KUCB Newscast

Unalaska’s City Council approved all funding requests from local nonprofits last night; Alaska’s Senate passed a bill Monday to tighten residency requirements on hunting and fishing licenses; Alaska has one of the highest rates of binge-drinking deaths in the United States, but there are more options than ever for treating alcohol use disorder in the state.

A pioneering Alaska aviator has died at the age of 87; and the Alaska Senate has proposed a new aid package for the state’s fish processing companies.

NOAA will not implement new Chinook salmon bycatch limits in Bering Sea fisheries; and the Qawalangin Tribe is bringing fresh produce and meats to Aleutian communities for free.

The Unalaska City School District is asking the city for nearly $6 million to fund their budget this year; a new report says plastics from the ocean are contaminating essential resources to Indigenous communities; and the Museum of the Aleutians has a new Collections Manager, they will be presenting to the community this weekend about smelting iron.

Pressure is mounting for fisheries managers to limit the amount of salmon bycatch in the pollock fishery; the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s commissioner spoke about economic sustainability at ComFish, Kodiak’s annual commercial fisheries trade show; and Alaska public health officials are launching new lead testing programs to learn more about lead poisoning in the state.

The Unalaska Marine Center, also known as the UMC, is one step closer to getting a new crane; Unalaska’s U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan is heading to Europe next month to convince trade officials there to ban Russian seafood; and  the Alaska State Legislature is hoping to spur the federal government to address persistent outages of weather observation stations across Alaska that have caused problems for rural communities, aviators and climatologists for years.

Peter Pan Seafood will cease operations; and a pair of Alaska legislators weigh in on how closing a loophole can bolster seafood sales.

A former Alaska Village Public Safety Officer was arrested after fleeing charges of sexually assaulting a minor in Florida; the Alaska Governor released a new state poll that shows a majority of Alaskans are in favor of education reforms in public schools; and a partisan brawl is about to erupt in Congress over the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Alaska’s U.S. senators are seemingly split over it.

Unalaska held its first Star Trek convention last week; and revenue from marine highway system passengers will be used to fund ferry and marine highway projects in Alaska.

Silver Bay Seafoods is slated to take over Peter Pan Seafoods’ processing operations this year; and an entangled whale in Iliuliuk Bay is free.

Dungie season is reopening soon and the harvest outlook is good; and a tsunami readiness program for Alaskans is slated for elimination.

Akutan is slated to receive a fiber-optic internet connection this summer; Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association will be getting more than half a million dollars to help them deal with the challenges of climate change; and the Qawalangin Tribe’s Wellness Program is holding a couple of boat builds this month in Unalaska with Marc Daniels and Mike Firgeson.

NOAA is responding to an entangled whale in Iliuliuk Bay; and the PCR is asking community members what types of services they’d like to see offered.

The Nikolski School is still set to open this fall; and NOAA is responding to an entangled whale in Unalaska’s Iliuliuk Bay.

An agreement to dredge the entry channel to Dutch Harbor was signed Friday; there’s a new group in Kodiak monitoring beaches for harmful algal blooms; and Democrats in the U.S. House almost always vote in line with party leaders, but Congresswoman Mary Peltola’s voting record suggests she’s one of the chamber’s least loyal Democrats.

A number of capital projects are in the works in Unalaska; and there was a small volcanic eruption on Atka Island last night.

An Alaska historian is proposing Nazi Creek on Little Kiska Island be renamed; the Alaska Legislature is working to provide support for children from birth to adulthood; and if you have an email account with Alaska telecom firm GCI, the company says you can keep it – if you’re willing to pay a fee.

The captain of an Alaska Wildlife Trooper patrol vessel made his last departure from Dutch Harbor this weekend before retirement; Alaska has submitted to the federal government a first-of-its-kind plan to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions that drive global warming: and the Alaska Senate passed a fast-tracked bill Tuesday that aims to boost internet speeds at rural schools.

The City of Unalaska plans to keep pursuing geothermal power without its main partner; and the Coast Guard is slated to receive a new icebreaker.

A brief recap of Unalaska City officials’ lobby trip to Juneau; and an Unalaska education official weighs in on Gov. Dunleavy’s veto of SB 140.

A special interview with the author of Death in Dutch Harbor, a new whodunnit mystery set right here in Unalaska.

A major dredging project in Iliuliuk Bay is expected to kick off this summer; and Silver Bay Seafoods is acquiring Trident’s Ketchikan processing plant

A creek on Little Kiska Island may be getting a new name; Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bipartisan bill last week that would have significantly boosted state funding for public schools; and Friday was the final day of the Arctic Winter Games, which were held across a wide swath of Southcentral Alaska. 

The Unalaska City Council approved last night to update certain city wages; The nation’s first Arctic ambassador was nominated by President Biden a year ago but the nominee still remains unconfirmed; and the Unalaska Raider boys basketball team will play their first game in the state tournament Thursday.

Trident Seafoods, one of the largest seafood processing companies in the country, will finalize sales for three of the four plants it listed for sale late last year; meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded nearly $150 million in contracts to purchase Alaska salmon and pollock products from a handful of major seafood processors; and Unalaska author Randy Batten discusses his new book “Knight on Time.”

A case involving a fatal car crash in Unalaska is set to go to trial this summer; and with the arrival of spring break, what can vacationers do to avoid measles?

