Last Update: December 31, 2008 at 2:58PM
December 31, 2008 at 2:30PM AKST
The past year has been marked by stories as dramatic as the Aleutian landscape. Scientists plumbed the vast depths of the Bering Sea to reveal new species that expand our understanding of the ocean, volcanoes rumbled and erupted — reminding us of this community’s fragile perch on the Ring of Fire.
full story »December 31, 2008 at 2:37PM AKST
In David Vann’s office in Tallahassee, Fla., sits a relic of his childhood — a story he wrote as an 11-year-old boy about his adventures in Alaska. Laminated and bound are tales of a trip in a motor home and of catching a big salmon, all with the young boy’s illustrations.
full story »December 31, 2008 at 2:35PM AKST
For a town of roughly 4,000, Unalaska/Dutch Harbor gets its share of media exposure. But in addition to crab fishermen celebrities and other high seas drama, one element of Unalaska life has steadily gained widespread attention and acclaim — the Unalaska police report.
full story »December 24, 2008 at 11:32AM AKST
Greg Siekaniec, refuge manager of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge for the past eight years, has been named the top refuges job in the nation, chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
full story »December 24, 2008 at 11:31AM AKST
Rural Alaska, once isolated from the rest of the world, wasn’t immune to big national events in 2008.
full story »December 24, 2008 at 11:29AM AKST
Rep. Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham Democrat from Alaska House District 37, talked regularly with both Democrats and Republicans attempting to form an organization for the upcoming legislative session.
full story »December 19, 2008 at 11:17AM AKST
Local composer, performer and teacher Lynda Lybeck Robinson will release “Aleutian Noel” this week, a collection of Christmas songs in Unangan (Aleut), Russian and English. The album is a follow-up to the 2007 album “An Aleut Lullaby” and the second in a planned series of six albums that will feature the Unangan language.
full story »December 19, 2008 at 11:15AM AKST
While an 18.5 percent drop in the pollock quota would likely cut into Unalaska’s largest revenue source, city officials said the community would withstand the year thanks to a diverse fishery and a strong 2006 pollock year class.
full story »December 19, 2008 at 11:13AM AKST
It took $3 million and 10 years just to get the permit, but the City of Unalaska has announced that it will start construction on the Carl E. Moses small boat harbor this June.
full story »December 11, 2008 at 2:03PM AKST
Through lacking resources most band students take for granted — including large community organizations, competitive school programs and professional musicians to teach private lessons — Unalaska High School juniors Patrick Trinidad and Roy Garay excelled at this year’s All-State Band Festival in Anchorage from Nov. 20-22.
full story »December 11, 2008 at 2:02PM AKST
Unalaska resident Maribeth Buechel was presented with the 2008 Governor’s Award for Emergency Medical Service Educator at the 31st annual Alaska EMS awards banquet in Anchorage recently.
full story »December 11, 2008 at 2:01PM AKST
The cellular age has finally reached village Alaska in a big way.
full story »December 04, 2008 at 12:13PM AKST
It never fails: Students look at the calendar this time of year and not only dream of the trappings of Christmas and the holidays, but also of the break from school.
full story »December 04, 2008 at 10:22AM AKST
Starting in spring of 2009, students from Boston to Brazil and Beijing will be able to take courses from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, which has recently joined a worldwide effort to offer academic courses free and online through the OpenCourseWare Consortium.
full story »December 04, 2008 at 10:21AM AKST
As a pair of state-government entities continue to investigate and study why gasoline prices in Alaska aren’t coming down as fast as they are in the Lower 48, Paul Dock thought about Kipnuk’s haves and have-nots.
full story »December 04, 2008 at 10:20AM AKST
The energy crisis in rural Alaska partly explains why people are leaving villages for larger communities, but it’s not among the top three reasons, according to the preliminary results of a new survey conducted by First Alaskans Institute.
full story »December 03, 2008 at 1:44PM AKST
Growing up at our house, my mother would never let us dig into our Thanksgiving dinner until we’d gone around the table and each of us had announced to everyone what we were thankful for that year. At the time this would elicit sighs and eye-rolls — the seemingly inevitable consequence of having more than one teenager at the dinner table at one time. And I’m sorry to say I was one of those eye-rolling post adolescents. But today, giving thanks is what distinguishes Thanksgiving above all other holidays to me. Christmas and New Year’s are splendid, and Halloween is fun, but Thanksgiving may be the only time in frantic rush of the Holiday season marked out to simply pause and recognize one’s good fortune — and say thank you.
full story »December 01, 2008 at 8:11AM AKST
State researchers hoping to determine how many people have left rural Alaska for bigger communities report that rural schools lost 1,802 students in the last five years.
full story »November 26, 2008 at 2:08PM AKST
You recently left rural Alaska and need help in the big city?
full story »November 26, 2008 at 10:23AM AKST
Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has decided that the high volumes of fish that continue to be caught and consumed each year are the result of a marketing problem for the species, and have given fish new name: sea kittens.
full story »November 26, 2008 at 10:21AM AKST
This month, Unalaska math and chemistry teacher Christopher Border will leave Bunson burners, algebraic formulas, and the Bering Sea behind to travel to the sunny Southern Hemisphere from Nov. 22 to Dec. 6.
full story »November 24, 2008 at 11:29AM AKST
The energy crisis in rural Alaska partly explains why people are leaving villages for larger communities, but it's not among the top three reasons, according to the preliminary results of a new survey conducted by First Alaskans Institute.
