PUBLIC SAFETY

After nearly two years without a stable police force, the remote Pribilof Island community of St. Paul is welcoming new Village Public Safety Officers. City Manager Philip Zavadil said he thinks the transition from a police force to public safety officers will be a good change for the remote community. “Not only is it a good fit for St. Paul, I think for most of rural Alaska, it's a better fit because we're not big [cities],” Zavadil said. “We have different problems, different ways of resolving those problems, different challenges.”

The National Weather Service has issued a tsunami advisory for Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula areas following an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 that struck 55 miles SW of Sand Point at 10:48 p.m. Unalaska is NOT currently under a watch or warning. We will keep you posted with updates.

Ben Knowles, who served as a firefighter in Minnesota before joining the Unalaska Fire Department in 2018, was promoted to the head role on June 1. Knowles has held several leadership positions with the department, and has been recognized with statewide awards for both service and leadership.

Unalaska police say Francisco “Frankie” Garcia Santos, 40, provided pills containing fentanyl to Kieran Sean McCulley. McCulley, 32, was a crew member on the F/V Bulldog and died of an overdose when the boat was docked in Unalaska in January. Santos was arrested May 3, following an investigation by local police, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, and other federal agencies that Simms declined to name.

Unalaska Deputy Police Chief Bill Simms said police do not suspect foul play in any of the deaths. He said the State Medical Examiner's Office ruled the first person died of natural causes, and he said police are waiting on final autopsy reports for the other four deaths, which remain under investigation.

Searchers found and recovered the body of Charlene Malepeai Mamea, 34, Tuesday at 4:48 p.m. in the lake on the north side of Broadway Avenue, at the intersection with Dutton Road.

A search is underway for Charlene Malepeai Mamea, 34, who was last seen Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on Dutton Road.

A taxi driver involved in a head-on collision in Unalaska last week is in “fair” condition, according to representatives from Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. Ron Knop was medevaced to Anchorage after his taxi-cab collided with a commercial tractor-trailer truck at the “S” curves on Airport Beach Road last Monday.

A St. Paul toddler who authorities say was killed by his foster parents will be buried beside his mother on the remote Pribilof island. That’s following a ruling by a tribal court last week over a dispute between families about where the 2-year-old boy’s final resting place should be.

Family of a St. Paul Island toddler who authorities say died at the hands of his foster parents last month are at odds over where the boy should be buried. The 2-year-old boy’s parents are not directly involved in the decision; his father is currently facing charges of murdering his mother. The back-to-back murder charges are the first in the remote Pribilof Island community in 15 years.