Unalaska, AK – A protest by members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302 brought Unalaska's city services to a near-standstill today.

Virtually all unionized city employees called in sick following a meeting of Local 302 members at the Grand Aleutian Hotel Monday evening. Only a handful of Title 3, or non-union executive, employees were working in otherwise deserted city offices today. City roads crews were nowhere to be seen, and the landfill, water and sewer plants and the powerhouse were staffed with just one person apiece. The library was closed all day, although the rest of the Parks, Culture & Recreation Department facilities weren't. The city landfill was closed to commercial users, but was accepting residential waste.

Unalaska, AK – In two weeks, the Unalaska Trial Court is moving into a new building downtown.

The new space at 204 West Broadway is across the street from the current 205 West Broadway offices. Court Clerk Jane Pearson said the new building offers a number of advantages over the old one.

"There's a larger lobby area, the courtroom itself is bigger, the jury deliberation room is bigger," she said. "Plus we have two new attorney conference rooms, which we don't have here."

Unalaska, AK – A spaghetti feed will be held on Sunday to raise money for the Unalaska family whose house was damaged by a fire last weekend.

Genee Shaishnikoff is hosting the fundraiser to help her brother, Barry Fredericks, and his family raise the money they need to gut and rebuild the house. She said he hopes to repair the extensive damage by the end of the summer.

"Their main bedroom was burned, and everything upstairs was either water-damaged or smoke-damaged," she said. "And things in the living room and kitchen, it was so hot in there [they] melted."

Unalaska, AK – Unalaska's public officials have new ethics guidelines following last night's City Council meeting.

The four council members present voted unanimously to approve two new ordinances drafted in response to questions that arose following this October's mayoral and city council elections.

Council member Dick Peck said that while the city's ordinances could require more tweaking in the future, he was pleased with the changes.

Unalaska, AK – The Nome Nanooks and the Lady Whalers of Barrow emerged victorious in this weekend's finale to the Region 3A basketball tournament.

Unalaska's boys and girls teams exited on Saturday and Friday, respectively, the girls bowing out with a 1-2 record after a 31-50 loss to Dillingham and the boy's hanging on to finish 2-2 with a 56-31 loss to the Bethel Warriors on Saturday.

Unalaska, AK – The Department of Public Safety's firefighters were able to extinguish a fire at a home on Bayview Road near the Holy Ascension Orthodox Cathedral Sunday morning, but weren't able to save several pets that were trapped in the residence.

Both of Public Safety's fire engines and its ladder truck were dispatched to the fire late Sunday morning at a home belonging to Barry Fredricks. Firefighter Mike Sheffield said that his team had four firefighters at a time in the house, working to contain the blaze.

Unalaska, AK – The Lady Raiders are out of the Region 3A basketball tournament after a 31-50 loss to Dillingham this afternoon, exiting with a 1-2 record this week. The Unalaska boys are still in the game, though, after winning against Kotzebue this morning, taking down the Huskies 37-33.

The boys, now 2-1 after today's win and last night's 53-68 loss to the Nome Nanooks, face off against the Bethel Warriors at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Unalaska, AK – A proposal issued today by the National Marine Fisheries Service would keep more than a hundred thousand square miles of the northern Bering Sea off limits to bottom-trawling.

The new rule, which is now out for public comment, had been sought by conservation groups in recent years, and it tacitly acknowledges the ways in which climate change may alter the Bering Sea fishing industry. KIAL's Charles Homans reports.

Unalaska, AK – A very rare white killer whale has been seen in the Bering Sea near the Aleutian Islands.

The orca was spotted by a marine mammal observer from NOAA's National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, working onboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessel Oscar Dyson, which was conducting a survey in the Bering Sea last month.

John Durban, a biologist at the marine mammal lab, said the whale is apparently a male, and at least 20 years old.