industry

A geothermal energy project in Unalaska is taking another step forward in development. Ounalashka Corporation/Chena Power, LLC, the company responsible for the Makushin Geothermal Project, says it’s finalizing negotiations with a renewable energy firm to develop the Makushin Geothermal Project. That could be a major milestone for the project, which aims to develop geothermal energy from Makushin Volcano, about 13 miles from Unalaska’s city center.

If you take a close look, kelp can be found all over the place, from your pantry to your shower shelves: It’s in beer, vitamins, salad dressings, toothpaste, even shampoos. Seaweed is gaining popularity across the globe, and with it, so is kelp farming. Alaska’s nascent kelp industry is following suit. The first commercial farm in the state was established in 2016, and more are popping up every year. But industry experts say Alaska farmers are currently facing a challenging growth spurt.

Alaska businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic have until April 30 to apply for tens of millions of dollars from a second round of federal pandemic relief funding. But that’s only if they didn’t get money during the first series of grants issued through the state’s American Rescue Plan Act. Even if business owners applied and were turned down during that first round of the Alaska ARPA Business Relief Program, they can still give this second round a shot, said Shirley Marquardt, executive director for the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference. “If you applied, but you did not get any funding, for whatever reason … you can go back and you can apply again here on round two,” Marquardt said. “And I would really strongly urge people to do that.”

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.

Lila Roll has been with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union since 2001. It’s taken her years to climb the ladder to become a road driver, the highest qualification for drivers. She says that qualification is the prerequisite to train to operate a top pick, a large piece of machinery designed to pick up and move large shipping containers. Roll has spent the last two weeks learning how to operate the machine. And even though it’s taken her years to qualify for this training, it will still take a number of years to truly become proficient. The union is racing to train people for all sorts of equipment, because many of the top-skilled workers are retiring.

A man who died over the weekend in a South Anchorage motorcycle crash was one of two survivors of the fatal sinking of the F/V Scandies Rose.

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued four stranded crew members Thursday, near the entrance to Beaver Inlet, according to a USCG statement. The MH-65 Dolphin…

Representatives from the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation visited Unalaska last week as part of its push to expand the state's mariculture…

The Unalaska City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to extend the city's local emergency declaration through the end of the year, continuing the city's…

Dutch Harbor has been named the nation's top fishing port in terms of volume of seafood landed for the 23rd consecutive year. And the Aleutians East…