A typical December on the island brings about six inches of rain, but Unalaska has already received more than 10 inches this month; President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law a bill that renames a volcano on a small Aleutian Island after the late Congressman Don Young; and a movement to change place names with derogatory or otherwise offensive histories is gaining momentum across the nation.

Nearly three years after the deadly sinking of the F/V Scandies Rose, pieces of the ship have started washing ashore; Unalaska will receive $28 million from the federal omnibus appropriations package that won final passage Friday; and the Unalaska City Council meets tonight for a regular meeting during which they will go over the city’s Construction Management & Mitigation Plan, among other agenda items.

GCI connected its first Unalaska customers to its fastest 2 gig internet speeds this week, but most island residents will have to wait until the new year before logging on; the late Alaska Rep. Don Young is about to have an Aleutian volcano named after him, after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to rename Mount Cerberus in his honor; and the National Weather Service still has a flood warning in effect, and there is still a potential for standing water and flash flooding in low lying areas.

The National Weather Service says about six inches of rain have fallen in the last 48 hours, leading to flooding and mudslides in Unalaska; although a number of Alaska’s fisheries have collapsed or are under threat, some of the people most deeply involved in fishing advocacy believe that recovery is possible; and a Category 2 Travel Advisory remains in effect in Unalaska until at least 10 p.m.

The Unalaska City School district was in compliance with financial regulations last year but still had a deficit, according to the findings of an audit looking back at fiscal year 2022; researchers find an ancient fish weir in Southeast Alaska; and a category 2 travel advisory is in effect due to areas of flooding on Unalaska's roadways.

The U.S. Secretary of Commerce has approved six fishery disaster designations for the state of Alaska, including the Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries that were closed for the season due to low population numbers; the U.S. Coast Guard is expanding its fleet of icebreakers and could be homeporting one of the vessels in Alaska; and you may want to check the city's website to see if your car is one of the 35 automobiles on Unalaska’s abandoned vehicles list.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council on Sunday recommended a total allowable catch for the 2023 Eastern Bering Sea pollock fishery of 1.3 million metric tons; and Alaska’s new lieutenant governor, Nancy Dahlstrom, has been involved in Alaska politics for the last 20 years, but has lived mostly out of the spotlight — now, as second in command she’ll oversee the state election system, and says she’s ready for the challenge.

GCI’s fiber optic cable, damaged by a ship’s anchor in November, was repaired over the weekend, and the company says they are still on track to deliver broadband internet to Unalaska by the end of the year; a federal appeals court in California hears arguments regarding a land exchange related to the proposed 18-mile road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in the Eastern Aleutians; and human caused climate change is rapidly transforming the Arctic, and Arctic residents are now coping with effects more characteristic of other regions, like typhoons, wildfires and increased rain.

The company responsible for developing the Makushin Geothermal Project says they are finalizing negotiations with an engineering and construction firm, which could be a major breakthrough for the project; and for the third year in a row, a group of Alaska producers have put together a compilation of original holiday music to benefit women’s shelters across the state.

A new study from scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says mussels, clams and sea snails won’t be able to survive in the Bering Sea past this century due to climate change; and OneWeb launched a rocket loaded with a cluster of communications satellites, aimed at bringing internet to some of Alaska’s most isolated communities.