Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska City Council voted unanimously to accept new guidelines for travel by the mayor and council at Tuesday's council meeting.

Until now, the city didn't have a policy regarding council and mayor travel, for which the city has budgeted $42,000 for the current fiscal year. Under the new guidelines, the city will only cover expenses for travel that's required to support efforts on a state or federal level on the city's behalf, or for training sessions or committee meetings that directly benefit the city. No more than three council members will be allowed to attend those meetings, and any travel has to be voted on by the council at one of its regular sessions.

Unalaska, AK – Charges have been dropped against a Coastguardsman accused of sex assault in Unalaska earlier this month.

24-year-old Freddy Lugo, a second-class petty officer on the Kodiak-based cutter Alex Haley, was arrested on New Year's Day for allegedly raping a woman at the Grand Aleutian Hotel. He was charged with first and second degree sexual assault.

Magistrate Vincent DiNapoli dismissed the charges against Lugo on a Rule 5 violation. The rule requires that the state bring a felony case before a grand jury within 10 days of charges being filed, which didn't happen in this case.

Unalaska, AK – A delegation of high-powered Japanese seafood buyers and producers is in Unalaska today, touring UniSea's Dutch Harbor processing plant.

Executives from the C.G.C. Group, the largest seafood-buying co-op in Japan, arrived today, along with Noaya Kakizoe, the president/CEO of Nippon Suisan (Nissui), the Japanese seafood giant that owns UniSea Inc. Top executives from the company's American branch and UniSea are here as well. Last year C.G.C. bought nearly $15 million worth of seafood from Nissui, and is planning on tripling that amount next year.

Unalaska, AK – The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association is working to create what the organization calls an "Alaska management consortium" to help monitor the nuclear test site on Amchitka Island.

An APIA representative and a nuclear contamination expert from the University of Alaska Fairbanks were in Unalaska Tuesday to collect comments on monitoring plans for Amchitka, where the Atomic Energy Commission conducted nuclear tests in the '60s and '70s. The site is now monitored by the Department of Energy, which shifted responsibility for the test site to its Legacy Management Program in October. The move signals that the site is no longer considered an active hazard by the department, and APIA Environmental Projects Coordinator Bob Patrick said that part of the purpose of the consortium is to make sure that Amchitka stays on DOE's radar, even as it becomes a lower priority.

Unalaska, AK – The Ounalashka Corporation announced today that it's paying out the largest quarterly dividend ever to its shareholders following the board of directors' assessment of fiscal year 2006 earnings earlier this month.

The Unalaska-based Native corporation is paying out $20 a share, bringing its dividend total for 2006 to $45 a share.

CEO Wendy Svarny-Hawthorne said the good year the corporation had in 2006 was the result of good performances by both financial and real estate investments.

Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska Raiders returned home this weekend after a tough series of games up North. Both the boys and girls basketball teams played two games against Nome on the team's home court before heading to Kotzebue for the three-game Husky Shootout.

The boys went 2-3, beating Selawik and Kotzebue but losing twice to Nome and once to Point Hope. The girls' team had a harder run, losing all five games to Nome, Selawik, Kotzebue and Point Hope. Coach Alan Haskins said that the Nome girls are a formidable team, and he knew going in that the games were going to be an uphill battle.

Unalaska, AK – Unalaska's boys and girls basketball teams both left Nome without a win this week. The girls lost their second game 56-13 last night, and the boys lost 73-62. The teams continue on to Kotzebue tonight for the Husky Shootout, where they'll face Kotzebue, Selawik and Point Hope. We'll be carrying the Kotzebue games live tonight here on KIAL AM 1450, starting at 7 p.m.

Unalaska, AK – Although a National Weather Service blizzard warning is still in effect until 9 p.m. for Unalaska, Unalaska's travel advisory has been downgraded as blizzard conditions have calmed down in town this afternoon and road crews have had a chance to clear routes through town.

The Public Safety Department has lowered its travel advisory from a category 2 to a category 1. That means that drivers are no longer advised to stay off the roads, although Public Safety is requesting that people limit their travel so the road crews can finish work.

Unalaska, AK – A travel advisory is still in effect for Unalaska on account of last night's blizzard, which has continued through this morning. A total of 9.3 inches of snow have fallen in the last 24 hours, according to the weather station at the Unalaska Airport, and winds have gusted as high as 62 miles per hour this morning.

The Unalaska Department of Public Safety is maintaining its category 2 travel advisory today, which means you shouldn't travel unless absolutely necessary. Two avalanches have been reported this morning, although both have been cleared from the roads. The National Weather Service has extended its blizzard warning until 6 p.m. this evening.