Local News

The KUCB Newsroom provides newscasts every weekday at noon and 5 PM on KUCB Radio. The week's news is also compiled for Flash! News on Channel 8 Television. You can find many of our local news stories here.

High Wind In Unalaska Blows Out Windows

By Greta Mart • Nov 11, 2015

A powerful windstorm blew through Unalaska Wednesday, closing schools and causing minor damage.

Meteorologist David Kochevar at the National Weather Service office in Anchorage said his agency clocked wind speeds of 91 miles per hour at the Dutch Harbor Airport around 6:30 a.m. A wind gust clocking in at 93 miles per hour hit the Akutan airport at 6:35 a.m.

Sustained gusts blew over 70 miles per hour on Captains Bay throughout Tuesday night.

100 MPH Wind Gusts Forecasted For Eastern Aleutians

By Greta Mart • Nov 9, 2015

This week, wind gusts in the eastern Aleutians could reach over one hundred miles per hour.

The National Weather Service has issued a high wind watch for Unalaska from Tuesday evening through Wednesday afternoon.

The forecast is for rain and a south wind to blow a sustained 40 to 55 miles per hour, with possible gusts up to 75 miles per hour Tuesday evening. Those gusts could increase to 100 mile per hour on Wednesday morning.

Sting Operation Nets Five Arrests

By Greta Mart • Nov 2, 2015

It was a relatively uneventful Halloween weekend in Unalaska.

But for five locals, buying an 18-pack of beer at the Alaska Ship Supply liquor store for a minor out front led to their arrests.

According to charging documents, five men were arrested separately Saturday night for buying alcohol for a minor under 21. In what the Unalaska Police department calls a “shoulder tap” operation, police enlisted a decoy to stand outside one of the two liquor stores in town and ask shoppers to buy them alcohol.

Bering Sea Snow Crab Catch Limit Down 40 Percent

By Greta Mart • Oct 29, 2015

Last week the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced catch limits for the state’s crab fisheries. On Monday, a Fish and Game biologist explained how the agency determined those catch limits to a group of crabbers in Seattle. Nine local crabbers gathered at Unalaska’s City Hall to tune into the conference call and ask questions.

The biggest drop in total allowable catch – or the TAC – is for Bering Sea snow crab, also known as opilio. The total allowable catch this season for snow crab is just over 40 million pounds. That’s a forty percent drop from last season.

Fishing Boat Leaks Ammonia Cloud at Unalaska Dock

By John Ryan & Greta Mart • Oct 29, 2015

Zac Schasteen / Unalaska Department of Public Safety

Emergency crews were mopping up an ammonia leak from a boat at the OSI dock on Unalaska's Captains Bay Road midday Friday. They blocked off the road at the Crowley dock Friday morning, about a half mile closer to town, as they responded to the leak. At 11 a.m., Unalaska police officers moved the road block closer to OSI, stopping traffic just before the main entrance to the facility.

As of 12:30 p.m., OSI employees were still sheltering in place. Coast Guard and Unalaska Public Safety personnel were on the scene.

Officials said there was no imminent public health threat.