western aleutians

The Nikolski School on Umnak Island is planning to reopen for students this fall, after being closed for more than a decade. The Aleutian Region School District made the unanimous decision at a special meeting on Jan. 11.

In this “Island Interview,” Superintendent Mike Hanley discusses public schools in the Western Aleutians and how the community in Nikolski is stepping away from statewide trends, reopening its doors to local families.

The ice-filled caldera of Takawangha, which rises 4,753 feet out of the Bering Sea, is in the far western Aleutians, about 55 miles west of Adak. The volcano has been showing signs of unrest since Nov. 18.

Millions of homeowners skipped mortgage payments during the pandemic, as people lost jobs and reevaluated their finances. In response, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued millions of dollars to states, tribes and U.S. territories to help prevent payment defaults and utility shutoffs. Now, the Aleutian Housing Authority is giving more than $2 million to homeowners in the Aleutian and Pribilof region through the Department of Treasury’s Homeowner Assistance Fund.

A Coast Guard crew encountered a Chinese guided missile cruiser in the Bering Sea last week. The Coast Guard Cutter Kimball was on a routine patrol on Sept. 19, when the vessel encountered the Renhai CG 101 about 75 miles north of Kiska Island, in the Western Aleutians, according to a Coast Guard statement Monday morning. The statement said the Coast Guard crew identified two more Chinese naval vessels and four Russian naval vessels, including a Russian Federation Navy destroyer.

The U.S. Air Force has agreed to pay more than $200 thousand in fines for mismanaging hazardous waste on a distant island in the far Western Aleutians. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a June 23 statement that the Air Force stored hazardous waste without a permit at Eareckson Air Station, on Shemya Island.

The three Aleutian volcanoes that have been erupting simultaneously in recent months could be joined by a fourth. Davidof Volcano in the Western Aleutians has remained inactive for thousands of years. But a series of earthquakes measured around the dormant volcano has some researchers wondering if Davidof is waking up.

The community of Adak has electricity again after issues at its power plant shut down local operations for nearly a week, according to City Manager Layton Lockett.Two failures in the system forced the nation’s westernmost city to close city offices, the school and the local clinic for six days, and community members were forced to rely on small generators for power, Lockett said.

Nearly nine months after Adak reported its first case of COVID-19, the nation’s westernmost city is seeing a spike in infections.

The collision of a warm, wet weather front with a mass of cold air from Siberia could set a new record: the lowest barometric pressure recorded in the…