Credit: Jeri Rosenthal

In this segment, two Unalaska public safety experts share their tips for safely exploring the island on foot. 

Credit: KTOO Digital Services

Alaska’s lawmakers are leaving few stones unturned as they look for ways to fill a $3.5 billion deficit. Democrat Bryce Edgmon has been representing the Aleutian Islands throughout the budgeting process.

In this segment of The Exchange, Edgmon discusses the trimmed-down spending plan that’s working its way through the Legislature.

(Courtesy: Alaska Legislature)

Faced with a multi-billion dollar deficit, Alaska’s Legislature is looking to cut back everywhere they can. Unalaska’s state senator of two decades, Lyman Hoffman, is working on those cuts as part of the Senate Finance Committee.

As he tells KUCB's Annie Ropeik in this segment, he expects Alaska could be climbing back out of the budget crunch for at least a decade to come -- whether or not oil prices rebound.

(Lauren Adams/KUCB)

World language students from the Unalaska City School brought home a pile of gold medals from the state declamation competition in Anchorage last month. They were one of the only delegations from a rural area, and for many, the event was a first-time experience. 

Sophomore Mia Magalong and junior Onya Enkbat, who is an ESL student, each won first place in their level for Spanish poetry. In this segment, Magalong and Enkbat tell us more about the ups and downs of learning a foreign language in Unalaska, and share some of their winning recitation. 

(Courtesy: University of Alaska Press)

Take a trek across the Western Aleutian island of Kiska, and you're likely to stumble across some ghostly remnants of World War II.

Thousands of Japanese troops occupied the uninhabited island from June 1942 to July 1943, starting just after the bombing of Dutch Harbor. They dug in through months of heavy American air raids, and left behind everything from shipwrecks and submarine hulls, to dishes and diaries. 

Suzi Golodoff at KUCB's studios in February. (Annie Ropeik/KUCB)

On this episode of "The Exchange," local naturalist Suzi Golodoff discusses the new course she's teaching for aspiring birdwatchers -- and the "megarare" find she recently made in Unalaska. 

City manager Chris Hladick and deputy police chief Mike Holman at KUCB's studios. (Annie Ngo/KUCB)

In just under two weeks, it’ll become legal for Alaskans over age 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. But the certainties pretty much end there.

Unalaska's deputy police chief Mike Holman and city manager Chris Hladick join us to talk more about getting the city ready for the new industry. 

Superintendent John Conwell and school business manager Holly Holman at KUCB's studios. (Lauren Rosenthal/KUCB)

The past few years have seen shrinking student population in Unalaska's schools. And with a projected enrollment of 387 next year, the Unalaska City School District is facing a budget deficit of almost $300,000.

With a bare minimum of state funding on offer, local officials are looking for ways to cut. In these segments, superintendent John Conwell and business manager Holly Holman talk about how they hope to make up the gap.

Bryce Edgmon in the capital in 2014. (Courtesy: Alaska Legislature)

Falling oil prices and slowing production are taking their toll on Alaska’s budget. As newly minted Gov. Bill Walker and the legislature look for ways to cut back, rural residents are worried they could lose out on vital state support.

State Rep. Bryce Edgmon, newly returned to District 37 in the Aleutians and Alaska Peninsula region, says he's not sure Alaskans -- from the rural residents he represents, to people on the road system -- realize just how severe the state's budget woes are.