Science Foundation and the North Pacific Research Board, respectively. The Healy spent 39 days traversing the Bering Sea south of St. Lawrence Island and north of the Pribilofs while researchers looked at how the climate change-driven retreat of sea ice could be affecting the greater Bering Sea ecosystem.
Unalaska, AK – Adak Island was rocked by a strong earthquake at about 4:30 p.m. local time Thursday.
According to the Adak clinic, there were no reported injuries from the 6.6 magnitude quake 40 miles west of the island, which was followed by hundreds of smaller aftershocks. The tremor was the third in the area over the past two weeks with a magnitude greater than 6.
Earthquakes, even strong ones, are common in the Aleutians, which sit along the boundary where the North American tectonic plate meets the Pacific Ocean plate. But seismologist Natasha Ruppert with the Alaska Earthquake Information Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks said this tremor was unique in that it didn't occur along that boundary, and originated at a relatively shallow depth of just over 6 miles.
Unalaska, AK – Next week the Parks Culture & Recreation Department will begin its annual community-wide cleanup, leading local residents in an effort to collect trash around town. But tomorrow morning, the Unalaska Divers Association will be taking aim at garbage we can't see--the stuff that's accumulated underwater in Unalaska's small boat harbor.
About ten divers will be cleaning up the area around float C in the harbor. Diver Don Graves said that a lot of trash ends up down there, either accidentally or on purpose.
Seattle, WA – Addressing Coast Guard officers and National Transportation Safety Board officials Friday, the former captain of the Alaska Ranger denied allegations that he had left the ship prior to its sinking because of a fight over unsafe practices onboard. In Seattle, KIAL's Charles Homans reports.
