News

If you live in Unalaska, you surely know Hope. How could you miss all that sheep skin and linen flowing across the tundra? Well, here we are — nearly three years after arriving in Unalaska, News Director Hope McKenney has said goodbye. Or, as she’ll tell you, “It’s just a ‘see ya later.’”

In a recently released report, the FAA recommended safety measures to address Alaska’s high share of aircraft accidents. The report, which contains few new initiatives or calls for funding, falls short of what’s needed, according to experts.

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.

In a somewhat contentious City Council meeting Tuesday, councilors voted to keep Unalaska’s current mask mandate in place for the next two weeks.The island currently has 40 positive COVID-19 cases — 15 of them community members, according to city officials.While the local coronavirus risk level remains in the “moderate” category, council members also took other things into account, like the shortage of hospital beds in Anchorage, and the increased number of people being medevaced off the island.“For the first year of the pandemic, I think we had two medevacs for the entire year. What we’ve seen with [the Delta variant] — we’ve had three medevacs in the last six weeks,” said Melanee Tiura, the clinic director at Iliuliuk Family and Health Services.

COVID-19 cases spike in Adak for the first time this year; Unalaska firefighters climb Bunker Hill to honor the victims of 9/11; and after a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alaska Symphony of Seafood returns.

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.

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…