Hope McKenney

A U.S. Coast Guardsman charged with murdering his shipmate in Unalaska has put off entering a plea. 

Seaman Ethan Tucker is facing court-martial for killing 19-year-old Seaman Ethan Kelch while their vessel, the Kodiak-based Cutter Douglas Munro was stopped in port for repairs last January. 

He is charged with six violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice — including murder, aggravated assault, and involuntary manslaughter.

While its 21-year-old building is under renovation, the Unalaska Public Library will move temporarily into the Burma Road Chapel.

Roger Blakeley, the city's Parks, Culture, & Recreation director said the timeline for the move is unclear. The city is still working to finalize its contract with F&W Construction – the Anchorage-based contractor that won the bid.

This year, the Unalaska City School District has offered teacher and principal contracts weeks earlier than usual.

Superintendent John Conwell made the announcement at last week's school board meeting.

He said the district moved its offer date from Feb. 1 to Jan. 15, because Alaska's teacher job fair is scheduled earlier this year. He also cited a shortage of candidates around the state.

A magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck Wednesday night about 50 miles from Adak.

"To give you an idea of how large that is, you get only about 100 magnitude-6 earthquakes on the globe annually," said seismologist Ken MacPherson of the Alaska Earthquake Center. "So that's a fairly significant earthquake."

Adak residents felt the shallow earthquake, which followed a series of smaller quakes in the same area.

MacPherson also said there have been dozens of aftershocks.