KUCB - Unalaska

As of Tuesday, single-use plastic bags will no longer be allowed in Unalaska.

The city council unanimously passed the ban in August — after six months of discussions and overwhelming public support.

“We’re trying to do things to shrink our footprint on refuse, and we have a landfill that potentially has 15 to 18 years of life left in it,” said City Manager Thomas E. Thomas. “We see that this plastic is beginning to affect our environment in detrimental ways, especially out here. We have members of our community that live on subsistence, and that begins to affect their quality of life as well.”

Under the ban, there is a $100 fine per violation for businesses that continue to provide disposable shopping bags. The ban does not apply to plastic bags used to package bulk items, like fruit.

But Thomas isn’t worried about violations.

“Because we’ve had good communication with the vendors who sell these disposable bags knowing the guidelines,” Thomas said. “They’ve had a good six months to get rid of them. But in the event there is a potential complaint, we’ll try to work with them to make sure there is no misunderstanding about the rules and guidelines before going into potential implementation of the fine.”

The vendors primarily impacted by the ban are the city’s grocery stores: Safeway and Alaska Ship Supply.

“There are 175 cases left, with 1,000 bags in a case,” said Alaska Ship Supply store manager Erik Hanson. “It’s better than where I thought we were going to be sitting at this point.”

Hanson said because the leftover bags have the Alaska Ship Supply logo, it’s unlikely anyone will want them. Instead the 175,000 bags will be sent to Alaska Ship Supply’s cardboard recycler, who also accepts plastics.

Alaska Ship Supply has started stocking reusable plastic bags and will also provide paper sacks.

“We’re hoping people will bring their own bags most of the time, and I’m sure locals will,” Hanson said. “It will be a learning curve for everyone else. It’s happened other places, and people will adjust and get used to it.”

Hanson estimates a paper bag costs about two-and-a-half times as much as a plastic sack. Safeway store manager Abe Palmer said switching to paper has quadrupled the cost of supplies for the store.

Safeway will also provide paper bags, but as of Jan. 1 Safeway will no longer provide free cardboard boxes for all patrons — Palmer said the boxes will only be for commercial fishing customers.

PenAir is officially a part of Ravn. On Friday, the sale of PenAir’s assets to the company that owns Ravn Air Group was finalized. What Ravn is calling “new PenAir” has been reformed under the auspices of Ravn Air Group.

In a statement, Ravn president and CEO Dave Pflieger said, “This is a big win for Ravn Air Group, as well as for PenAir and all our team members, customers, and Alaska communities.”

According to Ravn, neither PenAir nor Ravn’s destinations or flight schedules has changed. Under frequently asked questions on Ravn’s website, the answer to, “will airfares increase?” is non-committal. Ravn simply states, “Both PenAir and Ravn will continue to provide customers exceptional value.”

The sale comes after PenAir filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last August.

It was the largest air carrier in Southwest Alaska at the time. For decades, it was the primary — and often only — service to Anchorage from many Bristol Bay and Aleutian-Pribilof communities. The Seybert family has owned PenAir since 1955. According to Ravn, former PenAir CEO Danny Seybert’s employment was terminated earlier this month. It did not state the cause.

A snag in the transition caused concern in the community of St. Paul last week that flight service to could be interrupted until February. According Ravn, a solution has been found, and service to the remote Pribilof community will continue uninterrupted.

For the 21st consecutive year, Dutch Harbor is America’s largest fishing port.

According to an annual National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report released Thursday, the Port of Dutch Harbor led the nation with 769 million pounds of seafood landed in 2017, worth $173 million.

That’s down $25 million and 1 million pounds from 2016.

Much of Dutch Harbor’s haul was made up of pollock. According to NOAA’s Ned Cyr, pollock was also a significant fishery nationally.

“The nation’s largest commercial fishery, Alaska pollock, had near-record landings of 3.4 billion pounds,” Cyr said. “That’s up around 1 percent from 2016 (and it’s) valued at $413 million.”

Alongside Alaska pollock, the highest value species include salmon, crab, lobsters, shrimp and scallops.

Overall Alaska was responsible for more than half of the nation’s seafood: about 6 billion pounds worth $1.8 billion. That’s an increase in both volume and value from the previous year.

Thanks to a policy reversal, prison inmates will be allowed to work at UniSea’s fish processing plant as early as January.

On Tuesday, the Unalaska City Council approved the city’s participation in a state-run program that employs select prisoners in the seafood industry while they finish their sentences.

The council’s five-to-one vote overturned last month’s narrow rejection of the program, authorizing a “trial run” for four inmates to live and work at UniSea after they’re vetted by the Alaska Department of Corrections.

Vice Mayor Dennis Robinson voted with the majority, praising the effort to reduce Alaska’s high repeat offense rate by helping prisoners learn new skills and prepare for life after incarceration.

