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The Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska has received more than $2 million in federal dollars to go towards the Makushin Geothermal Project to harness a local source to power the island’s community and industry. The power project is being led by Ounalashka Corp./Chena Power, LLC, a joint partnership between Unalaska’s Native village corporation and a Fairbanks-based private energy firm. Although the Qawalangin Tribe is not a partner with OCCP, the tribe’s chief executive says they are helping out and providing funding.

The Unalaska school board is considering switching up the district’s calendar and is looking for input from the community. At their meeting Wednesday, board members discussed three different options for future school year schedules, one of which was drafted by member Kerry Mahoney. It pushes the entire school year back and puts the first day of school on Sept. 5, about two to three weeks later than usual.

Five people were medevaced out of Unalaska Sunday on a Coast Guard C130. “In truth, it wasn't that unique of a situation, except the weather compounded what we deal with on a daily basis,” said Jennifer Heller, interim director of operations and a certified nurse midwife at the island’s Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic.

A city proposal to allow all-purpose vehicles on Unalaska’s streets failed to move forward Tuesday. The Unalaska City Council voted against allowing the ordinance to proceed to its next meeting. Unalaska currently prohibits the use of all-purpose vehicles — like four-wheelers and all-terrain vehicles — on city streets. But a state law that went into effect this year opens the door to allow these modes of transport on public roads in places not prohibited by local law or ordinance.

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a man from a fish processing boat north of Cold Bay Monday. The 62-year-old man was hoisted from the 254-foot vessel, Phoenix, after experiencing stroke-like symptoms, according to a USCG news release. Officials at the command center in Juneau received the initial medevac request shortly before 11 a.m. Monday morning.

A federal appeals court last week reversed a decision that had impeded construction of a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The proposed road would stretch 11 miles through the wildlife refuge on the Alaska Peninsula, connecting the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay. The project has been held up in the courts since 2020, when a judge blocked a land exchange necessary for the road’s construction. But the court decided last Wednesday to reverse that judge’s decision that prevented the swap between King Cove’s Native corporation and the federal government. Supporters of the road say it will save lives. The small airport in King Cove is closed due to weather around 100 days a year, on average. Advocates say connecting King Cove to the much larger airport in Cold Bay would make emergency medical care more accessible for residents of the small community in the Aleutians East Borough.

OptimERA Inc. is currently working with Trident Seafoods to provide subsidized internet connectivity to employees from Ukraine. While the program started in Akutan, OptimERA is looking to expand to employers in Unalaska. KUCB talked with Emmett Fitch, CEO of OptimERA, Inc.

Historians announced Thursday that they’ve uncovered evidence that key details about the teenager who designed Alaska’s state flag have been wrong for more than a century.Benny Benson, a Seward boarding school resident, won the state’s flag design contest in 1927. But he was a year older than previously thought, according to Michael iqyax̂ Livingston, who works for the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association’s community health services.“I've been working for several years with several other family tree researchers focused on Benny Benson's cultural heritage,” Livingston said. “And in the process of that research, we found what we believe were errors in his date of birth and his mother's maiden name.”

For millions of years, birds lived nearly predator free in the Aleutian Islands. The volcanic archipelago stretches westward for 1,200 miles from the Alaska Peninsula, dotting a border between the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Hundreds of bird species thrived here. But then came the rats. When a Japanese boat sank in the Western Aleutians around 1780, stowaway rats jumped ship and made it to one of the islands, wreaking havoc on the ecosystem.

Will Rodgers has stepped down from his position as interim CEO at Unalaska’s main clinic; a group of scientists wants to eradicate all rats from the Aleutians; and the United States and Russia are continuing to work together on at least one issue as tensions continue to simmer between the two countries.