The eagle sits in the rafters of Ship Supply's liquor store. /Credit: Pipa Escalante
Alaska Ship Supply had an unwelcome customer for about three hours Wednesday night -- a bald eagle, which flew in a loading door around 6 p.m. and refused to leave.
The juvenile bird flapped around the store for about three hours before state troopers and employees were able to get it out.
Troopers and local public safety officers tried to scare the eagle down with noise. They clapped their hands and fired loud bursts of air at the eagle with a small air cannon.
A Coast Guard petty officer has died after being injured during a rescue near Unalaska in November.
The Coast Guard says Petty Officer Third Class Travis Obendorf died Wednesday in a hospital in Seattle. Obendorf was a crew member aboard the Coast Guard cutter Waesche.
The Waesche sent its small boat to rescue the 22-person crew of a stranded fishing vessel, the Alaska Mist, on Nov. 11. The 160-foot Alaska Mist had lost power and was adrift off Amak Island, which is north of Cold Bay. The Resolve Pioneer was also sent from Resolve-Magone Marine Services to assist in towing the vessel back to Unalaska.
City council finalized a new partnership with the Qawalangin tribe at their last meeting of the year Tuesday.
The council approved two agreements with the tribe -- one to let the city and tribe cooperate on projects on tribe lands, and one specifically about working together on replacing Summer Bay Bridge.
That agreement will let the city use a million-dollar grant the tribe got for the project.
The city announced its new parks, culture and recreation director on Tuesday. D. Tyrell McGirt will head up the PCR when current director Jeff Hawley retires in January.
City council will vote on increasing wages for Title 3 city employees at their meeting tonight.
The changes to the pay structure are the first step in implementing the recommendations of a city-wide compensation study done last year.
That study was done by an outside firm. It said the city needs to make its wages more competitive and bring them in line with the national market and the current economy.
Money raised at last weekend’s Firefighters' Ball will help public safety provide CPR certifications to the community for the first time.
The ball turned a profit of $6,000 from ticket sales and other contributions -- five times as much as last year.
Senior Fire Captain Zac Schasteen is the president of the local chapter of the Alaska State Firefighters Association, which puts on the ball. He says they’ll use about half the money raised to train firefighters in giving CPR lessons.
The Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska reopened this past weekend after five months of renovations.
As KUCB’s Annie Ropeik reports, the space has been transformed in an effort to tell the whole story of the chain.
Stepping into the newly renovated Museum of the Aleutians is meant to feel like stepping into the sea. A model kayaker in a traditional 18-foot craft appears to paddle toward visitors. The backdrop -- a mural of the churning ocean.
Unalaska's public safety department has issued a category 1 travel advisory for wet weather conditions.
The alert went into effect around 7:30 p.m. Friday. Public safety is warning drivers that standing water has accumulated on the roadway. The speed limit has been reduced to 5 miles per hour on a stretch of Broadway, in the valley neighborhood.
Visibility is also low due to blowing rain. Drivers should exercise caution.
The Lower 48 has been on the offensive against the flu virus for weeks. But in Unalaska, most people didn’t have access to vaccines until late November.
As KUCB’s Annie Ropeik reports, an attempt to tailor flu prevention around Unalaska’s unique population didn’t sit well with some patients.
