COLD BAY

Monte LaVelle Chitty, age 62, was arrested on April 5 in a small town in Texas by state police and U.S. Marshals, after attempting to flee child-abuse related charges in the Florida Keys. He was arrested in March and charged with two felonies involving a 15-year-old girl from the Baptist church he was leading in Marathon, Florida. Those include sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation, and a misdemeanor of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.Chitty was also a former Alaska Village Public Safety Officer in the Aleutian region for several years and a pastor in Cold Bay for a short period. He moved to Alaska and began leading the Cold Bay Chapel in 2010.

The military team used explosives to dispose of the munition where it was found — in the middle of the 315,000 acre refuge, which contains one of the world’s largest eelgrass beds.

The U.S. government is sending $72 million to Alaska communities for maritime infrastructure projects — and more than half of that money is going to Cold Bay in the Eastern Aleutians.

A volcano on Unimak Island in the Eastern Aleutians is on watch for an eruption — Shishaldin is spewing lava at its summit, but the real threat is if it starts to emit ash.

About a year ago, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation tested Cold Bay’s water wells for PFAS, and the results came back well above the levels recommended for human consumption. Cold Bay closed the wells for drinking when the test results came back, and the Eastern Aleutian community has relied on state-provided bottled water ever since.

The new regional airline, which is operated by Sterling Airways, announced Wednesday that they’re starting a route between Anchorage and two Alaska Peninsula communities: Sand Point and Cold Bay. According to company spokesperson Ashley Hammers, starting in May, flights will be offered on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with some increased availability.

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a man from a factory trawler near Unalaska Tuesday.A Kodiak helicopter aircrew hoisted the mariner from the 310-foot fishing vessel Northern Eagle early in the morning on Jan. 24, according to a statement from the Coast Guard. He was then transported to the care of LifeMed personnel in Cold Bay.

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a crew member from a large container ship Friday, at a rendezvous point near Dutch Harbor. The 48-year-old man was on board the YM Uniformity, a 1,093-foot container ship from Taiwan. The ship was more than a thousand nautical miles southwest of Dutch Harbor when the crew called the Coast Guard to report the crewmember was experiencing chest pain.

Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, made no commitments to building a road long sought by residents that would cut through a national wildlife refuge on the Alaska Peninsula. But she listened intently on a whirlwind day of flights, tours and meetings.

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.