Regional

Fur seals are an essential subsistence food for the Unangax̂ communities in the Bering Sea’s Pribilof Islands. But for years, scientists have been unable to explain why the seals’ populations have been falling. Now, a new peer-reviewed study points its finger at an industry that’s long been suspected, but never definitively linked with the population declines: Alaska’s huge commercial pollock fishery, which harvests the same species that nursing female seals rely on to feed their pups.

Our investigation revealed that Alaska has a growing share of the country’s deadly crashes from small commercial flights. Here’s what experts say could be done to improve aviation safety in the state.

A Japanese Navy training ship stopped over in Dutch Harbor on Sunday as part of its overseas training cruise.Mayor Vince Tutiakoff Sr. welcomed the crew at the city dock, and greeted the ship’s commanding officer, Rear Admiral Ishimaki Yoshiyasu.The JS Kashima is 143 meters long, with a mounted 76mm rapid-fire gun and two 324mm triple torpedo launchers.

Ravn Alaska’s new nonstop aircraft touched down for the first time in Unalaska Monday.The Dash 8-300 left Anchorage just before 7 a.m. and landed in Unalaska around 10 a.m. with about 35 passengers on board.

The Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska has applied for funding that could boost the island’s broadband capabilities. If approved, the tribe would use the money towards building a fiber optic cable from Washington state to Unalaska.

This summer about 50 Unalaska youth returned to Humpy Cove for the island’s annual Qawalangin Tribe culture camp.The coronavirus pandemic canceled last year’s event and jeopardized camp this summer. But camp mentors and coordinators, from Nikolski to Soldotna, arrived just in time to teach local kids about making bentwood hats, harvesting fish and sea mammals and preserving Unangax̂ values.

After weeks of uncertainty, St. Paul city officials announced Thursday that island residents will once again receive the Power Cost Equalization credit on their utility bills.That news comes in light of a Superior Court ruling that favored plaintiffs like the City of St. Paul, the Alaska Federation of Natives and several others who sued Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Administration in July for allowing the $1 billion endowment to be “swept” into the Constitutional Budget Reserve.

The window for Alaska Native tribes to apply for grants to build broadband infrastructure closes Wednesday night.Approximately 60,000 people in Alaska live without broadband, impeding access to services like telemedicine and remote education. In an effort to help communities close that “digital gap,” the federal government has offered $980 million to help deliver broadband to Indigenous tribes throughout the nation.

Customers will likely have to wait until next year to use their Alaska Airlines miles to purchase tickets on Ravn Alaska flights, according to airline…

Enveloped in a thin layer of clouds, a few dozen Unalaskans stood on a bank around Margaret's Bay on the evening of August 12 and watched as Unalaska…