KUCB Newscast

Scientists work with drones to monitor Makushin Volcano; and Narcan became available in pharmacies throughout Alaska last week.

The Unalaska City School District was unaffected by statewide bomb threats, but schools in Atka were.

The U.S. Coast Guard is keeping watch on Russian military exercises in the Bering Sea; Unalaskans Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence is hosting a dinner to raise awareness of suicide prevention education; and a group of sailors from Estonia is sailing through the Northwest passage, en route to the Aleutians.

Highlights from KUCB's 2023 Candidates Forum; Mount Shishaldin in the eastern Aleutians erupted Friday; and a deep dive into the relationship between Bristol Bay's fleet and processors.

Unalaska’s Church of the Holy Ascension has a new resident priest; the knowledge work and art of Indigenous healers and medicine people in Alaska is being featured at the Anchorage Museum; and the Qawalangin Tribe is holding a climate camp for youth in grades 6 through 12, starting this weekend.

Two new species may have been discovered in the Aleutians; and a pair of the largest grocery store chains in Alaska – and in the U.S. – are moving forward with a multi-billion-dollar merger.

Unalaska firefighters joined local students Monday to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks; the federal government is looking for public input on proposed changes to how fisheries are managed in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea; and the Unalaska City Council considers a lease from the City of Unalaska to the Ounalashka Corp. that would make it possible for the corporation to provide storage for the new Trident processing facility on Captains Bay. 

KUCB says farewell to longtime morning host Vic Fisher; and rising hatchery populations may increase the risk of salmon suffocation in Southeast Alaska, according to a new study.

A new ambulance is already making a difference in King Cove’s emergency services; and there will be a suicide awareness and prevention walk in Unalaska this weekend, led by a local behavioral health clinician.

The new Head Start facility in Unalaska opened to children yesterday; and increased Russian oil shipments in the Bering Strait are making Alaska communities wary of potential spills.

The Ounalashka Corporation is set to receive a million dollars from the federal government to clean up polluted sites on Unalaska and Amaknak Islands; the third annual Bunker Hill Endurance Challenge took place Saturday, after a weather-related delay; and the war in Ukraine appears to be driving a sharp increase in shipments of Russian oil to China through the Bering Strait.

Longshore union workers in Alaska have a new contract after almost two years of negotiations; and representatives who recently visited Unalaska say a replacement for the Tustumena is still expected to be afloat by 2027.

Unalaska has a new city clerk; while meth is still the number one drug that’s seized and prosecuted in Alaska, it’s rapidly being overtaken by fentanyl; and if you’re interested in running as a write-in candidate for school board in Unalaska’s upcoming municipal election, there’s still time to launch a campaign.

Regulations around commercial trawling for cod in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands will change in January; and Wildlife Troopers have charged four locals with sport fishing violations after finding several dozen salmon carcasses in an Unalaska river.

The Unalaska City School District debuted its renovated wood shop to students last week; and the Alaska Department of Public Safety and Anchorage Police Department are publishing new quarterly reports about missing Indigenous people.

Wildlife troopers charged a Homer man this week with four counts of illegal fishing in Unalaska waters; and the Qawalangin Tribe is offering free online college programs to all tribal members through a new educational partnership.

An Unalaska man passed away on Tuesday; and a safety training exercise at city dock revealed shortcomings responders are still working to resolve.

A crew member died on a factory trawler due to an ammonia leak; Unalaska students returned to their classrooms Monday after a two-and-a-half month summer break; and there’s a new federal initiative for underserved communities impacted by pollution.

A new round of federal grants will help Alaska tribes — including the Qawalangin Tribe — bring cultural objects home; and the annual Heart of the Aleutians festival brought Unalaskans together over food, culture, and friendly competition.

Unalaskans now have access to 5G cell service; black cod could be a growing problem for salmon hatcheries across the state; and the Unalaska City School District has a new board member.

A NOAA research vessel’s crew is navigating some changing dynamics after the COVID-19 pandemic; hibernation scientists 

at University of Alaska Fairbanks have invited colleagues and students from around the world to a workshop in Fairbanks ;and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is on a three-day tour of Alaska.

Trident Seafoods says they’re delaying their proposed Unalaska processing plant; fisheries technicians have recorded the highest sockeye salmon numbers in nearly a decade at Unalaska’s weir; and Shishaldin Volcano continues to spew ash into local skies.

St. Paul island is getting Village Public Safety Officers; this year’s Tundra Golf Classic was a swing ... and a hit; and a federal organization plans to prioritize and promote the country’s commercial fishing industry.

A traditional Unangax̂ boat makes a comeback after 200 years of obscurity; a Kenai Peninsula festival’s enduring message about Alaska salmon and anti-Pebble Mine activism; and APIA's Alaska Native Cultural Health & Resilience Gathering kicks off this weekend with a focus on using culture as prevention.

Unalaska is no longer using toxic gasses to purify its drinking water; over the weekend, Trident Seafoods dropped the price for Alaska chum salmon; and starting tomorrow, Backhaul Alaska and the Qawalangin Tribe will hold a free electronic recycling event.

Trident’s new plant has the Eastern Aleutians bracing for a revenue hit; the U.S. Secretary of Transportation is visiting Alaska in preparation for record-level investments in the state; and the Bristol Bay Health Corporation is taking steps to address opioid overdose through cultural healing.

Several Navy warships were dispatched to the Aleutians last week; the founder of Aleutian Electrocution considers whether or not the festival will return next year; and salmon are returning to a stream in Hope more than a century after aggressive gold mining affected the path of the river.

