News

It’s been a bang-up winter for cod boats.

The latest sector to wrap up their season is the 60-foot-and-under pot boats. They closed on Friday, a full three weeks earlier than last year. Twenty-one vessels participated this year, and they brought in over 14 million pounds of cod at a much faster rate than usual, despite having a larger quota.

Krista Mulani is a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, and she says that a lot of boats were able to shorten their trips from three days to just two.

“People were definitely pulling up a lot of fish per pot, more than they have in previous years. So the fishing overall was pretty good,” says Milani. “Another thing that happened is that the vessels that came out to participate this year were more efficient.”

Continuing their winning streak, the Unalaska boys basketball team took the number one spot at the Kotzebue Klassic this weekend.

The Raiders had a strong start, vanquishing the Noorvik Bears 70-50 on Thursday. On Friday, they had another decisive win against Point Hope, with the final score being 63-42. They wrapped up their performance at the Anchorage tournament by defeating Kotzebue, the host team, in a 64-38 game.

Meanwhile, the Lady Raiders took home the tournament’s sportsmanship award. They faced off against Point Hope, the top-ranked 2A team on Thursday. While the girls ultimately lost the game 63-21, Coach Kevin Ley says that the Lady Raiders gave a strong performance in the first half.

On this episode of The Exchange, Judi Ruder talks about the link between quilting and memory.

On this episode of The Exchange, USAFV respresentative Karen Pilande answers questions about domestic violence and abuse. 

Climate change and a lack of genetic diversity could threaten the survival of some Alaska red king crab populations, according to a new study. Researchers say populations in Southeast Alaska are particularly susceptible while Bering Sea crab may be more resilient.

KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce has more.

For months, scientists have been on watch for a possible eruption at Mount Cleveland. Now, another Aleutian volcano is acting up, too.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory issued an advisory for Kanaga Volcano after it experienced tremors and released a small ash cloud on Saturday. Kanaga lies just 16 miles west of Adak, but so far there are no reports that this weekend's explosive activity has affected residents. The community suffered disruptions to air travel when the volcano last erupted in 1995.

The aviation warning for Kanaga is at code-yellow, while Cleveland remains at orange. Both volcanos are located along major international flight paths.

Unalaska’s basketball teams are competing in the Kotzebue Klassic this weekend, and the boys came away from their first match with a win.

The Raiders faced off against Noorvik, beating the Bears 70-50 at the Anchorage tournament. That puts them on a winning streak after last week’s victory against Nikolaevsk.

The Lady Raiders did not fair so well. Point Hope beat them in a 63-21 game.

Both the boys and girls teams will play Kotzebue this evening.

Unalaska’s non-profits may see bigger grants this year.

According to the city’s finance department, over a million dollars will be dedicated to community support program, a boost of about 35 percent over last year. That program provides grants to nine of the city’s non-profit groups. Organizations like Unalaskans Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence, the Museum of the Aleutians, Illiuliuk Family and Health Services, and Unalaska Community Broadcasting have all been top beneficiaries traditionally.

Last year, the city only had $790,000 budgeted for the program, a drop that resulted in passionate discussion over which non-profits most deserved aid.

Part of the Cold Bay airport could be left in the dark.

The Federal Aviation Administration is considering decommissioning the approach lights on one of the runways, which could impact air travel to the Aleutian region.

Cold Bay has one of the state’s longest runways, and the airport often serves as a halfway point for PenAir flights traveling to Unalaska. The airline stops at least a couple of flights there daily to refuel or to wait out bad weather. And during busy times of year, they’ll land as many as 15 passenger planes in Cold Bay.

Last night, City Council discussed the ways that Unalaska can attract conferences and the degree of support the city can give to these events.

Council started the meeting with lively discussion of a request for financial support for the Regional Tribal Wellness & Governance Conference. The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association asked the city to contribute $75,000 toward their conference, but council needed more information before it could consider committing any funds to the event.

The council was split on whether it was even the city’s place to dedicate money to a conference. Council did not contribute any money to the event when it was last held in 2003, and Councilor Dick Peck said that he could not recall any precedent for giving money to an event like this.

Cold Bay is an ordinary refueling point for PenAir flights. Their planes leave from Anchorage, touch down on the Alaska Peninsula, and then usually continue on to the Aleutian Islands. But this weekend, one of those planes took a big turn south. Instead of traveling to Unalaska, PenAir Flight 364 went all the way down to Hawaii.

It’s pretty exciting. You don’t see a Saab turboprob going all the way from Anchorage, Alaska to Honolulu very often,” says Melissa Anderson, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing.

Tonight, the Unalaska City Council will convene for a brief meeting to adopt an updated travel policy and confirm their objectives for next year’s budget.

The meeting will open with discussion of a donation request from the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association. APIA is in the process of raising money for their upcoming Regional Tribal Wellness & Governance Conference, and they have asked the City of Unalaska to contribute $75,000 in order to help them meet their $225,000 goal. The conference is scheduled to take place in Unalaska this September. The last time it was held was 2003. Council will determine if it would like to make a donation to the conference, and in what amount, at the end of the meeting.

The Alaska Shield drill meant a busy weekend for Unalaska's emergency responders. They faced simulations involving power outages, extreme cold, and -- yes -- even a potential axe murderer at sea.

KUCB's Alexandra Gutierrez has this story.

Local fans packed the Unalaska City School gymnasium this weekend for a rare set of Raider home games.

On Friday night, the boys basketball team destroyed the Nikolaevsk Warriors. The Raiders started strong and then maintained a wide lead through the game, beating the Warriors 82 to 25. Andrew Seman was the game’s high scorer, with 24 points. On Saturday, the Warriors had to forfeit to the Raiders due to two injuries on their team. The two schools then scrimmaged, with some Raider players joining the Warriors to boost their numbers. The Unalaska team beat the combined team 69 to 38. Andrew Seman was again the top scorer, with 27 points.

Numerous studies have shown that getting kids interested in science early on helps achievement later.  Last week, students in Unalaska’s schools got some extra science instruction with the help of the Kenai-based Challenger Learning Center. 

KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce reports.