Commercial fishermen off the coast of Alaska found what the U.S. Department of Defense is calling a “large balloon with payload.” A fishing vessel delivered the balloon to the U.S. Coast Guard in Dutch Harbor;  leading Alaska legislators said on Tuesday that there’s little appetite for spending from savings to pay a super-sized Permanent Fund dividend this year, likely killing a proposal from Gov. Mike Dunleavy; and while the frontrunning sled dog teams in this year’s Iditarod raced ahead yesterday, a contingent of mushers brought up the rear.

Two Alaska seafood shipping companies will pay the U.S. government nearly $10 million for federal violations; Alaska Republicans chose Donald Trump over Nikki Haley by a huge margin in Tuesday’s party-run election; and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is threatening to veto an education bill that would boost state education funding.

The Unalaska school district will put the fifth grade class in the elementary building next school year; Alaska Republicans can vote today for a presidential nominee in the party-run poll; and the U.S Department of Energy announced over $100 million dollars to be distributed to five rural Alaska energy projects, largest chunk  is headed to the Northwest Arctic.

Unalaska’s main health clinic, Iliuliuk [ill-OO-luck] Family and Health Services requested just over a million dollars from the city to supplement emergency care expenses; Gov. Mike Dunleavy is demanding additional concessions from lawmakers before he’ll sign a bipartisan education bill; and Unalaska school officials are hopeful that this education bill sticks.

A discussion about the end of the Makushin Geothermal Project; and fiber optic internet cables are expected to be laid this summer in the Y-K Delta.

The Unalaska City Council pulled the plug on the Makushin Geothermal Project last night; and Muslims new to Unalaska have a place to pray and reflect.

The Great Sitkin volcano, located near Adak in the Aleutian Islands, has been erupting for almost three years, and scientists have now discovered why; Alaska's seafood industry faces historically poor conditions; and a new study is using kelp to understand what oceans could look like far into the future.

King Cove is the newest Aleutian community to be hooked up to GCI’s fiber-optic internet; the Alaska House passed a wide-ranging, bipartisan education bill late Thursday; and in the midst of marine heat waves, surveys of pollock abundance in the Gulf of Alaska made wildly different estimates.

Unalaska schools superintendent Kim Hanisch discusses a pending state education bill; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is interested in buying millions of pounds of Alaska seafood.

The company behind the Makushin geothermal project is facing investment challenges that put the entire endeavor in jeopardy and an update on Unalaska’s basketball teams’ seasons before their next trip out to the regional tournament.

Rep. Bryce Edgmon talks education, Trident and a new slate of executive orders from Gov. Mike Dunleavy; and have you ever wondered what old fishing line could be used for? One Alaska company has an answer.

The Bristol Bay red king crab savings area will not be closed to commercial fishermen; and a bill that would allow electronic monitoring in Alaska fisheries has proven unpopular in the state legislature.

The Unalaska Public Library hosted its first-ever Filipino Story Time last week; members of the state House and Senate are working out the details of a wide-ranging education bill; Members of the state House and Senate are working out the details of a wide-ranging education bill.

The cargo ship Genius Star XI has left Dutch Harbor; and a lawsuit is in the works to block a fishing experiment in the northern Bering Sea.

There’s still no trial date for a criminal case involving a fatal 2019 car crash in Unalaska; two longtime King Cove residents died from injuries sustained in a suspicious fire in Anchorage at the start of the month. The fire is being investigated as arson and the deaths are being investigated as homicides; and a Kenai Peninsula man who was immunocompromised died late last month from the Alaskapox virus.

Last summer’s commercial salmon fishery along the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands was slightly below average compared to recent years; the North American Aerospace Defense Command reportedly detected four Russian aircraft Tuesday that were flying in international airspace near Alaska; and a viral TikTok video recently brought Unalaska eagles to screens across the world.

A fire broke out at Sand Point’s Peter Pan Seafood facility this morning; and a former St. Paul police chief was sentenced last week for sexual abuse of a minor.

Unalaska’s Head Start opened its second class for three-to-five-year-old kids last month; Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced a pair of bills last month that would allow electronic monitoring aboard commercial fishing vessels in state fisheries; and more women in Alaska are now eligible for Medicaid coverage during pregnancy and after giving birth, and those eligible mothers will be covered for much longer after childbirth as well.

The Unalaska City School District will have two new principals going into the new school year; and Unalaska leaders are pushing back against a proposed petition to eliminate Chinook bycatch in the Bering Sea Alaska pollock fishery.

Proposed legislation could bring gambling aboard state-run ferries, including those making stops in Unalaska; and the Alaska Senate passed a bill this week to create a new pension plan for state and local government employees.

The M/V Genius Star XI moves to port in Dutch Harbor; officials in Nome are wondering how they can diversify the community's economy; and Governor Mike Dunleavy delivered the annual “State of the State” last night to the Alaska Legislature.

It’s been about a month since a cargo ship carrying lithium ion batteries caught fire in the Pacific Ocean and rerouted to Unalaska. The M/V Genius Star XI has been moored outside of Broad Bay since about Christmas Day. Since then, the fire has been put out, and the situation is stable. Now, the ship is being moved to Unalaska’s City Dock. 

The trial of a 54-year-old St. Paul Island man, accused of strangling his wife, is over; construction on high speed internet infrastructure is expected to begin in the Kodiak Island communities of Larsen Bay and Port Lions this year; and tiny organisms are making big moves in Alaska’s boreal and Arctic ecosystems, encouraged by climate change.

Alaska’s largest state managed Pacific cod fishery opens next week; the Aleutian Region School District selected two new school board members; and there's a new Alutiiq language textbook to help revitalize the Alaska Native language.