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Monte LaVelle Chitty, age 62, was arrested on April 5 in a small town in Texas by state police and U.S. Marshals, after attempting to flee child-abuse related charges in the Florida Keys. He was arrested in March and charged with two felonies involving a 15-year-old girl from the Baptist church he was leading in Marathon, Florida. Those include sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation, and a misdemeanor of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.Chitty was also a former Alaska Village Public Safety Officer in the Aleutian region for several years and a pastor in Cold Bay for a short period. He moved to Alaska and began leading the Cold Bay Chapel in 2010.
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Akutan, located in the middle of the Aleutian chain, is slated to receive a fiber-optic internet connection this summer through the GCI Aleutians Fiber Project.
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Fishery council seeks more information before deciding on chum bycatch in Bering Sea pollock fisheryThe North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages federal fisheries in Alaska, will continue to explore options for how to manage chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. The council, facing rising pressure from western Alaska communities who depend on chum as a cornerstone of subsistence, released a statement Wednesday summarizing their decision from their April meeting.
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Unalaska city officials signed an agreement on March 29 to begin dredging in Iliuliuk Bay later this year.
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On April 1, a young humpback whale was found tied up in a probable fishing line and anchored down in a busy area in Iliuliuk Bay. Four days later, a group of whale entanglement experts carefully cut the line wrapped around the humpback's mouth and tail.
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The move is part of a larger restructuring for Silver Bay to take over Peter Pan’s processing and support facilities later this year, which could include the Peter Pan plant in King Cove.
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A humpback whale is now free in Unalaska after being tied up for at least four days. The entangled whale was first reported on Monday evening in Iliuliuk Bay.
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The planning area spans from Cape Cheerful, across Unalaska Bay and out east to Erskine Point. That includes several smaller bays within Unalaska Bay as well as Kalekta Bay. The Alaska Department of Natural Resource (DNR) proposes classifying the land under three categories: as wildlife habitat, public recreation land and waterfront development land. The waterfront development section would include an area from Mount Ballyhoo, near the airport, south into Captain’s Bay, into Iliuliuk Creek and around Unalaska Lake, according to DNR’s Unalaska Bay Site Specific Plan Public Review Draft.
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The Aleutian Region School District is still on track to reopen the Nikolski School this fall, after the school was closed for more than a decade. The district has approved Lynette Hull to teach at the school in the Umnak Island community.
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The Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network is working with local responders to gather images and information to coordinate helping an entangled humpback in Unalaska’s Iliuliuk Bay.