Scientists travel to the far Aleutians to try to build a map of past storms; a local provider wants to destigmatize substance misuse in Unalaska; and Bristol Bay crews say they feel frustrated by the lack of transparency between processors and fleets.

The trial for a criminal case involving a fatal 2019 vehicle crash in Unalaska won't happen this summer; the Alaska Department of Public Safety has launched a new system that will let survivors track evidence kits used in their sexual assault cases; and an Unalaska local discusses her new environmental role with the Qawalangin Tribe.

A look at how St. Paul Island is faring nearly a year after the snow crab fishery closed; and Alaska's regional Native Corporations look to expand their political influence in Washington, D.C.  

Unalaska City School District will not be heavily affected by state education cuts; schools and clinics in the Eastern Aleutians are now hooked up to fiber-optic cable internet; Wasilla-based grocery store chain Three Bears is interested in taking over Alaska Ship Supply in Unalaska; and federal transportation dollars are pouring into the Alaska Marine Highway System.

Really low levels of PFAS are detected in one of Unalaska’s three wells; the federal government is funding millions of dollars for tribal communities across the nation to adapt to climate change, but it won’t go far in Alaska; and almost half of Alaska's Head Start early learning programs are in danger of losing millions of dollars in federal funding due to under enrollment.   

Trident Seafoods is making steady progress at its new processing plant on Captains Bay; five days after fishermen in Bristol Bay protested the record low price for sockeye salmon, processors still haven’t budged; and Unalaskans have just over a month to register to vote in the upcoming local general election, taking place on October 3. 

The Unalaska City Council will weigh the city’s internet service provider options at its meeting tonight; repairs to the damaged fiber optic cable affecting internet and cellular services to much of Western Alaska will now take longer than initially anticipated; and KUCB welcomes its newest reporter, Andy Lusk, to the airwaves.

Shishaldin volcano erupted again over the weekend; a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit over contamination on Alaska Native corporation lands; and KUCB's new reporter Andy Lusk participates in Unalaska's annual Ballyhoo Mountain Run.

Unalaska has a new head start facility; the state Department of Environmental Conservation will test the drinking water in nearly 200 Alaska Native villages, to identify levels of PFAS contamination; and the last two years have been big for Kodiak Tanner crab fishermen.

UCSD’s school board has an open seat; last fall, there was a vigil bringing awareness to missing and murdered Unangax̂  people; and staffing remains a huge problem for the Alaska Marine Highway System.

Shishaldin volcano on Unimak Island erupted a large plume of ash this morning; one Kodiak resident died in a hit-and-run during this weekend’s tsunami warning and evacuation; cell phones across a huge swath of Alaska beeped awake Saturday night with an urgent tsunami warning -- some people were supposed to get the message, others were not; and Unalaska’s Aleutian Electrocution is next weekend.

The Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island had a Tsunami warning Saturday night from an earthquake; KUCB has an update on recent Shishaldin Volcano activity, erupting in Unimak Island in the Eastern Aleutians over the weekend; and a wilderness expert says in order to help avoid outdoor mistakes, preparation long before venturing into the wilderness is crucial.

Unalaska’s new Assistant City Manager is Marjie Veeder; scientists say this summer has been cloudier than usual in Alaska coastal communities; and last year Alaskans lost millions of dollars due to cybercrime.

The Museum of the Aleutians is holding a statewide competition for middle and high schoolers; an exploratory vessel that’s mapping the seafloor along Alaska’s coast docked in Kodiak last month; and backers of ranked choice voting have filed a complaint with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

Munitions experts responded to a potential unexploded device near Unalaska’s S-Curves; NOAA is testing out a new, marine drone to help survey fish populations in Alaska; and in Northwest Alaska, there's an increase risk of introduced invasive species permanently changing landscapes and harming to native species.

KUCB's Theo Greenly gives an update on the Army Corps of Engineers cleaning up contamination in Unalaska; the Qawalangin Tribe awarded $5,000 scholarships to 10 tribal members; a gray Fourth of July didn’t deter folks in Dillingham from finding a pop of color; and there's a white raven in Kenai turning heads.

The City of Unalaska held their Fourth of July parade yesterday and on Kodiak Island, there was a small plane crash last weekend.

The Ounalashka Corporation turns 50, and we take a look back at OC's formation and the early days of the corporation; OC's first shareholder banquet since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; and McLees Lake has reached its salmon escapement goal, which means subsistence fishing regulations in Reese Bay will be lifted.

Unalaska is preparing to start monitoring for invasive European Green Crab; the U.S. Department of Treasury will give Unalaska's clinic $20 million to expand and renovate its facility; and a major study of one of the state’s largest marine environments is underway.

Military weapons experts will visit Unalaska on Friday to respond to what might be an unexploded device that was found on Unalaska’s shore; the commissioner of Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game has urged the organization that certifies seafood harvests as sustainable to revoke its endorsements for Russian-caught fish; and the Yukon River summer chum salmon run is coming in below average, but strong enough to allow limited subsistence harvest.

Aleutians internet service provider OptimERA significantly lowered its prices for internet in Unalaska earlier this month; in the summer, tens of thousands of Pacific walruses gather along Alaska’s beaches, and one of the biggest haul-outs is on an island in Bristol Bay; and it’s the last week to apply for the Emil Berikoff, Sr. Memorial Scholarship for the academic school year.

Alaska’s longshore union reaches a tentative agreement; Ravn Alaska’s CEO starts a new airline; and among the projects Governor Mike Dunleavy vetoed from the state budget last week, was salmon research to help determine the causes of the chi-nook and chum crisis in western Alaska.