Unalaska, AK – Two write-in candidates are now officially running for city council seat CC-G. Sean Makarin and Jessica Culp filled out the necessary paperwork with the city clerk this week, including financial disclosure forms and an official candidacy declaration. Their names will not appear on the ballot nor will election works be able to tell you that they are running, but their votes could be counted.

Unalaska, AK – Crab TACs for 09/10 09.30 ah/kucb

The Alaska Department of Fish & Game released the crab TACs for the winter fisheries today and most of them will go down.

The Bering Sea snow crab fishery total allowable catch is set at 48 million pounds, 10.5 million pounds less than last year. The snow crab fishery was considered overfished in 1999 and was not rebuilt according to regulation in the required 10-year time period. A new 5-year rebuilding plan will be put in place to rebuild the stock by 2013. The National Marine Fisheries Service suggested that a TAC of 50.5 million pounds would be low enough to keep the total catch - including incidental bycatch in other fisheries - at a healthy level for the stock. However, ADF&G feels a more precautionary approach is necessary and set the level at 48 million pounds.

Washington, DC – The loss of a rudder appears to have caused the F/V Alaska Ranger to take on water, and then sink in the Bering Sea on Easter Sunday 2008. The National Transportation Safety Board met in Washington, D.C. Wednesday to go over findings, and issue its conclusions.

Investigators believe flooding on the vessel started in the rudder room, and was likely because a rudder fell out of place. That started a chain of events, said NTSB managing director David Mayer, which caused the ship to go down.

Unalaska, AK – Fewer blueberries on the bushes resulted in fewer entries on the tables in this year's Blueberry Bash. Some categories only had a couple of entries this year and many judges commented that some of the entries, no matter how tasty, just didn't have an overwhelming blueberry feel to them.

In the end, as all of the judges came together to decide on the grand prize winner, it came down to two entries: Jane Bye's blueberry chiffon pie from the pies, tarts, and cobblers section and Debbie Sensky's blueberry nut crumble from the desserts section. Each had a piercing blueberry taste combined with succulent sweetness, but the judges narrowly selected Sensky at the overall winner. Sensky also took first in cakes and cheesecakes and second in miscellaneous non-edibles.

Unalaska, AK – A community member is circulating a petition to repeal the smoking ban in bars. The petition's author, Jessica Culp, says smoking should be allowed in places that only serve adults and not children.

"And it's not like we're saying, 'OK we'll put the whole thing up for a vote' or 'this is ridiculous; we need to revoke the ordinance entirely.' It's just, give us a place, where we don't have to be standing outside smoking a cigarette in 50 knots winds and snow and what have you."

Unalaska, AK – A group is traveling to Unalaska to gather information on local behavioral health and substance abuse treatment services. Representatives from the Alaska Mental Health Board, the Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, and others want to know how people are using local services and how the services can be improved.

"We want to come as an open ear. We come to be able to offer the community an opportunity to be able to talk about their behavioral health services and the system overall," explained Rebecca Busch, a planner for the Advisory Board on Alcohol and Substance Abuse. We want to talk "about what is working and what's not necessarily working for the community. And to get a feel for how things are going for that particular community and the surrounding areas."

Unalaska, AK – Biologists are currently considering the health of different Bering Sea crab stocks and how this will affect the fishing industry. This summer's stock surveys show that St. Matthew's blue crab stocks are now healthy, opilio crab stocks are not rebuilt, and Tanner crabs are almost overfished.

The St. Matthew's blue king crab fishery closed in 1999, but it may re-open this year. The biomass is considered rebuilt by federal standards. Monday the Alaska Board of Fisheries removed a management regulation that clears the way to allow the fishery to re-open. Alaska Department of Fish & Game area management biologist Forrest Bowers said the change would not hurt the health of the fishery.

Unalaska, AK – Preliminary pollock survey data shows that pollock stock numbers are still low.

"You may have been hearing about fishing being not so good in the last couple of years. Well, that's actually very consistent with the analysis that we provided," said Alaska Fisheries Science Center biologist Jim Ianelli, who helps analyze the stock assessment data. "When the stock is at peak level as it was, we were thinking, around 2003, fishing should be relatively easy compared to now when the stock is at levels that we haven't seen since the early 80s. "

Unalaska, AK – Most people come to Unalaska for jobs. Others come to visit historic sites or see wildlife. But two Germans came because they won an on-line contest from a throat lozenge company. KUCB's Anne Hillman got their story.