Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska City Council voted to fund the first step towards a new recycling program for the community at its meeting on Friday.

The council voted 5-1 in favor of a budget amendment that would pay for a grant writer/program developer for the program, which would be under the direction of the Qawalangin Tribe. That job, which will be funded to the tune of $60,000, would involve coming up with a more precise picture of what the recycling program would look like, and finding funding for the program.

Unalaska, AK – As of today, the City of Unalaska has finally filled all of its director positions.

A new finance director signed on to the job today, and the city announced on Thursday that Nancy Peterson has been hired as the new public works director, filling the position left open by Dave Kemp's departure more than a year ago. And starting January 1, powerhouse superintendent Dan Winters will be the city's utilities director.

Unalaska, AK – The Unalaska City Council will meet tonight at 7 p.m. for its rescheduled regular meeting. The meeting was moved from Tuesday night because of concerns that council members and members of the public would still be out of town for Christmas.

The council will bring back for discussion a couple of issues concerning waste disposal in the community that have been addressed over the past few months. Up first will be the question of what to do about nets and metal in Unalaska's landfill. The moratorium imposed by the city on dumping these materials expires on January 1, and the city council still hasn't decided whether or how much to raise its rates for their disposal.

Unalaska, AK – Twenty-two boats are registered for this year's Eastern Aleutian District Tanner crab fishery, which opens at noon on January 15 in Unalaska Bay and Akutan Bay, areas that were off limits last year. The fishery's guideline harvest level will be 84,000 pounds, with a 13 pot limit for each crab boat.

The Alaska Department of Fish & Game put both Unalaska Bay and Akutan Bay off limits in 2006 over concerns about the abundance of crab there. Makushin Bay and Skan Bay are closed this year for the same reason, according to ADF&G area management biologist Forrest Bowers. Both of the latter areas were last closed in 2005 on account of the nearby Selendang Ayu oil spill, but were fished last year.

Unalaska, AK – The National Weather Service's blizzard warning for Unalaska has been canceled, but weather conditions on the island were bad enough today to shut down the airport and prompt a travel warning from the public safety department.

The biggest factor today has been the wind. Unalaska only got about half an inch of snow since last night, but winds that gusted as high as 64 miles per hour this afternoon have been kicking up the foot of snow that's already on the ground, causing whiteout conditions. That was enough to keep Pen Air's flights from leaving or landing in Unalaska, and the Department of Public Safety issued a Category 2 travel advisement this afternoon, urging residents to only travel when absolutely necessary until conditions improved. But so far, no accidents have been reported on land or at sea.

Unalaska, AK – The community of Adak was able to turn the lights on again at midnight Tuesday night after a day and a half without power. Phone service on the island was still down as of this afternoon, so residents of Adak couldn't be contacted. But other basic services have been restored, according to Sandra Moller, the president and CEO of Aleut Enterprise LLC, which manages economic development on Adak.

Unalaska, AK – The Coast Guard is shifting its emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) frequency, and boaters and fishermen better switch, too. As of January 1, the 121.5 and 243 megahertz EPIRBs will be prohibited, and new digital 406 megahertz models will be required.

The Coast Guard says the change is a result of the unreliability of the old EPIRBs, which produced about 50 false alerts for every one genuine alert.

Unalaska, AK – U.S. attorneys have filed charges against a Bering Sea crab fisherman who packed seal bombs in his luggage on a flight from Unalaska to Anchorage a year ago. Travis Davis goes to trial next month and could face up to three months in jail. KIAL's Charles Homans has more.

Unalaska AK – A project is underway to see if ocean ranching can help restore the blue king crab population in the Bering Sea near the Pribilof Islands. KIAL's Charles Homans reports.