full story »November 24, 2008 at 9:29AM AKST
Thanks to a big raise awarded by the state Legislature, the Village Public Safety Officer program has added officers for the first time in years.
full story »November 21, 2008 at 4:04PM AKST
The state’s new public safety commissioner said bullets whizzed his way just once during his law enforcement career — when he was an 18-year-old village cop in a Northwest Alaska community.
full story »November 21, 2008 at 3:21PM AKST
Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has decided that the high volumes of fish that continue to be caught and consumed each year are the result of a marketing problem for the species, and have given fish new name: sea kittens.
full story »November 21, 2008 at 3:20PM AKST
This month, Unalaska math and chemistry teacher Christopher Border will leave Bunson burners, algebraic formulas, and the Bering Sea behind to travel to the sunny Southern Hemisphere from Nov. 22 to Dec. 6.
full story »November 21, 2008 at 3:19PM AKST
A Venezuelan oil company has once again said it will provide 100 gallons of free heating fuel for thousands of Alaskans, according to an official with the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council.
full story »November 13, 2008 at 12:25PM AKST
Alaska received its first cancer-research grant in 42 years from the American Cancer Association, which awarded $600,000 to Dr. Melany Cueva of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium for her work in arts-based cancer education in Alaska Native communities.
full story »November 13, 2008 at 12:23PM AKST
State Rep. Bryce Edgmon soundly defeated Republican candidate Ron Bowers for the House District 37 seat, winning about 63 percent of the votes in a region that includes Bristol Bay, the Aleutians and Pribilof Islands.
full story »November 13, 2008 at 12:22PM AKST
Bush Alaska has benefited handsomely from Sen. Ted Stevens’ money-producing magic, but it broke with past trends on Nov. 4. Registered voters in the six districts extending from Kodiak to the North Slope sided with Democrat Mark Begich, some of them quite heavily.
full story »November 06, 2008 at 8:46AM AKST
With pre-election polls showing Alaska’s iconic Sen. Ted Stevens in a dead heat with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, not to mention Gov. Sarah Palin on the national ticket, the Nov. 4 general election could hardly have been more hotly anticipated. But even after the polling booths closed Nov. 4, Alaskans awaiting final results may have to wait a little longer – more than 10 days longer.
full story »October 30, 2008 at 10:01AM AKST
Conservation groups and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge are calling the extermination of Rat Island’s namesake rodent population a success, though it will take several years to determine whether the island is truly rat-free.
full story »October 23, 2008 at 3:11PM AKST
As Alaska takes initial steps to develop a statewide plan for education from preschool to post-secondary, the state wants to know what residents think about education and our expectations for high school graduates.
full story »October 23, 2008 at 2:23PM AKST
Unalaska High School wrestlers are the disciples of discipline.
full story »October 23, 2008 at 2:22PM AKST
On Oct. 15, Unalaska High School’s carpentry class, taught by Alan Haskins, poured the concrete to make a sidewalk that will connect the alternative school building with the main sidewalk.
full story »October 16, 2008 at 3:52PM AKST
The Alaska Railroad Corp. and officials with the Municipality of Anchorage released information Thursday about a special Alaska Federation of Natives Convention rate.
full story »October 16, 2008 at 10:03AM AKST
Crab processing may return to St. George as early as 2010, according to the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association (APICDA).
full story »October 16, 2008 at 10:00AM AKST
Hallidie Wilt of Unalaska didn’t start racing until she was in high school. And that was only because she was following the path of her three older sisters.
full story »October 16, 2008 at 9:54AM AKST
In this month’s municipal election, Unalaska residents voted in three members to the City Council and three for the School Board and overwhelmingly supported a proposition for roof repair and other renovations of the junior high and high school.
full story »October 09, 2008 at 1:57PM AKST
As they scouted the Aleutian Islands for the U.S. Army during World War II, sometimes they feasted on Dall sheep, hauling the choice meat in by backpack to their remote camps.
full story »October 09, 2008 at 1:55PM AKST
The “Deadliest Catch” it’s not, but the results of a research project in Seward might be just as intriguing to skippers of the rugged Bering Sea crab fleet as the next installment of the adrenalin-pumping television show. After all, the goal of the Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology (AKCRRAB) program is to fill king crab pots throughout Alaska.
full story »October 09, 2008 at 1:54PM AKST
Twenty-five students in the Pribilof Island Marine Science Camp have discovered the second-known population of a new species of large brown marine algae, Aureophycus, near St. George Island.
full story »October 02, 2008 at 9:38AM AKST
A remote Alaska town without a bar, clothing store or even a road out just got its first limousine.
full story »October 02, 2008 at 9:36AM AKST
Like a scene from a mystery novel, dense fog rolled over rugged, uninhabited and storm-swept Agattu Island. Whirling wings startled Robb Kaler, a graduate student at Kansas State University, as a small brown bird vanished into the fog, offering only a tantalizing glimpse of the secretive Kittlitz’s murrelet.
full story »October 02, 2008 at 9:33AM AKST
Mayor Shirley Marquardt, city manager Chris Hladick and City Council member Zoya Johnson met with U.S. legislators, government officials and wounded veterans of the Iraq war on a recent trip to Washington, D.C., from Sept. 13 to 18.
full story »
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