“The current system is broken,” he said. “The status quo is broken. We’re just running people through a mill and back into jail, not giving them the tools to go forward.”

Robinson said he hopes the resolution’s language will alleviate concerns about community safety, which has been a hot topic since the trial was proposed in September.

The resolution prohibits the participation of sex offenders, allows Unalaska to opt out at any time, and requires the state to cover all costs, including electronic monitoring equipment that will dictate where prisoners can go.

Councilor Dave Gregory wasn’t satisfied. He cast the sole “no” vote on Tuesday, after previously casting the sole “no” vote that sunk the measure in October.

“I support decreasing the recidivism rate. I just don’t think Unalaska should have to bear the brunt of that responsibility and risk,” he said. “Maybe I’d change my mind if the Department of Corrections had fewer Cordovas and more Kenais.”

Over the last five years, DOC officials said more than 20 inmates have gone through the program at plants in Cordova and Kenai. While all Kenai participants have completed it without issue, a few of the Cordova prisoners were caught using drugs near the ends of their work periods.

If that happens in Unalaska, Acting Police Chief Jennifer Shockley said local authorities are ready to assist following “extensive” discussions with DOC leaders and UniSea’s security team. She said most of her department’s work will fall to the corrections division, which is fully staffed and trained.

“The program, as developed and envisioned, is something that’s well within our capabilities,” she said. “There is work that would be required of our police staff, but most of that would be spot visits to make sure things are going along as they should.”

The DOC also assured councilors the program shouldn’t be affected when Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy takes office, even though he could replace department leadership.

“Everyone who’s participated in the program has never been re-arrested,” said Dave Bacher, special assistant to DOC Commissioner Dean Williams. “So I can’t speak for the incoming administration or a new commissioner, but I think they’d look at the success of the program and not stop it.”

Unalaska’s trial program is expected to start during the winter fishing season, though Mayor Frank Kelty said the DOC is still working out the timing with UniSea.

Meanwhile, the city is exploring another partnership with the DOC.

Councilors directed the city manager to look into a state program that allows first-time and low-level offenders to serve time in their home communities under electronic monitoring. The initiative would let qualified Unalaskans complete jail sentences on the island instead of in Anchorage or another distant city.

This winter, prison inmates won’t be allowed to finish their sentences while working at UniSea’s processing plant.

The Unalaska City Council narrowly rejected a resolution Tuesday that would have approved the community’s participation in a work release program run by the state Department of Corrections.

City Councilor Dave Gregory cast the only “no” vote on the proposal to let four select inmates live and work at UniSea under electronic monitoring. But with four of six councilors present, it was enough to sink the measure.

“We’re a small, isolated community,” said Gregory. “I’ve talked to probably 25 people who’ve come to me and said, ‘Why are we doing this? We don’t need the risk.’ And I feel the same way.”

Gregory and other critics said they might support the program in the future — if Unalaska bolsters its counseling and addiction services to help with rehabilitation.

Others opposed it outright, including resident Mary Lekanoff.

“Kids here are free,” she said. “They’re running around safe. And you guys want to bring these people here? What are you going to do when the first child gets abducted or raped? How are you guys going to feel?”

Still, many expressed support for the program, which aims to chip away at Alaska’s high recidivism rate by preparing inmates for life after prison.

Some Unalaskans argued the island already counts felons among its residents, while others pointed to failures of the corrections system.

“When people are exiting prison, they need resources, support, community connections, and tools,” said Alysha Richardson in a letter to the council. “It is not in the best interest of anyone to create or maintain barriers for these people. The people who will qualify for this program are getting out of prison anyway. I want them to have the best possible chance to succeed.”

Mayor Frank Kelty agreed. He said he’ll look into revisiting the issue with a full council.

“I think we’re a big enough and strong enough community to support a program like this,” he said. “We’re talking only four individuals. We have the support of our police department. People are going to be thoroughly checked out before they’re brought here. There’s not going to be any sex offenders. So I don’t think this [proposal] is done yet.”

The resolution would seem likely to pass if it goes to another vote. Councilors Shari Coleman, James Fitch, and Dennis Robinson all voted in favor, meaning it only needs one more supporter.

While they were absent Tuesday night, Councilors Roger Rowland and Alejandro “Bong” Tungul could tip the scale in that direction. Rowland previously said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the program.

Unalaskans helped to free a humpback whale last weekend after it was caught in fishing lines and buoys in Unalaska Bay.

A responder with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) led the disentanglement team, which included local port officials, NOAA officers, and residents like Andy Dietrick and Dan and Sue Magone.

KUCB’s Laura Kraegel spoke with John Moran about his team’s 12-hour response that spanned two days.

Listen to the full interview:

If you see a marine mammal in distress, report the sighting to the Marine Mammal Stranding Network at 1-877-925-7773.