Regional

A local petty officer with the U.S. Coast Guard received an award earlier this month for exceptional service, "modeling a superior example and distinction" amongst his shipmates.

Marine Science Technician (MST) Jake Hill – who has been with the 7-person Marine Safety Detachment Dutch Harbor since last summer – was awarded the Sector Anchorage Enlisted Person of the 4th Quarter of 2019 honor.

GCI says it won't move forward with bringing broadband communications to Unalaska at this time unless they receive a large grant from the USDA.

The company has put in an application for a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to bring fiber optic broadband connection to communities along the Aleutian Island chain, where connectivity and bandwidth can often be unreliable or difficult to come by.

A Juneau-based flight service says that continuing air service to Southwest Alaska communities like the bustling fishing port of Dutch Harbor could be jeopardized unless its bid to buy regional airline PenAir is accepted by its bankrupt parent company, RavnAir Group.

Alaska Seaplanes says that PenAir's operating certificate is set to expire next month, and if that happens, resurrecting the company could be an expensive and time-consuming process that might not happen before the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and PenAir's destinations need more flights than are available now.

Alaska Airlines and Grant Aviation will begin regular flights between Unalaska and Anchorage on May 16.

Grant Aviation announced on Tuesday that it will be offering passenger service between Unalaska and Cold Bay. From there, Alaska Airlines will connect to Anchorage.

Flights from Unalaska will be scheduled twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

May 5 is National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The missing and murdered Native women epidemic is an issue currently affecting Indigenous people in the United States, Canada, and around the world.